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APRIL CONFLUENCE
APRIL CONFLUENCE
It comes to the precogs in a flash: On APRIL 26th, a confluence will occur in Little Love. Any available metahumans are requested to take a trip to the tiny town and stand guard.
Just as it has the previous four times, an OMINOUS STORM rolls in. Thunder booms and a bolt of lightning crashes into the field below.... but nobody falls from the sky. In fact, nothing weird at all seems to happen. The storm runs its course and in the end, the night is uneventful. The metas standing guard are left wet, cold, and frustrated.
THE ALLIANCE and THE SOCIETY do a thorough sweep but seem to decide everything is fine. Confluences appear to be winding down once again and all breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
Yet unknown to them, the new arrivals have come through… but this time rather than crashing into the ground, the lightning strike has EMBEDDED THEM deep, deep beneath the ground.
The following morning, the residents of Little Love are stunned to find their FRESHLY PLANTED POTATO SEED has reached full maturity overnight. Curious and wary, one brave farmer wades into the towering stalks to investigate the potential cause. She fails to come back out.
A little later into the week, one disappearance has become dozens. The Alliance receives a call stating that SOMETHING has been calling to the townspeople in the crop field. Anyone who sets foot in it doesn’t seem to be coming back out, and the town is small enough as it is already.
Once again, you’re asked to go INVESTIGATE.
Just as it has the previous four times, an OMINOUS STORM rolls in. Thunder booms and a bolt of lightning crashes into the field below.... but nobody falls from the sky. In fact, nothing weird at all seems to happen. The storm runs its course and in the end, the night is uneventful. The metas standing guard are left wet, cold, and frustrated.
THE ALLIANCE and THE SOCIETY do a thorough sweep but seem to decide everything is fine. Confluences appear to be winding down once again and all breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
Yet unknown to them, the new arrivals have come through… but this time rather than crashing into the ground, the lightning strike has EMBEDDED THEM deep, deep beneath the ground.
The following morning, the residents of Little Love are stunned to find their FRESHLY PLANTED POTATO SEED has reached full maturity overnight. Curious and wary, one brave farmer wades into the towering stalks to investigate the potential cause. She fails to come back out.
A little later into the week, one disappearance has become dozens. The Alliance receives a call stating that SOMETHING has been calling to the townspeople in the crop field. Anyone who sets foot in it doesn’t seem to be coming back out, and the town is small enough as it is already.
Once again, you’re asked to go INVESTIGATE.
HARVEST —
Nothing seems off about the fields at first. But a thermal scan reveals just where the missing farmers have gone - they’re IN THE GROUND. Alive, but appearing to be in a deep state of slumber.
And you, new arrival, have been PLANTED right beside them. You may remember a fleeting glimpse of the world rushing by, but that now feels like a bad dream. You’re having a much nicer one down here, surrounded by all your brothers and sisters. You can HEAR THEIR VOICES in the back of your mind, compelling you to stay here with them forever. The earth around you is like a warm embrace. Why would you ever want to leave it? Your body will feed it and give your brethren strength.
Some of you may snap awake at that particular thought. You begin to desperately CLAWING YOUR WAY UP. Your hand breaks the surface and someone screams at the zombie, but someone else is there to quickly grasp your hand and yank you up and out. There are THIN WHITE ROOTS all over you - easily torn off, but unsettling all the same.
And you, new arrival, have been PLANTED right beside them. You may remember a fleeting glimpse of the world rushing by, but that now feels like a bad dream. You’re having a much nicer one down here, surrounded by all your brothers and sisters. You can HEAR THEIR VOICES in the back of your mind, compelling you to stay here with them forever. The earth around you is like a warm embrace. Why would you ever want to leave it? Your body will feed it and give your brethren strength.
Some of you may snap awake at that particular thought. You begin to desperately CLAWING YOUR WAY UP. Your hand breaks the surface and someone screams at the zombie, but someone else is there to quickly grasp your hand and yank you up and out. There are THIN WHITE ROOTS all over you - easily torn off, but unsettling all the same.
PRUNING THE GARDEN
Your captors do not appreciate their garden being invaded. And for every person that’s pulled out of the ground, A MASSIVE POTATO the size of a large dog is disturbed and springs free. They don't appreciate being woken up.
These YOUNG SPROUTS are full of piss and vinegar, ready to fight anyone who comes too close to their nesting grounds. Others are eager to return to the soil, and keen on adding to the collective by taking you with them.
