immamartillo | 5th Hat Flip [Voice/Action]

[Voice]

[It's early in the morning-after a night of much boredom and little sleep- when Firo opens his journal.]

I've been wonderin': what kinda weapons do people use back where you guys come from? Where I live, people'll fight with anything from fists to tommy guns, but I figure everywhere's gotta have somethin' different.

[Action]

[Later that morning, Firo sets off running for the Battle Dome. He hasn't been too pleased with himself lately: he failed to be effective against the droids that attacked a few weeks ago, and then he couldn't even protect his friend from being mallynapped. Actually, ever since Ennis was kidnapped before his arrival in Luceti he's felt nagging feelings of uselessness. They've only been intensified by recent events.

He has to get stronger. The capos of his Family would be disappointed if they saw him like this. In the back of his mind Firo can practically hear Yaguruma berating him.

He spends most of the day at the Battle Dome, focusing on training until he's ready to drop (though feel free to interrupt him). Maybe trying to go so long without a break isn't a good idea, but that doesn't matter to Firo at this point. When nightfall comes, he wanders outside and slumps by the door, exhausted.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Off the top of my head, I've used it to make a splint, pry things open, prop things up, break chains...one time I used it for balance when I had to walk across a broken rope bridge, and sometimes I can throw them to hit targets. And in a pinch you can use them for cutting food when someone forgets the utensils on a trip into the wilderness. ...That happened a few times.

Cool! It's neat when stuff like that runs in families.

Whoa... Sounds like you've had a pretty eventful life.

[He laughs, sounding impressed.

Her remark brings a smile to his face; most people just say it's weird.]

Ya think so?

Superheroing is kind of like the French Foreign Legion. The posters say you'll travel the world, meet new people, and have exciting adventures, but in practice you spend a lot of time sitting in dirt, covered in bruises, and picking alien gore out of your hair.

[She laughs too, a little self-deprecating.]

Yeah, mon! If you have a fighting style, it only makes sense to pass it on to your kids. You never know when they might need it. ...And it's a good way to bond, 'cause most kids think it's cooler than board games.

[Cooler than board games? He'd definitely agree with that. The rest of what she said, however, has him distracted.]

Wait. Wait a minute, what'd you say? "Superheroing"?

Yeah, mon. Being a superhero. It's, um...sort of what I do. Did. It's not exactly a full-time occupation anymore.

Yeah, but... what is it?

[The first superhero comics have yet to appear in Firo's time.]

You...don't know?

[Coming from a world where there's always been superheroes, fictional and otherwise, that's a tough thought to swallow.]

Um...a superhero is a person who has special powers, or hones their regular human powers as well as possible, and uses their abilities to help people and defeat bad guys. They wear a costume and have a codename so people know who they are and they usually hide their identity from the public. Sometimes they form teams or groups and fight crime together. That's what I did on my world - well, I haven't had a team for a couple of years, but...that's what I did. My codename is Empress.

[There's a long pause before he replies.]

...So, basically, a stronger police force that actually does stuff?

[There's an even longer pause before she answers:]

...Um, yeah. I guess you could say that. We still have a police force, though.

Yeah, and how many of 'em actually do their job?

[He asks it like it's a rhetorical question.]

Anyway, you said you guys travel everywhere for your work?

Most of them! Of course!

[But she's trying to keep from laughing out loud. Oh, the issues she and hers have had with traditional law enforcement.]

Sure. All over the world, and sometimes different planets.

Yeah, yeah, I'll believe it when I see it.

[And there's another long pause. People just keep breaking his brain today.]

Hey, hold the phone. Different planets?

Yeah. I know someone who has a spaceship! One time we used it to go to a planet on the other side of the galaxy that looked exactly like old New York. Then we played baseball against giant aliens to rescue the planet and overthrow its dictator, and after that we went to a different planet where our flying car had a baby with another car. That was a long day.

[There is not a single trace of irony or teasing in her voice. None whatsoever.]

[Despite her tone, Firo assumes she is being sarcastic simply due to the nature of her story.]

I was just wonderin', you didn't hafta be a jerk about it.

I'm not! That all really happened.

[Okay, maybe she was teasing him a little. But it is true!]

I live a weird life, mon. What can I say?

Seriously?

Man, and I thought weird stuff happened to me... That's crazy!

What kind of weird stuff happens to you?

Well, I doubt you'd find it too weird. I've just run into some pretty crazy people back home. They're even weirder than some a' the ones I've run into here!

[After that talk Yeager gave him, it might be best not to blab about the elixir of life to everybody. She seems trustworthy enough, but he's not sure how secure these journals are.]

You never know. I bet your weird is different than my weird, at least.

I guess so. I'm just not sure how elaborately costumed "thieves" fit into your definition of weird.

[He'll hold off on mentioning Claire for now; somehow, he feels that a superhero wouldn't take kindly to the mention of a loony assassin.]

Those are common, actually. But if there aren't any costumed...anti-thieves to stop them, that does seem pretty weird.

Just the regular old boys in blue.

[Though by now Isaac and Miria have managed to attract federal attention. neither they nor Firo knows that.]

You'd think a couple loudmouths would be easy to catch, but they've been at it for years and they're still at large. Probably because they never steal anything to valuable.

[Except somebody's fortune. But that was once.]

We have loudmouth thieves in costumes who are still at large, but mostly because they teach pole-vaulting for stress relief in the yard at Arkham Asylum, or something. I don't know how that place is still standing.

...Anyway, have you met them, or something?

[He chuckles.]

Sounds like an interestin' place.

Uh, yeah. They're... my friends.

[Well, they were pretty steamed with him before he got dragged to Luceti, but he's sure they'd get over it quickly.]

You're friends with people who steal stuff?

immamartillo - 2012-05-26 03:04 (UTC) - Expand

anita_hero - 2012-05-26 23:08 (UTC) - Expand

5th Hat Flip [Voice/Action]

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*too. Sorry about that

S'okay

Thanks

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