[Open] The journey thus far...

[aboveangrybees]

Who| Steve and Anyone!
What| This feels too much like sitting around and waiting to die. Or a catchall for before and during the first Hell-rena.
Where| Everywhere.
When| Weeks 1 & 2 (or the week before and week of the first Hell-rena)
Warnings/Notes| Mild language and violence, update as needed.

Watching videos of past arenas can only make someone so prepared for the real thing, but actually being here is far more chaotic and unpredictable than the videos ever depicted. This place is a veritable wonderland of possibilities. Steve really has no idea what to expect.

But still, he didn't expect it to be this, well, calm. Sure, he got attacked on the first day and he's had to fight off some nasty creatures here and there during the days after, even ran had a few peaceful encounters with people, but the fog acts as a blanket over a birdcage, making everything quiet. Too quiet maybe.

He just didn't know exactly what too quiet would lead to, but he was smart enough to know it would be no good.

When the sirens first blare, Steve immediately goes to find his allies, so he can get them somewhere safe; the noise is an all too familiar sound from his days in the war. But then the fog clears and temperature rises with unnatural speed, the walls dissolving instead of the telling sounds of planes and bombs, well, wasn't hard to catch on.


[ooc: I'm going to comment some prompts below, feel free to use them or, if you rather, you can leave me a prompt! I'm open to anything, including some scuffles. Just make sure to specify when it's for so I know where it fits in. You can use the prompts as an idea for what's going on during those times.

Also, prose or bracket RP is fine by me, I don't have a preference, so do which ever you prefer.]

Comments

Hell-rena Prompt

[aboveangrybees]

The answers to what's happening come much faster than he expected. By the time he finds and gets Stark to the theatre with Thor's help, Steve has already had a run in with the monstrous spiders that are far more active than he remembers them being before. Yet, more than that, the damage he sustained from that fight is already healing, his senses also back to their normal level.

The monsters and heat coupled with the main source of shelter dissolving away, there's going to be people who need help, people who don't know about the theatre or people who don't have the means to fight off these now active creatures. Or maybe, just people who need a hand with something, but Steve can't just stand by and do nothing and watch, he's never been the type.

So, stripped down to the essentials of what he needs to wear, his crowbar and trashcan lid in hand, Steve heads out into the heat and begins to search for people who could use any level of aid.

[ooc: He'll be all over, so feel free to catch him anywhere.]

Re: Hell-rena Prompt

[yourmove]

By now Alex isn't doing too hot. He doesn't know it, but when they built his chassis, OmniCorp had just assumed he'd always have access to a controlled environment at least once every few days for "little" things like maintenance, glucose solutions, blood cleansing. Everything that keeps him alive instead of dying inside the world's most expensive tin can. They hadn't thought he'd be stumbling around a Dali painting from hell, staggering like a drunk.

Somewhere along the way he lost Clara. Alex tries to grab onto that but between heat stroke and the fact he simply wasn't built to live on his own anymore, he finds that something as simple as thinking slides away. Stuff blurs together. The grinding sound goes from just grating to the point where he can feel it vibrating in his bones, across the roof of his mouth. It seems more real than Clara and memories of Detroit.

His HUD seems to be doing better than he is. As he puts one foot in front of the other, it tries to reroute him, signaling [ SHELTER - IMMEDIATE LEFT ] and [MALE, CAUCASIAN; AGE_?? BIOMETRIC READ ERROR] and that's about the part where Alex finally checks out.

He pitches forward a few yards away from Steve Rogers, this big black shape that hits the ground with a deafening thud as Alex unceremoniously passes out from the heat.

[aboveangrybees]

He heard the footsteps before he saw the man, turning to look at him and seeing something much more akin to Iron Man than a normal person. The footsteps had sounded very heavy, much like Stark's when in his suit. But there's no time to think about that as the man hits the ground.

No, the only thing he thinks about is getting over to the man while looking around to make sure there are no other immediate threats. Seeing none, Steve kneels down by the man, rolling him over on to his back with ease.

First he tries to move the HUD, but when it doesn't move easily, well, Steve isn't going to Thor it off, just in case that makes things worse. Instead, he checks if he's still breathing and feels what skin he can for his temperature.

