[video] Checking In

[whyarewehere]

[ It’s that time again, gang! Grif’s broadcasting from scenic his room. You can tell it’s Grif’s room because it is an absolute disaster area. There’s all kinds of empty containers strewn everywhere, a pizza box, his other uniform (it’s rumpled and in serious need of a wash), and scattered bits of an orange suit of armor. Of note to those who’ve born witness to this appalling scene before, the far wall has a shiny little plaque on it. That’s new.

All of this is visible in the frame because Grif’s slouching back in his chair with the comm propped up on his desk. He’s a scruffy, somewhat flabby guy swiveling his chair lazily to and fro with one leg while eating… something as he talks. With his mouth full. Because Grif. ]

Alright guys, it’s come to my attention, as the one who tries to keep track of this shit around here, that we have new people. And when we have new people, that means we have new superpowers to figure out how they work.

[ Because clearly, clearly Grif is the only member of the team to take an interest in others and what they can bring to the table. It’s not that he’s nosy and just wants to know if anyone has eye lasers yet. He just gives and gives for this group, he swears.

Grif deigns to swallow before he continues. ]

So: New people. Lay it on me. Who are you, and can you do anything awesome? If it’s not awesome, make it sound awesome, cause that’s what I’m here for.

I’ll start for you:

[ He thumbpoints at his chest, getting space twinkie crumbs everywhere because he’s using that hand. ]

I’m Grif, Doubletime if you want to be that nerd who uses my code name, and I’m pretty much the fastest thing on this ship. Which is awesome.

[ He pauses for a moment, then adds, ]

…And the rest of you should probably come say hi? Tell them stuff? And tell me about the mission because I was stuck back here babysitting the ship and I mean... I took a lot of good naps, but...

[ He shrugs. Then he finishes off the space twinkie, balls up the wrapper, and throws it over his shoulder where it lands on top of the orange helmet. He is not even remotely concerned by this. ]

((( This is a free for all mingle post! Grif will reply to everyone who responds, but if you want to have a character jump into a thread with anyone you are absolutely welcome and, in fact, encouraged. This is set after the end of Lantern Plot, so characters who've been away on that are able to tag in too. )))

Comments

[unrecovered]

[He should probably actually introduce himself at some point, huh. The Legion is his team now, and he needs to get used to that and get to know them, and this looks to be the expedient route.]

[But he's not taking his armor off. Not yet.]

My name is Washington - Wash for short, I guess - codename Freelancer. [He has a codename for his codename what is his life.] They told me I have a healing factor, but I haven't exactly tested the theory. [He's just going to keep the power nullification bit to himself until he has a better handle on the situation and his new team.]

[Speaking of which:]

Does anyone have a full debrief of the mission that I missed? I'd like to know what I'm getting into.

Audio

[kingtyrantranger]

Which one? We've been at it for a while.

[<[small>He counts them off on his fingers, not that Wash can see.]

Let's see. First Legion World got invaded by these inky things who messed with the onboard systems. We basically stuffed them into bags and sent them off elsewhere. Uh. Then we had a crisis on Naltor, some terrorists pulled its sister planet out of orbit. Then this big space guy came in, ate a star, then tried to eat a planet before we got it sent away. And, just now, we had some guys from another universe come in with power rings and start up an old war that they were fighting a thousand years ago, and we had to shut that down.

[He pauses, recounting in his head to verify that he had everything, then nods.]

I think I'm not missing anything. It's been an eventful few months.

[unrecovered]

[There's a stunned silence that stretches on for a few seconds, as Wash attempts to process what he's just been told. This is what he agreed to. Jesus Christ.]

That is officially the weirdest thing I have ever heard. That probably doesn't mean anything to you, but trust me, it's an accomplishment.

[kingtyrantranger]

Well, there's still Chronoblivion to worry about, but I think that's just one of those problems we're going to have to take a day at a time.

Personally, I've found the lack of cheeseburgers the hardest part of all this to get used to.

[unrecovered]

Most large threats usually are.

The thirty-first century doesn't have cheeseburgers. [Not that he's had one of those in a while, but nonetheless.] So what's the food like here?

[kingtyrantranger]

[Hey, he gets it!]

