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wilderlogs2018-03-07 06:14 pm
wildermods) wrote in wilderlogs2018-03-07 06:14 pm
THE SQUAD DOES AN INTRO - [modplot] [event]
THE SQUAD DOES AN INTRO
In their homeworlds, they suddenly hear water flowing over stone, the wind through the leaves, and the gentle rattling of Kodama. The hushed sound of treetops waving in the breeze lull them to sleep whether they want it to or not, and in what seems like a dream they fall through a tunnel that passes through layers of dirt and roots and then through seemingly endless boughs of trees.
During this impossibly long fall, spirits whisper in their ears. They tell them that they must save the Wilderlands and the Green. They tell them that they will be given the power or weapons to do it - or that they're already strong enough as they are. They tell them that in the times they're not needed, they may find themselves trapped in the faerie realm known as the Brugh, but that the mirrors will let them speak, and the mirrors will let them see.
And they tell them that they're about to become lost in the forest and that there are others like them, just as lost.
When they wake up, they find themselves in the ruins of an abandoned city; the forest has overtaken it, threading new life through the decay, but the green of the leaves and vines pales in contrast with the broken buildings and streets. Every single building in this city was once a vibrant shade of emerald, and even now, after the slow ravages of time, the green ruins glimmer like they're hewn from precious gems.
The only things that aren't that bright shade of emerald are the statues. Countless statues are scattered through the abandoned city, shaped like men and women and children and pets, all dressed in 1900s era Earth-style finery. These figures are extremely intricate, almost too detailed to be believably carved by a human hand. Many of them are smashed and broken.
Some of the statues don't look human. Among the humans are little beings shaped like china dolls that are made of stone like the rest, instead of porcelain. And in the middle of the city, standing near each other are three strange petrified figures: an axe-wielding man that looks like he was made of metal before being petrified, a man who looks like a human-lion hybrid, and a living scarecrow. All three have expressions of surprise or anger on their faces.
When the characters are brought into this place, the magic that brought them in seems to have trouble getting them all in the same place at first. They find themselves spending brief amounts of time in one spot (sometimes just minutes, sometimes longer) before they're teleported again. Each time they teleport they find themselves near someone new, someone just as lost as them. Those that don't speak the same language may find some difficulties communicating, but over time, the magic of the Wilderlands will kick in, and plant a whole new language in their heads. This magic works faster the more they emotionally connect with other and find understanding without words.
The teleportation keeps zapping them in different places all over the city -- and sometimes outside it, where they can see an abandoned road made of yellow brick that trails off into the distance. Fortunately, the people they keep getting paired off with seem like normal people just like them, and beyond that, they're entirely alone in the ruins.
Probably.
✦ Post in actionspam format. Plots and mod-run events in the game are meant to be in actionspam format to keep a brisk pace.
✦ Please see the OOC post linked up top for more information about the event.
no subject
The shriek makes him freeze, and Tim stands stock still, listening for what he might have only imagined. He's come upon people, or they've found him, in each stop so far. This is the first time he's heard screaming, and, now that he has, it seems bizarre that more of them aren't screaming. Sudden and disoriented teleportation, with no warning or apparent cause, and repeated random encounters? Everyone should be screaming their heads off.
There - that way. He has nothing to distinguish direction here, so Tim mentally calls the dead end south and populates directions from there. North east. Someone's speaking - it sounds familiar, but distance and echoes make it a muffled, generic male - and he can hear footsteps.
He runs, but only to the intersection of alley and paved road. He hasn't heard further shouting and wants to know more about what he's heading into before he rushes in, so Tim presses himself to a wall and waits for the footsteps to come closer. ]
no subject
He'd caught bits and pieces, but then, how much could he really even trust any of that? He wasn't sure of exactly how many villains were out there that could do stuff like cause hallucinations or teleport people to pocket dimensions, or whatever this was, but he was pretty sure it was more likely this was the cause of one of them than this being an actual "quest" of some kind.
There was a time he would have easily believed that or at least would have wanted to. Grife, admittedly part of him still did want to and it wasn't completely out of the question, he'd been through weirder, but the fact of the matter was, it still wasn't likely.
