ya gotta wanna be a battering ram

[headandhand]

WHO: The entire dang city.
WHAT: Dualis Days, a week-long summer celebration.
WHERE: Central Square Park and the rest of the city.
WHEN: June 17-23.
WARNINGS: Terrorist violence, likely some blood and injuries. Please warn in individual threads!

June 17; Central Square Park.

Every year for as far back as anyone can remember, the start of summer is heralded by the week-long festival known as Dualis Days. This celebration officially kicks off at midday in the middle of Central Square Park with a commencement speech by the current mayor. This year marks Marcelina Dubanowski's third term as mayor of Dualis; she is an average-sized, middle-aged human-presenting woman with blonde hair styled in a short bob and a plastic, toothy smile that never seems to turn entirely off.

"Welcome, one and all!" she begins, with the practiced cadence of someone who is quite comfortable with public speaking. She invites all citizens, new and old, to spend the next week indulging in festivities in all districts of the city and getting to know their neighbors a little better. This is a joyous time of celebration, and the crowd responds with enthusiastic applause as the mayor finishes her speech and introduces this year's parade marshall, Peshtigo Tengfei.

Tengfei blows a whistle six times to signal the start of the parade - and this is where the celebration goes sideways.

A loud explosion tears through the air, and it's followed by panicked screams and the sharp screech of microphone feedback. A bomb has gone off at the platform where the mayor was standing, collapsing the wood and tearing it to splinters and dust. Chaos erupts in the gathered crowd, and as the people shift in all directions to get clear of any possible additional bombs, a loud siren cuts through the cacophony, calling attention to the sudden crackle of video feed present on all television screens throughout the city, including those set up in the park to broadcast the mayor's speech for those standing far from the stage. The picture is plain, a black background and bold white block letters filling the screen:

WAKE UP
WAKE UP
DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES

The final image is an anatomical graphic of a human heart, displayed for about three seconds, and then the feed goes black again.

Confused murmurs sweep through the crowd as citizens resume tending to the injured and evacuating the area until official first responders arrive.

June 17-23; aftermath around the city.

Dualis Days continues as scheduled, though Mayor Dubanowski is unable to enjoy the festival, as she is spending the week in the hospital recovering from her injuries. A team of Iterations guard her door - no visitors allowed - but the news media frequently report updates on her condition. Nothing to worry about, folks! Return to your celebrations, and don't mind the increased visible presence of the Hand as Iterations are stationed every few blocks throughout the city. It's only for your protection, after all.

Comments

chugga chugga choo choo train (shut up I have preschoolers in my house)

[mrsarcastic003]

Tim is about as prepared as he can be for this shock (he's spoken with Cissie; he knows that Jason is here and alive), so hearing Jason's voice behind him doesn't actually make him jerk in surprise. But only barely. His relationship with Jason has always been tense at best, and that was before Jason had died rescuing him and Cissie from a kidnapping at the Hellvillage.

(And maybe someday he'll stop beating himself up for not having been able to extricate himself from the situation without help, but that day is not today, and it's not anywhere on the horizon, either. He hadn't been able to get himself out. Jason had died in the rescue. He blames himself. That's not going to change.)

He makes his apologies to the annoyed person who had interrupted his snooping (so sorry, just got turned around, thought there was cotton candy back here), then turns toward Jason, who, of the two of them, would probably least have expected to be here. Considering.

"Probably," he agrees. "Nice to see you anyway."

[scathefires]

If guilt and blame were renewable resources, it's likely that Tim and Jason combined could power the entire city for at least a week. Jason doesn't blame Tim for his death, only himself for not being good enough to prevent it. No different than the last time, really.

"Yeah ... " He nods, and shoves his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "Nice to see you too. How's the arm? All healed up?"

[mrsarcastic003]

He holds it up to show Jason, twisting it one way, and then the other. "Good as new. How's your..." He gestures, indicating all of Jason. "Everything?"

[scathefires]

Jason half-smiles and drops his gaze to his boots with a nod. “Yeah, ‘bout the same,” he says, “good as new,” and physically, that’s true. The only visual reminder of what happened in the village is a thin, barely visible scar across his throat, the same width as the combat knife that killed him.

Mentally, however ... that’s a different story, and one Jason has no interest in acknowledging.

“So,” he says, glancing back up to Tim, “you planning on yelling at me? Just so I know what to expect.”

[mrsarcastic003]

We don't acknowledge our mental trauma.

"Should I?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not being an asshole. I don't think there's anything I should be yelling at you about, but if you want me to, I can give it a shot. How dare you keep us safe. You bastard. What were you thinking, protecting us. Que terrible." His tone is conversational, rather than accusative. He certainly isn't angry with Jason about what happened.

[scathefires]

Denial is not only a river in Egypt, it’s also the Batfam way!

Tim’s answer ends up pulling a small laugh from Jason. It’s a nice change to be met with light sarcasm instead of anger.

“Nah,” Jason says, now grinning more openly, ”I think I’ve already had enough of the yelling for now. But if you want, you can have dibs on the yelling next time I do something stupid.”

Because that’s sure to be a thing. This is Jason, after all.

[mrsarcastic003]

"Deal," he says, smiling back. "I'd offer the same consideration, but I'm pretty sure both Cissie and Steph would beat you to it. They're pretty good at calling me out when I screw up." He gives Jason a wry grin. He knows that Jason is close with both of them, so he's sure that he's been on the receiving end of that at least once. "You've probably noticed."