| The Swords of Damecles | |||||
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| What: Damian Wayne faces an Intervention from some new friends. | |||||
The fight with Jughead was nasty at best. Shimmer's ring is healing her but she is still hurting like hell. Being sent through two walls and a file server at STAR labs will do that. She's cradling her shoulder and she's been bleeding. Thankfully thats stopped. Her nods has dries blood on it and her mouth has dried blood down around it. After taking a few breaths she enters the hanger. "So. The unknown guy in red has been put somewhere safe." She walks up to Damian. "First thing is first. Can we get you anything, a drink, food?" Idly she makes herself a sling and puts her arm in it for now. she looks like hell warmed over.
Claris Trayce enters the hangar as Shimmer returns. "Are you alright?" she asks Shimmer. She's also looking pretty good for having suffered a massive coronary and clincially dying two days ago. "I hopped in a tub the moment I heard the call come in over the comms."
Superlass's hair is a mess, and she has a few bruises showing, he will not heal rapidly until she is in sunlight again. Her costume, however, is apparetly unharmed. Superlass says as she follows Star Shimmer, "He called himself Juggernaut, and thanks for coming to help me with him. I am not sure exactly where he is going to come down. Somewhere in the mid Atlantic I think." She notices Damian and manages not to react much (Damian might notice, but Shimmer and Claris probably do not). She says, "Oh, what is going on here?"
Damian is sitting in the middle of an Empty hanger, his hands are bound behind his back with a restraint that goes over most his forarms, and works on mercury switches. His hands are not exposed, and the restraints are tied to the loor. there is nothing in the room excpet an empty bottle of water, and he has been left in a simple pair of gym shorts with no pockets. There are multiple cameras all pointing at him, and a simple necklace that he is wearing with a gold band and what looks to be a robbins feather on a pendant. He looks up at the people who are entering and with a sigh.. "Oh... great its you." why did it has to be this violet lady again.. Though he raises an eyebrow.. "Looks like you got the rough end of a fight. Lets get this over with... I won't tell you nothing... Damian Wayne.. 442-123-1111." and gives her a look he had been trained to withstand some tourture, and of course that is what he assumed this is so he just gives dirty looks as it is about the best he could do. Finally he doesn't seem to react to super-lass, if he reconizes her it is hidden behind the mask that he now wears as he prepairs for the worst.
Star Shimmer looks at Claris and nods, "I will be fine. I went through a few walls and a file server." She looks to Superlass and smiles, "Intervention." She smiles softly as she looks over Damian, "Damian Wayne, wait WAYNE? As in a relative of the BRUCE Wayne of Gotham?" She asks curiously. She shakes that off for now. it's irrelevant. "Look. I'm not here to torture you. I'm here to stop you from becoming what you hate more then anything."
"Wait, the playboy?" Claris asks as she shifts into her psychic form. As she comes into view of Damian, she doesn't look anywhere near baseline human, what with the purple skin and the red eyes. "The guy who could probably bankroll a small country with the same ease it takes the rest of us to scrounge beer money?" She finds an unoccupied chair and sits down.
Superlass says, "I can understand about almost becoming what you really hate. I had a hard time back in the other world when I found out I was a weapon created to betray and destroy it." SHE already knows Damian was looking for someone named Wayne in Gotham, but says, "Could be I suppose, thereis a slight physical resemblence, though our friend here has a darker complexion and slighter build for his age."
Damian Wayne frown slowly turns into a smile.. "An intervention huh? Well how about you untie me then, I am out number.. out gunned what harm could I do?" he also nods in response, "Yes Bruce Wayne is my father.. estranged father if you will.. But those are not the ones you need to worry about. I have been here for I am guessing a while. If my mother finds me it will be trouble.. Free me, before they get here or it could be bad for all of us." he seems geniune, but he always seem geniune when he tries. He looks over them and doesn't seem to be afraid of Claris, he just looks at her noise to not focus on the eyes as he has heard of creatures that could hypnotise you if you looked them in the eyes, and compaired to what he has seen it might not be far fetched." he glances at Superlass.. "I do what it takes to save Gotham, what none of you will do and what needs to be done. I have not tried to injure any of you nor would I... this is crazy just remove these locks so we can talk like the adults we are.." coming from a boy his age that may seem wierd but again.. he seems to mean every word on the surface.
