[video] It's how she says hello

[volving]

[ Cass is still not sure how she feels about being so far away from home, and the people she knows. True, she'd just moved to Bludhaven back home, but at least she could go visit easily, and call Babs if she needed help. Here, she is on her own.

Well, for now.

She decides to greet her new teammates with a video. She doesn't look like she could be much older than 17 or 18 at the most, and while she has the cowl of her new uniform pushed back so her face is visible, it seems to be all black, and there's the top of a potentially familiar logo on her chest. When she speaks, her voice is soft and her words are slow and deliberate. ]

Hello. I'm Batg--. [ a beat, and she squares her shoulders slightly ] I am Batman.

[ Most likely no one expected to learn that Batman was a small asian teenage girl. ]

Where can I find the... training room?

Comments

text

[turntex]

[Of course he goes with text. It's his default method of communication.]

youre not gonna have much luck with that story here
seriously they like worship the dude there are museums and everything
youd probably be more successful trying to impersonate aquaman
no one gave a shit about him so maybe they wont notice the glaringly obvious flaws in your deception

video

[volving]

[ She looks a little... well not exasperated, exactly, but mildly frustrated ]

Read it. Out loud.

[ beat ]

Please.

video

[turntex]

[Well, she said please. So he graciously swaps to video, revealing a blonde teen wearing sunglasses and what looks like red pajamas with a cape.

Of course, that is about as obliging as he gets.]

What, is this one of those "make the person reevaluate the things they say by forcing them to reread it aloud" things? Because I stand by my observations, no amount of reading aloud is gonna make me feel bad about pointing out that you're obviously not Batman. Or making fun of Aquaman, if that's the part you're getting hung up on here.

video

[volving]

No.

[ ...I guess that's all she has to say about that unless pressed.

She does look a little bemused by the "you're obviously not Batman" thing, though. ]

He isn't here. Someone should be Batman. I was his partner, sometimes. I can be Batman.

[wallsofjericho]

[ Joe's seen her request to read the text aloud, so he's opting for a video. To make it clear that she'll need her telepathic ear plugs, he holds his own up to the omnicom's camera for a few seconds and then tucks one into his ear with very blatant movements. He taps on it for good measure and points at her.

After waiting ten seconds, he begins to sign. ]

Hi, Batman.

[ He looks a little dubious, but he's had the interdimensional future concept explained. She could be Batman where she's from. Tiny Batman. ]

I don't know where the training room exactly, but you should let me know when you find it. I've always wanted to spar with Batman.

[ It's very hard to work in words like Robin and Nightwing casually, but he's curious where they would fit in with her. ]

I'm used to him being broader.

[volving]

[ She has them in already, but nods in understanding... and then he starts signing.

She hasn't seen sign language before, and it's fascinating. He's speaking with his body, explicitly speaking with his body, in a way that can be translated rather than just the intrinsic largely untranslatable subconscious way all bodies speak to her.

This really captures her interest, and it's very obvious from the look on her face.

She doesn't say anything about it, though. She can't quite order the thoughts in her head enough to ask about it in properly coherent words. ]

He is. At home. Sorry I'm the... wrong one. [ she quirks a little smile ] I'm hard to beat, though.

[wallsofjericho]

[ He notes the reaction, but he doesn't think too deeply about it. Joey's used to a certain level of interest when he signs to someone new. They stare at his hands like they'll be able to interpret the gestures if they look hard enough, but she actually can.

That's so strange that it puts a smile on his face, just to have that thought and the freedom to have this conversation. ]

I never said you were the wrong one. You're the new one. There's nothing to apologize for.

[ The smile's for her now, and he tilts his head to the side to consider that. There's nothing mocking in what follows: it's the natural connection of the name Batman and the truth of what should go with it. ]

Of course you are - you're Batman.

[volving]

[ It is surprisingly encouraging (in that she didn't realize she needed the encouragement) to hear someone tell her she's Batman, and thus a badass. That she's assumed to be capable even without Bruce there to officially pass the mantle on to her, without the other Bats to vouch for her. ]

Thank you.

