I'm on the up and up

[andaway]

Characters: Superman and YOU!
Location: Everywhere! And also up up and away... and then the ocean.
Situation: Clark's been here for two days. Clearly far too long, right? So it's time to try something different. But he didn't take the magic barriers of this place into account.
Warnings/Rating: None atm, will edit if needed.

Early in the morning there's a red a blue blur all around the city. You might think you're imagining it, you might not even notice or simply think it's just a rush of air. Or your eyes might be fast enough to see that it's actually a man causing all this trouble. He's flying sector to sector, to the ends of the Turtle's shell and turning back when he finds himself crashing against some kind of invisible wall. If your character happens to like going underwater they'll find him there, but he's never been one for swimming down. He doesn't spend much time in there.

So, no way out on the sides or under. That only leaves a direction to try, right?

So a little later in the day Superman in all his colorful glory up in the sky.  He seems to be fighting with.. something, stopping at a certain point and trying somewhere else. It's obvious that he finds some kind of barrier in there as well to the casual observer, but eventually he gets fed up with it. He keeps on pushing up, using all his strength. Up, up, up-

Until eventually, he falls unconscious into the ocean. 

Comments

[cowled]

Bruce's apartment is not quite the sparsely utilitarian quarters one might generally expect of him, though it is preternaturally neat and tidy. Alfred's influence. He gets twitchy when there's an excess of dust present.

There's nothing in the suite to indicate to anyone that he might be something other than who he claims to be, although he's soundproofed the walls, and but there is a hidden panel that he's installed under the floor - a small space, some two feet deep, six wide and three across. It's rigged with minuscule precise, localized explosions if the cover should be disturbed in a way he doesn't intend. Non-lethal, of course, but enough to destroy the contents of the space itself.

Which right now is a leatherbound notebook with nearly sixty pages of handwritten notes (in a hybridization of Kryptonian. Because he can) and the materials that he's been buying or scavenging to rebuild his batsuit. He's been experimenting with fabrics, trying to achieve something similar to the Nomex/Kevlar blend he uses back home, but it's proven virtually impossible with the materials he's had access to.

Not that he's given up. It's not really his style.

The rest of the apartment is... modern. Everything is exposed metal girders and matte shades of black and grey. It doesn't exactly seem to be lived in. There are personal touches here and there, mostly in terms of the Japanese-inspired furniture, but they all say 'Bruce Wayne' and not 'Batman'.

There aren't many people who would realize it. Clark is one of them. It wouldn't be the first time Bruce had relied on Clark's manners to keep them away from topics he doesn't care to discuss.

Bruce is busy making an protein drink when Clark arrives, and for the time being he's shirtless - having just finished a set of low weight, high rep bench presses. He's got a towel over one shoulder and his ribs are taped, though the crawl of a black-blue bruise has crept past the white edges of the tape itself. Only two cracked. He's had worse.

"I could have told you flying straight up wouldn't work."

Everything's a criticism with him, though there's no rancour to it. Honestly, it's really more of a greeting.

[andaway]

Clark probably sees more in the little things Bruce does or doesn't than what he'd like him to, so he always tries not to look. To give him privacy and let him keep his secrets. But it's hard when every little detail, even the lack of dust or the sound-proved walls tells you something about Bruce.

But of course Bruce is right to trust Clark's manners. He can tell things, but he keeps quiet about them.

"But you didn't. I thought it was worth a try- we have to go back."

[cowled]

"I'm aware." He measures out two glasses of protein shake, and offers one to Clark. Kryptonian metabolisms are hardly kind.

"But sometimes patience is as necessary as determination." Which he's learned all too well, recently. Even if he couldn't remember who he was, there was always that burning desire and drive to push forwards against all odds and costs.

[andaway]

Clark accepts the glass with a smile, but he's wincing inwardly because he never liked that kind of drinks. He likes natural things thank you very much and even though his body absorbs proteins like a sponge (which is why he can be a vacuum when he eats, even if he doesn't need it) as Bruce knows... well, they really aren't his favorite.

But a mild-mannered reporter wouldn't reject a drink like that, so protein shake it is.

"Which is why I was patient as I tried to smash away the barrier. But it didn't work, and instead of getting out of here I... got to meet a certain boy with your eyes who happens to think calling me 'alien' is proper."

[cowled]

HDU Clark it's perfectly natural. It's not like he can go to the nearest corner store and buy a bottle of protein powder. For the curious minded, the drink is actually a mix of bananas, peanut butter, cinnamon, oats and the closest thing to soy milk he could find in Keeliai.

Also, it's Bruce's turn to grimace a little. "Damian. I'll speak with him."

