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001 ☆ video

[When the video feed starts up, it shows a man seated at a desk in a rather nondescript room. Not much can be seen behind him beyond a bed and closet. Much more noteworthy is his face, which has a few bruises and a line of stitches extending outward from the corner of his mouth.

Despite that, he has a bright, open look on his face, though the fact that he's sitting up straight and looking head-on at his phone's camera makes it clear that he means business.]

So... had a few days to take everything in, read what information I could find. It's been helpful, it really has. [A lot of the work and investigation had already been done for him, though that hasn't prevented Steve from doing his own exploration.]

Just a few questions, if anyone can help. [And so far, most everyone has been helpful.] I can only assume there's some escape effort that's been put together here. A group of like-minded people, working together to get everyone home. I'd like to be a part of that. [It might seem overly transparent to ask about something like that over a network like this, but Steve has no interest in secrecy, especially not after everything that he's been through.]

Secondly, I've heard a lot about people being from different worlds. I'm trying to get an idea of how many we're dealing with. [He knows about Asgard and has heard vaguely of the Nine Realms, but beyond that he's clueless. He needs to determine the scope of this operation.]

Oh, and the name's Steve Rogers. I'll do whatever I can to get us all out of here. [It's meant mainly as a test to see if anyone here is going to recognize him, or if he actually has some manner of anonymity in this place.

With that said, he offers a small smile and then ends the feed.]

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[ Beat up, huh? Why is it that most everyone shows up in Wonderland broken and bloody? On the bright side, this guy doesn't look like he took the hits here, and with his explanation and basic understanding already established, having a "few days to take everything in" checks out.

Nevertheless, there's something there that Blake recognizes, but doesn't quite recognize. At first, he chalks it up to Rogers' press-conference like announcement, guessing that he'd adopted public speaking like this later in life much like Blake, but even that doesn't satisfy his niggling inkling that there's more here than meets the eye.

When he appears on the network, he's looking tired, but otherwise cheerful enough. ]

Steve. [ A nod. ] Good meetin' you. Good questions, too.

Where's it you said you were from?

[ There's something there. Besides the obvious, of course, but it can't really be that this guy is the Captain America, right? There must be thousands of other Steve Rogers in the world... ]

[It's not so much that Steve took up public speaking, but more than he was put in more and more situations where he had no choice but to speak his mind -- and to his surprise, people actually wanted to listen.

Apparently, he has a presence, the sort of thing that makes people want to pay attention. Steve usually just speaks from the heart and hopes for the best, and that seems to get the job done.

He nods back at the stranger, finding it interesting that he comes out with his own question instead of answering any of Steve's. He doesn't mind telling him, though.]

From Earth. If you mean more specifically than that, I'm from Brooklyn in New York City.

[ Well, okay, but there must be hundreds of other Steve Rogers from Brooklyn, right? Not that it seems to help Blake make his decision about this guy. ]

I, uh— [ He scratches at his cheek and then tires to play it cool. ] That's— th-that's good to know. Coupla— coupla other people from New York here, too.

[ Manners, though? Blake has them somewhere beneath all of this (wholly suppressed) excitement. ]

Oh. I'm Bla—. J-John Blake. But, um. [ This is so weird, isn't it? Blake can't help but be distracted. ] ...most everyone calls me, uh. [ ... ] Blake.

[The stuttering, the awkwardness, it's something that Steve actually recognizes by now, having had enough people come up to him and mention how it's an honor to meet him, how he's a national icon, and so on.

He can't be sure that's what's going on here, and he doesn't want to assume anything or be presumptuous.

He quirks a smile, though.] It's nice to meet you, Blake. Steve or Rogers works for me. [Or Cap, but he won't push it.] Guess I'm not surprised there are some other New Yorkers here. Where are you from? [He'll do what he can to set Blake at ease.]

[ Oh god, oh god. You know what? This guy is Steve Rogers, and Blake can tell because suddenly, the only thing he wants to say happens to be "Well, I don't know Steve or Roger, but if they work for you, then they can't work for me."

Blake shakes off the horrible urge to make an awful joke and straightens up a little. He needs to get his shit together if he's talking to Captain America. ]

Gotham City. I, uh— [ Captain America!! ] Yeah, I wasn't in Gotham before comin' here, but that's where I'm from.

[Gotham City? Steve frowns, takes a moment to sift through his memories, but it doesn't ring any bells. He shakes his head, but seeing how Blake only specified a city, chances are it's on Earth.]

I... haven't heard of it. [He's brushed up on his geography and history alike since waking up, so he's not convinced that he's missed something, but he'll ask anyway.]

What country is it in? [Seems like it would have to be America, judging by Blake's accent, but English is spoken plenty of places.]

United States. New York, too. It's... mostly fictitious accordin' to a lot of the people I've met here.

[ It sounds crazy, but maybe Cap here understands crazy? Blake doesn't feel great about tossing his whole world up into the air, but it isn't like he can't handle strange happenstance, all things considered. I mean, the guy's a genetically enhanced super soldier, isn't he? ]

When are you from?

Fictitious? Well, apparently not, if you're from there.

[This is getting more and more complicated. Not just the various worlds, but it sounds like some of them are nothing more than stories in others.

Then again, that's the case with Asgard, too. Most people just see Thor and Loki as figures in Norse mythology, when they're in fact real people.

