[ OPEN / CATCH-ALL ]

[khajidont]

WHO: Jaime Reyes & YOU (with MOMories!)
WHERE: In the City's streets, at a rebellion bunker, doing some superheroics
WHEN: Throughout the event
WHAT: Jaime tries to find his footing in this strange new place, discovers that he had been here once before, and is unable to resist the urge of Do-Goodery.
WARNINGS: None anticipated! Want something specific/want to plot? PM me or hit me up on plurk @ wisdombitch.



[ A: THE CITY ]

[ The first thing Jaime has to do is get his bearings in this city that some other version of him had once been called home. The best way of doing that is just to wander the streets, so that's precisely what he's doing. He's clearly on edge, hands shoved deep in his pockets, eyes flicking to corners of the city at things unseen to any but him, but he offers anyone who passes him by a thin smile anyway. You may recognize him, either his City's self or if you remember an entirely different world like Jaime, but he tends to escape notice fairly well.

You can find him at some lonely looking diner, poking his head in for a bite of food, though it seems that he intends to work for his meal without having much in the way of cash. Or you can find him at a newsstand, grabbing a paper and ignoring the cry of (hey, are you gonna pay for that?). Or maybe you'll even find him just wandering lost, unaware of where the good parts of town are and where the bad ones are.

[ B: A REBELLION BUNKER ]

[ It doesn't take long for him to find his way into a rebellion bunker, looking just as lost here as he did on the streets. Maybe you're the one who recognized him and brought him here to fill him in, or maybe it's another. Either which way, it ends the same way: he's told that he was in charge of establishing a network between the rebels and that he can now re-establish it. He's not welcomed necessarily out of affection for the last Jaime, nor out of the goodness of their hearts, though that may be part of it. It's because more than strength or flight, communications are the backbone of any good rebellion. ]

I did that? A whole network, for you guys?

...you know that wasn't really me, right?

[ C: IS THAT A BIRD? A PLANE? NO, IT'S JUST A STUPID BUG. ]

[ Lay low. That's what he told himself. Don't get into trouble, don't do anything stupid. Just be quiet, be subtle, and wait until you have some sense of what's going on before you do anything in any which direction. Jaime's always wanted to have knowledge before he acts, and in a place that's as much a simmering pot of trouble waiting to happen, that seems like the wisest course of action.

But he's always been helpless before the sight of seeing someone getting hurt. Maybe you're just watching. Maybe you're the one in trouble. Maybe you're even the enforcer themselves. Either which way, there's a fellow in a bugsuit headed in your direction with a cry of, ] Hey! Leave them alone!

[ Stupid Jaime. ]

[ D: WILDCARD ]

[ You know the drill. ]

Comments

Around the city

[kid_flash_found]

It started with a flash of golden glowing energy, one that was shaped like a human, but was there and gone. One of those glitches in Bart's connection to the Speed Force, a thing he had less control over than he might like, but far more than he let the government agency that ran his life know. Once, when he was Impulse, he'd called them scouts, and sent them off without much reticence or forethought. But the power hadn't been his as Kid Flash, not until the Porter did whatever it did. Fear of actually using them had probably caused the anomalies, breaking out when he wasn't planning to ever use them again. Now, he would do his best to use the glitches as part of his cover. He pretended not to be able to direct them or remember what they saw as they returned. And there were times he couldn't, but this wasn't one of them.

The shudder he always had when one of the glitches was absorbed was the only thing that kept him from immediately showing shock. This glitch wasn't going anywhere in particular, but it had seen...a dead man. It had him starting to move almost before he'd decided to, giving a lame excuse about leaving the oven on back at his apartment. He had to go, to see for himself.

And that was what brought him into one of the rougher parts of town, dressed in civilian clothes that had seen better days, uncertain how to start this. Jaime Reyes was dead, he'd seen it in person, even though he'd been stuck on the wrong side, doing what he could to misinterpret the orders he was given to widen as many gaps for the resistance to take advantage of.

And yet, he was also right there, as if no time had passed.

