3684/Heroes Never Die

Heroes Never Die
Date of Scene:	18 January 2018
Location:	Legion Cruiser - Sol System
Synopsis:	Drake gets a tour of the Sol system.
Cast of Characters:	Mon-El, Slipstream

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Mon-El has posed:
    After Drake's video has gone viral on the internet, with some calling it a suicide note, Lar hurries to make up to his friend. It isn't easy for him...indeed, the recording has made it even harder, but he has to keep reminding himself that friendship is just as much Drake's choice as it is his own. So he returns to medical, hoping to find his friend again and also hoping he hasn't -actually- committed suicide.

Slipstream has posed:
Slumped against the wall in the medbay near one of the windows is Drake. His face is pressed against the glass, still smeared with blood from earlier. His body is twitching and spazzing out as he jerks forward against the wall with a heavy thump. His breathing his labored, his sobs audible as he grips his head with his hands. His computer is sprawled out near by with the lid closed from when he signed off.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar sighs and once again picks him up off of the floor and puts him on the bed, handing him an absorbent pad to clean his face off with. It's probably some super high tech material from the 31st century or something because it seems tiny and super thin but absorbs a hundred times its weight. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier...I've realized that our friendship is just as much your choice as it is mine--and I have no right to deny you that. It's just..." he sighs. "I was--I -am- still so scared that I'll just end up getting you killed if I keep trying to 'help' you or hang around you. You aren't the first one to get hurt because of me, Drake..." Yeah, just ask Bombshell.

    Another long sigh. "I just feel as if I can't take two steps without doing something stupid that almost gets people killed and I'm afraid one of these days I won't be so lucky any more. You're human so the worst that could happen is you could maybe break someone's nose or knock them out. You'd need a weapon to actually kill them. But me? I could turn them into pulp. Send them flying into outer space. Drop a truck or a building on them. All with my bare hands, if I can't get myself under control. I know...I shouldn't expect you to understand. But I thought I should maybe just...give you a chance to at least try."

Slipstream has posed:
When he is laid in bed, Drake's body gives another jerk, the staticy buzz of his body vibrating again as he arches out in pain. "G... gon.... gonna.. di... die... anyways.." He rasps out weakly in a strained voice. "Bu.. burning.. up... " Coughing loudly, he wipes at his face with the pad, followed by a wet snuffle. "I g.. got... no.. f...family... nothin' now.. not Laurel... not my mom.. I got voices in my head." He coughs again harder, spitting up a bit of blood into the pad. "Lies. It's taunting me. And I hurt.. and all you care about is feeling bad about yourself, when I'm ff..fffuuucking.. /dying/.." He gives a loud sniff, rolling to his side to face away from him. "My b.. body... is... bbbbrrreeaaaaaking." He vibrates again rapidly, his voice stammering out. "Your worst day is being too strong, or too invincible or dropping a car on someone." He croaks out. "But you won't know ... what it feels like to die like this and then have your best friend just .. " He wipes at his face. "I wish I never met you." His voice is heard mumbling into the pillow. He may not really mean that.

Mon-El has posed:
    Ouch, those words stung. Even after he apologized? But, remembering Kara's words, he refuses to let the fear take over again. "No. You are -not- dying." Lar says firmly. "We -will- find a way to get this under control. If we can't, then someone else will. I promise. As long as you want to live, you will."

    "You're right, I shouldn't have been so selfish and self-pitying. But really, aren't you doing the same thing I was? Feeling sorry for yourself, and not thinking about someone else's perspective? What if you could never get hurt, but everyone you ever touched always did? Would you rather be the one actually hurt, or the one not hurt but always causing it? Which is the more agonizing curse?" He sighs, shaking his head. "I can't expect you to understand me. Nor do I expect to understand you. All I know is that heroes never die. And you, Drake, are my hero."

