Playing tag... was fun. And it also was a thing Dar hadn't done for a long time. It hadn't taken too long for his childhood to take a turn for the worse, and the other parents started to try to keep their kids away from him. A bad influence, they called him. They weren't really wrong. Still, playing tag was fun, and Dar was enjoying that moment. It was a nice break from thievery and irresponsible spending, after all.
Of course, he was still Dar'Kneevel, and that meant that wherever he went, disaster would soon follow. Slaed crashed to the ground, and the state of his leg gave Dar chills. The girl quickly jumped off to check on him, and Dar followed soon after. When he got there, the girl was saying strange things, like "access data", "memory protocol" and "10". Ew, numbers.
"Row, row, *bzzt* row your boat, gently *bzzt* down the stream..."
The sladebot answered, with added bits of static to the song. Dar winced as the girl popped the leg back into place as if it was nothing, and then only watched as she told the Slaed to stand, too confused to ask anything. Thankfully, the robot still seemed able to follow orders... and as so, he stood. Well, he tried to stand, because halfway through, he was already falling to the side like a tree that had been cut. At this point, Dar couldn't exactly hold his curiosity any longer.
The Sladebot wasn't working exactly how she'd anticipated. Especially since it was singing instead of answering her questions. Rose frowned at the bot before glancing up sharply at Dar as he approached. She had almost forgotten about him.
"No," the response was clipped as she got back to her feet and tried to catch the bot as it began to fall over. "It's just a technical error," a pause, "and none of your business. You better not tell anyone about this." That said, the girl balanced her "father's" weight on one shoulder and gave him a solid thump across the chest. There was a hollow noise, followed by an inhuman clang, and then she moved him back upright again.
"We're done with tag for the night," she said gingerly releasing her hold on the bot to see if he would stay upright. Her hands were still out, splayed, to catch him quickly should he fall. "I seem to remember you owe me a hotdog."
The answer was short and simple. The boy backed out a little upon hearing it, but didn't worry too much over it.
"Yo, thought that was already settled. I mean, not telling anyone about this, ever."
He put his hands in his pockets, standing against the wall and looking to the other side. Meanwhile, the girl tested the robot a bit more, trying to see if he had recovered his balance... he hadn't, and was caught by Ravager as soon as his fall started. She once again turned to the boy, reminding him of... unfinished business.
"Hell yeah, I do."
The kid walked away from the wall, taking a couple steps towards the exit of the alley before stopping to look back to see if the girl was following him or not, and to wait for her. He wasn't really in a rush, all things considered. Though he was hungry, but sure, that could wait a little more.
Getting a robot to walk was easier said then done when it was already broken. Rose maneuvered the Daddy-bot to an upright standing position and rattled him, wincing at the noise the loose parts made as they banged inside the robotic cavities. She supported the robot as they trundled along after the boy, who seemed to think it was perfectly normal.
In a way it was. Her Dad had fallen and hurt himself, and now he was being helped to limp wherever they were going by his daughter. That made sense. But, if it actually had been her Dad he never would have fallen in the first place. Or played tag with her. Or payed any attention to her.
Rose didn't actually know where they were going until Dar led them there. She found a nearby park bench and set the robot down, letting him sit there with a back support while she scampered after her new friend. "Dad doesn't eat hotdogs," she explained. "He's on a heart healthy diet or something like that," it wasn't entirely the truth, though, she couldn't picture her father ever eating a hot dog like a normal person. Or even like Batman. And heart problems could maybe explain why he'd face-planted in the alleyway and had been left to rest, like any other old man, on a park bench.
The girl easily settled into line besides him. "I'll take one with everything."
Something about that was wildly off. The whole leg thing, the nerdspeak, and the fact that the infamous almighty Slade had suddenly forgotten how to stand up didn't make that any more natural. Of course, sladekid or not, the girl still had a pretty sharp-looking sword, and he wasn't about to test how sharp it was. Basic survival skills, when playing along doesn't hurt you, there's no reason to try to play smart. He led the way, avoiding shortcuts in favor of a path without too many jumps, but still keeping to the shade.
