09-18-2005 00:21:30. In a cave system outside Talos proper.
You have defeated Drone
You have defeated Headman
[NPC]Prisoner of War: Can't you just leave us alone?
Lady Blur starts firing.
[NPC]Prisoner of War: I knew someone would come eventually!
You have defeated Chief Soldier
You have defeated Infantry.
[NPC]Prisoner of War: The rest of my unit is here, too. Have you seen them?
Lady Blur: <in dismay> No, I haven’t, sir.
You have defeated Headman
You have defeated Infantry
Over her com link, Lady Blur tells Bansidhe that she’s found a missing P.O.W. alive and in the hands of the Rikti. The P.O.W. is sure more of his squad are deeper in the tunnels.
Bansidhe: Ye’ll niver get them out alive by yerself, lass. I’m comin’.
09-18-2005 00:28:40 Bansidhe has joined the team.
Lady Blur leads the man she already found back to the cave entrance outside of Talos proper.
[NPC]Prisoner of War: Thanks. Now I can get on with the rest of my life.
With the blaster clearing the way, Lady Blur easily rescues the men they find.
[NPC]Tortured POW: The rest of my unit is here, too. Have you seen them?
Bansidhe has defeated Guardian
Bansidhe has defeated Meklar
Bansidhe has defeated Guardian
[NPC]Medic POW: I have info to share about these monsters.
Bansidhe has defeated Communications Officer
Bansidhe has defeated Chief Soldier
Bansidhe has defeated Headman
After a last wave of monkeys and drones, all four make it back to the cave entrance.
[NPC]Tortured POW: I can't wait to see my kids again.
[NPC]Medic POW: You got my respect, Rescuer.
09-18-2005 00:44:34 Team task completed.
As the com link crackles to life, Lady Blur realizes that, once again, she’s left her “secure” com open on a public line.
[Tell]Mistress Zen: Would you be up for a respec mission? We could use you.
[Tell]-->Mistress Zen: I am really sorry. I know how hard it is to fill a force. But I'm working on assignment at the moment.
Knowing her husband would give her grief if he knew, she switches the channel and turns back to the giant beside her.
Lady Blur: I will let the city know that these caves should, if possible, be sealed. But now I should go deal with a problem in Crey’s Folly, Freakshow hassling Crey facilities.
Bansidhe: <a smile in his voice> I was about ta say tha’ I was heading ta Crey’s Folly. Lass, stay at the gate and rest; ye’ve been doing a lot of work today.
09-18-2005 00:52:51 Entering Crey Factories.
The speedster nods and seats herself on a derelict couch abandoned near a Police Drone. One of the relief workers stopped to speak to the security guards and Lady Blur could not help but eavesdrop on the shrill voice.
[NPC]Maryanne: Did you hear about the incident at Crey? The papers say it might have been some kind of illegal hero investigation.
Lady Blur smiles. The news often heard of the end of a Champion’s mission before she did. No doubt Bansidhe had been successful with her task.
09-18-2005 00:55:55 Team task completed.
Returning, Bansidhe smiles at Lady Blur’s position.
Bansidhe: Comfortable?
Lady Blur: <Rising from the couch> Not bad. Better than those you arrested will be, I hope.
Bansidhe chuckles.
Lady Blur: A little time in the Zig may cause them to reconsider comfort.
Bansidhe: Knowing the Freaks? Not likely.
Lady Blur: I know. But -- as Med says -- there's room for hope.
Bansidhe: True.
Lady Blur: Ban... sometime, would you tell me how you and Eric came to be such good friends?
Bansidhe: You wouldn't believe me if I told you.
Lady Blur 's eyebrows go up.
Lady Blur: I'm married to Eric. I can believe a lot of things.
Bansidhe laughs.
Bansidhe: True enough!
Bansidhe: Alright. How about I meet you in a couple of hours?
Lady Blur: It doesn't have to be tonight. It's just that I like stories. And I suspect this one is important. A couple of hours from now would be great. Thank you.
Bansidhe: Anytime, lass.
09-18-2005 01:02:52
09-18-2005 01:33:18 Entering New Troy.
[NPC]Jamar: My best friend was captured in the Rikti War, but he's back home now, thanks to Lady Blur!
