|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:53 pm
Frank growled and clenched his fists tight, leaning them on the small table-space ahead of him. "You ask for my name and don't even have the common decency to tell me yours?" He scoffed and took a few step back from Brenda, turning around as he did so. "Your universe must have way more b*tches than mine does..." This whole experience was putting him on edge. Rarely did he ever start a fight with someone that didn't end with someone dead, and he'd be paranoid until one of them was in a grave.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:10 pm
"Heh. Sorry, it's just a precaution; besides, I also needed to try and look you up. I won't mind telling you later, but you toting guns around isn't exactly something to earn my total trust. As I said, I hate guns. But... at least I'm better than how I used to be. Roughly a year ago I wouldn't have even told you my first name, let alone the whole thing," Brenda said, getting up and moving over to him. She knew his body language, because once upon a time she had felt the same kind of paranoia and mistrust of people. She could relate to him, in a way.
"You can calm down, Castle-- since I assume you don't want me to use your first name. I'm not going to attack you or anything, since I'm not a bad person. I'm... Well, I was a vigilante, but I had to retire early. If you want, you can stay here for a bit. Just... please don't shoot the place up if you do."
She patted his back once-- and placed a tiny, silent tracker on his trenchcoat-- before moving away and to the entrance to the cave. She wanted to help the guy, but he was still a gun-toting near-maniac according to what she had read, with a body count of criminals to rival the Joker's body count total. The guy was dangerous... And she'd need to keep an eye on him.
"You hungry? I am. Figure I'll make myself some lunch or something."
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:21 pm
The woman's touch on his back causing him to juke forward a bit before calming somewhat again. She continued to speak, and it was grating on Castle's slight semblance of patience. "No..." He walked over to the table where they had bowled over and he scooped up his pistols before jamming them back in their holsters. "I want outta here. Much as I appreciate the hospitality..." He began following her for the exit. "I'd really like to clear my head... try and wrap it around all this sh*t before I do anything..." After enough gazing one last time at the interior of the cave, Castle followed Brenda out the steps to whatever lay above.
[[Exit Frank Castle and Batwoman to Wayne Manor]]
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:39 pm
[Enter from Wayne Manor]
Brenda Wayne was not in a good mood, to put it simply, as she, Damian, d**k, and Brigade walked down into the Batcave and cleaned up the little mess made by Punisher when he arrived and attacked Brenda. She'd been attacked by that gun-toting psycho, had to lay him out, and then when he left he attacked her again after having that... thing attached to him.
She sat down at the Batwave and looked at the signal of her tracker that was placed on Castle's clothes. Whatever it was that attached itself to him hadn't disrupted the signal from her little tracker, so he could still be located. But... She didn't want to go out herself. Not yet. She was still worried about that younger Bat, and who knew when those guys at the Watchtower might need her help?
"Nightwing," she said, "that little beacon was what I placed on the guy. His name's Frank Castle, he's from the... 'other' universe, and he's a dangerous vigilante even without that thing that got onto him--"
"Symbiote," interjected Brigade.
"What?"
"The being that attacked Castle-Frank is referred to as a 'symbiote'. We can bring up relevant data extracted from computer files from the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate's databases."
"Do it," Brenda said, and notes on the symbiotes appeared on the Batwave's monitor.
Extraterrestrial beings... Seek out hosts and bond with them... Hosts become aggressive... Brenda thought to herself as she looked through the data. From what she could tell, the symbiote that latched onto Frank wasn't exactly an evil being. Judging by how it had acted earlier, it was like a lost, scared animal. Getting the thing off, well... It appeared that to do so, either loud noises, bright lights, and/or intense heat (or in the case of this one, intense cold) could be used to make it happen.
"Nightwing," Brenda said again, "I'd like you to go out and follow this guy. I or Brigade will stay here and play mission control. Just be very careful; as I was saying, Castle's really dangerous, and apparently this symbiote just amplifies that. I suggest taking some freeze pellets or that Freeze Ray Brigade found. If you can, try and talk this thing into leaving Castle and coming back here."
"On it."
Brenda watched as Nightwing prepared himself, taking Brigade's Freeze Ray with him as he moved out on his Wingcycle into Gotham, and she sighed. This day was just not letting up...
