Project: Gamer Ver. 2 (Young Justice/Gamer/Multicross OC)
- Thread starter Mister Ficser
- Start date
What about the clothes left behind? those should have at least answered the question of whether or not it was Robin.
Chapter 13
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 0.1.3
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
Artemis Crock had... A very rough childhood.
A demanding father.
High expectations.
Her mother and sister had been impossibly distant.
But she still loved them! She did!
At least, she thought she did. And then things had changed. Her mother had been hurt. Jade disappeared. Father was... Gone.
Everything was different. Everything was better!
Half of her family was gone and Artemis had never been happier.
She'd stayed up late on many, many nights thinking about that.
If it made her a bad person.
A bad daughter.
She... Did not enjoy those nights.
Turning to vigilantism hadn't actually been a huge stretch of the imagination. Her father had trained her in hand to hand, marksmanship, archery and even knifework. Taught her the best methods to track someone, to ambush them and interrogate. Soft and subtle, or vicious and bloody.
Turning those skills to more... Productive? Uses had been a little difficult, but she'd appreciated the distraction.
It kept her from dealing with the whole family issue. Or... Or worrying about her mom.
She thought herself something of a prowler of the rooftops, doing with her bow and arrow the kinds of things that Batman or Robin wouldn't. She'd avoided murder, but she was perfectly comfortable with maiming people.
Under the right conditions.
She saw the same man her father had used to, to test her with. She saw him in would-be rapists, in wife beaters, in too many men.
He hadn't been able to harm her body. But he'd scarred her memories.
But that was not why she had gone out today. She'd heard something, something impossible while she'd been on patrol. The Batman had been on a rooftop, stiff and struggling to move and he'd met with someone. He'd made the caped crusader an offer she hadn't believed.
Healing.
She hadn't believed it, not at first. But she wasn't blind, she'd seen how Batman had moved like a wounded, angry bear getting on the roof, and left with the flowing grace of a panther in its prime.
It had taken her almost a week to find him again. Walking around freely during the day in the near-abandoned apartments close the docks. Like he didn't have a care in the world. Like he didn't match the description she'd heard of a new metahuman the mob was steering clear of.
Like he didn't have a power that people would pay a fortune for.
Or kill for.
She didn't know how he'd noticed her. She wasn't wearing anything reflective, and her shadow was cast far behind him. When he'd turned around to check, she'd thought she might not have been the only one following him.
And then he looked up.
They never look up!
She caught a glimpse of impossible, glowing yellow before she'd ducked under the ledge of the roof she'd been on. She kept low as she ran to the fire escape on the back side of the building.
Her father had told her, time and again. 'The worst thing for a trained professional is a lucky idiot.'
Well, that and 'If you see Deathstroke on the other end of the scope, cancel the contract'.
He was at the end of the road when she saw him, just turning to the right. She sprinted after him, ducking into the alley parallel to him. A glimpse between abandoned dumpsters and she saw he was pacing himself, moving at a glacial jog compared to her.
She pushed harder. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew she had to do it.
Closing in on the mouth of the next alley, she tried to calm her ragged breathing.
There!
A flash of blue and...
She wasn't really sure after that. The world was big. And hot. And confusing. Because she was sure it wasn't supposed to be this big, but her brain just couldn't say -why-?
And then it just became even scarier when a big thing -grabbed- her and she couldn't escape!
She tried to scream, but the only noise she could make was a panicked, high-pitch chirping. That only got worse when something changed, the world changed, and she felt like she'd lost a fight with... With...?
She couldn't remember!
Her distress was mounting even as the big thing put her on the ground. She couldn't move, petrified with fear! She chirped once, then twice, and then things got weird again.
She was laying on a dusty hardwood floor. Light was peaking in between the white slats of plastic blinds.
And she was naked.
That took a moment to register, but when it did she pushed herself to her feet in a single, lightning quick motion. She turned around, eyes wild, hands moving to cover things when she saw him.
Making direct eye contact.
Glaring at her, gleaming yellow eyes boring into her own. Arms crossed and leaning against the wall.
"What." He finally said after several intense, uncomfortable moments. "Do you want."
If Artemis had been thinking clearly, she might not have twisted and kicked him across the face.
She would've gone for the gut instead.
It's hard to get people to talk with a broken jaw, after all.
AN/ A bit stressed lately, turned that into writing. Three chapters in as many days over on Caer, I figured you guys deserved something too.
