GOTHAM IC

[thatguyinthestore]

Located in the state of New Jersey, Gotham City is a city founded by honest men and women, but overtime has turned into a city overridden with crime and corruption. Scum. Muggings on every street corner, murder in the streets, and the GCPD is too corrupt to even bat an eye.

 

[Sir Salty]

@Michale CS

[BCOLOR=transparent]Lukas watched. She was analyzing him. This was the second time today that someone else was trying to analyze him. Was it wrong to say that he was kind of getting irritated with the behavior? Though he supposed it was both his looks and his plastic like appearance. Still the look she was giving him made him want to throttle her. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Still he managed to keep a composure. His stiffness, almost wax like appearance sometimes didn't really expose much of what he was thinking. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Just two," Lukas replies quietly, "I figure you can only stomach just two." [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]He paused for a mere second. Beside the fact that she hadn't used his name, meant the third question was pointless to him at this point. Contemplating taking a seat, but heavily considering not to.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Someone today said, that we can tell when there's someone around that's like ourselves," Lukas paused, "Truth be told you look as interested as cat watching a human trying to praise them like a dog. So, what makes a human boring? What capabilities do they lack to make them so not interesting? I figure you'd have an answer. Even if it doesn't align with mine. And your answer will lead into my second question."[/BCOLOR]

 

[Michale CS]

Someone today said, that we can tell when there's someone around that's like ourselves," Lukas paused, "Truth be told you look as interested as cat watching a human trying to praise them like a dog. So, what makes a human boring? What capabilities do they lack to make them so not interesting? I figure you'd have an answer. Even if it doesn't align with mine. And your answer will lead into my second question."

"Liar. You've already asked two questions." Isley retorted.

"I don't psychoanalyze well, Doctor. I have purpose in my life. Most people don't. People are satisfied with, How was your day at work honey? Oh wonderful. Pass the butter. That's what sets me apart. I'm not. I have a goal, and I work towards it every day. Do you have a goal, Doctor? Residency? A professorship with tenure at some Ivy League school?"

She smirked. "And for the love of Gaia will you sit down? Quit hovering, you're blocking my light." And Isley meant it. He was blocking her real meal, the sunlight.

@Clyde

 

[Sir Salty]

[BCOLOR=transparent]@Michale CS [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]He sat down while digesting her answers. Guess he did get caught asking two questions. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Do you have a goal, Doctor? Residency? A professorship with tenure at some Ivy League school?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]While he agreed with her on some parts. Most of his patients were worried about the most mundane things. They were worried about what their morning ritual said about them. They were worried about what other people thought about them. Their image. And while he danced with them. He found himself caring less and less about the dance. A dance that felt more hollow than his own plastic mannerisms. But her question towards him felt condescending.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Of course he had a goal. But none of those. They were just hollow trinkets society praised. He had a good heart. A benevolent desire. His own therapist would have told him that those were merely the symptoms of his condition. Delusions of grandeur to believe he'd want to do some good in the world.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Still he wondered if the question was more rhetorical. Was he meant to answer it? Or was he not suppose to say anything? Say anything and she could care less. Don't say anything and she could still care less, but her perception of him would remain the same. No her perception of him would remain the same no matter what option he took.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]So he decided to humor the notion instead.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I have a goal," he replied slowly, his lower lip quivering not out of fear, but because he was trying to fight the urge to bite the area he had already made bleed, "My goal hasn't changed. I'll find a way through the castle." he told her vaguely. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]He had wanted to help people. His own time in Arkham. Those were the people who needed him the most. He needed to help them. Save them. Not people like Simpson. People like Simpson or Richard were teetering too far on the tight rope. He wanted to save people from themselves. The only thing was by fixing them. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]That's why he chose this job.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Is this true? Are you lying or do you really mean that? It's the dead far off expression in your eyes. Is it the medication? Did they slap you with a funny label and say to you, this will fix all your problems? Isn't that how we cure insanity? But don't you find insanity useful?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]It really had been a long time since a patient made him think. He was recalling words from earlier. This woman administered medication to those so called people with labels. Labels like neon signs on brick buildings that had letters that read foreclosed or not open for business.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Does your disinterest, also touch on the insane?" he asked, "Do you think I'm crazy? Or do you think everyone is secretly crazy simply trying to run away from their fate?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]What do they say? Some things happen for a reason. Was the reason he met Jim Moore today and…..had to conjure her in her uniform. The lab coat. The tag. Isley? Was the reason why he was talking to Isley today because it was destiny? Did he even believe in fate or destiny? [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]He looked at his phone to distract himself from his own candid behavior. Yet. He was fascinated by this woman. Fascinated in a way that made him want to drown her in a bathtub and both sit down to have a discussion with. It was an unusual conflict.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Give them medication, and slap with a funny label, huh?[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"You said something about my prescription," he began, "So you remember them? Do you know how they work?" Really the question was, his bottom lip quivered a bit, ".....can….you tell me….how they work."[/BCOLOR]

 

[Michale CS]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I have a goal," he replied slowly, his lower lip quivering not out of fear, but because he was trying to fight the urge to bite the area he had already made bleed, "My goal hasn't changed. I'll find a way through the castle." he told her vaguely. [/BCOLOR]

"Wonderful." Isley replied in the flattest tone known to man.

