2013.05.19 - Drive-By Rescue

It's a little past rush hour in Metropolis. So, the streets are not packed with cars, but there is still plenty of traffic to go around. Cars and trucks move along, bringing passengers or cargo to or from the city. The sun has almost set, so the street vendors have closed down, and most of the stores along the Avenue cast colored lights on the sidewalks from the neon signs in their windows as pedestrians head in and out of the subway entrance nearby
Suddenly...(and there's never a time where that meant good news. No one ever says 'Suddenly, things were calm and moved apace.)
Suddenly...an area in the middle of the street /bends,/ much like some great leviathan beast opening a single eye. The area is transparent, as if it was a bubble in the air itself. The bubble opens into a grayness that is an absence of color, about six feet in diameter. Trailing that no-color mist, a figure is ejected from the inner void, right into the middle of the street. The figure is a young man of Asian descent, dressed in green and black.
Xao Jin takes a gasp of air as he hurtles through the opening. There is noise, the air tastes funny, but he is out of that void! He rolls, but still scrapes himself along the odd, black rock substance he landed on, noticing the two yellow lines he's sitting on. "((What the-?))" The language is not English, nor any of the Earth-Asian dialetcs. It's from a time and place far from here, familiar to very few on this world.
Jin places a hand on the odd-textured ground, the sudden glare of lights blinding him. He lifts an arm to cover his eyes, not quite understanding the pair of headlights of the Non-Mail delivery truck heading straight for him!
It's actually probably seriously lucky for young Jin that the Legion can sort of almost scan for this sort of thing, now; it's sheer blind what-the-luck that there was a Legionnaire in well-nigh spitting distance able to rocket toward the pinpointed coordinates.
Rokk's too late to see the reality shift happen, but he's most certainly not too late to drop down from the sky and fling out his arms, fingers gripping the magnetic fields of everything too close to hit the brakes, and stop the traffic cold. There are screeches of brakes and a horn-blowing frenzy, a cacophony of sound. "((Get up!!))" he bellows in Interlac over his shoulder to the young man on the ground, "((Get out of the street! Or grab my ankle, one or the other--!))"
The truck that was about to turn Jin into street pate comes to a halt in the face of the other man's magnetic abilities. By that point he realizes that it's a vehicle...on wheels? They still have those?! But it's big, noisy, and way too close and Jin feels the sweat start to bead on the back of his neck. The glare from the lights blocks his view of his rescuer's face, nor does he recognize the older voice. But it's Interlac, and the man grabs for Rokk's ankle. "((Got it!))" he shouts. This close, Rokk could easily see just who it is.
 
Could! Doesn't quite yet; headlights in face, concentration bent on keeping tons of metal in place. But as soon as Jin's got his ankle, the Braalian lifts them both into the sky and lets go of the cars and trucks, gasping. "((Okay, you can let go, I got you and I'm not holding anything el-- holy nass, Dragonmage?!))"
The Terran-born sorcerer's held aloft by those same magnetics, and as soon as Xao Jin lets go of Rokk's ankle, the Braalian's turning around to stare, agog. Krinn's face is basically the same, just with a good fifteen or so years tacked onto it; he's leaner, but no taller; time's scraped off any vestiges of baby-fat and added lines of laughter and concern to his features. And he's totally and completely taken aback. "((Sorry! Right. First off, are you okay? I didn't see if you fell or just shifted in right there.))"
Once he's turned around in midair, and his heart stops hammering in his chest, Jin finally gets a good look at the hero who saved him. Recognition registers in his light brown eyes, but he notices the aging. "((I only fell a foot,))" Xao Jin says, and holds up his hands. He has bracelets on, but there are sigils and characters etched in the silvery metal. "((Oh sprock,))" he starts off with. "((I didn't do it, I swear!))" he exclaims, starting to panic. "((I saw the rift, and I /ran/ the sprock /away./ I learned my lesson! I was going back to my cell! It /chased/ me down! I didn't, oh no, have I got into the future? You're old.))" Manners, Xao. "((Older, I mean.))"
 
"((Wh-- calm down!))" Cos half-sputters, holding his own hands up. His uniform's different, too, but not at all unrecognisable. Just darker, less purple, and a darker purple at that. "((No. You're in TwenCen. There's been a lot of mess and unintentional time travel shenanigans. No, we don't know how to get home, and no, it's not for lack of time machines. We're all from /different/ futures. So-- don't-- mention going back to your cell to anyone else, okay? You're not a Legionnaire? Pro tip: the answer is 'not yet'. So tell me 'not yet'.))
(("The...Twencen? Oh grife,")) Jin looks almost...ill, at the prospect. He's been thrown a thousand years into the past, and there's time-travel doings, so this might not even be /his/ past. He blinks, and tries to center himself so he can actually /think/ through the shock of his destination. "((Not...yet?))" Jin's eyes narrow a bit. "((But I'm not! Live Wire rejected me! I...the Elements...all those people...I'm supposed to be in prison.))"
 
