maskormenacelogs | [closed] Warnings

Entry tags:

[closed] Warnings

WHO: Bean and his contacts (M, Finn, Norman, Angus, and Bart)
WHERE: various locations
WHEN: beginning of November, after Darth Jadus' warning
WHAT: Bean spreads the word of Jadus' prophecy to the people he trusts most.
WARNINGS: talk of the apocalypse.

As soon as he finishes speaking with Jadus, Bean sets aside all thoughts of his move to Nonah for the more immediate matter at hand. He sends out a message to the imPorts in this world he trusts most:

I have intel to share about the possible coming apocalypse, and how we can help try to prevent it.
We should meet in person to discuss.

And then, he waits.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Finn immediately replied. eta 20

He didn't bother wondering why Bean was telling everyone on the network or at least not going to Aegis or the Justice League with this intel. It was likely he got from a reputable but not entirely moral source, and Finn was waffling on asking about that. Later, though.

A little over 15 minutes after his text, Finn made it to their mobile base. "I'm here. What's going on? You okay?" The latter question is only asked because he knows that intelligence is usually the most dangerous job in times of war.

"I'm fine," Bean answers first and foremost. He understood why Finn would be concerned, and didn't want him to worry.

"I was given some information on how we, as imPorts, could summon the three Fates." Nothing to do with what to do when they arrive, but the working theory was that things would turn out better if all three showed up, rather than just Atropos. "The intel comes from Darth Jadus, from a vision he had or something, but I think it holds weight."

Jadus. That's the second time Finn's heard his name in relation to all this. He furrowed his brow. "Jadus spoke to Aegis about some of the intel he found, but he didn't mention where he got it. So he's saying the Force told him..."

Finn knew so little about the Force that he couldn't outright say that Jadus couldn't be trusted. He certainly didn't care much for him, that's for sure. But could the Force speak to him like that even here? Was it even the Force at all or one of these Fates?

Why only Jadus?

"What else did he say?"

"He says we need to gather as many imPorts together as we can, and have everybody use their powers at the same time. Something to do with our powers coming from another universe, which calls the Fates here."

It didn't make a ton of sense, and yet at the same time, Bean understood why it might be true.

"It'll certainly be quite a sight, if we can pull it off."

Bart responds almost immediately with a query about time and location, then gets his running shoes on to see what's up. Given the kid's a genius from a future Earth, he knows better than to discount anything that might give them a better chance at preventing the end of everything.

He'd been discussing it off and on with Kon, anyway, and they both agreed that a lone death-goddess was not something they wanted to arrive, but since stopping that wasn't on the table, it meant going after the other two.

"Hey," Bart says, when he spots Bean at the selected meet.

Bean knew he could rely on Bart to come when summoned. He'd never really stopped to think about what Bart meant when he called himself a 'speedster,' but watching him zoom into view in a blur of motion certainly clears that up.

"Ho. I learned of a way we might be able to summon the Fates-- all of them, not just Atropos. But it requires large scale participation, as well as discretion. So tell the people you trust, but do it quietly."

"Well, that's better than what we were looking at. I know a fair amount of the spandex crowd," he says, but then hedges. "But who and what I tell probably is going to be influenced by what the probable complications will be. My generation is a little more comfortable with some of the moral grays than, say, Batman. The coded message sounded like the summoning was more of a baptism than a sacrifice, but unless the twins are willing volunteers, not everyone will be behind it."

He has been thinking about it. It reminds him of Raven's situation more than the gods he'd known back home, but still, all three needed to be made properly manifest in this reality for balance to be preserved. The question was how big the price tag was going to be when all was said and done.

"I don't know anything about the twins. All I know is that if enough imPorts gather in the right place, at the right time, and all start using their powers together, it's like dialing a phone line straight to the Fates' number."

He doesn't know the hows, or the whys... or even the real where or when. Just the what and who.

"Which means finding enough people with powers that can be safely used in concert," Bart said. "I knew a kid back home whose power was blowing up. Like, he'd store any kind of energy he was exposed to, even just kinetic energy from moving around, and it would get to a level that he'd have to release it all."

Segregating the powers that won't be disruptive might be key to all of this.

"But I can totally help with both transport and running around when the time comes."

Such destructive powers honestly hadn't occurred to Bean, but then, he's relatively new to powers in general.

"Hopefully there are enough people with benign enough powers that we can satisfy the quota."

"I should ask Iris. She can keep everyone caffeinated." Okay, so knee-jerk banter is a coping mechanism.

"Benign and useful." Are you sure it's not a superpower?

"She likes it. Other than Kon, most of the folks from my world didn't need superpowers, and I've never asked what they got from the powers lottery." It seemed like too personal a question. Especially when you're talking about a very grim Green Arrow or a bunch of Bats.

"Where I'm from, no one has powers." Aside from Bean's genetic alteration to make him a supergenius, but he's not really sure that counts. It's his actions that make him a hero, not his genetics.

"This might be a good time to find out. Having as much data as we can get can't be a bad thing."

Angus shoots back a reply and heads out to meet Bean at the library, which is basically his home away from home, and as far as he's concerned, the safest place in Maurtia Falls. Once they meet up, he casts a Silence spell on their study booth, giving them some privacy so that they won't be overheard.

"Is everything ok? I... I mean, apart from the obvious possibility of the apocalypse? What did you find out?"

The sudden curtain of silence that falls over their study booth distracts Bean for a moment, but he just accepts it as one of Angus' imPort powers-- a useful one at that-- and moves on.

