Locked in the Tower ✪ Part Three: Bullet Time

[megazero_to_superhero]

Characters:	David "Little David" Puskás, and all youse guys!
Setting:	Floors Three, Eighteen, and Nineteen (Libaries and Study Room), then Floor One (Cafeteria), and later any floor.
Format:	Matching tagger's choice, but starting with Prose.
Summary:	David's doing some library research and looking for whoever's writing up a book on heroes. Then he gets lazy.
Warnings:	None come to mind!

Option A: Floors 3, 18, and 19 (Libraries and Study Room)


     It's been a problem that David's been trying to solve for months now. Namely—now that he's got his rifle put back together, just how was he going to get ammunition for it?

     Every piece of Little David's combat-related equipment requires ammunition of some sort; cartridges, shells, taser darts, grenades, rockets. Without them, he's little more than a clay pigeon ... well, okay, a sturdier clay pigeon, but nevertheless he can't effectively fight back against the tower's monsters or any villainous residents. Fists won't get a Blaster very far. That sword he lifted off the warband of mutilated humanoids during the glamour failure—well, it made for somewhat better odds ... but rather than seeking out a tutor on how to use it effectively as he probably should have done (whatever happened to the guy with the spear?), he's spent these past few months looking for some way to procure ammunition within the tower.

     Soon after the most recent dust-up with the Admins, David got a lucky break in the form of Waver Velvet, Lord El-Melloi the second.

     So now, David's making a thorough search of the Tower's libraries and study room, looking for anything on rifle cartridges. Any books, or even just an encyclopedia entry or two, that might give Waver a good idea of what they're made of and their general anatomy. He's also looking for anything he can find on shotgun shells, for the same reason. Having a flight system in his powered armor suit makes the job a little easier: with every flare of its plasma thrusters, David zips about from isle to isle, shelf to shelf, completely disregarding any ladders or stairs that might be needed to access the higher shelves.





Option B: Floor 1 (Cafeteria)


     Shortly before the latest bout with the admins, David had received a colorful letter with a request. Since Christmas, David's been trying to find whoever it was who sent the note. He's a little confused, though—when he reads the letter, he keeps reading "room two on floor one" as meaning the Cafeteria. It hasn't yet occurred to him to check the residential Floor One.

     David never really was the book smart type.

     Nevertheless, he's staking out the cafeteria again, with the letter in hand. He's also going to be nosing around the kitchens, looking for any signs that might help determine if the cafeteria really has a "room two" or not. So, kitchen staff, you might have a hero getting in the way of meal times.





Option C: Any stairways/floors


     Other times, of the day, though, you might find David elsewhere.

     Like napping in mid-air, in front of you, or in places that aren't the most appropriate for a nap, like off the side of a ledge or railing—and yet he'll be floating there as if he were lying back in a hammock. Legs crossed, arms folded behind his back, the plasma thrusters in his boots and on his back keeping him sturdily aloft. Not unlike a certain demolitions mech whose theme music is appropriate for this sort of activity.

     You could probably push him around like an air hockey puck and he wouldn't notice ... or would he?

Comments

[myblueskies]

Romeo blinked at the letter. "That's me!" He grinned, "I'm Romeo sir. But I didn't mean here! I meant the bedroom floors, mine is bedroom two on the first bedroom floor." He wondered if other people had been confused as well.

[megazero_to_superhero]

David's jaw drops in surprise. Not enough for the cigar in his mouth to fall out, but that dawning look of realization is unmistakable. David glances at the letter, then back over to Romeo, and then smacks his free hand up to his own forehead.

"Boy, do I feel stupid!" David chuckles, full of embarrassment. "Arright, arright, well—s'good to see ya, Romeo," He places the letter on the table as he continues talking. "I woulda written you back, but my handwriting sucks."

[myblueskies]

"It's okay sir. Writing is really hard." He smiles at him. "And you've found me now!"

[megazero_to_superhero]

David grins at Romeo's comment about writing, but it's a little lopsided. Oh, he must have well and truly vexed Paragon City's municipal government with the forms he's filled out ...

"So, uh—you were lookin' for stories about heroes?" David asks. "Just out of da people in da Tower, or anyone we woulda known back home or elsewhere?"

[myblueskies]

"Yes sir." He nodded with a smile, "Any heroes though it's going to be mostly about heroes in the tower. But if you had any great heroes at home you can tell me those stories too."

[megazero_to_superhero]

David nods silently in acknowledgment as he thinks this over. He's not met a large amount of people in the Tower even half a year later, and—to his shame—he's yet to do anything to save or help others. As he reminds himself of this, his expression shifts subtly to one of guilt.

"Well—as far as people here in da Tower, dere's two guys off da top of my head I've met. An' both of 'em, well, dey saved my butt once each. Considerin' I was just a stranger to both of dem at dat point, I think it says a lot about how selfless dey both are. Willin' to stick deir neck out for others."

David pauses for a moment, giving enough time for Romeo to respond.

[myblueskies]

Romeo nodded with a smile and wrote on his piece of paper, selfless and willing to stick their necks out.

"Can you remember their names sir?"

[megazero_to_superhero]

David scratches his cheek as he responds, looking a little unsure as he does so. "Well, da first guy—never gave me his name. I can tell ya what he looked like, though. Just in case maybe someone else knows 'em?"

[myblueskies]

"Okay!" Romeo nodded, "I might know him, I know a lot of people!"

[megazero_to_superhero]

David shifts his seat as he continues. "Arright. First thing you'd notice about dis guy is dis red getup he's got. A jacket an' some kind of cape thing around his waist. Almost looked like a trench coat, until I saw dey were separate. An' under dat he also had some kind of black vest, pants an' boots. Looked like body armor to me."

