[ He wasn't actually expecting an answer for that, at least not a human one. So when he does get a holler back from the rooftops, his eyes swerve over to find— ]
Jason? [ Come to think of it, the guy looks beyond natural, framed by a grimy fire escape and a starless sky. Give him a domino mask and he could probably be some kind of comic book vigilante. This was definitely his doing. ] Dude, I was in the middle of something!
[ Sort of. Not really anything of consequence, he wasn't getting a ton of thought in anyway, who are we kidding but you should feel bad. Clambering back up the steps, he keeps his head craned up to squint at the guy lounging overhead. ]
And what's with the scenery anyway? You get too much sun last mission?
[Ah, what a missed opportunity. The domino mask is in his back pocket, not on his face. Too bad he didn't decide to get all daring.
Anyway wow, look. He's mostly innocent, here. He keeps his perch while Sigma struggles up to street level. Not much more than a story up—plenty close enough for conversations at heights. (Not his first, for sure.)]
Sorry, chief. If I knew it was occupado I would've waited my turn.
[Probably. In his defense, the placid picture he'd walked in on looked a whole lot like a VR screensaver. As for the scenery, he shrugs, spreading his hands palm-up from where he's leaning against the fire escape.]
Maybe it's their way of keeping a guy from getting homesick.
[It's not Gotham, but it's got the airs. They can go to the moon for Sigma next.]
[ You're a disappointment to comic book fanboys everywhere, Jason. ]
Guess I shoulda picked something a little more bombastic to go for a jog in, huh.
[ Which is fair, he could've gone for something like Venice beach or whatever, but speaking of homesick, it probably would've just made it worse for him. Like having your hamster die while you're at school and your parents replacing it before you get home. It looks right and feels right, but it isn't yours, and you just end up kind of angry and wanting nothing to do with it before long. ]
[ So by default, this is more interesting by far. He glances down the street and back again. ]
Looks about right. [ Books by their cover. But he's actually looking a little less annoyed and a tiny bit more intrigued by now. ] So, what was on the itinerary before it became interrupting mine? Spiderman roof parkour?
[ 'cause if you're gonna interrupt him you're gonna be stuck with him buddy. ]
[Batman family disappointment, at your service. Glad you're finally catching on.
Anyway. Angry and wanting nothing to do with it apply to a lot of things in Jason's life at this point, elements of Gotham city certainly included. So it's all par for the course, except for the parts where it's not. It's far and enough away that he can appreciate the familiarites for what they are without getting mired in the parts that hit too close to bad news. That's definitely not what he's here for.
But speaking of what he's here for. He cocks a brow at Spiderman—close, but no cigar—and gives the skyline a gauging look.]
Why? Y'wanna play a round of tag?
[Was that supposed to be a joke, it's hard to tell.]
[ Look you can't just attribute Batman to everything, you gotta cycle your pop culture references. ]
Hey, might as well, if you're offering.
[ Sounds like something new and exciting and definitely never attempted before now, but it can't be that hard, right? And falling in VR can't be that... life-threatening. Right? Besides, if Jason was joking, he should learn to live with the consequences of his actions. Sigma takes a couple steps back, sizing up the fire escape. It's one of those deals with the ladder tucked up on Jason's level, but it's not... that high up. ]
[ Alright, less thought more go, he makes a run for the wall of the building and jumps for it like a cat at a laser dot, springing off and making a wild grab for the metal structure overhead and... promptly landing fruitless back on the alley floor. ]
[ Parkour. ]
[ With a frustrated huff, he circles back, keeping his glare on the ladder to avoid looking at Jason. ]
Anyway, he can see from a mile away that that blind jump is going to land Sigma on his ass. But, y'know, points for effort.]
Wow, you're really going for it.
[That's cute.]
Quitting so soon? I think you almost had it that time.
[(No, he didn't.) He'll be a good sport, because Jason Todd is an expert in Bad Life Decisions and as no problem enabling this one. Probably not what Sigma meant when he said they should do something where he's actually conscious, but hey. His track record is improving already. Jason gets a heel on the ladder and shoves it downward with a screech of rust. It draws some attention from the digital passerbys, but they carry on soon afterward. Your move, bud,]
[ Being two degrees away from a Batman reference at any given moment is precisely how to live life, really. ]
[ And of course he went for it, what kind of man do you think he is? Not one that backs down from a challenge (despite asking for help. and Jason not even really challenging him in the first place.) Gritting his teeth and downing his pride for a second, he mounts the creaky ladder as soon as it touches down and scrambles his way up it to meet the other. ]
Not quitting, just starting on your level. You know, being fair.
