Mothpoint #1- Let there be Light
====Arkham Asylum====
*Five years ago, the skies were filled with the reanimated corpses of the dead. As superhero and supervillain alike fought against them, opportunists- common with every Crisis, fled from their cells. One such case was Ted Carson. The one time successor to Garfield Lynns, Carson went by Firefly, and in a few short minutes, he too would perish, joining the Lanterns in the sky, killed not by the zombies or psychopaths all around, no, in ten minutes, Ted Carson would die in a car accident, the victim of a distracted driver. An ordinary death, for an ordinary man. But as he ran down those endless halls, avoiding The King of Cats' advances and Zodiac Master pleading for dating advice, he failed to notice the flash of light behind him, and following that- a man. Chronos. Out of time, and on a mission.*
Zodiac- Come back here I said! Please, five minutes is all I need! ... Was it the fan casts? Don't say it was the fan casts.
*It was the fancasts. Carson didn't have time to listen why Tommy Wiseau was ideal for a Freeze biopic, nor listen to Zodiac's desperate pleas for Magpie to love him, he had to get out of here. All those Arkham breakouts and not once had he ever been this close- He'd been thrown off a balcony when Bane attacked, been buried in debris during the earthquake and all the other times he had been simply forgotten. But this time he had a good feeling, he was scott free as far as he knew. Save for Music Meister, singing softly to himself, there was no one in his way*
Meister- If I could turn back time... If I could find a way, I'd kill all those who hurt me, yeah I'd slay...
*Meister notices Carson at the door and they exchange eye contact for a bit until at last he winks. Carson continues on his way, though rather confused, and Meister continues his singing, his gaze turned Chronos*
Meister- If I could turn back time, if I could find a way, I'd track down those that locked me here... If I got through these bars, I'd kill all of you, then the blood'd spill and spill, because I want it to... If I could turn back time, if I could find a way... just maybe, maybe, maybe they'd pay... If I got through these bars...
*Carson had made it. He could see in the distance the city on fire and he couldn't help but appreciate it. Alone, he let out a relieved chuckle, not aware of the rumble of a nearby car*
Miranda- Watch the road Drury
Drury- Just a jiffy Tiger Lily, hmm, on every channel...
*And then- Bang. Carson neither noticed nor cared enough to investigate. The city may be on fire, the dead may be rising from their graves, but that didn't matter to him, all that mattered was his freedom*
Carson- Free at last! Gotham will pay for ever forgetting me: Ted Carson! Ha!
*At the other end of that road- silence, save for the crackle of flames, and the cries of a very broken man*
Meister- If I could turn back time...
=====Now=====
*The gun felt wrong in his hand. It always did, even when he was shooting at the bad guys, even when it was on stun. Why was it, then, that for a moment, for the briefest of moments, he had wanted to pull the trigger. He could hear the faint voice of someone... his boss? (Since when had he had a boss?) spouting some curious fish metaphor to the would-be recipient of his gun.*
???- It's like they say- there's always a bigger fish, isn't there?
*Bound and on his knees, the captive before them shouted a number of expletives at him, the gunman, and his boss (that still felt weird). The red bandana wrapped around the top of the captive's head cleared the fog from Simon's mind enough that he realized he was about to kill his own grandfather.
Gaige- Come on then you fucking coward. Do it already!
*This should have surprised him more, but the half-hour long rant he'd unleashed upon Simon introducing Emi was deeply embedded in the lad's memory.
Emi... She was going to be so upset with him. He always got into trouble when she wasn't around, and this might just be his biggest screw-up yet.
Just before he moved to untie Grandpa Gaige, that voice, that layered voice, one that at first sounded pleasant, jovial, but was truly filled with malice and malevolence was heard from behind him*
???- Simon? Hell-o? I distinctly remember telling you to pull that trigger. We *are* on a bit of a tight schedule.
*Simon knew that voice from a lifetime ago: the Great White Shark. Why the hell was he here? It had been years since they last met, and Simon had thought, or moreso hoped, that Warren was unaware of his resurrection
"Sorry, sir," he said in part to stall, but the cold, calculating voice that emerged when he spoke...it scared him.*
White- And that's all well and good, but what are you waiting for? Need I remind you of the money I've paid you? Is this you asking for a raise because, heheh, let me tell you, I am not amused.
*And neither was Simon. This couldn't be right, he couldn't be working with the Shark. He made all his choices in that moment. Switching the gun to stun, he whirled and fired at the two thugs who flanked Warren,
White- What the *hell* are you-?!
*In one punch, the Shark fell to the ground. That wasn't right either. He was never that good, nowhere close. He continued to frighten himself.*
Gaige- Hope you weren't looking for a thank you.
