4346/Tales Of The Slver Banshee And Reporter Cat

Tales Of The Slver Banshee And Reporter Cat
Date of Scene:	08 December 2020
Location:	Titan's Common Room
Synopsis:	In which a Titan with a split identity speaks to another Titan with a split identity about the problems of being such, and is referred to a Titan with a split identity for potential help. And it says a lot about this team that this could be any number of us!
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Siobhan Smythe

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
Six days ago, the missing Titans crashed into the tower. Since then, life has been a frenzy for most of them, and those who were missing had to hit the ground running in many cases, trying to catch up with everything. Or at least, that's what Terry has been doing. Between contacting loved ones, finding out he has been evicted, and pitching his idea of going public to Lois and Clark, the Cheshire Cat hasn't had a lot of down time outside of the first morning with Gar.

There's not a lot of downtime now, either. In his Cheshire cat form, he's sitting at the table, tapping away at his laptop, trying to make up lost content. If he was going to go public, the Planet would need things to run after the annoncement that their intern was also superhero...

"Oh god my brain feels like a squeezed orange," he mutters and rests his head on the table, closing his eyes to take a break from the dancing screen full of letters. He might have overdone this by a few hours.

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
Years ago, Siobhan's mother literaly ate her brother and vanished. A few years ago, she resurfaced. A little under a year ago Siobhan came to America. A couple weeks ago, her mother started eating people's souls openly. Soon after that Siobhan went to an evil hell dimension with a Lovecraftian monster and an evil Kara. Last night? Siobhan returned the favor to her mother. Her brother was saved and she ate her mother's very soul. Now. Well. Siobhan has left her brother at a hotel and...come to Titan's tower.

One might think after a reunion from that long ago She'd want to spend all her time with him but the longer she was with him, the more she thought about what had just transpired. Now...she was in her room in Titan's tower, shifting idly back and forth from Banshee to Siobhan and back again. Her internals battling and then she vanished and reappeared in the main area. Her eyes on Terry briefly before she transformed back to Siobhan and walked to the refridgerator.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
If there's a shift in the air, or maybe it's just Vorpal's uncanny abilities, his eyes snap open and blink a couple of times before he sits up. He knew someone was suddenly in the room, but it took a moment to focus his very tired eyes.

"Siobahn!" he exclaims, smiling through the fatigue, "Refrigerator. Good idea. I haven't eaten in..." yesterday? Hard to tell. "I've had too much coffee..." three pots. At least by his reckoning. It could be more. It probably was. Grabbing something to eat was probably the wise choice.

"I'm still catching up with everybody... " he leans against the counter, waiting his turn for the refrigerator like a good boy. "How have things been...?"

The cat peers at Siobahn, gauging her reaction to see if she would rather not be bothered at this time...

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
His chipper attitude has her holding her hand on the door for longer than she expected before she finally smiles, forcing it more than anything as she looks over at him, "Fine, Terry." She states simply enough before looking back into the fridge and pulling out one of those shakes that Cait makes. She stares at it as she stands up with it, taking a sip of it and then shifting a little as if she had drank something for the first time and wasn't sure if she liked it. Even though she's had these shakes many times. She hten turns and walks away from him and the fridge, taking a drink as she goes, not even bothering to say mroe. Just 'Fine, Terry' and away she goes.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Uh Oh. For starters, he's the wrong shape to deal with this. The Chehire Cat can be unpredictable, and that's not what you want when one of your friends is clearly not fine. On the other hand, changing right now could be seen as an attempt at changing tack, and thus cause all shields to raise and comms to go offline.

"I'm pretty sure it's very nosy of me to say this, but... I happen to hve rather sizable ears." he points to them as Siobahn starts walking away, "I am very confident that I won't be in deficit if I lend you one. I get the impression you've been ... through something pretty rough..."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
"Rough?" She asks, pausing her movement, body going still and then she looks just slightly enough to the side so he can see the side of her face, "Ye believe I have gone t'rough somet'in' rough?" She asks and then she looks forward and suddenly, far faster than he's likely ever seen it, she is the Silver Banshee. It's a blink of a transformation and then she's gone. Disappeared from sight only to reappear behind him. Her voice sounds like it's coming from everywhere, though. Not just from her. Echoing from all the walls, floors, ceilings and even seeming as if it were coming from within his very body.