[ Yeah. Anyway, moving sounds like the way to be right now, up on the cold metal structure where there's a little more airflow it's even chillier. So he rounds the stairs and continues quickly upward, where after climbing (carefully) onto the last set of railing, he manages to reach the lip of the roof itself and pull himself up onto it. It's not a graceful maneuver, but it's not a super tall building either, this is fine right... ]
[His whole life is a Batman reference, he wouldn't know.
Anyway. Sigma makes the arduous and rattley climb and passes up onto the roof, good job.]
Well, we wouldn't want you to be at a disadvantage. [He's a fair man. Hah. Jason pushes himself away from the wall and scales up over the side of the building with a but more ease than his company. He's no Flying Grayson, but he'd learned fast. And he'd gotten a lot better since hanging up his cape. Of course, once he gets up into the brisk air of the rooftop—]
You're looking a little peaky.
[Afraid of heights?]
Not going to start swooning again, are you?
[And wouldn't that just defeat the purpose of this little get together.]
[ And excuse you, it might not have been whisper-silent but it was a perfectly serviceable climb thank you very much. At least right up until the really precarious bit. Why was he up here again? Oh right, pride. And maybe a small itch of curiosity to see more of Jason in his natural habitat. He's not the friendliest dude, but he's got a skill set that only gets more interesting with each passing glimpse, this sort of thing definitely included. ]
[ But in all honesty it's mostly pride. The sort that puffs out his chest at the other's insinuations. ]
Hey, I'm done with that. [ He two-finger points up at his eyes, which are pretty razor sharp compared to all the other times the guy's seen them to give them credit. ] No crazy volcano magic, no ocean. You, me, and all these conveniently spaced brick buildings.
[ That are definitely not high up so long as he keeps his gaze straight forward. ]
[Hold onto your nerves, Sig. They're still close enough to the ground to catch the sound of computer-generated conversation drifting back up at them. This is basically the kiddie pool of urban rooftops.]
Mano a mano. I'll let you pick the terms since I think I'm playing home team.
[Sort of, anyway. The setting did seem to switch over in his favor, even if it's not a one-to-one.]
What're you up for? Touch Tag? King of the Mountain? How about a head start? I could close my eyes and count to ten.
[This is certainly more than a little facetious, and more than a little challenging. Even if Sigma's been hiding some slick skills under his damseling demeanor, Jason's feeling pretty confident. He knows he's gonna win this if it comes to competition, and he's not above being kind of a pain in the ass about it to pass the time and see what Sigma's got up his sleeve. Especially since he's proving to have some pretty easy buttons to push. You asked for this, bud.]
Edited (I swear I can type) 2016-07-13 01:07 (UTC)
[ Shut up it's still high enough to kill you if you suck. ]
[ Sigma frowns at this definitely sassier than necessary list of suggestions, evolving into a scoff that almost cuts Jason off. It's true, he's got a hell of a lot of buttons, and the majority of them are wired to shit like this, you dick. ]
Yeah, sure. Game of tag. Just give me five.
[ Don't even close your eyes, dude, this is all he'll need!! He really shouldn't be undercutting himself in the face of this kind of confidence, but if there's one thing he can do, it's run. Surely horizontal speed will make up for whatever he lacks in vertical, right? Anyway, shaking himself out, he knocks Jason in the arm for affirmation before squaring up to the next building over and digging in his heel. There's no fire escape on this side but it's only a couple feet taller... ]
Alright, ready? [ No backing out (that's for him, not the comic book vigilante). ] One, two three—
[ And he's off. As advertised, acceleration and speed are on his side, and it brings him to the lip of the roof in the span of a few strides. The approach is a little dicey, but not too much momentum is lost as he catapults himself out over the alley. Which is lucky, because alleys are apparently significantly wider when traversed from above, as much as this building seems significantly taller up close. He gets about half of himself over the roof's edge, enough over the top to latch on but also enough hanging off to give his feet a hell of a time, scraping against the bricks to help him haul his ass up. ]
[ There goes his entire head start, probably. Not to mention his heart is already hammering with adrenaline before exertion can remotely set in. He sure just did that. So if Jason isn't snatching at his ankles already, Sigma wastes no time in taking off for the next big obstacle. ]
I don't have any action icons rn please imagine one
Sigma's a pretty good sport, and Jason's a kind and generous soul, so he'll give him the whole ten seconds of headstart to be nice. ("Nice.") He hangs back to watch Sigma go, tracking his trajectory in case it decides to take a downward tip so soon. But amateur as it is, he manages to catch himself solidly, if clumsily. Well, could've been much worse. He can really book it when he wants to, huh.
