metalogs | ( open ) hunger games, bats ver

Kestrel? [Accelerator is raising an eyebrow at that, resisting the urge to say that at this rate Jason's going to run out of names to use. He shrugs instead, there are more important things to worry about than sassing the guy.] Fine, Kestrel it is.

[He can remember that!]

So, what? That means there are opponents around, right? Would it be fastest if I went and crushed them so this damn thing will have to end?

[Of course, in Battle Royale the kids had to kill each other. He's hoping he'll be able to get by with just injuring people enough they have to be sent to the hospital.]

You can stick with Red if you prefer.

( he's still very red-themed, after all. and jason tends to answer to any title as if it's a name he's always had, as long as he knows it's directed his way. the benefits of being well-trained in the art of blending in: names are disposable but also easily switched out.

the drone takes off, which is what he was waiting for. jason steps closer to accelerator, looks him over carefully without reaching out towards him. the kid is durable, he knows that, but it's habit more than anything that has him checking just to make sure he's not injured. )

We don't know what the endgame goal is. I wouldn't pull any big moves unless we know how those're gonna go.

Okay.

[He's a little more used to Red, and if the younger Jason isn't here somewhere it'd be easier to go with that.

Accelerator relaxes only slightly when the drone buzzes off. They are, after all, still in some weird forest-island bullshit, with god-knows-what around the corner. At least he's in one piece? No scrapes or bruises, just his usual wet angry cat demeanour at getting unceremoniously dumped here.

He clicks his tongue in annoyance, otherwise not arguing. Why can't things ever be easy?]

What a pain in the ass. Guess we should find out what the fucking endgame goal is, then.

Yeah. Welcome to my life.

( he's fine, so jason reaches a hand out. shoves his palm against the top of accelerator's hair and ruffles it softly. starts back off in the direction of the wooded area that he was waltzing through to begin with. they don't know what's up; don't know what the hell the play is here, why they've been dropped, how they have been. but it's fine, it's not his first rodeo, and they'll figure it out given enough time. always do. )

There's a lot of shit out here out to kill us. Don't just upend the ground every time you find one. Please. I'm trying to avoid making a scene.

[Accelerator huffs a little, more of his anger at the drone draining away at the hair ruffle. While he's sure he could handle all of this on his own, it's kind of nice that Jason is here.

He follows after him, doing his best to keep up. Learning to use a crutch in a forest environment is good rehab, right? He won't complain though, he figures he just needs to get used to the ground being uneven.]

I'll keep any upending to a minimum. [There's some very slight deadpan sarcasm to that, but that's just him being a teenager. He'll rein it in.] It just really pissed me off.

I get it. I ain't happy about it either.

( livid, actually. but jason also knows better than to show that at this point. being visibly angry's just going to please whoever's pulling crap moves like this. and the last thing jason wants to do is give them exactly what they're after. if they want them to fight, to get mad, to destroy shit, he's going to do the exact opposite.

the difficulty accelerator's having with getting around is - slightly more noticeable. he stops, looks back over to him. considers how to best offer without pissing him off, because jason hates having to depend on anyone for anything, and he can't imagine accelerator does either.

so he sticks with an easy, )

You want a piggyback ride? Or an arm?

[The question makes Accelerator purse his lips and he shakes his head stubbornly. It'd probably be faster if he just accepted the help, but they've been here all of five minutes and he doesn't want to be forced to rely on anyone, even Jason, just getting around the place.]

I'm fine.

[If he can't do something as simple as walk around without help then he's worse than useless.

He opens his mouth to say something else but pauses at the sound of some rumbling noise in the direction they're headed. It sounds like... people? And with an electronic tinge, so maybe more of those drones. Cautiously he frowns, keeping a hand on his choker.]

The hell is that?

( jason's head tilts off towards the direction of the sound, hand raising to press his index and middle finger against the side of his mask. the hud comes to life, but all that's visible to accelerator from the outside is the way red lights spark on the starlite lenses.

and the way his jaw ticks when he clenches it tight. )

You don't wanna know.

( but jason's heading forward anyway. figures if they see him, they see him. they'll be fine. hopefully. )

Edited 2024-01-17 20:38 (UTC)

[??????????????????????????

He can tell Jason is doing something with his mask, so he's expecting more of an answer than that. It's very rude and he clicks his tongue in annoyance at the vagueness. At least it's pretty clear whatever the noise is can't be that dangerous, or he'd be trying to steer him in the opposite direction.

