[ 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

28th, Midnight. Sector 9. You used that song, didn't you.

[isitablurred]

[At the edge of a tall building, a man dressed all in black stands, looking down into the street below much like Bruce does. He stands so still that Batman may not even notice him until he moves, until he steps forward and launches himself off the edge with magnificent force and strength, and for a good half a mile or so he manages to go straight forward, one arm ahead of him as though to sweep stray birds out of his path and keep insects out of his eyes.

And then he begins to arc downward, fall, and it's all that Clark can do to pivot in the air, finding his feet beneath him before he crashes down to the concrete on the other side of the sector.

Another failed attempt at flying. And should it be this difficult? He's floated before...it isn't that different. It's just floating with direction, jumping without falling. It shouldn't be this hard.]

it's on constant repeat, shhhh.

[kingofrooks]

[ Despite the black outfit, it's really not that difficult to distinguish Clark from everyone else. It's more than just the feats of strength that he's demonstrating, but more of the way he's moving. The way he shifts his body around that makes him immediately recognizable to Bruce- probably not to anyone else. He is the World's Greatest Detective, after all.

And he's leaping forward, freefalling in the air. His cape snaps outwards and he swings himself in and throws out a grapple, swinging forward. The wind blows through his hair, and though the air of the Darkness is sickly and sharp here in the slums, it still feels good to fly again.

He lands next to Clark, his footsteps silent as he looks at him. ]

You're trying too hard. [ Flatly. Then- ]

Have you ever tried to fly without powers before?

[isitablurred]

[It's hard to miss Batman flying in. Clark's attention remains on the rooftop he's come from, looking thoughtful, distant. He doesn't need to look over to know who it is. Eventually he does, but only at the question.]

Obviously not. I know it's sort of a human rite of passage, thinking you could just take off if you wished hard enough, but me? No. I've always felt like I should be able to do it.

[Expectations, again. But he's learned everything else. Why is it so hard just to do this last thing? He's ready - more than ready - and he's never felt more alien, more alone, more out of place than he does now. So why?]

Got any tips?

[kingofrooks]

[ It's odd, to see Clark looking like this. To imagine him not flying. Bruce just- looks at him- he's not kidding or being sarcastic when he says that Clark is trying too hard. Every single time he's seen Superman fly, it's always with an effortless grace. Just- hovering above.

He doesn't know how he does it. He has never really asked- they just could. And he feels a little foolish now, for not asking. For not asking Clark how he had learnt to fly- how he mastered that one thing that all humans wish they can. (But he knows that he never asked because if he knows, he would want to try it himself, and he's jealous enough that Clark can fly already

29th, Midnight, Sector Nine, so I don't interfere with Clark :D

[thelittlestbub]

[Jubilee wasn't nearly as well adjusted as she tried to appear sometimes. So, just sometimes, she went out without Kenpachi, without Magneto, and she went looking for a fight.

It was something she'd learned from Wolverine. He'd looked for bar fights. She didn't have time to deal with the legal ramifications from that. Plus, she had a new job at the Lion's Gate and getting arrested would put a kink in that.

And honestly, she doubted Light would take well to her needing him as much as it would take to distract her. She'd come here from Sector four. Panting, Jubilee crouched on a fire escape, shaking out her hand. Her powers were buzzing under her skin and she closed her eyes, pulling them in and waiting for another monster in the dark. The wind picked up, flaring her black trench out behind her.]

[kingofrooks]

[ Moving figures have always caught his attentions easily, and Bruce follows the movement of this one with his eyes. He recognizes her easily enough- Jubilee, one of Michael Xavier's (Magneto's- he knows now, from Peter Petrelli's little comment) students living with him.

But he's distracted. There's a couple of monsters coming towards his direction, and right below him are a bunch of industrial workers retreating him. Bruce narrows his eyes and jumps from the roof, cape snapping out around him. One's a bitter child, the other's a rope-faced dog, and the knives he now carries glints in the Darkness as he dives towards them to take them out.