7...8...9...That should be fair enough. Ready or not. Jason makes for the lip of the building at a run to kick off the edge. He lands with both feet on the concrete, retaining his momentum where Sigma had stuttered to a stop to pull himself upward again. Before Sigma can try for newbie parkour trick number two, he flips their pursuer/pursuee positions, reaching out to tag Sigma's shoulder so he can pick their route.]
Nice night for a run, huh? How about somewhere a little more scenic.
[That is, catch me if you can. This close to the stately suspension bridge on the horizon, they're a hop skip and a jump away from the docks. Squat warehouses, shipping containers, scaffolding. Plenty to work with without breaking out the grappling guns or the Varsity moves too soon. Jason cuts sharply in another direction, leading Sigma out toward the water. The next building is a little lower, and an easier jump to make, provided you aren't afraid of heights. Jason rolls with the impact and gains his feet, looking back just long enough to see if he's still got a tail.]
[ Just as he takes off again, his sails are pretty promptly punctured by a slap on the shoulder as Jason scoots on by, loosing all the wind they'd accumulated from the (relatively speaking) successful jump in one fell swoop. ]
You're kidding me!
[ More of a desperate exhale than a shout, but it doesn't trip him up too bad. Neither does the sudden direction change, at least until the dart takes him careening directly off the edge of the rooftop. And that didn't even slow him down, just filled about 1.5 seconds of his fall with regret and forced all the problem-solving into the last .5 of the drop. Even if he hadn't caught the tail end of Jason's landing, he's seen enough action movies to know that he should roll from this height to avoid snapping his ankles, but the specifics on how to roll are a different story. ]
[ He ends up slamming down onto the next roof, flinging himself forward onto a shoulder, and flopping about half a rotation more than strictly necessary, ending up on his side facing back the way he'd come. All accompanied by a loud string of groans and expletives. But with pride still on the line he twists where he lies without a moment's pause, legs working wildly to get his feet back beneath him and take off again, burning through the distance between them in a kind of impressive instant. ]
[ But before he can throw out a hand and make any attempt to tag the guy, they're probably at the next jump. ]
[Monkey see, monkey do. Luckily action movies and comic book physics have a lot in common. Sigma's overrotation isn't a showstopper, and he makes up for his mucked landings with some enthusiastic speed on the straightaways, so on they go. They're coming up on a stretch of industrial fencing cordoning off the under construction section of a blocky and half-formed structure. Jason grabs a handhold to kick off and swing himself over the fence in a bit of unnecessarily showy acrobatics. Flipping heels over head over chainlink, releasing at the top of the arc so he can follow through and vault over without losing speed and make a break in the direction of the bridge. Beyond, there's a spat of skeletal scaffolding, a few cranes. Some tarps flapping idly in the wind on the catwalks. Any headway he's gained through showing off is put to use in hopping the gap and vanishing behind them.]
look it wasn't the nonary obstacle course okay call back when the riddler shows up
[ Sigma probably wouldn't have gotten nearly as far in ALASTAIR if he hadn't watched as many movies as he has, let's be real. The fence comes up fast, Jason springs up faster, and without the ability (much less the inclination) to do a sweet frontflip over the top of it, he's left jumping and sticking to the fence like a cat claws-first in the drapes. The chainlink is a bit easier than the brickwork to scramble up though, and he does so adamantly, throwing his legs over the top of the fence and dismounting, hitting the ground running. ]
[ But he peters out once he looks up and realizes that Jason's taken the extra handful of seconds the fence cost him to vanish completely, reassembling his huffing breaths into a frustrated noise as he swivels his gaze. At least without the pounding of his own feet in the way, the sound of boots on plywood pings him rightward toward the rickety scaffolding and he takes off like a shot once again. ]
[ Of course if Jason's even still on the thing once he clambers up onto it is anyone's guess. ]
[Oh, he's still on the thing, alright. Just a story higher and a lot quieter all of a sudden. By the time Sigma catches up, the sound of footsteps he'd been following seems to have vanished. He's swung himself onto the top of the next level of scaffold and gone still to listen, a blot of shadow behind the shifting tarps.
