nexus_crossings | Strange Awakening

Strange Awakening

He was supposed to be dead. Not wherever he is now.

Not even moments ago he was on a hopeless mission, standing in the ruins of the parliamentary chambers surrounded by dead guards and the quailing politicians who'd spent years spitting and stamping on people like him. In his hand, he clutched the explosive that would bring the whole corrupt system crashing down on all of them.

He knew he was on a suicide mission from the instant the tide of battle turned against his forces and had no choice but to turn to panicked flight into the countryside. But he'd stayed. Despite the danger, the scattered executions and volleys of gunfire echoing across the field, it was his only chance. They were so close, and they would never get this opportunity ever again. This all had to be for something.

He had glared at the chamber with his white eyes, one hand still on his blaster. Wounded, vicious, victorious - He'd clicked it, and then... nothing.

Or it should have been.

He felt the wave of fire flash up his arm, then was left blinking and disorientated when he found himself lying on the edge of a small pond, waves lapping gently at his wounds. And more importantly, alive.

He stared at his hands, and then his surroundings. Just a quiet copse of trees, birds chirping sweetly around him. No stench of smoke and blood in the distance. Just a peaceful, forest setting. There was even a picturesque cobblestone path set into the ground, winding its way into the distance. Climbing painfully to his feet, completely lost for words, he only managed to whisper out -

"What the sneck is going on?"

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"Yeah." Johnny says, for a lack of better things to say. "So I'm here to stay. Does that mean I'll see you around sometime?"

That's... good. Johnny finds the thought somewhat reassuring. It's handy to have a six foot armored titan around as a friendly face. But the mech under the armor (part of the armor?) seems like a genuinely good person, and didn't throw him off the bike on hearing what he said in that little outburst. He feels a little shamed, actually, despite the lack of reproach. But he did warn her. No point in prettying up the deeds he's done to make himself look better.

Johnny did used to give people the benefit of the doubt whenever he could, but that was before all...this.

He jumps a bit in his seat on hearing Ghost's voice coming out of Blaze's armor, but settles soon enough. "Hard to imagine you fixing this bike without hands, either." He hides a smile at the thought. "But I bet she keeps you safe in there. And two-twenty? Now that's impressive. I've only been up to one-fifty myself, but that's the most my reflexes can handle safely. And if I really want to gun it, two hundred for long, boring, straight dirt roads. You guardians team up a lot?"

She'd smile, if she could. She won't forget anything he's said in a hurry, but bloodied hands don't trouble her so much unless they're earned dishonorably. She knows her own nature too well to object to violence in itself, but she cares very much about where it's directed.

"Count on it. Besides, the local comm devices all work interdimensionally. Get yourself one of those and we'll be easy to get hold of." And the more they see of him, the better to judge his character. Benefits all round.

"Well, you don't look as if you can see that well, and there's nothing wrong with your aim." The curiosity is evident in Ghost's voice, difficult though conversation can be with all the wind. Now that Johnny is en route to warmth and no longer bleeding out, it's possible to consider other priorities.

"Hah! Most of us take it down a gear when we're working - I only know a few people with the reflexes to hit those speeds in urban terrain without wrecking themselves. Still makes it more fun than straight roads." That's the only concern she thinks of, since in most of the cities she's seen the only pedestrians are hostile. "We usually form up into small fireteams - three, maybe six if the mission's serious enough. I don't have a regular team yet, myself. How about you? Used to working solo?"

"I'll be sure to do that first thing. You know how I can get ahold of one? Don't have much cash on me, much less anything they might take here." He could probably find odd jobs, but he doesn't know if bounty hunters are needed, or even wanted here.

Johnny blinks. "These? They're my mutation. I can see just fine with them. Better than most people, and a fair bit besides that." That very much understates the true ability of his eyes, but he's not one to talk big about himself when it's not necessary. People have always either heard it through wildly exaggerated second-hand rumors or been on the receiving end, and in both cases, it really didn't matter if they knew exactly what he could do or not.

"What kind of missions do you usually take? You look like you pack a lot of firepower by yourself already, can't imagine what you'd need six for."

