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[call for Batman; also Kryptonian, okay.] isitablurred May 15 2011, 17:50:22 UTC
[Straight to the point.]

What do you know about the Brain Interactive Construct?

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[Kryptonian foreverrr] isitablurred May 16 2011, 02:29:11 UTC
Jor-El's doing. Brainiac went back to Krypton to kill me as a baby, and I didn't want to stop him. He let me see a world where I hadn't existed, where Lex became president and he and Brainiac started a nuclear war.

I had to watch it all. So whether it was real or not, it felt that way to me.

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[Kryptonian foreverrr] kingofrooks May 16 2011, 02:45:44 UTC
Why do you keep calling hm 'Jor-El'?

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[Kryptonian foreverrr] isitablurred May 16 2011, 02:47:36 UTC
[Wary pause.] It's what I've always called him. What do you mean?

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[Kryptonian foreverrr] kingofrooks May 16 2011, 02:55:31 UTC
It's [ rude, disrespectful- ] strange. You've always called him 'Father'.

And Jonathan Kent is 'Pa'.

[ YES. HE MET YOUR OTHER SELF'S PARENTS. What do. :| ]

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[Kryptonian foreverrr] isitablurred May 16 2011, 11:02:39 UTC
Sounds...old. Jor-El is Jor-El, unless I'm speaking to him directly in which case I call him father, but he isn't the man that brought me up--he's Dad.

But you can't have met them. My dad died a few years ago.

[Because of a decision I made. Because I was too selfish to let Lana die. Because it wasn't my choice.]

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[Kryptonian foreverrr] kingofrooks May 16 2011, 15:35:19 UTC
[ Pauuuuse. ]

I've met him. Both of them. [ His voice is strange here, a little unnatural. ] And as far as I know, both of your parents are alive, in my world. [ Ma Kent baked cookies as well as Alfred does. To hear that Pa Kent is dead while Clark is so young is- unsettling.

Part of him thinks that it's because there's a greater possibility of Clark going unbalanced because of it- but frankly speaking, he's just worried. And sympathetic- even though he will never say it. ]

How did he die?

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[Kryptonian foreverrr] isitablurred May 16 2011, 19:15:50 UTC
He...had a heart attack.

[There's so much more to it than that. But worse, Clark slips back into plain English. The pain that's consuming him is human; and the language he needs to put them across is a human one.]

The last person to see him alive was Lionel Luthor. They fought - over me - and then he... [Voice wavers.] It wouldn't have happened if not for me. Nobody said bringing up a superhero was going to be easy.

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[English now lol] kingofrooks May 17 2011, 05:14:30 UTC
[ He's not surprised at the slip, and he follows it. This is talking about Clark's human side - not Kal's Kryptonian one. He lids his eyes a little.

Lionel Luthor. Lex's father- the last he'd heard of him, he's dead, killed when Lex had gotten too ambitious with the 'meteor rock' he'd found and blew up the house he and his father was in.

Hah. ]

Kent. Come over. [ Flatly. ]

Find me.

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[AND ACTION. ENGLISH AND ACTION] isitablurred May 17 2011, 10:48:51 UTC
[Find him. A little more challenging than that, since Bruce could be anywhere, but it is night. It's likely he's out. Clark searches for half a minute or so, then finds the right roof, jumping down onto it. The slums. The monsters liked to concentrate here, where the Darkness proofing was weakest, and it needed the most defense from people like them.

As he lands, Batman has just put down two monsters. A third is slithering along the roof floor toward him, but a blast of heat vision makes it recoil, hissing violently like water boiling over.]

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[ENGLISH ACTION, OOHLALA] kingofrooks May 17 2011, 10:56:24 UTC
[ The blast of heat vision behind him makes him turn around, watching as Clark's eyes turn red and the monster catch on fire. So- no qualms about badly hurting or even killing the monsters, then? Bruce smirks a little, and he turns around and jerks his head at the two people cowering in the corner, and they stare at him for moment before disappearing.

Nights here are busy, and Bruce tugs off the headset that he's devised for the NV and drops it into his belt. Then, he turns around to look at Clark for a moment before he walks towards him. Slowly- before he leaps into action.