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
Artemis Crock had... A very rough childhood.
A demanding father.
High expectations.
Her mother and sister had been impossibly distant.
But she still loved them! She did!
At least, she thought she did. And then things had changed. Her mother had been hurt. Jade disappeared. Father was... Gone.
Everything was different. Everything was better!
Half of her family was gone and Artemis had never been happier.
She'd stayed up late on many, many nights thinking about that.
If it made her a bad person.
A bad daughter.
She... Did not enjoy those nights.
Turning to vigilantism hadn't actually been a huge stretch of the imagination. Her father had trained her in hand to hand, marksmanship, archery and even knifework. Taught her the best methods to track someone, to ambush them and interrogate. Soft and subtle, or vicious and bloody.
Turning those skills to more... Productive? Uses had been a little difficult, but she'd appreciated the distraction.
It kept her from dealing with the whole family issue. Or... Or worrying about her mom.
She thought herself something of a prowler of the rooftops, doing with her bow and arrow the kinds of things that Batman or Robin wouldn't. She'd avoided murder, but she was perfectly comfortable with maiming people.
Under the right conditions.
She saw the same man her father had used to, to test her with. She saw him in would-be rapists, in wife beaters, in too many men.
He hadn't been able to harm her body. But he'd scarred her memories.
But that was not why she had gone out today. She'd heard something, something impossible while she'd been on patrol. The Batman had been on a rooftop, stiff and struggling to move and he'd met with someone. He'd made the caped crusader an offer she hadn't believed.
Healing.
She hadn't believed it, not at first. But she wasn't blind, she'd seen how Batman had moved like a wounded, angry bear getting on the roof, and left with the flowing grace of a panther in its prime.
It had taken her almost a week to find him again. Walking around freely during the day in the near-abandoned apartments close the docks. Like he didn't have a care in the world. Like he didn't match the description she'd heard of a new metahuman the mob was steering clear of.
Like he didn't have a power that people would pay a fortune for.
Or kill for.
She didn't know how he'd noticed her. She wasn't wearing anything reflective, and her shadow was cast far behind him. When he'd turned around to check, she'd thought she might not have been the only one following him.
And then he looked up.
They never look up!
She caught a glimpse of impossible, glowing yellow before she'd ducked under the ledge of the roof she'd been on. She kept low as she ran to the fire escape on the back side of the building.
Her father had told her, time and again. 'The worst thing for a trained professional is a lucky idiot.'
Well, that and 'If you see Deathstroke on the other end of the scope, cancel the contract'.
He was at the end of the road when she saw him, just turning to the right. She sprinted after him, ducking into the alley parallel to him. A glimpse between abandoned dumpsters and she saw he was pacing himself, moving at a glacial jog compared to her.
She pushed harder. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew she had to do it.
Closing in on the mouth of the next alley, she tried to calm her ragged breathing.
There!
A flash of blue and...
She wasn't really sure after that. The world was big. And hot. And confusing. Because she was sure it wasn't supposed to be this big, but her brain just couldn't say -why-?
And then it just became even scarier when a big thing -grabbed- her and she couldn't escape!
She tried to scream, but the only noise she could make was a panicked, high-pitch chirping. That only got worse when something changed, the world changed, and she felt like she'd lost a fight with... With...?
She couldn't remember!
Her distress was mounting even as the big thing put her on the ground. She couldn't move, petrified with fear! She chirped once, then twice, and then things got weird again.
She was laying on a dusty hardwood floor. Light was peaking in between the white slats of plastic blinds.
And she was naked.
That took a moment to register, but when it did she pushed herself to her feet in a single, lightning quick motion. She turned around, eyes wild, hands moving to cover things when she saw him.
Making direct eye contact.
Glaring at her, gleaming yellow eyes boring into her own. Arms crossed and leaning against the wall.
"What." He finally said after several intense, uncomfortable moments. "Do you want."
If Artemis had been thinking clearly, she might not have twisted and kicked him across the face.
She would've gone for the gut instead.
It's hard to get people to talk with a broken jaw, after all.
AN/ A bit stressed lately, turned that into writing. Three chapters in as many days over on Caer, I figured you guys deserved something too.
Well, he was confident he could re-frog her if necessary. Among Leslie's problems is that he's not Batman. When he's surprised and starts to react instead of plan, he tends towards what's immediate and obvious (To him) instead of having a solid backup plan. This does not always lead to an optimal choice, something we'll be aware of well before he is.