Shit, this guy is totally overheating, he needs to get him inside and now.

With some effort, he hoists the man up and against his shoulder as he stands with some difficulty due to the weight. If he had to walk too far, he would have had to drag the guy, but luckily the theatre is right at his back. Once inside, Steve sets the man down against the wall, double checking that he's still breathing as he gets some water and a shred of curtain to dab the guy's face in hopes to help him cool off faster.

[yourmove]

Alex doesn't seem to recover immediately. His head hangs down, the silver visor hiding his eyes, and his legs don't so much as wobble like a man's as drag like there's no muscle. In short, he's several hundred pounds of dead weight for Steve to drag, his feet making a dull scrapping sound that might draw the monsters out there.

Once inside the theater, Aex slides down with a clunk of graphene platting rubbing up against the wall. It takes a few minutes before he starts to revive, Alex groaning as he wonders what the hell that is rubbing at his cheek. It's wet, cool. He hopes it's not one of those things out there taste-testing him. All he knows is he feels like crap: his head swims, a thick layer of saliva on his tongue like he wants to puke but doesn't know if he even has the internal organs to manage. His eyes flutter open as the visor retracts away from a face that's gone several shades too pale.

He stares up at Steve - or, more accurately, he seems to stare at a point past him, because for some reason he's having trouble focusing. "What's..." Alex swallows thickly, trying again. "What's going on? Who're you?"

The HUD runs with static as he tries to figure out if he knows this guy or not. He's got one of those faces, the one that his gut instinct says he could trust. Alex wishes he could trust him. But he knows in the back of his mind that they’re both Tributes and there’s only so far the Good Samaritan act will go.

Alex struggles to push himself to his feet, stabilizers whining. A servo creaks loudly, something that’s too dark to be blood oozing out a hole in his side and smelling faintly of ozone.

[aboveangrybees]

The paleness of the man's face and his inability to focus already had him concerned - those were not good signs - but it only seems to get worse when the man tries to stand.

Steve places his hands on the man's shoulders, trying to gently push him down to sit. The smell of ozone reaches his nose, making him look down to the hole and liquid that's coming out of the man's suit, or worse the man himself. Shit, this guy is way worse off than he thought.

"I'm Steve. I dragged you inside after you passed out, so you need to take a minute to sit, okay? I'm not going to kill you after the effort it took to get you in here," Steve keeps his voice level, trying to instil into him the calm Steve's portraying. Much like he would with injured soldiers on the field. "Trust me, you're no feather."

[yourmove]

Alex catches himself slurring, his eyebrows drawn together as he concentrates on things like words and speaking up. For some reason he focuses on: " - You dragged me?"

There's something weird about that and it takes him awhile to click that into place: there's no way he managed to lift him by himself. No way. Alex doesn't know exactly how much he weighs with the chassis, but he's assuming in the ballpark of a few hundred pounds he didn't have before. Maybe.

Says a lot for Steve's people skills because Alex feels like he should be worried than he already is. Especially when he starts to stand up and to his shock, Steve actually pushes him back down like he's a kid. Alex plunks back down against the wall, his surprise written all over his face.

"Uh. Sorry. I'm Alex." He at least remembers his name, despite how crappy he feels right. "How'd you drag me in here again?"

[aboveangrybees]

Steve tries not to use too much of his strength, he doesn't want to cause anymore injury to the other man. The hole in Alex's side is already concerning enough, but he's glad when the other man finally settles, even if that's mostly on Steve's account.

"With a lot of effort," the humor is dry, using it more to defuse the situation. Trying to lower the stress of it. For Steve, it wasn't actually that difficult to drag him in, actually he carried most of the weight, but it was very awkward and dead weight is the worst. So, yeah, there was still some effort.

"I know it might not feel it, but you're safe for right now, Alex. I'll stick around until you're on your feet again, okay?" He keeps the calm voice, making sure it comes off as protective and reassuring.

"So, how about you drink some water and collect your thoughts, then we can talk," Steve offers his water bottle, ready to help him drink it if needed. And he knows he shouldn't be offering out his limited supplies like this, that he's running low on water, but this guy needs it more than Steve does.