It's a little mean, but hard to resist. He bides his time just long enough to hear Sigma passing down below before he moves again to drop down behind him. If Sigma's listening carefully enough, he just might catch the sound of the landing right behind him. (Boo.)]
[ Ugh, this bitch. He stalks to one end of the scaffold, then to the other, leaning out to peer up at the level above, tuned stubbornly into the smallest of noises. So when a set of boots land softly at his own heels, he jolts around and instead of the obvious half a step forward he'd need to tag the guy, instinct opts for half a step back. Out over thin air. ]
[ He plummets down a second before lunging out, and he's left with all he can do being to grab at the frame and catch himself. The entirety of his weight on a single unprepared shoulder, however, doesn't do him kind. Momentum arrested for sure, but with a yelp he lets go and drops to the ground below, crumpling straight onto his ass and hugging his affronted arm. ]
Okay, yeow, time out!
[ If he's got the sense left to say something like yeow, it can't be that bad, but it's the surprise talking here. ]
It's not a long enough fall to catch him, but also not a long enough fall to kill him. (Theoretically the training room also has some safeguards against that kind of thing, but then again Jason grew up with the live-fire course in the Batcave. Anything's possible.) Still, he's not heartless, and Sigma's alright. He'd actually feel like an asshole if the guy snapped a femur or something on his account.
"Yeow" isn't the noise of a gravely injured man, at least. Jason's already giving chase when Sigma drops off the edge, so he's got boots on the pavement not long after Sigma lands on his ass. He'll give him a second to collect himself, dropping into a crouch in front of him while Sigma rocks upright. Of course, he doesn't manage to sound very apologetic.]
You know, I really thought maybe you'd see that one coming.
[Not because he has an overabundance of faith in Sigma's vigilante-spotting vigilance. But even if he was busy swooning, he did have some remarkable intuition going on during their little walk down the volcano. (And just because he didn't respond to the call for psychic tutors doesn't mean he didn't spot it.)]
[ Even as Jason lands, Sigma's already shaking out his arm. Man, who was the genius that installed realistic pain sensors in these things, anyway? Not feeling anything would be eerie, but at least let him pick and choose with that level of technology... But maybe that'd end up weirder than things feeling like actual arms. ]
[ And it takes him a second to register what the other guy's actually getting at, but he does get what he's getting at. Eventually. He hadn't exactly been subtle with his whole I see the future and I am afraid spiel since getting back to Oska, on top of this guy being subjected to his overactive skills on Nalawi. ]
That's not how it works, dick.
[ Not normally, anyway. Special circumstances. (Reverie-esque you could say.) He might've called time-out, but he still throws out a hand to tag the other perching in front of him. Or maybe it's just to knock him over, who knows. ]
[Well, that doesn't sound like a very useful superpower at all, then.]
My mistake.
[He makes a point of shrugging it off. Look, what does he know, he's working from observation, here. The ins and outs of superpowers aren't actually his thing. Even the dirtbags he's been up against lately tend more toward the mundane than the magic. Of course, that was before ALASTAIR.
Jason rocks back on his heels just enough to dodge the first thrust of the flailing hand, but he also doesn't put a whole lot of effort into it, so Sigma gets a tag in soon after. Congrats, your nefarious gambit has worked out.]
Playing possum, huh? Now, that's not very fair. [How very underhanded of you. Hah.] If you wanted to get your hands on me that bad you could just ask nicely.
[ It's probably how it could work, if he had any idea how to make them work in the first place. (Except not. All life-threatening situations, all the time. ty shifters and espers.) ]
[ But yeah, he doesn't let up in his attempt to nail the guy, and he's rewarded with a hit on the second go. Take that, asshole!! ]
Well it worked, didn't it? Thought you woulda seen that one coming.
[ You're the backhanded one here, right? Just don't... Don't say it like that. Stop it. ]
[ Christ on a bike, his tone is getting worse by the second, enough to make him sneer. And it's making him cast about even more desperately for an upper hand he absolutely doesn't have, even with Jason being It. Every sudden movement of his is probably gonna be a predictable one. Even all his stupid notions of jumping toward the guy to fake him out feel predictably unpredictable. ]
[ And so in a bid to—in his mind—triple fake out the man who dispatches professional criminals, Sigma just flips without word or warning onto his hands and knees to bolt like a sprinter at the sound of the starting gun. ]
[ The determination and initiative will catch him off guard, right??? ]
[No hard feelings, bud. Egging people into stupid reactionary moves is practically a reflex, by now. So is cataloging the way it tips the scales over so his 'opponent's' face screws up into a sneer. The way his shoulders tense and his hands brace down against the ground before he springs upward.
