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Post by ZiggBot on May 4, 2011 17:37:56 GMT -5
‹the creeper's den› All was quiet at the Watchtower, other than the usual hums and beeps of computers hard at work to keep an eye on the planet. Two teleporter technicians were controlling the flow power to the platform, bringing up Creeper and his guest. The cylindrical beam of light formed bright and clear for two seconds, then dissipated. Standing there, in the same poses as before, were Creeper and Krepta. Creeper lifted his hand off of Krepta's shoulder and stretch his neck. "Never stops feeling weird." He said to himself as he rubbed his neck muscles. "You alright, or do you want to sit down?" Krepta had taken quite a beating, and teleporting couldn't have made her sore body feel any better. If he always felt a bit queazy after teleporting, imagine how she felt. The technicians gave Krepta a quick look over with a remote scanner, as well as Creeper, then one of them nodded. "Alright, you're clear." He said calmly, with a hint of a Texan accent. They both walked over to other monitors, facing away from the two on the platform. The Watchtower was sleek looking, with clean metal and technology all over. There was an upper observation deck, which over looked the Shuttle and Teleporter bays, and if her eyes were good enough, Krept might have been able to see Batman, who was watching to make sure things went over as planned. There were three metal benches not to far from the platform, and a small nurse's station for those who got teleporter sick, or needed immediate medical attention. About ten yards west was a large elevator, which would take them to the quarters deck once they were ready.
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Post by Krepta on May 4, 2011 17:50:32 GMT -5
When the world stopped moving, the view that Krepta was met with was awe-inspiring to say the least. With all it's shiny, formal looking machinery and it's full uniformed technicians bustling about, not to mention Krepta's first real look at space, it made The Elemental's HQ feel like a petty tree-house. The lingering ache and buzz from both the teleportation and the days events were easy enough to brush off when faced with the sheer scale of the place. She was always aching from something or another anyhow. No, it was the Watchtower itself that had the brunette shapeshifter stunned. Still, Creeper was saying something-- asking her if she wanted to sit down. She shook her head and forced herself to stop gawking. The Watchtower this may be, but it still belonged to the Just-Us League, and she was a dragon for heaven's sake. It was unbecoming of her to sit there with her jaw on the floor. "Um, no," she said at last, "I'm good." She rubbed her arm again nervously and squinted up into the great heights of the tower, where she was sure she could feel eyes on her. Shivering a bit, she chuckled at Creeper. "Well, isn't this a familiar sensation. It's almost as if I'm in Gotham again... Let's... get to your room before he decides to question me himself." That was one end of the Batman she did not want to be on.
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Post by ZiggBot on May 4, 2011 18:05:09 GMT -5
(Oh, and feel free to take control of any workers or crew, too~ C: It makes the RP feel organic.)
Creeper looked over his shoulder at Batman when he was mentioned, then gave a goofy grin and waved. "Hellooooo Bats." He said in a funny tone, just to make Batman feel awkward, surely. Then, looking somewhat amused with himself, he stepped off the platform and gestured for her to follow. "Right this way, then." He nodded his head towards the elevator, then began to walk over. His steps made echoing taps on the floor, but they sounded as if he was barefoot and not wearing shoes, which was partially true. His boots didn't have soles, which made it easier for him to ouch and jump.
The doors to the elevator slid open with a quiet hiss of compressed air. The elevator car inside was quite large, and three workers shuffled out, leaving the space entirely empty. "Nice, isn't it?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. "It can fit twenty. Thirty is we squeeze and promise not to fart." He snickered. Once Krepta was inside, he'd press the button to head to the crew's quarters. "They have a nice cafeteria here too, if you get hungry or something. Well, nice enough for me, at least." And that wasn't saying much, but the food actually was good. Gourmet by cafeteria standards.
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Post by Krepta on May 4, 2011 18:24:08 GMT -5
Krepta's eyes widened. Was he crazy?! That was exactly what she didn't want to do! Draw attention to themselves-- or more aptly, herself. Creeper was probably used to drawing attention to himself, but Krepta wanted to remain unnoticed. Things were better that way. "Don't call him over here," she hissed, hurrying after the zany haired hero. Luckily for her, she watched over her shoulder as Batman graced them with his signature, soul searing, Bat-glare, then faded into the shadows. She only prayed that it would be to reappear at a more accessible level. She only allowed herself to relax marginally once they were on the elevator. And even then, she expected Batman to leap down from the ceiling, or for the martian to come scowling up through the floor. "It's impressive," she said, putting her back to an elevator wall. "That's for sure." Impressive was an understatement. And the thought of good food made her stomach cramp. "I wouldn't mind some lunch," she mumbled, grimacing. "A cafeteria's too public though. I'm... not really ready to make a public appearance yet."
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Post by ZiggBot on May 4, 2011 18:44:38 GMT -5
The elevator began to lower to the floor, and Creeper stepped away from the panel to stand in front of the door. He turned to face Krepta, who was talking about staying hidden for now. He didn't know what she had done to make her so nervous, but he would pry some other time. Right now they just needed to figure out what was going on with the portals. Then they could talk about things she might have done. Once she trusted him. He had dealt with people who had done wrong before, and wanted to atone, or just didn't mean for things to happen that way.
The doors opened, showing a floor with actual carpet, and sleek metal walls forming a corridor. "No problem. I can go and grab something to bring back. I usually get kicked out of the cafeteria for messing around, anyway." He shrugged. The door to his room wasn't far off, and on the way there they passed by the actual medical bay. THere weren't that many people other than nurses and doctors in there, mostly just heroes getting physicals or vaccinations. Then they passed the cafeteria, filled with chatting heroes and crew members. None of them seemed to notice the two as they passed, either because they were occupied with eating, talking and drinking, or that it was all routine to them.
Finally they approached Creeper's room, hidden behind a curved corner at the end of one of the halls. "I got a nice room, thanks to Bats. Used to be an observation deck." Holding his communicator screen-out to the door scanner, he waited for the door to open automatically. When it did, the first thing revealed was a large window looking out toward the stars. Off to the right was a bed, neatly made by someone who certainly wasn't Creeper. Perhaps Jack Ryder. To the left there was a table with some playing cards and a checker board, and in the right corner was a pull-up bar. There were several levels around the room that looked like perches, and had things that resembled trinkets hidden up in them, as if Creeper actually spent most of this time sitting on them and living his days. "Come on in." He held his arm out to the room, beckoning her in.
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Post by Krepta on May 4, 2011 18:57:21 GMT -5
Krepta was careful to look straight ahead and not make eye contact as she followed Creeper. They were going slower than she would have liked, but they couldn't exactly run either, so she would have to make do. However, the sight of both the med-bay and the cafeteria made her fingers itchy. God... she had been on the streets for too long. The first thing she noticed when she entered the room were the odd perches. It certainly was an interesting set up, and for a moment, she couldn't help but picture Creeper sitting up there, counting his 'shinies' like an overgrown crow. The thought made her laugh out loud. And then she saw the viewing window. The way they were angled at the moment not only gave her a breath-taking view of space, but of the great expanse of blue below that was planet earth. She was one again struck speechless as she wandered slowly over to the window to look down. She had been high up before, but never this high. It was as dizzying as it was beautiful. Shaking her head, she turned to a nearby table and pulled out the wrinkled, yellowed map. It wasn't exactly current, but it wasn't old either. It had seen a lot, and was marked with all sorts of things in different colors, but it was still plenty useful. "Alright," she said, and her tone was all business. She smoothed the map out and pointed to a ring of red dots surrounding a large central area. "The thing is, there are no portals that I know of. Well, there are, briefly-- but they don't stay open." She tapped the central area with a pen she produced out of the same bag. "I figure, what ever that's bringing them here is coming from here. I don't know how, and I don't know why but---" She looked at Creeper, and there was pain in her eyes. "Most of those creatures that come through were sentient once. They had cities and school and mothers and fathers-- and children." The pain swiftly turned to dark anger. "They aren't any more. I don't know why I'm still okay-- maybe I just was never all there--" She grinned wryly. "But they've all turned savage. All animal. I don't know why, and I don't know how to fix it but... try to remember that when you're fighting them."
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Post by ZiggBot on May 4, 2011 20:42:42 GMT -5
Creeper walked over silently, looking at the map with focused eyes. The central area, freshly marked on the map, was what had most of his attention as she spoke. He listened, and looked at her once her tone changed. The things she spoke of sounded as if they hit her pretty hard. She knew these people, that much he could tell from her pained eyes. He was angry, just like her. Whenever people of any kind were being hurt or changed against their will he got angry.
"I won't kill them if I don't have to." He said straightly, face becoming serious. "If they used to be like you, then there could be a way to change them back." He knew there probably wasn't, but it was what heroes were supposed to assume, right? That there was always a way to save someone until every option was exhausted? There was a pocket watch resting just by the map It was 12:32 AM in Westchester, Illinois. If Creeper's hours were included, than Jack Ryder would have been awake for 28 hours now, but Creeper never noticed being tired, not until he had been awake for at least three days straight. Endorphins could only last him so long. At that point he'd sink back in and let Jack sleep for a few hours.
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Post by Krepta on May 4, 2011 20:52:28 GMT -5
Krepta nodded. "Maybe a telepath could fix them. We-- I used to have one on my team that brought me back when I used to have... problems." She grimaced and tried to push that memory away. The Beast, for now, had been quelled, and she hoped to god it would never come back. "If you do catch one of the dragons though, be careful. Telepaths can really mess them up good... One could accidentally kill them if they weren't careful." It was a damnable trait of evolution that was present in herself as well, though, thankfully, not at such extreme levels thanks to her mixed heritage. No, her phobia had come from much more than simple evolutionary mess ups. She traced her finger around the ring again. "Small stuff is all that's getting through right now, and it looks to be mostly at random. I think this guy, who-ever it is, is playing with fire. I don't think he knows what he's doing." She looked back up at Creeper and her expression was grim. "You should know that dragons are just the tip of the ice berg. There are far worse things that can come through than the little Faerie dragons and Plain's Wyvern's that you've seen so far." She rubbed the back of her head. "I don't know much about inter-dimensional travel, but... I think this must have been done with magic. Faerie isn't really the kind of place that plays well with science, but... I could be wrong. Don't take my word for it." She shrugged a bit. "At the same time, it probably wouldn't hurt to have a magic user on call when you're looking. Preferably someone tough. From what I know, pulling open a rift is no little party trick."
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Post by ZiggBot on May 4, 2011 21:05:59 GMT -5
"Doctor Fate is available. Kinda cooky, but he's the best there is at this stuff. Zatanna might be able to help, too." He rubbed his chin, a very small smirk growing on his face at the thought of getting to see Zatanna in her silken short shorts. He quickly snapped back to the situation at hand, though. "When it comes to the telepaths, we have quite a few of those to choose from. Best to go with is Martian Manhunter, though. He's an expert. Hasn't been able to crack into my head yet, though, but he's sure to be gentle enough on them."
Unless something comes up, I think you should stick around here, just for tonight, to rest up. Tomorrow you might be able to help me find the source of these gates, or catch a few of your friends so that we can get them to M. M. Maybe if we can save one, we can ask them a few questions to find out more." That was probably to safest route, the one Superman would take. Though, personally, Creeper preferred to cut things off at the source as soon as possible. It was cleaner, quicker, and they could deal with the after math without having to worry about more.
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Post by Krepta on May 4, 2011 21:17:15 GMT -5
Krepta laughed. "Magic users usually are. I've known a handful in my time, and I've never met a single one that could be considered 'normal'." Most of them were nice people though, if you could put up with their weird habits. She had never met Dr. Fate, but she had heard good things about him, and Zantanna she had worked with a handful of time in her own dimension. She was nice enough, and had a good head on her shoulders. At least, what Krepta considered a good head. As for the Martian though, as much as she hated to admit it, he was the best choice. Hopefully, delivering these dragons to him though, would have nothing to do with her. She would help catch them, but Creeper would be hard pressed to get her anywhere near the Martian, or any other telepath for that matter. Remaining the night though... that was another matter entirely. It was too risky, and yet, what other choice did she have? Not to mention the advantages were all too tempting. A nice warm bed, food in her stomach. Sighing, Krepta wandered back over to the window and looked down. It was hard to imagine that back on earth-- well, at least that part of the Earth, it was raining. She liked to imagine that little smudge of cloud down there was Gotham. "You're probably right," she said at last, "But I'll tell you now I don't like it." She glanced over her shoulder. Krepta did not like not being in control of the situation. This was not her turf, or her friends, or... well, anything that was hers. Not to mention they were floating several thousand miles above the earth, and she was trapped in a spaceship with over a dozen people that could easily take her down in a heartbeat if they so chose. It was, needless to say, fairly intimidating. But at the end of the day, it was still the smart choice. Krepta was a lot of things, stubborn, unstable, a pain in the ass, but she was not stupid. "I doubt you'll be able to get much out of the dragons, sane or not though. When I came through, I was just yanked out of whatever I was doing back home, and then there was a bright flash and I was in Gotham-- um, this Gotham. There wasn't anything or anyone around that I could see, but I might have missed something." She shrugged again, feeling helpless. Her stomach made an angry noise.
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Post by ZiggBot on May 4, 2011 21:58:16 GMT -5
"I know how you feel. Being here... it's kind of tense when you're not with the 'in-crowd'." He glanced tot he side. "I guess I just got used to it after a while." He walked up to the window, staring out at the stars. He hadn't often done this from the floor level. He often looked out the window from one of his perches. He never particularly liked being on the floor. He much preferred to sit above everything and watch, which was often the reason why he was kicked out of the cafeteria. You don't gain any points with someone by pouring water on their heads for a prank.
Creeper eyed the stomach once it decided to complain. He laughed in a friendly manner, which was rare for him. "Hungry? Anything you're hankering?" He was a bit hungry, too. Jack hadn't eaten since lunch that day. The cafeteria had basically any sort of food that someone would need. It didn't have super fancy food, but it was fresh and good to the tongue.
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Post by Krepta on May 4, 2011 22:25:35 GMT -5
Krepta watched as The Creeper moved over to the window. In crowd? Well, she supposed even superheros had their outcasts. Hell, she was testament to it. Still, she didn't like seeing other sad, and that's how Creeper came across to her at that moment. She new for a fact that no one ever really got 'used to it'. Well, maybe Batman did, but Batman was Batman. "Eh, there's more to life than the 'in crowd," she said, trying to sound cheerful. She smiled a bit and rolled up the map again. "The 'in crowd' has to follow rules." She grimaced when he mentioned her stomach though. Had it been that obvious? Well, her stomach had never been a tame thing. "It's been a while since I've had a decent meal," she admitted. "I'll eat anything you can get me, really." She chuckled and rubbed the back of her head in mild embarrassment. "I like burgers though... if they've got any." JLA food, while probably quick service style, couldn't be terrible.
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Post by ZiggBot on May 4, 2011 22:38:18 GMT -5
Creeper nodded. "Gotcha. Be back in just a sec. There's a couch in here somewhere, if you want something comfy to sit on." He walked out of the room, waving as the door closed. There was a couch in the left corner of the room, buried under JLA reports and typical bachelor trash. It was a nice couch, though. It even had a pull out bed and some pillows and a blanket hidden behind it. JLA often had to share rooms when other branches came to the Watchtower, and Creeper's usual roommate was Vigilante. It was always entertaining to have a gun slinging cowboy to mess with, in Creeper's opinion, and the two didn't clash too badly.
Quite a few minute went by, enough time for Krepta to get settled if she chose. When Creeper returned, he had a tray with two meals on it. One was a simple burger with all the fixings and a side of fries. The other was a fruit salad paired with Creeper's favorite, a banana. He could eat those all day, for some reason. As he said, it gives you that lil' boost you need when you're a suburban soccer mom on the go, or a sociopath turned crime-fighter.
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Post by Krepta on May 4, 2011 23:11:35 GMT -5
Krepta eyed the couch with vague disdain. While Creeper was a nice enough-- if odd- fellow, she now understood in full what people meant when they said a place needed 'a woman's touch'. A cleaning lady maybe, she thought, pushing aside some of the papers that covered the cushions. Still, it was better than a cold ware-house floor. Much better. And she was almost tempted to go through some of those reports. When she was in the prime of her superheroing days, she had been a teenager, and not allowed near any case reports. They seemed like they would be some interesting reading material, but that was The Creeper's private stuff, and it would hardly be respectful. The boa-wearing weirdo had been too nice to her so far for her to have any urges to revert to a teenager on him. She wouldn't deny that she was capable of it though.
When he came back, laden with burgers and... fruit salad? Well, to each their own-- Krepta had to visibly resist running up and snatching her own meal up. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but then again, when meals were as scarce as they had been for her, you had to forget about your own hunger or go mad. As it was, when he did hand her her burger, she practically inhaled it, leaning over the plate as if afraid someone would take it from her at any moment. She only slowed when she got to the fries, and the edge had been taken off her hunger. Swallowing her previous mouthful, she looked sheepish and set her plate down. So, she didn't have the best table manners. Who could blame her? At least what she ate worked to support all her forms. She could eat a cats amount as a cat and still be full as a dragon. It was probably the reason she was still alive and vaguely healthy. "Ah, got anything to drink," she asked with a chuckle.
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Post by ZiggBot on May 4, 2011 23:21:34 GMT -5
Creeper watched with amusement. Not that was how he ate. He would have done that, too, if he hadn't been watching her so much. He put the tray on the table, plucking a cup of water off of it and handing it to her. "Got ya covered." He smirked again. He sat down on the chair, crossing his legs and scooping some fruit into his hands, then shoveling it into his mouth quickly. Delicious. The JLA really knew how to pick fruit. Everything was juicy and flavorful, especially the kiwi and strawberries.
He seemed less tense than before, his shoulders becoming relaxed. His hair, when it wasn't wet, still hung in his face messily, but it was somewhat fluffier. Now that he was in full light, the green in his hair was more noticeable. It was a vibrant neon green where the light hit it, and almost black where it didn't. His eyes weren't in the light at the moment, though, so they looked like some sort of metal reflecting hints of iridescent green. It was almost impossible to tell where his pupils were, if they were indeed there. "So is it a lot like our earth where you're from? Or do you have elves and hobbits running around?" he said jokingly.
(EDIT: There, had to add in a bit more action to carry the RP. xD)
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