"Jaime?" Bart barely breathed, uncertain whether the other man would hear him or not, but he didn't know what to do, what to say, not like this.

[khajidont]

Jaime does a double-take, though for a different reason than Bart did. He's figured out by now that this place is populated with what Jaime considers to be doubles - though the people of this world no doubt consider him to be a double in his own right - but this version of Bart doesn't look like he remembers him. It's an easy indication that this isn't his Bart, or at least the one he'd known most recently.

"Bart?" He takes a step forward, glancing around them uneasily, already set on edge by the reality of this place setting in, a world full of familiar strangers, wracked by a chaos he doesn't yet understand.

"...hi. I think we've got some talking to do, huh?"

[kid_flash_found]

He glances around quickly, making sure they aren't anywhere that would immediately gather attention. Jaime had been a high-priority target before his death, and if the government thought they had a second chance...

"Not in the open. I don't know how you're back, but you can't afford the folks in charge finding out."

[khajidont]

"Okay. I -- I'm trusting you, all right?"

Somehow, it feels important to say. To recognize that, for the moment, they're obviously strangers to each other - Bart now in the same position Jaime had been in not so very long ago - but that he's choosing to place his trust in Bart nonetheless. What other choice is there? He needs to know what Bart knows, and he needs to figure out what the heck is going on here.

And... well, he just can't think of a world where Bart's a bad guy. Maybe a little bit of a bad guy. Maybe doing some crappy things for good reasons. But overtly malicious? Never.

C

[monster_san]

[Fuu has been trying to remain inconspicuous in this strange doppleganger to Earth. It's not difficult to pose as an ordinary schoolgirl out in public--after all, she is an ordinary schoolgirl.

She's feeling particularly ordinary right now because she is lacking in something very important: her connection to Windam. Oh, the City isn't the right place for him; no city is. But he is a reassuring presence whether or not it's practical to call him out. And while she still has her glove jewel, tucked away inside her jacket, and her magic, she's feeling rather vulnerable without him.

It was probably just a matter of time before one of the patrols stopped her for questioning. At first the officers are apologetic about having to ask for her ID; it's the metas, you know, we have to be careful. She's almost explained herself away as having forgotten it, putting on a creditable fear of not being safely indoors where they can't get her (she is, after all, afraid--just lying about the subject of it), when the sleeve of her coat shifts and reveals the luminous tattoo of an imPort. In a trice, she's staring at drawn guns as the officer's shouts bounce off the brick, and she's trying to calculate the odds of being able to cast her binding spell before they shoot her in the head, when--

--oh--]

It's him! [One of the officers turns and shoots at Jaime, while the other dutifully keeps her gun trained on Fuu.] Call for backup!

[khajidont]

Fuu!

[ Is this the Fuu he knows? Is she a hardened criminal now? Actually part of the resistance? A stranger, here at the wrong place at the wrong time? Or is she the person that he knows? He doesn't have much time to think about it, nor does he care to; no matter what, he's saving her and getting her the heck out of here. He rushes forward, reaching out with one hand to snatch the gun from one of the officers' hands - thank god for magnet powers - as he scoops Fuu up and gets the heck out of dodge. ]

I've got you, I've got you!

[ They fire on him. He's technically bulletproof, but one hits him in the back of the shoulder, and -- ]

Ow, ow, ow, crap -- [ He flags to the right, though he tries to hang onto Fuu as tightly as he can. He's clearly in pain, though. He's never felt like that before. ]

[monster_san]

[okay, so. things happened too fast for her to have formed expectations of what Jaime might do but. they would not have been picking her up and carrying her away bodily.

she can't deny its efficacy, though.

the sound of gunshots breaks her out of her stunned surprise, and even more when one strikes Jaime. she's never seen him get shot before, and so she has no expectations that he wouldn't be hurt--she automatically grabs on to him when he flags so as not to fall out of his arms. she can't see blood, but she can see the police over his shoulder, and they have to be stopped before they open fire again and finish the job.]

EMERALD TYPHOON!