Johnny's quiet for long enough to make the silence uncomfortable. "I used to. I had a partner called Wulf. We went everywhere together. He was a viking from the twelfth century, believe it or not. I saved his life on a time job and he wouldn't let me leave without him. Heh. He was always stubborn like that. Best twelve years of my life." He exhales sharply. "McNulty too. Those were better days."

"I've seen basic models in vending machines, but you can find someone to sell you just about anything. Don't know too much about starting out here, but most people aren't carrying a lot of money when they turn up. Got to be plenty of security work if that interests you - even heard some people are trying to police this place."

The first buildings aren't far ahead once they clear the trees: looks like there's a whole town living here. Or maybe fragments of a thousand different towns: even on the outskirts, traditional Korean houses sit alongside a marble-faced complex with graffiti in Ancient Greek scrawled over the walls, tree-houses and internet cafes and alchemical supply shops all jumbled up against one another with no rhyme or reason. Blaze cuts their speed as they approach - and yes, even if it's a fancy space-bike, the horn still has to go 'beep-beep'. You don't screw with a good tradition.

"Are mutations common on your Earth?" If Johnny's willing to talk about the subject, Ghost takes it as an opening to indulge his curiosity.

"Takes six Guardians to kill a god in his throne room." The pride rings through in Blaze's voice: it wasn't her work, but she revels in the victories of her brothers and sisters. "Ain't all about firepower though. Our strike teams mostly focus on taking out key enemy leadership, securing top-priority assets, that kind of thing." At least... when they're following orders, and not evicting Cabal troops from a stronghold because they want it for Sparrow stunts.

Even Blaze notices a subject is sore when the silence stretches out that long. She's a little quieter when she speaks. Respectful. Even the implications of 'time job' can wait a minute. "And he followed you all the way forward? Heh, that's a guy you want at your back. Our people still tell stories about the vikings, though they're mostly myth by now."

Johnny almost gives himself whiplash trying to get a better glimpse at the mismatched architecture in this place. He's used to alien structures, but this looks like actual earth history all smashed together in one place. Blaze throttling back the speed lets him take a closer look at their surroundings, and he hums under his breath, impressed.

"Yeah, might think of doing something like that." Johnny says absent-mindedly. "Don't suppose there's a need for bounties around here? I don't work so well with local law enforcement." They tended to be corrupt, anti-mutant pigs puffed up with their small town importance. And the ones who weren't were fascist as all hell. "They don't usually tend to like me for some reason. Something to do with being a swaggering mutie barging in on their jurisdiction."

"It's common enough. A result of the nuclear radiation from the dirty bombs - it really snecked up the environment. Most people aren't as lucky as me though. It's usually lumps, a second nose or extra arms, things like that. I even knew a guy who had his knee replaced with his face." Ah, good old Kid Knee. But his small grin fades slightly. "Well... it'll be much less common now."

Johnny stares at the snow. Not the time to spiral back into bitterness. Pulling himself together, he lets Blaze's words spark some measure of awe in his imagination. Now he understands the caliber of a Guardian, and what that really means. "Elite strike teams. I'm not surprised." He appreciates her tone. It alleviates some of the pressure growing in his chest, the sympathy of someone who doesn't really even know him but offers it anyway. "He lived up to all those legends, and more. Bloody great with a hammer, and picked up the sniper rifle easily enough once he wrapped his head around it. Would've landed myself in a shallow grave much earlier if I hadn't met him."

There's some weirder stuff the farther in they go, but it's the people who vary more wildly than the architecture: they don't have to be practical. Humanoids still seem to dominate, but the Nexus is home (or home from home) to everything from mechs like Blaze to centaurs and demons to the insectoid aliens scarfing the entire inventory of a hot dog stand over there. At least it looks like they're paying.

"Aw, you wouldn't swagger, would you?" she teases... though she also notches up another point of evidence about the Earth he's just come from. "I've seen bounties posted around. People like putting them up around drinking holes for some reason. I don't know so much about the accommodation here, but maybe one of our friends could help you out."

"That sounds like an uncomfortable place to keep your face," Ghost decides. "Not that I can really compare knee structures."

Blaze can neither blush nor smile at the compliment to her people, but she appreciates it. For all that it feeds her desire to earn that place among them for herself. She's young yet. "With our numbers, every Guardian has to count. Besides, there's all the more glory in it." Speaking of glory, though... "Hammer and sniper rifle, huh? Wish I could've seen that! And what about this time travel? Where we're from only our enemies have that kind of tech."

