4024/Ring Ring

Ring Ring
Date of Scene:	11 March 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Robin (Wayne), 87, Brick, Stardust, Kian t'Kaeh

---

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian had been set up in the Robin's Nest, or at least what he called the hardly used batcave wing they were using for now. The young man was sketching, trying to put his mind at ease. The subject of the sketch was...odd. It was a photorealistic corpse, decayed and showing the skeleton underneath. He'd been weighing things since their encounter with the Sultan.

  Since he had a respite from his family, he was reveling in the silence of this base of operations. He wasn't decked out in his uniform, in fact, the only piece he had on was his armor suit. The biometrics from the suit were displayed on the batcomputer behind him. It was a beacon to Batman letting him know that Damian was alive and fine, since he was not home at this point. A calico kitten was perched atop his shoulder for now, having dined on a nice piece of tuna moments before.

  "I hate this, Abbadon. Torn between them both. Should I let the League live and something potentially just as bad take its place? At least with the League there's always..." He shook his head before he reached up to scratch the feline's head.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
There is a slight disturbance in the air before a literal hole is ripped into the fabric of reality. Alarming as this may be to some, however, it shouldn't be terribly surprising to anyone who knows the person behind them- indeed, it could be argued that if all cats had the ability to tear up the universe in order to provide a flashy arrival, they would never use their legs again.

"Wonderland express, coming in!" comes the voice from the other side of the hole, announcing his arrival and giving Damian enough time to tell him to eff off, in case he happened to be in a bad mood.

Absent any threats to life and limb, the Cheshire cat steps through, the hole that closes behind him shows a rather untidy apartment.

"Hey, Dee," Vorpal says with a smile, "whatcha doin' there?" he gestures towards the sketchbook.

Then he stares at Abbaon, saying absolutely nothing. Are they communicating? Plotting?

Brick has posed:
Skyscrapers can be a lot like ancient Egyptian pyramids. They have secret rooms inside them which simply are not accessible any more, which exist as space because they were necessary once and were "retired" -- generally they're part of the reinforcement of the skyscraper. One such room exists in what would be a sub-basement of the second largest skyscraper in Metropolis, part of the 'ballast space' for the earthquake stabilization system. The room can be reached, if you can crawl it just right, but nobody wants to, and as a result, Bale Richard Marsten is happy to consider it 'safe' and has quite a few of his devices stored there. It's his lair away from lair, after all. Today he's been working on a new device for combat. He can't bring himself to go full on lethal, despite the way that several of his opponents in recent "situations" were willing to do. Instead, he has developed some new toys and put them into one of his fighting sticks. (Yes, he has fighting sticks. Someone told him to study Arnis and other two-stick fighting techniques.)

"Maire Boit, you think this is ready?"

*PING*

"Me either. But I can't test the immobilizer in here. I need a victim. Is Vorpal at home?"

*PING*

"Oh, well, where is he?"

A hole opens in the air but it's not the usual loud booming. It forms more slowly, and the air pressure curve, while still detectable, is quieter. More of a "whoosh" than a boom. The other end of the tube opens in the 'landing zone' location that he got from Damian before.

"Droll," Brick says. The landing zone is inside some sort of jail cell, and the bars are in place and there's no obvious door.

*PING*

"Please, be my guest."

Stardust has posed:
There's a slight disturbance in an upper window too, as Stardust arrives. What is this, an intervention? Most probably. Unlike Robin, she's in full costume. This is normal for Stardust. Has anyone seen her out of uniform? Not that her uniform is very uniform, changing to suit her moods for the day. Today, apparently, she's in the mood for combat pants, combat boots, and a leather jacket. All in her normal very faintly shimmery off-white. Perhaps that ability to change her costume is why nobody seems to see her out of it.

