[She's gotten used to explaining herself in the last few weeks, and even back home from time to time, so it's with understanding that she lifts her hand, knuckles out, for him to see the ring on her gloved finger.]
I'm a Green Lantern, that's what this ring means. In my universe, the Green Lantern Corp is a sort of police force charged with protecting the universe. [She lets her hand drop as she wonders at how much to say. Someone back in the City had tried to take her ring after learning it was the source of her abilities (not that it had worked for them) and since then she's been wary of how she explained it.]
I asked the ring to do a scan for me. It's kind of like a mini computer. [The ring chirps the inaccuracy in her head and she apologizes. It's a necessary downgrade. She gestures in the direction they need to walk and begins working her way through the weird moss sludge, feeling awkward and nervous. She just admitted that she's the kind of person who should be prepared for this but she still has no idea how to get them out of here. It makes her chest feel tight and she takes several deep breaths, wondering what Laine must think of her incompetence.
Conversation. That's probably better than staying in her head right now.]
Guess that's why The City picked me up in the first place, this sort of thing is kind of my job. Now it's like an unpaid promotion. [She snorts and then frowns.]
Uh, not that Green Lanterns get paid either? I don't even get benefits...
[She grins at the familiar colloquial for her title as she nods. The corp didn't like it when the Earth lanterns referred to themselves that way, but they all did. It was accurate after all.]
Well, I can tell you the space donuts aren't what you'd think they are. [Oops, dumb Earth joke.]
It's...not what I would have expected? Not that I ever expected to be a space cop. I'm not really sure what I was going to be but I can tell you it didn't involve space. It's sure come in handy through this mess though. [She gestures at their surroundings though it's likely to mean not just this right now but also the City.
She still hasn't really answered the question, though it isn't an intentional dodge so much as she just isn't sure she knows how to answer it.]
It's hard. [She finally continues, moving some brush out of the way for them as they go.] But rewarding. I didn't sign up for it but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
If you didn't sign up for it, how'd you end up with the job? [Laine follows her, keeping up the friendly chatter.
He doubts that it's Mothers. He's discovered that Mothers really doesn't exist in any of the other universes he's heard of so far.]
They put me in the space cops to try and keep me under their thumb after I got arrested for piracy and treason. [Way more than he usually reveals on a first meeting, but what's the harm of it?] But it's been more rewarding than I could have expected.
[Piracy and treason gets a brow raise and curious look, but she's not going to assume anything quite yet. She's seen enough of the universe to know better by now.]
It's...well. Complicated. The rings choose their bearers. I was just an ordinary person my whole life, then some things happened that put me on the radar of some crazy evil big bad. It was a whole thing. Batman was there. [He probably doesn't know who Batman is because most people in The City don't, but it feels important to establish how much of a Thing it was.] Then I almost died, but didn't, and then because clearly the entire universe is out of its mind, this ring decided I could be a space cop because I did such a great job at not dying.
[She shrugs, smiling and aware of how ridiculous it sounds.] Like I said, complicated. And weird, did I say weird? Because it's weird. [Pause.] You can turn it down. You can walk away at anytime.
[Her eyes fall on the ring and she smiles to herself.] I guess I just like being a space cop that doesn't get paid.
What about you? Treason's pretty heavy, if you're actually guilty. What happened?
[In spite of her concerns, Jessica snorts, unable to stop herself at that reaction. Who is this guy even...? The squishy alien still on his shoulder startles at the sound and attempts to imitate it, making a very strange squeak. She's keeping it forever.]
Oh, now, that's a secret~ [He says, playful as he raises a hand carefully to make sure the little alien on his shoulder doesn't fall off as it squeaks.]
[Her smile doesn't fade but the playfulness doesn't throw her off of the information he's given her, even if it isn't much. She has a feeling Laine is the kind of guy who knows he's charming and it isn't going to make her forget that whole "treason" bit. This isn't her jurisdiction and she isn't about to try and step into the politics of a world that isn't her own, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to know if her traveling companion is the kind of guy she can trust not to stab her in the back. Before she can try for another more direct question, the alien chirps again just as movement in the thick trees to their left makes itself known.
She has enough time to throw a shield up in front of them both before something propels itself out of the bushes and slashes at them, each of it's unnaturally long limbs lined with blades that make it appear less like a creature inhabiting the planet, and more like something out of a bad scifi movie.]
Wh-- [Laine takes in a sharp breath through his nose, trying to catch the scent of whatever's rushing at them. It came up on his blind side, and it's a good thing Jessica throws that shield up.]
That's not good. [Laine doesn't sound too worried, but he's also keeping an eye out for more.]
