Seventeenth Wish -- Video (Backdated to shortly after morning sirens.)

[hybrid_prodigy]

[He doesn't necessarily intend to talk to everybody, but he's too tired to make a filter. And he looks it. His face is pale and worn, as though he didn't get much sleep last night, if any at all. He doesn't appear to be physically hurt, at least. Not from the view the NV gives, anyway.]

I'm really sorry if I worried anyone.

Um . . . Miss Nelliel? Could you come bring me home? I wouldn't ask, but I'm pretty tired and don't think flying would be a good idea right now. [He's put his ki up a little above a resting level, to make sure he's easy for her to find; it'll be coming from Sector 6.]

Comments

[voice forever; batcryption]

[theshortestbird]

[He switches to voice.] Did you feel anything, before you went to the hunting grounds? Some kind of pinch, or a pain?

[video forever; batcryption]

[hybrid_prodigy]

A little pinprick of pain. Tranquilizers. Had to be. I woke up a couple times on the way, since I metabolize things quickly, and they had to pump more into me.

[video forever; batcryption]

[theshortestbird]

Tranquilizer darts? They shot at you the first time, and then injected the next? Around what time was it?

[hybrid_prodigy]

Afternoon sometime, I'm pretty sure. I guess it must've been injected afterward. That part's not clear.

[theshortestbird]

And they hunted you. Do you know how many there were?

[hybrid_prodigy]

... Yeah. Put us in collars that restricted powers -- didn't block 'em completely, but made it really, really painful to use 'em. [He had anyway, a few times. Fighting without powers is weird and sometimes, he'd felt he needed the extra boost.]

Not totally sure how many. More than ten, though.

[A brief pause, and his head ducks.] One died.

[theshortestbird]

...I'm sorry. I can't imagine. Are you going to be okay?

[hybrid_prodigy]

Unfortunately, I've seen people die before. [Tries to plaster on a reassuring smile, here.] I'll be fine, really.

[theshortestbird]

[He waits.] Me too. It never gets easier. If you ever need someone to talk to... we're going to do whatever we can to make sure these people pay.

[hybrid_prodigy]

No, it doesn't. But at least I know I can get through it. [He likes trying to find the positive in things.]

Thanks. But . . . uh, who are you, anyway? [He's not opposed to talking, but he has no idea who you are. And honestly, the Newcomer community's overall reaction to this will scare him much more than the actual hunt itself.]

[theshortestbird]

I'm Red Robin. I'm in charge of the Teen Titans, here in the city. We're a superhero group that wants to make sure we bring people who do terrible things, to justice.

[hybrid_prodigy]

[That actually gets a genuine, if subdued, smile out of him.]

Superheroes, huh? That's pretty cool. This place really does need a lot of help.

[theshortestbird]

We're going to try to help. [Smiles.] And if that means we have to be in costume to do it, then we will.

[hybrid_prodigy]

I'm sure we can do something about it. [Optimism: easy when you're not talking about yourself.]

I don't think anybody did that, at home. Not with costumes, anyway.

[theshortestbird]

I personally think that a costume makes things safer for everyone involved. No one knows who you really are, or who your loved ones are.