*His job done, Simon holstered the lightning gun and turned around to answer, to make sense of all this, only to find that Gaige was gone, the window broken. It didn't take much to figure out what had happened, not when there was a shred of fine silk caught on the shards. And yet why? Simon had saved him, and they were family. He wondered if he was still angry about Emi. Ask Sionis or Nightwing, Gaige always did hold a-
Emi. She'd know what to do! Simon grabbed his phone from his belt, at least *that* hadn't changed, and yet- he almost dropped it upon seeing his reflection. He was wearing the original suit. The one he had changed after his... rebirth, the one that, in his mind, was his "villain" suit.
He'd have to worry about that later. He unlocked his phone, scrolled through his contacts, many of which he didn't recognise, and some he surprisingly did (what was Riddler doing in his contacts?), finding himself appalled at the startling lack of Emiko. No matter, he had it memorised. He made sure each digit was correct, then called. Nothing. No answer. Didn't even ring.*
Simon- Bugger.
=====
*It was going to be one of those days. He hadn't *meant* to kill that green grocer, it just sorta happened. That wouldn't make any difference to *them* though, he thought- those high and mighty- The sound of an arrow, the sharp kind, flying through the air broke his concentration. Super. Gotta keep running, god he missed the wings, they certainly made things easier... and the gun, he absolutely missed that malfunctioning piece of hardware... but most of all, he missed them- Oh, and his footing, he missed his-*
Drury- Bollocks.
*Either he was upside down, or the world was, neither option was preferable. And of course there they were, the heroes of the hour, he knew he would have beat them if Vertigo would just answer his calls... he should never have spammed the group chat, now only Red Dart answered and she creeped him out, not to mention she aped his style-*
*Drury looked up, well, down, to see them- the Green and Red Arrows, bows drawn. The red one, a girl smiles at him mockingly, putting on a ridiculously deep voice*
Red Arrow- Drury Walker. You have failed this city.
Drury- Yeah, yeah. Very witty "Funsize"
*Red Arrow lowers her bow for a second then turns to her companion*
..
Red Arrow- Can I shoot him?
*The emerald archer looks as though he's going to go into a long tangent about morality, but quickly stops himself*
Green Arrow- Oh you meant with-? Yeah, what the hell, we still have time... Nothing below the belt though.
*Red Arrow smirks, retrieving an all too familiar boxing gloved arrow from her quiver*
Red Arrow- Aw, you can be a real buzzkill sometimes...
*And so, for the second time that day, Drury mumbled "bollocks" to himself*
Mothpoint #1- Let there be Light
====Arkham Asylum====
*Five years ago, the skies were filled with the reanimated corpses of the dead. As superhero and supervillain alike fought against them, opportunists- common with every Crisis, fled from their cells. One such case was Ted Carson. The one time successor to Garfield Lynns, Carson went by Firefly, and in a few short minutes, he too would perish, joining the Lanterns in the sky, killed not by the zombies or psychopaths all around, no, in ten minutes, Ted Carson would die in a car accident, the victim of a distracted driver. An ordinary death, for an ordinary man. But as he ran down those endless halls, avoiding The King of Cats' advances and Zodiac Master pleading for dating advice, he failed to notice the flash of light behind him, and following that- a man. Chronos. Out of time, and on a mission.*
Zodiac- Come back here I said! Please, five minutes is all I need! ... Was it the fan casts? Don't say it was the fan casts.
*It was the fancasts. Carson didn't have time to listen why Tommy Wiseau was ideal for a Freeze biopic, nor listen to Zodiac's desperate pleas for Magpie to love him, he had to get out of here. All those Arkham breakouts and not once had he ever been this close- He'd been thrown off a balcony when Bane attacked, been buried in debris during the earthquake and all the other times he had been simply forgotten. But this time he had a good feeling, he was scott free as far as he knew. Save for Music Meister, singing softly to himself, there was no one in his way*
Meister- If I could turn back time... If I could find a way, I'd kill all those who hurt me, yeah I'd slay...
*Meister notices Carson at the door and they exchange eye contact for a bit until at last he winks. Carson continues on his way, though rather confused, and Meister continues his singing, his gaze turned Chronos*
Meister- If I could turn back time, if I could find a way, I'd track down those that locked me here... If I got through these bars, I'd kill all of you, then the blood'd spill and spill, because I want it to... If I could turn back time, if I could find a way... just maybe, maybe, maybe they'd pay... If I got through these bars...
*Carson had made it. He could see in the distance the city on fire and he couldn't help but appreciate it. Alone, he let out a relieved chuckle, not aware of the rumble of a nearby car*
Miranda- Watch the road Drury
Drury- Just a jiffy Tiger Lily, hmm, on every channel...
*And then- Bang. Carson neither noticed nor cared enough to investigate. The city may be on fire, the dead may be rising from their graves, but that didn't matter to him, all that mattered was his freedom*
Carson- Free at last! Gotham will pay for ever forgetting me: Ted Carson! Ha!