No sooner does Sigma go for his feet than he's knocked right back off of them. Jason drops down in a flash to sweep a foot around his ankles and send him sprawling. So much for the old triple fake-out. (Don't feel bad, this wasn't ever really a fair fight to begin with.) If anything, it's starting to feel like shoving Sigma into a locker after lunch. But Jason's not above being a pain in the ass, anyway.]
Whups.
[It was a valiant effort, at least. The protagonistic stubbornness is admirable and all, but he can do this all night.]
Y'wanna go for two outta three? Three outta five?
[Go back to the bamboozling, that one seemed like it was working for you.]
[ He should've known it was too good to be true, but getting the ball of his foot on solid ground feels like victory. Ergo all the more sour once it's swept out from under him halfway through launching himself forward. It sends him flying a meager couple of feet, catching himself on his hands just enough to stop him landing chin-first on the pavement. He still takes the brunt of it square in the chest, legs floundering briefly before sprawling with the rest of him. ]
[ He's still for a second. One wheezy breath in, one defeated breath out. He definitely bit his lip on that fall if the taste of iron's anything to go by. ]
Okay. Uncle.
[ As prone as he is to beating his head against a wall, that's pretty much what this entire encounter has been so far. He can take a hint eventually. After muttering his shut ups to the ground, Sigma pushes himself upright again and wipes the red off his mouth. ]
The hell is it that you even do that makes you so good at this? There's no way this is just a hobby...
[ His moves are too sharp for that. And Jason's grungy, but somehow he doesn't really have quite the vibe of that certain brand of urbanite that does weird parkour for funsies. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sure do bae (;ε; )
Jason? [ Come to think of it, the guy looks beyond natural, framed by a grimy fire escape and a starless sky. Give him a domino mask and he could probably be some kind of comic book vigilante. This was definitely his doing. ] Dude, I was in the middle of something!
[ Sort of. Not really anything of consequence, he wasn't getting a ton of thought in anyway, who are we kidding but you should feel bad. Clambering back up the steps, he keeps his head craned up to squint at the guy lounging overhead. ]
And what's with the scenery anyway? You get too much sun last mission?
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Anyway wow, look. He's mostly innocent, here. He keeps his perch while Sigma struggles up to street level. Not much more than a story up—plenty close enough for conversations at heights. (Not his first, for sure.)]
Sorry, chief. If I knew it was occupado I would've waited my turn.
[Probably. In his defense, the placid picture he'd walked in on looked a whole lot like a VR screensaver. As for the scenery, he shrugs, spreading his hands palm-up from where he's leaning against the fire escape.]
Maybe it's their way of keeping a guy from getting homesick.
[It's not Gotham, but it's got the airs. They can go to the moon for Sigma next.]
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Guess I shoulda picked something a little more bombastic to go for a jog in, huh.
[ Which is fair, he could've gone for something like Venice beach or whatever, but speaking of homesick, it probably would've just made it worse for him. Like having your hamster die while you're at school and your parents replacing it before you get home. It looks right and feels right, but it isn't yours, and you just end up kind of angry and wanting nothing to do with it before long. ]
[ So by default, this is more interesting by far. He glances down the street and back again. ]
Looks about right. [ Books by their cover. But he's actually looking a little less annoyed and a tiny bit more intrigued by now. ] So, what was on the itinerary before it became interrupting mine? Spiderman roof parkour?
[ 'cause if you're gonna interrupt him you're gonna be stuck with him buddy. ]
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Anyway. Angry and wanting nothing to do with it apply to a lot of things in Jason's life at this point, elements of Gotham city certainly included. So it's all par for the course, except for the parts where it's not. It's far and enough away that he can appreciate the familiarites for what they are without getting mired in the parts that hit too close to bad news. That's definitely not what he's here for.
But speaking of what he's here for. He cocks a brow at Spiderman—close, but no cigar—and gives the skyline a gauging look.]
Why? Y'wanna play a round of tag?
[Was that supposed to be a joke, it's hard to tell.]
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Hey, might as well, if you're offering.