[andaway]

Okay that he can eat- and he could probably tell the ingredients if he actually focused on the smells his nose is getting, but he's been waiting to talk to Bruce about this ever since he got pulled out of the water so his mind is otherwise occupied.

The grimace amuses him, by the way.

"I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. He did save me from the water and gave me some useful information- he just was very abrasive while doing that.

I wonder who did he get that from."

[cowled]

Bruce's expression is flat.

"Talia."

The fact that she'd lied to him about her miscarriage and went on to raise their son in as horrible a life as Bruce can imagine for a child is probably never going to stop being a sore point for him.

And not only because of her own lie, but the fact that he, the 'world's greatest detective', didn't know. He had ten years to find out and not once did he even suspect--

He turns away from Clark briefly, taking an idle sip of the shake as he turns his attention out over the city. The Metal Sector is similar in construction to Gotham. A younger version, but the architecture feels familiar enough.

Easier to focus on that, keep his pulse from jumping, keep the anger confined to the set of his shoulders. Not Clark's fault.

"Dick's been working with him in Gotham. He's better suited to the task than I am."

[andaway]

Clark winces as if he had been hit. He was just trying to tease, he can never win with you Bruce. He had known Dick was the one taking care of the new Robin- but he had been far too busy to think about that.

"I didn't mean-" But he sighs and lets it go because he gets the feeling an apology isn't what Bruce wants right now. "I just meant... he reminds me so much of you already."

[cowled]

"Do you think that's something a ten year old child--" Nearly eleven. He doesn't even know the boy's birthday, although he can probably estimate it within reason - "should strive for, Clark?"

His voice is perfectly even. No variances to his inflection or intonation at all.

He knows that's not how Clark means it. And he knows full well he's being an ass. But the last thing he wanted-- the last thing he ever wanted was for any of his boys to turn out like him. First Tim, and now Damian--

It's damn near enough to drive him mad.

[andaway]

"Bruce- Bruce."

For a man who's supposed to be good with words he's prone to saying the bad things when he's around Bruce.

"He isn't you. He's- he has some things that remind me of you but that doesn't make him a carbon-copy of you. Nor does it make the mistakes he might make your fault."

And he would know, he does have a carbon-copy of himself walking around after all.

"He's just a kid. Your kid. He has a lot to learn, just like we did when we were his age."

[cowled]

"It's not his mistakes I'm worried about."

And that is the crux of the matter, isn't it? Damian being raised as he had is Bruce's mistake, as much as Jason dying at the Joker's hands, and the depth and breadth of it will haunt him as long as he's alive.

He's silent for a time, in which he finishes his shake, and then he heads into the kitchen to dump the empty glass in the sink. He washes it, his methods methodical. Alfred's job. The man would be scandalized to see Bruce doing this work-- he'd consider it infringement upon his Butlerian pride, no doubt.

"Tell me about the barrier you encountered. When you're feeling up to it I might ask you to fly me up there as well."

He hates asking. But until he can cobble together some semblance of a Batplane, it's really the only option he has. Better Clark than Kon. "I've been to the edge horizontally, I'm curious if there's an observable difference."

Also known as: the day Bruce Wayne got incredibly waterlogged. He spent the better part of a twenty hour period testing the barrier in as many places as he could access. He'd taken Damian, borrowed a row-boat from a well-meaning fisherman, and had gone out under the guise of trying to learn the trade. They'd even come back with fish - though not enough to warrant their continued investment in said trade, and Bruce had gotten the opportunity to examine the wall at and below the water line, to the exhaustion of one of Damian's rebreather units.

He still wasn't satisfied. Then again, he never was.

[andaway]

Oh, he isn’t letting the matter go Bruce; he isn’t going to back away just yet. Clark can easily tell when there’s an issue that needs solving, a matter to be discussed. He’s a journalist and that means that while he might not have the interrogation methods Batman is so good at he’s still good at getting information out of people.

So while he understands now is not the moment and that Bruce needs time, he isn’t going to let him treat the kid like a burden he’s been forced to deal with. No one understands how much a kid needs a good parent like Clark does, especially now that he’s lost his.

He isn’t going to let Damian grow without one.

“It felt like chains were pulling me down, like there was some kind of force that was pulling me down. I thought I could fight it, and for a few moments I did… but just when I was about to crash it and break free I simply blacked out. The next thing I remember was being pulled out o the water.”

By his son he doesn’t say. He doesn’t want to bring out the subject again. The captain also helped him when his lungs were still filled with water… he doesn’t care what the others say, this place has nothing but people that have been nice to him so far.