09-18-2005 01:37:22 Lady Blur has joined the team
Lady Blur: Thank you, Ban, for making time for me.
Bansidhe: Ye're welcome. My duties took far less time than I suspected.
Bansidhe smiled.
Bansidhe: Loosely translated... I unplugged the Playstation and asked Spirit to go do my paperwork.
Lady Blur giggles.
Lady Blur: Sometimes a day is like that. KungFu helped me sweep through today's tasks as well. So now I want to make time for storytime. <smile>
Bansidhe: So, ye're wondering how Eric and I first met or was there something more specific?
Lady Blur: First meeting is probably pretty specific. And I'm interested in it. But -- I'm most interested in how you became close friends.
Bansidhe: Ah. The story of how we became close friends is a story I'm surprised your husband hasn't told ye.
Lady Blur: I intend to ask him. Somehow... lots of stories haven't been told.
Bansidhe: Your Eric, nor Rush, does nae yet know of our first meeting.
Lady Blur: Indeed?
Bansidhe: Indeed. For him, it will nae happen for...if I'm right...another few thousand years.
Lady Blur: There are no paradoxes in time. So -- you KNOW you've intrigued me.
Bansidhe: But, as to how we became such close friends... It actually was more of bitter hatred than anything. As you well know, your Eric was mostly behind me being hired to assassinate Patriot IV.
Lady Blur nods.
Bansidhe: He was there, that night. He watched as the conversation took place and, in the end, me fulfilling my contract. Once it was done, he stepped out of the shadows and poured himself a drink...as if nothing had happened. At first, I thought he was another assassin hired to do the deed. He muttered something about "to old friends". At that point, I took a defensive position, thinking he'd try to avenge Patriot. Then he explained that it was he who was behind hiring me to assassinate Patriot. That the story Patriot told me, of having cancer, was nae a lie.
Lady Blur: Had you thought it might be a lie?
Bansidhe: Aye...somewhat, anyway. I could tell ye a thousand stories of my victims begging to live out their "last days" because they were already "dying".
Lady Blur: I see.
Bansidhe: A man wanting to survive will often go to great lengths to convince his would be killer not to carry out the deed. But Eric confirmed the truth and even provided medical reports.
Lady Blur: Did that matter to you?
Bansidhe: That Eric proved it? A little, aye. Honestly, it made me start hating him. He'd manipulated me into an act of mercy.
Bansidhe: Y'see, ye know the story of Paragon's Dr. Webb, aye?
Lady Blur: I've read it somewhere.
Bansidhe: The first to smash the dimensional barriers.
Lady Blur: <with some hesitation> Right.
Bansidhe: Webb was not the first to attempt or even discover it. Of course, ye probably know this, knowing the history of the Champions.
Lady Blur smiles.
Lady Blur: Go ahead. A story needs its details.
Bansidhe: Patriot IV volunteered for their first dimensional travel experiments... nae knowing the harm it would do him. The official reports tell he had cancer. To a degree, ‘tis somewhat true. But t'was a cancer caused by the radiation of the first attempted portals. There was nae a doctor, anywhere, who was able to even remotely successfully treat his condition. Patriot suffered horribly, on a day to day basis. Ye couldna see it. He looked as healthy the day he died as the day he volunteered for those experiments. Which is why I dinnae completely believe him. Eric, however, provided the undeniable facts.
As I said, I was angry that I...the world's most dangerous assassin...has been duped into an act o' mercy. Needless t' say, I attacked Eric without mercy.
Lady Blur: <dispassionately> The act may be termed mercy, but you were not a merciful man.
Bansidhe: Aye. I was nae. But I did grant Patriot mercy by letting him speak.
Lady Blur: Most assassins, I'm told, go no where near their victim for fear that speech will turn them from target to human.
Bansidhe: Nae I.
Lady Blur: Not you.
Bansidhe: I've often let them have last words. Some men wish t' make peace with their gods.
Lady Blur: One might say that even that is not mercy on your part; it was assurance that there was no mercy in you.
Bansidhe nods.
Bansidhe: Aye. T'was also arrogance. I knew that they knew they would nae know mercy from me.