The place did strike him as oddly familiar as he made his way further through, following the paved path. Some stuff seemed to emulate things he'd seen in comedy skits or cartoons. Something about emerald places and yellow brick roads. All references to a movie, or book, or something he was pretty sure, though he'd never actually sat down and seen or read the source material yet. He didn't remember anything about weird creepy statues or stone doll baby things in any of the stuff he did see though. So maybe the resemblance was just a coincidence? ]
Hello?
[ It did strike him that continuing to call out in a place that was more likely to be hiding enemies than it was to be hiding friends probably wasn't the best idea, but even if it did bring some big bad barreling down on him, it would give a pretty quick answer to what he was dealing with.
Coming up to what looked like the entrance of a narrow alley among some of the less dilapidated walls, he slowed down some, trying to be at least a little more cautious of his surroundings, since he was powerless and his shouting was like waving a giant 'come get me' sign into the air. ]
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He doesn’t hear a second set of footsteps, and so abruptly steps out of the alley. The blowback of Kid Flash racing past him doesn’t ruffle his hair. Today has that much in its favor. ]
Over here – hm.
[ He’s gone three shades paler in that little hum. Bart Allen is coming up on the left – his hair is too long, his face is too young and round, and his uniform is about two years too old.
But Tim keeps a thin, calm smile on his face. He holds both hands up in a joking and placating manner, one of them is holding his now-collapsed staff. He knows how different he must look to a time-travelling speedster. ]
Don’t worry. It’s me.
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Tim?
[ When he'd met Kon the first time they'ed ended up here, he hadn't seen much of a difference from how he'd looked back home, easily mistaking him for the Superboy from his point in time. He was maybe a little taller. Hair slightly different. That was about it.
With Tim, he doesn't even have to ask if he's from further in their timeline. He's definitely taller, his hairs longer, almost as long as his own, and he's definitely older. Maybe not by much, but enough to be evident in the sharper jawline and angles of his face.
He definitely recognized that voice though (it was changed a little too, but that Jersy accent was a dead giveaway), and he'd know those Flash pants anywhere. ]
Hey...so you grew into the pants.
no subject
Hey.
[ He doesn’t tack on a name – Tim Drake isn’t supposed to know Impulse, and, while the cat's out of the bag on Kid Flash’s identity, Impulse somehow managed to hold onto the secret. Somehow occasionally goes by the name of Max Mercury.
Then again, it’s a lost cause pretending they don’t know each other. Tim was taken from his bed. It doesn’t matter who’s supposed to know who anymore: like the cat, the Bat is definitely out of the bed.
Tim looks down at his pajamas. They are, naturally, Bart’s fault, and Tim has had a hard time getting rid of them. ]
I have no idea when they started to fit. I think it was around when they would’ve for you, which they… wouldn’t now.
[ Tim looks dubiously at Bart, who seems to have shrunk in both height and musculature since Tim saw him last. ]
Either you got hit with a shrink ray and that’s the only thing that fit, or our space problem just became a space and time problem.
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His expression turns into one of mild irritation at the quip about him either shrinking or being from the past. Not about the comment itself but more the subject. ]
It's a space and time problem.
[ Which was just great. Always fun when you have to tack on 'possibly messing up the time stream' to this kind of situation. ]
And, I'm guessing you either got brought here straight out of bed or your fashion sence took a dive.
[ Not that Tim was ever exactly the fashionista of their group but even Bart knew those pants weren't meant to be worn outside. It was actually a little surprising he'd kept them. ]
That's...not good.
[ For more reasons than one. Best case scenario, whoever was doing this was bringing civilians into the mix and this was a huge coincidence, or the more likely scenario, they already knew who Tim really was. Best to play it safe either way, but it definitely didn't bode well. ]
no subject
Pity. A regular old space problem would’ve been a nice break. Ooh, or a Thursday night stick-up.
[ He’s trying to make Bart laugh. The tiny scowl is jarring on the happy, open face, and Tim knows that he’s about to give the speedster more reason to fret. ]
Yeah, I was in bed. Pajamas, bed head… and my best belt. [ He gives Bart a significant look, but Tim figures it’s a 50/50 shot that he picks up on the implication. ] I dreamed I was falling and woke up here. You?
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I never thought I'd say this, but I think I really could go for a quiet boring bank robbery right about now.
[ The slight improvement to his mood doesn't stick around long though, as Tim confirmes that he was pulled out of bed. Bart nodded. Yeah. That definitely wasn't good. But at the mention of his 'best belt' and that look, Tim gets a slightly confused look back. Followed by what looks like recognization and another slight smile. ]
Hey, at least you weren't brought here naked?