"Oh, you know me." Johnny says dryly. "Always gotta be the center of attention." They coast down the street, and the area reminds Johnny of hub worlds and alien ports in their sheer variety of life forms and goods on sale. "This place is a lot more orderly than most cross-planetary places I've been to. But there has to be something illegal going on, I suppose. Can't expect everyone to be bringing the same law from their homes," Johnny remarks. "Gives me something to do, at least. Though with the anti-violence field, it's probably more a question of tracking people down than anything."

He nods in appreciated assent. "They seem like good people if you trust them, but I can probably get on my feet alright. You already gave me a headstart." Literally. "But if I'm going to be spending time here, I might run into them sooner or later. Want to tell me anything about them?"

"Heh, no kidding." He's kind of starting to get Ghost's sense of humor. "Mother Nature isn't always generous with what she gives us. You're just lucky you don't have that problem." With knee structures or otherwise.

Hearing about Blaze's enemy's time tech perks Johnny's interest right up. His own forces were on the receiving end of time weapons before they'd co-opted it for themselves, after all. "What kind of tech are we talking about here?"

But the last statement by Blaze has Johnny thinking over his own response. There's a lot to cover in a few short words. "Well, time travel's a thing, but it's pretty restricted. You need a lot of paperwork and training to even think about it, and that's only on approved jobs only. No messing around in the time stream for personal reasons, otherwise the whole universe is gone. Sometimes a sneckhead escapes custody, flees to the 8th Century and starts messing around, killing ancestors and replacing the timeline, and I'm one of the few certified to take them out with the least fuss. And that's that." He says with a sniff.

Edited 2017-02-15 17:44 (UTC)

"It stays pretty boring around the central plaza most days. Maybe boring's the wrong word- it stays civilized. You head downtown towards the Industrial District, or the Underbelly, you find places where the anti-violence field gets a whole lot shakier and the, hnn, businesses get shadier. Hell, even in the regular commercial areas we've caught people trying extortion rackets. I don't think you'll be too short of work." She's glad if there's someone else around to answer those calls, honestly. Not her best kind of work.

"Sure. There's Katsuya Suou, he's a police officer on his Earth - but he's the honorable kind," she's quick to add. She can't imagine Katsuya sneering at anyone. She points down one of the streets they're passing. "He runs the Crossroads Cafe down that way, handles the baking. Good guy to have at your back. There's a space captain called Han Solo, he's been grounded here for a while. Well, he's a smuggler-" yes thank you Blaze, very discreet, "-but he's basically a good guy under all the cynicism. Reminds me of some Guardians I know. And, heh, you'll know Steve Rogers when you meet him. He looks small, but the man's got more nerve than a whole squad of shock troops. If you're out looking for trouble you're bound to cross paths with him." She speaks of them all with warm affection. They've met so many people here, more of them good than bad.

Ghost is happy to elaborate on their enemy's tech. If Johnny's actually had hands-on experience with timestream shenanigans, his knowledge could prove very helpful. It'll certainly serve him well in the Nexus. "

The Vex use networks of portals to move back and forth through the timeline, operating in multiple eras at once. I don't think they ever interfered with our past directly. Maybe they can't. But then the Vex are a genocidal machine collective from who-knows-where. It's... hard to guess their motives.

"

"I'm just glad we don't get people trying to rewrite history." Blaze snorts. "It's enough of a damned mess already. So if you go back, do you have to go low-tech yourself? Try to fit in with the locals?"

Sounds like exactly that." Johnny agrees. He feels a tingle of anticipation run down his spine. Good, honest work. A strange way to think about bounty hunting, but it works for him. "You have a pretty interesting cast of friends," he says diplomatically. A police officer from Earth, a smuggler... He catalogs them all in his head, and the picture Blaze paints of them is very generous. It's clear that her affection for them shines through in her voice, making Johnny nostalgic for times passed. They pass the exact cafe Blaze was just talking about, and Johnny can't resist from breathing in deep. "They sound like good people. If I tell him you sent me, think he'll give me a discount?"