Lady Blur nods.
Bansidhe: As I said, though...I attacked Eric with e'ery ounce o' hatred I had. And he stood there, taking it. I burned him. I charred his flesh to the point I knew nary a man could survive...nae even that Red Heat o' yuirs. So strong are my powers, lass.
Bansidhe smiles and pulls out a power inhibitor.
Lady Blur: <glancing at the small box> There are a lot of those going around. <smiles slightly>
Bansidhe chuckles.
Bansidhe: Aye. Spirit has one, too. The city deemed it necessary t' force Joe t' use one.
Bansidhe scowls.
Lady Blur: Politics.
Bansidhe: And that bloody fool Statesman. Aye. He's behind it. Nae that Lord Recluse person.
Lady Blur: Let's forget them.
Bansidhe: Aye.
Bansidhe: Anyway... So, after I finished taking out my anger on Eric, I stood over his charred body and laughed. Much t' my surprise, as ye'd expect, he slowly stood up...his body mending.
So, I made a last ditch effort t' destroy him. I focused all o' my energy into a massive explosion...far more powerful than my Inferno. It, o' course, blew up Patriot's cabin. And shoulda killed me.
Though ye know this part, I'll tell it from my perspective... I woke, two weeks later, in your tender care...in a place very foreign to me. Ye an' Eric call it home - the speed force.
Lady Blur smiles.
Bansidhe: I dinnae know who ye were, o' course. When Eric appeared, t'was at that point I believed ye t' be angels. Or, in yuir husband's case, a demon.
Lady Blur's smile grows slightly.
Bansidhe: Ye told him ye'd stabilized me and he could take me t' where those o' my own kind could treat me. I dinnae know if ye know where he took me or nae, but t'was... according t' Eric... the earth as it is 7000 years from now. He left me in the healers' care. Wonderful people, I might add, though I'm sure they were nae prepared for a patient with my hatred.
Lady Blur: It's not an easy thing to cure.
Bansidhe: They told Eric, after their "testing", I should be dead and t'would take years to completely heal me. Eric, as ye might know, often visited me...and I often snarled at him, telling him I would see him dead...no matter the cost.
Lady Blur looks serious.
Bansidhe: Now, here comes the part that ye'll be rather surprised about... and Eric does nae yet know.
Lady Blur: Yes?
Bansidhe: A mysterious man, who I remembered meeting during my childhood, came into the "church". I dinnae know if ye've been there, but their "churches" are more like forests, tenderly taken care of, and with flowers that amaze the eyes. They are places o' serenity.
Lady Blur's smile turns wistful.
Bansidhe: This man, though... flaming, flowing red hair. He oft wore it in a ponytail and he pulled back his hood, revealing the face o' the Eric Lawson we both know. The hair, though, was that which made me remember my childhood. He told me that he'd given me the time that I needed to get o'er my anger. O' course, he dinnae know, I was still very filled with anger and hatred. I remembered, though, his walking me home from school. I ne'er knew why the stranger had done so, but he told me then.
We'd spoken, him making me laugh and skip along... him protecting me from one o' my father's enemies.
Lady Blur: You grew up in an environment of hatred.
Bansidhe: Aye.
Lady Blur sighs very softly.
Bansidhe: In the "church", he spoke softly t' me. He spoke, as he had t' me as a child, and told me that I should nae carry my anger further. He was there t' help my spirit heal. He spoke t' me and said, "Adrian, I know ye see yuir father's face in yuir e'ery victim and that ye strike them with the same mercy he showed you. But ‘tis time for ye t' let go o' that."
Somethin' in his voice made me want t' let go o' my anger and hatred.
Lady Blur: Eric isn't known as a healer.
Bansidhe nods.
Bansidhe: He spent years with me, only disappearing when yuir Eric would arrive.
Bansidhe: But this Eric... he's far more than a healer. He's... he's the epitome o' a true avatar.
Lady Blur: What makes you say that?
Bansidhe: Because he's at peace with all things. When forced, aye, he'll fight. There's nae much that can stand against him, though.
Lady Blur nods.
Bansidhe: And if ye're wonderin'... aye, I've met yuir future self, as well.
