The Barkeep (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
forcegalactic) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
melodiesoflife2015-08-15 04:44 pm
forcegalactic) wrote in melodiesoflife2015-08-15 04:44 pm
Life Inspires Art
Characters: Barkeep and OPEN
Where: Observatory
When: August 16-22
Summary: Barkeep picks up writing again and asks you for "character inspiration".
Warning: This information will be used to write fanfiction starring your characters. It'll be kept private for the most part until it's eventually discovered some time later.
With with saloon and home burnt to the ground, Mordecai was back to being a stranger on a strange planet, though not as de-powered as he initially was months ago. That did nothing to improve his mood. Getting into fights and turning into a crystal statue for twenty-eight years was more than enough trouble for him, and he took this calm after the storm to attempt to settle back into a normal routine.
The lack of an establishment to run meant he needed his other method of coping with stress and boredom. Barkeep fancied himself an amateur writer, and for the entire week, he makes his home in the observatory, spending hours scribbling notes on stacks of paper, but that's all they were: groups of words, no connection to each other. This was a serious case of writer's block. Therefore, it was time to look for inspiration.
As the other Heroes wander the rooms in the Observatory, the Barkeep will call them over to a table, wondering if he could ask them a few questions.
Where: Observatory
When: August 16-22
Summary: Barkeep picks up writing again and asks you for "character inspiration".
Warning: This information will be used to write fanfiction starring your characters. It'll be kept private for the most part until it's eventually discovered some time later.
With with saloon and home burnt to the ground, Mordecai was back to being a stranger on a strange planet, though not as de-powered as he initially was months ago. That did nothing to improve his mood. Getting into fights and turning into a crystal statue for twenty-eight years was more than enough trouble for him, and he took this calm after the storm to attempt to settle back into a normal routine.
The lack of an establishment to run meant he needed his other method of coping with stress and boredom. Barkeep fancied himself an amateur writer, and for the entire week, he makes his home in the observatory, spending hours scribbling notes on stacks of paper, but that's all they were: groups of words, no connection to each other. This was a serious case of writer's block. Therefore, it was time to look for inspiration.
As the other Heroes wander the rooms in the Observatory, the Barkeep will call them over to a table, wondering if he could ask them a few questions.
i am so sorry for this
"'Cosmic space powers'?" Johnny looks confused, but understands the feeling of them being taken away. "Sounds pretty cool... But I know what ya mean. I used to be way stronger and faster. I trained like crazy in Exsilium. My friend Coby taught me some amazing techniques. I bulked up by working out every day. Ya might've noticed I'm not exactly all human, and the other half of my family tree's helped me be a good fighter, at least. 'Bout the only good thing it's ever done for me."
As far as the fate of Exsilium's Earth, Johnny's face grows grim. He'd have to explain it, but he feels a little guilty dropping it all on a stranger.
"Okay, so... That Earth was already majorly fucked up. Nuclear war ruined it, 'n there weren't a lotta people left. This group called the United Earth kinda held a dictatorship over everything, 'cept for a place called Exsilium. That's where I was. These scientists called the Initiative had one thing the UE didn't have, and that was time 'n dimensional manipulation. I wasn't a fan of them either, since they pretty much cosmically kidnapped people to conscript 'em into their side against the UE.
"The Initiative was usin' time travel to go back and change things in the past to fix the present, to get the upper hand on the UE. It's really all they had. The UE sent their crazy super soldiers at us, zombies, tried to wipe us out with a virus... but we kept fightin'." He shakes his head. Johnny often wonders why he bothered, as he didn't like the Initiative. But he hated them less than the UE, that was for sure.
His hands wring tightly around his coffee mug as he continues. "At one point though, they had enough. And they nuked us. The Transports - that's us kidnappees - and most of the Initiative got away to the moon base, but we had to leave the locals behind. 500,000 of them. There was nothin' we could do." Everyone in the Initiative had to watch it happen as their transport shuttle took off. Johnny still has nightmares about it.
"It took a long time, like 4 months, but after awhile the Initiative and our missions back in time changed things on Earth so much that it had never happened. Everythin' changed. It used to rain all the time cuz of nuclear winter, but now it was just all covered in snow. People were livin' better lives despite that, cuz the UE was weaker from our efforts. But the trade off was they didn't remember us once we came back. The Initiative didn't exist to them. It sucked, but it was better than them all bein' dead."
Inhuman folk like Johnny were no longer welcome, though. He'd have rather had the dilapidated, rainy town, so long as he was welcome there.
"It all ended for a lot of us when time went all funny, holes started opening up and messin' everything up. One of our missions even went totally sour cuz time was... reacting badly, I guess. People started disappearin', or just leaving. I tried to follow someone out, to go with him to his world or wherever we'd end up, but instead I ended up here. And he ain't."
Johnny's voice is quiet by the end of that, and he tries to cover up his heartbreak by taking a drink from his cup. He realizes how awkward all that news is, so he clears his throat and tries to shrug it off like it was nothing.
"So that's my story, man. What's yers? Somethin' about cosmic space powers."
no subject
"Uh, right." His voice warbled before it found its footing. "Space powers. Namely, the Force Galactic, which I used to possess before Ancient magic took it away from me. V'Stalu of the Galaxium bestowed the Force Galactic on me so I could save the universe from an alternate future evil dictator, but he passed on before I could return it. So I've been usin' it sparingly around the house, but when it's needed, I can do anythin' I set my mind to."
He tapped his forehead with a finger. "I was omnipotent on Mars."
no subject
Barkeep's story gets a bit of a skeptical eyebrow. "Omnipotent. Seriously? You could just do whatever ya wanted? But ya still ended up here? What a raw deal. Of course they wouldn't let ya keep 'em, or you'd be outta here in no time." Johnny gives him the benefit of the doubt, considering Barkeep took his own ridiculous story without questioning how insane it sounded.
"This world's in trouble if we all find ways to get ourselves back to normal. Maybe someday we'll figure out how to get rid of these Jobs so we can have our old stuff back."
no subject
He was right to be skeptical. Most people were until he had a chance to show off his abilities and save the day. "Wish I could prove to you what I could do with the air molecules in this room, but you'll have to take my word for it. Ideally, I could solve this Calamity mess in minutes the moment I learned what it was, but that ain't happenin'. Now I'm stuck with these Jobs."
Being an Illusionist was like having a demo version of the Force Galactic.
"Funny thing is I got access to my space powers for a few seconds. Remember that fight with Jenni?" He waited for the memory to come back. "That laser that destroyed the illusions was me usin' the Force Galactic."
no subject
"D'ya think it's possible to fix these Jobs so we can do what we used to? I mean, new Jobs pop up all the time. I guess you'd have to screw with crystals and stuff, and, well..."
A shrug. That might be more dangerous than it sounds.
"I guess the only one who know stuff about that is Kalki."
no subject
"With everyone investigatin' Palitutu's papers, I think we'll find out soon enough."
no subject
Johnny thinks that last part over, frowning a bit.
"I guess she had to get outta here in a hurry, but do ya think she might have actually left anythin' useful behind? She probably had this planned ever since we found out the Weapon thing existed."
no subject
He was a barkeep, not an adventurer. Leave the dangerous work to the other folks, that's what he always did and what he should have done last month. While being an important member of the battle against Jenni was a source of pride, the fact he got hurt and wasted time running across town painted his experience in a completely negative light. Ignore that "desire of peace makes you mighty" thing, he hates being in the middle of all this trouble.