Do you know him? The... first Batman?

[whyarewehere]

...Are you sure?

[volving]

Yes.

[whyarewehere]

...I'm not.

[volving]

Not the original. We were partners. I don't think he'd mind. In the future this far, I mean.

video

[sofresh]

Batman? Can you be Batman? I mean, like, is that allowed?

[He shouldn't talk, considering he originally joined the Legion with an identity that wasn't quite his own. But look, that was different, okay.]

video

[volving]

[ An odd series of expressions flicker across Cass's face when she sees him, and she blurts out his name before actually considering the implications of it. ]

Connor?

[ This is awkward. The only guy she's ever kissed, witness to the disastrous discussion of sex that she was accidentally an instigator of.

Well. At least she's not actually into him. That would be worse. ]

video

[sofresh]

No?

[It's a natural response, because honestly, he's never been called that before. It takes a second for him to remember what his name actually is, and he realizes that... well, they do sound kind of similar, so he makes a vague attempt to correct himself.]

I mean... Wait. Maybe? [What a terrible response.] Do you know who I am?

[Maybe that's a silly question, too. Who else could he be? Who else wore his hair like that and that symbol on his chest? But even he could tell she'd seen something very familiar just now. And that name... It couldn't be a coincidence, right?]

video

[volving]

[ She nods, and oh, this is. Even more awkward. She thankfully no longer has to worry about the weirdness of the kissing thing, but now there's this thing where he doesn't know her.

Like, they're not close or anything, but she's never had to function in a situation where she knows someone well but they don't know her.

Time Shenanigans, man. Too bad she hasn't had any first-hand experience with time travel (other than her own arrival here) to make her realize what's going on. ]

Yes? It's me. Batgirl. ...Cass?

[rushing_by]

Alright.

[He's not going to question it. If she wants to be Batman, she can be Batman. It's not like he really knows who Batman.]

I'm Barry Allen, and I also go by the Flash.

As for the Training room, it sort of depends on where you are right now, since it'd be easier to give directions.

[volving]

Hello.

[ She's heard of the Flash. Doesn't really know anything about him other than him being fast.

People are being very open with their secret identities. After all the fuss Batman and Barbara made about secret identities, she finds this frustratingly contradictory. Are secret identities important or not?

WHICH IS IT???

She doesn't verbalize any of that, though, she simply looks around her for a moment. There is a sign on the wall near her. She points the camera at it. ]

Here.

[ The sign, more or less, says "Fire Extinguisher, 100 yds ---->" ]

[rushing_by]

[Barry blinks, before looking over the rest of the logs and fidning out cass can't read.]

That's...actually a sign pointing towards a fire extinguisher. Y'know what, hang on. I'll come find you.

[Barry disappears off-screen in a flash of red. It takes him a few minutes, as he has to run through a good chunk of the ship to find her iwthout any way of narrowing down her location, but he does eventually manage it. When he does, he waves a bit at her.]

Hey.

[ringslinging]

Hi, Bruce. You shrank a little.

[ There's nothing mean about the way he says it, though - he doesn't know all of the Batkids that well, but he doesn't disagree with one of them stepping up to the plate.

Still. Sad that he still doesn't get to tsun at harass the man himself. ]

[volving]

[ Cass has to very quickly hide a smile behind one black-gloved hand. It takes only half a second to get the smile under control, and she drops her hand and nods solemnly ]

Yes. But I'm faster now.

[ringslinging]

Because the sleazy side of Gotham didn't have enough reasons to piss their pants already.

[ He's been on the wrong end of the odd Batpunch, Cass may be faster but Bruce sure as hell isn't slow. ]

[kingtyrantranger]

Which one? The gym or the sim room?

[volving]

[ a small confused frown ]

Gym.

What's... a sim room?

[kingtyrantranger]

Like a holodeck? It basically just, uh. Makes up whatever you want to fight in it.

I can probably ping your omnicomm and get it to set up some map instructions to the gym or something. If you want.

[He's come a long way from not being able to find the 'any' key.]