He's not sure how or why, but he's positive that somehow Jon had managed to piss off some minor god or multiverse Power That Be and he was definitely the reason they had suddenly been transported who even knew how many planets (or even universes) away from Earth. He might have been inclined to think that they had merely been transported somewhere on Earth, but the two moons that haven't fully risen in the late afternoon sky are enough to make him reconsider. The thought crosses his mind that it is in fact possible that they're in over their heads, but he just as quickly dismisses it. No one is dead or maimed so as far as he's concerned, they're still doing fine.
In fact, all of the "locals" if they could be called as such, given their claims to being just as displaced as the two of them have been friendly enough, if incompetent. So far all Damian and Jon had managed to learn was that they were indeed on a planet wholly different from Earth (which, duh) and that they were not the only ones brought here in such a state. Great. Fantastic. What a treasure trove of information these civilians were. Damian hated them already.
Grumbling under his breath, he steals a glance at Jon out of the corner of his eyes to make sure the half alien is keeping pace (and not freaking out.) There may have been a lot of yelling and accusing when they'd first arrived, but they had rather quickly come to the conclusion that they really needed to focus on working together to figure out what the hell was going on and the decision had left them in a silent but tense truce.
They pass a copse of trees on the outskirts of the dilapidated town and Damian glances up at the sky, frowning at the two moons and the sun that is beginning to fade. It will be an hour or two still until they lose light (assuming this planet's cycles are the same as Earth's which is a pretty big assumption) and he doesn't like the idea of scrambling for shelter in the dark.]
We should find somewhere to stay and resume our search at dawn. Do you—[Damian's words are cut off by an eerie shriek followed by screaming and the sounds of a fight. Without wasting a second, Damian grabs a batarang from his belt and makes to head in the direction of the screams. He pauses only once to toss a look at Jon.]
Stay here. [Then he's off, running directly towards the sounds of combat without even a glance behind him to see if Jon will actually follow the (absurd) order.]
[ The answer was obviously not. Jon huffs under his breath as he catches up to Damian easily (with his longer legs). There is a part of him that is definitely freaking out a little. No matter what kind of strange worlds he visited or saw, he always had his father or mother nearby. He also knew that it wouldn't always be the case. In his heart, Jon knew greater problems always lurked nearby.
He tugs at his collar (the cape still feels a little tight some days before screeching to a halt. In the distance was . . . a girl? ]
[ This being on another planet business? Laura is Not About It. Her confusion lasts a microsecond before she's tearing up everything in sight, chasing away people by snarling while she figures out what the hell is going on. She was with the other kids, and she can't smell them now. If they've been taken, she wants them back. If she's been taken, she wants out. Simple needs, backed up with a pair of adamantium claws. ]
[ She's quickly surrounded by a unit of three policemen in mechs. Their thick metal armour is the only thing slowing her down as she slashes through them angrily. Laura doesn't bother avoiding their bullets: what's the point. They strike her and she heals. ]
[ One is trying to shake her off, and Laura is trying to stab the pilot. ]
[For once Damian is patient enough to heed his father's words, waiting quietly out of sight as he takes in the situation. It doesn't take long to decide what needs to be done and as he feels Jon settle in beside him and hears the boy's exclamation, Damian rises out of his spot, charging forward.
There is more to this than his first glance would suggest, he knows that. The way the girl fights, the way she moves, the claws she wears, all of it adds up to information he doesn't have. (But she's dangerous, that much is obvious.)
None of that matters. What matters is that there are three grown men shooting at a child and Damian's vision goes red.
He doesn't go for the one she's attached to, instead aiming at a second man raising his gun to the girl's back. Damian's first batarang takes out the gun and the second embeds itself in the man's thigh.]
Get away from the child! [It doesn't matter who the aggressor is. He doesn't care. There is only one wrong party here as far as Damian is concerned and if they don't back off, he's going to make them regret it.]
[ Jon doesn't have Damian's battle-honed instincts. For the first few seconds, he stands still, shocked at what he's seeing before he snaps to attention. A man lunges for him, hands outstretched but Jon ducks at the right moment, kicking the man's legs from under him. Damian is going for the aggressors (typical) but Jon was more worried about the girl. Why were they attacking her? What were those claws?
So he made his way towards her, ears ringing and his senses on high alert. His powers work haphazardly and Jon knew he couldn't rely on them. ]
[ Her attention centres on the explosion from the batarang. Laura's assessment is quick: one's human, one isn't. The human is fast and armed. The other boy is strong, sending a man flying with a kick, but she can't see anything else. He'll be hurt. ]
[ Tearing apart this mech or protecting a mutant boy. Laura's choice is easy. ]
[ She disengages from the armour and lunges for Jon to push him away as the mech opens fire. ]
[ He hits the ground with an oof!, caught off guard by Laura. He stares at her wide-eyed before his eyes glow red and take aim at the mech, melting its arm off. Jon keeps his gaze laser-focused until that — that thing has properly shuts off, its motors running to a stop.