"Hey guys!" Stardust greets. "I've come to the conclusion that we need a theme tune. I rescued LOADS of people from soul-sucking ghosts at that mall with the yellow goop stuff, and the newspapers gave credit to Ghostbusters, /just/ because I was singing their themesong while I worked. So unfair. It's a catchy song, what can I say? Sometimes you just gotta sing. Speaking of which, I mean the thing at the mall, not singing, one of those missing mutants in the news? I saw him in the crowd there. Funny thing, the one who's supposed to be able to control ghosts. Didn't recognize him at the time, but I was looking into it later, and... uh. Anyway, anyone got an idea who would be good to talk to about that? Vorp, you know a few people in the mutant crowd, don't you? Soooo. We need to talk about this whole Turkish thing. Oooh! Kitty! No, not you Vorp. I mean yes, but other kitty. It's cuter, sorry."

How does she even /breathe/?

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Abbadon doesn't freak out, he's already used to seeing very strange things. But once Vorpal mentions his sketchbook, Damian looks up from the drawing, with only his eyes. "Fuck off, Vorpal, I'm drawing." He wasn't in a bad mood, well more than normal, he just likes living up to expectations.

  Damian's eerie green eyes look to Stardust, only giving her a slightly agitated response. "Hello Stardust." Of course, the tone of 'go to hell' still is in his timbre, it's a bloodline trait. "While you are all interrupting me, I may as well ask a couple things."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
The chaos feline shrugs off Damian's tone with a nonchant gesture. The opening he's been given is simply too rich. He must take it or else he will suffer a -2 penalty for the next 24 hours. That's his excuse, anyways.

"Drawing, you say? Well, then... why don't you-" and as he takes three steps forward, his outfit seemingly changes into that of a... well.

A French maid.

Mind you, an actual French maid outfit, not the burlesque-inspired one that everybody knows, but the traditional black dress with white trim, with a full skirt at or above knee length, and the obligatory bonnet. (The choker with the bell was his personal touch.)

"Draw me like one of your French-"

He doesn't get to finish the joke, though, as Stardust makes her appearance. And monologue. And he can't get a word in edgewise until after she has done spending the prodigious storage space of her lungs.

"Um, yeah, I know I'm not as cute. It's one of the reasons I fly solo nowadays," he says with a change in tone that hints at a little bitterness.

His uniform goes back to normal, and he looks around.

"Huh. I thought Brick would've joined us by now. He's usually always trying to tie me down to one scientific experiment or another, like I'm a guinea Cheshire or something."

Brick has posed:
Maire Boit scans the other side of the portal, and determines that it's not actually a jail cell for visitors.

The bars are of course intended to keep people from wandering in from the rest of the cave system since it's actually a natural cave system, of course. The prank was in giving the directions so that Brick's landing zone faced the bars, and not the big county sign that reads "UNSAFE CAVERN PASSAGE DO NOT ENTER" that's on the wall where any spelunkers who might get here, will see it. The back wall of the room conceals a way into the rest of the Robin Roost, relying on the shape of the cave to do so. It's even natural.

"Well, let's get going then," Brick mutters, stepping through. He's carrying a box with various things in it including a few pizzas because he doesn't know if Damian has food easily available in his cave and this may take time. The short maze (not really a maze) lets him out to where he can see the besieged Batling.

"Ahoy. May I come up?" Brick spots Vorpal and a bit of a manic gleam appears in his expression. Goood, the Cat Bell was correct, within accepted parameters!

*Ping* Maire Boit greets.

Stardust has posed:
Stardust drifts downwards, landing next to Damian's chair and holding her fingers out for Abaddon to sniff at. "Heya kitty-cat. Never mind Vorp, the dress is cute at least. " She peers down at Damian's sketch pad, and slowly raises an eyebrow. "I think I saw that guy at the mall too," she comments. "That's pretty damn good drawing, Robin. Do they teach draughtsmanship at ninja school?" Her eyes take in the reading of Damian's vital signs on the monitor, and she switches eyebrows, raising the other one just for variety, but doesn't comment.