I hope you like tofu. I mean, it's really not that bad, there's some great stuff out there, but apparently eating meat is cruel? So everything's vegetarian. Most of the time, it's cool, but sometimes I just find myself craving some sushi or a nice, juicy burger.

[unrecovered]

[Have a very frustrated groan. He's been living off army food for the past decade of his life, and now that he's in a place with the potential for actual real food, it comes with a no meat caveat? At least shitty army burgers were better than no burgers.]

Fucking vegans.

[kingtyrantranger]

[Whoa. Language, buddy.]

It's not that bad.

[unrecovered]

You're talking to someone who's been living on MREs and army food for the past decade. I just came from a planet with very limited rations. I thought this place might actually have good food, and now you're telling me there's no meat. At all.

It's a little disappointing.

[whyarewehere]

I like you already.

You should see what they've done to hotdogs, dude, it's a tragedy.

[unrecovered]

[Okay, Grif agreeing with him is a blaring neon sign that he'd overreacting. Probably by a lot. Dammit.]

You know hot dogs were never meat to begin with.

[whyarewehere]

It's the principle of it!

[unrecovered]

The principle of hot dog ingredients.

[whyarewehere]

Exactly.

I miss actual meat, and nobody in this PETA future understands.

[iamresponding]

If you think that's weird, then you better strap in and get ready for the ride, because that stuff is normal for universes like this that have superheroes. The giant planet-eating guy was actually from my home universe.

And apparently it wasn't the first being that eats stars that this universe has ever faced. They said there was something called the Sun Eater that they've dealt with before.

Private to Rich

[unrecovered]

[There's a bit of a delay before he replies, partially because he's taken the time to make sure he's mastered the privacy settings on the omnicom and partially because...well...]

[He needed the processing time. Planet-eating creatures were normal here. Overblown, insane, huge, high-stakes events - comic book shit - is normal. It's only just sunk in just how far out of his league he really is.]

I...don't think I'm equipped with anything that can handle that.

[Which is as close as he gets to admitting just how out of his depth he is to a total stranger. He's used to high stakes with long odds, but this is something else entirely.]

private forever

[iamresponding]

Then it's a good thing you're not going up against any planet-chomping, purple people-eaters by yourself.

Listen, we've got a motley crew of unlikely heroes here that runs the gamut from trained soldiers, to lazy soldiers, to superheroes that work on a cosmic scale like myself, to rookie teens that are relatively new to the hero gig, to con artists and criminals (former and present), to completely untrained civilians.

And somehow we make it work.

It's okay if you don't have what you need to tackle this kinda stuff on your own, 'cause you won't be going up against any of this alone. We're all a team. We watch each other's backs, and we muddle our way through figuring out how to save planets together, even if we're about as awkward about it as a herd of baby gazelles.

[He gives Wash a warm smile.]

The people on the team that are used to this high stakes cosmic crap can teach you anything you don't know, and anything we don't know, we'll all fly by the seat of our pants and flail our way through it together. So just, y'know, practice your heroic flailing and you'll be fine.

[unrecovered]

[He's quiet for a bit, trying to process what he's just heard. If it's true, then-]

[Then he doesn't have to be a leader. He doesn't have to be the best. He doesn't have to be perfect, or as close as he can humanly get, or even competent right now.]

[He just has to try.]

[Tension that pulled tight across his chest and shoulders - tension he wasn't even aware he was carrying - slowly unwinds, and he breathes. He just has to try. It's freeing in a way he hasn't felt in a very long time, and somehow it's exactly what he needed to hear.]

Thanks.

[It's a bit unsteady but utterly sincere.]

[He takes a moment to try to stabilize himself. Just because he doesn't have to be completely competent right away doesn't mean he gets to be a wreck either.]

I...don't think I ever got your name.

[iamresponding]

No problem.

And it's Rich. Rich Rider. I also go by Nova Prime. I'm not the one in charge -- that'd be Kid Quantum, one of the Legionnaires native to this universe, but like I said, this cosmic superhero stuff is my usual wheelhouse. All the way up to saving universes. When it comes to you newbies, I try to help where I can.

[deafleppard]

I'd say you should test out that theory but, uh...

Let's just not and say we did.