[Exit Nightwing to Gotham]
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:32 pm
[Enter from Gotham City]
The Wingcycle entered the Batcave through one of its secret entrances, and came to a stop where the other vehicles were. He got up and took the canister containing Punishment from his utility belt before handing it to Brenda, who looked to the symbiote curiously.
"Hmm..." Brenda said aloud. "I read that actually getting this thing to come off hurts a Hell of a lot..."
"No kidding. I saw it detach from Castle. The guy's knocked out on a roof. I'll have to go back and get him..."
"We suggest letting the symbiote bond with your Batsuit, and then putting the Batsuit on. It will avoid potential health complications while still enabling communication," Brigade said, and Brenda nodded, moving away and laying her version of the Batsuit out, then putting the canister down and opening it for Punishment to bond with the suit.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:38 pm
As the canister opened for it, the small puddle of black and silver leapt out quickly. It pooled at the feet of the suit, darting back and forth around the costume as a dog might when confronted with a new person. After several minutes, the symbiote launched at the suit and began to consume it. Creeping up and around every crevice and seam of the outfit, the result was a Batsuit with silver veins running through it and, where once was the undeniable symbol of the bat, was marked with the same skull the Punisher wore across his chest.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:47 pm
Brenda frowned as she watched the symbiote apparently consume her costume, and slowly put the costume on (away from d**k and Damian-- but especially d**k), not entirely sure what to expect, but keeping completely calm nonetheless. She knew by now that thoughts of aggression were what the symbiote would feed off of most, so she had to be careful.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:44 pm
No sooner than the suit was completely donned, did the symbiote immediately begin bolstering Brenda's consciousness with pure fear and confusion. The symbiote, while not able to directly relay its minute grasp of language as it did with Castle, was capable of transmitting its bizarre and malformed 'emotions' to the woman which now wore it. Its barrage of vibes was enough to bring anyone's hands to their head in an attempt to halt the migraine which it wrought with its savage attempt at communication.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:49 pm
The only sign of discomfort Brenda showed was a grunt and a hand put onto her head.
Calm... Calm... she thought, attempting to get the creature to relax. Don't be scared. You are safe here.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:03 pm
An uncomfortable sense of quiet came from the creature. The rage it had fueled inside Castle lead it to give off resonating pulses of pain throughout its new host, thought it tried its best to convey some sense of relief to Brenda. It seemed to be offering some concept of speech to the woman, but its lack of bond with her directly severely impaired the plan. Instead, it let the words it hardly understood roll over it.
Pun... The thought would appear in Brenda's mind as if her own, but it would sound alien all at the same time. Having something think into your mind was nothing to take lightly, but it was the only thing the symbiote could do. Punish... Punish...
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:10 pm
Brenda frowned internally. She understood the impulses the thing was sending to her, but not entirely what it was trying to say; she was more than focused enough to not give into those pulses of pain and anger.
Punish...? she asked in her thoughts, in an attempt to get the symbiote to complete its thoughts to her.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:22 pm
It tried holding itself back. If it could just bond to her everything would be clear, but it didn't want to make the woman upset. Instead, it strained every fiber of its semi-consciousness to complete the only real word it knew.
Punish... Punishment... The word finally come through, and some of the waves of anger concluded. From where the word came from would always be traced back to Castle, and the twisted sense of purpose it had rubbed off into the symbiote. Punishment. The thought went through as if it were both a name and a purpose.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:34 pm
The vibes Brenda sent out were... confused. That was what it called itself? Hmm...
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:44 pm
The thing seemed to lighten its pulses of anger now that it had uttered, more or less, its identity. Still, the confusion from Brenda was pooling a confused rage. Its lack of ability to communicate would perpetuate more anger; both in the symbiote, and the host. Punishment sent the closest thing it could to words through to Brenda's mind; a light hiss, like the one it had uttered out during its time attached to Castle.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 4:40 pm
Brenda felt the impulses of rage which were not hers, and she stauchly resisted them, focusing herself and keeping calm.
Don't worry. We can talk... Do not be angry. she thought, and the tone she sent was one of gentle reassurance.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|