[not_cocked]

First thing she did was drink a big, cold glass of water.

Then she stuffed her face.

Then she got antsy.

Standing against the windows, she looked out into the world beyond, not sure what to think about it, but knowing staying in here wasn't going to fly. She twisted when she heard Steve coming up, and the combination of who he was, and what he was doing decided it for her.

"I'm coming with you."

[aboveangrybees]

Steve doesn't see her until she speaks, looking up and over at her, recognizing her immediately. He gives her a nod in greeting, glad to see her doing alright for herself here.

For a second he's not sure if she should come with him, but he also could hear that it wasn't a question. And well, he's learned not to underestimate people.

Also, that it's not smart for even someone like himself to go out there alone.

"Do you have a weapon?" If not, then he'll make sure she does before they head out. The creatures are too aggressive to go out there without something to fight them off. Especially, if in rescue of someone.

[not_cocked]

"This has done me surprisingly well."

She pulls the wrench from where it's tucked into her belt behind her back, holding it up to him. She didn't want to wave it around too much, it was easy to tell peace was tentative here.

Shoving it behind her back again, she secures her pack before nodding towards the door with a boisterous grin.

"Times wastin' Cap."

[aboveangrybees]

"Well, alright then," Steve can't stop the amused grin as he secures his crowbar through a belt loop. Thor has also been using a wrench, so he knows how useful those can be.

Though, her use of Cap has him unsure if she's aware of who he is or if she's referring to the rank he told her. It's a toss up, but he settles for the latter.

"Wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting, now would we?" It's a bit deadpan, but Steve is being playful about it, exiting the building back into the sweltering environment. Though he still has the mind to hold the door open for De.

Forever a gentleman.

[not_cocked]

She grins at him, before walking out the door, fingers not leaving the handle of her wrench.

The heat hits like a suffocating blanket. De thought she had dealt with heat, travelling the country in an old car. Dallas, Phoenix, the deep south.

Nothing like this. Her clothes were drenched almost immediately, the air made her lungs feel too big, and she tried to take shallow breaths to ease it. It doesn't take long for a headache to start nagging at the back of her brain.

"Damn, and here I forgot my bikini."

[aboveangrybees]

Steve's body livens a little when he hits the heat, his cells immediately kicking into high gear to heal him, keep him from overheating or dehydrating. Other than sweating a little, he looks mostly unaffected by the heat. The serum was sure to keep him functioning in any environment, so, it might not be comfortable, but it was survivable enough for him to continue on as planned.

Though, her state doesn't go unnoticed. Nor does her comment. "I'm sure the audience would have enjoyed that," definitely would boost ratings.

"We'll check the area, then head back here. Don't want to drop like flies trying to help people, would defeat the purpose," there's a wry tone towards the end, but more to cover up the little bit of awkwardness her comment caused him.

[helpmeguideit]

Charles carried Steve's jacket that he had given him earlier on in the arena. He had everything that he had gotten during the week folded into it. There was a little bit of food left, a sleeping bag, knife, and bug spray. He was hungry, but he was careful about how often he ate. He didn't want to run out of food, and he really didn't want to eat whatever was in the.

He ducks down beside one the houses, the coat wrapped up tightly around his supplies, as he toted it around. In one hand - the Swiss army knife, in the other - the bug spray. He was brandishing them in every way possible to get along.

He wasn't strong. He wasn't fast. But he did have his skills which could help call people together, get them somewhere safe, and when he stared out into the road, he saw him.

He doesn't think he should shout, it could draw monsters in. Steve, he thought towards him, would you like my help.

[aboveangrybees]

Everything about his instincts say something's wrong when he believes he hears the voice suddenly. He casts a look around, the voice didn't sound raised, but he heard no one approach him and with his senses heightened again he knows that wouldn't have escaped him. But something feels wrong to say he heard it.

At least he recognizes the voice. Though, he still doesn't drop his guard.

"Xavier?" He turns and finally catching sight of the other man. And he's not anywhere close enough to have spoken without shouting. Maybe he threw his voice? But that still doesn't feel right. He doesn't feel like he heard it.

