Video 001⚡

[guruofspeed]

[A somewhat wan older man is looking at the camera. If there's one thing the superhero life enforces, Max's life by being what it was enforces, it's how to get familiar with strange things quick. Thankfully the communicator wasn't too hard to figure out how to use. On the other hand, he's never managed to end up somewhere completely new and then a hospital immediately after. At least the fact that speedsters heal quickly got him out of the hospital much sooner than later. The painkillers they prescribed him will help, but he's used to dealing with pain now and again.]

I guess I should feel lucky they're well prepared for when people show up here, but I think I would have preferred skipping the hospital trip. I managed to get an idea of what was going on from a few news magazines while I was there, but I'm still going to have to make a few library trips. [One of the best resources for someone who skips through time.] See if I can't find some more historical context and what's different here. I can't say I'm an expert on the Cold War since my focus has always been on Native American history [Personal interest, though so many jumps into the future means he's had to become good at figuring out what happened in the years in between.] There should be more to find out, since you don't have a cold war turn hot all by itself..

[He suddenly shivers, like someone just walked over his grave. Not the greatest feeling in the world, especially when it makes him wonder at the specific cause.]

In the mean time, could someone tell me if they know a kid named Bart Allen?

[He has a suspicion.]

[Optional action:

For anyone else who lives at Maurtia Falls #002, they can come across Max in the living room, reclining back on the couch he's sitting on shortly after the network post. Some of the bandaging crossing his chest is visible, his shirt partially unbuttoned from having just checked to make sure it was in place. He'll get up in a moment to find his way to figure out claiming a room, really.]

Comments

video;

[catchacold]

[He almost dismisses the post, he has his own view on history and time travel has impacted that a little, but he doesn't have the knowledge or drive to teach anyone. However, then comes that name and, well:]

Popular name around here.

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[guruofspeed]

[Everyone has different ways of looking at history. For Max, it's his version of catching up what he missed, like when other people miss news.]

Is that so?

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[catchacold]

I ran into at least two of them so far.

[There is no such thing as a subtle emphasis with his speech patterns. It's heard.]

video

[tactical_lalafel]

Count yourself lucky that at least it's a world bearing some resemblance to your own.

[Says what looks like an anime version of a hobbit.]

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[guruofspeed]

[That's a new one on him.]

I guess I should. Not so lucky yourself?

Re: video

[tactical_lalafel]

You tell me. Ever heard of a Lalafell before?

[airshow]

[ Let's just. Tactfully skip the Bart question. Okay, so he doesn't really know Max, exactly, not well anyway, but they were on good-ish terms last time they'd spoken, right? Back in the day. Back when Trickster still had a ponytail. Back before everything went to hell.

So he puts out a concerned feeler. ]

Hospital trip? Hope you're feeling better.

[guruofspeed]

[Trickster. Someone whose id on the network says they're supposed to be Captain Cold. That's two.]

Better's one way to put it.

[They at least took the bullet out and patched him up.]

[airshow]

What's the other way to put it?

video; Display name is the S-shield

[andaway]

I'd say the name rings a bell, yes.

Has he found you yet?

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[guruofspeed]

[And Superman is here, too?]

I'm sure he will sooner than later.

[Unless something distracted him.]

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[andaway]

I'm sure he'll come flying by any time now.

[There's a pause as Kal reaches to rub the back of his neck, wondering how to word what he wants to say.] ...So, how much about this place have you been told?

[backinakidflash]

[ Apparently, you can't throw a jar of peanut butter and some cilantro onto pasta and have it taste like pad thai. Or like food.

Cooking remains an adventure. Bart's dinner is so bad that it is sitting untouched in front of him in the feed, or maybe he's so dumbstruck by this appearance that he's forgotten to eat.

It's very much a feeling of "Oh shit, look like you know what you're doing because an actual grown-up is here." Baby Barry doesn't cut it. ]

Max?!

You can turn these things on?