"Heya Brick!" Stardust calls out as he finally finds his way out of the darkness. "Hi Maire Boit. Well, looks like the gang's all here. Apart from Kian, who's we still need to explain the whole self-defense thing to. Questions, Robin? Fire away."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "Vorpal that the f..." Cut off luckily by someone else this time. "You may as well." He responds, taking time to set his pencils down while Abbadon peers at the newcomers, and rubs his cheek against any offered appendages.

  "I was taught by the best tutors in the world. I play cello, draw, paint, study mechanical engineering, and have enough knowledge of human anatomy to know at what yardage a blow dart will pierce the jugular enough to cause someone to exsanguinate in less than ten seconds." And yet none of that is helping him with his moral dilemma. "I've been thinking about the Order. And what their place in all of this truly means in the world..." He trails off, thinking more as he stands. "If the League is destroyed, the world can flourish, or the Order simply takes its place, and then some. Making a situation worse by removing a factor we don't have with the Order instead of the League. Mainly, me."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Becoming serious for the moment, the Cheshire cat sits down on the floor, cross-legged, and looks up at Damian with a certain suspicious look in his eyes.

"Because of who your Grandfather is, you are a factor of interest for the League. But not for the Order," he summarizes, giving Brick a brief wave.

Brick has posed:
"Ecology of secretive societies with aspirations of being the illuminati?" Brick asks. "Is that an elective in assassin-spy college? I'd be surprised if it was not."

The *PING* that Maire Boot emits is quiet and humorous and possibly contains a decompressible image of Damian being inhumanly patient with an instrument that was far too large, at least when he was much younger. Brick mutters in Klingon at that snarky image because cellos are annoyingly large anyway. Really, when one is barely over five feet tall, an instrument that's bigger than that? Not kind.

Stardust has posed:
Stardust beams happily at Abaddon's acceptance of her offered fingers, gently stroking the kitten's cheek and scratching behind his ears. Clearly the cat is a lot less prickly than his master. "You should be careful of that, Robin," she warns. "There's such a thing as too smart for your own good. Some people resent too much brains. Smart, incredibly athletic AND the heir to billions. That's a lot for people to resent. Lucky you're so ugly, or people would get jealous." She quickly scuffles his hair and adds "Kidding."

"Ah the secret society thing." Stardust's forehead creases into a momentary frown, but quickly clears. "Well, the Sultan said she wasn't expecting to be able to beat the League, just knock it down a few notches. Weaken them. Stop them doing the whole culling of the herd thing. Seems like the most important thing is finding out what the Order actually wants, though. That's what it comes down to. Are we being told the full story. Do they want to rival the League, or just fight it? I guess we could just..." she gives a shrug of her shoulders. "Ask? They did say we could ask any questions about the mission we wanted to, don't see why that doesn't include 'who the hell are we actually teaming up with here', you know?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "Exactly. If they are worse than the League, I couldn't use my own influence to sway things." Damian sighs gently, looking up at everyone, especially Stardust. "I make up for it all with my personality."

  Robin makes a move to his armory locker, grabbing the rest of his uniform. "How do we speak with their emissary?"

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Vorpal remains silent for the moment at Damian's musings. He appears to be deep in thought, weighing the pros and cons of each side and giving careful consideration to what is clearly building up to be a game of intrigues and hidden impact on the world itself.

Finished with his deliberations, he comes out from within himself and pronounces his verdict.

"Secret societies suck donkey butt."

Brick has posed:
"That's not right," Brick says. "Only SOME secret societies suck donkey butt, and they're usually more secretive than the others because, you know, sucking donkey butt is not the best way to attract new membership. Then again, they might just recruit from known chupaburros."

Either Brick has spent too much time thinking about this or he's supporting Vorpal in his profound analysis. These are the only two possible alternatives.

"It might be a good idea to also question the other side. I mean, our Sultan is being very straightforward, which sets off ALL my alarms."

Stardust has posed:
In answer to Damian, Stardust digs something out of her jacket's inner pocket and hands it to Damian. Rather surprisingly, it's an RF shielded evidence bag - the kind used by the cops to secure cellphones from crime scenes to avoid criminals messing with the data stored on them remotely. It's weighed down, presumably by a cellphone inside. "They sent us a phone," she says simply. "There's a number programmed in."