Until they reached the point. It wasn't exactly pretty, fancy or even big: An old van, probably from the 70s, modified to be open and to host the needed facilities to make the hotdogs, which wasn't much beside a place to cook the sausages and other ingredients and to fry anything that needed to be fried. A few tables and chair were scattered around the place so the customers could sit if they wanted, and a small board with the menu options hanged from the side of the vehicle, and a song came out of a small radio also in the van.
Jay himself wasn't an impressive sight either. The man appeared to be in his 40s, with brown, graying greasy long hair that went to the middle of his back but not to the top of his head, which was hidden by a red bandana and a trucker hat on top of it. He had a golden ring in his left ear, and his facial hair was composed of mutton chops combined with a scraggly goatee, and his clothes were old and beat, composed of a black leather sleeveless jacket, a T-shirt that once had been white, beat up jeans and sneakers, completed with an orange apron on top of it all, dirty with stains of oil and sauces. He seemed happy to see Dar, and not at all surprised at the company, a serene smile on his face.
"Hey, kid, knew you'd show up. Same as always?"
"You know it, yo. I'm covering for her as well." He pointed to Ravager, who was standing behind him.
"Having a generous streak, eh? Good to see that." The man took the orders, and sure enough started preparing the hotdogs with surprising speed. "Nice to see the D-boy bringing a new friend, kid's alone way too often."
"Aw, come on!" Dar started protesting, but was interrupted as a hotdog was shoved into his hands, of course, after the girl received hers. It had pretty much everything one could expect to exist in a hotdog and then more: mashed potatoes, peas, bacon, and the list went on and on to build what was probably the largest hotdog the girl had ever seen, unless Slade had tried to genetically engineer giant hotdogs at some point. The young thief took some money out of his pocket and handed it to the older man, who simply smiled and put it in the register.
When the boy had offered her a hotdog this was probably the last thing that she had been expecting. The girl's eyes widened comically as she was given a gigantic hotdog that had anything you could ever put on a hotdog and then some. She took a bite, making an exaggerated and cartoonish chewing face before grinning like an idiot as she lead the way over towards where they'd left the Sladebot at a half-skip pace.
"This is the best hotdog ever!" she exclaimed plopping down on the bench next to her "Dad." "Too bad you can't have any, Daddy," she added with a teasing smirk. There were a few moments where she was silent, eating her hotdog, before she piped up again her gaze focused on Dar. "What were you doing in that alleyway anyway?"
The boy grinned as the girl did, noticing her approval. It felt good to get Jay new clients, mostly because that amped up his own rep in here. That, and hey, it WAS an awesome hotdog. The localization and the initial appearance both meant really few people went out of their way to eat here, which made spreading knowledge about that hidden gem so much sweeter.
The young Ravager turned to her father, who merely smiled back a kind smile, managing to form a few words.
"It is no problem. I am glad you are enjoying it, dear daughter!"
His voice was slightly different, but it seemed he was already back to forming coherent senteces. Maybe the punch to the chest back then had helped it. Dar quietly sat down in the bench, sitting on the corner, leaving the girl between him and Slade. He ate quietly for a while, focused on his meal, but then the girl grabbed his attention with a question.
"Told ya already, I was taking a shortcut. I was hungry and didn't want to walk all the way around to get here, so I decided I'd jump a few walls and take some darker alleys to get here faster. I just didn't have any idea I'd end up bumping into you and your... you know, now that I think about it, I never got your name."
He asked, a bit curious. How he had gone until that moment without getting the girl's name escaped him, and as he waited for her answer, he found that yet another important question hadn't been asked yet.
Rose took another bite of her hotdog, listening as Dar explained what was going on. "My name is Ro-Ravager," the girl replied mentally cursing herself for the slip-up. She'd almost forgotten she was still in costume she was having so much fun, and she hadn't even had to beat up anybody yet! This was definitely a weird night.
When Dar asked about drinks the little ninja nodded. "Yeah, sure," she replied. "I should probably get Daddy back soon," she gave the robot a worried glance. "I need to…make sure he's okay," or fix him, rather, but saying that out loud was just asking for weird questions…or bad birth control jokes about her not wanting any more siblings.