[ Sounds like something new and exciting and definitely never attempted before now, but it can't be that hard, right? And falling in VR can't be that... life-threatening. Right? Besides, if Jason was joking, he should learn to live with the consequences of his actions. Sigma takes a couple steps back, sizing up the fire escape. It's one of those deals with the ladder tucked up on Jason's level, but it's not... that high up. ]
[ Alright, less thought more go, he makes a run for the wall of the building and jumps for it like a cat at a laser dot, springing off and making a wild grab for the metal structure overhead and... promptly landing fruitless back on the alley floor. ]
[ Parkour. ]
[ With a frustrated huff, he circles back, keeping his glare on the ladder to avoid looking at Jason. ]
... You wanna help me out here?
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Anyway, he can see from a mile away that that blind jump is going to land Sigma on his ass. But, y'know, points for effort.]
Wow, you're really going for it.
[That's cute.]
Quitting so soon? I think you almost had it that time.
[(No, he didn't.) He'll be a good sport, because Jason Todd is an expert in Bad Life Decisions and as no problem enabling this one. Probably not what Sigma meant when he said they should do something where he's actually conscious, but hey. His track record is improving already. Jason gets a heel on the ladder and shoves it downward with a screech of rust. It draws some attention from the digital passerbys, but they carry on soon afterward. Your move, bud,]
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[ And of course he went for it, what kind of man do you think he is? Not one that backs down from a challenge (despite asking for help. and Jason not even really challenging him in the first place.) Gritting his teeth and downing his pride for a second, he mounts the creaky ladder as soon as it touches down and scrambles his way up it to meet the other. ]
Not quitting, just starting on your level. You know, being fair.
[ Yeah. Anyway, moving sounds like the way to be right now, up on the cold metal structure where there's a little more airflow it's even chillier. So he rounds the stairs and continues quickly upward, where after climbing (carefully) onto the last set of railing, he manages to reach the lip of the roof itself and pull himself up onto it. It's not a graceful maneuver, but it's not a super tall building either, this is fine right... ]
[ Oh god it's still pretty tall. ]
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Anyway. Sigma makes the arduous and rattley climb and passes up onto the roof, good job.]
Well, we wouldn't want you to be at a disadvantage. [He's a fair man. Hah. Jason pushes himself away from the wall and scales up over the side of the building with a but more ease than his company. He's no Flying Grayson, but he'd learned fast. And he'd gotten a lot better since hanging up his cape. Of course, once he gets up into the brisk air of the rooftop—]
You're looking a little peaky.
[Afraid of heights?]
Not going to start swooning again, are you?
[And wouldn't that just defeat the purpose of this little get together.]
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[ And excuse you, it might not have been whisper-silent but it was a perfectly serviceable climb thank you very much. At least right up until the really precarious bit. Why was he up here again? Oh right, pride. And maybe a small itch of curiosity to see more of Jason in his natural habitat. He's not the friendliest dude, but he's got a skill set that only gets more interesting with each passing glimpse, this sort of thing definitely included. ]
[ But in all honesty it's mostly pride. The sort that puffs out his chest at the other's insinuations. ]
Hey, I'm done with that. [ He two-finger points up at his eyes, which are pretty razor sharp compared to all the other times the guy's seen them to give them credit. ] No crazy volcano magic, no ocean. You, me, and all these conveniently spaced brick buildings.
[ That are definitely not high up so long as he keeps his gaze straight forward. ]
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Mano a mano. I'll let you pick the terms since I think I'm playing home team.
[Sort of, anyway. The setting did seem to switch over in his favor, even if it's not a one-to-one.]
What're you up for? Touch Tag? King of the Mountain? How about a head start? I could close my eyes and count to ten.
[This is certainly more than a little facetious, and more than a little challenging. Even if Sigma's been hiding some slick skills under his damseling demeanor, Jason's feeling pretty confident. He knows he's gonna win this if it comes to competition, and he's not above being kind of a pain in the ass about it to pass the time and see what Sigma's got up his sleeve. Especially since he's proving to have some pretty easy buttons to push. You asked for this, bud.]
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[ Sigma frowns at this definitely sassier than necessary list of suggestions, evolving into a scoff that almost cuts Jason off. It's true, he's got a hell of a lot of buttons, and the majority of them are wired to shit like this, you dick. ]
Yeah, sure. Game of tag. Just give me five.
