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

[ichoosefight]

It's really not the reaction she's expecting, but there are too many overlapping instincts for her to figure out what exactly is wrong here. She scans his shirt and what she can see of his skin. The weird thing is that the shirt seems dry. In fact, some of the blood looks like it's crumbling off. The explosion was way too recent for that.

"I was hoping the mayor might say something useful. So much for that. Why are you-"

Oh, there's the thought. She blinks up at him.

"Wait, since when do you care where I go?"

[scathefires]

Jason rubs a hand over his mouth; the blood on his split knuckles is much more fresh than the blood on his shirt. "No," he mumbles through his hand, still shaking his head. He can't believe he fucked up so badly. Getting himself killed is one thing, but getting Steph killed, too? He can't live with that. Maybe it's a good thing Jason thinks he's still dead.

"You were s'posed to get back to the village," he says, dropping his hand back to his side. "You were s'posed to - "

Be safe, but they're never truly safe anywhere, are they - Jason and Steph know that better than anyone else, both of them Robins who died, Steph killed because Batman failed her. And didn't Jason promise himself that he wouldn't fail her? And yet.

"You were s'posed to survive, Steph." He swallows hard against the heavy, sick feeling in the back of his throat. "What happened to you?"

[ichoosefight]

"Back to the-" Did he just say village? Can she be that lucky? Is that allowed?

"With Cissie and Tim? No, Jason- we made it back fine. But you were-" He wasn't so lucky. She looks at his shirt again, stepping forward and reaching hesitantly out. She wants to touch him, make sure that he's real, but she's afraid that he isn't. It will all have been a wacky misunderstanding and she'll be left looking like a psycho.

"Christ, is it really you?"

[scathefires]

Cissie. Tim. She remembers, and they did survive? Then why is she here, in this place, with Jason, who didn't survive? All of this feels simultaneously unreal and too sharply real to deny.

"I don't know," he answers, feeling more lost and small than he has since he was a child, alone and fending for himself on the streets of Crime Alley. He takes a cautious step toward her to meet her reach with his own. "I can't tell if any of this is real. Are you?"

[ichoosefight]

That answer is enough for her. There's barely time for her cry "oh my god" before she throws her arms around him in a tight hug.

"I'm real," she assures him, her voice wavering. "It's okay. We're both real, and here, and alive, and if you ever even think about sacrificing yourself like that again I swear to God I'm going to kill you myself."

[scathefires]

Jason doesn’t hesitate to return Steph’s hug with his own, holding on just as tightly to her, like she’s the sole anchor in the sea of uncertainty in which he’s found himself adrift. She’s real, and she’s alive, and that must mean Jason is, too.

“‘Msorry,” he mumbles against her shoulder, voice quiet and trembling, eyes squeezed shut against the sting of gathering tears. “I had to. You know I had to.”

[ichoosefight]

"Ow," she notes flippantly as her wounds, small though they are, stretch with the force of her squeezing.

"Just don't do it again," she concedes. She knows why he did it, and she would have done the same if he hadn't been in a better position than she was.

"We only get so many get-out-of-jail-free cards, you know? I'm not waiting another 3 years for a miraculous reunion."