Was all the boy could think of replying before he got up. Of course he wouldn't get a straight answer from her, he hadn't given her his real name, and she was still Slade's daughter. Thankfully, he still had to get drinks, so he had a good excuse to leave. Of course, she didn't give him a straight answer there either. What kind of person didn't reply with the drink they wanted when asked if they wanted drinks? He was no fortune teller. Of course, one thing he knew... that Slade was a robot. I mean, it was pretty obvious, all things considered. But he played along, nodding silently as he went to get the drinks. Playing dumb sometimes was by far the best course of action, and this time was no exception. He returned shortly after with two cold cans of beer. If she didn't drink beer, then well, he'd just order her drink and have the two cans for himself.
"You drink?"
Either way, after the drink serving was through, he sat at the bench again, taking a sip of his beer. He sat silent for a few seconds, before opening his mouth to talk again, fiddling with his thumbs and carefully measuring his words, like each of them had a particular weight to them... and to him, in a way they had.
"Yo, uh... it's... pretty cool that your dad goes out with you like this. Like... I don't know, you're pretty lucky."
While Dar was off getting drinks, Rose was busy checking on her robot daddy. So far there were no visible signs of deterioration, and she wasn't sure if the boy suspected anything yet. If a gear popped out of his shoulder, though, the proverbial jig would be up and it'd be super obvious that her “Dad” wasn't a person. When Dar returned Rose stopped suspiciously poking her fake Dad to catch the drink offered to her.
“Sure, I do,” the girl replied sending a sidelong glance at the robot dad to see if he would protest. Then Dar was saying how lucky she was that she had a Dad who would hang out with her. It was kind of ironic, and really sad, that she'd had to build a robotic version of her Dad (that acted nothing like her Dad) to hang out with because her real one wanted nothing to do with her.
“Yeah...” Rose replied, trailing off and staring at her can. “Super lucky.” she didn't sound totally convincing, and she frowned up at Dar. “I guess you don't have a great relationship with your Dad?”
The situation was a unreal, even for the Dar. He was sharing a hotdog with Slade's daughter, and some sort of robotic Slade was accompanying the duo. He was essentially having a casual chat with the daughter of the most influential person in Jump City's underworld... a name he knew to fear, even if only for its reputation, since he had done a great job at avoiding it. Until now, when an insane peak of both good and bad luck had him fall on top of the duo, and proceed to talk and play with them in friendly terms. Life in Jump City sure was crazy.
When Ravager got her beer, the Sladebot didn't protest, probably because both respect for laws and being angry at his daughter weren't in his programming. Instead, he merely smiled, or got as close to a smile as a Sladebot could, talking partly to himself, and partly to the girl.
"Oh, they grow up so fast..."
Another bit of silence followed, before Dar decided to test the waters again with another question. The answer was... well, it was something. Her tone, and more than that, her frown, were two very strong signs that, not surprisingly, the real Slade wasn't really like that one. In a way, the boy could relate...
"Nah, he's a great guy. It's just... well, he works a lot, you know? It's just that he's this really big shot, so he has a lot of really important stuff to do. So... you know. He's busy."
Dar said it in the most uncaring, cool tone possible, but the big gulp of beer he took right after that betrayed his intentions. He sighed, resigning to eating his hotdog. More than once, he had told himself he wouldn't really be bothered by that anymore, and all those times, he ended up failing.
"But nothing is more important to a parent than loving and caring for your child!"
The robot suddenly blurted out, unmoving, staring forward as if turning his head around would cause it to fall off. He seemed tranquil, almost cheerful, seemingly unaware of the unfortunate implications of what he had just said. Dar quickly drank the rest of his beer, crushing the empty can in his hand and tossing it in a nearby trash can. He didn't seem as calm or happy as the robot.
"Yeah, thanks, but I can clean my own butt. Why are we even talking about this, anyway?"
Did she really think that he wouldn't notice that something from his inventory was missing? Rose knew nothing of the meticulousness her father was capable of, and when it came to the robots that were meant to represent him on the field he took particular care. The reject had been from a line that he was working on that integrated a level of autonomy in its programming, much like his foot soldiers in the event that his control was compromised. That way, the robot could make its escape until Slade could regain control or, after some time self-detonate. He had thought it was incinerated. What had alerted him to its continued existence was a small blip on his monitor that told him someone... or something... was trying to access a data-bank he hadn't made use of since his failed postponed project.
