4687/It's A Stone Cold World

It's A Stone Cold World
Date of Scene:	11 January 2021
Location:	Midtown - New Troy
Synopsis:	Iason runs afoul of the law, but fortunately the Titans and Outsiders come to set him straight. The Themysciran Embassy is about to get a new statue, for now.
Cast of Characters:	Iason, Bart Allen, Donna Troy, Caitlin Fairchild

---

Iason has posed:
The call came in shortly before noon, and it was relayed to the Titans and allies as the nearest super-group to the incident in question. The report detailed that an unknown perpetrator had stolen food from a food cart and had been pursued by police. Upon being confronted, the perp had manifested what appeared to be magical armor and weaponry to fend off police.

At the moment that magic showed up, the police backed away and called for backup while, overhead, drones kept track of the perpetrator's whereabouts. The young man is running down an alleyway, pursued by sirens. He is wearing clothing that is very much Ancient Greece, overlaid with a glowing white armor. He emerges from an alley and into the street proper, where he narrowly avoids getting hit by a car, which rear-ends another vehicle. Fortunately, neither driver is injured, but both are absolutely furious, and their screaming at the young man through the rolled-down windows only causes him to panic further, speeding down towards another alleyway.

All the while, the location is being fed to the respective supers that answer the call.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will comes running up, and as he does, he plants a hand on the hood of one of the cars and vaults over it. He is wearing his uniform, but has a black backpack on his back. He looks around and and tot he guys in the car "Um, you may want to get back, you can hollar at him later."

Donna Troy has posed:
    At the other end of the alley from Bart, Donna is discovering the disadvantage of having abandoned the classic Troia armor. At the mouth of the alleyway the perp had disappeared down, a line of cops are stopping people going in, and amongst those people is Donna.

    "I'm Troia of the Titans," she's telling the officer in charge of the incident. "I'm responding to the call you put out. Will you /please/ tell me what happened and get out of my way so I can investigate?"

    "Yeah, pull the other one, miss. Now please stand back, it could be dangerous."

    "Gods. Will you /pay attention/! I am Troia of the Titans. What's dangerous is you not filling me in on what's going on here."

    "Sure you are. I was just saying to my buddy over here, hey look, it's Troia of the Titans, see her armor? Now can you please stand back, or I'll have to arrest you."

    Donna narrows her eyes. "You know, I'm going to go down that alley in a few seconds, and if I have to fly over your head to do it, that's not a problem. But it would really help if you could tell... CAIT! Will you please tell this idiot who we are?"

    Cailtin's a bit slower getting to the alley than Donna, not being as fast a runner in covering the few hundred feet from where the Titans' car had parked, but her imminent arrival is the reason Donna had not taken any firmer action to demonstrate who she is - Caitlin is pretty distinctive. The crowd parts for Caitlin as she approaches Donna and the officer at the mouth of the Alley, and when the cops' eyes take in the approaching redhead, the officer-in-charge's number two can't help a snicker of amusement at his superior's sudden embarrassment.

    The officer's eyes flicker from Donna to Caitlin and back again. "Uh. Perp went down this alley. Armed with a sword, and we have reports of magic use. Hasn't been violent yet, but we thought it would be a good idea to call you guys in." He quickly turns his attention to his subordinates, who he can yell at to cover his own mistake. "Let these ladies through, maggots! Come on, come on, get a move on!"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Where does the three-hundred pound redhead go? Anywhere she wants, apparently.

Part of the reason she can't outrun Donna is because the dark-haired princess can hopskip over pesky things like cars and people and fly if she has to. When Caitlin runs, it's a freight train that's fairly hard to stop or turn on a dime.

"Hi. Excuse me. Yes. Hi. Excuse me. Sorry," Caitlin says, pressing through the crowd. She's dressed pretty casually, in dark jeans, low boots, and a lightweight fleece shirt. Backpack straps over her shoulders hold a double-faced warhammer on a hook between her shoulderblades with the handle in line with her spine. It's a little incongruous, but combined with her politely muscling through the crowd and her sheer height, the look overall cuts a path.