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Does your disinterest, also touch on the insane?" he asked, "Do you think I'm crazy? Or do you think everyone is secretly crazy simply trying to run away from their fate?"[/BCOLOR]

"All mankind has but one fate. To die. To go into the earth and return to dust and become plant food. What matters is not the destination, but the journey. Most people's journeys are boring and safe. But not yours, hmm? Castle indeed. What's at the end? A throne? A princess - or... prince if that's your preference."

"You said something about my prescription," he began, "So you remember them? Do you know how they work?" Really the question was, his bottom lip quivered a bit, ".....can….you tell me….how they work."

The doctor nodded. "I remember nearly all of my regular customers. I do indeed know how they are supposed to work, and even if you have retained enough biochemistry of whatever pre-med a psychiatrist's degree requires gets you? I don't care to explain. Frankly, you can google it if you are curious enough." She returned to eating, refusing to let her food go cold due to an awkward little man.

@Clyde

 

[Sir Salty]

@Michale CS

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Wonderful." Isley replied in the flattest tone known to man.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]He caught wind of her tone. He wasn't stupid. Perhaps quiet, too quiet for his own good. But stupid wasn't something he was. Why did she even try to fake the pleasantries? [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]He said nothing instead he picked at the skin of his lip with his teeth for a second. Listening to hear speak.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"All mankind has but one fate. To die. To go into the earth and return to dust and become plant food. What matters is not the destination, but the journey. Most people's journeys are boring and safe. But not yours, hmm? Castle indeed. What's at the end? A throne? A princess - or... prince if that's your preference."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]A throne? A prince? No enlightenment maybe. A much freer society born from rending their minds from their personal fears, perhaps. But a prince, a king. He thought not. Royalty was for the boring and the dull.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"There are a few rules for rulers, one of them is for buying his keys to power in loyalty and his treasure. I do not care for who sits on the throne when I am done. I merely mean to seize their citizens out of their surreal cages," he replied.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]He crackled his knuckles. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I remember nearly all of my regular customers. I do indeed know how they are supposed to work, and even if you have retained enough biochemistry of whatever pre-med a psychiatrist's degree requires gets you? I don't care to explain. Frankly, you can google it if you are curious enough." [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]It was that easy? The internet simply provide an answer? Like opening up a pandora's box. He watched her begin turn her attention to her meal.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"One last question, when I find this information, how hard would it be to reverse engineer the chemistry?" he asked, "Then I'll leave. You've provided enough to think about."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]About motives he didn't even know he could have. Jim Moore opened this little toy box of ideas. And she gave him the playdough to construct it. He didn't think he'd become that little kid again, manifesting pictures in his mind. Little fantasies becoming big realities. [/BCOLOR]

 

[Michale CS]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"There are a few rules for rulers, one of them is for buying his keys to power in loyalty and his treasure. I do not care for who sits on the throne when I am done. I merely mean to seize their citizens out of their surreal cages," he replied.[/BCOLOR]

"A philosopher. How quaint. That or a megalomaniac. Very little difference. Both believe that they know better than everyone else. But at least you are reaching high."

She continued to eat as they conversed. Pamela really had little reason to speak with this man out of ennui, but she showed at least some interest in the Doctor.

[BCOLOR=transparent]"One last question, when I find this information, how hard would it be to reverse engineer the chemistry?" he asked, "Then I'll leave. You've provided enough to think about."[/BCOLOR]

That was good news. One more question and this living mouse with delusions of becoming a lion would be out of her life.

"For me? Fairly simple, because I'm gifted in chemistry and genetics. For someone with the relevant background? It's possible, but they'd have to have a solid command of chemistry - not just chemical engineering which is that biomed degree you likely have taught you. Knowing what's happening is entirely different than knowing how to replicate it and make other combinations that do similar or opposite things."

She shrugged. Maybe his castle was built of particles and chemicals? An ill man with an obsession with tearing apart the chemicals that help keep him functional. It sounded deliciously chaotic. Something less boring than the average mammal.

@Clyde

 

[Ringmaster]

That was an interesting theater.

Long since defunct, many of its inner workings had long since been taken away, or forgotten. Enough to build a small base at least. A little home away from home, where the current branch was concerned. He would deal with that in time, but for now?