Artemis made a similar mistake. When her plan to find his hideout got derailed, she went into pursuit instead of backing off and waiting for him to become complacent.
So yeah, they both did something stupid. I just hope the stupid is in character.
Interesting! Like the idea of him taking a healer route. 
Bruce's perspective on experiencing the healing was really cool. Don't really like the Artemis chapter, but then, I always found her super annoying. It also comes across a bit like a set-up for one of the things mentioned in the summery that the MC had no interest in...so...blah.
Bruce's perspective on experiencing the healing was really cool. Don't really like the Artemis chapter, but then, I always found her super annoying. It also comes across a bit like a set-up for one of the things mentioned in the summery that the MC had no interest in...so...blah.Ouch that moment with the mother physically hurt me
Chapter 14-15
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 0.1.4
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
---Enemy Defeated!--
--Artemis Lian CrockX1!--
--You have gained 1000 XP!--
--You have gained 500 GP!--
--You have reached Level: 11!--
--You have 5 unused stat points!--
--You have 0 unused perk points!--
Leslie looked over his notifications as the girl remembered she was a human. The level up was nice, the stat points would be fantastic. With the plus fifty percent modifier to his MP from Shining Soul, that was another fifteen points. And with the Bright Soul modifier, the boost to his Wisdom got him another three percent of his MP back per hour.
He would be able to cast all of his spells one more time before running dry. Well, three more times for Toad. That one was harder to level without a valid target, so it was sitting at four.
His last point went into Vitality. It wasn't terribly healthy, nineteen points meant three-hundred and eighty HP.
Leslie figured it would at least give him an opportunity to run away from anything that wouldn't kill him in one hit.
Like any of the metahumans.
He ran his gaze over his stats one more time. Nine Strength, Nineteen Vitality, Five Dexterity, Nine Agility, Twenty-Two Intelligence and Twenty-Two Wisdom with Six points in Luck.
He was never going to compare to the powerhouses in this reality, and he was okay with that. He could try moving in a different direction, magic and utility instead of raw damage.
The girl, Artemis, was starting to come to, but still seemed to struggle with the sensory disparity between being a toad and human.
Leslie took that time to double check his perks. He didn't have any points left, but there had been a few things he wanted to double check.
Metamagic: Lock had been a tough choice, there were a few branching options down that tree, but Lock had been especially interesting. It would make his spells and enchantments harder to dispel by others until he mastered the spell, at which point it was permanent unless he personally dispelled it or something with significantly greater metaphysical weight than him got rid of it.
So gods, spirits, demons and the fae wouldn't have much trouble, but he could force John Constantine to burn a favor to undo a curse.
Or he could make his buffs permanent when cast. Both options were good!
It does suck that it locked him out of purchasing Metamagic: Overcharge but he figured if he couldn't deal with something in one hit, it would deal with him in one hit instead.
Magically Apprenticed had been the last perk he bought. It just made spellcasting Ten percent easier. That wasn't too impressive, but the level Fifty archmage perk was the end of that perk tree and it did the same thing but at a Fifty percent magnitude.
Terra was not exactly imaginative.
Leslie nearly jumped when Artemis launched herself to her feet.
He stared, intentionally keeping his eyes locked on hers and not on... Other things.
His body was thirteen, not his mind.
She seemed at a loss for words, or perhaps this was how she instinctively acted. Leslie wasn't sure. He waited one second, then two... Then five.
"What..." He finally said, uncertain what to say, to do next. "Do you want?"
If he'd been watching anything else, he might have seen her feet moving before one of them slammed into his jaw.
--Critical Hit!--
--Headshot!--
-- -80 HP!--
-- -2 VP!--
"Son of a bitch!" He didn't care about the numbers, that just legitimately hurt!
And he only had Seven VP, so he couldn't afford to take too many more of those.
"Where the hell are my clothes?!" Artemis backed her way to the middle of the bare room, one arm across her chest while she tried to maintain an aggressive stance.
Leslie tapped his jaw twice, casting Life and Cure sequentially, repairing all of the damage she'd caused.
"Assuming nobody else picked them up? Probably still in the alley you grabbed me in." He glared, silently casting Protect and Blink.
"Give me back my clothes, asshole!" She tensed, readying herself to attack him again.
And missed when he stepped to the side.