Apparently Stardust is learning to take these things a little more professionally.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian sighs at Vorpal's conclusion. "Thank you for that rousing argument, Vorpal."

  Damian had finished placing his mask on his face when Brick mentioned the League. The white lenses of the battech mask go so wide, the mask may have broken. "I'll tell you where their closest safe house is if you really are going to ask about the Order." Robin looks to the phone. "Rabbit hole us to a secluded spot before we take that out and contact them."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Your wish is my command," the cat says, smirking at Damian's reaction to his summary. After a few seconds of deliberation, he opens a Rabbit Hole to a location that is as secluded as you can get while still getting a signal. It is a meadow, somewhere in the vicinity of a neighboring town next to the middle of nowhere.

"You know, I really should start charging you all for taxi service. I'd make a mint."

Brick has posed:
"You know how to subtle better than I do," Brick says to Damian. "But I do want to know what this situation looks like from their direction, and I want that information to be without coercion or other distort. From what I can see, the League and the Order are both untrustworthy actors, with the Order appearing to be more on the side of civilization and common laws of individual freedom, while the League is on the side of applied chaos and subtle authoritarian domination. I know that both sides claim to be better for humanity than the other. So knowing what the League thinks in this matter, without triggering them to think any harder about it, should provide us with better understanding."

*PING*

"I am NOT getting into analysis paralysis, Maire. I want to know what both sides think they're getting out of this."

Stardust has posed:
"Do they even know about the Order?" Stardust asks as she steps through the rabbit hole. "The Sultan said the Order has been inactive for a very long time. Wouldn't you know, Robin? I mean if you never heard of the Order, either the league doesn't know about them or doesn't care enough about them to consider them worth speaking about, right?"

Arriving the other in the meadow beyond, Stardust sits cross-legged in the grass and pulls open the evidence bag to take the phone out. She selects the number and puts the phone to her ear to wait for an answer. After a moment the side of her face lights up brightly and she pulls it away from her ear with surprise, staring at the screen. She blinks a couple of times, then puts the phone down on the grass in front of her.

%BA figure appears in hologram form, floating above the screen of the phone. It's quite a neat trick, though the figure is a bit hard to see outdoors, and the noise levels are a bit high. You'd almost expect the small projected figure to ask Obi-Wan Kenobi for help, but instead it says "Ah, our young friends at last. I am marshall Tarek Dushey, exarch for North America, of the Order of the Temple in Byzantium. Please, call me Tarek. I presume you have some questions about the proposed meeting."

  Aside from the miniaturized size of the projection, Dushey looks unremarkable. He's obviously of middle-eastern descent, but his English is perfect. It's likely he's been educated in America.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
The Cheshire Cat chooses not to say anything right now. It is probably a universal item of common sense that he should not be the one asking the first question- because he is not the most diplomatic, nor the least impulsive. Often, some people take this to mean he is also the least intelligent, and he doesn't disabuse people of that notion for his own purposes.

Instead, he looks at Damian and locks eyelasers on him, waiting to see what tone the Ragey Bird will take with his first volley of questions.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian answered Stardust's question before going through the rabbit hole. "As much as I known about the inner workings of the League, there were still two people above me in rank...and neither of them were keen on divulging anything but a need-to-know. My mother didn't tell me who my father was until I bested her in combat. Took me twelve years."

  once the group is outside, and the phone activated, Damian had looked to the hologram in front of the group. "Marshall Dushey, we have questions in regards to the Order's plans for the League. We want to know this is about justice, not vengeance. The blanace of power between the two factions has been balanced for some time, correct? We don't condone the murder of any human life here." A simple question, but he didn't expect a simple answer.

Brick has posed:
Rabbit Holes are disturbing weird things, but Brick has to be fair... so are Boom Tubes. But they do occur without Brick having to burn zero-point energy to power them, so they're a good weird thing. Brick steps through, not saying anything. He wants to hear this man's explanation.

