[dickva] love in a hopeless place ;(

[wareffort]

[ The Magistrate held Gotham City in a tighter chokehold than any before it. Where Gotham has seen corruption swell in the ranks of its police before, ameliorated only by the interventions of Batman in his early career, the city has seen the entrenchment of a more dedicated police state in recent years. The gerrymandering towards the interests of politicians acting as puppets for the Magistrate, in a more clandestine and concerted effort than even the Court of Owls had ever mounted, divided the city. Swayed public opinion to favor and rationalize the excessive force of the police, who then could dispense gratuitous violence upon Gotham's citizens with impunity. Every little thing was micromanaged, the slightest mistake punished with the severity of a Special Tribunal.

This couldn't have happened at a worse time. Justice League personnel were either missing or scattered, mired in turmoils of their own. Though Bruce had a plan in motion and was ready to execute it against the Magistrate, he had suddenly vanished. As time passed, it was becoming increasingly plausible to just presume that Batman was dead. But Bruce has pulled a disappearing act before, lost in time thanks to Darkseid's omega beam, only to restore himself to the present. Dick wants to believe Bruce is still out there, biding his time with some miracle he's preparing-- something to put an end to the Magistrate's impositions of martial law. Though the Magistrate represents a larger tide of authoritarian power moves across the globe, Dick sees a chance here to flip hegemony's chessboard.

Because he can't wait for Bruce. He can't hold out for something not guaranteed.

Nightwing has to act.

And his first measure was to found an insurgency, comprised of allies and former enemies alike. Gone now were the days of mysteries, conspiracies, wars for criminal capital. The stuff that Gotham's heroes tended to fight had become a bygone luxury in hindsight, a luxury compared to the violent surveillance of the Magistrate. Nightwing has had to spread himself thin, fighting the Magistrate's forces at every step. Protecting independent subversives from being targeted in their homes, protecting innocent people from being attacked out on the streets... it's everything Dick has ever done, with greater intensity. A political urgency.

Without the Justice League to call upon, Dick has had to expand his network of contacts. Pull from the world of heroes he grew up in, whose ideas raised him as much as Bruce's have. Clark had the Legion of Superheroes to count on, at times. Hal, the might of the Green Lantern Corps. Bruce, the Batmen of All Nations. And while Dick had the Titans, who were themselves spread thin across all corners of the globe, he had the Outsiders here in Gotham. He had everyone who's ever been impacted by him and Bruce enough to join their war on crime.

And now, he has Overwatch.

There's no denying that the Magistrate was getting extra firepower from Talon, supplying the regime with organic and omnic muscle alike. The escalation this brought forth warranted Dick's own, bringing him to his multi-monitored terminal in Arkham Asylum, whose inner chambers he's turned into his own secret headquarters. ]

Connect me to Winston, Tim. It's time.

[ In a text message on the screen, Tim assents. Winston appears on screen, ready to address Dick. ]

I know you have some action ongoing in Gibraltar.

But for the mission ahead, I'm gonna need some extra firepower. Cover for what I plan to do in the shadows.

Anybody on standby?

[ Upon receiving confirmation, Dick receives coordinates. He knows who's being sent his way, and where. Amidst the chaos of everything necessitating this situation... it's who he hoped it would be. But part of him has to bury that hope, for now, the joy of anticipation so at odds with his task.

The coordinates Winston sent correspond to a rendezvous point on top of Oracle's former clocktower. ]

Thanks, Winston. I'll debrief when I reach the rendezvous point.

[ Best not to communicate everything here. Dick knows better than to be too candid on encrypted channels.

With that, Dick gears up. Puts on a reinforced version of his typical Nightwing ensemble, all to protect him when facing down more cybernetic threats. Clandestinely, he exits the asylum and grapples high, keen to avoid detection by the Magistrate's searchlights. He anticipates reaching the clock tower in five minutes, the speed and fluidity of his body utterly compelled by the importance of his mission. Everyone has their place, active throughout Gotham to make the Magistrate fight a war on all fronts.

As leader, Dick has his place. Making sure everything goes according to plan. He just needs a little help to do it.

Because if Bruce isn't here to produce a miracle, Dick will. ]

Comments

[dva]

[ It's... been a while, hasn't it? The world was starting to come to a boiling point – rebellions, invasions, cults, whatever you want to throw a pin in, it happened. Each country had something going on, cities sometimes engulfed with their own issues where they couldn't help their neighbors. It takes a bit to get back to helping – for Overwatch to fill a void that was so clearly growing bigger and bigger.

Hana hasn't been here since... she got a call back home. When her people and her city needed her. It was like domino blocks after that, one by one and bringing her further away. They called it quits before it even got deep – maybe on a sour note, maybe on one that was understanding. They both may have thought of 'what-ifs', but life worked in weird ways even when they were tugged apart. So much had changed... and ah! She feels like a tourist again! It was not as technologically advanced as Seoul, but what was? There, for a time, omnics were helping advance instead of small sectors of them trying to destroy. The Gwishin always showed at inopportune time... so any hope of stability was gone. Less gaming, less acting, less play and more mission.

But, there wasn't a complaint. It was her duty, her promise to her people. With joining Overwatch, she has help back home. She knows they can keep her people safe too – even if she's just learning to stop being the star of the show.

When Winston contacts her, it wasn't simply because of who was available. She knows Gotham, supposedly, but a lot has changed since she was here. She knows what's at risk and how to handle herself solo or with a team. There was a bit of doubt at first, but hey? Duty wasn't picky, so she takes it with pride.

Meka was piloted here in Gotham with a low hum, a darkened paint job helping blend into the clouded sky. That damn invisibility mode wasn't quite set up – she'd never be quiet about not adapting Sombra's stolen tech to her mech before their latest mission, but... she doesn't argue. Hana finds herself slowing her speed when she seeds a shadow move up the coordinates clocked into her console.

She didn't think it would really hit her – but, she's glad he's okay and there's a small smile tugging onto her lips. With her hands leaving the sticks, she tugs her hair back into a ponytail, letting the mecha hover to a suitable stop. The hiss of decompression gives her a leeway to instead lean halfway out of Meka, laying over the edge with a sly smirk on her face. ]

Hiiiiii, heard you needed a second player.

[ She keeps it light, even if her eyes were more attentive – as if trying to grow familiar with the form in front of her... there was that sunny accent kicking in. ]

Been a while, huh?