"And what would ye be callin' rough, Terry? What would the Cheshire Cat t'ink is...rough?" She asks, her glowing eyes burning with an otherworldly light as they focus on the back of Terry's head or his face should he turn around.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
And Vorpal leaps when Siobahn appears behind him. It's a little like the Cat and Cucumber routine, but he tries to gain some decorum as he turns around and takes a few steps back, hands raised at chest level.

"I-I don't know. I just got here," he says, which is quite true, in many ways, "But whatever it is, it's gotta be bad enough to make my friend go full Raven... " by now, he's put the table between him and Siobahn. This is mostly for practical reasons, because if something is going to be thrown for one reason or another, the table is as good a place as any to seek cover. He lowers his hands and puts them on the table.

"I am more than just a silly cat in a silly storybook, you know."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
In her current form, the smirk that follows is less of a smirk and far more a sneer. Her eyes going to the table and then to Terry, watching him carefully, "Do ya t'ink dat will help?" She asks and idly touches the table, a hand lightly placed upon it, "Do ye know what it is like to find out what ya really are?" She asks and looks at him carefully, "And realize that ye aren't sure you're even human anymore?" She asks and doesn't pause for him to answer, "Perhaps ya do...but..." She idly lifts the table as if it were a piece of paper, causing the whole thing to grown just a bit under its own wait. Being lifted by a single point was never its purpose. She stares at it as she idly lifts it and then tosses it aside to cause it to crash nearby without a thought.

"...did ye have to kill to find out? Where is de old Cheshire Cat? I know where de old Banshee is..."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Caitlin is going to be pissed. That's Terry's first thought when the table flies. His second thought is that something is clearly very, very wrong. His third thought is that he is, very likely, in danger. His ffth thought is a brief hope that his article got backed up to the cloud before the Planet's laptop hit the floor, because he can tell by the way that the screen flickered and went black, that he's going to have to write another expense report to Lois.

"My father-" he begins slowly, taking a step back. He winces, because his ankle is still sprained, as attested by the ace bandage, and that earlier leap couldn't have been good for it "-winked out of existence when I was born. My being alive erased him from this world. Siobahn... you don't have to do..." he waves towards the table, "This."

It occurs to him that he might want to find a way to protect himself in case she goes out of control. Thinking carefully, he says "I am your friend... please." And then he casts the glamour over him. It was an idea he had been rehearsing since acquiring his powers of illusion- an llusion of himself, cast over himself, and then rendering himself invisible and step away, so as to leave the illusion in his place. He had managed to get the effect down well enough, and the initial gitches where certain parts of his body looked strange have finally been ironed out. No more Starfire hair. Once he feels the illusion has taken, he proceeds to make himself invisible and step sideways several steps. Just in case she decides to throw something at him.

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
At first she's fooled but then he moves. He moves away from the illusion and she twitches slightly. He might already hear it. His own heartbeat. Possibly due to the fear. However, then he might realize he's hearing his heartbeat for sure. At least a heartbeat. The Silver Banshee's hand is open, as if holding something and she casually squeezes and opens her hand as she does, in time with the heartbeat, "Do I frighten ye, Terry?" She seems to grin slightly, "Do ya 'ear it?" She asks as she opens and closes her hand in time with that beating, the noise getting slightly louder, "Dat's your heartbeat." Her eyes turn in his real direction, "I can hear it. I can hear everyt'ing." She then looks distant, those flaming eyes going toward the distant wall.

"My mot'er winked out of existance, too. Ya know. I felt it happen." She says softly and then laughs a little, "It felt...so good...." She laughs a little more even as her hand continues to move in time with that heartbeat, "She was killin' people, Terry. Eatin' deir souls..." She then looks back at him, as if he weren't invisible, staring at him, "So I...ate her..." She then laughs a hissing, horrifying laugh, "And I felt her...sink into her own personal...HELL..." She grinds those teeth, "And den she was gone..."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal becomes visible now. But he forgets to dismiss his illusion, so that when he crosses his arms, his illusory twin follows suit. The effect is somewhat comical. Or would be, under different circumstances. "Yeah. I can hear it. I can also hear the fact that you're rehearsing your supervillain monologue and I don't /like it one bit/." His heart tick up some more. Fear, adrenaline, nerves, a cocktail, "Look, if you don't get a grip, Raven is going to get pissed off, and I'd rather that /not/ happen because she's already almost destroyed the whole cloth of existence over the fact that four of us were missing."