"We're on ... channel five," Caitlin tells the cop, and adjusts the communicator earbud buried in her ear canal. "If he makes it past us somehow or doubles back, let us know."

She nods at Donna for confirmation, then politely lifts up the barricades, lets Donna walk under it, and follows through before setting it down behind her.

<Hey gang, Donna and I are responding to the call-in in Midtown,> Caitlin broadcasts over the Titan's net. <Anyone west of, uh... AVT and Lake Street, head east down the DNA Lounge Alleyway? We'll meet in the middle.>

Iason has posed:
Unaware of the pincer attack that is coming his way, the young man stops to catch his breath halfway down the alleyway. He looks over his shoulder to see if anyone is following him, and then looks ahead of him. For a few moments, he frowns and sheathes his sword. Something catches his eye and he looks up.

Just above, dangling just out of reach, is a metal ladder. Crouching low, he takes a deep breath and leaps upwards, far higher than a normal man should- and manages to latch onto the ladder with an extended hand. His grin of triumph is shortly lived, however, as the ladder slides down with incredible speed and he falls down to the ground with a loud *thud* and an *oof*, leaving him temporarily dazzled.

When he gets up, he is relieved to see that the ladder is at least staying down. Mournfully, he looks at the small bit of food that he had taken from the truck and which he had been holding in his other hand. The shawarma was splattered all across the floor, its ingredients and sauce every which way. For a moment, he is tempted- his stomach grumbles- but the sounds of pursuit bring him back to reality.

He starts climbing up the fire escape as fast as he can.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen is not an often heard voice on Titan radio, but it seems he has the frequency, whether he was given it or spent a couple minutes going through every possible channel on his headset, it is not clear. "I'm coming in from the opposite direction. I brought something that might be able to get him to talk to us without a fight if we can get him to talk to us at all." He offers. The young man, starts down the alley and seeing the man climbing the fire escape, he will run up the side of the wall, to wait on the roof. He does tell the ladies where the fire escape is and that the man is climbing up it.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna gives Caitlin a wry smile as she ducks under the barrier and loosens her lasso. She dashes ahead a little way into the alley so she can see along its length better, coming to a halt and taking cover behind a dumpster. She holds a hand out behind her to indicate to Caitlin to hold position when she catches up a few moments later.

    "Hear that?" Donna whisper to Caitlin. "Someone just fell off something. Probably a fire escape. I'll go high, you go low."

    The T-com crackles to life with Bart's message, and Donna whispers into it "Impulse, that you? Okay, hold position and do not engage until we're there. We have reports of the suspect having magical abilities."

    She looks back at Caitlin and gives a nod. "Slight change of plan. Bart's high already. I'm going to go over the top and come back in from the other direction so he's got no escape route. Go in noisy, let him know you're coming."

    With that she soars high into the air, looping up and over the roofs to come down in the alley beyond the ladder, in the direction that Bart had come from, and maintaining a height of a few feet above the ground, flies in slowly towards the ladder.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Hey it's--" Caitlin protests too late, Donna's rocketing off in flight. A sour expression crosses the redhead's face. "Always stuck shaking the bushes," she grumbles, and jogs down the alley. "Golly I wish I could fly."

It's not hard to spot Iason making the ascent up the fire escape. She squints skywards to gauge the angles, backs up ten paces, deliberates, then ten paces more.

Caitlin breaks into a run and leaps skywards with a grunt of effort. She hits the fire escape at the apex of her jump two floors below Iason with a great rattle of steel on steel. Caitlin eschews the emergency stairs and starts clambering up the exterior of the fire escape hand over hand with little visible effort, as easily as if she were swimming up a river.

Iason has posed:
"Wally West?" Iason stares for a moment as a blur of speed passes him by. He has no idea there are other speedsters in the world, and for a moment he feels relieved that the friend who had briefly taken him to see the world was coming back to help him in a moment of difficulty.

And then the whole world shakes. Iason looks down and sees the intimidating figure of a woman who would make Atalanta herself head for the hills. He decides not to stick around and runs up the remaining flights with incredible agility.