[the huge blades of wind smash into them--she feels bad about it, she does, and she didn't make it powerful enough to be lethal, but given the situation she can't maintain her binding spell.]

Jaime, are you all right?! How badly are you hit?

[khajidont]

I'm fine! I'm bulletproof! It won't actually hurt me, it just -- [ hurts. A lot. Oh god, he had no idea it was going to hurt that bad. He tries to hide the fact that he's wincing, but he totally is. Thankfully, he's wincing a lot less than he would have been without Fuu there to give him a helping hand. He lets out a sharp exhale, then rights himself. ]

Like wearing a bulletproof vest, right? It won't hurt you like a bullet, but it's not fun. [ At least he imagines that's what a bulletproof vest is like. The pain is starting to ebb already, thank goodness, and his head clears just enough to exclaim: ]

You remember me!

[ It's a tricky thing, hugging someone while you're carrying them. It has the general effect of simply being squeezed a little tighter. ]

Thank god!

C

[desmodusdraculae]

[Kirk had spent the last several weeks silently stalking his prey, learning the typical patterns of several key enforcers. It had been long, and almost mind-numbingly boring at times, but ultimately paid off. He'd gone home, compiled his data, and determined the most vulnerable spot to be in this particular alley.

Only two things decided to go horribly wrong: first, some idiot--not even a rebel, just an idiot human--decided to break curfew and wander down an otherwise abandoned alley for no reason, messing with his timing.

The second was for a rebel to show up to "save him".

With a snarl he leaps down from his concealed spot in the darkness, his Batman suit long abandoned for a ski mask and simple all-black clothing, in an attempt to stop innocents from being caught in the carnage.

He really hated still having some form of a conscience.]

Just grab the guy and go!

[Kirk yells, making his way towards his explosives.]

[khajidont]

[ Jaime lands, thrusting one hand out and enveloping both himself and the civilian in a translucent blue bubble. It will protect them for now, and it will certainly protect them for long enough to Jaime to talk to that guy who looks -- well, he looks like a criminal, is what he looks like, but he's caught on by now that that's more common than one would typically think. ]

What about you?!

[desmodusdraculae]

[Kirk almost doesn't hear him, too wrapped up in thinking about what needed to be done to not get innocents caught up in the blast.]

I need to modify the timer, I know what I'm doing!

[khajidont]

Fine!

[ That's all he can say before he whisks the innocent away. He leaves the civilian where he is, of course - there's nowhere Jaime can take him anyway; his best bet will be to take it from here - and Kirk will see the Blue Beetle hovering back in the horizon in short notice. He's chosen to trust this mysterious stranger, but he's close-by whether the other man likes it or not, ready to jump in if it looks like things are getting hairy.

After all, if it goes off, more than one person is going to be affected by it. ]

B

[devilishly_handsome]

[When Anton saw someone he thought was supposed to be dead in a rebel base, he naturally had a million questions. Which were answered with a statement that surprises him.]

Wait, it wasn't really you?

[Clearly, the answer is 'no'.]

I guess that explains some things, since I was pretty sure you were supposed to be dead.

[khajidont]

Yeah, that was... that was a different version of me.

[ Jaime rubs at the back of his neck, looking awkward. ]

I've heard about alternate version of me that had died before, but I never actually got to meet the people who knew him. Except the dude who killed him, so he wasn't super broken up about it.

[ He is, perhaps, less bothered by it than he ought to be. ]

For now, just consider me the new guy. The brand new guy. I hardly even know what the heck is happening here. I just got kind of, um, swept up into things.

[devilishly_handsome]

[Fortunately, Jaime wasn't someone Anton really knew specifically on an individual basis, he just knew him as 'that guy who made the extremely useful network'. So at least there's not a huge emotional thing going on.]

Well, I didn't really know him, know him. But you build a giant network for a rebellion to communicate through, you end up kind of famous. Among people in the rebellion, anyway.

[He leans closer, watching the guy closely.]

So...are you the kind of guy who would join a rebellion that would fight against a repressive government regime that forces non-humans to work for them against their will and would build a communication network to further that cause?