Star Shimmer smiles softly. "First off, Here." She moves closer to him and undoes his binds. Then with a quick motion she puts a dome around the whole hanger. "Now. You aren't going anywhere and if you had any love for your mother... If she had any real love for you I'd sense it. That is why I was drawn to you. You say you will do what needs done. What you are doing though is turning into the very thing you fear. That fear is you, becoming the criminal. Being turned into the very thing they tried to make you." She gently touches his shoulder, "listen, you have potential to be right up there with the Bat for people who are the knights of Gotham. The thing is, if you lose yourself, you will be no more then a thug." She frowns. "Damian I am from the Star Sapphire Corps. I'm not some cop. I'm definitely not a Green Lantern. A Star sapphire is drawn to those who have great love or those who have been hurt by love. That is why I am drawn to you. You've been hurt. The love in your heart is dying. You've been severely hurt. It feels like every person who is supposed to love you has done you wrong. Tell me I am wrong."
Claris notes Damian's reaction to her. "Mindlink?" she thoughtcasts to Shimmer. "I think my presence is spooking him, but he's going out of his way to hide it. I'm not probing his mind yet. It's just obvious. Probably thinks I'm a demon or something." She shifts a little in her seat. "You don't exactly have a monopoly on having a bad past, not around here. And don't worry. There's no one here but us. I'd know otherwise." Okay, she's bluffing a little with that last bit. A disciplined mind may well be able to hide from her, but that ability reduces with proximity. Still, as far as she's /aware/, it's just the four of them here tonight.
Superlass says, "The fact is, I have had my entire universe pulled out from under me TWICE, and there are people I have met with worse problems. You are not unique. The thing is not what has happened to you, it is what you do about it. Saving people may be a laudible goal, but how you do it matters. There isan old saying, the ends do not jusify the means."
Damian Wayne measures his chances, he could maybe take down the Star Saphire if he moved quick enough, but he didn't know what the red eyed one had going, and the other girl he remembered lifting a plane so didn't like his chances against all three of them. He just pulls his arms back infront of him, and rubs his wrists where they have been bound. He didn't have any of his tools, or tricks so he would need to find another way out of here. He chuckles a bit, "Love... for my mother.. that is funny.. No why would I she expermented on me, and even now most likely hunts me down." he stands and streches a little bit looking around at area around him. "Why are you so worried about it though.. It aint like I am some common crook.. I rid the streets of drug dealers, murderers, the people who do harm so they can never again. Once I am done there is a hundred percent chance they will never do it again.. Can the Bat family say that? Can they say they take care of the problem not just push it on some poor cop?" he walks slowly around putting a hand to the side of the wall glancing back.. "Sound-proofed.. intresting." just walking around.. "If you think I am just some common thug then why would I be helping people.. Why wouldn't I of finished you in the street while I had the chance?" he looks back at Shimmer when he adds that with a slight eye-raise? He doesn't answer her question about being hurt.. he changes the subject, looking at Claris.. "You do not know these people.. my skills are nothing compaired to hers, but perhaps you are right." he finally looks at Superlass.. "How you do it matters.." he stops and walks towards her.. "Is that easy to say when you are bullet proof, when you lift large objects with ease.." he had done a little bit of research on her, and though he didn't know all of her powers.. "It is easy to act high and mighty when you are not at risk.. what happends when you are do you hold those morals you find so dear?"
"For one, you couldn't. You couldn't knock me out. You did knock me down. That blow would have knocked me out if I wasn't using my powers. You claim people are high and mighty. That is not the case with me. I'm just like you. I'm a normal human, I bleed red like every one else. Like you I was granted my abilities and taught to use them. I was made into something far more then I ever thought possible. The difference between us is something that you don't understand. That difference, is love." Star Shimmer softly smiles. "I understand what you do. You want to make a difference. You want to clear the streets. You want to make sure good people are safe and bad people are punished. The problem is, It's not our job to play judge, jury, and exocutioner. Look at Batman for instance. He has talents much like your own. The difference is love. Look at how he handles his enemies. He doesn't kill them. He injures if necessary but he doesn't kill. Those he fights with have significant mental issues which require treatment. It's why they are sent to Arkham. I know because my own parents sent me there."