"Sorry. That was... that wasn't what I should've said. I know you're... unsettled by a part of you that you've discovered... you aren't alone here. This building is literally full of people with that issue in one way or another. Please, just..." he raises a hand, "Just step outside of the Banshee for a moment and talk to me."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
Glaring at him as he becomes visible, The Silver Banshee takes a step toward him and tilts her head, "Talk to ye? What do you t'ink I've been doin'?" She then looks at her hand and stares at the movement of it as she feels the heart beat. There's a part of her. A dark part that whispers to her about how easily she could just turn that simple heart beat into something lethal. How fragile life is and how easiliy it is ended. She then twitches and shakes her head slowly before she closes those glowing eyes and slowly the visage of the Silver Banshee flows away, leaving Siobhan standing there, hand still twitching.

She can still hear and feel the sound of that beating heart.

When she opens her eyes, she looks up at Terry and then flares her nostrils slightly, "Do ye not understand, Terry? I have eaten...my own mot'er's soul. I have seen a place so dark dat dere's a Kara dere who burned her symbol into my back...a being so powerful it has killed Superman. A thing that whispers into your mind..." She then shakes her head and laughs a little, "And da scariest part?" She looks up, "I healed. I survived and...I want more..."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
To match Siobhan's change, Vorpal changes into Terry, whispering the words into his portable mirror. The human redhead, no longer limping, steps a little closer to Siobhan. "I don't know what the right thing to say is, Siobhan. There are things I haven't lived through. But ... I do know a little about being tworn between to parts of yourself. I may not... be the same flavor, but I struggle with surrenderingn to... some things. I just don't.. talk to a lot of people about it." How about none, Terry.

"You may feel you want more... but.... is that really what you want? What /all/ of you, not just a part, wants?"

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
Looking up at him now that he has changed back and she stares at him, "I don't know, Terry..." She then shakes her head and frowns as she looks down, "I t'ought I could just...do what I always did. Tuck it away. Hide it. Just ignore it but...it all has happened so fast." She shakes her head, "Too fast."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"That seems to be the standard Titan reply," Terry admits, smiling very faintly. "Gar bottles things up all the time. Donna does it until the cork blows and then she goes to punch something. Raven does it until suddenly Trigon comes for a visit." That last part was exaggerated, but he's on a theme. "When I'm the cat for too long... I start becoming too much. I sometimes have to rest and not touch that part of myself for a time until I have a balance, or else..." he trails off. The Cheshire cat is innofessive, right? What danger could he be?

"But you can't quite do that, right? You're more of a unified entity than a... split? How would you call it? My words are failing me..."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
"In a way." Siobhan replies and then she walks over to a spot and sits. She settles in quietly and shakes her head, "I'm two beings and one." She nods her head and looks over to Terry, "It's a part of me. It's who I am in a way. Ever since what I did..." She frowns and closes her eyes, "It was bad before, Terry but now it is loud." SHe looks up slowly, "Even now it's in my head and tryin' to get me to pay attention." She looks to the side and then closes her eyes briefly, "I'm in charge, dough. It knows. I know. I just, get really tired."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I know a little of how it goes," Terry sighs a little. "I'm two beings and one myself, but I guess there's a stronger common thread because... okay. So this is weird. In a sort of way I'm also my dad. But not really. It's... it makes about as much sense as the rest of me."

He joins Siobhan, sitting across from her. "Sometimes when the cat gets restless, I start getting funny ideas. Impulsive shit I want to do. It tempts me. I swear to god at one point it tried to get me to open a rabbit hole to soak Raven with hot tub water and then you know how /that/ would have ended..."