Meanwhile, the remnants of last fall’s harvest appear to have adopted a persona not unlike that of a SENIOR DOG. They want to be left alone and will lash out at any of these whippersnappers intruding on their space. You may find an unlikely ally in a particularly CRANKY SPUD. If you're patient, kind, and maybe a little off-kilter (who are we to judge), you can try to ADOPT one of the SENIOR POTATO MONSTERS. Good luck?
These YOUNG SPROUTS are full of piss and vinegar, ready to fight anyone who comes too close to their nesting grounds. Others are eager to return to the soil, and keen on adding to the collective by taking you with them.
Meanwhile, the remnants of last fall’s harvest appear to have adopted a persona not unlike that of a SENIOR DOG. They want to be left alone and will lash out at any of these whippersnappers intruding on their space. You may find an unlikely ally in a particularly CRANKY SPUD. If you're patient, kind, and maybe a little off-kilter (who are we to judge), you can try to ADOPT one of the SENIOR POTATO MONSTERS. Good luck?
ALIEN CAVERN —
For those of you unfortunate enough to be pulled into the earth, you’re in luck - the potatoes seem to be overestimating how much room they have to work with. The next thing you know you’re falling through the CEILING OF A CAVERN, splashing into a shallow glowing river.
There’s NO WAY OUT, and even if you're able to fly, the hole above you appears to have sealed itself up.
Your mouth is full of dirt. Perhaps you feel compelled to DRINK THE WATER to clear it, or perhaps you swallowed a mouthful as you hit the ground. Regardless, swallow any of the glowing water you’ll BEGIN TO GLOW as well. You’ll also become keenly attuned to the nature in this cavern. You’re probably a little stoned, but your senses tell you all of the organic material appears to possess a RUDIMENTARY SAPIENCE.
Follow the stream to its source and you’ll find an impressive piece of ALIEN TECHNOLOGY. It’s difficult to discern exactly what it does, but as its surrounding area is surrounded by exotic looking plants you guess it may be some sort of TERRAFORMING MACHINE. It looks like the bolt of lightning caused it to go haywire and its pushing energy out into the fields, trying to terraform the planet into whatever its now warped parameters tell it to. A VISCOUS BLUE LIQUID is leaking from the tank and into the water supply. And you may feel regrets about drinking that.
Bring it offline. Once the machine has shut down, the POTATO-BEASTS abruptly crash through the ceiling and burrow through the ground underneath your feet. Your rescuers look down at you through these massive holes and as the sunlight strikes your skin, FLOWERS begin to bloom all over your body.
Someone makes a reluctant call to HQ and tells them to prep the medical team.
There’s NO WAY OUT, and even if you're able to fly, the hole above you appears to have sealed itself up.
Your mouth is full of dirt. Perhaps you feel compelled to DRINK THE WATER to clear it, or perhaps you swallowed a mouthful as you hit the ground. Regardless, swallow any of the glowing water you’ll BEGIN TO GLOW as well. You’ll also become keenly attuned to the nature in this cavern. You’re probably a little stoned, but your senses tell you all of the organic material appears to possess a RUDIMENTARY SAPIENCE.
Follow the stream to its source and you’ll find an impressive piece of ALIEN TECHNOLOGY. It’s difficult to discern exactly what it does, but as its surrounding area is surrounded by exotic looking plants you guess it may be some sort of TERRAFORMING MACHINE. It looks like the bolt of lightning caused it to go haywire and its pushing energy out into the fields, trying to terraform the planet into whatever its now warped parameters tell it to. A VISCOUS BLUE LIQUID is leaking from the tank and into the water supply. And you may feel regrets about drinking that.
Bring it offline. Once the machine has shut down, the POTATO-BEASTS abruptly crash through the ceiling and burrow through the ground underneath your feet. Your rescuers look down at you through these massive holes and as the sunlight strikes your skin, FLOWERS begin to bloom all over your body.
Someone makes a reluctant call to HQ and tells them to prep the medical team.
AFTERMATH —
RETURN TO HQ
After the potato beasts are taken care of (or adopted?) and the chaos from the strange underground Confluence abates, the guild places a call back to headquarters to bring everyone back with a teleportation spell. The spell reaches out for whatever metahumans it can find in the area and pulls.
All the metahumans who were involved in the Confluence — new arrivals and old — to a white training space that has already transformed into a luxurious waiting room. Everyone present receives a cellphone.
