EVENT ★ ROLLING 'ROUND THE BEND

[futurologists]

ASTERION PRISON The white light is blinding. The weightlessness continues. The air thins into nothingness, though those who breathe won't feel the pain of suffocation -- in fact, they won't feel the need to breathe at all. The sensation continues for what may seem like a second or an eternity; it's impossible to tell. And then the floor hits you. Or rather, you hit the floor. It's cold and metal and as your vision returns, you'll find you're not alone in this small room, though you're definitely not with anyone you know: standing in front of you is a brawny alien in a black uniform, its many purple eyes staring at you. The alien is flanked by a pair of robots, who take advantage of your dazed state and grasp you in their metal arms to drag you from the room into what appears to be a gigantic prison. As the robots drag you past cells -- some containing other aliens, some containing humanoids, and some containing your teammates -- you'll catch a glimpse of the outside through a window. You're in outer space. If questioned, the guard will only tell you that you've been accused of conspiracy to commit grand theft, and your trial will begin soon. But in the meantime, you'd better get cozy. YOUR NEW HOME Asterion Prison is a dreadnought class spaceship with several different cell blocks making up a majority of its innards, with the rest of the space designated for day-to-day running of the ship and living quarters for the guards. Audentes is housed in Block 26, which has six tiers of cells situated in a circle around the main recreational area, out of which juts the Block 26 guard tower. Each inmate, including Audentes recruits, has a glowing blue symbol emblazoned on their forehead. Though it's not immediately clear what the symbols mean, inmates who have been around longer will explain: it's a record of how many lives you've taken, a way for the guards to know who's the most dangerous. The symbol glows through any kind of attempt at covering it -- whether by makeup, clothing, hair, or something else -- so it's best to learn to deal with it quickly. Speaking of clothing, whatever recruits were wearing upon their abduction has been replaced by a uniform orange jumpsuit. Similarly, any weapons are no longer present, though those with a special connection to their weapons will feel that they are being held elsewhere on the ship. Luckily, the guards appear to have overlooked jewelcomms, so Audentes will be able to communicate with each other via magitek (text only is suggested, of course, unless you want to get caught!), though contact with Oska or any other outside ALASTAIR recruit seems to be blocked. LOCKDOWN As long as inmates keep to themselves and don't bother the guards, things run pretty smoothly. Two meals a day, five hours of sleep, and all the weights you need to get yourself swole. But on the sixth day in Asterion Prison, all hell breaks loose. No one knows who started it, but there's suddenly a loud roar from the milling crowd in the recreational area. Most inmates scatter, but some rush in -- to see what's going on or to get a piece of the action themselves, who knows -- and then everything becomes an all-out brawl. Super strong aliens with various powers fight each other loudly and violently while others cower and run for cover. The old alien ducks behind his chess board just in time to avoid a barbell sailing overhead; a six-armed being shoots lava out of its mouth, which does nothing to the metallic floor but severely burns a group of humanoid toads wielding shivs. The fight goes on for a few long minutes before correctional officers and their robot guards pour in to try and get things under control. Those who are still around once the officers come in are in threat of being dragged off to solitary, even if they had nothing to do with the brawl, so make yourself scarce unless the idea of sitting in the dark for another six days seems appealing. OOC NOTES Welcome to space prison! We hope you'll enjoy your stay. There is a plotting write-up here with extra information about the prison ship, and please note that participation in the symbol directory is mandatory. If you have any questions about the prison that aren't answered here, please direct them to the Leramzen dossier. Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ and you may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Comments

[gutpunching]

[Bruce Wayne didn't die. He's just...missing. Burned away, blank slate clear, a whole fresh start. And surely they've worked out weirder. Hell, Jason had been a braindead shell of himself until Talia had tossed him in the pit. Surely—

His hands clench and unclench at his sides, fingers hooked around the edge of his chair.]

You'll forgive me if I'm not in a rush to feel bad about that bit, kiddo.

[The Joker's death at the Batman's hands. He is, perhaps, a little biased.]

[littlestguano]

Who said anything about feeling bad? [As far as he's concerned, the Joker can rot in hell if he really is gone for good, and while the idea of Father killing is a jarring one, it's not something he's going to lose any sleep over.

But there's more to it than that, something else eating away at him that's been in the back of his mind from the moment Father had explained exactly what endgame was.]

Why, Todd? You of all people know what didn't push him that far, so what in the hell did? [It's a low blow and he doesn't care. He needs to know what made him do it. Needs to know who died because that appears to be the only explanation as to what could possibly have finally made him end the joker.

There are only two people he can think of whose deaths at the Joker's hands might have been the catalyst for exactly what happened, and Damian already knows Pennyworth is alive and well. He pretends not to be hoping that Todd will disagree and offer some other possibility. (He pretends very hard not to be terrified of being right.)]

[gutpunching]

[You of all people. Any points Damian wins for supporting righteous clown murder get a little sidelined by the depth of the dig. He doesn't bother trying to wrangle the healthy measure of acid from creeping into his voice.]

Your guess is as good as mine. [Better, maybe, though he hates to admit it. It's been increasingly clear that he's running with outdated information. Still, since Damian's done a fine job of digging up his spite—] Have you asked how good ol' Nightwing's been doing lately?

[A bitter pill, but not one that happens to be news. He isn't under any illusions. If it had been Dick Grayson who got himself crowbarred and blown up way back then, the Joker wouldn't have lived to see another headline. He'd been sure of that since he'd picked up those Parisian papers and learned what Talia meant by unavenged.]

