Tim Drake (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_hit_list) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thearena2013-03-28 09:44 pm
the_hit_list) wrote in thearena2013-03-28 09:44 pm
Entry tags:
[ OPEN ] So, apparently, it IS a small world after all.
Who Tim Drake and OPEN
What Tim arrives in the arena.
Where Main Street towards Tomorrowland
When Week 2
Warnings/Notes None so terrible. Punchy has grievous head wounds.
When his body raises up over tube, Tim runs. It's the beauty of the fight or flught response in the absence of an aggressor - just go; you can panic later. He doesn't wait for the platform to stop, doesn't study his surroundings for more than the instant that it takes to verify that there is, in fact, ground aside from the platform.
Other things click into place quickly as he moves along a street. The long abandoned stores. The absence of people. If this really is an arena, he doesn't see or hear his competitors yet, but he's not stopping to really observe until there's some room between where they put because it's obviously where they want him to be. Sticking out like a sore thumb, a lone target in the open.
It's unnerving, having so very little to go on. He should have fought more on the way in. Too late for that now, he thinks. Work with what you have.
The arena is old, crumbling in fact. Has it been used before? Is it real, broken down by time? If it's a facade, someone wasted a lot of time reclaiming materials for... What? Some place that unknown assailants throw their kidnapped victims and force them to battle to the death? It doesn't make sense, and almost everything makes sense once you know enough about whose behind it.
Well, he hasn't seen anything clownish, so that eliminates the almost. But what he does see still stops him in his tracks.
Tim catches as his breath, alternating staring at the large, domed structure ahead and checking his six. He remembers that building, remembers promising that he's not too little or too scared, just please one ride.
It's Space Mountain.
This is Disneyland.
Which means that he needs to add 'when he is' onto the growing list of questions that he has. None of which will ever get answered if he continues to stand around gawking like a mint green dope. Space Mountain is as good a place to start as any - if he can climb it, he'll have a good view.
He starts towards it, because that's better than letting his mind waits while it works out if he's now spiraling through time like Bruce was, and he's moving quickly but with more purpose now, keeping close to any buildings and debris and generally trying to stay out of the middle of the street. Get to the mountain, see what there is to see, find out if this is a real death match, then worry about the big picture.
What Tim arrives in the arena.
Where Main Street towards Tomorrowland
When Week 2
Warnings/Notes None so terrible. Punchy has grievous head wounds.
When his body raises up over tube, Tim runs. It's the beauty of the fight or flught response in the absence of an aggressor - just go; you can panic later. He doesn't wait for the platform to stop, doesn't study his surroundings for more than the instant that it takes to verify that there is, in fact, ground aside from the platform.
Other things click into place quickly as he moves along a street. The long abandoned stores. The absence of people. If this really is an arena, he doesn't see or hear his competitors yet, but he's not stopping to really observe until there's some room between where they put because it's obviously where they want him to be. Sticking out like a sore thumb, a lone target in the open.
It's unnerving, having so very little to go on. He should have fought more on the way in. Too late for that now, he thinks. Work with what you have.
The arena is old, crumbling in fact. Has it been used before? Is it real, broken down by time? If it's a facade, someone wasted a lot of time reclaiming materials for... What? Some place that unknown assailants throw their kidnapped victims and force them to battle to the death? It doesn't make sense, and almost everything makes sense once you know enough about whose behind it.
Well, he hasn't seen anything clownish, so that eliminates the almost. But what he does see still stops him in his tracks.
Tim catches as his breath, alternating staring at the large, domed structure ahead and checking his six. He remembers that building, remembers promising that he's not too little or too scared, just please one ride.
It's Space Mountain.
This is Disneyland.
Which means that he needs to add 'when he is' onto the growing list of questions that he has. None of which will ever get answered if he continues to stand around gawking like a mint green dope. Space Mountain is as good a place to start as any - if he can climb it, he'll have a good view.
He starts towards it, because that's better than letting his mind waits while it works out if he's now spiraling through time like Bruce was, and he's moving quickly but with more purpose now, keeping close to any buildings and debris and generally trying to stay out of the middle of the street. Get to the mountain, see what there is to see, find out if this is a real death match, then worry about the big picture.
no subject
After waiting out the scrutiny, he moves onto more pressing things. If Bruce had a question for him, he'd ask.
"Tell me about the arena. I know there's been at least four casualties. Why are people just... not fighting?" There was a lack of motivation for it, as far as Tim could see. He didn't want to fight, Bruce didn't want to fight. How were people still getting their heads bashed open? "Nobody fights, everyone lives. What am I missing?"
no subject
"They broadcast all of this." There's a very much unspoken half warning and explanation in the comment, why he's saying so little - they are almost certainly being filmed right now. "Too long without blood and the audience starts to get bored." His voice as he says this is probably a little more disdainful than is strictly prudent, but he doesn't care. Not about this. Doesn't care about pandering to people who have turned murder into a form of entertainment. "They want to make sure that doesn't happen, and they control everything in the arena. Not that there aren't hazards already. Be careful before you get too close to a water source - most that I've seen don't look friendly.