"Yeah, no. I ain't got 'em. You want 'em you can walk out and find them yourself!" He stepped to the side again when she tried to grab him.
Her third attempt came up short when he stepped backwards, out the door to the room and slammed it on her.
She was pounding on the door, but he took the moment to think. He could either turn her back into a toad and drop her somewhere. Turn her into a toad and leave her as a toad. Teleport out and just leave this as a bad job...
Or he could try and talk to the angry naked blond girl.
"Why were you following me?" The pounding stopped for a moment before she hit the door one final time. There was a squeak of skin on varnish as she probably sat down on the other side.
"...Because I wanted to ask you something."
"And you couldn't have tried the sane, non-ninja method of just asking?" She may have started to calm down, but Leslie was still holding the door shut.
"I just... This is what I know how to do, okay?" Artemis sounded defensive, not apologetic.
"Okay. Let's try this again. Why were you following me?" Leslie looked around the main room of the apartment. The only thing he'd left out this morning had been his camping cot, and that was easy to grab.
And easy to replace, if it came down to it.
"You're a healer, right?" Ah, damn. He could hear the hope in her voice.
"Let me guess. You were somehow nearby enough to hear my conversation with Batman the other week, weren't you?" This was the only option that made sense, seeing as he hadn't brought it up, at all, with anyone else.
"What? How did you know?"
"Because reality runs on Narrative-ium and I'm a wizard." He stepped away from the door, materializing a pair of lawn chairs as he moved. "So get out here and we'll have a proper talk about this."
He'd set both chairs up before she awkwardly shuffled out of the empty room, hands once again covering her body.
"Do you, do you have -anything- I can wear?"
"No."
AN/ A special feature of two chapters today! Because this one was a little short and I've been getting the feeling folks are tired of this particular narrative cluster.
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 0.1.5
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
Paula did not like to think she was a good woman.
She knew better.
She didn't value life, or strangers. She'd had her husband, and she'd loved him. Together they'd had two daughters.
Two beautiful, wonderful, talented daughters.
She liked to think that it was them that started to change her outlook on life.
She liked to think that, because it felt less selfish in her mind. To think she'd changed for her children. Rather than just... Adapting, to changes in her circumstances.
The incident that crippled her had been a hazy thing, in her memories. Apparently a normal thing, the doctors told her. Sometimes the brain intentionally lost things. Dulled memories.
She'd remembered her time in prison just fine, though. In some ways, those were the easiest years of her life. In so many others, they were the worst.
She got up when she was told to.
Ate when they told her to.
Showered when they told her.
Slept... Well, as best she could, with one eye open and a pair of dead weights where her legs had been.
Lawrence had never come to visit. Jade had, a few times.
Begging and broken by what her father was training her to do.
More than prison, more than her legs, that was her biggest regret.
Paula didn't know if being a mother changed her, if prison changed her, if her struggling to crawl into a wheelchair morning after morning had changed her.
She knew her daughter asking 'What's wrong with me? Why can't I be what dad wants? Why can't I be -like you-' had definitely changed her.
It was why she took Artemis when she was released from prison. Why she kicked Lawrence out from both of their lives.
She didn't regret it... She just wished she'd known what she was signing up for.
Artemis was intelligent and willful. The girl didn't like sitting still for too long.
Not outside of a hunt, at least.
And she refused to tell Paula where she was going when she headed out!
Already it was getting late, much later than Artemis was normally out anymore. It kept Paula up with worry every night, but this was even worse.
A few short years ago, she'd have been pacing. Now, now all she could do was sit.
Sit and wait.
Eleven O'clock came.
Then Midnight.
By One, her anxiety was beginning to get the better of her.
The door slammed open just shy of Two in the morning. Paula wheeled away from the window (How had she missed her?) to look and freezes for a moment.
Artemis is standing there, barefoot, only wearing a blue hoodie. No socks, no backpack, no -pants-.
"Artemis? What happened?!"
"Him." Is all she say, lifting her arm to point behind herself. The hem of the hoodie raises, and Paula realizes that it's literally all her daughter is wearing.
"Me." A boy walks in behind her daughter. Wearing a dark red button down shirt, fading jeans and welding goggles, of all things.
"You?" He waves at Paula, clearly amused.
"Me." He walks right into the kitchen, barely paying any attention to her. She rolls in after him, speechless at the sheer disregard he seems to have for her while he's rummaging through her cabinets.
"What is going on here? Who are you?!" She reaches behind her back, going for the small gun that would be incredibly uncomfortable to sit on, if she could still feel it.
"I-" The young man starts to say as he pulls out a cup. "-am Alchemist. And your kid wants to have me do something."
"And what are you making her do for you?!" She's incredulous when he fills the cup with tap water instead of using the water cooler.
Is the boy insane?
She flicks the safety on her little .22 pistol off.
"We haven't discussed payment yet." He pauses for a moment to sip the water.
Either he doesn't know the danger, or he doesn't care.
"I figured you might be better suited to helping me than she is, anyway."
"You want to just tell her why you're here, or are you going to keep being an asshole?" Artemis stepped out of the hallway, standing just behind Paula's chair. "Wait, are you seriously drinking from the tap?"
"You took an hour to get us here. I'm thirsty."
"Oh my god, you really are an idiot. How has the smilex not killed you yet?"
He took a long, slow drink. Seemingly contemplating the question before shrugging.
"Alright. So. Mrs.Crock." He set the empty glass down next to the sink. "How would you like to walk again?"
"...The doctor's said it's impossible. I'll never walk again." She didn't want to hope. Not anymore.
"Yeah, that's nice and all. Look, we live in a city where a sociopath with daddy issues beats up the mentally handicapped. There are literal gods and goddesses walking around, making even more bastard children. Magic is a thing. And you?" He snapped his fingers and she felt... She felt something. It was pain, but it was pain she hadn't felt in -years-.
"You can walk."
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
---Enemy Defeated!--
--Artemis Lian CrockX1!--
--You have gained 1000 XP!--
--You have gained 500 GP!--
--You have reached Level: 11!--
--You have 5 unused stat points!--
--You have 0 unused perk points!--
Leslie looked over his notifications as the girl remembered she was a human. The level up was nice, the stat points would be fantastic. With the plus fifty percent modifier to his MP from Shining Soul, that was another fifteen points. And with the Bright Soul modifier, the boost to his Wisdom got him another three percent of his MP back per hour.
He would be able to cast all of his spells one more time before running dry. Well, three more times for Toad. That one was harder to level without a valid target, so it was sitting at four.
His last point went into Vitality. It wasn't terribly healthy, nineteen points meant three-hundred and eighty HP.
Leslie figured it would at least give him an opportunity to run away from anything that wouldn't kill him in one hit.
Like any of the metahumans.
He ran his gaze over his stats one more time. Nine Strength, Nineteen Vitality, Five Dexterity, Nine Agility, Twenty-Two Intelligence and Twenty-Two Wisdom with Six points in Luck.
He was never going to compare to the powerhouses in this reality, and he was okay with that. He could try moving in a different direction, magic and utility instead of raw damage.
The girl, Artemis, was starting to come to, but still seemed to struggle with the sensory disparity between being a toad and human.
Leslie took that time to double check his perks. He didn't have any points left, but there had been a few things he wanted to double check.
Metamagic: Lock had been a tough choice, there were a few branching options down that tree, but Lock had been especially interesting. It would make his spells and enchantments harder to dispel by others until he mastered the spell, at which point it was permanent unless he personally dispelled it or something with significantly greater metaphysical weight than him got rid of it.
So gods, spirits, demons and the fae wouldn't have much trouble, but he could force John Constantine to burn a favor to undo a curse.
Or he could make his buffs permanent when cast. Both options were good!
It does suck that it locked him out of purchasing Metamagic: Overcharge but he figured if he couldn't deal with something in one hit, it would deal with him in one hit instead.
Magically Apprenticed had been the last perk he bought. It just made spellcasting Ten percent easier. That wasn't too impressive, but the level Fifty archmage perk was the end of that perk tree and it did the same thing but at a Fifty percent magnitude.
Terra was not exactly imaginative.
Leslie nearly jumped when Artemis launched herself to her feet.
He stared, intentionally keeping his eyes locked on hers and not on... Other things.
His body was thirteen, not his mind.
She seemed at a loss for words, or perhaps this was how she instinctively acted. Leslie wasn't sure. He waited one second, then two... Then five.
"What..." He finally said, uncertain what to say, to do next. "Do you want?"
If he'd been watching anything else, he might have seen her feet moving before one of them slammed into his jaw.
--Critical Hit!--
--Headshot!--
-- -80 HP!--
-- -2 VP!--
"Son of a bitch!" He didn't care about the numbers, that just legitimately hurt!
