Prompt Table 003: Mirror
Who: Bruce Wayne and Dr. Helen Magnus
What: Shadowy unpleasantness is afoot.
When: Sometime in an entirely possible future.
Where: The land of eldorado_rpg.
Why: notanemptymotto reequested it here.
The suite had been shredded. By what, Helen couldn't tell. And that was the most troublesome part. Blood soaked the sheets on the bed, the spatter creating a display that had more than turned the stomach of the girl who'd found the room's occupant. So much so that someone was currently out in the hall cleaning the girl's vomit.
The occupant of the room had been taken to the hospital, it was likely that he'd live. That, at least, was comforting.
But the rest of this made her nervous. Maybe a little more than that, but she wasn't about to show it. It'd likely been assuming a bit much, thinking things would stay this way. El Dorado had been, for the most part, a peaceful place. They were all subject to the whims of the gods, of course, but nothing had ended quite like this.
Someone, somewhere in this city, had shown their hand. Proven themselves to be capable of a bit more than any of them had been so far.
Helen sighed. Whoever this person was, she hoped they could be helped before they did any more damage. Hopefully quietly, so the others in the hotel didn't turn on them, and this situation got worse than it was already.
Although she had the sneaking suspicion, even though it was as bit early, that it wasn't going to be that simple.
Possibly because it never was.
When she looked over the damage to the room again, Helen was already preparing herself to look for clues. Take a note out of James's book, before he got there and started throwing his weight around as he usually did. Not that it wasn't helpful, but he was just... James.
The cracked mirror in the corner was where she got the first glimpse of him. A large living shadow that kicked that sense of dread into a straight upshot of fear. Helen whirled around and stumbled back a step, jerking when her foot landed squarely on broken glass at the cracking that followed.
It took a moment after that before she could fully process the man standing in front of her. The black suit, the cape, all the way up to the mask. If the intention was to cut an intimidating figure, and obviously it was, this man had accomplished it.
And then he spoke. "Have you found anything?"
"No, not just yet." Helen heard herself say, and shook off the initial shock. A hundred different things went through her head, 'abnormal', 'suspect', and thensome. But he was making no move to harm her, just watching her watch him.
He nodded. "He left through the window. He left shreds of his clothing behind when he smashed it to get out."
Helen staved off all the questions she had about this man in favor of listening to him for the time being. "And... What do you think happened?"
"Exactly what you see." He was looking at the room now, to the blood stained sheets and the destroyed furniture. "The room's occupant is still alive. I'd check with who she knows. The person who did this was superhuman, and there are plenty of those walking around here."
"But why does it have to be someone he'd kn--"
"It's the middle of the day." He cut her off with almost an air of impatience, and again, she found herself thinking of James. The way he looked at her almost suggested she should have caught on to this in advance. "And the main source of the struggle happened on the bed. This was personal."
Helen nodded. "Yes, I suppose you have a point." She looked back at the bed, sighing. Not the most comforting of notions, but solid just the same.
"Look for DNA samples, Dr. Magnus. Whoever did this is angry. We need to move fast in case it's going to happen again."
"Yes, of course." Helen nodded again. She turned around to face him once more, those questions she'd staved off temporarily now fighting to get to the surface. "And where will you b--"
Except he was gone.
Staring at the spot where the man had just stood, Helen's jaw snapped shut. Her gaze lifted, snapping around to try and determine where he could have gone.
The sudden flapping noise jerked her out of her shock, and she ran to the window, leaning out carefully amongst the spiked glass shards to try and get a look at him.
But no one was there.
"My God." She muttered under her breath, slowly pulling herself back in the window. "And who exactly were you?"
What: Shadowy unpleasantness is afoot.
When: Sometime in an entirely possible future.
Where: The land of eldorado_rpg.
Why: notanemptymotto reequested it here.
The suite had been shredded. By what, Helen couldn't tell. And that was the most troublesome part. Blood soaked the sheets on the bed, the spatter creating a display that had more than turned the stomach of the girl who'd found the room's occupant. So much so that someone was currently out in the hall cleaning the girl's vomit.
The occupant of the room had been taken to the hospital, it was likely that he'd live. That, at least, was comforting.
But the rest of this made her nervous. Maybe a little more than that, but she wasn't about to show it. It'd likely been assuming a bit much, thinking things would stay this way. El Dorado had been, for the most part, a peaceful place. They were all subject to the whims of the gods, of course, but nothing had ended quite like this.
Someone, somewhere in this city, had shown their hand. Proven themselves to be capable of a bit more than any of them had been so far.
Helen sighed. Whoever this person was, she hoped they could be helped before they did any more damage. Hopefully quietly, so the others in the hotel didn't turn on them, and this situation got worse than it was already.
Although she had the sneaking suspicion, even though it was as bit early, that it wasn't going to be that simple.
Possibly because it never was.
When she looked over the damage to the room again, Helen was already preparing herself to look for clues. Take a note out of James's book, before he got there and started throwing his weight around as he usually did. Not that it wasn't helpful, but he was just... James.
The cracked mirror in the corner was where she got the first glimpse of him. A large living shadow that kicked that sense of dread into a straight upshot of fear. Helen whirled around and stumbled back a step, jerking when her foot landed squarely on broken glass at the cracking that followed.
It took a moment after that before she could fully process the man standing in front of her. The black suit, the cape, all the way up to the mask. If the intention was to cut an intimidating figure, and obviously it was, this man had accomplished it.
And then he spoke. "Have you found anything?"
"No, not just yet." Helen heard herself say, and shook off the initial shock. A hundred different things went through her head, 'abnormal', 'suspect', and thensome. But he was making no move to harm her, just watching her watch him.
He nodded. "He left through the window. He left shreds of his clothing behind when he smashed it to get out."
Helen staved off all the questions she had about this man in favor of listening to him for the time being. "And... What do you think happened?"
"Exactly what you see." He was looking at the room now, to the blood stained sheets and the destroyed furniture. "The room's occupant is still alive. I'd check with who she knows. The person who did this was superhuman, and there are plenty of those walking around here."
"But why does it have to be someone he'd kn--"
"It's the middle of the day." He cut her off with almost an air of impatience, and again, she found herself thinking of James. The way he looked at her almost suggested she should have caught on to this in advance. "And the main source of the struggle happened on the bed. This was personal."
Helen nodded. "Yes, I suppose you have a point." She looked back at the bed, sighing. Not the most comforting of notions, but solid just the same.
"Look for DNA samples, Dr. Magnus. Whoever did this is angry. We need to move fast in case it's going to happen again."
"Yes, of course." Helen nodded again. She turned around to face him once more, those questions she'd staved off temporarily now fighting to get to the surface. "And where will you b--"
Except he was gone.
Staring at the spot where the man had just stood, Helen's jaw snapped shut. Her gaze lifted, snapping around to try and determine where he could have gone.
The sudden flapping noise jerked her out of her shock, and she ran to the window, leaning out carefully amongst the spiked glass shards to try and get a look at him.
But no one was there.
"My God." She muttered under her breath, slowly pulling herself back in the window. "And who exactly were you?"