Stardust has posed:
"Robin. There has been no balance of power for hundreds of years. We have been a fading force. " Dushey's voice is a little hushed. He sounds as if he's saying something painful. "We are trying to redress the balance. Let me make it clear, it is not we who are assassins. Our order is, and has been since the twelfth century, about preserving life, not taking it. As for vengeance..."

It's hard to be sure on the small-scale hologram, but there may be something of a wry smile on Dushey's face. "Truth be told, once it was not the business of the assassins to assassinate either. I don't know how much you know about the origins of the League, or of the Order. But I doubt you have the full picture. There was a time when we were far from being enemies."

Colette gives a dubious snort. "Assassins who don't assassinate? Is suppose you guys don't temple, either. Okay, so how about cutting to the chase and telling us what all this is about?"

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"I'm all for cutting to the chase. And also finding out who will be held accountable for whatever tips to the balance that may come from this intervention," Vorpal says, leaning on Brick again as his de-facto non-scratching post. Because if he leans agains Damian he risks getting stabbed, and Stardust might use the Red Dot.

Brick has posed:
Still waiting on exposition, Brick doesn't make skeptical faces, disparaging noises nor discouraging words. He does, however, have a cat leaning on him, which means he has to scritch its head. This is natural law, inescapable to all but the most ardent ailurophobe.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kian spirals down to a soft landing near Vorpal, since that's who he knows best.  Following Vorpal's directions was easy.  Following them without getting distracted, not so much.  Birds, shiny things, these things happen.  "/Kie/... nnh.  Hello.  I think that's the correct word."  Well, he's still learning, but it's a step in the right direction.
    He looks at Colette, eyes a little troubled.  "I have been thinking about what you told me," he says... but goes no further yet.

Stardust has posed:
Colette looks over to Kian with a smile, and greets him with "Kie, Kian. Yes, 'hello' is right. I'm glad you've been thinking it over. I uh... thought of something that might help clear things up for you. A little demonstration. Hold on, I've got it right here." She goes digging in her backpack, leaving the important discussions to the angry bird and the diplomatic cat.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian had placed his arms crossed around himself. "You two were once allies?" He wasn't sure that it was true there, but again, there were many things that he had not been privy to in terms of the League and their history. It was either things he was to learn or deemed not important for him to know.

  Damian himself was on edge at this point, ready to stab the communication device. "The League wants to be the controlling force in the world, even right now their sphere of influence is estimated to only be so effective. What is the ploy?"

Vorpal (87) has posed:
The Cheshire cat nods at Damian's question, but has nothing to add at this very moment, so he gives Kian a wink and a grin, but otherwise does nothing else to distract.

There are better opportunities for that. Probably in just a few minutes.

Stardust has posed:
"There IS no balance to tip!" Dushey hisses at Vorpal's question. He seems... annoyed? Frustrated? "All we hope for is that now we might have the power to right the balance again." There's a long pause. "Understand than neither we nor the League are what we once were. Allies? Sometimes. We were always on opposite sides, you understand. But in many ways we were closer to each other than to those who were supposedly on our side. Remember that the Templars were destroyed by Christians, and the Assassins by Muslims. The League though... no. There could be no alliance with them.

The small holographic figure starts to move back and forwards, pacing as Dushey paces around whatever room he is in. Arms are folded behind his back, and he starts to lecture. "Originally the assassins were philosophers who assassinated only to protect their own freedom of thought. What exists of them now is a corruption of their methods, stolen and twisted. The Order fights as much for the honor of the original assassins as it does for the honor of the Templars. Death is sometimes a necessary thing, but it is never a good thing. Kill few to save many. This was what the Knights set out to do in the Holy Land. So too was it the principle of the Assassins. The Nizari Ismaelis. The Seljuq were their greatest threat. The Muslim, not the Christian. They were deemed heretical. How could they fight so vast a power? Through assassination. Their Fida'i killed few for the sake of many. The League, as it has been since the demon shaped it in his own image, believes in killing the many for the sake of the few."

