001. ✝ anonymous, voice.

[crossbearing]

( She isn't the Oracle: she has very little faith in the security of this network. Either it has to be a tool for the Huntress, or for Helena Bertinelli. All things considered, Huntress feels a little more pressing.

When Helena speaks, there are traces of Sicily, it's all very charming. With the Huntress, it's all Gotham, rough and harsh, words bitten out more than spoken. )

Any Bats in the belfry?

( A beat. )

I'll rephrase that: keep your eyes on the skyline.

( There's a brief pause and for the trained listener, they might realise that is the sound of a fight happening in the background. Don't interrupt with Huntress with an attempted mugging when she is trying to talk, okay? Okay. )

Anyone else who's washed up here from Gotham, well. On the bright side, ( that was the sound of someone getting kicked in the face ) there's not much this place can throw at us that we didn't have to deal with back home.

( Look at her, being all optimistic. If only it didn't sound so close to scathing. She's on the move, and there's a breath - maybe she meant to say something more? - before a clatter, the pained cry of a male assailant, a sharp crack, and suddenly: silence. At best, she's faintly irritated.)

Nice to see some good, old-fashioned manners. I feel right at home.

( So much derision, and then the feed cuts. One can only imagine how much information she'll try to get out of that guy. )

Comments

[crossbearing]

I heard. ( Cautious, because she has no idea how reliable that information is, but she hardly wants to underestimate it. She's torn between wishing it was impossible, and knowing that if this is the reality, then they have to try and do-- something. Anything. ) Were they exaggerating?

( Talk about worlds lost, ethics, fighting soldiers that were brainwashed, coming back from the dead. )

[gevurah]

Hardly.

[ She purses her lips, not wanting to call Elmer's world a "lost cause". It's not. Elmer was right about one thing: they can fix it through time travel. They may be able to prevent it.

She doesn't believe in lost causes when she can. ]

But given the nature of the missions here, we may be able to save that world. All our worlds.

[crossbearing]

Damn.

( There's not really words for that kind of thing, is there? Huntress' fingers brush over the crossbow at her side, brief reassurance, before she looks back to Batwoman. )

This place sounds like a mess.

( To put it lightly, but at least she can nod, at that. There's a long silence, before she speaks again, letting the rain run cold over her skin as she thinks this through. )

Sounds like a time to pull together. ( Cautious. Working with people that aren't the Birds of Prey has never been easy. Working with the Birds of Prey isn't easy, either, but Huntress isn't quite stubborn enough to think she could be most useful here on her own.

Not that she's really sure what to think of this Batwoman, yet. Bats. )

[gevurah]

[ Time travel is above her non-existent paygrade anyway. ]

You caught on faster than most. [ Her tone doesn't indicate even the slightest surprise; Huntress is a fearsome predator back home and has stood by Gotham when it needed her, from what Kate understands.

People like them understand the importance of uniting under a common threat.

Why couldn't the others here figure it out? She wracks her brain in frustration wondering why. ]

The Transport is unstable; it will pull in anyone from anytime or anyplace. [ At least those who have no place here have an excuse. ] There are plenty who've never as much punched another person here.

[crossbearing]

Don't get ahead of yourself. ( Harsh, but not quite dismissive. She'll pull together with others when the time is right, for specific goals, but it was easier when she was calling the shots. It's difficult to assert your authority when you're new to a city. It was like Gotham all over again. ) I don't take orders from anyone.

( Not Batman, and not Batwoman. The last thing she needs is another control freak redhead in her life. (Sorry, Barbara.) That said, she's not stupid. )

No wonder they're losing worlds.

( None of this is giving her a great feeling of confidence. ) Who do we have?

( That's a tentative "we," there. Subject to change without notice, but for the sake of getting information: ) From our world.

( Clarification, but it's demanding, more than anything. )

[gevurah]

[ Well, that was something. ]

At ease, Huntress. I wasn't giving any. [ She casts a glance past her shoulder, keeping an eye out for anything on the streets. ]

Batgirl, Blue Beetle, Flamebird, and Robin. From other worlds there's Superboy and Miss Martian.

[ A beat. ]

Robin's only about thirteen. [ WHICH IS ACTUALLY A STEP UP FROM TEN... ]

staring at timelines and dilemmaing

[crossbearing]

( Huntress: a diplomat in action.
At ease reads as patronising enough in her mind to make her scowl, but at least it isn't him, even if it grates. A stiff nod, acknowledgement, and while she doesn't exactly relax, a little of the defensiveness bleeds out. )

Blue Beetle?

( Surprised. That's... another ghost, although she's not going to kid herself about Blue Beetle's death being faked - assuming it's the one she's thinking of. She keeps her face schooled, even if her teeth grit. Time travel. Cautiously: ) I guess that makes us three the veterans.

( Careful, because while she's heard whispers of Batwoman, this and that, she really doesn't know anything about her. Hasn't worked with her, seen her. So many kids is a worry, too - seems like she's the last person who should ever call someone else underqualified, with all the flack thrown her way in Gotham, but they are all kids, by the sound of it. At least if it's the Blue Beetles that worked with the Birds of Prey, even before her time, that would be something.

After a moment: ) This "other world's" and different times thing is going to be a headache.

( Honestly, multiverse, she hates you. )

[gevurah]

Tell me about it. We had about three Robins at one point.

[crossbearing]

Better than three of him.

( To be perfectly frank. Still, she's rubbing her temple because that sounds like a headache. Restless, she lets her gaze flicker back over the street. )

How long have you been here?

[gevurah]

I'll take three Batgirls over three barely teenage Robins.

[ She looks at Huntress, but it's really hard to say if she's really looking at her. Masks make it so complicated. ]

About half a year.

[crossbearing]

( Okay, that makes her snort. ) I can't argue that.

( Although, maybe it's funnier to her because she used to be a Bat. Not that she was ever Batgirl, exactly, but she was the Bat.

Jokes aside, that headache is getting worse. ) Great.

( A sigh. ) Do you have a communication device you can use that isn't those devices?

[gevurah]

The standard. [ She reaches into her utility belt, flashing Huntress a cellphone. It's untraceable, but so far, she hasn't put it to much use in Exsilium. ]