[ Don't even close your eyes, dude, this is all he'll need!! He really shouldn't be undercutting himself in the face of this kind of confidence, but if there's one thing he can do, it's run. Surely horizontal speed will make up for whatever he lacks in vertical, right? Anyway, shaking himself out, he knocks Jason in the arm for affirmation before squaring up to the next building over and digging in his heel. There's no fire escape on this side but it's only a couple feet taller... ]
Alright, ready? [ No backing out (that's for him, not the comic book vigilante). ] One, two three—
[ And he's off. As advertised, acceleration and speed are on his side, and it brings him to the lip of the roof in the span of a few strides. The approach is a little dicey, but not too much momentum is lost as he catapults himself out over the alley. Which is lucky, because alleys are apparently significantly wider when traversed from above, as much as this building seems significantly taller up close. He gets about half of himself over the roof's edge, enough over the top to latch on but also enough hanging off to give his feet a hell of a time, scraping against the bricks to help him haul his ass up. ]
[ There goes his entire head start, probably. Not to mention his heart is already hammering with adrenaline before exertion can remotely set in. He sure just did that. So if Jason isn't snatching at his ankles already, Sigma wastes no time in taking off for the next big obstacle. ]
I don't have any action icons rn please imagine one
Sigma's a pretty good sport, and Jason's a kind and generous soul, so he'll give him the whole ten seconds of headstart to be nice. ("Nice.") He hangs back to watch Sigma go, tracking his trajectory in case it decides to take a downward tip so soon. But amateur as it is, he manages to catch himself solidly, if clumsily. Well, could've been much worse. He can really book it when he wants to, huh.
7...8...9...That should be fair enough. Ready or not. Jason makes for the lip of the building at a run to kick off the edge. He lands with both feet on the concrete, retaining his momentum where Sigma had stuttered to a stop to pull himself upward again. Before Sigma can try for newbie parkour trick number two, he flips their pursuer/pursuee positions, reaching out to tag Sigma's shoulder so he can pick their route.]
Nice night for a run, huh? How about somewhere a little more scenic.
[That is, catch me if you can. This close to the stately suspension bridge on the horizon, they're a hop skip and a jump away from the docks. Squat warehouses, shipping containers, scaffolding. Plenty to work with without breaking out the grappling guns or the Varsity moves too soon. Jason cuts sharply in another direction, leading Sigma out toward the water. The next building is a little lower, and an easier jump to make, provided you aren't afraid of heights. Jason rolls with the impact and gains his feet, looking back just long enough to see if he's still got a tail.]
I mean I don't have any at all so you're forgiven
[ Just as he takes off again, his sails are pretty promptly punctured by a slap on the shoulder as Jason scoots on by, loosing all the wind they'd accumulated from the (relatively speaking) successful jump in one fell swoop. ]
You're kidding me!
[ More of a desperate exhale than a shout, but it doesn't trip him up too bad. Neither does the sudden direction change, at least until the dart takes him careening directly off the edge of the rooftop. And that didn't even slow him down, just filled about 1.5 seconds of his fall with regret and forced all the problem-solving into the last .5 of the drop. Even if he hadn't caught the tail end of Jason's landing, he's seen enough action movies to know that he should roll from this height to avoid snapping his ankles, but the specifics on how to roll are a different story. ]
[ He ends up slamming down onto the next roof, flinging himself forward onto a shoulder, and flopping about half a rotation more than strictly necessary, ending up on his side facing back the way he'd come. All accompanied by a loud string of groans and expletives. But with pride still on the line he twists where he lies without a moment's pause, legs working wildly to get his feet back beneath him and take off again, burning through the distance between them in a kind of impressive instant. ]
[ But before he can throw out a hand and make any attempt to tag the guy, they're probably at the next jump. ]
sigma needs to get out more
look it wasn't the nonary obstacle course okay call back when the riddler shows up
[ But he peters out once he looks up and realizes that Jason's taken the extra handful of seconds the fence cost him to vanish completely, reassembling his huffing breaths into a frustrated noise as he swivels his gaze. At least without the pounding of his own feet in the way, the sound of boots on plywood pings him rightward toward the rickety scaffolding and he takes off like a shot once again. ]
[ Of course if Jason's even still on the thing once he clambers up onto it is anyone's guess. ]
that's what ztd really should have been
It's a little mean, but hard to resist. He bides his time just long enough to hear Sigma passing down below before he moves again to drop down behind him. If Sigma's listening carefully enough, he just might catch the sound of the landing right behind him. (Boo.)]
tru
[ He plummets down a second before lunging out, and he's left with all he can do being to grab at the frame and catch himself. The entirety of his weight on a single unprepared shoulder, however, doesn't do him kind. Momentum arrested for sure, but with a yelp he lets go and drops to the ground below, crumpling straight onto his ass and hugging his affronted arm. ]
Okay, yeow, time out!