Ghosts's account is somewhat shocking. "That's..." Johnny puts a hand to his forehead. "Well, incredibly unprecedented, for one. That's an abuse of time travel on a level I can't even deal with. And you guys are fighting them alright? Christ." He's used to time travel on an individual, small scale. Not as an established foundation for an entire civilization. "I've used time traps and time bombs before, but nothing like that."

Blaze's statement is much easier to deal with. "Kind of. When I went back to Norway, it was bad enough that it really didn't matter. The first time I met Wulf, he tried to drown me in a river because he mistook me for a demon." Johnny huffs slightly at the memory, remembering that ridiculous day. "We got over it though. But otherwise, yeah. It's easier for me to pass as 'normal' than most others. Throw on a pair of shades, be in and out as fast as I can. Harder to do that with four arms. It's not as important as getting the job done, though. And most targets we grab at the end of their lifespans, anyway. If any notorious criminal who's never faced trial for what they've done dies or disappears in mysterious circumstances, it was probably the GCC."

"Hah, I don't know, but he might if you tell him you're new in town." She does have a very optimistic view of her friends - but then, she's seen the good in them for herself. They've been kind to her, watched her back, put themselves on the line for others. But she reckons Johnny will see that for himself, should they cross paths. For now she's heading (ever more slowly) toward the central plaza: a huge open space ahead scattered with furniture and vending machines and an awful lot of people hanging around just... talking to one another. "The plaza up here seems like the center of activity here. Easiest starting point to find a doctor and, well, everything else you're going to need."

As for their time-trashing enemies? "We're gaining ground on them," she assures Johnny with satisfaction. "Seems like they have a hard time countering us. At least, like Ghost says, they can't just jump into Earth's history and rewrite it. Thank the Light for that." She says it literally, though it's easy to take either way.

"It helps that all our other enemies are just as willing to fight them as they are us..." Being able to set all those numerically superior forces against one another is an advantage they'll exploit with glee.

She has to laugh at that meeting story. "That's an awkward start. ...But why wait so long to neutralize your targets? The faster they're dealt with the better."

Johnny has no real investment in their struggle in another universe, or the scale of what a battle like that might mean, but Blaze and Ghost are involved, and that's incentive enough to be relieved by it. "Enemy of my enemy and all that. I know what you mean. Suppose that even for all their tech, a bullet stops them just as quick."

The wind blasting Johnny in the face quietens, blocked by the structures around them, and he can make out a fairly lively plaza. Seeing these sociable creatures and people chattering away peacefully in every language; it's strangely calming. They've been slowing down for a while now, and despite everything, Johnny feels somewhat reluctant to get off so soon. "Trouble finding a parking spot?" Johnny teases. "You could probably just drop me off here. I'll manage."

He shifts in his seat, bracing himself for the inevitable movement. But then again, he still has time to answer one last curious question. "Can't mess with the timeline. Rule number one. And if we interfere before they've committed the crime, then what the hell are we arresting them for? It raises a lot of ethical questions if we go in too early - and I'm not really paid enough to answer those."

"What's parking?" she counters, half kidding. "Trying to figure out the best place to let you off. Wouldn't feel right just leaving you in the street. Clinic here ought to do, right?" Sure, he says he can manage. Nevertheless...

She's not too convinced about the hands-off approach to preserving the timeline, either. Granted, Blaze doesn't do hands-off in general. That's probably a good argument for not sending her back to any time period. (Besides the whole, well. Robot thing.)

"Hnn. Jumping back with malicious intent sounds like enough reason to me. Can't say I'd be willing to let them run riot and pick them up when they're done. Of course, here it's more likely to be people jumping into totally different timelines. Nobody's monitoring that." Troubling thought, but not a problem she can afford to focus on. It's not the war she was raised for.

"What? No, just roll me into the street. I'll be fine." Johnny is also, really, only half kidding. "Not sure if I could pay for the clinic anyway. This place looks pretty...reputable. Will they take me?" And it's true. This whole place is clean, bright, and airy. Not a place he usually finds himself in. It's a question he still feels like he needs to ask. Sure, it's not likely considering the variety of life forms he's seen here co-existing, but not everyone is happy to take a mutant in for treatment. And if someone recognised him here...