Up on the rooftop he expects to see Wally. He stops on his heels and is puzzled at seeing someone else, and suddenly he realizes he is being ambushed! His hand goes to his sword and he draws the glowing, divine weapon, adopting a defensive stance. Caitlin was coming up in the world, behind him, and he needs to escape!

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen blinks a moment when he hears the name the guy calls him as he passes. He holds his hands up "Whoa whoa there, hey I'm a friend of Wally, you know Wally?" He will keep his com open for the others to hear this. "If you know Wally, we should talk, we all are his friends." He looks to the man and says "See look at what I am wearing?" He will not bring up more of their resemblance. He does consider for a moment running off to get Wally, but will wait to see how the man reacts.

Donna Troy has posed:
    The ground level is clear and sharp Amazonian eyes see the chase happening above, so Donna rockets upwards, calling into her T-Com "Impulse, Caitlin, surround but do not engage. We have no idea what we're dealing with yet."

    She drops to the roof a little to the side of Bart, taking up a position so that Iason will find the two on the roof, and the one rapidly scaling the fire escape, to be roughly equidistent to him. In her hands the lasso glows golden, held ready to throw. "Sheath your sword," she calls out. "We will not harm you if you... great Hera! The statue!"

    <<Lower your sword,>> Donna says, this time speaking in Greek. This is Koine Greek, not Themysciran, but Caitlin should understand most of it. <<We will not harm you. Look at me, do you recognize me? I was there when you awakened. You are in no danger if you lower your sword. You have attracted the attention of the city authorities, but if you allow me to I can sort out any misunderstanding.>>

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin's the last on the roof. She sizes the situation up and opens her palms at waist level in a gesture of non-aggression. The three Titans form a triangle standoff with Iason at the center; no one's behind his back but all the flanks are covered, all the same.

"<<We are peace,>>" Caitlin adds, in broken Greek. "<<No for you hurt here.>>" Her grammar's as bad as her accent but the tone is reassuring, and her posture clearly indicates no hostile intent towards Iason.

Iason has posed:
Iason is very puzzled, "You are /like/ Wally?"- more than one person bearing the blessing of Hermes? Wally didn't explain this, and he looks somewhat distrustful, although he does not make any threatening motions with his sword yet, "Where is he? He-"

And then /The Amazon/ appears! Troia's usage of his language isn't needed to jostle his memory- he remembers her, other princess of Themyscira. When Troia explains his situations, his jaw drops and he slowly starts to look rather embarrassed. In a show of cooperation, he opens his fingers and the sword simply vanishes, along with his magical armor. What's left is a young man, clad in the loose garments of the idealized Arcadian shepherds and laced sandals. Grossly inadequate for this weather, but he doesn't seem to be greatly affected.

"<<I did not know- those men were the authorities? I have... I have committed an injustice?>> embarrassment leads to pure mortification, "<<I must make restitution... what have I done? I must kno->>"

Caitlin gets a slow stare, as he parses her syntax and her accent. She is built like an Amazon, but.

"I did not mean harm," he says, in his accented English, as a concession to Caitlin who seems to be struggling with his language. He looks from Bart, to Donna, to Caitlin, "What did I do?"

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods a bit and looks at the others while they speak the odd language, He figured the man spoke english, cause lets face it what are the chances Wally speaks ancient Greek. He will take his backpack off, and unzips it and holds it out towards the man "You hungry?" Inside is burgers, fries, and bottles of water.

Donna Troy has posed:
Donna blinks in surprise and mouths a quiet "wut?" She gives Caitlin a slow nod and rests a hand on Bart's shoulder, telling him "Good work, Impulse."

