[ i feel you whisper across the sea ]

[kingofrooks]

Who: Batman [kingofrooks] and YOU
When: 27 May to 29 May, Darkness hours
Where: ANYWHERE, but especially Sectors 9 and 10
Summary: Batman has patrols. Shenainegans occur. Come join in!
Warnings: Likely violence. And I can't think of anything else.

Comments

[kingofrooks]

[ ... Now that's unexpected. Not that Bruce isn't used to working in the pure darkness (Gotham tends to not have many lights in the alleys, and not even Bruce Wayne's money can pave every single feet of Gotham, especially in the slums where Batman works most). He just- closes his eyes, stop relying on them, and listens in closely to the sounds of the monsters as they move.

But there's a bigger problem. Her fear is attracting the monsters. Even more than his presence is (he's killed a lot of them, and they hate him for it). ]

Anna Milton. [ A sharp warning. ] Calm down.

[ There's quite a few congregating around her. A mutated one, to her left- that's the closest. Bruce leaps into action, the batarang in his hand flying towards the throat, then his leg is kicking out against the ribs. Another, behind her- too close. ]

Move.

[ And with that, he's jumping in, pushing her out of the way before the rope-faced dog can throw its rope around her neck. He slams into it bodily, pushing it into the wall, and it howls sharply in the air, and he grabs it by the throat, risking the ropes that wrap around his wrist- and slams it against a nearby wall.

There's more- hopefully her fear would've calmed... or she can explode not lights but monsters this time. ]

[gotbackupagain]

[See, exploding monsters would need an actual power source to put into them and make them go boom. With lights the power is already there, you just charge it up. And Anna has no access to any of her own power source; she's just an empty cartridge. But oh- that voice is oddly familiar, definitely Batman. That's kind of cool-- Calm down. How the hell is she supposed to calm down when they're kind of surrounded by horrifyingly ugly creatures that would gladly rip their heads off if given the chance?

The push has her hitting the ground in a stumble, scrambling to her hands and knees and away from a razor hand. Those at least she never seems to have trouble whiplashing backwards if they get too close. But her fear isn't really starting to dim, not by much. She can barely see- which is her own fault, but she can hear. The howling isn't helping either, she's not cut out for this.

Calm, calm down. She can calm down. What good will that to anyway, they're already there--Calm down. She's can do that. But there's more Mutations than Rope Faced Mutts, with sharp claws and speedy movements. She can't even see it before it's got claws down her forearm; but she shrieks and it's blasted back with half a dozen others, all of them knocked half ways down the alley.

So much for calm.]

[kingofrooks]

[ ... Well, that's one way to get rid of the monsters, at least. But it's apparent enough that she has some sort of power, and that it's triggered mostly by her fear... which is still drawing more monsters towards them. Goddamnit, Bruce can't kill all of them - it'll take far too much time, and he doesn't have the equipment for it. Most of his weapons are made to take out human criminals, not Darkness monsters.

He's working on it, but they're useless to him now. Which means he needs to think of another way. Go with the instincts.

Bruce dives forward, punching away another mutation and reaching a nice, long gash on his forearm for his efforts. But he's grabbing Anna by the waist, pulling her close before he picks her up, lifts her off her feet, and he's shooting out a grapple and jumping straight into the air. A dog leaps forward, its rope encircling around her leg.

He growls- and holds onto the rope with one hand, the other one chopping at the rope with the knife. ]

[gotbackupagain]

[Fear and self preservation, though the latter is entirely subconscious. There's too much adrenaline pumping through her right now to feel the damage to her arm just yet, which could very well be a good thing. She swallows another shriek at being grabbed, mind catching just a little slow that it's 'safe' and not another creature.

Except the rope snagged around her ankle burns with friction and she's vaguely sure that if she didn't lock her arms around his neck, she'd of fallen right back down. Sorry about the blood.]

[kingofrooks]

[ It's a good thing that she swallowed the sound, because his ears cannot take that much abuse anymore. He growls again - the rope is fraying, and the dog is too close- Bruce saws the thing off, and punches the dog with a hand while the other one presses the trigger on the gun, letting himself be dragged up to the roof, Anna hanging around his neck.

He smells the blood before he sees it, and the moment they land on the rooftop, he's picking her up and seating her on the railing, immediately checking her for wounds. It's around her hands- why are her fingers cut like that? He holds them out, open. ]

What happened?

[gotbackupagain]

[It's a good thing she's tiny, cause once she's free she's tucking up as best she can, face hidden against the cowl until- oh gods a flat surface again. Once she's sat, nerves still wracking her frame with shakes, it's not until he's turned her palms up that she actually realizes they hurt. And it's not just her fingers, there's a nasty set of claw marks across part of both her forearms like she'd blocked a hit. .. Technically she had, and it had sent the pack flying, too.

Blood, not a lot but it's smeared enough to make it look like it was.]

I-I don't know, I couldn't see. I shoved it- one of them.