[ Yeah, it's still a crapshoot as to whether he really did get it and is trying to confirm that, or if he's just plain being a smart ass.
When asked about his own pull point, it would have been easy enough to just gloss over exactly what had happened so they didn't have to talk about this right now. But it was clear that Tim asking him what he'd been doing when he was brought here wasn't just about seeing if he'd fallen asleep in his costume. It was about getting a bead on what point in time he came from. Which meant giving specifics. ]
I wasn't asleep, or at least I don't think I was. Unless it was some kinda micro nap.
[ Which wouldn't be a first for him, but man would that have ever been a terrible time for it. ]
We were investigating an explosion on Alcatraz. Our groups first kinda mission as Titans, I guess. I started to hear trees and running water and this rattling, and it was weird because I was inside the building...and the sound wasn't slow like everything else. I started to feel light-headed and then had the whole falling bit happen.
[ So he was still glossing over it a little bit, for now. But if they really were from the same timeline, and he really didn't get out of that unscathed, Tim probably didn't need to be told what was coming anyway. ]
no subject
He chooses to interpret the smile as Bart Getting It. There’s nothing to be gained from beleaguering the point, which was Tim doesn’t wear his gear to bed so whoever kidnapped him knows Tim is Robin, and not much to be lost if Bart doesn’t realize Tim has some birdarangs. ]
Yes, let’s all be glad we weren’t brought here from the shower.
[ Having a conversation with Bart is playing pin the tail on the donkey. Specifically, it’s that moment when the blindfold is removed and you see how off base you were.
But Bart does supply specifics on what he’d been doing. All in all, not bad for trying to will the questions at him, and it was good practice for this moment: having to will himself to not flinch at the memory. Bart had been shot at Alcatraz. It was the start of a long stretch of terrible events. ]
I visited Alcatraz once, but I didn’t like the tour. That was – wow, that was over a year ago.
[ He'll say he's pretending in case someone is listening, but the truth is... Tim wouldn't tell Bart that he was about to get kneecapped and operated on sans drugs if he was on fire and promised water for truth. ]
no subject
[ Tim does a good enough job of willing himself not react, that Bart doesn't catch any sign of a negative response, though he didn't exactly expect to see one. This was Tim after all. Of all of them, he'd always been the best at schooling his reactions and keeping his emotions in check. For the most part.
But the crack about touring Alcatraz is a pretty good indication that, yeah, one way or another the situation there doesn't improve. And a year...that's...that's not too bad. Tim's only a fifth of his life ahead of him. Surely there couldn't have been too much that happened in that time span that they would have to keep from him, right?
He was hating this already.
He gives an understanding nod though, trying to keep his tone light, and forces a cheesy smile. ]
Well, I can definitely tell you the place hasn't improved. Like the new tour guide really sucks. Zero out of a hundred review score. Do not recommend.
[ Even if the smile and joke were convincing, he's started swinging his arms and lightly clapping his hands in front of him, a clear sign that the conversation is making him more restless then he's trying to let on. His attention even seems to drift for a moment as he temporarily looks off to his side, and even back the way he came for a second, before returning his full attention to Tim. ]
Have you seen anyone else here?
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The tour guide sucked when I was there too.
[ He falls away abruptly, having changed his mind on continuing at the last moment. He was going to make some oblique reference to hidden depths or something like that, but Bart hadn't met Joseph Wilson yet. It wouldn't matter that he had been redeemed, and one revelation would lead to more, most of them unpleasant.
And Tim wants to keep Bart in his present as much as possible. That bright, shiny time when they were finally Titans, and they were going to be better than any that had come before.
But he can read Bart; he's always been fairly good at it. Bart moves when he's trying to fill time. Tim has always wondered if his friend's thoughts run too quickly, if the constant need for distraction was just a way to let the thoughts percolate properly. Speedster, but still human. Bart needed time to cope as much as anyone did, especially when confronting his own mortality. ]
Our stupid tour guide caused a huge accident. There was this huge BANG! and I thought this other kid had gotten seriously injured, but 15 minutes later, he was fine. The tour guide was still stupid. Even his name was stupid - who names their kid Slade?
[ You're going to be okay, Bart. ]