Accelerator follows, and eventually the forest opens up to a big clearing containing the tournament ring. There are other contestants around, and above more of those drones buzzing about, some of them trying to hype people up, others oh-so-helpfully going over the rules. Compete against other contestants for the chance to win valuable supplies, partnerships of two allowed, yada yada. He listens for a few moments, then quietly reaches up to fiddle with his choker.

Supplies, huh? Well, if these idiots want him lasting more than a day then there's a chance those supplies include electricity. At the very least, winning some food and water would be a good idea.

Even if he'd rather just take a nap somewhere instead.

He takes a few steps towards the ring.]

You do what you want, I'm gonna go beat the shit out of everyone here.

( accelerator steps forward, and jason reaches a hand out to grab onto the back of his shirt. it's not a hard hold, just - one meant to stop him. )

Ace.

( more to get his attention than anything else. he wants accelerator to listen to him. )

Places like that're built to fuck you over. They're gonna find a weakness, they're gonna jab at it until it splits you open, and then they're gonna put it on display for everyone to see. I'm not going to stop you, but - just know what you're getting into.

[The grabbing of his shirt causes him to pause, and Accelerator glances over questioningly.

Wow, he sounds really serious. Like, damn, that is bleak. He honestly isn't sure if Jason is exaggerating or something, but it makes the reasonable part of him want to be more cautious. It's fighting the part of him that wants to just get in there and do some violent venting, and the part of him that's growing increasingly unsure about his choker battery.]

... You sure you're not just overthinking this?

High chance I am, but a higher one the paranoia's coming from somewhere.

( when given time, jason always overthinks. it's habit, ingrained into him through years and years of training - not just with bruce, but it'd been him who had started it. and it'd been reasonable, hadn't it? things always go south, and when shit hits the fan it's better to know exactly what to expect and have four dozen plans for each scenario.

fuck, he hates bruce.

but he's letting go of accelerator's shirt, shoving his hand back into his jacket pocket. )

I'll tag along with you.

[There's so many unknowns about this situation that Accelerator nods slightly. It's at least smart to be cautious, even if he does really want to get ahold of whatever supplies this tournament thing is offering.]

Okay. Let's go.

[Jason can handle himself in a fight, and if there's any hugely supernatural opponents he can take care of them. It's fine, it's all fine.

He's going to head into the tournament ring. Apparently this round is a king of the hill situation, big hill in the middle and all, with both other contestants and natural fauna from the island.

AKA monsters. Contestants have two minutes to get situated at the base of the hill. Accelerator glances over as he makes his way there.]

I'm pretty pissed off, so I'm going to vent a little. As a warning.

( one hand comes out of his pocket, reaches for the mask that fits over his nose and mouth to strap it on under his domino mask. and jason settles into something - a lot closer to his red hood persona over the lax way he generally acts around accelerator: his voice gets a little deeper, a little closer to a growl. shoulders straighten, and the gait he walks with shifts, too: more of an arrogant saunter, footsteps intentionally loud enough to be heard whereas jason's usual gait is silent. )

No killing blows. ( head tilting in towards accelerator. ) I know you don't need 'em.

[Accelerator hasn't gotten to see this Jason's Red Hood side before. He's seen the younger Jason, but this doesn't feel like the same thing. It reminds him of... himself, honestly. How he changes his behaviour when he's doing his villain thing. It's a little reassuring, knowing that he isn't the only one who's going to be putting on an act.

He exhales softly, giving a nod.]

... Yeah. I'll still go easy on them.

[No killing. He can do that. He doesn't want to actually kill anyone, if he can help it.

Hitting the switch on his choker, he lifts a foot and stomps it down, that one movement causing the ground in the entire arena to shudder and crack. A number of other contestants, particularly speedsters who aren't fast enough to react to their footing being thrown off, are tossed off balance. Accelerator, of course, avoids a circular area directly around Jason, so he can take advantage of the chaos.]