“I’m pretty sure it has magic in it, otherwise it wouldn’t be able to pull me down. It doesn’t strip my powers away as much as it is strong enough to keep me from flying away. I didn’t feel sick or anything by the sort as I kept pushing it so I doubt it had anything to do with Kryptonite.”

It had been his biggest fear. It still is, he doesn’t know what the emperor is able to bring into this island yet.

[cowled]

"Hm." Just that single word as he considers both Clark's words and his body language. He's still upset about the matter of Damian, but he's too smart - or they've known each other altogether too long - for him to bring it up again immediately.

"It was about the same for me, though I didn't black out." He tested the boundaries but didn't push him. Not when all he had to back him up was a small wooden fishing boat and his son. He wanted something high-tech. Firepower.

Damn, he missed the Insider suit. As much as it eats its way through its power sources, being able to harness the combined power of the Justice League has its advantages.

"I'm working on a few things. I'll let you know when I'm ready to act on them. And Clark."

Bruce gives him a Look.

"There's no Kryptonite in Tu Vishan. I've looked." Good God, what do you think his cellphone is for? It may act as a perfectly normal smartphone, but its processing power is such that it can interface with the Batcomputer back home. Scanning for kryptonite's signature of radioactive decay was child's play, and it was one of the first things he did on his arrival. Just in case.

He's lying, of course. Tim has a piece of it. But neither his pulse nor his respiratory rate nor the dilation to his pupils gives him away. He doesn't lie to Clark often, but when he does he makes it count.

[andaway]

Clark does check his pulse and eyes as he says that single sentence. Not because he thinks Bruce would hide Kryptonite from him if it was in this place, but because he's yet to see Bruce give up his little ring of Kryptonite away.

But he's always been trustful, and he's all too eager to believe in a world without Kryptonite. The green glowing mineral makes him feel too uneasy in his new homeworld already, having it in this unknown place where Bruce is alive, Kon is his 90s self and nobody seems to trust anybody else... it would be a little too much.

So a simple "Thanks, B." is all the reply he gets.

"I tried my laser vision and ice breath in the wall both, if it makes a difference."

[cowled]

No finesse, Superman. Clark has always preferred to bludgeon his way out of situations that take a little more subtlety. It comes with the power.

It's not that Clark isn't smart. Bruce knows him far too well to discount his intelligence. It's that he doesn't apply that intelligence to situations with the same perspective that Bruce does. If they encounter an unbreachable wall, Bruce has to consider whether he can go over or around or under it, whether or not there's a hidden doorway or path, whether acid can eat through the wall or well-placed explosions could wear it down.

Clark simply needs to think about how much force he should exert to knock a hole in the damn thing.

It's caused problems between them before-- but they've both walked a mile (probably several miles at this point) in each other's shoes. They know how they do their respective jobs, and they respect each other's boundaries. It's one of the reasons they make a great team. They're... (and here Bruce's mouth quirks into a frown) complementary.

But it's still a little tiring to hear Clark prattle on about his abilities and how little effect they had on the barrier when Bruce could already surmise as much.

"It doesn't." His tone is dry. Hey, he's prickly.

[andaway]

Clark was just trying to be helpful, it's not like he's prone to bragging. And it that intelligence Bruce knows about that had Clark try to use every one of his gifts before using simply the brute force.

"And I'm guessing telling you neither of my visions saw anything different won't be a surprise either."

[cowled]

"Not really. I have been here for almost a month."

Bruce swirls the dregs of the shake about in the bottom of the glass, and then takes a final drink. "Interesting to note: although the Emperor admits her culpability in bringing us here, she seems unaware of my alter identity, so we can rule out omniscience. I also have reason to believe she herself isn't one of the kedan."

[andaway]

"She doesn't know?"

That's news to him, but he hasn't really had the chance to talk to her so it's not like he knows much about the Emperor. He was told the summoning was her doing, but he didn't actively try to get an audience with her. He's realizing his mistake now.

"That's curious, but understandable. And why do you think she isn't a kedan?"

[cowled]

"The way she speaks. It's never 'us' or 'we'. It's always 'they' or 'the kedan'. She's setting herself apart from them, beyond the division of class or economic status. Call it a hunch."

And a hunch though it may be, he doesn't expect he's wrong.

[andaway]

"Except you never do hunches unless you have reasons to believe your hunch is true."

He says, mostly to himself. Which is another way of saying he will always trust Bruce's instinct in this kind of things, but he doesn't think he has to tell him that at this point.

"What is she if she isn't one of them? One of us?"

Us, not you. Human until the end, even when he's hovering as he follows Bruce around the house.