Participants:
| Scene Title | Tim Drake and Ra's Al Ghul |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | A random meeting between enemies becomes an unlikely meeting between allies. |
| Date | May 30 2010 |
Prospect Park is a 585-acre public park sitting square in the heart of Brooklyn. While the borough around this verdant region of lush foliage, tall trees and rolling hills is prospering, Prospect Park has become something of a ghetto within the city's bowels. Brooklyn has grown steadily following the destruction of Midtown, but not everyone in New York City can afford to live in Brooklyn, and those that cant have resorted to vagrancy across the city. Some brave the southern edge of Central Park on Manhattan, but the lion's share of mainland New York's homeless are here in Prospect Park.
Where once was a blossoming park pulling itself up from a nadir of abandonment and disuse in the seventies, Prospect Park has sunken back down into a state of disrepair and squalor. Tracts of forested land are laden with blue tarp tents, fire pits and makeshift shanty towns. The park is no longer officially maintained by the state of New York due to budget constraints, so the park's once pristine boat house and other facilities have been made into a makeshift homeless community, such as they are.
The Prospect Park Zoo, which once featured over seven hundred animals, was closed shortly after the bomb and the facility rests in decay in the park behind rusting iron gates and sturdy fence.
Early in the evening, after dealing with auditions in his band, Magnes slipped off by himself to come back to the camp. Knowing Muggles is missing now, this would be a good place to both look and help out again. Maybe that little dog was him.
Right now he's just shoveling excess snow, most of the camp rather clear, but he's making multiple paths leading outside the park, the current path he's working on happening to be North. He's bundled up in plenty of thick white winter clothes, red scarf around his face and reflective snow goggles on. He's not hard to miss, especially considering the large chunks of snow he lifts and tosses to the side with the tool.
Adam has been wandering aimlessly through the city. While he's bundled up a bit, he seems to be less defended against the elements than other people. It's not because he doesn't feel cold, of course, but he's had some nasty winters in his lifetime and frostbite isn't so much of an issue with him. He has a winter coat on and a cap on. His gloved hands are inside the pockets of his coat and he makes his way through the refugee camp without much notice of the suffering masses. At best, he seems to be people watching, though in a much more active way than sitting at a bench. He stops as some woman crosses his path. He doesn't say anything to her, doesn't do much of anything before he keeps walking.
Magnes is walking back into the camp with the shovel over his shoulder, walking in Adam's direction. It doesn't register who the figure is at first, handing the shovel off to the priest, but when he walks a bit closer to cross his path, he suddenly just stares. "You." is the only thing he says, unable to really act, since he definitely knows how dangerous Adam can be, and there's no point in putting the camp in danger.
Adam pauses a moment as he appears to be addressed. He glances behind him as if he's caught in the middle of a conversation, then back to the other man, "Me?" he pauses and studies the man further, "Ah." he says as recognition comes to him. "Gravity lad. I must apologize, I didn't recognize you all bundled up with goggles and all. New costume?"
"It's cold, I fly." is the only answer Magnes offers, since he's flown enough in the news for it not to be much of a secret to bother keeping. "What are you doing here? Why are you even in the city where so many people want to kill you?" he asks, trying his best not to provoke, but still get information that could help later down the line.
Adam tilts his head a moment as he studies Magnes. He pauses and leans forward, "I've hidden four nuclear bombs around the city. I've come back to enact my revenge. To find the bombs, you'll have to solve a series of riddles in a time I've decided." he looks at his wrist watch, "Your time starts now."
"What the hell?" Magnes' eyes widen as he raises his goggles, giving Adma a very 'Are you insane?' look. "Fine, I'll play your game, it looks like I don't have much of a choice." He motions a hand for Adam to start, meaning //thinking/ is very hard if he's getting out of here with both himself and whoever he can find alive. "Go ahead."
Adam is quiet for a moment, studying Magnes as if he were a subject in a type of experiment and then laughs. It's not a gut wrenching laugh, but it's a pretty hearty once. He seems like he's about to say something, then holds up his hand and says, "Wait, wait." he pauses for a moment and then fumbles around his pockets before pulling out a cellular phone, "Can you make that face again, it's priceless."
Magnes suddenly pulls his iPhone from a heavy zipped up coat pocket, then holds it up to stare at Adam through the camera. "I don't know, how about you?" he peers at Adam and how casual he is about the bombs. Best to be sage than sorry. "Now come on, let's get this game over withh."
Adam takes a picture before looking at it and deciding, "Well, it's not the initial look, but it'll do." he shakes his head, "You've really got to work on your gullibility, Magnes." he says, "Do you really think I'd just be wandering around the homeless if I just planted nuclear bombs? Wouldn't I be shacked up in my fortress? Which, by the way, I can't get to because of the horrible job New York has done with plowing." he shakes his head, "Aren't you all supposed to be superheroes? Why didn't you stop this? Helena's work, looks to me."