*At the other end of that road- silence, save for the crackle of flames, and the cries of a very broken man*
Meister- If I could turn back time...
=====Now=====
*The gun felt wrong in his hand. It always did, even when he was shooting at the bad guys, even when it was on stun. Why was it, then, that for a moment, for the briefest of moments, he had wanted to pull the trigger. He could hear the faint voice of someone... his boss? (Since when had he had a boss?) spouting some curious fish metaphor to the would-be recipient of his gun.*
???- It's like they say- there's always a bigger fish, isn't there?
*Bound and on his knees, the captive before them shouted a number of expletives at him, the gunman, and his boss (that still felt weird). The red bandana wrapped around the top of the captive's head cleared the fog from Simon's mind enough that he realized he was about to kill his own grandfather.
Gaige- Come on then you fucking coward. Do it already!
*This should have surprised him more, but the half-hour long rant he'd unleashed upon Simon introducing Emi was deeply embedded in the lad's memory.
Emi... She was going to be so upset with him. He always got into trouble when she wasn't around, and this might just be his biggest screw-up yet.
Just before he moved to untie Grandpa Gaige, that voice, that layered voice, one that at first sounded pleasant, jovial, but was truly filled with malice and malevolence was heard from behind him*
???- Simon? Hell-o? I distinctly remember telling you to pull that trigger. We *are* on a bit of a tight schedule.
*Simon knew that voice from a lifetime ago: the Great White Shark. Why the hell was he here? It had been years since they last met, and Simon had thought, or moreso hoped, that Warren was unaware of his resurrection
"Sorry, sir," he said in part to stall, but the cold, calculating voice that emerged when he spoke...it scared him.*
White- And that's all well and good, but what are you waiting for? Need I remind you of the money I've paid you? Is this you asking for a raise because, heheh, let me tell you, I am not amused.
*And neither was Simon. This couldn't be right, he couldn't be working with the Shark. He made all his choices in that moment. Switching the gun to stun, he whirled and fired at the two thugs who flanked Warren,
White- What the *hell* are you-?!
*In one punch, the Shark fell to the ground. That wasn't right either. He was never that good, nowhere close. He continued to frighten himself.*
Gaige- Hope you weren't looking for a thank you.
*His job done, Simon holstered the lightning gun and turned around to answer, to make sense of all this, only to find that Gaige was gone, the window broken. It didn't take much to figure out what had happened, not when there was a shred of fine silk caught on the shards. And yet why? Simon had saved him, and they were family. He wondered if he was still angry about Emi. Ask Sionis or Nightwing, Gaige always did hold a-
Emi. She'd know what to do! Simon grabbed his phone from his belt, at least *that* hadn't changed, and yet- he almost dropped it upon seeing his reflection. He was wearing the original suit. The one he had changed after his... rebirth, the one that, in his mind, was his "villain" suit.
He'd have to worry about that later. He unlocked his phone, scrolled through his contacts, many of which he didn't recognise, and some he surprisingly did (what was Riddler doing in his contacts?), finding himself appalled at the startling lack of Emiko. No matter, he had it memorised. He made sure each digit was correct, then called. Nothing. No answer. Didn't even ring.*
Simon- Bugger.
=====
*It was going to be one of those days. He hadn't *meant* to kill that green grocer, it just sorta happened. That wouldn't make any difference to *them* though, he thought- those high and mighty- The sound of an arrow, the sharp kind, flying through the air broke his concentration. Super. Gotta keep running, god he missed the wings, they certainly made things easier... and the gun, he absolutely missed that malfunctioning piece of hardware... but most of all, he missed them- Oh, and his footing, he missed his-*
Drury- Bollocks.
*Either he was upside down, or the world was, neither option was preferable. And of course there they were, the heroes of the hour, he knew he would have beat them if Vertigo would just answer his calls... he should never have spammed the group chat, now only Red Dart answered and she creeped him out, not to mention she aped his style-*
*Drury looked up, well, down, to see them- the Green and Red Arrows, bows drawn. The red one, a girl smiles at him mockingly, putting on a ridiculously deep voice*
Red Arrow- Drury Walker. You have failed this city.
Drury- Yeah, yeah. Very witty "Funsize"
*Red Arrow lowers her bow for a second then turns to her companion*
..
Red Arrow- Can I shoot him?
*The emerald archer looks as though he's going to go into a long tangent about morality, but quickly stops himself*
Green Arrow- Oh you meant with-? Yeah, what the hell, we still have time... Nothing below the belt though.
*Red Arrow smirks, retrieving an all too familiar boxing gloved arrow from her quiver*
Red Arrow- Aw, you can be a real buzzkill sometimes...
*And so, for the second time that day, Drury mumbled "bollocks" to himself*