Robots could be captured, taken apart, and investigated for clues. Their very make-up could reveal parts of his operation that he wanted to remain in the shadows. The risk was not enough that he wouldn't use them, but he would rather have them destroyed on site than let them fall into enemy hands. A robot that would be linked to the manufacturer and his secret base was one thing, but a robot that had his memories was another matter entirely. Even if having a robot that could replicate his persona on auto-pilot could prove useful, it was quite the risk. Slade enjoyed playing with risks, but he wouldn't be a mastermind if he didn't calculate the worth of that risk against all other options. As it stood, he didn't care enough to put it out there until he could be sure it was a perfect design.
That was why such an obvious failure being out there as his daughter's plaything infuriated him. Oh, he knew exactly what they were up to. The control function that was a vital part of the design had many layers, and while most of them in that particular model were trash, some were still functional. Through its eyes, he was able to see as his daughter and a boy played tag. He was able to hear the ludicrous responses in his own voice modulation that would tarnish his reputation. He sat in his chair, glaring at the screen with his one eye through the iconic mask. His elbows rested on the thick arms of the solid piece and his armoured fingers locked in front of him as he leaned back, thumbs tapping as a sign of his agitation.
He blamed himself for allowing his daughter's reckless disobedience. Did he hold better esteem for her intelligence, he could consider the idea that she took advantage of his paternal inclinations and used them in acts of defiance. Rather, he just considered it an example of her foolishness. Reckless girl; if she were his apprentice he would never allow this behaviour. She wouldn't dare risk his wrath. Alas, dealing with his daughter was more complicated then manipulating other teenagers.
Speaking of which, he had to do something about the boy. He unlatched his fingers and leaned back into the computer. He quickly typed in certain keys in a string of program-specific codes. It was time to test the bot's self-destruct function. That would be an easy way of dealing with the matter. If it failed, then he would have to send in another to deal with it himself. Honestly, the explosion would be kinder.
Rose could relate to what Dar was saying. Her father was often so busy he seemed to forget that she existed. Though, half the time he wasn't sure if ever wanted her to exist in the first place. The girl fiddled with her beer can, twisting the pull tab back and forth between gloved fingers. “That sucks,” she said, smirking at what the Daddy!Bot had to say about that. Why couldn't her real dad be as caring as this one?
The girl made a snorting noise when Dar asked why they were talking about this parental crap. “You brought it up, loser,” the youngest Wilson snapped. Then she froze, her masked eye widening. There was a sound coming from inside the Sladebot. Rose knew that sound, and it made her heart skip a beat. It meant someone had turned on the self-destruct. It meant someone knew about the bot. It meant she was in serious trouble.
“Shit.” the girl swore in a whisper, dropping her beer to the ground and grabbing at Dar's arm. The can hit with a clunk, the liquid pouring out, as she tried to pull her friend out of the way. “He's gunna-” she tried to explain, but ran out of time when the counter hit the bottom. The bot did not explode. Instead he made a strange rattling sound that kinda sounded like a fart to Rose's immature ears. The girl started giggling, first nervously, and then in relief.
TTGG Activity Feed. Feel free to post updates in this box. Provide links to threads you update or want people to join. This is not a chatbox. Thank you.
Alviss: Darn doesn't show the pic
Apr 18, 2019 7:10:17 GMT -6
force: miss this place. if anyone comes back and sees this, i'm force, i was kid flash here once. you can find me on discord at rook#9485
Jan 12, 2023 13:11:35 GMT -6
The roleplay takes place after the series end of the original Teen Titans animated show, but does not include the movie Trouble in Tokyo. Since then Robin has been on something of a recruiting spree, and many new young heroes have found themselves a home in Jump City as well as Titan Tower.
SILVRISABESUALISHATRINITYsupport boardsw3schools Images (c) DC Character and everything else belong to their owners. if there is something that is yours here, but it isn't credited for, please contact an admin and we will immediately add you to the credits.