"What are me, Helena, or anyone else supposed to do about the weather? I'm not exactly Storm." Magnes may or may not have snapped a picture, but he slides the phone back into his pocket and focuses on the man again. "And I've heard of stranger places to put a nuke, and stranger places to be when it's about to go off. I have to take serious threats like that seriously."
He stares up at the sky, but tries to keep Adam within his vision at the same time, his previous words running through his head again. "Helena's work… you're saying she can do that, then?"
Adam blinks a bit at Magnes, looking honestly surprised, "Are you just playing dumb for character or do you not really know?" he considers Magnes suspiciously, "I mean…really? It's not even a secret. Weather is her thing."
"I'm not playing dumb, believe it or not." Magnes deadpans, sounding slightly annoyed, but continues. "People try hard to keep me out of the loop a lot, so there's pieces of information I simply don't have. I've never known what Helena could do, hell, I've only spoken to her about twice. But good to know."
Adam huhs. "You really get the short end of the stick sometimes, huh Magnes." he doesn't sound particularly sympathetic, but he does seem sincere. He pauses, shuffling his feet a bit, "I watched her and the other atmokinetic once play around with the clouds. Wonder whatever happened to him…" he trails off thoughtfully, then back to Magnes, "To be honest, there's no real advantage to being in the loop. The game is tired. I'm out, myself. I quit." he glances to the side a moment, then back to Magnes, "I was thinking about owning a comic book store, actually. But I gave up on that idea after I was in a Burger King and these two teenage girls start yelling at each other about some boys named Jacob and Edward. And suddenly one of them turned to me, the one with a top hat of all things, and asked me what team I was on. I said Jacob, because I knew an Edward and I didn't like him, which is why I killed him you see. So she gave me a button that said Team Jacob." he trails off again, "I imagine that's what owning a comic book store is like. But you'd know better than me."
Magnes is listening intently, not even sure what to think or feel as he attempts to process all that. There's a look of confusion, various thoughts coming to mind, then he responds as best he can manage. "I, Twilight doesn't have anything to do with comics… at least I hope not. Sure, there can be some divides between Star Wars and Star Trek, DC and Marvel, but it's nothing so obnoxious as teenaged girls and Twilight." But, this subject is definitely something he can't ignore. He can't fight right now, but he can definitely get something done. "If you're really serious, about giving this all up and settling down, not hurting anyone anymore, I'm willing to help. If I can offer Gabriel the benefit of a doubt, someone who tried to cut my ex girlfriend's head open, then I can offer it to you too."
Adam blows air through his lips at Magnes' talk, "Yeah, I have no idea what you just said, which is probably another reason I shouldn't own a comic book shop." he pauses, "Plus, you comic book nerds are greasy, have you noticed that?" he adds as an after thought, "No offense." he pauses, "Well, I'll keep that in mind, but.." he pauses, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not clear on what you could do for me that I couldn't do myself. I'm rather well off, you see." he glances around the park, then back to Magnes, "And what's your fixation on me, anyway? I don't see you doing anything about Linderman. I've never done anything that bad."
"Don't get me wrong, I know Linderman's worse than you, but he's complicated. Ignoring the fact that Linderman is protected politically, and probably has an incomprehensible level of protection, I'm still not sure how to take him out without leaving a huge power gap in the city's criminal underworld." Magnes sounds as if he's given this real thought before, zipping his pocket after momentarily forgetting to. No point in getting his iPhone stolen by some pick pocket. "So far my only plan is to take out smaller fish first, and work my way up to Linderman, then there's not a bunch of crime bosses at war trying to take his spot."
Raising a finger to point it directly at Adam's forehead, he finally answers the first question. "You killed the girlfriend of a good friend of mine, you tortured a girl I dated, broke, healed, and rebroke her fingers somehow." That part being Elle, a person he only partially remembers. "You killed Hiro Nakamura's father, and Hiro's my friend, so I take that kind of thing personally. I'm not sure what you are or were aiming at exactly, but it's not the sort of thing I could just let slide… unless you are serious about quitting."
Adam tilts his head at Magnes' plot and shakes his head, "Well, good luck on that. You'll be working forever, but you seem like a good sisyphean lad to me." and then at all the accusations thrown at him, he replies, "I probably did all those things. But your whole accusation is a one way street. Elle tortured me for years, she got what she had coming. Frankly, the fact that you 'dated' her says to me that you're willing to forgive and forget if your little helmet is involved." he smirks a bit, "Besides, I had her first." then he shakes his head, "Kaito and I was a personal matter and we fought according to rules. It's really not your business about whether you 'let it slide' or not. As for your friend's girlfriend.." he shrugs, "I've killed a lot of girlfriends, hard to say what that's about. But, she probably attacked me first if it's any consolation." he taps his foot. "But I'm not here for your forgiveness or your slide meter. I was just out for a walk. What's done is done, I'm looking for a new career. I find.." he pauses, "You'd call me a super villain, wouldn't you?" he shrugs and then says, "I find super villainy boring now." he pauses, "Do you suppose they pay people to catch people going through rye fields? I think there'd be irony there, somewhere."