    Then her attention returns to Iason. <<You took food from a street vendor,>> she says. <<Taking the property of another without their permission is an injustice. You did not pay for the food, so the vendor called the Watch. I don't imagine you have any coins to pay for food with.>>

    She looks from Caitlin to Iason, to Bart, and back to Iason. "You speak English..." she says, sounding distinctly surprised. "How? And... you know Wally?" She gives a small shake of her head. Magic is weird. He speaks Greek - of the same period the statue had come from. Yet he also speaks a language that had barely begun to take its modern form a thousand years later. "Who are you?" she asks. "What is your name, and where are you from? Why is it that a few days ago you were a statue, and now you are a man?"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin keeps up with about three-fourths of what Donna says. Her Themysciran Greek is decent but linguistic drift makes the dialogue with Iason quite a bit of a challenge. The shift to English prompts a little sigh of relief.

"It's usually something you can fix with an apology," Caitlin says. She speaks slowly and clearly, rather than being like some Americans who reinforce language barriers by thinking shouting is helpful. "Someone saw your sword and they thought you might do harm. We are only here to make sure no one is harmed."

Donna's making with the questions, so the redhead just holds fast while trying to look as nonthreatening as possible.

Iason has posed:
At Bart's expression of kindness, Iason brightens. "I am very much!" he says, taking a few steps to approach Bart and looks at all of the strange food items. Upon hearing what Donna says, he adds, "But I have no currency to pay..." mournfully. This is both to inform Bart that he can't pay him, and confirm Donna's suspicions.

The barrage of questions from the Amazons receives a patient and paced set of responses, "I speak... your language, I have heard it spoken around me for many decades." He was, after all, in the possession of the Met's collection starting in the eighties, "Before that, all I heard were the waves for... I do not know how long."

"Wally West was there when I awoke in the hall of the gods of Justice. He bore the emblem of Zeus on his chest and the blessings of Hermes on his feet. He took me to see this... strange new world... but we were separated and I did not know where I was. I have yet to see him again."

"But as for your question... you know who I am. I am the brother of Hypatia of Alexandria. You told me yourself that my sister visited your hallowed island... although she never told me of this." He lowers his head a little, "I wish I had asked her. But I could not. I could not speak until after..."

He stops abruptly, and then glances at Caitlin, "I thought the men in black were going to attack me... I must apologize..."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks to the man, and offers him the bag still. "I paid for this and brought it as a gift, please take it, the food will last a day or so at most, but the water should last for a while. I can get you some more if you need it. I am sure we can find a way to help you make amends with the cart guy." He looks to Donna, and says "You guys, got a place they can help him? Rob does not let me brings.." He keeps from calling the man a stray "Folks home."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna gives Caitlin a wide-eyed look before nodding her head to Bart. "Yeah. I mean the Tower... Well, you know. Nobody can tell use who to bring home." She flashes him a grin. "Though in this case, I think I better bring him to the embassy.

    Caitlin gets a quick fill-in on previous events. "I was at the Met with Diana and Cassie the other day, they were asking about acquiring a few Themysciran pieces. A statue came to life, and uh..." She gestures towards Iason. Apparently Iason is a statue.

    "I did not know that Hypatia had a brother," she says slowly to Iason. "You are the son of Theon Alexandrios? Nor did I know that you were anything other than... a statue. I was talking about... about your sister to someone else, entirely coincidentally. I am sorry if this was..." how to explain it all? She blinks a few times, then restarts slowly. "So uh... this is umm... I'm not entirely certain, but I guess the... two thousand, seven hundred and ninety... yes. This is the third year of the six hundred and ninety-ninth Olympiad. You are in the opposite continent, across Great Okeanus, in a city named Metropolis, a nation named America. You have spent a long time under the waves. I am Troia, princess of Themyscira. My friends are..." she makes a gesture, introducing them. "Impulse, and Caitlin. They are heroes who fight for justice. What is your name, friend?"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Embassy would be better," Caitlin agrees with a murmur. She gives Iason a look of apology, near-sympathy, really, and nods in agreement with Donna's estimate. (Caitlin has no idea if it's accurate but clearly it's more important to back Donna's efforts than her accuracy).

"No one's going to attack you," she reassures him. "We'll explain the misunderstanding. If you don't do it again, you won't hear from the police-- er, the watch, again. Have some food, please," she suggests, and gestures again at the offering Bart's making. "It's important to make sure no one goes about hungry."

