No Good Deed [Pied Piper]

[swan_songs]

Canon Status: Post-Rogues Revenge.
Genre: ...Songfic?
Rating: G.
Characters: Pied Piper/Hartley Rathaway, mentioned Trickster I/James Jesse.
Pairing: None.
Warnings: Songfic, of sorts. Implied m/m unrequited (or is it?).
Notes: For the piper_trickster Halloween challenge, prompt #34--"Wicked".
Summary: Piper is alone in Iron Heights, but there's one source of

Comments

[neotoma]

Maybe later he would find a reason to do something other than sleep. Maybe. The comforting numb blanket wrapped around his mind made it hard to care about doing anything.

Ah, clinical depression, how poisonous it is. I can believe it, considering Piper was living in his dead parents' house and generally acting like morose and creepy in Rogues' Revenge. For a while there I was worried he was on a suicide run.

They had taken away his pipes, his gadgets, anything that could be turned into an instrument, but he still had his voice, and while that wasn’t very good it was better than nothing.

I don't think you can stop Piper from making music even if you cut off his hands -- he can always whistle, and while it would take practice for him to perfect it, I bet he could figure out how to be devastating if he gave it enough effort.

Elsewhere, a puppet, body striped in blue and yellow, twitched.

Trickster is going to be annoyed, I think. Tiny, fluffy body with no feet or functional hands...sucks to be him at the moment.

but for once he

[cygna_hime]

Frankly, all things considered I'd be more worried about Hartley if he *weren't* depressed or otherwise a bit broken, after all that's happened to him. Poor baby. *hugs him*

Trickster is going to have to take what he can get. He's not in Hell being tortured for eternity, which is the important thing. And he'll get help once he finds Piper again.

The only thing that keeps Piper from being completely terrifying is that he didn't think about the whole "I can channel a force of creation; clearly, world conquest is in order" aspect. Like many of the Rogues, the power level he's written at varies--I choose to interpret that as him not really knowing what he can do. (And yet...half the things he's been doing for years like playing the flute and talking at the same time just aren't possible, if you think about it, for someone who's supposed to be non-powered. Especially the Silver Age. I'm choosing to interpret this, especially in this fic, as a metagene or similar that he just never realized he had. Because he's a doofus like that.)

[neotoma]

He's not in Hell being tortured for eternity, which is the important thing.

I can imagine Trickster making a list... "Positives: Not in Hell. Negatives: Only 8 inches tall. No feet. No fingers. No *sexual organs*. Huh, maybe I *am* in Hell."

I choose to interpret that as him not really knowing what he can do. Oh, I totally agree. He has *no* idea what his limits are, or even a hint of his potential. Part of it is that he doesn't think he's special, except in ways that say "I'm broken". But part of it is that he's living in a universe with people like Superman and Wonderwoman hanging around; it's hard to measure yourself against physical near-gods, especially when your abilities are more subtle

[cygna_hime]

"Positives: Not in Hell. Probably can guilt-trip Wally into finding someone to fix me. Can still move...somehow, talk, and bother Piper

[neotoma]

I just want to see Wally or Piper's first encounter with puppet-Trickster. The reactions should be *amusing

[katzedecimal]

just want to see Wally or Piper's first encounter with puppet-Trickster. The reactions should be *amusing*.

"I'm going to have to hate you now, aren't I." "...i'm sorry.." "I mean, okay, points for resurrection symphony but minus several million for good thinking, right." "...i'm so sorry..." "I mean, as if it wasn't bad enough being chained up to you for months, now I have to spend the rest of eternity with your hand up my ass." "...i'm... o.O;;;; ....James, you just.. you just broke what was left of my brain, thanks for that..." "Okay, so we're even."

[cygna_hime]

Piper's probably better off with his brain broken, really. More efficient that way. (I couldn't just resurrect James; that would be no fun, and not consistent with the song either. Gotta keep an eye on your mythic resonance when you do these things.) Don't worry, Trickster, you'll get fixed up into some body that doesn't make you and Piper look like a cheap Scarface/Ventriloquist knockoff.

But that encounter is NOT GOING TO BE WRITTEN because this is a ONE-SHOT, do you hear me?!

...Goddammit.

[katzedecimal]

that doesn't make you and Piper look like a cheap Scarface/Ventriloquist knockoff.

Bwa-hahaha!!!

But that encounter is NOT GOING TO BE WRITTEN because this is a ONE-SHOT, do you hear me?!

Whaaaaaaaaaat? We're just speculatinnnnnnnng. Same as we do for the comiiiiiiiics. *pout* ^_~

[neotoma]

Piper's probably better off with his brain broken

I dunno. His brokenness comes out as depression, and really, who wants him playing sad songs when he's got reality manipulating power powering out of him without his conscious intent

But that encounter is NOT GOING TO BE WRITTEN because this is a ONE-SHOT, do you hear me?!

Suuuuure it is. ;)

[neotoma]

Oh, that would be hilarious and awful.

And do we want a broken Piper wandering around still trying to help people yet unaware of the kind of power he has? You'd get a lot more worrying and/or terrifying things than ensouled puppets, I think.

I'm thinking of the results of trying out 'Pax' on the population of Miranda in Serenity, among other things. Otoh, the forces of Apokalips suddenly lying down and giving up the ghost would be beneficial for the heroes of Earth...

[katzedecimal]

And do we want a broken Piper wandering around still trying to help people yet unaware of the kind of power he has? You'd get a lot more worrying and/or terrifying things than ensouled puppets, I think.

Like creating boom tubes and hopping universes and oh dear the Rogues.... XD

[neotoma]

Well, so far in your story, he's mostly sane. Somewhat depressed, but thinking rationally, conversations with rats not withstanding.

If he really started thinking irrationally, you could get things like raising the dead, 'fixing' villians a la the Justice Lords (though not with the heat-beam lobotomies, just compulsions to be polite and law-abiding and kind to rats) and god knows what else. Spontateous sing-a-longs every day? Reconstruction of society as a collection of autonomous work-gangs with governing committees instead of employers and employees? Free rats with every purchase of a musical instrument?

[katzedecimal]

As I said in one of my fics, Piper is so scary *because* the only thing holding him back is himself ^_~

[neotoma]

Indeed. But now I kind of want a story where he's going from depressed but rational, to depressed and psychotic -- you know, a -15 point delusion a la "ice cream makes machines work better, especially computers. Spoon it right in!"

Wally would have a horrible time dealing with him, for starts, because it wouldn't be *right* to hurt Piper just because he's crazy...

[katzedecimal]

Well? *pokepoke* ^___^

[neotoma]

Yeah... I'm not sure I'd be the one to write it. I'm not at all up on what's happening in the DCU right now, I have a list of things to do as long as my arm already, and I'd need an excellent continuity beta.

But I'll try to outline it. It can join the idea of "Trickster is possessing Piper's rats" in the maybe-gets-written-someday queue.