Ah-Heet Dees-Pless!

[atippleoftransparency]

Who| Brainy and Lyle, Lyle and YOU
What| Mourning a fallen foe. PLUS: hunting for vegan-friendly food
Where| Sixth floor, sixth floor cafe
When| Week three, post-volcano eruption
Warnings/Notes| Translated and untranslated swearing

Part the first, locked to Brainy

The door to the stairwell slammed open and a singed, many-legged form stumbled out onto the floor. Lyle had one of Brainy's arms across his shoulders and one of his own around Brainy's waist, half-dragging the Coluan to the negotiable safety of a forest of wax legs. He didn't quite collapse in a heap, too much long-embedded training to do that, but grife did he want to. He was tired, he was hungry, and he'd just had to flee a sprocking volcano and sprocking liquid nitrogen. Had he stood next to a sign warning that the volcano was going to blow at some point and not known because he couldn't read a sprocking thing here?

Lyle made a mental note to spare a moment or two to feel sorry for himself later, right now he and Brainy were in new territory and needed to be on the alert.

"You okay?"

---

Part the second, open to anyone

Sprock the Coluans. Sprock them and their sprocking genetic engineering that was making Lyle's life so much more difficult.

It wasn't that he was happy to eat cooked animal flesh, or really anything produced by an animal, but at least he could if he had to (unless he shared whatever quirk of the genetic code that had left Cos throwing up or otherwise uncomfortably expelling most of the stuff he'd eaten in the past). Brainy couldn't. So Brainy hadn't.

Lyle's fantasies about tearing the Capitol down around the ears of its citizens had begun to feature major injuries in addition to the complete and utter ruin of everything they held dear. Not for everyone, just the people in charge, and nothing that they couldn't recover from with medical treatment. Long-term, intensive medical treatment and physical therapy. And even then, they wouldn't ever be quite the same.

There seemed to be cafes on every floor, though the loss of the third floor's cafeteria was a major blow. And this late in the game, it was probably stripped bare. Still, Lyle had to look, just in case. He'd waited until night, when the light from the windows overhead had dimmed to something that wouldn't make him and his black pajamas stand out like a Talokian on Summer World, and sneaked his way toward the cafe, pausing at the cover of every second wax figure to check around him for observers.

Forget sprocking the Coluans. Sprock the whole sprocking Capitol for doing this to them.

Comments

[googledox]

Whoops, maybe he should have told Lyle about the sign.

Regardless, it happened, they weren't dead yet, and they'd had to make that run for the Cafeteria anyway, given their deplorable lack of food stores.

It was over now and all they had to show for it as a few minor cold and heat burns, but it could have been worse.

But naturally, the run had left Brainy exhausted. Like most Coluans, he had a fast metabolism because the Coluan brain burned through calories like no other species'. It was even worse for him because of his twelfth level intellect. He'd resorted to shutting several tracks of consciousnesses down completely in the hopes it would conserve some energy. They were all fairly useless at the moment anyway; all his thoughts were dull and sluggish.

Unlike Lyle, he dropped to the floor because he had to, because his legs were simply too weak to hold him up. He knew it wasn't safe but as he slipped out of Lyle's grip, he was a little too wobbly to care, folding over so that his head thudded onto the floor in front of him.

"That depends on the definition of 'okay' as based on the parameters of our current circumstances," he gasped out. "Because if okay is defined as actually being okay, then no, I'm not okay, I'm going to pass out if I don't eat soon. If okay means 'not fatally injured or otherwise about to die in the next five minutes'--" He gave a wobbly thumbs up without lifting his head from the ground.

[atippleoftransparency]

Lyle gritted his teeth and looked around to make sure no one was coming running at the sound of the door opening. He should have been smarter than to kick the sprocking thing open -- grife, he should have been smarter than to run upstairs from something flammable in the first place, he needed to get it together because he was basically on his own right now. Brainy wasn't going to be much help.

If only there was something he could punch to solve this.

"Well, I'd prefer it if you didn't pass out here, so up," he said, crouching down to pull Brainy off the floor. "I'll steer, you just try to fall slower than I move."

[googledox]

Brainy still lay there with his head pressed to the ground as Lyle tried to lift him.

"I was here first so I'm acting leader. Therefore you can't tell me what to do."

Still, he struggled valiantly to stand again as Lyle pulled on him.

[atippleoftransparency]

"Fine, you be acting leader. We both know how well I take orders."

Or, as Lyle preferred to think of them, 'suggestions'. Good suggestions, generally, but still suggestions.

"Up. Count of three. One, two, three!"