Slipstream has posed:
The broken gamer is quiet for a few minutes as his breathing comes out rattling and wheezy. "I'm not a hero." He finally gets out in what is barely a whisper. "I won't look good in spandex."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Not all heroes wear spandex. C'mon," Lar chuckles, and pulls some clothes out of a drawer under the bed and plops them into Drake's lap. They're kind of strange looking and probably come from the 31st century but they're better than hospital gowns. "Put those on, I want to show you something. I'll wait for you in the hallway." He goes out into the central corridor.

Slipstream has posed:
There is a bit of a snort as Drake slides to his feet and drops his gown without much shame, then begins to pull the clothes on once he figures out if they have any weird zippers or belts. Afterwards, he follows Lar out into the corridor as his body continues to twitch and spasm from time to time, though it seems to have eased off a bit now that he's calmer.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar motions him toward some kind of docking bay, pushing a button on the wall to open the doors, which slide apart with the typical sound of mechanical parts moving against each other. Inside there are about a dozen smaller vessels lined up against the walls, but the Daxamite has his eyes on a particular one with a silver-colored hull that kind of glimmers in the light as it flicks on. A door opens in the craft's undercarriage. "I think this one's called Dover mark six--small, light and fast--good for an escape plan if you ever needed one. And if I read the logs right, Brainiac had just gotten it outfitted with a working hyperdrive engine. So you could -really- get away fast." he says with a grin.

Slipstream has posed:
"So it's a car?" Drake asks as he leans weakly against the wall, wiping at his nose and glancing down at his hand before wiping it off on his leg. "This your ride? Is this how you got here or something?" He stares at it for a few moments, tilting his head to one side. "I wish our cars would fly down at Earth."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Yes, kind of! And maybe someday they will fly." Lar nods, smiling. He starts up into the cockpit. "Come on, don't you want to take it for a joyride? I don't remember meeting Brainiac, but I'm sure he won't mind." Sure, of course, he doesn't remember how grumpy the Coluan often got over the trivialest of matters. But that's a concern for another day.

Slipstream has posed:
"You don't even know your own name, do you even know how to drive this thing?" Drake says with a smirk at him. "And you do realize I'm sorta vibrating and dying, right? I'm probably worse than a drunk driver right now." He looks over at him and shifts his shoulders. "You gonna drive me?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "You're -not- dying." Lar reiterates this fact once again. "And what are you talking about? Of course I know my name. I'm Lar Gand, crown prince of Daxam. And of course I know how to fly a ship. My parents would've been very disappointed if I'd forgotten how to do -that-." He grabs Drake by the arm now and pulls him up into the cockpit, which is filled with all sorts of levers, dials, displays, buttons and whatnot.

    He puts a code into a console near the front-facing window, giving rise to a low hum as the machinery starts to come to life, lights blinking on all around. A female-sounding AI voice can be heard:

    Welcome, Querl Dox of Colu. Initiate launch sequence?
    "Yes, synchronize orbit to 40.758896, -73.985130. Maintain altitude 35,786 kilometers."
    Confirmed. Deploying.

    The airlocks seal, and the docking bay doors open as the engines roar to life!

Slipstream has posed:
"Did the ship just called you Queer Dicks of Coolio?" Drake asks once he is flopped down into the cockpit, giving a wide grin to his friend. He knows he won't get the reference, but he wishes he was streaming. That is content right there. "Where are we going?" He asks, followed by another hard cough into his hands. "And if I die in here, just to give you a head's up, dead bodies like shit their pants and I'm sure this place will stink up."

Mon-El has posed:
    Oh, if Lar could remember Brainiac, he'd be thinking about how mad Querl would be if he were here right now to hear that and to see what they were doing. Instead, he just chuckles. "I'm not sure what that means, but I used Brainiac's access code. Querl Dox is his...uh, birth name." he says as the ship enters the vastness of space and establishes geosynchronous orbit over Manhattan, New York. Earth is quite a sight to behold from this distance, a massive glowing blue orb floating in a black void. It's like when you zoom all the way out in the Google Earth app only much better because it's real and in front of your eyes. Below, the golden lights of the city of Manhattan flicker and dance across the currently dark side of the planet.