[guruofspeed]

Bart?

[He's looking older than he did when Max last saw him. The alarming pile of pasta with- is that peanut butter?- gets dismissed. Bart isn't the only one dumbstruck.]

Cute. Who do you think turns off your consoles when you forget and leave them on?

[While he prefers to live simply, it doesn't mean he doesn't know how this stuff works on a general level.]

I'm in Maurtia Falls. Number two.

[Better to tell him now than risk Bart going through every single possible building looking for him.]

video ->action?

[backinakidflash]

[ Cooking was not on his training priority list. At least he didn't make Interlac pot pie again.

Max looks - the same. Then again, Max Nercury - Crandall gotta get used to thinking Crandall again - has always looked the same to Bart, just a perpetual state of old from the day they met to the day Barry drug Max back out of the Speed Force.

It doesn't escape Bart that most of the people he 'knows' here aren't quite "right"; it's just that, with his Uncle Max, he doesn't care. ]

I kinda figured they put themselves in rest mode. You know. Like a computer or my phone. Buuuuut now I'm thinking maybe not.

[ OK, OK, so maybe Max was tech savvy enough to shut the consoles down. He should've played them with Bart more. He wouldn't have seemed so stodgy about tech then -

oh. An address. That's basically code for "get here, now". ]

On my way.

[ The feed cuts out.

De Chima and Maurtia Falls might not be in the same state, but Bart is still there in under a minute, knocking on the door to #2 in a very annoying manner that has the same rhythm as the jingle currently stuck in his head. At least he took his time and didn't slam on the brakes right in front of Max's building leaving huge divots in the lawn? Right? Points for actually walking the walk? ]

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[socialactivillain]

—Max? When did you get here?

[ Piper's looking all ponytailed and 90s here, he may be a little behind on the times. ]

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[guruofspeed]

[As though he isn't, himself. Not that he knows for sure, but he has his suspicions at this point considering Bart's put on a couple years.]

A bit over a day ago, maybe more. [He was passed out for enough of it to not be completely sure.] Being hospitalized put a dent in their plans, I think.

[socialactivillain]

Hospitalized? What happened?

video. a day late. literally.

[tardily]

[ Actual questions Barry Allen finds himself asking with the beginnings of a rain cloud above his head: who is this person and why are they looking for Bart. ]

I do happen to know a kid named Bart Allen. Happen to know this guy named Barry Allen too. [ Says the guy with the id of Barry Allen. ] Why are you asking?

that late video.. and making an assumption that Bart at least says a Barry is here.

[guruofspeed]

[What is with the rain cloud?]

Do you now?

I'm asking about Bart because he's my [-ward because Wally asked for the favor-] nephew.

[And then he sees the id. It's one thing to be told, another to be seeing it for himself.]

Funny way of introducing yourself.

noted!

[tardily]

[ The porter thinking Barry's life is a funny joke. ]

I do. And I know whose nephew he'd be.

[ So, lying is a no go for Barry and immediately his evil speedster warning bells go off. Because clearly those haven't ever failed him. ]

I figured someone would have already told you. Or you wouldn't believe me when I said it. Most people find it weird. Wrong age and all.

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[wifeonmars]

[Hope Max is prepared for someone who is definitely not human and instead very green smiling at him.]

Oh! I know a Bart Allen! Are you a friend of his? It's always nice to meet someone from our universe. Or universe adjacent.

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[guruofspeed]

[A Martian?]

It's a pleasure to meet you, too. I'm his uncle, Max Crandall. [He is going to stick with this and makes sure it gets established, considering she's saying she knows him.

He's got a distinct feeling Bart's been loose with his identity.]

LATE VIDEO

[foreshadower]

The hospital? Getting in trouble already, old man?

[ Like he has room to talk. ]

[guruofspeed]

[Old? Pot meet kettle.]

Trouble found me before I even got here.

You, on the other hand...

[Bit late, aren't you?]