Brick has posed:
Confirmation of the Illuminati-In-Control trope for the League, from someone who knows it from the inside. Still, Brick wants to question ... interrogate, really ... one of the higher levels. Of course, getting that information reliably is an issue. Maire Boit claims to be able to take that kind of information from the mind of the unresisting, but Brick is suspicious that there may be techniques for resisting. And unfortunately, Damian would murder him if he tried to test it on him. Speaking of which ...

"So is this balance you plan to create going to require more murders? Will this be a balance of attrition?"

*PING*

"Yes, if you can, do so," Brick tells his imaginary friend.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kian watches the hologram play out.  Some of the words are strange; he tilts his head, listening, but it doesn't seem to help.  Finally, he just turns to Colette and says, a little plaintively, "I still don't understand?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The demon. His grandfather, the head of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul was a great man, who has done terrible things in the past, in the name of saving the world from itself. "So, your aim is to kill this demon, take him out of power? You understand where we are coming from. We don't believe any one group should be in charge. We don't aim to replace the League with the Order."

Stardust has posed:
"None of us understand this stuff," Colette advises Kian. "We're all trying to figure it out. Ah... I found what I was looking for." She pulls a small box from her backpack, with the words 'Marshmallow Peeps' written on it. "This will answer your doubts," she assures him as she opens the box and takes out a handful of soft, bright yellow, vaguely avian marshmallow shapes, and starts arranging them in a line. "Just a little demonstration. Imagine this is your family and friends," she explains as she sets them gently down. "The one at the far end is you. This one." She picks the last one in the line up and holds it out to show him before putting it back down, very carefully.

  >BAM!< Colette slams her fist down, smushing the first of the peeps flat, then picks it up and throws the flattened peep into her mouth. "And imagine my hand is a big evil monster," she says through a mouthful of peep.

>BAM!< The second peep is flattened and eaten. "So at what point, Kian, does it stop being madness to attack the monster?" >BAM!< goes the third peep. "To stop it doing this? Do you wait until..." >BAM! BAM! BAM!< you are the last in the line? Until it has actually attacked you? Or when you see the pattern, do you try to stop it as soon as you can?" Her fist stops, hovering over the final peep. "Do you let your friends die? Or do you fight to save them?"

Stardust has posed:
"Forgive me," Dushey responds to Brick. "I do not yet recognize your voices. Is this Vorpal I am talking to? Or Brick? It is hard to imagine that more murders will not be required, and that is a terrible thing. The alternative is more terrible, though." The tiny figure casts his eyes heavenwards in a moment of silent prayer.

  "One does not save a thing by destroying a thing, Robin." Dushey sighs softly. "No, we don't seek to rule anything. We are not fit for that. We wish only to stop a great evil being done. I... I ask you all to forgive me. I am an old man, and a dreamer. For years we have talked and talked and done nothing. Burak was my great friend. As he grew rich, our fantasies of past glories grew wilder but all we did is what we have done for decades. Watch, wait, read our books. Sultan Irmah is a much more formidable person. She reminds us that there is more than history. There is also future. Yes, we are obsessed with our old foe. And we have neglected for too long our duty of good works. And that is where you come in."

Dushey stands straight, almost to a military attention, and his voice becomes firmer. "You youngsters have great power. We of the order have great knowledge. The sultan has great wealth. These things together... much can be achieved, yes? Our fight with the League does not have to be your fight. There is so much else wrong in the world that should be righted. Let us put history aside for now and talk of the present. We have knowledge of a great threat, one that has not concerned the League for centuries. You have power. The sultan has resources. Can we not agree to combine our forces to deal with this threat?"

Brick has posed:
Brick, not being gifted with telepathy, doesn't catch Damian's descent into the angst-trope, but Maire Boit catches a familiar collection of brainwaves and neuromuscular signals for suppressed micro-gestures, which she can't actually translate into words or concepts. She can just tell that Damian has a pattern of doing them. He's not saying something again. He spends more time not saying things than he does actually moving.

