EVENT ONE: JUNE 21ST-28TH

[luminals]

TAKE BACK KNOWHERE
When: June 21-28
Who: Everyone.
Where: All over Knowhere, ending in the Continuum Cortex and Observation Deck.

Event details are here, IC announcement is here.

Prose & Action brackets are both acceptable ways of posting to these comments, please be mindful of what threads you are posting under!

Comments

[uneulogized]

[Jason is capable of acting like he's not an open book ... on occasion. There are times when he bothers to mask the smaller aspects of his features, playing along with neutrality or a twisted smile. Those are the masks that he's better at, anyway, and he's had some practice with them, given his training tour around the world thanks to Talia's bank account.

But this isn't a situation that calls for it. That she tells him to play for keeps gives her a number of points in her favor—along with the ones she had already garnered, anyway. She's doing a good job of making herself likable, and if anything changes, he can use his sincerity to his advantage. If he seems like he trusts her quickly, that means he can switch gears when the time calls for it.

As such, the mention of the Infinity Gems simply gets a confused expression, as if what she says has some greater meaning and he's really missing out.]

Right-o, [he says after a beat.] You might want to back up. Give me the "Infinity Gems for Dummies" speech. [He hadn't expected her to tell him that he should get himself captured. That wouldn't be wise, but hey, there are always nuances.

But this time? He's really seeking information.]

[littlecousin]

[Nita suddenly remembers she's holding a semi-conscious alien, and lets the unfortunate fellow fall to the floor with a thump, then dusts her hands together. Eww, incompetent gunman cooties.]

Uhhh...right. It's complicated. Maybe we should have this chat somewhere there's cover? I'm pretty tough, but even I don't want to stop a laser with my face.

[Unspoken but implied: Jason definitely doesn't want to.

Trusting him, or at least trusting the fact that his gun looks like it shoots much less worrisome bullets, Nita turns away, searching for a likely spot.]

What about that storefront?

[uneulogized]

[While Jason's had more extended conversations in the middle of a fight, he can't tell her that she doesn't have a point. She most certainly has a point. Before moving to the storefront, he moves quickly, making it so that the bodies that laid there unconscious were piled on one another into a neat barrier. It's not exactly a humanizing move by any measure, but it's a good way of slowing down whoever's coming.

Once he's done that, he starts off for the storefront, actions swift, but eyes not looking straight ahead. It's obvious that he's keeping lookout for any surprises that might be coming.]

[littlecousin]

[Nita's own tactics are much less careful; her superhuman durability means she's simply never had to be as cautious as a normal person--not to mention she learned from watching Namor.

She does pause just through the doorway, sweeping the store with her superb night vision before standing aside to let Jason through.]

All clear. Or they're invisible.

[She immediately takes a seat on a counter, folding her bare legs up in front of her.]

[uneulogized]

Too bad. I don't have the tech on me for that. [He sticks his hands palms up and shrugs at the same time, as if to say "ah well."] Nothing about this situation really called for a whole lotta preparation..

[Something about this station tells Jason that if he had a chance to have a proper look around, he'd find the tech he needs, but that isn't happening anytime soon. He can fight through a bunch of normal thugs, but the numbers here are too high—and the additional meta-factor means that it'd be suicide.

And like hell is he going to go out that way. (Or at all. Jason't not keen on dying again anytime soon.)

He blows out a breath, moving to join her near the counter, but he leans against it from another side instead of sitting on it.]

So what's the story?

[The question is asked while he keeps an eye on their surroundings. He's trying to look casual, but he remains alert.]

[littlecousin]

[He seems to be handling this pretty well, all things considered.

Nita takes a second to marshal her thoughts into something approaching a coherent flow, then takes a deep breath starts ticking points off on her fingers.]

One. The Infinity Gems are artifacts of cosmic power. Having one more or less makes you a demigod. I don't want to think about what could break them.

Two. There are an infinite number of universes, and it's possible to travel between them. That's what happened to me and probably what happened to you.

Three. This is Knowhere--with a k--a space station at the edge of the universe. It's built in the head of a dead Celestial. Celestials are basically gods.

Four. The Continuum Cortex is inside the Celestial's brain and connects to every point in the universe. It's possible to travel anywhere through it, and into other universes under some circumstances. That's how we got here, unless someone's pulling a fast one.

Five. Something has gone very, very wrong and I have no idea what.

[Now isn't that simple?]

[uneulogized]

Huh. [It's Jason's first reaction, but it's oddly declarative, coming from low in his throat. He fiddles with his gun, checking his ammo. He's well-aware of how many bullets he's used, but he still does it, knowing that each and every single one will be useful as they deal with this.]

Well, I always wanted to jump universes, but I didn't get a chance to pencil it into my calendar. That's a sign that you're legit, you know. [That's more a joke than anything, but he hadn't been Robin long enough for a chance at that, and then Gotham became his focus. Jumping universes wasn't actually a priority in the least. Being here isn't a priority in the first place, but now it just means holding it together long enough until he gets home and picks up.

Of course, that means that time will likely pass. It means that what he set up is going to go to hell.

Well, that sucks. (An understatement, to be sure, but Jason isn't going to let his problem with that show to some stranger.)]

So, all we've got to do is figure out what's wrong. Sounds like the work for a detective, and good thing—because one is standing right here.

[littlecousin]

At least you're taking it in stride.

[She knows flippancy masking other emotions when she sees it, even if she's not sure what those other emotions might be, but as a coping mechanism for this kind of stuff, it could be way worse.

A for the day, Jason.]

I'm Nita Prentiss, by the way.

[uneulogized]

This all might be new to me, but I've seen some stuff, trust me. [Coming back from the dead is just the cherry on top of half the crap he found in Bruce's databases. And that's not counting anything since. He's got that stuff loaded up, so to speak; he'll roll with it.]

And I'm Jason Todd. I'm actually glad to say that it's a pleasure.

[littlecousin]

I get that a lot.

[Ego runs in the family, but in Nita's case, it's tempered with genuine good humor and friendliness.

Besides, she is really hot.]

Before we go off to do something stupid, you got any powers I should know about? I've got your standard enhanced physical stuff. Plus the flying.

[She sticks out a leg and waggles it around to draw attention to the wings that grace her ankle.]

[uneulogized]

I'm your baseline human, but well trained. [He emphasizes it carefully, knowing that it might be bad to count him out in a fight. No one would count Bruce out, anyway, and Jason wants to be right up there with him.

Of course, Bruce also doesn't brag and emphasize his training. He is a master of show rather than tell.]

I might not fly, but who needs that in here, anyway?