2012-07-14 Sleep It Off

The jail is loud - prisoners shouting at one another, some at her. The 'new meat'. Uncouth, brash and annoying. Rosaline - The Bloody Rose - has not said a word since she arrived. Thankfully, she has been put in a cell by herself, though given that she had gone toe to toe with Iron Man, she has not been unshackled just yet. Not that she cares. The bunk is terribly uncomfortable, but at least she can lay down. Relax.

Her eyes close, and she is reliving the last moments. She had been winning! The majority of the suit under her control, she should have struck harder and crushed out the last bit, rather than letting herself be drawn into discussion. She'd let her guard down. It is a mistake a novice would make. An amateur. Pathetic.

It had not just been her in the suit, that is what had tipped the scale. She'd never had a machine fight back before - it is a machine! It is supposed to do what it is told. Irritating to have the limitations of her abilities demonstrated so crushingly. She had been prepared for failure - to retreat, should it prove impossible. But it had been like trying to fight reality itself. What is more remarkable, then, is that even as things had turned around, she had still been able to fight! Perhaps if she had been expecting it, perhaps if she had prepared...

Tomorrow, she is told, they will be processing her properly. She will already have to delete the files they have put together on her, and then she will have to engineer some manner of escape. Not that it should be difficult. As though a pair of cuffs around her wrists and ankles will delay her in the least.

The lights go out, and the guards shout for silence. At last. The throbbing in her head stops gnawing at her, and she can think clearly. It will be impossible to totally erase her face. In one night, she has lost her anonymity, been defeated by a God and by a computer, her reputation, no doubt, will take a severe hit. It will be forgotten in time. When she does choose to leave, the fact that she could do so will in itself help to repair some of the damage. There is very little shame in being beaten by Tony Stark. When her head no longer feels like it is exploding... then she'll just walk out of here.

Such a terrible hassle. Next time, though... next time, she will be ready.