And he only had Seven VP, so he couldn't afford to take too many more of those.
"Where the hell are my clothes?!" Artemis backed her way to the middle of the bare room, one arm across her chest while she tried to maintain an aggressive stance.
Leslie tapped his jaw twice, casting Life and Cure sequentially, repairing all of the damage she'd caused.
"Assuming nobody else picked them up? Probably still in the alley you grabbed me in." He glared, silently casting Protect and Blink.
"Give me back my clothes, asshole!" She tensed, readying herself to attack him again.
And missed when he stepped to the side.
"Yeah, no. I ain't got 'em. You want 'em you can walk out and find them yourself!" He stepped to the side again when she tried to grab him.
Her third attempt came up short when he stepped backwards, out the door to the room and slammed it on her.
She was pounding on the door, but he took the moment to think. He could either turn her back into a toad and drop her somewhere. Turn her into a toad and leave her as a toad. Teleport out and just leave this as a bad job...
Or he could try and talk to the angry naked blond girl.
"Why were you following me?" The pounding stopped for a moment before she hit the door one final time. There was a squeak of skin on varnish as she probably sat down on the other side.
"...Because I wanted to ask you something."
"And you couldn't have tried the sane, non-ninja method of just asking?" She may have started to calm down, but Leslie was still holding the door shut.
"I just... This is what I know how to do, okay?" Artemis sounded defensive, not apologetic.
"Okay. Let's try this again. Why were you following me?" Leslie looked around the main room of the apartment. The only thing he'd left out this morning had been his camping cot, and that was easy to grab.
And easy to replace, if it came down to it.
"You're a healer, right?" Ah, damn. He could hear the hope in her voice.
"Let me guess. You were somehow nearby enough to hear my conversation with Batman the other week, weren't you?" This was the only option that made sense, seeing as he hadn't brought it up, at all, with anyone else.
"What? How did you know?"
"Because reality runs on Narrative-ium and I'm a wizard." He stepped away from the door, materializing a pair of lawn chairs as he moved. "So get out here and we'll have a proper talk about this."
He'd set both chairs up before she awkwardly shuffled out of the empty room, hands once again covering her body.
"Do you, do you have -anything- I can wear?"
"No."
AN/ A special feature of two chapters today! Because this one was a little short and I've been getting the feeling folks are tired of this particular narrative cluster.
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 0.1.5
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
Paula did not like to think she was a good woman.
She knew better.
She didn't value life, or strangers. She'd had her husband, and she'd loved him. Together they'd had two daughters.
Two beautiful, wonderful, talented daughters.
She liked to think that it was them that started to change her outlook on life.
She liked to think that, because it felt less selfish in her mind. To think she'd changed for her children. Rather than just... Adapting, to changes in her circumstances.
The incident that crippled her had been a hazy thing, in her memories. Apparently a normal thing, the doctors told her. Sometimes the brain intentionally lost things. Dulled memories.
She'd remembered her time in prison just fine, though. In some ways, those were the easiest years of her life. In so many others, they were the worst.
She got up when she was told to.
Ate when they told her to.
Showered when they told her.
Slept... Well, as best she could, with one eye open and a pair of dead weights where her legs had been.
Lawrence had never come to visit. Jade had, a few times.
Begging and broken by what her father was training her to do.
More than prison, more than her legs, that was her biggest regret.
Paula didn't know if being a mother changed her, if prison changed her, if her struggling to crawl into a wheelchair morning after morning had changed her.
She knew her daughter asking 'What's wrong with me? Why can't I be what dad wants? Why can't I be -like you-' had definitely changed her.
It was why she took Artemis when she was released from prison. Why she kicked Lawrence out from both of their lives.
She didn't regret it... She just wished she'd known what she was signing up for.
Artemis was intelligent and willful. The girl didn't like sitting still for too long.
Not outside of a hunt, at least.
And she refused to tell Paula where she was going when she headed out!
Already it was getting late, much later than Artemis was normally out anymore. It kept Paula up with worry every night, but this was even worse.
A few short years ago, she'd have been pacing. Now, now all she could do was sit.
Sit and wait.
Eleven O'clock came.
Then Midnight.
By One, her anxiety was beginning to get the better of her.
The door slammed open just shy of Two in the morning. Paula wheeled away from the window (How had she missed her?) to look and freezes for a moment.