And out of the corner of his eyes, he watches Jubilee's movements. Out for a stress relief night, or to actually help people?

Somehow he suspects the former. ]

[thelittlestbub]

[She catches the movement from the corner of her eye and with a graceful flip and a flare of the coat, she's behind the rope face dog. Her fingers light up and sparkles dance through the air to merely zap the tail of the monster

[kingofrooks]

[ Stress relief, with keeping civilians away from the monsters as a side dish. Bruce's lips curve upwards even as he continues to watch the display. The bitter child is easy enough to take down. He sweeps out a kick that nearly breaks its neck, and when it leaps at him, Bruce changes the grip on the knife to a backhanded one, and slashes outwards.

The child shrieks, a sharp noise that pierces through the night, cuts through the darkness like a hot knife through butter, and Bruce flips backwards away from it. It charges again, and this time he clenches his fist and strikes outwards. Smacks it against the wall.

It falls. Unconscious- that wasn't a killing blow. Not even for a monster.

He turns around, looking at the dog- and casually throws one of the knives at it. It embeds at the side, and it rears back, its mouth open and roaring.

Let's see how she deals with this. ]

[ May 28, Just After the Sirens, Sector 4 ]

[leading3men]

[ Zoey got lost, and couldn't go to the Tower Apartments in time before the sirens made the call and monsters start spawning up like a bad first-person shooter game. Well, at least she considered the possibility that she might get lost as she went out an hour before the sirens, and brought her assault rifle (hidden in a large, dirty duffle bag she found in the dumpster one day) just in case.

Even so, went out an hour before the sirens in a city Zoey is barely familiar with? She'll call it: Zoey is a moron. There.

Though admitting her stupidity isn't stopping the monsters from going after her, so another twitch of her finger and one child-looking thing falls like a sack of bricks. ]

[kingofrooks]

[ There's an hour or so between the end of his work as Bruce Wayne and when Batman's patrols begin, and Bruce usually makes use of that time well. That's why the moment the sirens sound, he's already putting on the costume and moving into the night, watching as the last of the workers crawl into clubs or back home. This timing is important, as this is when most people would still be caught outside without shelter.

The sound of an assault rifle rings in his ears, and instincts immediately kick him into action. He's running down the rooftops to the source, jumping from one ledge to the other, landing on the balls of his feet- or rolling forward when the distance is too great. It's not long until he sees her-

And there's a rope shooting out towards her. Bruce jumps down from the building, a hand around the grapple, and he's swinging forward, his feet kicking out at the door even as the knife he holds sweeps a circle around him. Cutting off the rope.

Another down. Bruce stops there for a moment, cape flying in the wind. ]You're very

[leading3men]

[ Holy mother of God - Zoey sees movement at the corner of her eye and nearly jumped out of her skin. She raises her rifle and takes aim, thinking it's another monster until it speaks.

Oh. She aims her rifle in a different direction while scanning around at the street. ]

That happens when you go in a different direction.

[kingofrooks]

[ He doesn't say a thing while he looks around himself. Narrows his eyes a little before he straightens, and points a direction east to where the Apartments are. ]

It's that way. [ The winds sweeps towards him, the air heavy and cold, like wind right before a heavy thunderstorm. His cape sweeps backwards, exposing the symbol on his chest. ]

Go. Before you meet more monsters. [ Pause. ] You're going to need the rifle for something else.

28th, An Hour After Sirens, Sector 5.

[gotbackupagain]

[It's past sirens and she knows it. But it's not far and she's made it before without a hitch. Sometimes she gets lucky; usually she gets lucky. But who the hell gets lucky all the time. Which explains how she ended up here, veered off course and unable to actually see anything. Twice she's missed losing a chunk of her leg- thank god for flexibility.

But of course it's a dead fucking end street. One street too early to turn and she's caught. Even if one antsy rope-faced dog leaps too soon, snapped back like whiplash by some unseen force; it won't work for all of them. No blood sigils on the wall work against something not Celestial. Not that she knows.]