Atomight isn't there in the flesh this time, but there is a broadcast over the network to those stuck at HQ:
Once everyone gathered has been looked over and attended to they're directed to:
All the metahumans who were involved in the Confluence — new arrivals and old — to a white training space that has already transformed into a luxurious waiting room. Everyone present receives a cellphone.
Atomight isn't there in the flesh this time, but there is a broadcast over the network to those stuck at HQ:
Thank you for your help out there. We would like to issue an apology for the way you arrived here. To those of you grappling with your new abilities, please rest assured that this room will give you a much needed reprieve. We have staff on site who can work with you to gain control of you new abilities, and nullifiers if you find it's still too much.
You are the fourth set of newly powered individuals this confluence has brought. To those of you who have been flung far from home, we'll put you in connection with the others. Many of them are here today and can advise you of what your new reality is.
We of the Guardian Alliance are committed to doing everything we can to get you home, and to give you some time to get your feet under you. And as this may be your home for a while longer, I wish to formally extend an invitation to those of you who wish to use your powers to defend the innocent to join us.
You are the fourth set of newly powered individuals this confluence has brought. To those of you who have been flung far from home, we'll put you in connection with the others. Many of them are here today and can advise you of what your new reality is.
We of the Guardian Alliance are committed to doing everything we can to get you home, and to give you some time to get your feet under you. And as this may be your home for a while longer, I wish to formally extend an invitation to those of you who wish to use your powers to defend the innocent to join us.
Once everyone gathered has been looked over and attended to they're directed to:
THE DIADEM
As always, there is space aplenty for new arrivals in the DIADEM HOTEL. (Though there's a lot of you now, so you'll definitely be matched with a ROOMMATE, possibly at random.)
The Diadem Hotel is a luxury hotel usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings just to sample. But don't worry! Everything is COMPLIMENTARY, and everyone gets an Alliance credit card to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards appear to have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back.
You might get approached by GUILD REPRESENTATIVES and invited to join. Depending on your character's actions during the Confluence crisis, they might get approached by one guild and not the other. Recruiters are charming and personable, talking up the perks of being in the Guilds (see more on our FAQ and GUILDS pages). They won't be harassing anyone, but a "no, thank you" might be returned with a "think it over" and offer of a calling card. Be careful, though. You only have TWO MONTHS to join a guild and secure guild housing. If you don't join one or the other, you'll be on your own. Oh well. Live it up while you can, right?
The Diadem Hotel is a luxury hotel usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings just to sample. But don't worry! Everything is COMPLIMENTARY, and everyone gets an Alliance credit card to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards appear to have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back.
You might get approached by GUILD REPRESENTATIVES and invited to join. Depending on your character's actions during the Confluence crisis, they might get approached by one guild and not the other. Recruiters are charming and personable, talking up the perks of being in the Guilds (see more on our FAQ and GUILDS pages). They won't be harassing anyone, but a "no, thank you" might be returned with a "think it over" and offer of a calling card. Be careful, though. You only have TWO MONTHS to join a guild and secure guild housing. If you don't join one or the other, you'll be on your own. Oh well. Live it up while you can, right?
IN SUMMARY...
- NEW ARRIVALS arrive in LITTLE LOVE during a storm. At first, the Confluence escapes notice, as these arrivals arrive UNDER THE GROUND.
- At first, sleeping arrivals may feel compelled to STAY underground with their newfound root brethren. Eventually, they realise the error of that thinking and CRAWL OUT OF THE GROUND like freaky plant zombies, covered in roots. "Get this stuff off of me!"
- MUTANT POTATO-BEASTS also crawl out of the ground with arrivals! You may be able to make an UNLIKELY ALLIANCE with one of these creatures and even take it home with you!
- Those PULLED INTO THE EARTH can explore an ALIEN CAVERN completely with glowing, questionable water. Arrivals need to shut down an ALIEN TERRAFORMING MACHINE before being rescued by farmers and potato-beasts. Delicious(?).
- As always, new arrivals will later be transported either to GUILD HQ or the DIADEM HOTEL. Enjoy your new guild perks for the next two months! Decide to join a guild (or not)! Pluck that last stray potato root off yourself and meet your fellow
potatoesarrivals. - Ask any mod questions HERE.
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“He might not be here if he’s still in Blüdhaven. What about you? Where did you go after - what would you call that? Afternoon brunch? Did you head back to Gotham?” He doesn’t add ‘too’ in the question.
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"Yeah. Had things to take care of and people to see."
He knows his answer is vague but not much he can do about it for now. It's not like they would go into detail about each other's cases unless they had to work together. Would they?