Artemis is standing there, barefoot, only wearing a blue hoodie. No socks, no backpack, no -pants-.
"Artemis? What happened?!"
"Him." Is all she say, lifting her arm to point behind herself. The hem of the hoodie raises, and Paula realizes that it's literally all her daughter is wearing.
"Me." A boy walks in behind her daughter. Wearing a dark red button down shirt, fading jeans and welding goggles, of all things.
"You?" He waves at Paula, clearly amused.
"Me." He walks right into the kitchen, barely paying any attention to her. She rolls in after him, speechless at the sheer disregard he seems to have for her while he's rummaging through her cabinets.
"What is going on here? Who are you?!" She reaches behind her back, going for the small gun that would be incredibly uncomfortable to sit on, if she could still feel it.
"I-" The young man starts to say as he pulls out a cup. "-am Alchemist. And your kid wants to have me do something."
"And what are you making her do for you?!" She's incredulous when he fills the cup with tap water instead of using the water cooler.
Is the boy insane?
She flicks the safety on her little .22 pistol off.
"We haven't discussed payment yet." He pauses for a moment to sip the water.
Either he doesn't know the danger, or he doesn't care.
"I figured you might be better suited to helping me than she is, anyway."
"You want to just tell her why you're here, or are you going to keep being an asshole?" Artemis stepped out of the hallway, standing just behind Paula's chair. "Wait, are you seriously drinking from the tap?"
"You took an hour to get us here. I'm thirsty."
"Oh my god, you really are an idiot. How has the smilex not killed you yet?"
He took a long, slow drink. Seemingly contemplating the question before shrugging.
"Alright. So. Mrs.Crock." He set the empty glass down next to the sink. "How would you like to walk again?"
"...The doctor's said it's impossible. I'll never walk again." She didn't want to hope. Not anymore.
"Yeah, that's nice and all. Look, we live in a city where a sociopath with daddy issues beats up the mentally handicapped. There are literal gods and goddesses walking around, making even more bastard children. Magic is a thing. And you?" He snapped his fingers and she felt... She felt something. It was pain, but it was pain she hadn't felt in -years-.
"You can walk."
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An apt if crude way of describing the Dark Knights Crusade...
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
- Location
- Dallas, TX
Can people in fiction not have factually incorrect opinions? Can people not have biases or perspectives?
problem is people are more intrested in "sociopath with daddy issues beats up the mentally handicapped" rather than all other things Bruce Wayne does for Gotham even in comics last time I looked esiest thing to found was Batman solving some mystery/crime/conspiracy/crysis and/or beating ever living shit out of some one.
Leslie may be aware of these things (And... Really, who can forget the entire scene with Ace in JLU?) but is Paula Crock, former assassin going to be aware of them?
What do you assume would be more important to her?
That he tracked down and manhandled Killer Croc to take him back to Arkham for treatment?
Or that he tracked down and manhandled Killer Croc and won?
What do you assume would be more important to her?
That he tracked down and manhandled Killer Croc to take him back to Arkham for treatment?
Or that he tracked down and manhandled Killer Croc and won?
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- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
And also, from the perspective of everyone who doesn't know that Bruce Wayne is Batman, Batman reads as a weirdo who dresses up like a bat to punch other weirdos with other costume fetishes. That's a completely valid in-universe take, even if it's factually wrong. Nobody in universe gets to really see the whole picture except maybe Alfred.
- Location
- North Carolina
You have forgetten a key fact is that Leslie is not supposed to be aware that Batman is Bruce Wayne or all of Batman's actions and the only reason Leslie does know is due to his out of context knowledge from being a self insert.
Leslie has no proof and evidence of this connection in narrative that others will believe due to how much effort Batman has put into his secret identity. Furthermore, Leslie knows that this information is not something he should be spreading around especially to the Ex-Wife of Sportsmaster and his daughter.
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I was enjoying the story until that last call from Batman, it reminded me of another where the protagonist was Constantine's apprentice and a patriotic military man, the crony union is usually portrayed as incompetent in the best cases and kill them with a lot of fire in the worst.
Although Kid Flash turned toad would be hilarious.
I am curious to know what other option, other than the League, there is to join.
Please don't start another debate on mental age.
Although Kid Flash turned toad would be hilarious.
I am curious to know what other option, other than the League, there is to join.
Well, I have to confess that I am a bit disappointed that this story is not in QQ.
Please don't start another debate on mental age.