maskormenace | video | a finer world, part 2

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video | a finer world, part 2

[ Does this guy ever broadcast to the network from ground level?? APPARENTLY NOT because here's Apollo with yet another video message from somewhere dizzyingly high, this time sat on top of a brightly lit neon encrusted building in the heart of Jeopardy. Over his shoulder the sun sets over the desert in a picture perfect background landscape of bright pinks and oranges, but Apollo looks pensive despite the dreamy setting. He's been keeping an eye out for the so-called ghosts, you see, and maybe remembering a few ghosts of his own in the process. ]

An old friend once told me that saving the world is no good if we leave it the way we found it. She said 'saving the day shouldn't be the same as preserving the status quo'. Because what's the point in saving the world if you make no effort to change it? To make it better than it was?

That's why I joined her team, back home. I wanted to save the world and change it for the better. None of us could have done it alone but as a group... [ He trails off, turning a little wistful. ] As a group we were formidable.

But I know most of the teams currently operating here - [ you know who you are ] - are all pretty much Registered-only affairs. And that's fine if you're the Registering type...

[ Apollo's expression turns grim. Or as grim as you can look when surrounded by neon pink signage. ]

Personally? I've got no intention of swearing my loyalty to the government just because they want tame superheroes. But I still want to make a difference and if being a so-called vigilante is what it takes, then... I guess we'll see what happens next.

So consider this an open call. Is there anyone else out there who's Unsettled and wants to do their bit to save the world?

[ And yeah, maybe change it a little bit too. He hopes you're happy, Jenny Sparks. ]

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Infuriatingly good at it. You've got a decent throwing arm.

[ A beat, then Apollo's expression turns in to one of pleading (if amused) despair. ]

Oh, come on, say something! Don't leave me hanging like this... What are your thoughts?

I mean, I can't throw a mountain or anything.

Not like you.

[At the question, M kind of pauses, confused. What should his opinion matter?]

I think it's about time someone gave it a try. Compared to back home, there's barely any teams here anyway.

[ Apollo looks pleased at the response. ]

Yeah, I thought so too. I think I miss the controlled chaos.

[ he means 'teamwork' but controlled chaos kind of works too ]

From what you've told me about your... Authority, I can't say I'm surprised.

They were family. Not exactly perfect, but better than Stormwatch at least.

Yours, I'm hoping.

[His relationship with Stormwatch is complicated, but he's not going to allow this out-of-universer trash it either.

Even if it is Apollo.]

Considering Bendix ran my one, yes. [ Apollo raises an eyebrow ] Have I not told you the story of Stormwatch Zero?

You only told me Bendix created you and the other Midnighter... And at some point ran Stormwatch.

[But he can fit a lot of those pieces together now.]

Yeah. [ He crosses his arms. ] There's a whole other story there and it's not a nice one. Kind of a 'Bendix Classic' really...

[ He trails off. Embarking on a story like this over the network isn't exactly a great idea. ]

I can drop over later if you feel like you need even more reasons to be angry at Bendix?

[A nod.]

You're always welcome in my place.

[It's... weird to say that to someone he's more or less just met, but...

It's Apollo.]

Later, then.

[ When he's done talking to all of these lovely people on the network... which isn't as long as he thought, in the end. He leaves Jeopardy with his head buzzing with thoughts from the responses to his post - and not all of them positive.

He flies most of the way, a low and leisurely flight across the night sky, until he gets close enough to summon a Door to M's apartment. ]

Hey, [ He calls out to wherever M is in the apartment. ] How's your evening been?

Haven't killed anyone, so not great.

You?

Oh, you know, the usual. Talked about changing the world, got called dramatic, standard stuff.

[ From anyone else it might sound like Apollo is complaining; if anything, it's the opposite. He throws Midnighter a weary grin as he bends to say hello to the ferocious dragprawn. ]

Do most people think you're joking when you say things like that?

[D, for their part, happily accepts the pets. You are welcome in this home, other(other?) Apollo.]

I'm shocked you were able to say it with a straight face. [Take that answer how you will.]

[ Apollo laughs at that because there are so many ways that it could be taken. Apollo likewise keeps his answer as intentionally vague as possible. ]

Oh, I'm used to it...

[ He straightens and gives M a weary smile. ]

Full disclosure. By the end of this story you'll really want to kill someone. One someone in particular, more than before.

[M is comfortable curled up on the couch, Fubuki laying on the floor beside him. He runs his fingers through her fur.]

I was almost a red lantern, so I assume some part of me I'm not aware of is always angry.

And I'm pretty sure you know how I feel about killing people.

Good point.

[ Apollo has absolutely zero idea what a red lantern is code for, but that's not the important thing right now. What is important is how much of a piece of shit Bendix is. ]

So. Stormwatch. Or, more specifically, Stormwatch Zero - because what's the point of being a murderously paranoid megalomaniac if you can't have a secret wing of your own superhero task force that's so secret nobody knows about it, right?

[ Apollo takes a seat on the couch with a sigh of irritation. ]

Midnighter and I were created to be a part of Stormwatch Zero, along with the rest of our team. Zero was a complete secret. Blacker than black ops. So when things went to shit - which it did - Bendix could very conveniently make us disappear. As if we never existed in the first place.