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This all makes sense; Tim just hasn’t wanted to add it up because then he loses plausible deniability. The logoless armour is yet another costume variant because Jason’s trying new leaf 37 which is really the same leaf as the last 36 but gnawed on by a caterpillar because some bug crawled up his butt. He’s checking up on the people who can make him feel guilty (Bruce, Dick) and Tim’s stating he doesn’t have a signal clears up any chance of Barbara.
Tim looks skyward. Why is he involved? He doesn’t want to be involved. They’re both barely recovered from Jenny Wren thing. “What did you do? Did you shoot Penguin again? No, don’t answer that. I’m not lying to B over this; I have to plan out my lies or nobody’s going to trust me ever.”
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That was a hell of a statement to hear. He shoots the Penguin? Not that he's upset about it. It's not hard to imagine Cobblepot doing something that would warrant Jason shooting him. The "again" means it wasn't a fatal shooting so either he somehow missed or he wanted to teach the Penguin a lesson and figured he's more useful alive than dead.
And despite that incident and judging by Robin's earlier interactions, he was still part of the family? Or maybe there was yet another falling out after the shooting and then they all patched things up afterwards. Again.
Thinking about all the possible family drama was getting annoying and exhausting.
Jason then scoffs.
"Then don't lie to him. I wanna talk to him myself anyway."
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Tim couldn’t have hit it that hard on the head.
No, it’s something else, but DEFINITELY something that would piss Bruce off. If it wasn’t, Jason would be furious at Tim even asking, and perhaps rightfully so, if Tim had jumped to a more negative conclusion than was merited.
“Okay.” Awkward birbs standing still on a wire that’s stretched almost down to the ground with the weight of the elephant perched next to them. The Elephant named Jason-what-did-you-do. “It doesn’t have anything to do with us getting potted in a potato field?”
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"Yeah, it's got nothing to do with that," Jason replies in a slightly more casual manner. "Getting dropped like that sure didn't help my mood though."
He's not lying. He's just also not saying lot of important details.
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It's just a lot more concerning (to Tim) when it's someone other than Batman, Oracle, or himself doing this. He will grudgingly admit that, all future things considered, the others probably get nervous if he gets squirrelly too. "You're not going to give me anything else, are you? I know you're up to your neck in something. We have a long walk ahead; you might as well tell me what's going on."
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"What do you think think I'm up to, Robin?" He asks coldly. Might as well keep testing this kid while dropping the act. Addressing someone else as Robin feels wrong and Jason can feel his temper rising. Where the hell was Bruce?
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It's not the best plan for getting information. Sticking in his fingers Jason Todd's sore spots repeatedly to keep fine-tuning where he next prods. "Something that you don't want me to worry about, because you want to handle it yourself for Reasons, or maybe because you've already bled through your bandages and you don't want me to know that either."
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"As much as I hate to see you in those colors, this is ultimately between me and him. But don't worry. I'm not bleeding out again at least."
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He doesn't otherwise move, though, and that is likely... concerning, but he doesn't just try to wait out more information. That's hardly going to work here. If it's not Jason, then it's either a very good imposter or a Jason.
Both options are terrible. His voice, which had been caught halfway between Robin and Tim, drops the rest of the way down into the lower, clipped cadence of Robin. "Who are you?"
You don't have a nice family coffee talking about being Robins - or not being Robins - and then be tell one another 'hate you in the colours.'
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"Well apparently you sorta know me but guess what, kiddo? I don't know you," he replies coldly.
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"By choice, universe, or timeline?" The first is really more of a detail to the universe or timeline explanations. They're not best friends, but even Damian wouldn't suggest that he didn't know Tim, and Damian can be a shit. "If you're the person you should be, under that helmet, I know all about you."
On the chance that it's not Jason at all, Tim will be vague. He's still protecting his brother, possibly to his brother.
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"Probably by universe or timeline. As far as I know, there's no Robin who uses a bo. And if you really do know me, then you should understand why I need to talk to him," he says, still cold.
Given where they are, he's not really interested in fighting this Robin in the same way he wants to fight Bruce. But he is ready to defend himself if needed.
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He has a feeling this conversation is about to go from bad to worse.
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“Five,” he corrects quietly after a prolonged pause. If this is going to be a Situation then Tim would prefer Jason mad at the entire world rather than mad at his specific replacement. Tim can use the higher number to confuse where he himself is in the line. “There have been two others that you don’t know about yet. How - how recent was it?”