Still, he waves to the man, though awkwardly, as he starts to make his way over.

[helpmeguideit]

Sometimes, Charles doesn't necessarily realize that telepathy and mutants like himself aren't a normal part of every other world. It's understandable that Steve has no idea what he's talking about. Of course, he hadn't thought about these things when he sent the message to him first.

When he saw him approaching, he stepped forward, tapping two fingers to his temple. I'm up here, Charles said. Don't worry, I'm just talking to you.

[aboveangrybees]

Steve's thoughts race across crystal clear information about everything he's read and learned concerning communications of this nature. Telepathy pops up a couple times before he latches on to it as some kind of possible explanation. This all happens with such speed and efficiency that Steve only hesitates for a short period before reaching the conclusion.

His eyebrows hike up in amazement. This is only something he's read about in fantasy books or seen in science fiction movies, it's almost hard to believe, but it's sort of happening right now, so how could he not.

At first, he opens his mouth like he's about to say something, but instead furrows his brow as he tries talking in his mind, much like he would when he has conversations with himself silently. Can you hear me too?

[helpmeguideit]

I can, Steve, he answered. He stood up tall, and then started towards Steve. His pace was slow, and quiet. It was far more careful than it had been the previous time they had met. There was much more danger now in the arena, and he wasn't about to get Steve or himself killed as a result of carelessness. he had seen this place disintegrate before his eyes.

I'm a telepath. A mutant, actually. His eyes drift, and he feels something close. Someone? He isn't sure here. This way. We can talk and move. It didn't take much effort to think, after all. And the recordings had no way of capturing the thoughts, so the Capitol wouldn't really need to know what was being discussed.

He wasn't sure what they knew about him, though, since they had removed his skill when he got there originally.

[aboveangrybees]

A stray thought surfaces, a memory of what someone told him about Charles (...telepath. Probably the most powerful mind on the planet...) but he doesn't latch on to it, brushing it aside. He didn't need Murdock's advice to like the man in front of him.

Mutant huh? As in you were born with this talent? Besides the Asgardians, he doesn't know anyone else who's been born with abilities. All of them were received later in life (it brings thoughts of pain from needles, being inclosed, the first time breathing without struggle, color, being taller).

He noticed the caution in the man's movements, then then way his eyes drift. It sets Steve on a higher alert than he already was.

Something wrong? He thinks it as he falls into step by Charles, following the man's lead of where to go as he strains his enhanced hearing for signs of people or creatures nearby. His grip tightens on his shield, ready.

Re: Hell-rena Prompt

[halfa_hero]

There's barking, whimpering, and then suddenly a dog gets thrown through the air. The dog lands, and runs off, apparently getting the hint, as a glowing boy in a hazmat suit walks in from the directing it'd been thrown from.

"Uh...hey. I come in peace? And I would really rather not come in pieces."

[aboveangrybees]

The noises of the dog grabs his attention, watching it fly through the air and run away. His lips tighten in a curious look as his focus shifts to the kid who just walked into view.

He has to bite back the amused look when the kid speaks.

"You're safe from becoming pieces with me, kid," he says it with a wry tone. "Were you the one who threw that dog?"

[halfa_hero]

"Yeah, sorry about that. I usually like dogs, but this one wasn't grasping that I'm not food," Danny said wryly.

"I'm Danny. And it's nice to know there are more people who don't want to kill anyone around here."

[aboveangrybees]

"Steve," he gives a nod in greeting. "There's a few of us roaming around here. This your first arena?" Steve would say 80% of the people he's met in the arena so far aren't looking to kill, so it seems an interesting statement.

[halfa_hero]

Danny shook his head. "Second. But when the last arena ends with an 11 year old stabbing you in back of the neck, you start to consider that there may be a few more people willing to kill you than you thought."

[aboveangrybees]

Steve's eyes go a little wide at that, because that's definitely not what he was expecting to hear.

"Guess I can relate, I had a teenager attack me with a sledgehammer in the first hour." It did help set his thoughts to not underestimate younger people here.