"Elle was her name? I forgot it, and we weren't like that, I mean, never got that far." Magnes isn't sure why he's even correcting the man, and the fact that he somehow forgot her name is probably a clue that he had some sort of Company involvement. Memory alteration. "Fine, assuming that you're just an innocent person bent on mass self defense and honorable duels, let me ask you something else. Did you create the symbol, or know who did and put it everywhere? The symbol on the Kensei sword. It's everywhere, in art work, sometimes randomly scribbled on walls, usually anywhere some Evolved business is happening. Do you know anything about it?" May as well ask now, might not get another opportunity. "And as far as your business endeavours, if you really want to do something productive, if you have all these resources, why not put them into helping me, or doing what I'm going to do yourself? Try to clean up the city, help people, stop criminals."
Adam hmms a bit at the 'I forgot it' part. He looks thoughtful, "You forgot her name?" he considers that dubiously, "What else have you forgotten?" he seems to ignore the question about his symbol and says, "Sorry, I quit. That doesn't mean I'm going into super heroism, that's your department. But, just as a gas, what would you do with money? Shovel more snow?"
"I've forgotten a lot, but this is one of those things where I can't go running my mouth off, one of my secrets." Magnes gives the money question some thought as well, something he apparently has to do a lot in this situation. "With money and resources, depending on the amount, I could get a proper base of operations, computer systems dedicated to keeping track of crime, equipment, not to mention money to pay my speedster who only gets the urge to be a hero when I dangle cash in front of them. There's a lot of good I could do."
Adam seems more interested in the memory matter than the question of what he'd do with the money. He considers the young man with the same doubtful expression and says, "You didn't do something stupid like, say, join the Company, did you?"
"Joined and strong-armed are two very different things. But that's the past." No point in Magnes hiding it now, if it's figured out that easily. "From what I hear, I wasn't given much of a choice but to join, due to that Shibuya thing and fighting that guy. But like I said, it's behind me now. My memory wipe was partial."
Adam snorts to himself, he glances up towards the sky, "You are a comic book character." he comments, then turns to Magnes, "So, you want to be batman, yeah?" he pauses a moment, "So let's say I make you batman. What would you do with it? Who would you go after?"
"I'm not entirely sure who I'd go after anymore, I imagine the underworld structure might change a bit due to the storm. My safest bet, I believe, is to go after the immediate enemies of the Triad, since from my understanding they're the most closely knit and loosely affiliated with Linderman. And going after their immediate enemies means they'll quickly fill the gap in those territories. The police can handle the Triad, though I do plan to do something about them eventually, the entire key is cutting off Linderman's limbs, leaving things the police can actually handle." Magnes lifts his goggles up on to his head, rubbing the lines around his eyes from having them strapped so tightly for so long. "The plan is to take down the groups and bosses Linderman requires most to function, let people not affiliated with him take the territory, then handle them later since they won't be a mega organization working like some city wide bee hive. Not every boss is wanted, which is why evidence gathering will be required occasionally, or just plain domestic terrorism to strike huge blows to their ability to work. But no killing."
Adam kicks his feet into the snow a bit, "That seems a bit backwards. You'll help make the Triads more powerful, because they're Linderman's biggest allies, so that Linderman will be weaker?" he sounds doubtful about the matter. "I don't know, Magnes. You don't seem as if you've thought this out very well."
"It's more like I don't have deep insight into these groups, I mostly have to go on rumor considering Linderman being a criminal isn't an accusation my boss lets get around lightly. But you clearly do have insight." Magnes admits, as if making some sort of point now. "You know things I don't know, you can help me make more informed decisions. You can agree with that, right?"
Adam nods, "I could." he says, then pauses, "Wait, boss? You already have a job?" he shakes his head, "Batman didn't have a day job."
"Having a day job means people don't know I'm doing something I shouldn't. It also means I can pay rent. I'm Tracy Strauss' intern." Magnes points out, irony of irons. Intern of one of the people protecting Linderman. "My job is usually in the day, I'd be working and training at night."
Adam mms, "Your power is gravity, Magnes, not working on no sleep." he pauses, "I don't know, I was tempted for a minute, but you don't have a plan and I'm not clear on whether you could actually physically do this. Interns have to keep a steady nine to five. What happens when you start coming in late because you didn't get in until five and your face is covered in bruises."
