InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "edit style"

Alex Manes [Roswell New Mexico] (coldestreality) wrote in valarlogs,
@ 2020-05-05 11:31:00

Entry tags:

!complete, !partner thread, alex manes, rachel roth (raven)

Who: Raven and Alex Manes
What: Random Encounter
When: May the 4th
Warnings: Not likely
Status: Closed, Partner Thread

Alex wasn't a huge fan of Star Wars. Oh, he liked it well enough. He'd seen the movies when he was a younger. His brothers had been way more into it than he was. It just wasn't the sort of thing he really really enjoyed, but he didn't hate it either.

He also firmly believed it was fiction. That Ewoks and Stormtroopers couldn't possibly be roaming the streets of the town where he lived. That was just...absurd. And yet.

It made no sense. "Are you seeing this?" he said out loud to someone he didn't even know. Maybe he was hallucinating. He hadn't been sleeping well, not since he'd started dreaming about childhood events that may or may not have been real, and waking up feeling like he was right back in his father's home where he was the odd man out, singled out by his father and his brothers in every way.

He wasn't entirely sure this wasn't just another dream. Different, and definitely a bit more weird than the others, but still. Not like Ewoks and Stormtroopers were actually stalking the city.

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coldestreality
2020-05-06 03:21 pm UTC (link)

He did bear a striking resemblance to Caleb Rivers, but definitely wasn't him. He also wasn't so much new to the area as recently returned. He'd been gone for ten years, and a lot had happened in that time. The OC was hardly recognizeable, and since everyone assumed he was new to the area, he might as well buy into it himself.

"Seems like more should be done to prepare for it then," he said. How that might be done, he didn't know. Logistics weren't his thing. He was just a guy trying to live his life. Failing on multiple levels, doing all right in some areas. Life was complicated, and sometimes weird things happened that defied all reason.

Like this. "So what's the objective? These things need to die?"

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ofevilsfire
2020-05-06 06:44 pm UTC (link)

No one ever expected that Raven would have watched Pretty Little Liars, but there was something about a show focused on friendship for a girl who had never had friends. And she was used to Orange County bringing 'fictional' people to it so one could never be too sure. Orange County weirdness though apparently had only been a thing for seven years? A lot of people came back and were confused. Or people in the area never noticed until they were on the network. It was a different sort of 'new' really.

Preparing for things. Wouldn't that be something. Even the things that were more annual. Star Wars things, December Winter Wonderland, and the like.

"Annual in the weird, never the specifics." Which answered why things weren't necessarily planned for. The amount of Star Wars events and all had different risks and issues.

"The objective? Stop the Stormtroopers and AT-STs.... the Stormtroopers may not have the best aim but they're also capable of hurting people." She'd already had to heal a few people. Ewoks at least were focused on attacking the Stormtroopers and not people in general.

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coldestreality
2020-05-08 01:49 pm UTC (link)

"Gotcha." Annual weird. That sounded about right. Strange things had always happened in the OC. Being away as long as he had, though, Alex was unaware of the current cycle of things. He was a fast learner, and even if he had always preferred to hang back in the shadows, he wasn't afraid to get out there in the thick of things.

In fact, at the moment, he felt an overwhelming desire to help fight off this invasion. Stormtroopers were supposed to be fictional things. Stormtroopers were not supposed to be invading his town.

"Do you have a weapon I can use?" He had nothing but his bare hands. Effective to a point, and then not so much. He wanted to fight, he didn't want to get killed.

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ofevilsfire
2020-05-08 03:18 pm UTC (link)

Raven had to think back to how long the weird had really been happening....8 years now? But there was a definite difference between being vaguely aware but not paying too much attention to it to being fully aware and throwing yourself into it. Then again, she was a Teen Titan, she couldn't just not help.

As for the question of a weapon.

"Not on me. But I can get you one."

Alex would be in for a crash course of just how unusual and peculiar things could be if he took her up on that since it would require Raven using a portal to get him a weapon. But well, that was the nature of this place.

Or she could see a Stormtrooper come towards them, blaster raised.

"Azarath Mentrion Zinthos!"

A protective shield went around the two through telekinetic energy that she then manipulated to blast the Stormtrooper aside and unconscious.

"Or you can grab his weapon."

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coldestreality
2020-05-08 07:58 pm UTC (link)

He had no idea what he was missing out on by taking up the fallen Stormtrooper's weapon. He really had no idea what the hell was going on, anyway. What was that energy force field she'd used? Had he stepped into the Twilight Zone without realising it? That was the only explanation he could come up with on short notice.

He grabbed the blaster. It was heavier than he anticipated, and it took him a moment to adjust the weight of it to a comfortable position. He wasn't sure he wanted to use it, honestly, but he sure as hell didn't want to stand around unarmed while all hell was breaking loose around him.

"You seem to know what you're doing," he said. And he was more than happy to take a step back and let her lead the way. Let her do the killing, if killing had to be done. He might have the instinct to fight, but he sure as hell didn't like it.

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ofevilsfire
2020-05-08 08:17 pm UTC (link)

That was one way of looking at it. Despite the fact that she did work at the Agency, it wasn't like they had any actual answers on what caused the Dreams or events. Just that they happened. Raven had long since learned to just go with it. Less of a headache and there was enough to deal with without trying to find answers for things that apparently had none.

Even if Alex didn't use the blaster, it was a way to protect himself. As she had told Ahsoka earlier, they knew the Stormtroopers would be gone by the next day and that the Stormtroopers were harming people and those who could should do what they could to help.

"It comes with the territory I guess." She had never been one for small talk but she was used to fighting despite being a pacifist. There just came a time when you had to fight to protect others,

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coldestreality
2020-05-08 11:41 pm UTC (link)

He was learning to go with the flow. Weird things had been happening since he'd returned to the OC, though he didn't realise it corresponded more to his decision to join the network than to his return to California.

The heat of battle wasn't really the place for small talk, and Alex decided to forgo trying to carry on a conversation. He needed to focus, especially now that he had a weapon, his goal wasn't just self preservation, but defense. Of himself, certainly, or others. He'd be much more likely to use the blaster if he was protecting someone else.

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ofevilsfire
2020-05-08 11:49 pm UTC (link)

It usually was just better to go with the flow here. Less of a headache. Especially when you had to react to things right away because it was an invasion or something, trying to make sense of it in the moment was likely to get someone injured, if not killed. There was enough of a threat of that anyway. No need to have a sign pointing down at you because you were too busy trying to make sense of what was happening as it was happening.

Protection was a very good motivator. At least for Raven. Nodding to him to follow her, she rounded a corner and found someone who needed healing, "Cover me." Hopefully he would be fine with that, but she needed to heal this person and it was easier to just do a healing instead of a protection barrier plus healing.

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coldestreality
2020-05-09 01:40 pm UTC (link)

Alex nodded. He wouldn't hesitate, now, to blast anything that came too close and posed a threat. He stood firm, his legs slightly apart, his stance saying don't mess with me. Not that a Stormtrooper would really care one way or the other about his stance and body language.

The only language they seemed to know was violence. Well, there was one less to worry about after Alex took it down with the blaster he'd stolen from a fallen comrade. The rush of adrenaline he felt when the enemy went down was some kind of high, for sure. But he tempered it down, because it was a dangerous high.

He wasn't a killer. He did't like the thought that he was. But he had vanquished an enemy and kept someone else safe. Two someones, really. He didn't know Raven's name and didn't even know if he'd ever see her again, but for today at least, they were partners of a sort. Alex felt like he'd earned his stripes, and it felt good despite the fact he'd killed someone. Or something.

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