All that mattered was this tea, and slowly sipping it from his Styrofoam cup with a mild grimace, Oroku Saki looked on with distaste. They called this green tea? The nerve of these gaijin, and their appropriation of culture. Green tea was something to be had with ceremony, a sign of reverence and peace of mind. Green tea should be served in glazed mugs, whisked fresh and without these bags. This was just... Hot leaf juice. Hardly worthy of the name 'green tea' at all.

And they couldn't even spell his name right on the cup.

He glowered briefly, as the name Orocu met his gaze, in black marker like some new mockery of the universe for all to see.

And for reasons he could not comprehend, he finished his tea.

@Shredder in Starbucks yo​

 

[Gands]

Raven Darkholm - Mystique

She slid out of her 2012 Ford f150, stepping onto the streets of Gotham for the first time. Normally, she wouldn't admit to being in New Jersey, but rumor promised a rich field for her current chosen profession, assassin.

Raven had been through a lot over the years, she was a survivor. Mankind was not something she cherished. Mostly she put up with it, on her terms. Even so, she wasn't immune to life's moments. She had a talent, for finding the heart of a city. She walked a little closer to the old theatre. Abandoned, dirty and covered in graffiti and spider webs. She studied it for a moment. It was not a new building, she figured 1920's given the style of the construction.

The skin she was wearing, a young olive skinned woman, very fit, jeans, boots and a cotton style top. Of course, it was all just her skin. Across the street, in an alley, she heard the cry of a woman. She strolled over, casually watching to young gang boys, preparing to rape a young woman.

" Hey boys, can anybody play?"
The two gang bangers, slightly alarmed, looked over. One held the girl, a knife at her throat while the other approached Raven. Morons, she thought, there would be no challenge here... but some pleasure. Two brief moments later, one young man was coughing and mewling in pain while the other had a knife buried deep in his shoulder.

Raven walked casually towards the second young man, picked up the knife he had dropped and slowly, teasingly scraped his neck with it. "You ever touch another woman again who doesn't want you too, I will find you..

She walked a step to the cringing, whimpering girl. " Go home missy, go find your family". The young woman ran, hopefully home.

Neither young man would ever forget that afternoon for as long as they lived. Outside of the knife wound and a broken arm, their bodies would heal. She left with all their clothes, cut up though they were. Of course, neither had a bit of hair left on their bodies except for their eyebrows.

Now she was certain, Gotham was going to be very entertaining indeed. She turned away and walked back to her truck, watching the theatre and the Asian man she saw walking into it.

 

[Gands]

John Raindancer - Pumonca

John and Alfred proceeded to have a meal, having a long chat about time shared in Afghanistan. Both were in their nations special services, John a Seal, and Alfred S.A.S.

They didn't work often together being from two different nations, but there was one mission up in the mountains near the border of Pakistan when the two men spent a few days together simply surviving the worst the Taliban could throw at them.

A couple of hours sharing a meal and talking old times did both men good. John made sure he and Alfred exchanged information before taking a walk around town.

@thatguyinthestore

 

[thatguyinthestore]

John Raindancer - Pumonca

John and Alfred proceeded to have a meal, having a long chat about time shared in Afghanistan. Both were in their nations special services, John a Seal, and Alfred S.A.S.

They didn't work often together being from two different nations, but there was one mission up in the mountains near the border of Pakistan when the two men spent a few days together simply surviving the worst the Taliban could throw at them.

A couple of hours sharing a meal and talking old times did both men good. John made sure he and Alfred exchanged information before taking a walk around town.

@thatguyinthestore

As the two men walked, Alfred turned to Raindancer. "So what exactly have you been up to since the war happened? I've been taking care of Young Master Wayne. Good boy he is." Alfred let out a sigh. "His dear 'ole mum and dad would be happy to see him now."

@Gands

 

[Gands]

Rain dancer. -. Pumonca


" I do what I can Alfred. P.I. license and a little word of mouth means I can earn a dollar once in a while !" (Said with a smile )

"I came into town to help a wealthy man find his daughter. I was to move with the utmost secrecy. Luckily, the trail was fresh. I was able to find the girl quickly and quietly. I satisfied my client, no media, no fuss.".

"Alfred, this city seems a difficult place to raise a child. It seems on the edge of ..oblivion. For me, a target rich environment. For you, a maze of terror!".

"It is my intention, Alfred, to make a living here. But I will always have time for a friend. You should know, there is a man at Large. He served with my brother in the Marine corps. Truly remarkable fellow. They called him the Punisher in New York. He has at his core, a good heart. But his circumstances have damaged him. "

"I do have a bit of money left from a cache we found in the middle east Alfred, though in my case, I have already sent some to my tribe. I have some to spare should you need it".

@thatguyinthestore