batmanschmatman | 118 [spam]

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118 [spam]

[Open Spam for the Hallways, Backdated to before the flood ended]

[As messed up as it was, Dick was actually really enjoying this flood. You could spend as much time as you wanted in the gym here, and it still wasn't quite the same as actively running a gauntlet where you risked serious injury and/or death if you weren't fast enough, and he'd run the sims in his danger room facility enough that it wasn't really a challenge anymore.

This was different, and he really needed the distraction for the time being, so instead of staying put and waiting the flood out in his room, he'd been roaming the hallways aimlessly, dodging darts and spears and moving floor tiles and sudden narrow, practically invisible bridges stretched across sudden vast gaps in the floor. It wasn't exactly normal, but it was something he could do to keep his mind active and not wallow, and it never hurt to brush up on how to not get yourself killed.

At the moment, the hallway he was walking down seemed more or less normal (for the flood, anyway), with well worn bricks that looked vaguely Egyptian, maybe, or at least something that seemed at home in the desert lining the walls and floor. It was dark, and he'd reached into his jacket pocket for a mag light, carefully sweeping the light methodically over the corridor, checking for any traps. There were markings on the floor, and he crouched down to look at them, carefully tracing a finger over one of the characters. Definitely not Egyptian, then. Nothing he recognized, actually, which meant maybe this was some kind of space Egyptians or from another culture or something else entirely, and it was those thoughts that distracted him a little bit as he stood up and carefully continued his way down the hallway.

... Only to have the floor drop out from underneath him. He dropped the flashlight with a surprised shout, and it rolled down the hall and bounced off a corner of brick, illuminating the opposite wall. Dick caught himself before he actually fell, whacking his chin on the floor and grunting a little as he tried to reorient himself. He could pull himself up pretty easily, but he wasn't sure if the rest of the floor was booby trapped or not, and with footsteps coming down around the corner, and a shadow suddenly appearing on the wall the flashlight was lighting up, he figured a head's up to whoever was coming was probably necessary.]

The floor's a little unstable over here. Just a friendly tip.

[ooc: Multiples welcome! I'm assuming this is after Kirk and Shego have left timeline wise but am otherwise very flexible. c:]

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My goodness. Are you alright?

Fine. [And he's just going to try to pull himself up over the edge without making the rest of the floor drop out from under him.] You?

Here, let me help-

[She offers a tiny, three-fingered hand.]

I'm stronger than I look, don't worry.

[Sara's been having fun herself. Of course, she's working with the advantage that she's got a grapple or shield or flight capability whenever she needs it, but the safety net doesn't dull the adrenaline rush when the floor loosens or she hears something mechanical hiss and click in the walls.

Lara would love this. The fact's never far from her mind - okay, she'd hate the Barge from day to day, but this would be a playground to her best friend. And she remembers her giving completely unsolicited advice on navigating booby-trapped tombs - don't step on anything raised or lowered, look for lines in the floor or walls, test that the floor can take your weight before you commit to taking a step - and Sara had laughed and said that Manhattan was dangerous enough for her, thanks. But it's all at the forefront of her mind now, and she's paying close attention to the expensively educated voice in her head telling her how not to die.

Not that she'd been much help to that end, herself. However briefly. It's not the only friendship she has that's built completely on mutual disaster, though.

She hears the familiar voice at the turn of the stairs, and she sees a pool of light against the wall that she's silhouetted in. She looks around the corner and smiles.]

Thanks for the tip. You need a hand there?

[The hell you do, Dick.]

[Dick laughed a little breathily before carefully pulling himself up, hoping he wasn't about to drag himself up and set off another trap. He wasn't really in the mood to find out what was at the bottom of this pit.]

I got it. [He pushed himself to his feet, testing the ground carefully before stepping away from the ledge of the pit. He brushed himself off and grinned over at Sara, not actually sure if she could really see him or not with the limited light from the flashlight.]

Having a good time?

Since you mention it? Yes. Yes I am. [She checks the hallway for likely hazards, then edges over - hug the wall, then if the floor drops you've got something to grab onto, and if they start moving you'll be the first to know - on her way over to him, pausing only briefly to snag his flashlight.]

I didn't know floods could get the Barge itself like this. And miss everyone inside, that is.

I think the last time it changed like this, an Aztec goddess was trying to stage an escape attempt. And that was... over a year and a half ago? [God, that made him feel old. And like he'd been here for a long, long time.

He carefully edges over to the wall, too, moving away from the crack in the floor and towards her.]

So I figure acting out the plot of an Indiana Jones movie's not that bad, in comparison.

[She pulls a 'what the hell' face at that revelation, but it passes, because really why should she even be surprised at this point.]

I'm not so sure. If this is an Indiana Jones movie, shouldn't we be looking for something?