[googledox]

"My first order as acting leader is that you need to stop being terrible at taking orders."

Brainy was not, by his nature, someone prone to silliness most of the time, but when he was tired or hungry or otherwise had reason to be slightly delirious he could get a little on the silly side. It left him caring far less about seeming dignified and he tended to blurt a bit more.

He was too hungry and tired to be dignified right now.

"Verticality achieved," he said the moment Lyle got him upright. He added dryly, "Let's go, Legion."

To think they'd once faced down Darkseid. Now just walking upright was a challenge.

[atippleoftransparency]

"I'll get right on that, Boss-Man," Lyle answered, rolling his eyes. Being sarcastic was more useful than worrying; but he'd never seen Brainy this bad. He had hide him somewhere he could trust Brainy either wouldn't be found or could defend himself from an attacker and get something in his stomach.

"Let's go, Legion," he agreed wryly, steering Brainy away from the door and into the depths of the forest of wax figures.

"Grife, this place is creepy."

[googledox]

He'd never been this bad because starvation was not often one of the usual hurdles they faced. Hunger was, on occasion, due to the difficult circumstances of their lives, but never starvation.

They watched out for one another too much for that.

Brainy watched out for all of them too much for that and gave them all the resources he could so that they could avoid it.

"Intimidation factor," Brainy said, as they struggled along. "'Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.' We get to see ourselves by seeing others like us and get to imagine that we might suffer the same -"

He froze in place and went silent as he recognized one of the wax sculptures, only he wasn't falling to the ground this time. He just stood there, completely still, as he stared at it.

[atippleoftransparency]

"I was thinking more along the lines of the fact they all look like corpses, but--"

Lyle reflexively jerked the pair of them sideways when Brainy froze, following his gaze to see what threat had sneaked up upon them. He didn't see anything moving over there, but--

"Another fucking statue of--" Lyle shook his head. That was a representation of a Legionnaire, he couldn't say what he actually wanted to say, but he couldn't insult him either in the face of the dawning horror creeping up his spine. "--What's he doing here?"

[googledox]

"According to another Tribute familiar with a variation of our universe, Wonder Woman was, as well," said Brainy slowly, his voice dull. "Heroes...don't seem to last very long here."

His throat clenched.

For all he and Superboy had butted heads in the beginning, over time they'd become friends. In all the madness that had gone on while helping the other Legions two years back, Brainy had taken great satisfaction in the knowledge that they'd helped bring both Superboy and Bart Allen back to life.

"It could possibly be an alternate." His voice was still dull and he rallied to find an excuse for it. "If not...he was far more like us than he wanted to acknowledge. He should have been one of us. At the very least, he deserved a better fate than this - his life should have been left in our hands."

[halfa_hero]

As it turns out, there's already someone in the sixth floor cafe, rifling through what's left of the food.

As Danny does so, he keeps his crowbar close, checking behind him every so often.

[atippleoftransparency]

Lyle hesitated at the door, frowning thoughtfully. That...could be the kid Brainy mentioned, the one he'd made some alliance with. Or it could be some other sentient entirely, because there were a lot of sentients here who Lyle didn't know.

But he had a crowbar, like Danny supposedly did; and he fit the description Brainy had given him, at least from the back. And Lyle really needed to check the food supplies for things Brainy could eat.

"Hey, Danny, right?" he asked casually, prepared to book it if this started to turn out poorly.

[halfa_hero]

"Yeess?" He said, cocking an eyebrow. "Who's asking?"

[atippleoftransparency]

Lyle bared his teeth in a grin. That seemed as good as a 'yes' to his question.

"Lyle Norg. We haven't met, but we've got an acquaintance in common. Brainiac 5 was only mildly insulting when he spoke of you, which is high praise indeed from that softie."

He took a few steps forward, hands raised with the palms outward to show that he was unarmed -- and also, if necessary to ward off a blow. "Any chance there's anything heavy on the vegetables still in there?"

[halfa_hero]

"Really." He said evenly. "Another one of you guys. Any other members of your team wandering around that I should know about?"

"And nothing fresh, but there's a couple of packs of veggie jerky."

[atippleoftransparency]

"Just me and him so far, but I'll let you know if that changes."

Mostly by whooping and carrying on like a complete lunatic as the Legion razed this place to the ground, but hey, the kid hadn't asked for specifics.

"'Fresh' wasn't going to be an option at this point," Lyle said with a shrug. "Toss 'em here and I'll give you tips on watching your back. I could have walked up and biffed you upside the head if I wasn't as good as I am at remembering physical descriptions."