[littlestguano]

[He doesn't even process the sound of his chair clattering to the ground with how fast he rises, hands slamming down on the table in front of him. His fingers twitch for a weapon—any weapon—but he doesn't reach for the belt that isn't there or the knives that aren't where they should be.]

Shut up. [For as much as Damian is currently priding himself on having the upper hand, he sure as hell is giving his own secrets away faster than he can speak them. If there was any question of his standing with Dick Grayson, there certainly isn't now. It's a stark contrast compared with his almost nonchalant dismissive reaction to his father's memory loss.

And he knows he could solve the mystery with a single question to Father, but he can't. He's too afraid and that fear only feeds his anger now.]

[gutpunching]

[Wow. Touched a nerve, huh? That's different. His brows hike up pointedly toward his hairline, but he doesn't follow suit to stand. Not least because he can see the other inmates in the room stop their milling in his peripheral, turning to stare over at the source of the disturbance. The guards in the hall are, for the moment, staying put rather than coming in to investigate.]

If Dickiebird is off the table, I'm open to suggestions. Can't say Bats'll be clearing up many mysteries any time soon. [Unless you, y'know, ask him about Dick, Damian. That said—] Unruffle your feathers, or we're going to have ourselves an audience.

[Or ruffle them, but ruffle them a little more covertly. He's already gotten clocked by the robots once, that was enough for posterity's sake for a while. And presumably, they're not done here.]

[littlestguano]

[There's a moment in which Damian is obviously debating if it'll be worth it or not, but eventually he sits back down, arms pulled tight across his chest and glare in full force. After they break out, he promises himself. He'll find the time to deck Todd in the face but only after.

After a few more moments of tense silence in which Damian doesn't feel like talking to him but also doesn't feel like leaving yet, he finally unwinds some, contenting himself with his future plans to break Jason's nose.]

He said Pennyworth is safe. [Not in one piece, but safe. And if it wasn't Pennyworth and couldn't be Grayson then...well. Maybe it was better not to think about it right now anyway. It's not like Todd could offer any valuable insight anyway.]

...you're rooming with him. He told me. [He fixes Jason with a searching glare.]

[gutpunching]

[He's going to pass on those plans, thanks, he's still using that nose.

Damian has been notably smug and spiteful, so far. Clearly enjoying his upper hand, deliberately twisting knives in wounds that all Jason's distance from Gotham hasn't managed to close. So the update is a little unexpected in its abruptness—whether it is meant to reassure him—(he couldn't really ask after Bruce Wayne's butler, back when he'd gotten the brief on Endgame. But some quiet part of him has been wondering, and it eases back, a little,)—or, more likely, just keep them on the same page. Either way, every little bit helps. Filling in the blanks on blanks in the time that separates them. Slowly.

His jaw shifts, and he meets Damian's glare head on. He doesn't look particularly thrilled with the pursuit of this topic, but he doesn't bother trying to deny it.]

Take up with the warden if you want to swap. [For the record, since they're getting on the same page, sort of—] We'd crossed paths in Gotham after Endgame, apparently. Otherwise, he doesn't know me from Adam.

[Not in any way that really means anything. And it figures, really, that he didn't make it into whatever briefing Bruce had gotten on his previous life. Might as well make things official, wipe that wasted enterprise out.]

[littlestguano]

[He knows Father is unaware of the relationship Todd once had with the family, but he hadn't realized they'd met in Gotham after his memory loss. It means that Todd was still around in Gotham in a few years and clearly still bothering them. It also means if this Todd were from later on he might have been able to clue Damian into all the pieces he is missing which only serves to annoy him more.]

I will make myself very plain, Todd. If you touch him, this number will go up. Are we clear? [If there were ever a reason to break his oath, this one is worth it. Perhaps Father and Grayson would disagree, but Grayson isn't here and Father doesn't remember it anyway. Instead, Todd is here, and Damian doesn't know him well enough to gauge his threat level. In a fight with Batman, the winner would be Batman any day. without his memory though? Damian doesn't know.

Mostly he doesn't know if the lack of memory will be a deterrent to Jason Todd or a boon. It would be a dishonorable dirty tactic to strike out at the man without his memory of the conflict, but this is Jason Todd after all. Dishonorable and dirty had never stopped him before.]

[gutpunching]

[That gets an arched look.]

Death threats duly noted.

[It's dry on the surface. But only just. Jason's feelings on Bruce's condition are complicated—much like Jason's feelings on Bruce in general. And Damian hasn't exactly ingratiated himself to him enough for a touching heart to heart, so he seems to choose not to grace that with any more enlightening response.

(If he wanted to kill Bruce, he would have done it ages ago. Lit him up in a fireball with the Batmobile. On the battlefield in Oska weeks ago. That's not what he wants, not really. He's realized that, at least.)]

Anything else you feel like getting off your chest while we're laying out ground rules?

[littlestguano]

[It's a less aggressive reaction that he might have anticipated though that doesn't mean he believes him. At least Todd doesn't seem likely to go off on a murderous rampage at the slightest provocation. (There's something to be said about pots and kettles here but Damian chooses not to acknowledge it.)]

There's just the one, Todd. Break it and you'll regret it. [Just in case he wasn't clear before.

He should probably tell Todd that none of his murdering murderers bullshit will be tolerated here either, but...he promised Grayson he wouldn't kill. Neglecting to "correct" someone else's morality is completely different. Maybe if they were on Earth it wouldn't be. They aren't and it isn't worth the annoying debate the rule would likely bring up, especially given that he'd be arguing on the side he doesn't believe in.]

That is all.