Slips the green K out of his belt and, holding it in his fist, he punches Clark hard. Just once. On the jaw. ]

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[ENGLISH ACTION, YOU JERK] isitablurred May 17 2011, 11:03:16 UTC
[Clark tilts his head just slightly, and his curiosity is his downfall, because as a result he doesn't see it coming until the fist comes at him, the slip of green between Batman's fingers, the radiation making his blood boil and everything hurt moments before the fist connects.

He goes down; staggers and hits the gravel shoulder first, then rolls onto his back and twists away. But until that rock's gone, until it's been put away, he's not going anywhere. Can't even speak to ask why.]

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[ENGLISH ACTION, YOU TOTALLY DESERVED IT] kingofrooks May 17 2011, 11:11:07 UTC
[ And he immediately slips the ring back into its lead casing in his belt, slamming it shut. The sound of metal against metal resounds loud and sharp in the alley and Bruce narrows his eyes behind the cowl. It's obvious that Clark doesn't understand why. ]

I punched you because you're being an idiot. I should have done that a long time ago.

[ He crosses his arms, and watches him for a long moment. If he knows Clark more- if he trusts him more- this is when he would whip off the cowl to just glare at him. The effect is lessened by the lenses of the cowl, but it will have to do.

Clark knows Batman. Not Bruce Wayne. Much less Bruce. Not yet. ]

It's his choice. [ He turns around, and starts moving towards the mouth of the alley. ] To bring you up. To have you in his life. Don't even think that their lives would be better without you in it.

When you think that, you're belittling his choice.

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isitablurred May 17 2011, 11:18:45 UTC
[And he has a serious right hook. It takes even Clark a moment to get up, though the effects of the Kryptonite are longer lasting - a few seconds - and he pulls himself back to his feet. He should hit him back, most people would, but instead he just listens. He knows there's a reason.]

It was his choice. Just like it was my choices that lead to his death. If I'd just listened to Jor-El in the first place, nobody would have been hurt.

[But he's right. These are the same things his mother's told him, reassured him with since the funeral. Jonathan had never regretted having him as a son; he'd loved him. And that was why he'd been willing to give his life for him.

It didn't make it any more fair. It didn't make him regret being the cause of their pain any less.If I didn't acknowledge that I caused them hurt by being so important to them, by being so close to them, I wouldn't be the man I am today. I wouldn't be so careful not to hurt anyone else the same way. Pretending I'm not responsible would be worse; not for me, but for everyone ( ... )

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kingofrooks May 17 2011, 12:37:32 UTC
[ The way he talks about that choice- it seems like it's not a typical sort of self-blaming; it's seems that he really did make a choice. And it gives Bruce pause for a moment, wondering what Clark had done- what he's capable of doing- that led to Pa Kent's death. It's funny, the way he thinks about Clark's parents. It's nigh impossible for him to think of them as 'Jonathan' and 'Martha', a little easier as 'Mr. and Mrs. Kent'... but it's always easiest as 'Pa Kent' and 'Ma Kent'.

... Maybe he spends too much time in Smallville. Or maybe it's simply that it's difficult for him to think of any parents by their first names- he only uses his parents' when he's making a point. Like with Joe Chill.

A breath, and his hand gathers a bunch of his cape. ]

I'm not saying that you should pretend to not be responsible. [ He would be a hypocrite for doing that- more of a hypocrite than he already is anyway. ] But you're not considering the other factors.

[ There's a pause. ]

The people around you would be safer- or you would be, so you won't ( ... )

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isitablurred May 17 2011, 13:49:28 UTC
[Clark isn't ready to turn away and trust Batman with his back right now; though the pain of being struck is gone, the memory isn't. Instead he steps toward the edge of the roof, looking down. Another two monsters are climbing up toward them even now. He takes them down before they can come the rest of the way, flinching as they hit the street below.

But they come back every night. He knows they do. Like a computer program respawning.]

Both.

But it's their choice. And it's mine. They choose to protect me, they choose to fight with me, and I choose to let them.

[He looks back, turns.]

Like you did, the other day. You got hurt because you chose to help me. You didn't have to, but you did it anyway.

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