what am I doing

[sinistar]

[He's not moving at all, nothing except for his eyes, which are darting around, trying to get a fix on his surroundings. His face is covered by a mask that is almost more of a muzzle than anything, his hair is long and lank around his eyes, and in his hand is a knife that dances with energy.

This isn't where he is supposed to be. This is away from the squad of backup/handlers that are always sent with him, there to make sure that kills are clean, while he concerns himself with kills being made in the first place, so that the others have something to clean up. Their second job is escorting him back after every successful mission, and they aren't here. Possibly more distressing, though in an entirely different way, is that his Targets are not where they should be either. What use is a guided missile when what it was being aimed at has vanished? His arsenal is there for those Targets, and they are gone.]

Where are they?

[crossposted to dear_player]

Comments

[playtag]

[Eve stares at the man, eyes moving between the stance and the knife. She has seen this kind of behavior before. She has done this kind of behavior before, back when "playing tag" meant hunting down whoever had failed her "uncle," the man who had created her to be a living weapon. However, she had gotten out, gained her freedom. Maybe this man could do the same.

So she is somewhat tentative when she asks.]

Who?

[sinistar]

My mission.

[Someone new, someone who would normally be irrelevant, but he needs information and there is no one here who can provide it, other than her. Perhaps she knows what he needs, and that's reason enough to speak.]

[playtag]

[A mission while looking for someone. Sounds familiar. She looks at him curiously.]

Are you playing tag?

["Are you looking for a target to kill?" is what she means.]

[sinistar]

[That's a question he doesn't understand.]

What?

[playtag]

[She blinks at him. It looks like she will have to be blunt for him to understand. She isn't fond of being blunt; her uncle told her it would get them caught. But he is no longer around so it shouldn't matter, right?]

Are you going to kill someone?

[sinistar]

[He doesn't explain what he does, he usually doesn't speak at all, and the frank asking of that particular question throws him badly.]

I'm supposed to eliminate my targets.

[... yes? But they're not here.]

[playtag]

So you are going to kill someone.

[She sounds matter of fact, not judgmental. From his wording, he doesn't seem like a pleasure killer. More like a weapon, like she used to be.]

Says who?

[sinistar]

[He's starting to look uncertain, a hard edge in his eyes.]

Why does it matter to you?

[playtag]

[She looks at him, unwavering but her expression seemly neutral.]

They call you a weapon, don't they? I can tell.

[A pause because it's harder to admit to this.]

They called me a weapon too.

[like_a_gerbil]

[Sometimes, Steve almost hates his mun. Yes, he'd wanted to see Bucky but not like this. He knows the rules she gave him for talking to people here. No fighting unless it was the last resort. And now she had to throw him at Bucky when it's obvious his friend still doesn't remember him. His hand tightens on the strap of his shield but he won't attack unless he has to.]

This isn't the place for your mission to continue.

[sinistar]

[The only real warning is his eyes narrowing, then he's moving, fluid and sharp and viciously fast. He takes a gun, one of many, and raises it to shoot, aiming for his head.]

[like_a_gerbil]

[He was expecting the attack, swinging his shield up to block the bullets if Bucky does fire. It's surprising how small he can be when he needs to.]

Neutral ground, Bucky. [It probably won't work but maybe his words will get through the program so they won't end up tearing dear_mun apart.]

We're not supposed to fight here.

[sinistar]

[He empties his clip as he walks closer, drawing a knife as he stows the empty gun, but-

That name.]

Who are you talking to?

[There's something wrong, this is wrong, something is happening but he doesn't know what.]

[olympic_lion]

[Ah. One of THOSE types. A man, made into a weapon without a mind of his own; he's seen it all too often over the centuries. Honestly, his first reflex is to just beat him down and drag him away from everyone, to prevent him causing any harm to innocents...

But that shield makes a difference. Makes it special. He may not know who this is, but if he was able to take that away- well. Let's try something; Herc always wanted to see how this would play out.

And so he just started strolling on up to Mister Mask. He'll go ahead and take up all your attention, thanks.] 'Dibs.'

[sinistar]

[He is hard to beat, hard to kill - it's possible, of course, but still difficult, by now.

He glances at him, no more - the man isn't relevant, he is not the target, no part of the mission, and he is used to ignoring distractions and minutiae.]

[olympic_lion]

[Difficult, yes, the body language tells that. Even for a millennia-old Greek demigod, he'd be tricky; super-soldiers tended to be wickedly fast. Herc would have to rely on experience- wait, he's being ignored?

Oh, this just became suspiciously easy. What happens when you just walk up and try to grab him by the bionic arm?] Hello, lad. What say we have a nice chat?

I'm sorry, that name.

[arach_nerd]

Funny, you don't look like a giant spaceship eating robot skull.

latin puns yo

[sinistar]

[... what.

Now THERE'S a nonsequiter comment, and is enough to earn him a strange look.]

Re: latin puns yo

[arach_nerd]

The account name. Same one as an early 80's arcade-

Oh, right. The whole brainwashed by a bunch of Nazi-worshipping lunatics thing. How's that working out for you Barnes?

[sinistar]

[This is just-]

What are you talking about?

[arach_nerd]

[Don't feel to bad about not being able to keep up Bucky. Spidey confuses non-brainwashed people too. In fact, keeping you mentally off-balance may be intentional this time.]

Which bit? The arcade game, the fact that your brain's taken a ride through a laundry machine set on permanent press, or the part where you're Bucky?

[sinistar]

Who the hell is Bucky? What the hell are you talking about?

[LIKE LITERALLY NOTHING YOU ARE SAYING IS MAKING SENSE. Consequently this is also the most verbose he's been in a while.]

[arach_nerd]

You know that guy HYDRA really wants you to kill? Captain America, aka Steve Rogers? See, way way back, decades ago, he had a best friend named James Buchanan Barnes. They fought together in World War II. Everyone thought Bucky had died during the war.

But, as it turns out, he was rescued, cryogenically frozen, brainwashed, and got a brand-new robot arm.

[sinistar]

[That's-]

Shut up.

[He's lying. That's what they do, is lie, people always lie, they'll say anything- He can't see what this one has to gain from it, but it has to be a lie.]

[arach_nerd]

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that me shutting up is going to change anything, Buck. Which is kind of academic really, since I'm not going shut up.