Then he straightens himself, brushing some of the dirt off his jeans and holds a hand out to Laura. ]
[ She's already gotten up, having watched that little Cyclops display. Laura's less tense now that she knows he has powers, but they still have one other problem. Damian is tearing up the other mechs. ]
[The only reason Damian hears her is because he's got half his attention on her and Kent. There's no good reason for people to shoot at a little girl no matter what she's capable of, but he's not about to pretend he hadn't seen the vicious brutality with which she'd been dispatching the men.
Since Kent is hardly capable of realizing this himself, he's watching them out of the corner of his eye as he destroys the suit of the last man standing. One of the others is unconscious and another had run off with Damian making no effort to pursue. It's not as though there's a Gordon to turn them into so what was the point?]
« He's with me. Did they hurt you? » [The last officer goes down hard and doesn't get back up but if Laura cares to notice, the man's chest is still rising and falling. Damian turns his full attention her way now. The Spanish is a surprise though one that he adjusts to quickly, if a bit roughly. His accent is right even if his words are a little slower than they would be for a native speaker.]
[ Jon glances at them both in confusion before stepping back a bit, so Laura doesn't feel cornered. He can't imagine she feels very safe even though they stepped in to help.
[ So, one fights and speaks Spanish. This one doesn't and speaks English. Laura trusts them about as far as she can throw them, but in her book the kid with laser eyes gets more of a say. ]
[ Friend is a loaded word when it comes to Damian and that's what makes Jon hesitate visibly. But now's not the time for that and Jon knew Damian had his back when it counts. ]
[Thankfully the mask he's wearing covers Damian's eye roll at the use of the word 'friend' but like Jon, he recognizes the necessity of answering yes. For the purposes of the girl's question, they were indeed 'friends' no matter the way that word made Damian want to verbally protest.]
[The news makes Damian's eyes narrow and his fingers twitch in the direction the last man had run. He should have hit them harder.]
Who are you looking for? [Her parents maybe? Damian frowns. Unlikely. It doesn't really fit. There are a dozen questions brimming at the tip of his tongue but he bites them back. Damian starts awkwardly and then stops, eyes flitting to Jon's for just a second. Maybe it would be better to leave this to him. He's better with people.
But he can't shake the image of the girl's brutal retaliation. This wasn't her first fight. This isn't a child acting out in fear, even if she is a child, and perhaps was afraid. There's something more here that resonates too strongly within him. He knows the look of a child who is not a child too well. (He grew up looking at that image in the mirror.)]
[ Jon nods subconsciously, already scanning the distance to see whether he can spot any other people in the distance fleeing for their lives. But nothing comes up as unusual on his radar. Even the ambient sounds have died down into the background. He shakes his head slightly at Damian, knowing he'll understand.
Then he turns his attention back to Laura with a faint, tired smile. ]
[ If they don't know, Laura's going off on her own. She doesn't necessarily trust strangers, even kids, even one with powers and one who knows how to fight already. ]
[One day, Damian will have the level of self awareness to see the irony in this. He moves to call her back, not following yet but ready to if necessary.]
I have no doubt you can handle yourself on your own. [That much is obvious and he'd be foolish to deny it.] But we're stuck here too and there's a wisdom in working together. [Words that have been thrown at his face more than once, and words that he'd ignore if it weren't for the little girl in front of them. He very carefully doesn't look at Kent.]
[ Which is probably for the best because Jon is giving Damian the dirtiest kind of look. Thankfully, it doesn't last long. He maneuvers himself so that he can stand in front of her, meeting her gaze. ]
Maybe we can give each other a hand. We're all lost. Why not help each other out?
[ He pauses, speaking in a softer yet knowledgeable. ]
Being alone may be safer, but it doesn't make it better.
[ She turns back, looking suspiciously from one to the other. Laura meets Jon's gaze steadily. ]
I don't know you.
[ Her weight shifts on her feet, turning back towards them. Other children aren't like adults: these two weren't welcome by the police either. And she thinks they might have taken her friends, they could easily have taken these two from somewhere else. ]
[ Alone, she knows what to do. But Charles and Logan were with her and things were better, even for that little while. Laura frowns, then looks directly at Damian. ]
I'm strong. [ pointing at Jon ] He can use his eyes. What can you do?