"The supplies are purposefully limited. They call these the Hunger Games, and with good cause. Most people either come in ready to fight, or can be convinced to do so before too long. Those who won't can always fight for their lives. I'm sure nearly everyone wants to survive. And if, despite all of that, things begin to get too dull for the gamemakers, they engineer something that will cause the action they want."
no subject
Tim smiles numbly. This is on TV. Everyone thinks they're going to win on reality TV.
Except that he doesn't think that he's going to win. He's always been aware that he would probably die young; putting on a pair of tights and fighting crime is not the safest lifestyle. Tim had hoped that it would be sometime in the dim future and for a better reason than good ratings.
He doesn't want to think about it too much, only strips it down into rules to play by. Treat everything like it's booby-trapped. Don't approach anyone again, rookie mistake. Find food, or you'll starve to death. Get away from Bruce before they get bored and force a fight. Stay away from Babs.
Try to live.
"If I can get to the water, is it safe to drink?"
no subject
"They..." How to say it. "One way or another, you'll get out of this, Tim." He almost sounds older as he says it, somehow weary, but there's no more question in his voice than there ever is - say what you will about him, Bruce is not one to second-guess himself. And he would save Tim, or Barbara, if he could. Even if this wasn't permanent. Assuming, always, that these people didn't sometimes deviate from the plan, let those who hadn't been entertaining enough, or who they didn't like, or spares who slipped through the system, simply die. Bruce didn't like to consider that angle.
"Thus far. And there's certainly enough of it. I haven't examined all of them, but if you watch, you can see things swimming in some of them. Big things. I haven't had a chance to see exactly what - but I wouldn't bet on them being benign.
"Don't trust anything lightly. Things aren't always as they seem. The cats seem normal enough, as far as feral cats go, but if you watch the ducks - there are some, usually on the water - for long enough, you may see them eat each other."
no subject
Tim doesn't fall for Bruce's assertion and looks away, blue eyes scanning the ruined amusement part. On another day, he'd appreciate the irony here. The only positive that he can see is an orange tree about a click away. That's his next stop.
"I'll be careful," he says in a slightly exasperated tone, chafing at the assumption that he's going to take anything 'lightly' here. There isn't much to say, but he's still not sure what he's supposed to do. Wait for death? Hide? Cling to Bruce's cape for protection?
No, that last one isn't an option, if They are willing and able to provoke fights between willing combatants. "I should go," Tim offers hesitatingly. "There's a kid inside Space Mountain. If this is still Disneyland, I'm going to head to New Orleans Square."
no subject
He picks up Tim's disbelief - the way his mouth moves is so similar to how it does at home - as he looks away, but he's talking again before Bruce can quite decide what to say in answer.
"It might be a better idea to stick together, at least for now."
no subject
Come to think of it, Bruce is looking a little rough around the edges. It's so completely expected that Tim hadn't even registered the fact earlier. "Why didn't you stick with Barbara?
" I mean," he back pedals slightly, trying and failing to sound less accusatory, "you know I don't mind working as a pair, but you're just leaving her to fend for herself?"
no subject
During the madness of the cornucopia, some time during the space of looking away and back again.
She was alive. He'd told her to try to stay alive.
His mouth is a little tighter even than usual at it being brought up, but he can't do everything. He can't save everyone.
He should be able to anyway.
She's alive.
no subject
Which means that Bruce tried to tell Barbara what to do, and Barbara wouldn't have any of that. It's actually the same formula for any two people associated with Batman, Inc., because they're all incredibly stubborn and hard-headed. Maybe not Dick, he's much more inclined to compromise.
But it's right there, in the hard line of Bruce's mouth, that he's not happy about the situation at all. How could he be, when it's the wrong Barbara? Tim wonders if Bruce will truly trust either of them, if they don't fit the correct mold.
For that matter, does he trust Bruce? Yes. It's hard to imagine Batman being anything different. Everything about him is intrinsic; Bruce causes himself too much grief for his core personality to be comprised of malleable choices.
Tim doesn't comment further on Barbara. Breaking off is still a strategic move, and he may do so himself later. Still, he hopes they can track her down. "Let's keep moving," he suggests. It feels odd to give Bruce an order. "There's an orange tree to the west - or east. I don't know if it's morning or afternoon here."
no subject
"It's relatively early, but given the amount of control that they have in the arena, that may not matter much. The level of technology here is amazing. There's things here far beyond the level of anything I've ever seen. Of course, you don't see much of it here. It's in the Capitol - the city that hosts this - that you really start to see things."