Iason has posed:
Taking the backpack, Iason also pulls Impulse into a hug, "Your generosity will be rewarded! Dike as my witness, I will not forget that you fed me when I hungered, Impulse. Today I eat of your bread and call you friend..."

He looks at one of the burgers, carefully unwrapping it. "It is a curious bread..." he takes a bite out of it, and his eyes slowly widen. "It is..." he looks at the food, chewing it thoughtfully, "Unusual." The tomato and mustard and pickles, "But I like it!"

He turns his attention to Donna, and he nods slowly. "Wally West told me as such, what year it was. I still do not understand most of what I see... but it is wondrous. I thought that perhaps the goddess brought me to the Hall Of Justice to be judged, but she was not there." He frowns. "My name is Iason. Hypatia was my sister, and Theon was my father. But I was never born." He speaks solemnly, and quietly. "Our mother never bore me. My father built me in memory of he whom I never became... and the goddess of Justice breathed life into me to answer the pleas of my sister..."

He grows quiet, and takes a slow sip from a water bottle, once he has figured out that you have to unscrew the cap. It takes a few attempts.

"But alas. I was too slow to come to her aid. And so I visited justice upon those who took her from me. And after that... I slept."

He blinks, and adds "I do not... where to go. This world is unknown to me."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen seems a bit surprised at the hug but accepts it lightly patting Iason on the back during the hug, as he is not quite sure what to think about it but does hug a little back at least "Thanks, um it is no problem, I know what it is like to have a great hunger." He admit, and anyone who has seen Wally or him eat, would understand it." He looks at the man, and hmms a bit "Donna, should I go grab him some clothes, so he fits in a bit more while your taking him somewhere?

Donna Troy has posed:
    "The Hall of Justice is no temple of the Gods," Donna says to Iason. "It is a... an assembly place of heroes, a kind of meeting place for certain of those heroes who fight for justice. It was not a goddess who took you there to be judged, but rather my sister, Diana Themyskiros, who took you there for your safety and healing. There are several such buildings, though that is the most grand. My sister is a member of that fellowship." She gestures across the skyline to where Titans Tower can be seen. "There, that building in the form of a Tau is another, where I live. You might have been taken there were it closer."

    "However Iason, I think the best place to take you would be the Embassy of Themyscira. It is a... building that..." how to explain the concept of an Embassy? "It is a little piece of Themyscira here in the nation of America, a representation of our culture and our governance to the people of this state. You will find yourself more at home there than anywhere else close to hand, I think. We will grant you a place to stay there until you understand this new world better and feel capable of making your own way in it. And we can aid you in dealing with the authorities of this land."

    Donna glances down at the streets below. "I shall speak to the police... the watch. And the man who's food you took. I am sure we can sort out the misunderstanding easily enough. Impulse, that would be a good idea, if only so that he draws a little less attention. Perhaps Cait if you wait with Iason here, Impulse can get some clothes for him and I'll smooth things out with the police."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to Donna and nods. He will step up, and move around Iason at speed, taking his measurements with a bit of line he had in a pouch. He hmmms and thinks about it a moment, and then is off at super speeds. He hits a dozen or two thrift shops, before coming back with a pair of black jeans, a pair of high top tennis shoes, and a white t-shirt that says "Zeus started it" He has even got the man a duster to wear atop it to help him keep warm.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Cait nods at Donna, but makes a reversal gesture. "I can talk to the cops," she says, confidently. She blinks at the blur that was Bart, but he's already gone the second Donna suggests it.

"You take Iason to the Embassy, that's a conversation I don't wanna have with the Embassy Guards," she says with a lopsided smile tugging the corner of her mouth. "You can make a better case for him than I can."

She smiles once at Bart when he's back, and reaches over to give his arm a sisterly squeeze. "Glad to see you, Bart. Good job," she tells him.

Caitlin walks to the edge of the roof, looks down, and turns back to the others. "See you back at the Tower. It was nice meeting you, Iason--" and she turns and drops off the roof. A few seconds later there's a loud *thud* when she hits the ground and Cait casually walks off the multi-story drop to explain the situation to the beat officers.