Lady Blur: <softly still> While I live, I will be near Eric.
Bansidhe: Aye. Ye will.
A comfortable silence lasts for a moment.
Bansidhe: After almost two decades, the elder Eric decided that I was finally at peace and manipulated one o' yuir Eric's time jumps. We both found ourselves outside the destroyed cabin...seconds after it had exploded. We had the conversation about where I would go and what I would do. From there, all the boring details o' me trusting him with my information network and fortune and so on, ye already know.
Lady Blur: Yes.
Bansidhe: Ach!
Lady Blur: What?
Bansidhe: Ye must ne'er tell Eric... Rush or yuirs.
Lady Blur: Why?
Bansidhe: The elder one told me that his future must ne'er be made known t' him. Which is also why I dinnae tell ye much about yuir part.
Lady Blur: I have never had a need to know my future, Ban. I am content to know my future holds the man I love.
Bansidhe: Aye, but we both know Eric's curiosity and how he's gone on destructive rampages.
Lady Blur: Yes. Yes, I know that part of him too.
Bansidhe takes off his glasses and wipes his eyes.
Lady Blur: It is the chief reason I want never to be too far from him. I want him to find peace.
Bansidhe: An' if ye e'er tell another livin' soul ye've seen me cry, I'll be denyin' it t' th' day I die!
Bansidhe grins.
Lady Blur: <smiles warmly> I love you too, Ban.
Bansidhe: I know ye do, lass. An' I love ye, too. I'm as much a caretaker o' th' Lawsons as ye are o' me.
Bansidhe chuckles.
Lady Blur: I know. I've wondered if it was Eric -- or you -- who keeps sending you to keep me from harm.
Bansidhe: I'll ne'er tell that secret, lass.
Bansidhe grins widely.
Bansidhe: An' also... If ye've looked o'er Sable's medical records...
Lady Blur: I'm her nurse; I file them.
Bansidhe: Aye. Then ye know Sable does nae know my age. An' ye can tell her t' quit insistin' I get my colon checked!
Bansidhe laughs.
Lady Blur: True. She's told me she's had to err on the side of caution. But that, despite your smoking, she says her tests found you healthier than the healthiest person she's ever tested... save Rush. Even your lungs are cleaner than a non-smoker’s. You -- amongst others -- drive our little doctor to distraction.
Bansidhe: I keep tellin' her those damn checks are a pain in th' ass.
Lady Blur laughs out loud.
Lady Blur: Of course they are!
Bansidhe: <grumbling> Aye an' things are nae meant t' probe around in there! I may be o'er 60, but I dinnae need medical utensils shoved up my arse all th' bloody time!
Lady Blur: <comfortingly> If she doesn't spend her future fighting Rikti, I suspect our little doctor will make one heck of a medical researcher, hunting non-invasive ways to treat meta-humans. Unfortunately, dear Ban, medical science's "averages" just don't take meta-humans into account.
Lady Blur grins.
Lady Blur: Med and I will be, um, feeling our way along for the next two decades.
Bansidhe: Nor do they take int' account men who've been purged o' all genetic defects.
Bansidhe pulls out a clove cigarette and lights it.
Bansidhe: Why d' ye think I've nae given up smokin?
Lady Blur's eyes narrow in speculation.
Bansidhe: The healers did more for me than ye know. Th' wee genetic defects that allow these things t' cause cancer have been long purged from me body.
Lady Blur: I'd guessed that. I'm thinking that you should be thinking of passing on such a “bonny” genotype to offspring, Bansidhe.
Bansidhe: Aye, but ‘tis why I've taken to Spirit.
Lady Blur: Spirit has no knowledge of human genotypes. But as long as she loves you, no one can complain.
Bansidhe: By Sable's studies, she claims that Spirit'll ne'er be able t' have children. But could ye imagine Spirit and me havin' a kid? He'd be far more powerful than any metahuman alive. Hell, e'en if I were t' have a child with someone else, he'd be damn bloody powerful...and that's takin' int' account a normal woman havin' a child with me.
Lady Blur: <puzzled and possibly a bit shocked> You've taken up with Spirit BECAUSE she's sterile?