He frowns, "I find... things can help me get grounded. Like, music, or books or even video games. Sometimes I want to do mischief and I decide to plunk down and read some Agatha Christie and before you know it, there's two of us reading because we both want to find out. Perhaps there's something that can be your grounding ritual, help you recharge and keep the balance like that."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
"I don't know." She states simply and then sucks in a breath and lets it out slowly, "I'm not sure dat readin' some novel is gonna convince a creature dat once told Lucifer it wants not but deat' and fear sated." She states simply and then looks to the side and shakes her head, "Fuckin' bastard, dat one. He t'inks he's fun but he is an arse." She then looks back to Terry, "I'd rat'er it be whisperin' about dumpin' water on folks rat'er dan whisperin' about eatin' souls."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry chuckles, "I haven't heard any good reports of Lucifer on the Cheshire Cat's side, outside of the fact that he is apparently exceedingly hot, but the personality kind of ruins it."

He toys with the sleeves of his hoodie, thinking about Sio's predictament, and then a red eyebrow raises.

"I think I may have a suggestion. But you might absolutely and completely hate me for it..."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A blink at him and then she shakes her head, rolling her eyes at his comment about Lucifer. She shifts in her seat uncomfortably though as he has an idea, "Yea? What kind of idea do ya 'ave?" She asks even as she shifts in her spot again, seeming to not like talking about this at all even if it is important. Less so talking about Lucifer really but he was sorta important to the story.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Well... the Banshee is, as you've said, a free-wheeler, you-are-not-the-boss-of-me, kinda bloodthirsty spirit. We do happen to have someone in our team who has experience in keeping a balance between her human nature and... well, let's be honest, practically-Satan-level-father-influence. If she can learn to find a balance with that apocalyptic force, I am certain you might be able to learn something from her to get some balance. If you find the thought of speaking to her alone too unnerving..."

He pauses. Most Titans do. Except for...

"Then why don't you talk to Donna about this? She can come with you when you talk to her. Donna is a goood Raven-Rest Of Us translation service."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A blink kas she hears that and she looks carefully at Terry before she looks forward and frowns. She sucks in a breath and then shrugs, "I was t'inkin' about speakin' to her anyway." She states simply enough and nods her head, "It does seem like we might have somet'in' in common." She nods her head and then looks down before sighing and shaking her head, "I just feel like, well, I'm just a bot'er to her at times. Just a bot'er for da whole team." She sighs, "I seem useful at times but den all dis time I didn't even fully understand my own ability and it cost us in space. I could have been more useful."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Girlfriend. You are talking to the guy who /couldn't/ get the team out in time before the wormhole got us because I didn't know that my Rabbit Hole /wouldn't/ work under those particular conditions. And do you think- I mean, just remember how Wally West was back when he first got his speedster powers. Or Raven before she learned to control her Tall Dark And Demon side more?" He smirksm "The Justice League is for people who have gotten their shit together. The Titans are a family who help each other get their shit together and we're there to watch each other's backs when the shit hits the fan."

He crosses his arms, "So I won't be having any of that nonsense about how you're a bother. We're all bothers at one point or another. And... I know not all of us have happy families, but for many this is part of the family that they choose to have."

He tilts his head, "So it's okay to be a bother. The only unacceptable rule that I've sused out so far is that you don't mess with Caitlin's kitchen."

He glances over to the overturned furniture, and adds "... maybe we should... clean up a bit."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A look at Terry and she smiles a little. At least that's something. She shakes her head and lets out a sigh before she stands up and nods her head, "I suppose ye're right." She states simply enough before looking around and nodding her head, "We should probably clean up. I just..." She shakes her head, "Sorry if I was a bit scary earlier. I just, sometimes can't help it at times. At least now I can't."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Of course I'm right. I'm the cat here," Terry says, fully expecting to have something thrown at him to lighten the mood a little.

"And don't you worry about bein' scary, Sio. If you think /that's/ scary, you haven't seen Gar waking up in the morning." Before he walks over to start straightening furniture, he reaches over to squeeze Siobhan's shoulder and to give her a smile. "But don't tell him I told you that. My life is in your hands."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A smirk and she shakes her head, rolling her eyes. She then stretches her arms up and begins to help with the cleanup process, "Your secret is safe with me. Or I suppose Gar's secret?" She shrugs and shakes her haed even as she begins to help clenaing up her own mess.