He’s referring to Lazarus Pit itself. Crisis management. Jason’s in some of his darkest times. Tim’s a threat to his mental health. “Do you need me to go, or would that set something off?”
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Five. Five. Three more have come after his time with the mantle. Three despite everything that's happened with him. Is that how little he means to Bruce? Does Bruce just go looking for orphaned dark-haired boys to be his child soldiers?
"Five," Jason says quietly, almost like a croak.
He then takes a deep breath and his hands ball into fists. Right. The... third Robin was asking something.
"It's been five years since I came back from the dead. I've been back in Gotham for about a year."
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He shoves the analysis down to be dealt with later. The salient point is: this is not a similar universe. Tim can’t try to arrange a working agreement alone. Which world zigged, and which zagged. What if something worse happened to the second Robin?
Do they split up, or does that leave them both vulnerable? Do they stick together, fraught as that will be, or is that leaving himself at even greater risk? Is it better to leave Jason in the dark, or explain how different their worlds are?
“How do you want to play this?” Different or not, he’s still Red Hood. Getting his opinion won’t hurt. It will let Tim calibrate. “I’m voting for whatever gets us both safely out of the rabid potato farm.”
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Regardless of timeline or multiverse problems, Jason and the third Robin are still stuck in the middle of nowhere. For Jason, the only possible benefit to splitting up would be he wouldn't have a constant reminder of being replaced right by him. But as furious as he is, he wants to talk to the kid. He wants answers.
"But I wanna know your story. Why? What got you into those colors? What's your damage?"
They're blunt questions. Maybe a little hurtful too. But Jason's in no mood to be polite. Based on Dick and himself, a normal kid doesn't picks up the Robin mantle.
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Moving onto why that’s relevant. “I was a big fan of those events as a kid. You know how some kids watch the same movie twice a day for a year? Like that, but at least it wasn’t always the same video. I had my favourites, though, which is why I figured out who Robin was, when I was 9. You get the material for ribbing purposes when I get confirmation of ID in a secure location.”
Chirp chirp. Keep the tone lighter, because it’s about to get personal. “Which is also how I figured out who Batman was. I used to run around Gotham, hoping to take a picture of them. I knew I was right when you took over Robin. The fighting style changed a bit. You were just as cool.”
He takes one hand off the bo and mimes taking a picture, then pushes on through the worst of it. “Then… you were gone. B was going to get himself killed, too; he’s shit at taking care of himself, but Robin forces him to keep a steady baseline because…”
Because he doesn’t want another one to die like Jason did. In the interest of mercy, Tim let’s the sentence slip away. “I think he only agreed to it so he’d make sure that I didn’t blab, but that wasn’t ever going to happen. I like having secrets; nothing would’ve made me talk. All my damage happened after I became Robin. Now I’m stuck, by choice.”
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It's easy enough to fill in some of the gaps. The kid was a big fan of the Flying Graysons and then witnessed the Graysons' murders. He was such a big fan that he recognized Dick's moves as the same as Robin's. And since it's no secret Bruce Wayne adopted Dick Grayson, it was easy to make the connections.
Jason's also aware of the compliment the third Robin makes about his time as Batman's sidekick. He would be flattered if circumstances were different.
But that compliment is overshadowed by darker parts of the story. Jason did notice that Bruce (or least his Bruce?) Had made some changes after his death. His fighting style did become more brutal but Jason didn't care. Those changes weren't enough as far as he was concerned.
Then there was how closely did this kid observe all of them to make the observations he made. Did he stalk them before approaching Bruce? Who does that?
And then there's the part about Bruce taking him in. Jason still feels disturbed by that.
"Did you honestly have any idea what you were gonna get yourself into when you talked to him?" Jason asks in a serious tone.
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He exhales, puffing his cheeks a little. That's... yeah. Honesty has carried him this far. "No, how could I? I was thirteen, and I thought I was the smartest kid in the world because I'd figured out the biggest secret in the history of Gotham."
How could anyone at that age know what being Robin would take? Not just to achieve, but take away from him. "I had no idea what was going to happen. Did you? Did Big Bird? Of course not, we were kids. We - heh. You know... in my world we all just did this. Sat around eating Crocky Crunchies asking ourselves if it was worth it."
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"And what was the conclusion?" Jason asks. How badly hurt was the whole flock?
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"Maybe R-5 in a few years, if he keeps putting coffee on his cereal," Tim muses. "But I think we kinda agreed that we wouldn't change anything. Family, right? Family's worth it."
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