"Boxing practice. I do plan to join a gym. So the bruises can be explained. I never said this would be easy, because this is not a comic book. One day I might just have to drop my job if it conflicts with what I'm trying to do, and invest that 100k I have into something." Magnes looks very serious for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I don't plan to flake on saving people, on taking criminals down. I admit I didn't have the most elaborate plan in the world, I was working with the information I had, but if push comes to shove, I'm choosing this over my job."
Adam arches a brow for a moment, "You already have a hundred thousand dollars?" he questions, "Well, what are you doing scrounging for funds. That seems like it would get you all sorts of gadgets for your crusade. I mean, how much can a boomerang shaped like a bat cost?"
"The hundred thousand dollars is for exactly what I said, securing my future. It'll run out eventually if I just start spending it on hero equipment, that's why I have to invest it, and that's why I'm asking you for funds. I mean, what would I do if the 100k runs out? You have no idea what I had to do to get that." Not that Magnes can actually tell if he wanted, but he shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, sighing. "We can plug up these holes I have in my plans, refine them, and do some real good. Wouldn't you like to do that? While all these organizations are running around worrying about what's going to happen, these people with abilities don't seem very concerned with their present unless there's a blizzard."
Adam shrugs a bit, "I could go either way. Appealing to my sense of morality is really not the play you need to make." he seems to consider the matter, "If we do this, you work for me. That's more of a principle thing. I'm not going to send you on missions or anything. But it would amuse me to have you call me boss. That's about the best thing you've got going for you." he taps a foot, "I'll think about it. I'll tell you this though, I don't like the Triads. They did me wrong, if this happens, you'll be striking at them, not leaving them for the police." he mms, "There's another issue. If you worked for the Company, you've been tagged. That's going to take a bit out of your whole mysterious super hero thing, you know that, right? They can find you."
"If by striking at them you mean crippling their entire organization but still not killing them, that's fine with me. There's more ways than turning people into the police or outright murder to take them down." Magnes' eyes widen a bit at the tagged thing, because it's something he's genuinely never been told. Thanks a lot, friends! "Tagged? I mean, how?" He's got the scarf around his neck, so it's hard to tell just by looking, and he has no idea where to look.
Adam reaches forward suddenly. Retired or not, he's quick. He grabs onto the scarf and pulls and just for a second, there's a choking sensation, but then he starts to spin, both flipping it over Magnes' head and also spinning Magnes around. One Magnes has been relieved of the scarf, Adam looks and then says, "There." he says, "Tagged right there." he shakes his head a bit and says, "I've got to be honest, Magnes, I am losing confidence in you by the minute."
"How was I supposed to know what that is? That's been there since before I even knew what the Company was." Magnes stumbles a little, though keeps his eyes squarely on the scarf as if it means something. The hand goes to the mark, rubbing it slightly. "How do I take it out?"
Adam considers, "Well, we could dig it out. But it'd hurt and you could die." he considers, "I mean, we can't all be lucky enough to be blessed with the ability to heal." he considers the man for a few moments, "You really just accept things at face value, don't you?" he questions, "You either can't or don't try and think deeper."
"What am I accepting at face value? This tracker thing? What reason do I have to disbelieve there's something to it? It sounds like something the Company would do, and you have nothing to gain from lying, as far as I know." Magnes looks him up and down once, then raises an eyebrow. "But I'm definitely not letting you dig into my neck. If there really is something in there, I'll find some other way to get it out. Is this thing mechanically based or some other sort of tracking?"
Adam waves a hand, "Carbon based transmittor blah blah blah, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention during the meetings. It's the tag part of a bag and tag. But I'm talking about not thinking the Company might tag you in the first place. It's what they do. I'm not clear on why they let you walk, but they wouldn't let you walk with no insurance policy." he pauses, "Let me know when you get it out." he motions to the pocket with the iphone, "You have a number, yeah?"
"I didn't expect them to stick something in my neck, no. And carbon based, huh… I'll have to do some research." Magnes pulls a piece of paper from his pocket, and a little pen, then writes his number down and holds it out. "There. And I'm gonna need that scarf back, it's sort of important. But I'll get this thing out."
Adam tosses the scarf over quietly. He pauses for a few moments and puts the number in his pocket, "I'll call you in a bit. Just make sure you.." he points to his neck, "And then we can talk." he pauses, "You're looking well gravity lad. Finally started getting some, yeah?" he pats Magnes on the shoulder, "Good good." and then just starts walking off.
"Huh, what?" Magnes looks himself over when Adam starts to walk off, genuinely surprised and a little embarassed. "I didn't know it made me look different… oh god is there really a glow…" As much as he grows, he still stays a kid in some ways.