"((And you'll still have to live with that,))" Rokk says seriously. He looks-- in essence-- like holos of himself being serious, instead of either furious or grim, which are likely the sticky images for poor Jin. "((But I know you never had anything but the best of intentions. And I already know you've learned from it. Finding some TwenCen prison to rot in won't get anything done; sticking this out and doing the very best you can, and working with us, being a team player--? That'll do /good/. The very good you hoped to do in the first place.))" He makes a gesture northwards; they're high up enough out of the street that the ginormous L sitting on the Highline a few blocks away is impossible to miss. "((We don't know why we're here. Since more of us arrive almost every day, there has to be a reason. It's our duty to make sure that reason turns out to be a good one, no matter what happens.))"
Now, Jin gets it. Though, Jin will ponder the idea of going to prison for a crime that hasn't technically happened yet...his eyes squeeze shut to forestall the potential massive headache. He starts to calm down. He's not angry about the rejection; he's dealt with it, and it was around seven years ago for him. "((How...))" he starts to think it through. "((I will go,))" he says. "((With you. It makes sense. I wouldn't know...I know ancient Earth Chinese, but the language barrier alone from this era...and I don't even have...))" He stares at the bracelets. "((I set these to seal my magic, while in Takron Galtos.))" Still, the semi-familiar logo makes him bark a quick laugh. "((You wasted no time settling in, I see.))"
 
"((We'll see if we can't get someone else to un-seal your magic, if you can't get them off yourself,))" the man says firmly. "((And get you a set of telepathic earplugs until you've learnt English, at least, and are comfortable with it. There are a *lot* of languages here, but we're in the United States of America, so the signage is at least uniform where we're based, and most of us who've got here thus far have at least some English.))" He looks up and north toward the headquarters again, and he shrugs one shoulder. "((One of us brought a spaceship, and when it crashed it sort of... built that. Since at the time we were operating out of a busted-up warehouse in the red light district, gotta say it was pretty welcome.))" There's a pause, and then a slightly twisted-sideways smile. "((And just so you know-- the Garth that's here isn't Live Wire. I keep messing up and almost calling him that, but he's Lightning Lad. He's never met you. And Dirk's not even here at /all/. Luck of the draw. Come on, you could probably use a silverale after that nonsense...))"
"((Actually, all we would need to do is get the bracelets off.))" Jin replies, still staring at the sight of the building. To him, this is beyond messed up. He's never been travelling through time, like a good chunk of the Legion. "((Telepathic earplugs, thank goodness.))" Still, he looks a bit confused. "Lightning Lad? Really?" But it's not the Garth he knows. There's that headache agaibn.
 
"((Oh, really?))" asks Cos, blinking, taken aback /again/. "((I thought they were magic or something, sorry--))" and then he's waving a hand in the air like a magician, because that kind of irony always goes right over his head; the bracelets, as Jin would certainly expect, flow off his wrists and form a ball in the air. The Braalian takes it in his hand, then offers it back to Dragonmage. "((Yeah. I told him it was lame but he's like, nineteen, and he thinks I'm old and annoying. So he can just sound silly, and on his own head be it. Can you fly, or you need a lift the rest of the way there?))"
"((I-and you even have Silverale here? I do not drink the stuff, to keep my focus...but after today I think I will make an exception.))" The bracelets seperate, and fall from his wrists. There's a brief moment of terror for Jin; he shouldn't have these off! But, but, he's not in prison any longer. This is something he can give to the Science Police as Special Circumstances. He lets out a quick chuckle, almost feverish. He waves a hand, and a small green dragon illusion appears, which he stares at in wonder. His hands move quickly, and Rokk can feel the removal of pressure on the magnetic field he's using to keep Jin aloft. Below him, there's a gathering of mystical energy, coalescing into a similar dragon illusion, but yellow, and much larger. 
Jin hangs on to a spine with both hands as the dragon launches into the air. "((Waaaaaaaa-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!)) The mage himself is practically glowing, and maybe a few bystanders are below looking up and pointing.
He takes a minute to hunker down on the dragon's back, feeling the rush of wind, the unbridled joy of flight, before he comes back to Rokk. "((I think I can get there myself,))" he says, before letting out a loud laugh. He's happy.
 
"((*Excellent*!))" crows the Braalian when Jin comes back-- he's just /grinning/ now. "((Right, let's go! Give you a tour, introduce you around, stick note in the bulletin that you're resident at HQ until your tryout-- which you'll pass with flying colors, so don't get too nervous or anything. It'll be fair, I promise.))" And then he takes off, grinning like Alan Davis drew him, rocketing toward the enormous shining L.
Category:Log