batmanschmatman | 109 [voice]

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109 [voice]

[For anyone who'd be paying attention, Dick sounds a little more grounded than he's been over the last few weeks. Port was a good for him, even if he's not really up for being his usual chatty self.]

Funny how these things always seem to happen in groups, isn't it?

[Private to Sara]

Thanks for making me take a night off. I had a lot of fun.

[Private to Rorschach]

I know you're probably going to brush it off, but how are you doing? [What with Claire leaving and all.]

[Private to Tim]

I've got something for you.

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I guess that's one of the hazards of our line of work.

At least now I've got an Inmate I can feel like there's something to take a break from.

Have you talked to him yet?

Working up to it.

He seems like an interesting guy. [If by interesting he really means good luck with that bro. :|]

Yeah, 'interesting'. Is this Barge talk for 'you're screwed'?

More like you've got your work cut out for you.

I just couldn't feel more like I've been written into the wrong chapter. Could I stop him trying to destroy the planet? Maybe. Can I stop him wanting to try again?

Jury's out.

You never know. Before I showed up here, I never thought it was possible for serial killers to really turn their lives around and stay that way. [Andddd he still doesn't, but that's besides the point.]

Is that just hyperbole, or has he actually tried that before?

The latter. Well. A planet, anyway. Apparently 'mischief' covers more than I thought it did.

Apparently. Jeez.

Well, I'd like to think if he's here, there's some hope you can get through to him.

Some hope someone can get through to him. Only time's gonna tell if that person's me.

[A short pause.]

Mind if I ask a - maybe not personal, but - existential question?

[He was trying to be optimistic and not say you might have to do the inmate shuffle for months. :v]

Go for it.

[Sara's entire life philosophy revolves around hoping for the best while being braced for the worst. :c]

Do you...

[Ughhh she can't believe she's even going here.]

Do you believe in fate? I don't mean determinism, that's just depressing, but....I guess the idea that some things in your life are just bound to happen no matter what you do.

Not... really. I mean, I guess getting exposed to a lot of what if scenarios thanks to the Barge kind of makes you wonder how much you can really control, but I don't think my parents died because it had to happen.

Yeah.

I know - it's stupid, and it's self-defeating to think that you can blame anything on destiny. But the flood last month's been driving me crazy.

What happened?

[A long thought-gathering pause, then:]

So. In my New York, there's Kenneth Irons. Runs a Fortune 500 company, Irons Industries. On paper - resource trading, real estate, finances, it's not nice but it's legal. In reality, he's in everything he can skim a profit off. The Witchblade was in and out of his possession for - a long time. It came to me because I stumbled into a 'tournament' he was running to find its next bearer.

During the flood, I never knew my best friend - former best friend, Maria. When she was murdered, I never investigated her death, never found out her killer was trying to raise funds for Irons' tournament, never went near it, but - the Witchblade wound up with a professional domme. Irons' PA was one of her clients, so I guess that's how she got it. We were investigating her since Irons' goons killed everyone at her dungeon looking for her; I was there when he tracked her down. She killed him and then herself and I - wrong place, right time. Again. I ended up with the damn thing practically to the same hour, and after that nothing much was different.

[Why yes, the above is semi-canon by way of a spin-off issue. She sighs.]

It just makes me feel like my life's been running on rails for a long time.

Do you know how it chooses who it partners up with?

Not exactly, but there are....themes. I don't know much more than Irons told me but the wielders tend to be soldiers, warriors, sometimes royalty. [Snerk.] I guess Kim Tossova must've pretty good at hurting people but that's not usually the kind of thing it's looking for.

I don't know, I tend to just look at it as universal constants, versus there was some other force in play that day. But maybe that's just me not loving the idea of there being some otherworldly being choosing to kill innocent people to change certain people's lives.

[Ouch. Hello, every single one of Sara's wielder issues wrapped up in one tidy sentence.]

It's not an idea I'm in love with myself, but I can't refuse to acknowledge it either. Those innocent people are the reason I'm here.

[... Oh god. :|]

What do you mean?

Power attracts power, things collide, people get hurt. Manhattan's a safer place for having the Witchblade in it, in some ways, but it's a hell of a lot more dangerous in others.

[Never admitting that it literally demands blood in return for whatever else she might want to do with it. D:]

[Well. He's remembering that trippy mirrorverse dream a little bit right now maybe, but. Thinking more about how that's kinda true in Gotham, too. :c]

I guess you could say that about Gotham, too.

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psychic_hotline - 2012-07-07 23:14 (UTC) - Expand

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