[From an adult, the question would have been met with a scoff and open disdain. From this girl, Damian does not feel mocked or condescended to. It helps that there's a pragmatism to the question not usually present when questions like that are thrown at him.]
I am not a meta-human if that's what you're asking. [And given the mention of Kent's eyes, he assumes it is. There is an entire list that he can give her, of skills and abilities that make him a fearsome opponent. She does not want a list though, as far as he can determine, what she's asking is for proof that he will not be a liability.]
What I can do is out maneuver him in a fight. [He motions to Jon, and it's not a lie. Even if he'd required Maya and Goliath's aid, he had kidnapped Superman's son and brought him to the batcave easily enough. How's it feel under that bus Damian just threw you under, Jon? He can't help it, Damian tosses a smirk in his direction that fades just as quickly.]
Either way...[He pauses, and this time he brings his eyes up to Jon's on purpose, holding eye contact with him.] He and I are in this together. [Like it or not, they started this together and they will finish it together. Where Jon goes, so will he so long as they're stuck on some other world trying to figure out what's happening to them. Looks like Father and Superman would get their damned Robin and Superboy team up after all, even if they weren't there to see it.]
[ Jon doesn't bother hiding his scowl at Damian's statement, though he bites his tongue from responding. Holding back isn't his strong point sadly. He's always been expressive and encouraged to do so. But when Damian meets his gaze, the irritation melts away into a somber sensation running down his spine, like waking up and feeling his eyes burn. ]
[ He's just human wtf? She stares at Damian unblinkingly. What is he doing in that if he doesn't have any powers? Ordinary people have no reason. She'd think he was messing with her if she hadn't just seen him fight. ]
[ Hmph. ]
I won't wait for you.
[ It's a warning to keep up as Laura turns and starts running in the direction of what she thinks is a familiar smell. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
littlestguano) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
robinnest2017-03-21 12:40 am
I Meeting
He's not sure how or why, but he's positive that somehow Jon had managed to piss off some minor god or multiverse Power That Be and he was definitely the reason they had suddenly been transported who even knew how many planets (or even universes) away from Earth. He might have been inclined to think that they had merely been transported somewhere on Earth, but the two moons that haven't fully risen in the late afternoon sky are enough to make him reconsider. The thought crosses his mind that it is in fact possible that they're in over their heads, but he just as quickly dismisses it. No one is dead or maimed so as far as he's concerned, they're still doing fine.
In fact, all of the "locals" if they could be called as such, given their claims to being just as displaced as the two of them have been friendly enough, if incompetent. So far all Damian and Jon had managed to learn was that they were indeed on a planet wholly different from Earth (which, duh) and that they were not the only ones brought here in such a state. Great. Fantastic. What a treasure trove of information these civilians were. Damian hated them already.
Grumbling under his breath, he steals a glance at Jon out of the corner of his eyes to make sure the half alien is keeping pace (and not freaking out.) There may have been a lot of yelling and accusing when they'd first arrived, but they had rather quickly come to the conclusion that they really needed to focus on working together to figure out what the hell was going on and the decision had left them in a silent but tense truce.
They pass a copse of trees on the outskirts of the dilapidated town and Damian glances up at the sky, frowning at the two moons and the sun that is beginning to fade. It will be an hour or two still until they lose light (assuming this planet's cycles are the same as Earth's which is a pretty big assumption) and he doesn't like the idea of scrambling for shelter in the dark.]
We should find somewhere to stay and resume our search at dawn. Do you—[Damian's words are cut off by an eerie shriek followed by screaming and the sounds of a fight. Without wasting a second, Damian grabs a batarang from his belt and makes to head in the direction of the screams. He pauses only once to toss a look at Jon.]
Stay here. [Then he's off, running directly towards the sounds of combat without even a glance behind him to see if Jon will actually follow the (absurd) order.]
no subject
He tugs at his collar (the cape still feels a little tight some days before screeching to a halt. In the distance was . . . a girl? ]
Woah.
[ Not just a girl. ]
no subject
[ She's quickly surrounded by a unit of three policemen in mechs. Their thick metal armour is the only thing slowing her down as she slashes through them angrily. Laura doesn't bother avoiding their bullets: what's the point. They strike her and she heals. ]
[ One is trying to shake her off, and Laura is trying to stab the pilot. ]
no subject
There is more to this than his first glance would suggest, he knows that. The way the girl fights, the way she moves, the claws she wears, all of it adds up to information he doesn't have. (But she's dangerous, that much is obvious.)
None of that matters. What matters is that there are three grown men shooting at a child and Damian's vision goes red.