Instead, Brick is distracted by Dushey, and says, "Brick Marsten, sir," to identify himself.

Then Colette demonstrates the murder of peeps.

*PING*

"Yes. Yes she is. Protocol two for ongoing," Brick murmurs.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Vorpal resists the urge to say 'You may call me Doctor No', and instead says "Yes, this is Vorpal."

He crosses his arms at this is all laid to them, the hook being dangled. He looks at Damian, his eyes asking the question of 'Do we?' and then... he gets distracted by the Peep massacre, and his eyes go wide.

He's not quite sure this is the best way to introduce concepts to an alien species.

And then he puts a hand on Robin's shoulder. Because he has suddenly felt the urge to pounce on the remaining peeps and chomp on them, so probably focusing on Robin will help him avoid further traumatizing the Bird From Outer Space.

So tasty, though...

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kian jumps back a step when the first peep is *WHAM*med, spreading his wings on reflex, and watches the sweets slaughter with increasing anxiety.
    When she finishes, the birdman is wide-eyed.  "But... no one would do that!" he protests weakly.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin clicks his tongue, a telltale sign he's not amused, bordering on straight up pissed off.

  "I swore...to never take another life again. I plan on keeping that oath." He responds to Dushey, looking at the hologram again. "And...the one I made that oath to would hold the Order responsible if I were to break that oath."

  Robin simply makes a look to everyone else present. "I'm done." He offers, no more questions, for now.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"We will contain, we will apprehend. Maybe even send them to Wonderland. But we won't kill." The unspoken part is, of course, 'unless there is no other way', but that's the unspoken part. You don't speak it so that others do not think it is an option, so that they think it is completely off the table.

"If that isn't good enough for you, then you are barking up the wrong mailman."

Stardust has posed:
Colette watches Kian's reaction with a strange, almost predatory grin. "I just did," she says, eyes flashing as she raises her fist to smoosh the final 'Kian' peep.

Suddenly Colette breaks into a big smile, picks up the 'Kian' peep and passes it to him. "Here. They're made of sugar, mostly. Tasty. Try one. Um. If you guys eat sugar, that is. Here's the thing, Kian. Those demons we fought? When all the ravens were around? They'd do that in a heartbeat. And when they finished, they'd do it again. And again, and again. Until there were no peeps left. If nobody on your planet would do that, cool planet. Elsewhere, it happens all the time. You call it insanity? You're probably right. But it happens all the damn time, and we're going to do our best to stop it happening. Wanna help?"

The hologram of Dushey inclines his head in a small bow in the direction of Robin, then Vorpal. "We wouldn't ask you to kill," he replies. "It's a noble position. We believe that death may sometimes be required to save lives, but we believe that can only come through necessity. If you choose not kill, you can be sure you never kill for the wrong reasons, nor take a life in error. Perhaps you are strong enough that you will never need to. For your sakes, I hope so." Apparently he didn't catch the peeps demonstration. "At best killing is the lesser evil. One does not kill out of strength, one kills out of weakness. Because one does not have the strength to find a better way."

Brick has posed:
The ethical calculus of murder isn't terribly far from the Vulcan philosophy about the needs of the many vs. the few or the one. All of them are poorly formed and generally set up with "lose" somewhere in the equation. The degree of "lose" is pretty high when there's murder, as opposed to simply allocating the availability of game consoles, which is the best use of the Vulcan thing.

"You're right, of course, and your observation is that the situation requires us to assist so that you won't be forced into a position of weakness where killing the League is your only option. Because we both know that won't really work."

Brick sits back and ignores the sugar-marshmallow murderfest behind him. Because it wasn't done the right way. Microwaves were not involved. Science requires microwaves.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kian takes the offered peep hesitantly, and holds it somewhat dubiously.  "No, no one on our worlds would ever do that.  It is very difficult to harm someone when you can feel what they're feeling.  If you think I can be helpful, then I will help.  But I won't hurt anyone.  I can't."
    He tears off a piece of the peep, and pops it into his mouth.
    Eyes go *very* wide.  "Oh.  My."