bzarcher | (no subject)

The heaviest cells in the holding facility were, in fact, underground, as Ballade had guessed. Three levels below the surface, with fully reinforced doors of the same construction as the cell walls in addition to the energy shielding.

Essentially in solitary confinement, Bass lay on the bench built into the back of his cell, staring blankly into space. No armor, no Buster, no Treble. He was dressed in a black bodysuit underneath bright orange prison jammies, arms tucked behind his head.

The Old Man was dead, but after the initial shock it wasn't bothering him as much as some of the others who had completely shut down. He'd been old. What'd they expect to happen, eventually?

Mostly, he was concerned with what happened to him next. After Enker's 'Brilliant Tactical Move' to hand themselves over to the Mega Dweeb, it wasn't like they had many options. He'd jetted away with Treble to see what was left at the Fortress, but it had been about the same. Lots of shock, lots of confusion. A few of the dumber ones had taken it out on each other, and when the UN landed transports to take them into custody, it wasn't much of a fight.

So. In jail, no reinforcements coming to bust them out, no Old Man to crack some stupid crazy plan that somehow made it even worse, and he didn't even have a rubber ball to play catch with in here. Bo-ring.

A sharp *click* interupted his lack of interest, and he shifted to a sitting position as he heard the energy field come down and the locking mechanism begin to work.

For a moment, he didn't recognize the person coming through the door. Dark hair, glasses, a long black wool coat, slacks, vest....ah. Yellow scarf instead of a cravat. Right.

"Oh, good. I get to deal with this now."

Blues' lips -almost- quirked into a smile, but stopped just short. "Well, I can always come back later when you're not as busy. I can see you're fairly tied up."

With a grunt, Bass shook his head. "Whatever. I suppose it's better than staring at the ceiling."

Blues nodded to someone outside the cell, and the door locked back into place. "Probably. I came down here to let you know about a few things." Leaning against the cell wall, he outlined the basics of what Dr. Light was relaying to the 'debriefing'.

Bass nodded as he ran over the details. "Fine. Open the door and let me get the fuck out. I'm not interested in going to charm school."

"I didn't expect you to be. Now, what exactly will you do once that door opens?"

"No idea. Don't care. Maybe I'll go see what being a homeless bum is like, since it worked out so well for you."

With a snort, Blues stepped forward, settling into a catcher's crouch and tipping his glasses down to look Bass in the eyes. "Please. You think I just wander the earth like some stupid TV show?"

Scowling, Bass leaned forward. "Nobody knows -what- you do. Everyone knows that."

"That's right." Reaching under his coat, Blues' hand came out holding a thin card of translucent plastic. Squeezing one corner, it shimmered for a moment, then resolved into an ID card with his face at the corner and a UN logo as the background.

"UNSC Troubleshooter? Sounds like something out of a video game."

"I didn't come up with the name. I take care of some things for them, and I get what I need now and then in return. Repairs, money, looking the other way now and then. How do you think Rock got the time to go in and take the Old Fool down time and time again instead of the UN getting tired of it and just deciding to use an orbital shot to glass the Fortress?"

Bass raised an eyebrow. Now that you mention it, that was an interesting point. He'd always just accepted it as a bit of a status quo, but... "What sort of 'things' do you take care of?"

Now Blues did smile a bit. He could tell he had a bite on his hook. "You and I both know the Old Fool wasn't the only lunatic scientist out there. Some of them aren't as polite about what they have in mind as to send declarations to the UN, or as neat in their methods. I help take care of them."

"Huh. All right. Now explain what this has to do with me." Leaning back against the wall of his cell, Bass looked back up at the featureless ceiling. "I'm not really the hero type."

"Because right now, you're almost totally adrift except for one thing."

"And what might that be?"

"You still want to prove you're better than Rock."

Blues' words hung in the air for a moment before Bass slammed upright. "I don't need to prove ANYTHING."

"Really? You seem a might touchy." Blues stood, tucking the card back into his pocket while Bass glared electric death at him. "I'm offering you a choice. You can stick around here, and once things get settled, you can deal with going off with the others." Stepping back towards the door, he gestured toward it. "On the other hand, you decide to come with me, and once they open the door and turn the security field off, there's going to be no cameras and no guards in that corridor. We'll go pick up your dog, your armor, and I'll even be nice and have them turn your buster systems back on."

"And after that, assuming I didn't try to just blast you and make a run for it?"

"Assuming you didn't try that, since you wouldn't make it out of the building alive if you did, we're going to go meet some people, and then you get to start beating the -right- people up."

Bass' nostrils flared as he blew out a deep breath. Clenching and slowly unclenching his fists, he thought it over. Did he -really- want to be stuck in a glorified day care? Learning how to be a good little robot and take tea and crumpets? God, no. On the other hand, freedom, power, weapons, and all he had to do was take a few orders, deal with taking orders from his asshole half-brother, and save the world.

Maybe that wasn't such a bad way to prove he was better than Rock, after all.

"All right. I'm in."

Blues slid his glasses back into place and whistled. The door opened, and true to his word, they stepped outside.