Showdown at Slaughter Swamp

[newoutsiders]

Batgirl and Green Arrow have been riding for a few hours now, on their way to Slaughter Swamp: the last sighting of the mutated, truck driving zombie dubbed "Gingross." The red-tinged air pollution of Gotham fades behind you, giving way to the muted moonlight of a cloudy night sky. The swamp carries something of a supernatural reputation, as you're well aware- if the "hauntings" in Connor's building can be traced anywhere, Slaughter Swamp is as likely a point of origin as any.

Eventually, you run out of road and park the Batcycle. The nearest source of real light is coming through the window of a nearby, small wooden shack right on the edge of the swamp.

Comments

[not_easy_being_green]

"Kathleen?" Connor asks. "Kathleen Elba? Can you hear me? Can you try to respond?"

[newoutsiders]

The spreading puddle contracts with a jolt at the mention of her name, like recoiling in pain, until she resumes spreading.

[not_easy_being_green]

"Kathleen? I know you've been through a lot, but it's safe now. We're here to help. Can you try to focus for me? Can you focus on what you look like?"

[newoutsiders]

Kathleen just bubbles angrily, like the very idea is repulsive.

[stephbrown]

Steph crouches down near Kathleen. "Hey," she says, reaching out. She doesn't want to actually touch her, in case that'll mess something up. "Hey, Kathleen. I'm Batgirl. My friends here are Green Arrow and Batman and Starfire. And Sal! You remember Sal, right?" She takes a deep breath. "We'd all really like to talk to you. Can you... focus? On what Kathleen the human looks like?"

[newoutsiders]

The puddle stops bubbling and spreading, becoming a still pool about the size of a manhole cover. Then, a woman's face appears in the pool.

"There is no Kathleen the human," she says, voice choking.

[not_easy_being_green]

Connor shoots the others a look, then turns back to Kathleen. "Well, who are we talking to?"

[newoutsiders]

Kathleen bubbles bitterly. "You can't tell? I'm a blob. I've always been a blob. This is who I am."

[bat_by_another_name]

The metal is... unapproachable. Batman can't get an emotional read on her, though her pain and voice most certainly feels deep within Batman's soul.

She steps closer to this Kathleen.

"It is what you are now," she agrees. "But... you also have a soul. We can hear it clearly." She cocks her head to the side. "You can choose who you are going to be next. But. You are more than a blob."

[newoutsiders]

She ripples for a moment in consideration.

"Maybe... maybe you're right," she says. "I can be whoever I want now. I don't have to be Kathleen. I don't have to be the old me."

The puddle rises in a pillar, sculpting itself into a beautiful young woman, dressed in a monochrome gown somewhere between prom and princess. One who only just barely resembles the sad, unhinged woman Connor had researched- and maybe a few years younger.

"I don't know if I can be her again. Or want to. But I can be somebody. I can be who I am inside. You can call me..." she looks over her shimmering, somewhat eerily beautiful form.

"...Silverpool."

[not_easy_being_green]

"Silverpool." Connor smiles. "It's a lovely name."

He glances at Sal. "What will you two do now?"

[newoutsiders]

"Uh, hello," Lemmy says, a little annoyed. "Don't you mean..."

He stares at you, mouth agape.

"...Mr. Hawke?"

[not_easy_being_green]

Crap. "... I guess that was probably inevitable." He sighs.

"Can we wait to talk about this until there's less of an audience, at least?"

[newoutsiders]

"No problemo, Mr. H," he says, hands on hips and pushing out his chest. "After all, I'm one of you guys now. You can call me... METALHEAD," he adds, voice guttural.

"Are you making fun of me?" Kathleen asks.

"N-no, bro!" he says, suddenly apologetic. "I just wanna try the hero thing. You know, all these powers. Why waste 'em? Maybe I can go back home, do some real good. This could be just the beginning of weirdo adventures for me."

"Yeah..." Silverpool says, a little self-conscious. "I'm thinking about something like that too. Helping people. Like these people helped us."

"I'm just... I'm just gonna go," Sal says. "Move back into my apartment. Try to get my life back together. Maybe I can make some money at STAR Labs, they're always looking for guys like... whatever I am now."

[stephbrown]

"Well, if you're going to hang around Gotham, you can always go to the free clinic if you have any issues," Steph says, grabbing for the cards with Leslie Thompkins' address on them. She's used to dealing with stuff that's outside the normal doctor area of expertise. "Doc Thompkins is good people, and we'll tell her that you might drop in."

[newoutsiders]

"Thanks," Sal says. "I'll stop by. Kath-Silverpool, you might want to go too."

"Yes," she says dreamily. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea."

"Wait!" Lemmy says. "Let me go get something! From, uh, my pants."

You can only imagine what Lemmy is thinking as he rummages through his own body's pockets.

[not_easy_being_green]

Connor watches, curious what he's going to retrieve.

[newoutsiders]

"Say Grundy!"

Lemmy picks a phone out of his pocket- and keeps his hand in place as he stretches behind Connor, Cass, and Steph, all standing over Grundy in the foreground, as he throws up metal horns with his other hand and sticks out his tongue.

*SNAP*

[bat_by_another_name]

While she doesn't step away from the site, Batman sweeps her cape slightly further away. She raises a brow, though the motion is indistinguishable behind her faceless mask.

Instead of further humoring Lemmy's efforts, she turns to Silverpool. "Are you alright?" she asks as gently as she can manage behind the projected voice of the suit. "Do you need anything else?"

[newoutsiders]

"No," she says. "No, I should be okay." She laughs, just a little. "Thank you, Batman. You know... everyone at Arkham... they're all so afraid of you. But you're a good person."

[bat_by_another_name]

Batman is very silent, taken a back. Had the armor not been so thick, Cass is certain that the heat in her cheeks would have been visible.

She utters, a little lower than her usual volume, "All of us... can only try to be."

[not_easy_being_green]

Connor smiles, then jerks abruptly as he remembers - in all the excitement with Grundy, and then Kathleen - ah, Silverpool - they'd all forgotten.

He goes over to check on Starfire.

[newoutsiders]

Starfire is sprawled on her side, breathing as if in a deep, unwakeable sleep. It's unsettling seeing her like this, and you're not quite sure why until you realize it: she's not glowing.

[not_easy_being_green]

That's... disconcerting. He doesn't know much about her physiology, but he's pretty sure that even unconscious, the glow should still be there.

He walks back to the others. "Starfire's still out, and she doesn't look too good. Does anyone know if she has a doctor on this planet?"

[stephbrown]

Steph frowns. "I don't know. We can probably take her to Doc Thompkins, though. Does she... need sun? Or something?"