[The shield can hold it, it's not strong enough to break through. She frowns though, staring at the weirdly humanoid reminiscent form and mangled appendages. Something tells her this can't be native to the planet.]
No kidding, Ring, what's the deal! [The answer comes to her a moment later in her head.
Inorganic life form. No language available. No sentience detected. J-Bird, it appears to driven only by need to destroy.
Well, great, that's perfect.]
I think someone made this thi—[A shriek in the distance is followed by others and Jessica turns her head in that direction, immediately lowering the shield and instinctively reforming the green light into a swirling mass of tendrils that lift the creature and slam it into the ground once then twice just as several others approach.]
Crap. Okay, maybe run. I'll find you. I got this. [She doesn't feel like she has this but maybe if she says it to herself enough, she'll mean it.]
[She says she's got this, and Laine wants to keep his advantage hidden for as long as possible.
But it's going to be a lot, he can hear those screeches, and the thing doesn't look too bothered by being slammed into the ground.]
We both need to get out of here. Come here. [There's no guarantee that they won't be tracked, but if she'll just get close enough that he can grab her, they can run.]
[She hears it in his voice that he has a plan and isn't aimlessly going to attempt to outrun these things, but before she can do anything, another whose approach must have been masked by the sound of the others jumps out at them from behind and she has to split her focus to make another shield that shoves it a dozen feet away. It buys her time to turn the green tendrils on it and they take both creatures, slamming them together.
They might be able to take to the sky but if they run into one of those flying things, they aren't going to be much better off. The thought has barely passed when the rest reach them and whatever Laine's plan had been she can't reach him now as the wave hits. Tossing the first two into the rest, she changes the light into a long beam that she swings at a dozen, knocking them all over and keeping one of them down for good. It's not nearly enough.
Her eyes find Laine in the throng and she throws up a sphere around him even as she dodges a blade to her side. After using a makeshift wrecking ball to clear a path to Laine, she lowers his shield, unable to maintain so many constructs. They have seconds maybe, before they're swarmed again and her battery won't last forever.]
[He's got something in his hand, translucent and blue, more like the idea of a weapon than anything solid, but it's sharp enough to cut through these things. The bright green of Jessica's not-SPH gives him enough of a shield that he can catch his breath for a second, turn his head to get an actual look at the battlefield instead of just trying to guess what's on his blind side.
It's not good.]
You fly out of here, I'll try and meet up with you later.
[If she weren't so busy being overwhelmed, she might laugh.]
Maybe your space cops are different, but I don't leave my partners behind! [She thinks suddenly, achingly, of Simon as she hasn't in weeks and knows he'd curse her out for staying even though he'd do the same.]
Come on! [She reaches a hand out to him, ready to put all of her power into a shield around them both.] We'll just have to try our luck in the ai—[She doesn't finish as one of the creatures, in a fit of athleticism unknown until this moment, easily jumps from fifteen feet back to land squarely between them and knock Jessica to the ground. In seconds her lantern light has formed a blade to counter the bladed limbs edging closer to her body, but they won't do much good when the rest of the creatures overrun them in moments.]
she's on the ground, one of those things between them, and more rushing at him.]
Are you okay? [He shouts, as he blocks with his blade and tries to figure out how to get out of the press of hostile bodies.
He needs the eye for a fight like this, but even as he blocks and strikes and tries to figure out how to get enough space to get into the air, the eye doesn't give him so much as a tenth of a second of foresight.]
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I'm a Green Lantern, that's what this ring means. In my universe, the Green Lantern Corp is a sort of police force charged with protecting the universe. [She lets her hand drop as she wonders at how much to say. Someone back in the City had tried to take her ring after learning it was the source of her abilities (not that it had worked for them) and since then she's been wary of how she explained it.]
I asked the ring to do a scan for me. It's kind of like a mini computer. [The ring chirps the inaccuracy in her head and she apologizes. It's a necessary downgrade. She gestures in the direction they need to walk and begins working her way through the weird moss sludge, feeling awkward and nervous. She just admitted that she's the kind of person who should be prepared for this but she still has no idea how to get them out of here. It makes her chest feel tight and she takes several deep breaths, wondering what Laine must think of her incompetence.
Conversation. That's probably better than staying in her head right now.]
Guess that's why The City picked me up in the first place, this sort of thing is kind of my job. Now it's like an unpaid promotion. [She snorts and then frowns.]
Uh, not that Green Lanterns get paid either? I don't even get benefits...
no subject
Other than not getting paid, what's that like?
no subject
Well, I can tell you the space donuts aren't what you'd think they are. [Oops, dumb Earth joke.]
