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]

It's a desperate gambit. And not one he particularly likes the idea of. But it's all he's got.

Connor takes a breath, steadies himself... and runs towards Grundy, dodging the spikes as well as he can. He might take some punishment. He'll power through it. As soon as he sees his chance, within arm's reach of something resembling a stable surface, just for a moment, he reaches into a certain pocket on his utility belt and pulls out two two particular devices.

The Sensometers.

Maybe it'll do nothing. Maybe it'll just make things worse. But if he can just get them fighting for control of the body...

He braces himself... and slaps them onto the metal.

[newoutsiders]

Grundy ceases his maniacal laughter as, suddenly, his fluid suit seizes up.

"What? What's happening?"

A familiar wave of electricity washes over Meta-Grundy. The responsometer feedback.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Two additional metal heads bubble up from Meta-Grundy's shoulders. Connor recognizes them immediately as Sal Handy and Perry Veto.

"We're not gonna be your puppets anymore, you freak!" Sal shouts at him.

"I think it's time for some payback," Perry agrees.

Grundy howls in pain as the shock of the responsometers, now under his victims' control, continues to course through him.

Talking is a free action

[not_easy_being_green]

"Perry! Sal!" Connor calls out. "He can't move without the metal body! If you can push him out, it's over!"

Re: Talking is a free action

[newoutsiders]

Perry and Sal look at each other, not in unison, and concentrate.

"W-what are you-" Grundy stammers, as the body begins rolling and rippling, "Stop that!"

With a loud splurt, Grundy's motionless body is ejected. Prone on the floor, he coughs up a glob of titanium.

Re: Talking is a free action

[stephbrown]

Steph watches for a moment to make sure he's not gonna magically get up and start moving around before she goes over. She pulls a zip tie out of her belt and leans down to tie up his hands. "You're under so much arrest," she says. "So, so much."

She looks around. "How's the guy in the contraption doing?"

Re: Talking is a free action

[newoutsiders]

Steph's question is followed by a beeping, and the electric hum of the machine in the back ceases. The responsometer to which Lemmy was hooked up then begins to flash. It doesn't take a genius to piece together that whatever actually occurred on a philosophical level, whatever sentience is contained within that responsometer identifies as Lemmy.

An examination of the contraption to which Lemmy's body is attached yields some disconnected IVs, filled gingo extract.

Before you, the Meta-Grundy armor undergoes a strange mitosis, as it splits into two human sized, human shaped bodies. They look like Sal and Perry, made entirely from metal.

"All right," Perry says, examining the back of his new hand. "Looks like I'm back in the game! Wait 'til Flash gets a load of me."

[not_easy_being_green]

"How is he?" Connor examines Lemmy as well, not sure if he's going to - wake up, he supposes.

At Perry's words, Connor turns back, looking less than amused.

"Thank you for your help there. We can't hold you on anything, so technically, you're free to go. But you have a second chance. You can do more with your life now than you ever could. Don't waste it."

[newoutsiders]

"Whatever, nerd," he sneers. "Central City, here I come!"

Perry smashes through the ceiling, and launches away as a huge ball bearing at an unmatchable speed.

As for Lemmy- he's alive, but only in the basest sense of the term. In terms of brain activity, there's no putting the genie back in the bottle.

"Sorry about that guy," Sal says sheepishly. "Thanks for saving me from that nightmare. Hey- uh, if you need any help, with Kathleen and this new kid, I could spare some metal for their computer disk things. Least I could do. I'm... kind of densely packed right now."

[not_easy_being_green]

Great. It was worth trying, he supposes. "We'll have to give the Flash a heads-up about that..."

When Sal speaks, he nods. "Thank you. I think... that's the least they deserve, after all of this." He turns to Steph. "Batgirl? You took Kathleen's responsometer, right?"

[stephbrown]

Steph does her best to rename Fleshflood "Kathleen". It's gonna take some doing. "Yeah, I've got it."

[not_easy_being_green]

He takes the offered Responsometers from Steph, and turns to Sal. "Thanks. We'll have to do what we can to explain this to them... but at least they'll be alive."

[newoutsiders]

You apply the Responsometers to Sal, who splits them off from his body.

"Whoooooaaaaa-ho-ho-ho-hooooo!" Lemmy says, constituting into a metal version of himself- albeit in a little better shape. "This fuckin' OWNS!"

Kathleen's metal, though, just coalesces in a puddle. It bubbles a wordless, mournful wail.

[stephbrown]

"Oh no," Steph cries, all thoughts of drowning in Kathleen's puddle-ness going out the window. "What happened? What went wrong?" And, most importantly, "Can we fix her?"

[bat_by_another_name]

Behind the mask of Batman, Cassandra sighs with some relief that it's over for now. She's going to sleep very well when she gets back to the Temple, that much is for sure.

She frowns at the distress Stephanie is going through and slowly approaches the liquified metal that is supposed to be Kathleen. The cries cause Batman's heart to instantly break. She turns to Sal. "She's in pain. Is there another part to her that's... gone?"

[newoutsiders]

"I'm no scientist," Sal said, looking down at the puddle. "But I'm only looking like me right now because I want to. Maybe... maybe she's lost her will to be human."

[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."