Well, at some point I'd like to figure out where the hell my room is, but I'm afraid I'm short on lost artifacts and crazy Nazis to run away from. [Because really it was sort of anyone's guess where they were right now. This was definitely the definition of a rat maze.]

Yeah, as opposed to all those sane, rational Nazis I've heard so much about. [She eyebrows at him a little.] I saw something that at least was a library on the way up, so I'd say this was Level...Four? Alternatively, we could try going outside and working to the top that way.

[Dick considers for a moment, before grinning a little.]

Which one do you think sounds like more fun?

[She rolls her shoulders and grins back.]

Halls are more likely to get us killed.

[This is the opposite of a vote against.]

[Well, that smile is just going to be getting a lot wider because really, sounds good to him.]

Hallways it is. Do you recognize any of these markings?

[She doesn't do much more than glance because she knows she won't. Lara had showed her some hieroglyphics once - the earliest written record of the Witchblade that she knows of - and all she can tell is that these aren't them.]

I saw something like it a couple of floors ago, but beyond that, your guess is - probably a lot better than mine, honestly.

Akkadian cuneiform.

[Going to translate, voice in Sara's head? No? Shut up, then.]

It's been a while since I've had to brush up on my ancient Mesopotamian hieroglyphics, so let's hope it doesn't say anything important. [He's still going to start walking down the hallway carefully though, because if they're explicitly saying hey don't step here or your head will get intimately acquainted with a spear, it's not like he's going to know until it's practically too late.]

Run into anything interesting so far?

That depends on your definition of interesting. If pits full of snakes 'interest' you...

[The end of the corridor doesn't have a staircase going up any more - there's a tunnel maybe three people wide going straight up, and a staircase that (judging by the cold breeze blowing through) leads outside the ship.

But they already agreed on staying indoors so she reaches out, carefully running a hand over the surface of the tunnel's interior. It's black striated with green and as smooth as glass.]

Looks like obsidian.

I hate snakes. [Which he was saying sort of for the cliche/movie reference, but at the same time, he really wasn't interested in having a repeat of the incident back in January where he'd actually been bitten by one.

Dick reaches out to touch it as well before carefully shining the light down the tunnel, sweeping carefully for any signs of traps. There's something echoing from the other end back at them, but it's quiet or distorted enough that he can't really make out what it is.]

Well, that's not ominous at all.

Not in the least. Wouldn't make a lady go first, would you?

[And if he falls and hits her on the way down it'll be easier for her to hold him and find/make purchase at the same time, she doesn't add.]

Of course not. [It is, however, nice to know the person you're with is just as if not more capable than you are of keeping themselves safe if they did run into anything, so he carefully starts making his way up through the tunnel, still methodically checking the ground, walls and ceiling for traps. Or snakes.]

All this is really convincing me of is I should start programming some forbidden temple gauntlet runs into the simulator I've got in my room.

[She discovers after about ten seconds of experimentation that there's no grip and no handholds on the glass walls at all. Barely enough friction that can jam her shoulders against one side and her feet against the other and (very slowly) walk herself up. This is all going to sting later.

Her other option would be to just tear a few gouges out of the sides and climb like a normal person but experience has taught her so far that that'll be more trouble than it's worth.]

A simulator that does what, exactly? And don't say 'simulate', smartass.

It runs programs so I don't get out of practice beating the crap out of hordes of ninjas. It's not quite the same as the real thing, but at least it's something.

[This might take a while. At least the walls aren't all that sharp, because he wasn't too keen on slicing up his palm as he used his hand to steady himself while the other held the light.]

Keeps me on my toes.

And just think. Most people'd be thrilled that their 'fighting hordes of ninjas' skills are getting rusty.

[Her foot slides down a few inches and she swears under her breath, jamming her leg back into place. It's like trying to climb up the neck of a bottle. And there's still that noise above them, but all she can see is the curving flawless wall of black-green glass. How much distance is there between this floor and the one above, now?]

Hey, you never know when it might come in handy.

[He stopped briefly when he heard her swear, making sure he wasn't going to slip either and carefully shining the light up the shaft to see how much farther they had to go.]

Are you okay?

Edited 2012-08-29 22:18 (UTC)

I'm fine. Just slipped for a -

[She hears something below her, like a mechanism whirring into action, and strains to look down over her shoulder. Below them, the tunnel has been capped at the base, and she sees the gleam of sparse light on shards of black glass. It feels like they're a lot further up than they were a moment ago.]

Oh good.

Well, I guess this is what we get for wanting the tougher option.

[Dick keeps shining the light up at the ceiling, squinting, trying to see if there are any openings in the side of the wall they can eventually get up to and hopefully get out of this tunnel thing.]

Any chance you've got a spare jumpline on you? [He does, but he's not sure it'll cling to the glass well, and he's not testing if it can hold his weight when they can't really see how far up they are or how far down they have to fall.]

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