Bansidhe: Nae. I've taken up with Spirit because I truly love her.
Lady Blur: <clearly relieved> I'd hope -- for the mother's sake -- you would sire a child on a meta-human, Ban. As you say, the child will be very powerful.
Bansidhe: Way I figure it, if we have a child, I'll praise God t' my dyin' days. If nae, then t'was nae meant t' be.
Lady Blur: I see. Well... so must the universe be content.
Bansidhe: Aye. Besides, we both know that Spirit is, for all intents and purposes, immortal. She'll carry on my legacy.
Lady Blur: A legacy is not a genotype; but it makes no matter. The future will tell.
Bansidhe: Aye. As ye've recently discovered, th' future is now mutable.
Lady Blur: I always hoped it was, else I should not be here.
Bansidhe smiles.
Bansidhe: I dinnae know. That husband o' yuirs always be pullin' Aces from his sleeve.
Lady Blur: If so, most Aces take an awfully lot of hard work.
Bansidhe: An' t' think...Eric always makes it look easy.
Lady Blur: It's hard work being hated and feared where one hopes for -- or even expected -- love and tolerance.
Bansidhe: Aye. I know. I still remember me first weeks in Paragon.
Lady Blur: Bansidhe -- the known assassin.
Bansidhe nods.
Lady Blur: I suppose you considered taking a different code name?
Bansidhe: Nae. The world needed t' know who I was. My enemies needed t' know I'd turned my back on my old ways.
Lady Blur nods slowly.
Bansidhe: T'will make my plans o' world domination e'en sweeter!
Bansidhe winks at Lady Blur.
Lady Blur: I can see how that would work. It's the same reason Blur walked into Champions International. <grin>
Bansidhe: Aye. I wish I coulda been there that day. I can only imagine how it musta wigged them all out.
Lady Blur: Me too, a little. There was always a faint possibility that some metahuman might have developed a power that could hold him -- however briefly.
Bansidhe laughs.
Lady Blur: After all, <pats a pocket> there are power inhibitors.
Bansidhe: The irrepressible Blur?
Lady Blur: Well -- one of us has to fear for him occasionally -- and it isn't him.
Bansidhe laughs.
Bansidhe: Ye're nae the only one. Dinnae tell him, but I've played guardian angel t' him a time or two.
Lady Blur: I know. I rather figured so. I didn't think you only body-guarded me.
Bansidhe grins.
Lady Blur: I know I'm far more expendable than he is; I wouldn't want it any other way.
Bansidhe: Aye. Keep thinkin' that, little miss modesty. Ye're about as expendable as...ah, ne'ermind. Ye'll see.
Lady Blur: I expect to someday dissolve into the speed force, Ban.
Bansidhe: Ach! If ye do so, who'll be around t' keep that husband o' yuirs in line?
Lady Blur giggles.
Lady Blur: I'm not intending to outrun my loves anytime soon, Ban. Dinnae worry.
Ban notices that Carolly’s Scottish accent is not bad.
Bansidhe chuckles.
Bansidhe: Aye. Nae anytime soon.
Bansidhe pulls back his sleeve.
Bansidhe: Near as I can tell...nae for at least a good many millenia t' come. Least, that's what ye've told me...or will tell me.
Lady Blur: So Eric has speculated. But only the future knows.
Bansidhe: Ye damn bloody Lawsons sometimes give me a headache tryin' t' keep ye apart.
Bansidhe grins.
Lady Blur: With luck there won't be a lot of need for time-slipping in the future....
Bansidhe: I'd nae know about that. ‘Tis a trick far beyond my abilities.
Lady Blur: It's just -- <a little at a loss for words> feeling the right -- line in the speed force...?
Bansidhe: Aye. I've heard.
Lady Blur: All speedsters use the force; but I guess not all of us actually feel it. Like texture or music or... <She trails off and simply smiles at the blaster.>
Bansidhe: Alright, lass. As wonderful as ‘tis, I need to get back or Spirit will bitch about me interrupting her Playstation playtime.
Bansidhe smiles.
Lady Blur: Another time, Ban. Duty calls.
Bansidhe: If ye be needin’ help, I'll have my comm on me.
09-18-2005 03:44:18
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