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]

"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.