"I don't know if you know who Darth Jadus is... But he's one of my assigned housemates, and apparently he had a vision which could help us summon the other two Fates to this world." Bean had never been one to believe in visions and prophecies before, but he's had to accept a lot of things that don't seem real to him during his time on this Earth.

"He says that if a large enough group of imPorts gathers in the same place at the same time, and everyone uses their powers in tandem, that could send out a signal for Lachesis and Clotho to bring them here to stop Atropos."

Angus, who comes from a world where Divination magic is absolutely a thing, nods thoughtfully at Bean's response. Prophecies and visions are legit means of predicting the future to him, so this doesn't give him any pause.

"... Honestly, anything is worth a shot at this point, if it gives us a chance, and that definitely sounds plausible, from what research I've done on the Fates. Is Mr. Jadus's intel trustworthy, do you think?"

Bean doesn't have to think too hard about his reply.

"Jadus is... disturbing. But he wouldn't lie, not about this. We investigated the OTO's secrets before. He has a vested interest in preventing them from summoning the apocalypse."

He pauses. "I mean, besides the interest we all have, in not dying."

"Nobody likes doing that, unless they have a morbid interest in necromancy," Angus says this so solemnly that it isn't immediately clear if he's being serious, or trying to lighten the mood with an extremely deadpan goof.

"... But if you can vouch for him, then that's enough for me. I feel like everybody would be down for this plan, but the tricky part will be getting the word out."

Bean nods in agreement. "The imPort network isn't secure. OTO has been able to access it before, and if they get wind of our plan, there's no chance they won't try to stop us."

The whole plan hinges on doing the summoning before the OTO can do theirs.

"Jadus has a method of getting word where it needs to go, but it's... unorthodox. I recommend getting a burner phone, personally."

That meaningful pause makes Angus raise an eyebrow. 'Unorthodox' could mean anything from 'psychic communication' to 'receiving this message will literally make your phone blow up, so make sure that you have a spare'.

"Does he have access to some other kind of private channel?"

Bean inhales sharply through his nose, trying to think of how to word this gently.

"He makes these... creatures. Part biological, part mechanical. I've only seen them once or twice, but apparently he has a whole flock of them he can send out to do his bidding. To spread his message."

There's no way to phrase something like that gently, you just have to let it go and watch the horror dawn on the other person's face. Case in point, Angus does not look terribly enthusiastic about this groundbreaking new method of communication.

"... Um." That's a good start. "I... guess that would be pretty difficult to intercept? They're not dangerous, are they?"

That certainly is a pertinent question, isn't it? Bean can't say for sure whether anything Jadus does is or isn't dangerous, given his whole... Everything. But he owes Angus an answer.

"The first one I saw, had ample opportunity to attack me, and it didn't. It seemed more scared of me than I was of it. And the second one he showed me seemed to follow his unspoken commands, so he at least has complete control over them. You can trust that much."

And, since Jadus has the same vested interest in not leading this world to an apocalypse as the rest of the imPorts... "I'd say they're trustworthy."

Give me a location and I'll send you a Door.

A "Door?"

[ He doesn't understand the capitalization of such a mundane word.

But, moving on. He sends M the coordinates of his current location on the outskirts of Jeopardy. ]

Turn around and see for yourself.

[Because right behind Bean is a trusty golden Door.]

[ Bean turns around, and... Yeah. That sure is a door. Maybe one deserving of a proper noun.

Knowing it came from M, he doesn't hesitate to step through it, even though he has no idea what he'll find on the other side. When he steps out into an apartment, he just accepts this fact and moves on. ]

Convenient. That one of your powers?

Sort of. I suppose it's more of a present from back home.

[M is sitting on a nearby couch, a giant red shrimp resting across his shoulders. They're visibly straining to get off, but M is gently but firmly keeping them in place.]

Want a snack while we chat about the end of the world, or is it really that serious?

[ Back home? Bean is intrigued. ] More "Bleed" business? [ Bean has a limited knowledge of Midnighter and Apollo's home universe(s), but the ship that exists between realities stuck in his mind, for obvious reasons.

Bean steps into the apartment further, making himself comfortable on M's couch. ]

That depends... Does this place exist outside of time?

Something like that. The Doors initially lead into the bleed, but when I... recommissioned them, I had it come to this place instead. A place of my very own, where no one can show up uninvited.

[He shakes his head.] Just space.

[ Bean nods. It's a handy thing to have, especially if you can control who comes in or out. ]

Then we probably should get right to it.

I have a lead on a way we can avert the coming apocalypse. It involves getting a large group of imPorts together, all using their powers at the same time.

Have you called in Apollo?

[His first thought, both tactical and selfish.]

I figured you would.

[ That's how it works, right? Tell M something, he tells Apollo. Either way, they both find out, and it saves Bean the time of another conversation. ]

Mostly my list of who to tell is other kids, the people that the adults might overlook.

Then maybe we might want to leave Apollo out, even if he'd be better suited for what you're looking for than I am.

[Because he gets weird about kids fighting. To an extent M gets it, but there's a difference in his opinion between forcing a child to fight like Bean had been forced to in his world, and forcing children to sit on the sidelines when their lives hang in the balance too.]

It doesn't necessarily have to be a fight. [ Though, who is Bean kidding? These sort of things always end in danger. ] Just as many imPorts as possible, using their powers in unison.

It's up to Apollo whether he cares more about kids not involving themselves in something dangerous, or giving us the best chance to survive whatever's coming.

Yeah, I'm not having that little fight again.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[closed] Warnings

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

/late with starbucks

Re: /late with starbucks

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject