Pajamas. He'd been put in pajamas. Ones with little rocket ships on them because apparently the fact his skin was green was too subtle in alerting the viewing public to the fact that he was an alien. How very droll.
Not that he'd expected any of this to make sense, but it was ridiculous to a degree that bored its way right under his skin. He supposed that was probably the point.
As he stood on his pedestal, hands folded behind his back, his heart started the usual rapid staccato it did in these situations. It was just adrenaline. He wasn't scared. Brainiac 5 didn't do scared in most cases. Amid countless adventures across time and space facing untold numbers of brutal enemies and preternatural forces, there was only one time that Brainy's team-mates had ever seen him shaken and it was after feeling the death of one team-mate at the hand of another over Saturn Girl's telepathic link. They'd all felt Monstress' psyche snuff out like a candle at the hands of the being that had once been Jan Arrah - her pain and fear and betrayal in her last moments - and they'd felt Saturn Girl's shock and horror at witnessing it slam against them like a rogue wave. The moments after that were the only time the Legion had ever heard a stammer in his voice.
This wasn't nearly as traumatizing as that and therefore the fear was carefully kept at bay. His heart pounded but his stomach didn't twist into the coils of fusion wire it could have twisted into.
Still, somehow there was an added dimension to the adrenaline spike he felt as the clock counted down, something he couldn't identify.
10...9...8...
To the Legion I make this -
He wasn't planning on killing and he wasn't altogether that terrified of being killed - if he was interesting enough he might be revived. He'd faced worse odds in the past.
6...5...4...
-solemn pledge - I make this solemn -
So what was it that was weighing so heavily on him? Why, when this was no different than any other dangerous, mad situation he'd faced, did he have such a feeling of foreboding? What about this would be different than any other time he had to try to stay alive against impossible odds?
3...2...1..
To use my powers for good -
The strike of a gong turned the world into bedlam. Everyone else started running for the Cornucopia and the moment they started getting in close, the fighting began.
In some cases, the dying began.
"Ah."
To fight for justice and protect -
That was what was different. That was why he wasn't any more afraid than usual, yet felt as the world had drained of all its color to leave behind empty grey.
To protect the innocent -
They would fight and they would die - some for good - and he could do nothing. At least not yet. All he could do was bear witness, try to survive, and hope the things he did outside the arena would help put an end to the brutality.
Powerlessness in the face of the victimization of innocents - not even just from the lack of his shield powers, also from the situation itself - that was what made all the difference in the world. He'd be a rat in the race this time, instead of someone crashing in from above to break holes in the walls of the maze.
He'd have to watch the other rats tear each other apart, unable to do a thing about it.
To protect the innocent -
Hatred unlike any he'd ever felt before bubbled up molten in his throat. For a moment, the feeling was so strong, he wondered if he'd spontaneously developed the capacity to spew acid.
Yet his face was impassive as ever as he move forward. He unfolded his hands and slipped through the crowd like a green ghost, never running, but moving at brisk pace all the same. Never once did he lash out, simply ducking and dodging blows and flailing limbs with fluid, economical movements and the occasional back bend or flip whenever it was necessary, as if the people around him weren't so much people as obstacles on an obstacle course.
- I make this solemn pledge -
It helped to treat them as obstacles. You didn't try to hurt an obstacle, after all (what was the point?).
And, most importantly of all, pretending they were just things to dodge made it easier to ignore it when one fell to the ground screaming.
Brainiac 5 | OTA
Not that he'd expected any of this to make sense, but it was ridiculous to a degree that bored its way right under his skin. He supposed that was probably the point.
As he stood on his pedestal, hands folded behind his back, his heart started the usual rapid staccato it did in these situations. It was just adrenaline. He wasn't scared. Brainiac 5 didn't do scared in most cases. Amid countless adventures across time and space facing untold numbers of brutal enemies and preternatural forces, there was only one time that Brainy's team-mates had ever seen him shaken and it was after feeling the death of one team-mate at the hand of another over Saturn Girl's telepathic link. They'd all felt Monstress' psyche snuff out like a candle at the hands of the being that had once been Jan Arrah - her pain and fear and betrayal in her last moments - and they'd felt Saturn Girl's shock and horror at witnessing it slam against them like a rogue wave. The moments after that were the only time the Legion had ever heard a stammer in his voice.
This wasn't nearly as traumatizing as that and therefore the fear was carefully kept at bay. His heart pounded but his stomach didn't twist into the coils of fusion wire it could have twisted into.
Still, somehow there was an added dimension to the adrenaline spike he felt as the clock counted down, something he couldn't identify.
10...9...8...
To the Legion I make this -
He wasn't planning on killing and he wasn't altogether that terrified of being killed - if he was interesting enough he might be revived. He'd faced worse odds in the past.
6...5...4...
-solemn pledge - I make this solemn -
So what was it that was weighing so heavily on him? Why, when this was no different than any other dangerous, mad situation he'd faced, did he have such a feeling of foreboding? What about this would be different than any other time he had to try to stay alive against impossible odds?
3...2...1..
To use my powers for good -
The strike of a gong turned the world into bedlam. Everyone else started running for the Cornucopia and the moment they started getting in close, the fighting began.
In some cases, the dying began.
"Ah."
To fight for justice and protect -
That was what was different. That was why he wasn't any more afraid than usual, yet felt as the world had drained of all its color to leave behind empty grey.
To protect the innocent -
They would fight and they would die - some for good - and he could do nothing. At least not yet. All he could do was bear witness, try to survive, and hope the things he did outside the arena would help put an end to the brutality.
Powerlessness in the face of the victimization of innocents - not even just from the lack of his shield powers, also from the situation itself - that was what made all the difference in the world. He'd be a rat in the race this time, instead of someone crashing in from above to break holes in the walls of the maze.
He'd have to watch the other rats tear each other apart, unable to do a thing about it.
To protect the innocent -
Hatred unlike any he'd ever felt before bubbled up molten in his throat. For a moment, the feeling was so strong, he wondered if he'd spontaneously developed the capacity to spew acid.
Yet his face was impassive as ever as he move forward. He unfolded his hands and slipped through the crowd like a green ghost, never running, but moving at brisk pace all the same. Never once did he lash out, simply ducking and dodging blows and flailing limbs with fluid, economical movements and the occasional back bend or flip whenever it was necessary, as if the people around him weren't so much people as obstacles on an obstacle course.
- I make this solemn pledge -
It helped to treat them as obstacles. You didn't try to hurt an obstacle, after all (what was the point?).
And, most importantly of all, pretending they were just things to dodge made it easier to ignore it when one fell to the ground screaming.
To protect the innocent...