( this is where jason excels.

he's got his own set of meta abilities now, sure, but he intentionally never uses them where anyone's going to see. and he doesn't need them, not here. accelerator gives him a leg up by not hitting him, which - jason would've told him not to bother, but he'll take advantage of it anyway. he slips forward, shoving his knee into the sternum one of the contestants who just happened to get close enough. throws them down to the ground with his weight on top of them, then cuts the edges of his palms against the outside of their neck. it's enough to hurt and disorientate them, but not enough to cause any permanent damage. the next closest doesn't get the same treatment.

a throwing knife's pulled out of his jacket, but he's not throwing it. he's shouldering into the next big guy who comes his way, then shoving the blade down deep just behind his collarbone. it'll bleed especially bad if he pulls it out - otherwise, it's just a real big pain. especially given jason's kicking him over two seconds after, straight down to the ground.

it's meticulous - the way he approaches each of his opponents, hurting them just enough to keep them down. the monsters are treated less gently, using thin wire connected to knives to trap their limbs down against the ground that'll bite hard if they struggle too much. a few of the bigger competitors get the same treatment when they prove a little too much to keep down with more direct strikes.

and the hits jason takes? he takes them just right: moves his body into the motion moments before it connects to keep the damage to a minimum, uses their momentum against them. energy blasts, lightning, and all the fun other abilities people throw at him - some get luckier than others, catching him across the cheek here, burning a hole through his suit in his side that'll sting later, but it never catches him enough to slow him down. )

[Jason steps forward, and Accelerator takes a small step back. Then there's a loud sonic boom, accompanied by a blast of wind, as he launches himself straight to the top of the hill. He can use a lot more precision when moving, but that isn't what he's going for. Being careful isn't very dramatic, after all.

He lets out an exceptionally villainous cackle as he lands at the top, denting the earth, his voice high and squeaky. If these bastards want a show, then he'll give 'em a show.]

What's with all these fucking third strings?! How boring!!

[Unsurprisingly, making himself a huge derisive target causes a few long distance magic attacks sent his way. They're all basic shit though - fireballs, some ice spears - so some bounce off his reflection and rocket into the sky harmlessly rather than back at their sources, and others explode into bursts of light. He hasn't fully figured out how to control his reflection when it comes to magic, but whatever, no one's dying so it's fine.

All the while he's keeping an eye on where Jason is. Partly because it's the easiest way to take his positioning into account when manipulating vectors for attacks and counterattacks (namely, to keep the effects away from him), and partly because it's kind of cool seeing someone so efficiently taking opponents down in a fight. Being entirely reliant on his ability and mind in a fight, Accelerator has no real physical skills himself, so it's interesting to watch someone who does. Even that Level 0 isn't this good.

Once some of those larger monsters start gaining ground and getting in close to him he'll throw some punches. His form is total dogshit - he might have gotten slightly better at taking a punch, but he still isn't very good at throwing them. Regardless, he's laughing like some crazed maniac all the while, and combine that with seeing some twig of a kid knock an armoured rhino-esque creature straight out of the ring with only his fist is kind of absurd.

Which is the entire point. Freak everyone else out so they're too scared to attack and just forfeit instead.]

( the cackle is almost, almost close enough to another laugh that jason really hates. luckily, the cracky, high-pitched, almost squeaky quality of it is all accelerator. he'd snark at him for it, but they're a little busy right now. and while pinning down some of the closer-to-human bodies was nothing special, the bigger beasts are in a weight class of their own. one runs straight for him, and jason just barely, barely manages to step out of it's trajectory, avoiding what would have been a real nasty wound via goat-like horns. it turns back around and starts towards him, which jason takes as cue enough to reach into his jacket and pull out a few small capsules. with his mask on, there's no risk to dropping them hard on the ground as it runs straight for him again - a light-colored smoke drifting up into the air around them.

the beast drops, knocked out cold at jason's feet, which gives him plenty of time to take several throwing knives attached with wire to pin it down to the ground, too. one them, he presses a switch close to the hilt of it, setting off the electrical current that runs through the blade and also through the wire itself as soon as it's jostled at all.

it'll keep it down for a bit. hopefully.

and it gives jason space to turn his attention to accelerator who's throwing a punch that would've broken knuckles on anyone who wasn't relying on vectors to do the punching for him. jason almost, almost winces at it, but knows better than to show it.

instead, tilts his head to the side and puts a hand on his hip. )

That's gonna hurt later.

[Wow, just how many gadgets does Jason have? Accelerator is still keeping an eye on where he is, so he sees the capsules containing some kind of knockout gas, and the wired knives. The guy must be prepared for just about anything at all times. Guess you have to be, when you're normally a regular human without a versatile power to rely on. He might have to ask about what else he brought along later, after this dumb tournament thing is over.

He's about to go slam his fist into another opponent when Jason's remark makes him pause. Normally, not a great move in the middle of a fight, but with his reflection up the other contestant just hits him and breaks their arm.

