well they call him the Prince of Gotham, anyway... (open)

[cowled]

Characters: Batman, Lina Inverse, and open to anyone else!
Location: 'Batman' will be on the Mainland, but Bruce Wayne/Devin Craig will be available on certain days on the Turtle. Because secret identities. They're a thing.
Situation: He's being the goddamned Batman that's its own situation I promise.
Warnings/Rating: Probable violence/fighting/injuries.
Notes: This log is good for 1-20th, give or take. He'll be available as Bruce Wayne earlier in the month (let's say 1-5th) and from the 12-13, and the rest of the days he'll be off Batmanning it up. Bruce will have his Batsuit from the 15-onward, but until then he'll be dressed in Ye Olde Batzorro get-up. Here.






[It's decades too late for any alien locale to cause particular unease as far as Batman's concerned. The desert landscape is harsh, yes, but it's no Apokolips. Still, there's something about it that he doesn't like.

Though truthfully, the same could be said of anywhere that isn't Gotham. It's the one place in the universe he knows with the complete and total intimacy of long familiarity. It's his home, both a prison in hard times and a refuge in the same. And it was a sign of how well Tim knew him that the simple act of bringing him back from cardiac arrest was to say tell him Gotham needs him.

These last three and a half months aren't the longest he's been away from Gotham, but they are in many ways the hardest. If he had something-- a direction, a clear goal, it'd be easier to endure. But between the secrecy of the Emperor and the clandestine nature of this place, he's come up with nothing time and again.

The architecture of Tu Vishan is seven hundred years old. The written language is as complex as any he's ever seen, though he's been working on deciphering it it's a slow, secondary project to keeping people safe.

But his family is here - as whole as it's ever been at any given time in Gotham. He's... trying with Jason, though every conversation they have feels like going ten rounds with Killer Croc, leaves him bruised and beaten in invisible ways. But Cassandra, Dick, Stephanie-- even Damian. Having them here, as much as it irritates him that they're as trapped as he is, he's... glad of their presence, as he is of Kal's and Lois' as well.

And Kon, if he has to admit it. (Though he'd rather not)

He has allies here, and he's come so far in this life as to be able to admit it without much more than a cursory grimace.

He's not happy.

But he's close, and that terrifies him.

So he shoves everything down and aside, throws himself into his work. It's what he always does when he has an excess of emotion he'd rather not dealing with. Bruce - not Bruce Wayne, but Bruce at his most human and vulnerable - ceases to exist, eclipsed by the Batman. The Landfall is a perfect opportunity, one he plans to spend largely alone.

Though, as has been said, 'no plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength'.]

Comments

[cowled]

I've already studied them.

['and you are not going to start' seems to be the implication here.]

[dragonswag]

[ Okay, saving her life or not, Lina's getting pretty sick of your shit, Bruce. Hands on hips, she taps one foot on the ground with a haughty look in his direction. ]

Well, good for you! Now what about the rest of us, huh? Why aren't we allowed to participate in your grand enlightenment?

[cowled]

If you want details, ask. Later.

[Not that he'd share everything, but, you know. Enough.]

Now we leave.

[dragonswag]

Didn't anyone ever teach you to talk to a lady? Jeez, talk about unpersonable! And how do I know I can even trust you to give me accurate information, anyway? Maybe you just like keeping people in the dark just to piss them off!

[cowled]

[oh no you found him out.]

Do you have a choice?

[because he's not going to give you one

like a douchebag]

[dragonswag]

[ Lina gets another pout in, but then she looks at him -- rather shrewdly, and when she speaks, she sounds a lot more serious than before. No more playing around here. ]

No, I guess I don't. Because my magic's just about sealed this far out, and I'm basically helpless out here without it, am I right? So of course I don't have any choice but to listen to you. For now. But when we get back to the city, I've got a few questions you're gonna have to answer.

[ Okay, yeah, he's a little intimidating, especially when she's without her magic. But compared to her big sister? Batman, please. She's suffered worse. ]

[cowled]

[He gives her another Look. Short of Diana's lasso, there is no force on this or any other planet that could make him talk if he didn't want to talk. And you don't look like the sort that would threaten his family, Lina, which is your only other option for getting him to talk.]

Threatening me will get you nothing. Keep that in mind.

[His tone is sharp, curt. As the Batman, he speaks in absolutes.]

[dragonswag]

[ Honestly, for all the violence Lina might promise to enact on people once in a while, she's not one for torture. She doesn't have the stomach for it, honestly. Besides, there are always so much better ways to get people to do things! Like blackmail.

Still, she smiles sweetly at him -- a little too much so, probably, but she's showing teeth. ]

I wasn't threatening you. In fact, you totally saved my butt! I should be thanking you. And I will. I'm just letting you know that you won't be able to count on pushing me around forever.

[ LINA INVERSE DOES NOT STAND FOR BEING PUSHED AROUND, MR. BATMAN ]

[cowled]

[Mr. Batman pushes around every other superhero and meta on the face of the planet, he is not about to make exceptions for one tiny magic user okok.

except for the part where so many of the women he meets just completely own his balls.]

Fine.

[WELL HE IS GOING TO WALK TOWARDS THE MAINLAND NOW are you going to follow him or not.]

[dragonswag]

[ Lina knows a small victory when she sees one, and her disposition immediately goes up three notches in cheerfulness as she follows behind Batman, folding her hands behind her head with a hearty little laugh. ]

I'm so glad we could come to an understanding! You know, for a weirdo in a mask, you're not so bad!

[cowled]

[She's like the unholy lovechild of a Robin and one of Diana's Amazons. And that's probably the only reason he's still putting up with her.]

Batman.

[NOT 'A WEIRDO IN A MASK'.]

[dragonswag]

[ "unholy" is probably a good descriptor for Lina let's be real

Lina gives him a puzzled look, knitting her brow. ]

Uh, bless you?

[cowled]

[S I G H]

My name.

[dragonswag]

[ lmfao what ]

Your name is -- Batman?

[ Lina gives him a good, solid stare before she promptly breaks out into laughter. We're talking full-on hysterical, knee-slapping, uncontrollable laughter. She wheezes out a few chuckle-drenched words where she can, pointing at him as if in disbelief. ]

Batman! You put on this tough guy act, stomping around with that ridiculous mask, and you name yourself after a bat? Bats! Little rats with wings! Oh, you are too much, buddy!

[cowled]

[If looks could kill--

Well, actually, no, she wouldn't be dead because that's against his vaunted moral code.

But mortal agony? Is another thing entirely, and his look is practically steeped in it as he just. Turns. Slowly. And gives her the same glare that's put every metahuman on the planet in their place at least once.]

[dragonswag]

[ Lina isn't exactly cowed and humiliated, but she does stop laughing, at least. Okay, okay, he's kind of intimidating. Definitely nowhere near as bad as her sister. Lina would be hard-pressed to admit it, anyway. She throws both hands up in defense, letting out an almost nervous titter. ]

Okay, okay! Jeez, didn't you ever learn to take a joke?

[cowled]

['I had fun once.

It was awful'.]

Keep moving.