[khajidont]

Um. See, that sounds like a loaded question, [ Jaime says with a wary smile, though the fact that he's here in the first place should probably speak for itself. ]

The problem is that I don't actually know this world. I'm a superhero. Trying to make sure that people can live the lives they want to is my job. That's always gonna be my job. But I can't just charge in on something like this without actually understanding this place. I need to know the whole situation.

...which seems like a really, really complicated situation.

B-ish!

[fridgeflower]

[ Laurie is not a part of this conversation. She's just here to relay some information, pick up some information, and be on her way again. If she can get a quick meal in or something… Bonus.

Either way, she's got things to do and places to be, and she scoots/shoves her way past this little group of chit-chatters. Maybe a little rudely, but niceties are a long-lost luxury. ]

One side, 2.0.

[khajidont]

Laurie?

[ He should know better, but instinct has one hand darting out to grab at Laurie's arm as she brushes past them, eyes wide as though he's seeing a ghost. It's an expression that Laurie's probably too used to by now, after all the people who have only known her as their classmate who reached her sudden and unfortunate demise, but it's different. He's not only seeing a ghost here. In fact, he's not seeing a ghost at all. ]

Laurie, it's me, it's --

[ He wants to think that she's just putting on a cold front to be safe in this brand new world. But he has a sinking feeling that that isn't true. What will he be to her? A stranger, or an ally long since fallen? ]

[fridgeflower]

Yeah, I know who you are.

[ She jerks her arm away, frown deepening slightly, but it softens up after a moment. She's still frosty enough, though… He isn't wrong in that it's something of a safety mechanism. If she doesn't have to be emotionally involved, she's not going to be. And this?

Part of it gives her pause, but it's not personal or anything. ]

I'm not sure you should know who I am, though. [ Had the Blue Beetle even known her as anything outside of "Wallflower"? Isn't this a new arrival, a new version, someone who shouldn't know her at all? ] Do you need something?

B: A REBELLION BUNKER

[walkontwolegs]

[ Lillie smiled up at him nervously, putting her fingertips together in front of her. ]

Oh, I'm sorry. I overheard what everyone said, and I thought... Well, it was a very good thing to do, and I thought I'd thank you.

[khajidont]

Oh, um -- that's sweet of you, really! [ Jaime, as always, sounds vaguely apologetic about his general existence. ] The only thing is that it wasn't actually me. It was a different version of me.

[walkontwolegs]

[ She frowns and tilts her head to the side ever so slightly. ] A different version of you? I don't think I understand... I'm sorry.

A (Tim is nearly 20, shh, I don't have icons)

[notafraidofyou]

[Tim falls casually into step with the newcomer after he makes his escape from the newsstand. He's been here for years now, but he remembers what it was like to be new and out of his depth, and that was when things were a lot friendlier than they are now. He grins over at the new guy and then nod toward the paper he'd swiped.]

Don't know why you bothered. I mean, it's all bad news, right? [He reaches into the bag he carries around more often than not, and pulls out the latest hard copy of The Speeding Bulletin. He hands it over to him.] No charge.

oh man, this is entirely too late, I'm so sorry! stuff came up; feel free to drop it!

[khajidont]

Oh!

[ Jaime pauses to look at Tim, momentarily struck by the fact that he looks familiar. Is that...? No, it can't be. Pretending like he hasn't even noticed, Jaime accepts Tim's offering with a somewhat baffled sounding, ] Um, thanks! Even bad news is still news, right? Better to, um, know what's going on here.

[ Because he very, very desperately has no idea. He glances down at the paper. ]

Not sold at your regular newsstands, huh?

I am also very good at being timely

[notafraidofyou]

I guess.

[He shrugs a little.]

Just don't believe everything that gets spun out by the propaganda machine. [He pauses and then grins.] And I'm pretty aware that me handing you a different newspaper makes my motives pretty suspect, but the lady that's in charge of it is just about the most honest person I've ever met. If you don't believe me, believe her.

But no--definitely not sold in normal newsstands.