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

[cisskabob]

Cissie's head snaps up when she hears her name, and she lets out an audible sigh of relief when she sees Stephanie standing there, alive and seemingly mostly in one piece.

"Steph!" She frowns a little, looking the other girl over. "...Are you okay? Is--how much of that is your blood?"

Cissie's dealt with enough Gothamites to know that this particular breed will tend to everyone else's injuries before their own. She can't even throw stones there herself, considering the way she had reacted when the blast went off, but worrying about her friends and their injuries is just what she does.

[ichoosefight]

She grins to see a familiar face also alive and mostly in one piece. It's been a long, weird morning. Then she pulls at her shirt to get a good look at it.

"Um... almost all of it, I think. Guess I'd better do something about that, huh." She'd meant to sit with the medics for a while, but once she spotted someone on the roof all that went out the window.

"I'm good though! Nothing major. What about you? You seem a little..." 'In shock' doesn't seem very tactful to say. "...out of it."

[cisskabob]

Cissie can’t help but smile herself, relieved to see Steph and be recognized, and to hear she’s okay, for the most part. It’s hardly surprising to find out that she ran headfirst into potential danger to help others before taking care of her own injuries.

“Out of it? Probably. I’m fine, though,” she assures her, reaching for the first aid kit she’d acquired while helping with triage and first aid. “Just indulging in a few minutes of starting off into space and not thinking about the shit we just saw.” She gives Steph another little grin and holds up the kit. “But I have a first aid kit, and happen to be pretty amazing at sutures, so get over here.”

[ichoosefight]

She grins as she takes a seat next to Cissie on the bench.

"Thanks. I grabbed some band-aids earlier but I could only reach so far." Most of the damage is on her right side and arm, and the aforementioned band-aids only cover the worst of it. Still, none of the injuries are truly serious.

"How long have you been here, then? I feel like I'm the last person to show up at the party."

[cisskabob]

Cissie smiles to herself, and spares a moment to be appreciative that Steph is letting her help without arguing about it; she's too used to Tim's brand of stubborn self-reliance, even when it comes to twisting himself into weird positions to take care of wounds he can hardly reach on his own. She's glad to see that Steph's injuries are along the lines of the ones she and Tim sustained--mainly superficial, especially compared to others she's seen today.

"Just a day," she says, frowning slightly. "What happened to you? We were all together in the village, and then--Tim and I were here, and you weren't. We were worried."

[ichoosefight]

"The village?" She winces a little as Cissie works, but she can't really complain. She's the one who went around hauling bodies this way and that with a dirty shirt rubbing against all her cuts.

Suddenly she jerks around to look at her friend.

"Wait, you remember the village? It's been three years and everyone I try to talk to about it looks at me like I'm crazy!"

[cisskabob]

Cissie nearly drops the needle when Steph wheels around to face her, but manages to catch it before it hits the ground. "The--What?! Three years? Steph, it's been more like three days for me and Tim. He's here too, by the way. We've been worried about you! We were supposed to be together, right? That's what they said. Not," she added, rolling her eyes, "that I guess they gave us much reason to trust them. Where were you for three years?"

[ichoosefight]

"Gotham, mostly." She shrugs apologetically. She didn't mean to make Cissie drop her needle. Painful as it might be, this is a necessary process.

"What who said? It gets kinda blurry after... you know. Jason."

[cisskabob]

Cissie's still staring at her, astounded, for a moment before she shakes her head to pull her thoughts back. Mentioning Jason and what happened to him works pretty well at doing that; it hurts to remember, but she can't forget. "The Overseers. They said we could choose where to go, when they let us leave. Tim wanted to go home, but you and I weren't ready yet, so we--well. I guess we sort of kidnapped Tim. I'm surprised he isn't angrier about it, but you knocked him out and dragged him with us. He and I wound up here, and... We were supposed to be traveling together, all of us. But I guess you had a side trip?"

[ichoosefight]

Steph frowns, trying to remember.

"I guess so. I think I almost remember that? But stuff got weird when I came back." And it was three years ago. It shouldn't be surprising that the memories are a little fuzzy, especially considering her frame of mind for most of her stay in the village.

"I mean, I'm definitely alive back home, which is more than I could say last time this happened? But that's about all I know."

[cisskabob]

"Well, and if that was three years ago for you..." Cissie trails off, shaking her head and returning her attention to the stitches she's putting in Steph's arm. "I don't blame you for not remembering every single detail. I wouldn't mind forgetting some of them, myself." She sighs a little, but gives Steph a smile.

"Does that mean Tim will get to say 'I told you so,' about not being dead? Because I know he'll want to."

[ichoosefight]

"Not totally clear on that, either." She makes a point to use just one arm in an exaggerated shrug, so as not to further interrupt the stitching.

"Thing is, I woke up somewhere in Africa? Leslie said I must've been wandering around for a while before she found me, but I don't remember how I got there."

[cisskabob]

Cissie looks up at her again, frowning slightly. She hates to think of what happened to Steph; it was one thing when Tim told her about it when she didn't know her personally. It was bad enough, knowing how hard her "death" had been on him, and then to see her and how hard it was on her in the Village... It's something else when she considers Steph a friend. She wouldn't wish something like that on anyone.

"...Maybe that's not a bad thing, all things considered," she suggests quietly. "It must be frustrating, not remembering, but..." She remembers Jason, when she met a younger, just-revived version of him in Wonderland, and it still hurts to think of. "I'm pretty much just glad you're okay now." She pauses, and leans forward to look her in the eyes. "You are okay now, right? I mean, you didn't land here in the middle of a crisis or Arkham breakout, did you?"

Cissie may not be from Gotham, but she knows the drill, Steph.

[ichoosefight]

"Oh yeah, for sure," she enthuses, letting the remnants of grief roll off of her. The past can't be changed, so there's no use lingering on it and making Cissie worry.

"I mean, for sure I'm okay. Arkham's the same as ever, so if there's ever a good time to get whisked away to an alternate universe it's now."

[cisskabob]

Cissie laughs, because she has something of an idea as to what that means, and what it means is that there's always chaos and danger in Gotham. She leans forward and gives Steph a gentle hug, mindful of the injuries she's been stitching up.

"Well, good. I'm sure glad to see you, that's for sure."

[ichoosefight]

Steph gives as much of a squeeze back as she can without risking the new stitching.

"Same here. It hasn't been the same without you, you know?"