[center][img]http://baku-panda.org/images/absolute_robin.png[/img] [sub][ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5034113]Prev[/url] ] [color=#9fc5e8]“[b]FEAT OF CLAY[/b], Part XIV”[/color] [ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5053468]Next[/url] ][/sub][/center][COLOR=steelblue][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]B L Ü D H A V E N[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][sup][color=goldenrod]Lanely Point[/color][/sup][/INDENT] [color=silver]The light seemed to pulse overhead. The Lanely Point Lighthouse was a white and black structure that rose above the cay, it’s rotating light still illuminating a warning about the rocks and shoals that framed the entry into the islands that had become strung together to form the city of Blüdhaven. The bay that the lighthouse marked was a jagged mouth, the ebb and flow of the tide masking some of the rocks that jutted upward waiting to catch unsuspecting ships by surprise. The thin beachhead was craggy. Its sand was coarse. It wasn’t exactly what most people would call the beach. It was more like sandpaper and fiberglas. [color=#ffd700]“That about right?”[/color] The two kids were standing just behind the dunes that separated the train yard from the beachhead. This part of the Blüdhaven islands was all zoned for industrial. The old blue line railroad had operated from here, leaving a plethora of new and old train tracks. They were in the shadow of the lighthouse. If he had triangulated the girl’s statements correctly, then the appearance of the light overhead should have matched her description. [color=#f4cccc]“This all feels familiar,”[/color] the girl uttered. Her hands were buried down in the sleeves of the long cardigan that she wore over the simple miniskirt, clutching at her blouse as though either cold or anxious. Or both. [color=#f4cccc]“I’ve been here before. I know it!”[/color] Scrambling up one side of the dunes, the caped toy wonder found himself left behind as the mysterious girl that he’d named Annie had moved for a better vantage point. [color=#f4cccc]“There!”[/color] he heard the girl exclaim, arriving at the crest of the dune in time to see that the view back along the New Jersey shoreline included a factory and a series of pipes that ran out to the sea. [color=#f4cccc]“That’s it! Those pipes! I remember!”[/color] Then, Annie scrambled down the other side of the dune. [color=#ffd700]“Whoa, not so fast!”[/color] the boy called out, reached out a second too late to have halted her departure. Sliding down after her, the boy was startled at how uneven the ground was. Even with his gyroscopic stabilizers and terrain mapping, by the time he had caught up with the girl, she was already halfway inside of one of the pipes. [color=#ffd700]“I don’t like this,”[/color] the masked doll remarked, climbing up into the drainage as he followed after her. [color=#ffd700]“If this is where you lost your memory, we could be walking right into serious trouble.”[/color] [color=#f4cccc]“I have to know, Robin,”[/color] the girl stated, with a confidence and determination had was unlike any other time she had spoken. Her arm hooked around his, pulling them closer together as they walked. Her hand moved down to his, and the two held hands as they walked. Turning her head toward her, she said, [color=#f4cccc]“Besides, it won’t be the same this time. You’re here to protect me.”[/color] Jason had turned the focus of his attention to Annie. Internally, he was trying to decipher the behavioral cues behind her holding his hand, the kiss from earlier, and the change in her demeanor. His human behavioral programming included data on adolescent crushes, but he had no experience in constructing responses for those behavior indicat... The floor dropped out from beneath the two of them. With her attention on him, and his attention on her, neither had paid attention to where they had been going. They had stepped right into a literal hole in the ground, slipping down another drainage pipe. The fall was short, but Jason’s processors had already compensated. He stuck the landing with a splash, catching Annie in a bridal carry. [color=#ffd700]“Great,”[/color] the boy commented, easing Annie back to her feet. Again, they held hands as they both looked around. The passage behind was sealed off. [color=#ffd700]“Guess the only way now is forward.”[/color] Annie’s hand tightened the grip on his. He could see several non-verbal cues that registered as fear reactions, shying back as she uttered only, [color=#f4cccc]“He’s here.”[/color] With his free hand, the boy drew a batarang from his utility belt, holding it at the ready even as he asked, [color=#ffd700]“Your father?”[/color] Just as had happened at the bus terminal earlier, Annie’s intuition turned out to be right on point. From the spot where she was currently fixated like a cornered animal, emerged the unmistakable monstrosity that was Clayface. “Finally. You’ve come back to me,” Hagan uttered, in his rumbling voice. “Now we can cut out the games,” the man uttered, extending a hand out toward the girl. Annie seemed frozen in fear, her face transfigured into a look of horror as Hagan’s fingers came toward her, until finally her scream shattered the silence inside the tunnel. Hagan’s arm seemed to bounce upward, shifted at an unusual angle. Mud splattered up the sides of the tunnel and across the girl’s face. Robin had placed himself between the girl and Clayface. The batarang had severed Clayface’s outstretched arm, even as the boy pulled Annie from out of the path of the charging giant. Stepping around the path of the monster, the caped youth narrowly avoided Clayface as he went barreling past. [color=#ffd700]“Come on!”[/color] he urged, breaking into a sprint with Annie in tow. They’d made it only a few feet before a stream of mud shot overhead, separating into thin rivets that solidified into something akin to prison bars, blocking the path ahead. Dropping one shoulder, the doll transferred additional power to the servos and hydraulics powering his right arm. The concrete-like construct shattered with a sweep of the boy’s hand. Bits of Clayface rained down on the two of them, as the show of force shattered the obstruction. Jason was not human and, in this instance, had neither the inclination nor the patience to pretend otherwise. Grabbing Annie’s hand, the pair drove on ahead. [color=#ffd700]“Come on. Quick!” [/color]the boy urged, seizing upon an open passage that seemed to lead out of this tunnel. Leaping through the portal, the boy planted his feet and then helped Annie through, before the pair broke into a desperate run. They appeared to be in an industrial complex of some kind. Scanning the signs and nomenclature for exit signs, the doll was conscious of the fact that the warehouse-like structure was dominated by large storage tanks. This appeared to be a chemical manufacturing or holding facility. The Acme Chemical factory. It had been here since the industrial revolution, with the blue line railroad having served as the means of transporting the materials produced here to the factories and refineries in Gotham and elsewhere. As the pair ran, the girl felt a strange sensation. Looking at her outstretched hand that was being dragged behind the caped crusader, she observed the clayface fragments starting to melt into her skin. A sharp gasp caught Robin by surprise, skidding to a halt, he reached back to grab Annie by the waist and then move her behind him. Bracing himself, as though expecting Clayface to be on them any moment, the boy drew two batarangs from his belt and stood ready. Without looking back, he called to her as he asked, [color=#ffd700]“You okay?”[/color] [color=#f4cccc]“I understand now.”[/color] [color=#ffd700]“Good, because I’m lost,”[/color] Robin uttered aloud. Craning his head just enough so that Annie was in his peripheral field of vision, the boy asked, [color=#ffd700]“What do you have to do with Clayface?”[/color] Extending her hand so that he could see it, Annie displayed an arm mangled by protrusions that were seemingly fused to her. [color=#f4cccc]“I am Clayface.”[/color][/color][/indent]