[kingofrooks]

[ Which means that there's a chance it might be infected. He narrows his eyes a little and slips a hand into the belt, taking out a bottle of antiseptic and some gauze. He uses the gauze to wipe away the blood, cleaning it up until he can see the skin again. ]

You're Anna Milton. [ It's a statement. ] You live with Mercy Thompson right now. [ The blood's almost all gone, and he drops the gauze to the floor. Takes the antiseptic and starts spraying at the wounds. No warning. ]

Why are you out so late at night?

[ He would drop her off at the hospital if this is Gotham, but here there's the extra factor of the Darkness's taint. It's best if he takes care of the wounds then drop her off. ]

You can't defend yourself.

[gotbackupagain]

.. Yeah.

[It's a little easier to see up here, and that means there might be a lot of subtle staring on Anna's behalf. I mean come on. It's Batman. The real Batman. Not some hot guy in a costume on Gay Pride or walking the halls at Comic-con. It's kind of-- Ow that. That stings like a bitch, she'll just jerk her hands back now if she can.

One handy thing is, it's pretty damn unlikely she'll be infected with anything from the Darkness. Unlikely, but not impossible. Her .. condition seems to have a stronger immune system, at least.]

I was. Just trying to get home. [...] Usually I can without a problem. [Not that she goes out all that often after Sirens.]

[kingofrooks]

[ He notices the staring, and he isn't surprised. He knows how that she's from Chuck's world, and Chuck's world has him- him- as a fictional character in movies and comic books. It's almost like Earth-Prime, and the familiarity is what keeps him from getting angry about the information leak, but he's pretty sure that the world doesn't have demons and angels with human forms. At least, not any that work openly.

A pause. He breathes out quietly as he finishes with the antiseptic, and moves onto the bandages. ]

Your home or the hospital. Your choice.

[ There's a pause. ]

You don't seem surprised to see me.

[lostmygrace]

[Probably not, no. Anna knows quite a bit about you, Mister Bruce, but she's also good at keeping her trap shut, so. She fidgets briefly, mulling over the options. Hospital could look better at her wounds- but then she'd need to get from the hospital to home... But if she went straight home, Mercy might have a word or two for her about her arms.

But oh, another question. One that makes her nervous. Was she not supposed to?]

I.. Know who you are. I recognize the outfit. [Uh.] .. Thanks, by the way.

[kingofrooks]

[ Recognize the outfit. From Chuck's world. Which means probably one of those fictional sources then- which means those sources has his uniform correct. It's not surprising, but it's disturbing to think of that people actually know what he looks like. Bruce scowls for a long moment- then relaxes, exhaling quietly.

She has kept her mouth shut for so long. She will continue to do so, especially since she looks half scared of him. ]

Thank me by not doing anything so stupid again. [ And he's finishing up the bandages. ]

And you haven't answered the first question. [ Pause. ] You can wait for the morning sirens at the hospital.

[lostmygrace]

[Well to be fair, Chuck kind of fourth walled her, too. Except it was more he'd written her into his books when she already... existed. The only Batman in her world was multitude of fanbases pining after the Man in the Cowl.

Stupid. Yeah. As much as her pride was stuck, it was pretty stupid to go out after the Siren's. But, hey wait-]

No! I'm sorry- I want to go home. [Please let her be difficult and go home. Hospitals still creep the fuck out of her.]

[kingofrooks]

[ He already has an encounter with Chuck. If fanboys of Batman are all like him, Bruce really doesn't want to meet them. He's not supposed to be liked, and the fact that there are people fawning over a fictional representations of him - grown men - makes him deeply, deeply uncomfortable.

He stands up, his cape sweeping down to the floor and closing over his chest, hiding the grey Bat symbol on his chest. ]

Then I'll bring you there. [ He looks to the distance. ]

We're not far. [ Pause. ] How long have you been running from the things?

[lostmygrace]

[What, doesn't your world have nerds and geeks of all ages? No comic book heroes of your own? How fortunate.

She stands too, feeling significantly puny anywhere near Batman and. Glancing down toward the street just makes her skin crawl. She can still hear some of the creatures floundering around, and it makes her step further in, further from the edges she wasn't even close to.]

.. Ten minutes maybe. [She hadn't exactly been paying attention. Wait. How did he know-- You know what? There's no point asking. Too many people in this Port seem to know everything about everything. Who the hell cares anymore.]

[kingofrooks]

[ Their comic book heroes have a tendency to be real. That spoils the nerding and geekery a bit- it all becomes celebrity gossip in the end.

And he pulls her back, closer towards him. He turns around until he's fully facing her for a long moment. ]

I'll bring you home. [ No arguments allowed. ]

Hold onto me. We'll travel up top, so the monsters won't catch us.

[lostmygrace]

[She's easily moved, but it doesn't seem to sway the fear creeping up her spine. Still. She might not be particularly fond of high places, but if it means keeping out of the monsters reach? She'll take it. And.

And. Holding on, right. He's almost a solid foot taller than her, that'll be easy on her end. So she waits, oddly curious about how he plans to stay up top. He's not Spiderman, after all.]

Okay.