[M's silent through Apollo's story. He wishes he could be surprised, but he's not.

He's seen what Bendix can do. Hell, he's seen what he's done for Waller with Stormwatch... was nearly killed by his latest experiment, Afterthought.

This sounds exactly like something he'd do.]

Bendix made all of your... Authority?

Oh, no. Not the Authority. This was before that.

[ He leans forward in his seat, elbows on his thighs, and clasps his hands in front of him. This is going to take some explaining. ]

Stormwatch Zero consisted of Amaze, Impetus, Crow Jane, Lamplighter, Stalker, Midnighter and myself. Our first mission was to retrieve something Bendix called a 'bio-mass reactor' or something like that - to this day I'm still not entirely sure what that actually was...

[ There's an edge of humour to his words there but it's quickly lost as Apollo's expression darkens. ]

What we found was terrible. Awful. It was both human and mechanical - it was generating its own guards, out of human flesh... twisted, monstrous creatures, like something out of a horror film. [ His brow pinches in a frown. ] It fought back as soon as it sensed us. We were totally unprepared for it. It was a nightmare.

[ Apollo pauses, then shakes his head sharply with a grimace. ]

And Bendix - fucking Bendix! He'd programmed the transporter not to pull us out unless we had the reactor with us. So Bendix left us there, trapped.

It was a total massacre. Only Midnighter and I survived from the entire team. [ He spreads his hands in a jaded shrug. ] And that's when we went on the run together. The Authority didn't form until five years later.

It was a long five years.

[M bites the inside of his lip to keep from any sort of outburst. Bendix. Henry fucking Bendix. Huge asshole no matter what the universe, apparently. Those other people--experiments, by the sounds of it--they didn't deserve that.

It was shit like this that led Bendix and Gardener to end their serendipitous relationship.]

You're right. I do want to kill someone more than before.

Tell yours is dead.

[ Apollo laughs mirthlessly, grimly. The idea that Bendix is still alive - and potentially threatening his daughter, now - twists his stomach in ways that makes him angry on a whole new level. The laughter dies away, leaving only a simmering frustration in its place. ]

Jenny Sparks killed him. Twice. But death doesn't take to bastards, apparently.

[ He pushes up and away from the couch, carried out of his seat by a hot flush of impatient anger. The sheer bloody impotence of being stranded in this world never hurts more keenly than when he remembers: ]

He's back. The last conversation I had with Jenny - my Jenny - was that she'd seen him. [ He turns away, pacing across M's living room in anger; fists clenched, chest heaving with a sudden surge of annoyance that leaves him breathless with quiet rage. ] That bastard, that evil piece of -- he's back and he's got his eye on my fucking daughter... And I'm stuck here!

[Quickly, silently, M rises to his feet, avoiding stepping on Fubuki as he does. He follows behind Apollo as he paces, and in an effort to calm him, he does the first thing that comes to mind--he wraps his arms around the older man from behind.]

She'll be safe. Time doesn't pass in your world while you're here. I've gone home, I know.

[ So wrapped up is he in his private storm of frustrated rage, Apollo doesn't hear M approach. But he stops short at the touch and lets himself be caught up in the arms that envelop him from behind. Steadied and stilled by an embrace that isn't quite like what he remembered; M is leaner, more wiry than Midnighter was. The arms that circle him are like Midnighter's ten years ago, back when they were young and on the run. Back when they were in love.

His shoulders sag as he lets himself be calmed but Apollo doesn't turn around. He raises a hand, covering M's own, holding his embrace in place in a silent thanks for whatever this is. ]

I hope you're right. [ He closes his eyes briefly, murmuring: ] God, I just feel so fucking helpless here.

[ A quiet admission, reflective of only a fraction of the vast depths of powerlessness that Apollo really feels. Powerless to help Jenny. Powerless to do anything in this stupid world. ]

[Without meaning to, M rests his head against Apollo's broad shoulders. It was like trying to hug a mountain. Andrew was never built like this--never would be. They're two different people, after all.

At the other man's words, he embraces him tighter, speaking softly.]

You're many things, Apollo. Helpless isn't one of them.

[Strands of the older man's long hair tickles his face, and not for the first time does M find himself appreciating it. It's a good look on him.]

You can't change the world in a month.

[ Midnighter's embrace tightens and Apollo realises just how long and lonely these past three years have actually been. He feels M's words more than hears them - a dull vibration against his back, the tickle of warm breath at his nape - and although he isn't entirely listening to what M is saying Apollo finds himself humming a soft noise of understanding in response.

Words fail him, and not for the first time in his life. Apollo had been stony and silent when Midnighter left and now, three years later, he's just as silent. But this time it's other emotions that leave him bereft: anger, yes, but sadness and guilt too.

But, Jesus Christ, despite all that? It's good to be hugged. The reassuring pressure of arms around him - both familiar and strange all at once - is something Apollo has missed terribly. Painfully. So much so that it's irresistible to turn in Midnighter's embrace, gently manoeuvring the other man's arms to give him enough space to turn and return the hug. To envelop the younger man in his own arms, to properly hold Midnighter and be held in return, to anchor himself properly to the one thing in this ridiculous world that even begins to make sense to Apollo. He sighs, hands gathered loosely in the small of Midnighter's back, then whispers: ]

Thanks.

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