The violet light bearer frowns softly. She shakes her head. "Damian, I know what it is to lose hope in people. Especially those who are supposed to love you. It tears you apart. The thing is, Hope Springs Eternal. I still love my parents. Even though they rejected me, hated what I am, and threw me in arkham, all because they wanted me to be what they wanted to remember. Not what I am. That story I told you... It was me. I could go out into the cities. I could tear into these horrible people making life difficult for good people. I could use my ring to enforce my will upon them. To force them to love. But that won't work. My rage would turn me into something far worse. That is why I am here. I don't want that for you. You are better then that."
Claris sighs. "You're not the only experiment here. At least you /have/ parents. Taking what you were given by them and using it to stop criminals? That doesn't help your cause to try to escape their influence. If you really want to put the screws to them, you need to go against what they were teaching you. They wanted you to be their weapon. Right now? You're /still/ a weapon. You can be so much more."
Superlass lookes at Damian, "I was created, crafted by a machine named Brainiac. He took everything from me and put a fake reality over it. He gave me these powers. He gave me memories...all as part of a con job that was meant to fool everyone because even I thought it was true. If he had succeeded, everyone would have died in that world. I chose to save the world by doing something that should have killed me. The fact that I survived and wound up here has often left me wondering."
Superlass looks irectly at Damian, "Not an hour ago, I was fighting someone who could kill me, someone who very nearly did kill someone I regard as a sister. She chose to forgo her morals in the fight, to become the killing machine she was made to be. She became so that she could not tell friend from foe, so that she attacked everyone around, even me, and she did have a weapon that could killme also. I did not give up my morals in that fight, and my friends helped me defeat the first threat and bring my sister back. I can pick up a train engine, outrun a bullet, and bounce artillery off my chest, that simply putsa barrier between me and living a normal life. I have to treat the world like the finest of spun glass, every moment of every day. Yet, there are those much more powerful than I am...I facethreats that can kill me, it iswhat I do."
Superlass closes her eyes a moment, "Just once, I almost lost control. Someone had hurt two people I cared for and hearly killed them. I had a friend track the attacker down for me, and I went after him, one on one. He was a cyborg, much more skilled than me, and with heavy weapons. I brought him back in pieces, because I almost lost control. I did not kill him, but it would have beed easy to do so in the end. I chosenot to let him make me like him...because if he had, I would have been a greater menace than he ever was."
Damian Wayne smiles and looks at her.. "You think so huh? Even with your ring you are just one distraction from defeat.. You trust it in all things that without it you would be near useless. If you don't think so go ahead... Take the ring off, and try it.. You want to act like your one of us, but that thing on your hand is what makes you not. That is okay I can still handle it, given I need my tools to deal with most." he looks back at Superlass "Supers? Is that right?" then back again, with a scowl.. "Look at Batman.. I surender and he shoots me, drops me off here with you.. don't mention that name.. if I see him again I will not surrender I will end him." he turns again and breaths slightly before he continues.. "What about all the people that are out now, because he couldn't do what was required? What about all those other people they have hurt." he spins and points at her, "Those are on him, his responsibility like those four are now mine thanks to you.. Why should I care, why should I not end them.. Cause of this" he looks around.. "Do you think you are keeping me here? Do you think I can not leave if I wished?" he shakes his head.. Maybe he is bluffing, maybe he isn't it is hard to tell.
He glances back at Claris, "These two have brainwashed you, just because you don't kill people doesn't make you a weapon.. Do you think you are not a weapon look at us.. we were born to act as weapons.. What is wrong with turning towards the people who deserve it? What is wrong about sticking it to the crime... and believe me if I see any assasins sent by my mother they will be first on my list.. I am no-longer her tool, believe that." finally he turns to Superlass, and sighs.. "Listen out of these three I understand why you do not the most.. when everything is fragile you learn to be careull you learn it so much it becomes ingrained into your being. But let me ask you this person you just fought... where is he now? Do you know what harm he maybe causeing out there somewhere do you think if it isn't in... I am guessing we are in Metropolis... that it doesn't exist." he shakes his head and sits back on the chair. "Just with the people in this room we could stop all the crime in a city easy.. Maybe not the little crimes, but murder, drugs, people would be too afraid to do those things as they would know there are consequences.. Think about it.. no more crime in Metropolis.. no more crime in gotham. It would be a better world wouldn't it.. Why are you fighting me on this? I am just trying to help."