"Aside from dat, he was tall ... well, everyone's taller'n me, heh, so," David gives Romeo a lopsided grin. "Anyways, he was tan. Really tan, for an Asian guy. An' he had bleach-white hair, even though he looked like he oughta be way younger dan I am."

[myblueskies]

Romeo wrote down everything that he said, he wasn't sure who it could be but there were a few people in the tower with white hair even if they were really young. He nodded, "Do you know if he's still here or did he disappear?"

[megazero_to_superhero]

David shakes his head. "Naw, I dunno. I only met da guy once, and dat was the time he saved me. In fact—it was da first day I was here," he says with something of a humorless chuckle.

"Dere's people I ain't seen in months an' yet I'll run into again later on. S'a big tower, so he might still be around. Hopefully. Dis place needs all da heroes it can get, yanno?" His voice takes on a somber quality as he adds, "'Specially da kind dat can make a difference, like him."

[myblueskies]

"It does, and there's more heroes than anyone thinks." Romeo told him, "I'll ask if anyone knows who he is, but I can put him in the book anyways. What's your name sir?"

[megazero_to_superhero]

Romeo's observation that there's more heroes in the tower than people realize gets a smile out of David, but it has that same subtle look of self-conscious guilt again.

Still, David remains chipper at least in his tone of voice. "Name's David Puskás," he says, then adds, "Little David's my, uh, superhero name." Normally he'd be proud of admitting that, but when has he done anything worthy of being a hero lately?

[myblueskies]

"You're a superhero?" Romeo grinned leaning forwards, "I had a friend who was a superhero once, she's not here anymore though. But she was really great. What kind of powers do you have? I bet you've saved a load of people."

[megazero_to_superhero]

Romeo's enthusiasm over David's mention of being a superhero gets another grin out of him. It's a metaphorical shot in the arm for his flagging confidence, especially as Romeo's questions are reminding him of the deeds he's done during his superhero career back on Primal Earth.

"Well, I try," David responds. "Back home I'd stop for anybody in trouble. Even if somethin' bigger was goin' on. Some heroes, dey forget about da regular folks once dey get good enough to start savin' da world. Me, I seen too many people get wrecked by some scumbag to forget."

"As for my powers—" David shifts in his seat again, leaning forward so he can prop his elbows on the table and rest his chin on his hands. "—well, I don't got powers per se. Dis suit of armor I've got on, an' my rifle, dey're all da powers I've got. High tech fancy gadgets an' da like."

[myblueskies]

Romeo grinned, that was the kind of superheroes that Romeo liked. Those that tried to help everyone, even if they were just little people. If Romeo was a superhero (which he wasn't- the costume he had made had been given to Yostuba because at thirteen he had outgrown it) that would be the kind of superhero he would want to be.

"So the clothes give you the powers, but your just a normal person?"

[megazero_to_superhero]

"Yup," David says in reply. "Wasn't born with any mutations or special powers or anything. Just another average joe without all my gear."

That guilty look on his face comes back. "I ain't been able to do much for da people here 'cause of dat. I mean I've got my suit, yeah, but none of my ammo."

[myblueskies]

"What's ammo, sir?" Romeo blinked at him. "You're still a hero though right? Even without ammo or powers."

[megazero_to_superhero]

Up until now, David had been convinced that Romeo came from a world similar to his own—but Romeo's question gives David cause to wonder otherwise. After all, Paragon City's kids grow up on a steady diet of action figures, Saturday morning cartoons, and toy guns.

"Oh, uh—dat's slang for 'ammunition,'" David explains. "Back home I had all kinds of stuff for stoppin' da bad guys. But when da admins brought me here, dey didn't leave me any of it. So dere ain't a whole lot I can do to help somebody if dey're bein' attacked by a monster, for example."

David readjusts the cigar in his mouth. "I've been tryin' to find a way around dat ... somehow."

[myblueskies]

"Oh." He nodded, "But you could pick them up and fly away right?" He tilted his head, "Or fight the monsters with a knife, that's what I do! I can make you one if you don't have one."

[megazero_to_superhero]

Romeo's talk of fighting off monsters with a knife fills David with all sorts of conflicting emotions. On one hand, he wants to be proud of the kid for having the courage to stand up to the horrors of the Tower. Even more so. since it seems that Romeo's been able to weather them without coming away mentally scarred.

On the other, it saddens and angers him that the children here are forced into having to fight for their lives like this. That, and the fact that Romeo has already done so—presumably without any powers and only a knife to his credit—makes him feel even more guilty that he's let himself get caught up in believing that he can't do anything to help others without ammunition for his gear.

"A knife would work—actually, I did get lucky a while back," David says as he glances down over to his side, as if reminded of what he's carrying on his person. "You know dem goons dat look like dey've been run through a meat grinder? Carry a bunch of swords an' bows? Back when da glamour failed, I managed to get a sword offa one of dem. In fact—dat was da time Enoch saved my butt, heh."

David looks thoughtful for a moment. "But yeah, if nothin' else, I could try flyin' 'em away. Depends on if my suit's flight system can handle it. 'Cause if it gets weighed down too much, we wouldn't be goin' anywhere fast, yanno?"

[myblueskies]

So it gets slow if it's too heavy? [That made sense, Romeo looked at the sword] That's a good sword, the ones from the monsters are real not made of foil, so you can beat the bad people with them.

[megazero_to_superhero]

"Yeah. It's mostly strong enough to fly me an' my gear around," David comments.

Then he contemplates Romeo's observation about the nature of the sword. "I was wonderin' about dat—why is it dat those goons had real bodies an' gear, but we don't? You know if anyone's ever figured dat out?"

[myblueskies]

"Because the monsters are real, and we are just souls because Zo couldn't save our bodies." Romeo told him softly, "There's not many real things here, but the monsters are."