[ If he's got the sense left to say something like yeow, it can't be that bad, but it's the surprise talking here. ]
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It's not a long enough fall to catch him, but also not a long enough fall to kill him. (Theoretically the training room also has some safeguards against that kind of thing, but then again Jason grew up with the live-fire course in the Batcave. Anything's possible.) Still, he's not heartless, and Sigma's alright. He'd actually feel like an asshole if the guy snapped a femur or something on his account.
"Yeow" isn't the noise of a gravely injured man, at least. Jason's already giving chase when Sigma drops off the edge, so he's got boots on the pavement not long after Sigma lands on his ass. He'll give him a second to collect himself, dropping into a crouch in front of him while Sigma rocks upright. Of course, he doesn't manage to sound very apologetic.]
You know, I really thought maybe you'd see that one coming.
[Not because he has an overabundance of faith in Sigma's vigilante-spotting vigilance. But even if he was busy swooning, he did have some remarkable intuition going on during their little walk down the volcano. (And just because he didn't respond to the call for psychic tutors doesn't mean he didn't spot it.)]
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[ And it takes him a second to register what the other guy's actually getting at, but he does get what he's getting at. Eventually. He hadn't exactly been subtle with his whole I see the future and I am afraid spiel since getting back to Oska, on top of this guy being subjected to his overactive skills on Nalawi. ]
That's not how it works, dick.
[ Not normally, anyway. Special circumstances. (Reverie-esque you could say.) He might've called time-out, but he still throws out a hand to tag the other perching in front of him. Or maybe it's just to knock him over, who knows. ]
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My mistake.
[He makes a point of shrugging it off. Look, what does he know, he's working from observation, here. The ins and outs of superpowers aren't actually his thing. Even the dirtbags he's been up against lately tend more toward the mundane than the magic. Of course, that was before ALASTAIR.
Jason rocks back on his heels just enough to dodge the first thrust of the flailing hand, but he also doesn't put a whole lot of effort into it, so Sigma gets a tag in soon after. Congrats, your nefarious gambit has worked out.]
Playing possum, huh? Now, that's not very fair. [How very underhanded of you. Hah.] If you wanted to get your hands on me that bad you could just ask nicely.
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[ But yeah, he doesn't let up in his attempt to nail the guy, and he's rewarded with a hit on the second go. Take that, asshole!! ]
Well it worked, didn't it? Thought you woulda seen that one coming.
[ You're the backhanded one here, right? Just don't... Don't say it like that. Stop it. ]
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Very Machiavellian of you. I've gone and played right into your hands.
[Oh no. He could tag back and turn this into a stationary slapfight, but y'know. Also nah.]
What's your plan, champ?
[Looks like you hit the ground a little hard to run away.]
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[ And so in a bid to—in his mind—triple fake out the man who dispatches professional criminals, Sigma just flips without word or warning onto his hands and knees to bolt like a sprinter at the sound of the starting gun. ]
[ The determination and initiative will catch him off guard, right??? ]
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No sooner does Sigma go for his feet than he's knocked right back off of them. Jason drops down in a flash to sweep a foot around his ankles and send him sprawling. So much for the old triple fake-out. (Don't feel bad, this wasn't ever really a fair fight to begin with.) If anything, it's starting to feel like shoving Sigma into a locker after lunch. But Jason's not above being a pain in the ass, anyway.]
Whups.
[It was a valiant effort, at least. The protagonistic stubbornness is admirable and all, but he can do this all night.]
Y'wanna go for two outta three? Three outta five?
[Go back to the bamboozling, that one seemed like it was working for you.]
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[ He's still for a second. One wheezy breath in, one defeated breath out. He definitely bit his lip on that fall if the taste of iron's anything to go by. ]
Okay. Uncle.
[ As prone as he is to beating his head against a wall, that's pretty much what this entire encounter has been so far. He can take a hint eventually. After muttering his shut ups to the ground, Sigma pushes himself upright again and wipes the red off his mouth. ]
The hell is it that you even do that makes you so good at this? There's no way this is just a hobby...
[ His moves are too sharp for that. And Jason's grungy, but somehow he doesn't really have quite the vibe of that certain brand of urbanite that does weird parkour for funsies. ]
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