He doesn't go for the one she's attached to, instead aiming at a second man raising his gun to the girl's back. Damian's first batarang takes out the gun and the second embeds itself in the man's thigh.]
Get away from the child! [It doesn't matter who the aggressor is. He doesn't care. There is only one wrong party here as far as Damian is concerned and if they don't back off, he's going to make them regret it.]
no subject
So he made his way towards her, ears ringing and his senses on high alert. His powers work haphazardly and Jon knew he couldn't rely on them. ]
Hey! Are you all right? We can help!
no subject
[ Tearing apart this mech or protecting a mutant boy. Laura's choice is easy. ]
[ She disengages from the armour and lunges for Jon to push him away as the mech opens fire. ]
no subject
Then he straightens himself, brushing some of the dirt off his jeans and holds a hand out to Laura. ]
no subject
« Is he with you? »
no subject
Since Kent is hardly capable of realizing this himself, he's watching them out of the corner of his eye as he destroys the suit of the last man standing. One of the others is unconscious and another had run off with Damian making no effort to pursue. It's not as though there's a Gordon to turn them into so what was the point?]
« He's with me. Did they hurt you? » [The last officer goes down hard and doesn't get back up but if Laura cares to notice, the man's chest is still rising and falling. Damian turns his full attention her way now. The Spanish is a surprise though one that he adjusts to quickly, if a bit roughly. His accent is right even if his words are a little slower than they would be for a native speaker.]
no subject
Still. English would have been nice. ]
We're here to help.
[ He pauses, scratching his chin. ]
Somehow?
no subject
[ To Jon, in English, ]
He's your friend?
no subject
He is.
no subject
Do you know who those men were?
no subject
No. They attacked me.
[ She's surly about it. All she did was self-defence. ]
I'm looking for others. Which way were they taken?
no subject
Who are you looking for? [Her parents maybe? Damian frowns. Unlikely. It doesn't really fit. There are a dozen questions brimming at the tip of his tongue but he bites them back. Damian starts awkwardly and then stops, eyes flitting to Jon's for just a second. Maybe it would be better to leave this to him. He's better with people.
But he can't shake the image of the girl's brutal retaliation. This wasn't her first fight. This isn't a child acting out in fear, even if she is a child, and perhaps was afraid. There's something more here that resonates too strongly within him. He knows the look of a child who is not a child too well. (He grew up looking at that image in the mirror.)]
We'll help you find them.
no subject
Then he turns his attention back to Laura with a faint, tired smile. ]
We'll work together and figure it out.
What's your name?
no subject
I don't need your help.
[ ... Yeah that's all she's walking off. ]
no subject
I have no doubt you can handle yourself on your own. [That much is obvious and he'd be foolish to deny it.] But we're stuck here too and there's a wisdom in working together. [Words that have been thrown at his face more than once, and words that he'd ignore if it weren't for the little girl in front of them. He very carefully doesn't look at Kent.]
no subject
Maybe we can give each other a hand. We're all lost. Why not help each other out?
[ He pauses, speaking in a softer yet knowledgeable. ]
Being alone may be safer, but it doesn't make it better.
no subject
I don't know you.
[ Her weight shifts on her feet, turning back towards them. Other children aren't like adults: these two weren't welcome by the police either. And she thinks they might have taken her friends, they could easily have taken these two from somewhere else. ]
[ Alone, she knows what to do. But Charles and Logan were with her and things were better, even for that little while. Laura frowns, then looks directly at Damian. ]
I'm strong. [ pointing at Jon ] He can use his eyes. What can you do?
no subject
I am not a meta-human if that's what you're asking. [And given the mention of Kent's eyes, he assumes it is. There is an entire list that he can give her, of skills and abilities that make him a fearsome opponent. She does not want a list though, as far as he can determine, what she's asking is for proof that he will not be a liability.]
What I can do is out maneuver him in a fight. [He motions to Jon, and it's not a lie. Even if he'd required Maya and Goliath's aid, he had kidnapped Superman's son and brought him to the batcave easily enough. How's it feel under that bus Damian just threw you under, Jon? He can't help it, Damian tosses a smirk in his direction that fades just as quickly.]
Either way...[He pauses, and this time he brings his eyes up to Jon's on purpose, holding eye contact with him.] He and I are in this together. [Like it or not, they started this together and they will finish it together. Where Jon goes, so will he so long as they're stuck on some other world trying to figure out what's happening to them. Looks like Father and Superman would get their damned Robin and Superboy team up after all, even if they weren't there to see it.]
no subject
But more than that, we stick together.
no subject
[ Hmph. ]
I won't wait for you.
[ It's a warning to keep up as Laura turns and starts running in the direction of what she thinks is a familiar smell. ]