He squints against the sun in his eyes and chews on his tongue thoughtfully. "Well... it's complicated. Chronology doesn't work like you'd think. We didn't know he'd jump back until he did. Then the timeline changed, and all we could do was damage control. It's all pretty messed up, and I haven't had to do a time job in a long time. Thinking about it gives me a headache to be honest."

"Sure. Why wouldn't they...?" Her amusement fades as things click into place, one calculation after another. He's said enough, after all, for her to make some plausible if harsh assumptions about his world. Her faith in humanity runs deep, but it isn't blind.

The Sparrow slows as she glowers ahead for a minute, then picks up speed again. She's turning them toward a quieter section of the plaza, away from too many nosy loungers. "They'd better. But I've got a better idea - we're going to find someone you can definitely count on. Should have thought of it before."

At least his other remarks get a low chuckle out of her. "That part, I understand. Easier to take the Vex down when they jump into our time than go chasing them forward and back."

Once they reach a few empty couches (not that hard given the chilly weather) she'll bring them to a halt and offer Johnny a hand off the bike, looking around for the angel she has in mind. She doesn't understand how exactly their friend does these things, but she always seems to appear when needed...

"Hey! Angel!" That'll do it for sure.

"Yes?"

The answer is far too quick for Angel to not have already appeared behind Blaze well before the Guardian could shout out to her. At the moment she pays no mind to the Exo's companion (Human? He appears so but she has been fooled before) and hovers a few inches higher off of the ground so she can be at eye level with her Master.

Blaze keeps saying they are equals and Angel makes efforts to appease this belief.

"You would have need of me?"

Blaze looks determined all of a sudden, and it's all Johnny can do to hang on once she changes her course. If this is a kidnapping, it's a benevolent one. For now he trusts that she has his best interests in mind, and takes her hand as he dismounts the speeder, wrapping an arm around his side at the movement. He looks at Blaze curiously as she calls out for "Angel", but doesn't seem to direct it at anyone in their area.

"What the sneck-?!" He whirls around in surprise when a woman materializes out of nowhere behind them and speaks. "Where did you come from?" He takes a second to look at her and glances sidelong at Blaze, not sure who to address first. "Are you like Ghost?"

Blaze spins herself, optics brightening as they land on the ever-patient Angel. She'd like to think she's tough to startle, but...

"She's as good at sneaking up on people," she says ruefully. Ghost does his own appearing trick behind her and flutters in greeting to Angel, like a little wave hello. "Johnny, this is Angel; Angel, Johnny Alpha. He's had a run-in with an army and I need to ask you to heal him. And Angel is- well, she's a friend and an ally."

So not that different to Ghost, where it counts. But she'll let Angel speak for herself, on that.

"Johnny of Alpha."

Angel bows her head in what must pass as a greeting, her platinum locks cascading over her shoulders and down in front of her face. She will brush them aside again in a moment. She is busy assessing the man's injuries. Her wings give a brief flutter as she moves closer to him.

"This i can do, Blaze. As for your query--Sir Ghost and I have much in common. We are..." Tools. Tools is a frowned upon word. "We assist Blaze though not in the same capacities."

Johnny bows his head back, mimicking her gesture as closely as possible. "Just Alpha is fine, ma'am." he says, politely. His stance tenses when she approaches closer, but doesn't move away, glancing at Blaze again. Ghost in his obviously mechanical shell was easier to deal with, in some strange way.

"Any friend of Blaze is a friend of mine." Slowly, he uncurls his arm from around his body and tugs up his shirt, revealing a hastily bandaged wound that's already starting to leak blood through the layers again. "But you're better at first aid, I'm assuming?"

"It's a little more complicated than that, but I suppose explaining it would be a bit of a long story. Two, even."

Blaze nods firmly when Johnny looks her way, lending her assurance even as she shifts a step closer. The way he's favoring his side doesn't look good and she wants to be ready with support if he needs it. She is pleased to see her friends helping each other, though; that and Johnny's trust in her. Even if she is wondering how she knows so many floaty 'tech support' people...

"Hands-down," she confirms. "Might be easier if you sit down for this." Although this suggestion is based largely on her own disquiet at the amount of blood escaping there.

"He will be in working condition momentarily, Blaze."