    Lar points at the city through the window. "Look, that's New York. Your home. Beautiful, isn't it?"

Slipstream has posed:
"How fast is this thing flying dude? Like a million miles an hour? That is crazy fast." Drake says as he watches earth come into view, followed by his city. He stares out the cockpit at the lights, then leans back. "Yeah, New York is okay, but I'm originally from San Francisco. It's the best city in the world in my opinion. You ever been there?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "To be honest, I probably have. But I probably don't remember," Lar admits, shaking his head. "Hopefully, one day I will, though. And when I do, I'll also hopefully stop doing stupid things." He sighs.

    "As for how fast this thing is, I think I'd better show you." he grins and sits down in one of the seats, belts automatically expanding across his chest. More for the ship's safety than his own. "Better strap in." he says with a smirk.

Slipstream has posed:
"You can go to San Francisco in like thirty seconds in this thing dude." Drake says as he straps himself in after fumbling about with it for a few moments. His body gives another quick jerk, followed by a grunt of pain as he clenches his teeth, then counts slowly from five back to zero as he calms the shaking in his hands.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar maneuvers the ship slightly, turning it to face away from the planet, then pushes the hyperdrive to max. Without inertial dampening, Drake would've been crushed flat as the craft accelerates beyond the speed of light itself. But, of course, Brainiac could never forget such a thing! As it is, he only feels a bit of G-force as if he were on a commercial jet taking off from the ground. The stars turn into streaks and suddenly mere minutes later, they're in front of Saturn. "One day, the Sol system will be teeming with life, Drake. In fact, one of our team members is from the moon Titan. I wish I could tell you more, but I don't remember." he laughs. "But once I get this amnesia problem fixed, I'll tell you everything I know."

Slipstream has posed:
Grasping the bitch handle if there is one in the ship, Drake leans back in the chair, then lets out a breath as he watches the world rush past him in a blur of streaks. When they come to a stop and he is staring at Saturn, his eyes widen. "Dude... this is like the Mustang of spaceships. I want one of these .. " He trails off as he stares at the glowing rings of dust that circles the large planet. "You should see about one of those mutant psychics. Maybe they can dig around in your brain and yank it out."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Maybe, if I knew one I could trust. But we have to be careful with telepaths." Lar replies, frowning slightly. "If one of them with nefarious intentions got a hold of me..." he shakes his head, not wanting to go there.

    "Mustang?" He isn't quite sure what that means. "Well," he chuckles a little. "It is custom designed, but it certainly isn't the only craft with FTL capabilities. Although it's not too common for ships this small to have it." The stars streak by again, and they visit Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and then head back to Mars. Then back to Earth and back to the cruiser again.

    "See, you're getting better already, because I gave you something to focus on. Something to look forward to. If you set your mind to it, Drake...you will live. And not only will you live, but you will prosper. Think about it, once you find a way to control the vibrations, you could move faster than you ever have before." he beams. "You could dodge -anything-. Maybe even me."

Slipstream has posed:
"Or my insides will melt and I will shit out my liver." Drake says as he lets out a sigh. "I'm still in pain, Lar. I'm just ... trying not to scare you. But I'm glad we got to do this. I'm sure I'm the only one I know who has now seen all the planets in one day." He turns his head to him with a grin. "Sorry if I scared you earlier. I'm just having a bad day." He gives another cough into his hand. "I should get medded back up and back in bed. Maybe Lyle will figure it out tomorrow."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar puts a hand on Drake's shoulder. "Someone will, if he can't." he assures. "I know you are in pain, but just hang on for a little bit longer. Just keep looking forward. And yes, you probably are the only one aside from myself and Lyle and Laurel who has seen all of Sol in a single day, just think about how all your friends are going to want to hear all about it when you get back home." he smiles as they disembark from the Dover and start back toward medical.