[kingofrooks]

[ Sometimes Bruce wonders what is it with people and their lack of self-preservation. The sirens exist for a reason, as does the reported timings every morning. The only reason why he's still here is simply that he has to save people from their own stupidity, because they don't deserve to die.

He spots the head of red hair easily enough- and that bright flare of body heat from the infra-red vision embedded in his cowl. And he's shooting off a line, swinging directly downwards- then releasing the grapple, keeping it- backflipping the midair and kicks away another rope-faced dog just when it's making to leap and growl. ]

[lostmygrace]

[Yeah, big dark shadow-y guy drops in out of nowhere. That's not surprising at all, right? Maybe later she'll spill her beans when she realizes who it is exactly, but right now? Right now she's more or less shitting herself. And hey, normally she goes out after Siren's with someone who can easily fight off the Darkness; this time... Pure stupidity. Shut up.

But Anna has a limit and she's really been pushing that line for the past few days. Staring at Silent Hill, grotesque monsters as they creep in and try to kill her? Not okay. They gave Demon faces a good run for their money, come to think of it. But whether it's just because that or other reasons, Anna's freaking out is having some interesting effects on the few street lamps that are still lit. Little lights along the alley, lamps dotting the street. Most of which in a block's radius flickering, surging and bursting out completely with shatters of glass. Talk about glued to the spot with fear.]

[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

May 29th, Sector 10, sometime around two in the morning

[proxysearch]

[It's good to stretch her legs. She's been out the past few nights but never longer than an hour. She's still recovering, albeit slowly. Her stamina wanes but her strength has returned. Still, she's trying to be careful. One wrong move out here and she'll end up right back in the hospital.

Re-l takes to the rooftops with ease, avoiding most of the monsters on the ground. It makes things less complicated; she'll only need to deal with the monsters on the walls and the ones that are flying. (She hasn't run into her Icarus Winged yet this week. It's only a matter of time before that one finds her.)

She drops down from one of the scaffolds up high onto a rooftop, standing there for a moment. It's been four hours now and she's not slowing down. It's a good sign. She takes a breather, looking out at the sector for any incoming trouble.]

[kingofrooks]

[ The flying monsters have been circling him lately, but when Bruce crouches on the roof ledge like this, he appears to be part of the Darkness; a monster in his own way, melding in with the rest. The thought amuses him a little, especially when he is so still that it seems that he has even managed to fool her. She doesn't seem to notice him.

When he moves a little, it's as if the shadows themselves are wiggling, moving, a piece of black - dark and oil-slick shiny - as he peels away from the Darkness to move over to her. Entirely silent, his cape not even making a sound as it drags along the concrete floor.

He looks at her for a moment. ]

You're supposed to be in the hospital until Tuesday.

[proxysearch]

[She doesn't react when she hears his voice. If he had been a monster, there would have been sound. If he had been an enemy, a gun would have been loaded. Instead, he's just silence and darkness, barely a pulse to be heard. When he wanders closer, she can finally hear it. It's human.

Re-l glances back over her shoulder after a few seconds, shrugging.]

I was actually released on Tuesday, surprisingly. It's been kept quiet, though... Not that anyone knew I was there in the first place.

[Except for him - both sides of him - Fratley, Daedalus, and Vincent Law.]

[kingofrooks]

[ Not many, no. Bruce wonders if it's because it's because Bruce Wayne called her that she told him where she is, or is it because he called at all. It's an ideal thought that he turns over his head for a moment before tossing it away. Right now, it isn't the time for Bruce. It's Batman's stage.

He walks over to the railing, leaning his elbows on it as he watches the streets. Still vigilant for lost souls, for people who are caught in the midst of the Darkness and needing help. He's not going to take a break just to talk to her; not when he still has work to do. ]

But you're not completely healed yet. [ It's not a question. ] So eager to fly again?