Angel isn't looking at Johnny while she hovers her hands over his wounds. If anything, the angel seems to be focused on the space directly above his head while she ~~studies his current HP~~ considers her options. She has treated worse patients than this and he is conscious so a revive will not be necessary.

"Do please sit if you are prone to fainting, Alpha." Single-word names are much easier to remember. She's glad he shortened it for her. "You may feel strange. This is not uncommon."

Her voice has taken on a weight to it that sounds not unlike the reverberations after a bell has chimed. Johnny may feel warmer, as though the sun has broken through the clouds and shone down onto his face for the first time in days. Angel's hands give off a steady glow. The pain in his wound will recede, though the sensation of flesh knitting back together in seconds as opposed to weeks of healing is undoubtedly slightly strange.

He should find it easier to breathe and the pain entirely gone within the minute. The memory of it is still there in a vague dull sort of way that is already being pushed from his mind. It will feel as though he'd bumped into something, and nothing more.

"It is done." She hadn't even touched him. Angel turns and looks back over her shoulder at Blaze and Ghost. "Sir Ghost, will you verify that he is back to acceptable operating status for a human?"

Johnny crashes into a plush couch at Blaze's suggestion, legs unsteady with the effort of holding himself up. Angel is right; the healing does feel very strange, and foreign to him. He watches at first, but turns his face away soon after, not really being able to handle the sight of his flesh knitting together in minutes.

After she's done without even touching him, Johnny laughs, a little shakily. "That's some mutation, lady. Not what I was expecting, but thank you." There's something kind of...off about Angel. About her mannerisms, and the way she asks about "acceptable operating status" to Ghost. But the expression of gratefulness he gives her seems genuine, at least.

He runs his fingers over where the wound used to be, marveling but also disquieted. "Something like this would've come in handy earlier," he muses to himself under his breath. "Would've saved a lot of lives."

Oh, Angel. Even Blaze facepalms for a second when you talk that way. But it isn't so surprising really, considering Angel is less human than the Exo and less socialized than either machine.

Besides, the results she gets are nothing to complain about. Blaze watches keenly, Ghost obligingly swooping in to examine the healed would. "This looks all better! How does it feel?"

"Good work!" Blaze claps Angel on the shoulder, before her gaze turns back to Johnny. "Just wish we could've been around to help before."

Angel wouldn't know what to classify herself as even if they demanded it of her. She comes from a world of demons, though others have said she is the opposite of that. It is confusing, since her kind see no difference between the demons of law or of chaos. Ultimately, they are all made the same.

And is she really either anymore, changed as she is? Unbound from the shackles that all of her kind are created with? She simply is these days, and drifting around until Blaze of Jesse have need of her has been her life.

Her makeshift dress shifts at the jostling Blaze's clap gives her and out of habit she ignores it until she remembers being uncovered is unacceptable around humans and adjusts the garment accordingly. There's no mistaking the faint smile she gives at the praise though. She is glad to have been useful.

"I am unable to do this infinitely, I am afraid. The greater the injury, the fewer I would be able to heal. However, I am gratified to have helped."

The human--Alpha--looks to be alright again and this has pleased Blaze. Angel's wings flutter slightly with the happiness she feels.

"It feels...fine. More than fine, actually. It wasn't your fight anyway, but I appreciate the sentiment." There's a thoughtful frown on his face as he looks up at Blaze. All this attention focused on him and his health is a little unnerving, and suddenly feeling exposed, he tugs his shirt back down. There's something perhaps a little more noble about Blaze, and her fight. Seeing her in the mud of Milton Keynes doesn't suit her somehow, and he doesn't like the thought of her being in it. He turns to Angel, swallowing the rest of his discomfort. "And the help you've given now."

Remembering his manners, he reaches out to take Angel's hand. He returned her greeting earlier, but somehow it doesn't quite feel like enough for what she's done for him. If she lets him, he'll press a brief kiss to the back of her hand. Something he didn't exactly try with Blaze, considering the circumstances they first met in, and how she was very clearly a soldier. But something about Angel invites him to be more polite, to be more than what he is. "Thank you, ma'am. It was a real pleasure to meet you."

Strange Awakening

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miiiisfire, whoops

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