He glances over in Jason's direction, brows knitted together, his right hand still forming a fist. Looking down at it, he's confused.]

Hah? The hell are you talking about?

[Did you not see how far he punched that thing, that was cool. What's with the sass!!]

Thumb.

( and he even raises his hand, to demonstrate: fingers extended, before he's curling four in tight so the tip of each finger touches the base of itself, then curls his hand in tight, thumb over the second knuckle of his index and middle fingers. )

You hit like that without powering up, it's gonna fuck up your entire hand.

( this sounds like a perfectly reasonable time to go over the proper way to make a fist. you know, while the speakers behind them are rambling on about how the game's not over until only one contestant is left standing. )

[Holy shit is he receiving constructive criticism in the middle of a fight? Only Jason would do something so ridiculous. Still, Accelerator patiently listens to him, because punching is in fact very, very important to him, even if he doesn't want to admit it.

Looking over how Jason has his fingers arranged, he frowns a little, then turns his attention back down to his own fist. He'll fix the positioning of his thumb, all the while mumbling under his breath.]

............. I thought I was doing the same thing as that Level 0.....

[... Well, anyways. He's turning suddenly and giving this a try, punching a speedster that had been approaching from behind square in the solar plexus. The guy stops dead in his tracks and collapses, not dead but oof, that's going to hurt for a while. Accelerator clicks his tongue - it doesn't feel any different since he's still relying entirely on his vector manipulation, but his technique is at least slightly improved.]

That better?

Edited 2024-01-31 19:15 (UTC)

You're not hitting with your fist.

( a roll of his eyes, visible because of how jason moves his neck into it - over dramatic to a fault, but it works out for him well more often than not. the poor speedster goes down, and jason makes a note to see if wally can keep up with accelerator if he comes back around. for the fun of it.

he's betting in that fight, wally'd win. ace is only as fast as he can think, and jason knows damn well the speedsters he's familiar with can outthink most of them. could be on accelerator before he even managed to switch on that collar of his.

they can work on it. for now? jason's taking several big steps over towards accelerator. stops a few feet away, ignoring the rest of the chaos around them. )

Hit me.

[Okay, he was expecting something more like "not terrible." Not this.

There's the chaos of other fights going on around them but Accelerator ignores most of it, only paying enough attention to the occasional attack of magic glancing off his reflection to send it ricocheting into the air so it doesn't kill anyone.]

Are you serious?

[He... he isn't that bad at this, is he???

(Why are that Level 0's words coming back to him right now??? You’ve never lost. And that is why you’re weak! You defeat all of your enemies in a single strike and you can easily reflect any attack. There’s no way you would actually know how to fight!)]

Only one of us is coming out of here a winner, right?

( head tipping back to the mess behind them. they've got a few more to take out still before it's just the two of them, but. jason's point still stands. )

You're pulling too much on your power. Without it, what're you gonna do? Break a few knuckles trying to get a good hit in? Keel over an' give up? Come on, kid. I know you're better than that. Hit. Me.

( with a gesture down to himself. he's right here, primed and ready. )

Or are you scared you'll fuck it up?

( accelerator cackles, he laughs and snarks. jason? antagonizes to get what he wants. )

.....

[That very suggestion makes Accelerator bristle. Physical fighting has never been his forte, not even before the brain injury. This is why he has the gun, though he didn't have the dumb thing on his person when he was teleported here, so he can't rely on it right now.

Not that he'd want to. He wouldn't want to shoot Jason, just like he doesn't want to punch him. He remembers, back home, leveling his gun at Yomikawa, how he didn't want to but thought he was willing to injure he because she wouldn't get out of his way. Thanks to that fucking #2 interrupting he hadn't actually had to make that decision, though. He doesn't have that luxury here.

But shooting someone isn't the same as punching them, not when he hold his ability back and just function like a regular person. So -- he shouldn't be scared, like Jason is claiming. Right?]

Fine.

[Jason's already whitelisted in his reflection, so it's fine. Totally fine. Not like he's been deliberately angling all his attacks and reflections away from him the whole time or anything.

He launches himself, still using his power to cover the distance between them, but refraining from using the calculations that his mind naturally comes up with for the actual punch, so there's momentum behind it but not a whole lot of muscle power. He's aiming for Jason's solar plexus too, since that's just common sense - it's a weak point and, frankly, he's too short to get a good hit in on his face.]

( open ) hunger games, bats ver

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