Re: Mini-Grand 5111 [Round 2: Greenport, Massachusetts]
03-21-2012, 08:04 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.
Kay's head lolled to the side as she lazily pondered how she'd gotten to this point. Trapped beneath a pile of collapsed rubble, her sword lost, possibly for good...she let out a hoarse laugh. It was actually funny, when she thought about it. Another laugh bubbled up out of her. The sword had always trapped her - she'd lived and died by it. But now that she'd lost it, it had taken some kind of perverse revenge by trapping her in a much more immediate way. A piece of rubble broke from somewhere above and bounced off her head painfully. She heard something crack and idly wondered which part of her it had been. Really, though, it didn't matter. She was ready to die; she had no peace left to make.
To her surprise, she felt the piece of rubble on top of her shift. For a moment she thought it was going to break in half and finish crushing her, until she saw a very familiar curve bob above it for a moment. No. No no no no! What was he doing? Was he here to finish her off? To humiliate her? Why couldn't he just let her die? She couldn't fight without her sword. She was nothing without her weapon. She tried to cry out, to tell him to leave her be, but she couldn't summon the strength for anything above a pained moaning noise that vaguely resembled a protest.
If he could tell she objected, Batman paid her no heed, and continued to silently shift the rubble covering her until she was free. He knelt down and picked her up, ignoring Kay's weak attempts to push him back, and slung her over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, storming out of the wreckage with an air of determination that Kay, even while hating him for stealing her from her demise, couldn't help but admire.
As they neared the end, Batman ducked under a low beam, but forgot that he was carrying Kay with him. Her head collided with the girder he'd ducked under, and as her mask split apart, she suddenly realized what had made the cracking noise she'd heard earlier. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She guessed that losing another of the protective measures she'd built up for herself shouldn't be something she should be ambivalent about, but she had difficulty making herself care.
[color=#JUSTICE]They left the site of the rubble and Batman carried her a short ways off before gently laying her down against a lone wall that was somehow still standing. He looked back at her and, finally realizing that her mask was gone, examined her closely. Wild red hair, bent at crazy angles from being packed inside the mask for so long, sprouted from her head like some strange variety of weed. Half-closed, bloodshot eyes glared at him from below the hair, making up the only color in her ghostly white face, which hadn't seen direct sunlight for a shockingly long time. [/color]
Kay finally found her voice. "Why?" It was only a fraction of her normal volume, but it was loud enough.
[color=#JUSTICE]Batman didn't know what to say. "Because I'm Batman." [/color]
Kay's voice gained strength. "I didn't need you to rescue me. I didn't need you to be my hero."
[color=#JUSTICE]The right words appeared to Batman as if they'd been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. "I'm not the hero you need. I'm the hero you deserve." [/color]
She glanced dully in the direction of the burning wreckage to hide her confusion. "I'm going to need my sword if we're going to continue our duel. I can't fight with my fists like you can."
[color=#JUSTICE]Batman was lost again. He was only supposed to fight the villains; fights with people who weren't villains but were really just misguided allies would inevitably be interrupted by something before they could lead to major injuries for either party, and so far, every time Kay had tried to fight him, they'd been interrupted. He was unsure why she couldn't see such a simple fact, but suspected she wouldn't understand. "I looked around, but I wasn't able to find your sword," he lied.
Kay's only response was to stare at him uncomprehendingly, and he suddenly felt a little guilty about lying, even if he knew it was all that would keep her from rushing right back in to find her weapon. After a moment's hesitation, he added, "When you are truly in need of a weapon, one will present itself to you."[/color]
Great. More cryptic bullshit from a man with a fishbowl on his head. Kay picked herself up shakily, pushing away Batman when he offered his arm for support. She was determined to do this for herself. "Let's go find Rannus."
Kay's head lolled to the side as she lazily pondered how she'd gotten to this point. Trapped beneath a pile of collapsed rubble, her sword lost, possibly for good...she let out a hoarse laugh. It was actually funny, when she thought about it. Another laugh bubbled up out of her. The sword had always trapped her - she'd lived and died by it. But now that she'd lost it, it had taken some kind of perverse revenge by trapping her in a much more immediate way. A piece of rubble broke from somewhere above and bounced off her head painfully. She heard something crack and idly wondered which part of her it had been. Really, though, it didn't matter. She was ready to die; she had no peace left to make.
To her surprise, she felt the piece of rubble on top of her shift. For a moment she thought it was going to break in half and finish crushing her, until she saw a very familiar curve bob above it for a moment. No. No no no no! What was he doing? Was he here to finish her off? To humiliate her? Why couldn't he just let her die? She couldn't fight without her sword. She was nothing without her weapon. She tried to cry out, to tell him to leave her be, but she couldn't summon the strength for anything above a pained moaning noise that vaguely resembled a protest.
If he could tell she objected, Batman paid her no heed, and continued to silently shift the rubble covering her until she was free. He knelt down and picked her up, ignoring Kay's weak attempts to push him back, and slung her over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, storming out of the wreckage with an air of determination that Kay, even while hating him for stealing her from her demise, couldn't help but admire.
As they neared the end, Batman ducked under a low beam, but forgot that he was carrying Kay with him. Her head collided with the girder he'd ducked under, and as her mask split apart, she suddenly realized what had made the cracking noise she'd heard earlier. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She guessed that losing another of the protective measures she'd built up for herself shouldn't be something she should be ambivalent about, but she had difficulty making herself care.
[color=#JUSTICE]They left the site of the rubble and Batman carried her a short ways off before gently laying her down against a lone wall that was somehow still standing. He looked back at her and, finally realizing that her mask was gone, examined her closely. Wild red hair, bent at crazy angles from being packed inside the mask for so long, sprouted from her head like some strange variety of weed. Half-closed, bloodshot eyes glared at him from below the hair, making up the only color in her ghostly white face, which hadn't seen direct sunlight for a shockingly long time. [/color]
Kay finally found her voice. "Why?" It was only a fraction of her normal volume, but it was loud enough.
[color=#JUSTICE]Batman didn't know what to say. "Because I'm Batman." [/color]
Kay's voice gained strength. "I didn't need you to rescue me. I didn't need you to be my hero."
[color=#JUSTICE]The right words appeared to Batman as if they'd been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. "I'm not the hero you need. I'm the hero you deserve." [/color]
She glanced dully in the direction of the burning wreckage to hide her confusion. "I'm going to need my sword if we're going to continue our duel. I can't fight with my fists like you can."
[color=#JUSTICE]Batman was lost again. He was only supposed to fight the villains; fights with people who weren't villains but were really just misguided allies would inevitably be interrupted by something before they could lead to major injuries for either party, and so far, every time Kay had tried to fight him, they'd been interrupted. He was unsure why she couldn't see such a simple fact, but suspected she wouldn't understand. "I looked around, but I wasn't able to find your sword," he lied.
Kay's only response was to stare at him uncomprehendingly, and he suddenly felt a little guilty about lying, even if he knew it was all that would keep her from rushing right back in to find her weapon. After a moment's hesitation, he added, "When you are truly in need of a weapon, one will present itself to you."[/color]
Great. More cryptic bullshit from a man with a fishbowl on his head. Kay picked herself up shakily, pushing away Batman when he offered his arm for support. She was determined to do this for herself. "Let's go find Rannus."
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