"He isn't afraid. Thats been worked out of him." Shimmer speaks through the mental link. "Thats a bluff. We both know it." She creates a chair and sits next to him. "Everyone here, Myself included, can cause massive damage if we lose control. Imagine if a person fueled by love lost control. I could turn a large chunk of Metroplis and half of Gotham into a raving orgy, pardon me for saying it that way. On top of that I could endanger everyone I love. Other Sapphires who have lost control have killed those they love the most and encased them in violet crystal so they would never have to part." She shakes her head and looks to Claris. "I don't have a leash on Claris. She does that herself. Show him why, sister. I have control, just don't overdo it." She states and then shakes her head. "Listen, Damian. I could point this ring right at you and unload more love then you could handle into you. As you are right now, it would simply hurt. You can't handle it."
Claris blinks at Shimmer, then nods. "My body feels like it's being held together by half-chewed gum. Hope you know what you're asking." She gets up and focuses deeply, pushing past the pain and physical damage to shift forms instantly, without delay. At least it seems easier this time. Her skin shifts back to a normal tone, her eyes change to green, and growths of stone appear on her arms, legs, and face. "Uggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh...." she groans as the earth starts to shake beneath her. She's attempting to confine the vibrations so they don't knock the house down, or even the hangar, but some of the stuff /in/ the hangar that isn't secured properly is starting to fall. "Do you see yet? Do you see the type of damage I was created to cause?" She's keeping it small, but damn, does it /feel/ like a violent quake. Superlass says, "Ruling by fear only works to a point, Damian. There are people, people of courage...or people who have lost so much that fear canno longer control them. You talk about making sure that the wikid never hurt others again, but what if you ever make a mistake and kill the innocent. When do you look into a mirror and realize you ARE what you want to destroy? Destroying things is easy, fixing them issometimes impossible."
Damian Wayne nods to Shimmer, and is sitting calmly till the building is starting to shake, but it is wierd as he doesn't seem to worry, he smiles as the one person that he had been trying to judge is distracted using their powers. If they wanted to bring down the building that was his sign it was better for him not to be here, and so he takes this moment to move.. Timing between what he thinks are quakes, he flips the chair at Cir-El.. he knows that will do nothing to stop her, and definetly will not her her as he launches himself at Shimmer. As predicted he is quickly cought in her bubble construct. "You are smart, I know whatever I had planned would not work." he smiles.. "But I am smart too and I know how long it takes you to lower your construct." Grasbing his necklace he says.. "Home." and starts to dissapear in a magical mist.. "I will think about what you said here... I will consider it well.. If we meet again.. My capture will not be so easy." he is disapearing quickly now as some magical force seems to be drawing him to another destination.
Star Shimmer looks at the currently teleporting person. "It doesn't matter where you go I will find you again. I can't allow you to turn into a monster. You are my mission after all." She states to him and just watches as he vanishes from sight. Quickly the dome vanishes as well as the bubble, her chair too. Using her ring she hits Claris with a beam of pure love in an effort to help her bring herself under control. "That worked well." Her gaze shifts up to one of the various cameras that have been set up by Batman. "I can sense it in his echo. The seeds have been planted. Batman, This part requires his actual family. See if you can talk to his father. He'd have to listen to you right? I mean, It's your City. Damian needs to see that someone really does love him."
Claris lunges forward, but the form she's in is just too slow to catch him. "He played us..." she says as the shaking stops. "Don't worry about me. I have the most control in this form. Feel like I just ran a marathon though... damn it." She goes down to one knee and depowers. "I think I'm going to need more time in the tub..."
Cir-El COULD have caught him, but doing so would have meant smashing the construct he was in. That...well she is not really sure about feedback. She decides to ask, "I hesitated to breake the dome you had him in, would it have hurt you if I had, Shimmer?"
Star Shimmer nods, "it would have. It would have probably hurt you as well." She frowns. "I figured he would. He's well trained. He wanted to feel us out. We are getting through to him. The pain he feels is beyond words. I wish I could just ease it but that would require him accepting that. As he is, he won't." She looks to Claris, "Go get in the tub. Use what you need. I'm sorry for asking this of you." Then to Cir-el, "I guess I should com the Titans and let Nightwing get pissed off at me.
Claris coughs up a small amount of blood as she limps to the house. Even that small display of power was enough to nearly put her down for the count.
Cir-El wishes she could do more. some times, no matter how strong she is, there are some things she is powerless to change. Ironicly, she wishes Damian could understand that.