His stomach chose this moment to growl. Lyle rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "Okay, I could have if my own internal organs didn't give me away first, thank you for your input."

[halfa_hero]

Danny tossed the jerky over.

"I can watch my back just fine." He'd been paying enough attention to know that someone was there, at least.

"Just because I didn't immediate go on the defense doesn't mean I can't. Or did Brainy not tell you I wasn't planning on starting any fights."

[atippleoftransparency]

Lyle broke into one of the packets and stuffed a piece in his mouth. Mmfph. Heaven. It wasn't Tenzil-worthy foodstuff, but hunger was a truly excellent sauce.

"Going on the defense isn't necessarily starting a fight, Danny," he said once he'd swallowed. "Sometimes, it's all that stops a fight from starting. Hssst, I'm more trouble than I look, hsst!" He gave Danny a lopsided smile. "Trust me, I'm an former kid-assassin, I speak from experience."

Its the confrontation we've kept not having!

[polyturtle]

Oh, well. He hadn't been expecting expecting people at the cafe.

The sixth floor had been a slight godsend, with what few supplies he felt he was able to take, the few times he'd managed to get to it. Now, however, there was trouble. People. Other Tributes. Hopefully, he could get in and out without too much trouble, but on the other hand, the darned acoustics of the Arena were making his attempts at stealth mostly useless.

But, hey, it had to work this time...right?

[atippleoftransparency]

After spotting that wax statue of Superboy, Lyle and Brainy had camped down against a wall, partially hidden by some of the other statues.

Brainy was resting. Lyle was...also resting. At least, that's what he hoped it appeared he was doing, instead of watching the area through his eyelashes.

He thought he might have heard someone sneaking around earlier. They might get careless if they thought he and Brainy were both asleep.

[polyturtle]

It was at this point that Donatello definitively spotted two Tributes. Not wax statues (those really, truly creeped him out). Actual Tributes, including the green-skinned alien. The one who had been relatively smug in their last encounter, however fleeting it had been on the communicators.

Still, he was certain he could slip by them, in the shadows, unnoticed, if he moved just so. Which was exactly what he did, hoping - praying, even - that his luck with stealth tactics would change, and he's finally not look a fool ninja while passing by the two others sleeping bodies.

[atippleoftransparency]

He couldn't see anything yet -- probably would have been able to even if his eyes had been wide open -- but Lyle was pretty sure he'd heard something. He grumbled a little in his "sleep", rolling over to disguise the way he'd pulled his hands and arms in so that he could spring up from the floor and attack anyone who thought two sleeping Tributes might be easy pickings.

[polyturtle]

Shell, is he---no. No, ok. So far, so good. Quietly, he sneaked into the shop, tiptoeing his way to near the register. Opening the doors beneath, his eyes lit up a bit.

Ok, so its not canned fruit. But, cookies and candy was still food, and mostly non-perishable, for a time. And chocolate could be boiled into a drink. Carefully, he began to stuff the items into his pockets and his makeshift item sling, wincing at the slightest crackle.

Don't wake. Don't wake...

[atippleoftransparency]

Lyle was so very glad he'd gotten dark pajamas. Way easier than sneaking around in the dark in something light or brightly colored. Lyle rolled to his feet and slipped into the shadows, leaving Brainy sleeping where he lay. Better to let him rest when he could, considering the state he was in. Wasn't like he was going to be any better in stealth-verses-stealth awake; and he'd definitely wake up if it came down to a fight.

He hid himself as best he could, considering his surroundings. Even when he couldn't turn invisible, all that spy training came in handy for some things...

[polyturtle]

He got most of what he needed, so Don began to walk off, carefully, quietly. However, as he did, he noticed that Lyle was gone, nearing the exit.

He wasn't going to panic. No. He could ill afford to. However, he knew that he might be able to find supplies off of the two boys, and defend himself for it, if there was one person left guarding then. It was a risk, given that he knew very little about either - and one was suddenly gone - but it was a chance he decided was worth taking.

Carefully, quietly, Don began to creep towards Brainy, intending to look him over and to also check on what the other might have left behind.

[atippleoftransparency]

"I wouldn't do that if you value your skeletal system."

Lyle had seen weirder than this sentient. Sprock, Lyle lived with weirder than this sentient. But that didn't mean this one was friendly and kindly inclined toward an unconscious Tribute. He tried to stay out of sight anyway, but he couldn't turn invisible right now and there wasn't that much cover here beyond the shadows.

At least he had the crowbar.

"You had to have seen me. Did you think I just abandoned him?"