It's...not what I would have expected? Not that I ever expected to be a space cop. I'm not really sure what I was going to be but I can tell you it didn't involve space. It's sure come in handy through this mess though. [She gestures at their surroundings though it's likely to mean not just this right now but also the City.
She still hasn't really answered the question, though it isn't an intentional dodge so much as she just isn't sure she knows how to answer it.]
It's hard. [She finally continues, moving some brush out of the way for them as they go.] But rewarding. I didn't sign up for it but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
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He doubts that it's Mothers. He's discovered that Mothers really doesn't exist in any of the other universes he's heard of so far.]
They put me in the space cops to try and keep me under their thumb after I got arrested for piracy and treason. [Way more than he usually reveals on a first meeting, but what's the harm of it?] But it's been more rewarding than I could have expected.
no subject
It's...well. Complicated. The rings choose their bearers. I was just an ordinary person my whole life, then some things happened that put me on the radar of some crazy evil big bad. It was a whole thing. Batman was there. [He probably doesn't know who Batman is because most people in The City don't, but it feels important to establish how much of a Thing it was.] Then I almost died, but didn't, and then because clearly the entire universe is out of its mind, this ring decided I could be a space cop because I did such a great job at not dying.
[She shrugs, smiling and aware of how ridiculous it sounds.] Like I said, complicated. And weird, did I say weird? Because it's weird. [Pause.] You can turn it down. You can walk away at anytime.
[Her eyes fall on the ring and she smiles to herself.] I guess I just like being a space cop that doesn't get paid.
What about you? Treason's pretty heavy, if you're actually guilty. What happened?
no subject
But I guess I have something they needed, so they couldn't just get rid of me easily.
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And what's that?
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no subject
She has enough time to throw a shield up in front of them both before something propels itself out of the bushes and slashes at them, each of it's unnaturally long limbs lined with blades that make it appear less like a creature inhabiting the planet, and more like something out of a bad scifi movie.]
Stay behind me!
no subject
That's not good. [Laine doesn't sound too worried, but he's also keeping an eye out for more.]
no subject
No kidding, Ring, what's the deal! [The answer comes to her a moment later in her head.
Inorganic life form. No language available. No sentience detected. J-Bird, it appears to driven only by need to destroy.
Well, great, that's perfect.]
I think someone made this thi—[A shriek in the distance is followed by others and Jessica turns her head in that direction, immediately lowering the shield and instinctively reforming the green light into a swirling mass of tendrils that lift the creature and slam it into the ground once then twice just as several others approach.]
Crap. Okay, maybe run. I'll find you. I got this. [She doesn't feel like she has this but maybe if she says it to herself enough, she'll mean it.]
no subject
But it's going to be a lot, he can hear those screeches, and the thing doesn't look too bothered by being slammed into the ground.]
We both need to get out of here. Come here. [There's no guarantee that they won't be tracked, but if she'll just get close enough that he can grab her, they can run.]
no subject
They might be able to take to the sky but if they run into one of those flying things, they aren't going to be much better off. The thought has barely passed when the rest reach them and whatever Laine's plan had been she can't reach him now as the wave hits. Tossing the first two into the rest, she changes the light into a long beam that she swings at a dozen, knocking them all over and keeping one of them down for good. It's not nearly enough.
Her eyes find Laine in the throng and she throws up a sphere around him even as she dodges a blade to her side. After using a makeshift wrecking ball to clear a path to Laine, she lowers his shield, unable to maintain so many constructs. They have seconds maybe, before they're swarmed again and her battery won't last forever.]
Ideas?
no subject
It's not good.]
You fly out of here, I'll try and meet up with you later.
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Maybe your space cops are different, but I don't leave my partners behind! [She thinks suddenly, achingly, of Simon as she hasn't in weeks and knows he'd curse her out for staying even though he'd do the same.]
Come on! [She reaches a hand out to him, ready to put all of her power into a shield around them both.] We'll just have to try our luck in the ai—[She doesn't finish as one of the creatures, in a fit of athleticism unknown until this moment, easily jumps from fifteen feet back to land squarely between them and knock Jessica to the ground. In seconds her lantern light has formed a blade to counter the bladed limbs edging closer to her body, but they won't do much good when the rest of the creatures overrun them in moments.]
no subject
she's on the ground, one of those things between them, and more rushing at him.]
Are you okay? [He shouts, as he blocks with his blade and tries to figure out how to get out of the press of hostile bodies.
He needs the eye for a fight like this, but even as he blocks and strikes and tries to figure out how to get enough space to get into the air, the eye doesn't give him so much as a tenth of a second of foresight.]