And then there's Wonderland, which is supposed to be from a book. Seems like they're coming across a theme, here.]

I'm from 2014. [And 1945, but he's not going to get into that right now. Or ever, maybe. He deals with it enough back home.] How about you?

[ Well, to be fair, he quantified the fictitious part because Steve's going to hear a lot of the same stuff as Blake has, if he's to guess. And really, it takes some getting used to. And in Blake's case, it didn't even become all that real to him until he saw himself on screen.

Ah, Wonderland. What a joyous fucking place. Existential crises all around! ]

2012. Been here 'bout fifteen months, so it... mostly works out. Huh. We get a lotta people that're... out of time. If you get my meanin'... From a diff'rent time than now, which is 2014 accordin' to the phones.

[Steve will no doubt have his own existential crisis at some point, or at least be very, very weirded out. At least he's used to being recognized wherever he turns. The fact that it's not like that here is actually something of a relief.

Blake's been here over a year, which is enough to make Steve pay attention. The guy's got to have plenty of information gathered about this place after all that time. And speaking of time, it looks like Steve might share more in common with the other people here than he initially realized.]

Believe me, I know how that is. How much does it vary?

[He doesn't want to let out that he's from 1945 until he's certain that's not entirely abnormal here.]

Quite a bit, actually. Some of the people here are from the seventeenth century. Pretty sure some of them are from the future, too.

[ Although, Blake couldn't point them out. Maybe the Doctor could be considered from the future? He isn't sure, but it's a safe enough assumption that someone comes from the future. ]

Definitely more than meets the eye here. When I first showed, a pink alien pony made me strawberry cupcakes. Haven't really had your world properly turned upside down 'til that happens, lemme tell you.

[The seventeenth century? If Steve had struggled when first waking up after a seventy year sleep, he can't imagine what those people had gone through. It's nearly impossible to imagine.

Some of the scenery here is a more old-fashioned -- or rather, like something you'd see in a child's picture book. Maybe a mix of both. Then you've got the phones, though, and other modern inventions that the rest of them take for granted.

If there are people from the future around, Steve wouldn't mind speaking to them sometime either. He may as well find out what he's got to look forward to.

He isn't all that ready for Blake's example, though. Pink... alien... pony. Okay then.] I want to assume you're pulling my chain, but I feel like you would have come up with something more believable in that case. [He rubs at the back of his head.] This place is really something.

Yeah, you ain't kiddin' 'bout that. Some days are a bit more surreal than others.

[ Like when you get to meet a genuine super soldier that isn't created by Wonderland alone. ]

Listen, if you ever need anything, you just let me know. Or if you got any questions or you're lookin' to spar with someone...

[ Not that anyone said anything about sparring. ]

[Steve's going to hope that this is one of the more surreal days, then. Not that he likes the idea of getting used to this place, but adaptation is also part of being a good soldier. He isn't going to get anything done if he's spending the whole time staring around in awe.

It's kind of unexpected, the way that Blake makes such an open offer to someone he's only been talking to for a few minutes. Maybe he's just a nice guy that way. Steve does make note of how he specifically mentions sparring, though.]

It might be a little uneven if we spar. [He smiles sheepishly, almost apologetically.] I've got a lot of... advantages.

[Seriously, his sparring usually involves tussling with Thor, or with Stark in the suit, or with the Blake Widow herself. It's kind of a different level. Unless Blake here's got some secrets of his own.]

Yeah, right, that's— [ A nod. Blake's no slouch when it comes to hand-to-hand, but he's pretty sure it's not boasting that has Captain America warning him ahead of time. ] I know, but it's just— just sparrin'. Figure we could prob'ly work it out. 'Sides, there's a self-defense class that could use a really friendly face like yours...

[ Not that he's twisting your arm, or anything. ]

[He knows? Does he really? He might, Steve realizes, especially considering that case of stammering earlier. It seems strange to outright ask, though, and so he leaves it alone.

He's far more interested in talk of a self-defense class.] There's something like that around here? To teach civilians how to handle themselves in a fight?

[He could definitely see himself getting involved in that. He might even drag Natasha along, as she's the real expert at hand-to-hand among the two of them.]

[ Blake doesn't call attention to Steve's use of the word "civilians," but he takes note of it. If anything, they're prisoners, and having no government or law presiding, none of them even have a flag to fly over their battlefields, let alone a all-encompassing code for all of them to follow. ]

Yeah, there is. More than that, too, but the walls have eyes, as you've prob'ly guessed.

[Steve's guessed and been warned multiple times. A lot of people here are tight-lipped, and while Steve's never been the secretive type, he'll put up with it if he has to in order to get information.]

How about a face-to-face, then? Any place you name, I'll be there.

[ If nothing else, it might be good for all of them to get together again and talk about what's at stake, what's been accomplished, and how much better off they are since the last time everyone gathered in a large group (away from the mirrors) more than a year ago. ]

Lemme put out the word and we'll make that happen, definitely. In the meantime, if there's— y'know, if there's somethin' you need, or a question you've got, or whatever, you can gimme a call. Any time. Day or night. Usually up.

I appreciate that. And any way I can help out, just say the word. I've got a few skills I can put to use.

[Which Steve can list out if needed. He's still on the fence regarding whether or not Blake knows who he is, so he's not going to assume anything.]

Think you could tell me some more about the mirrors? That's got to be the most mysterious thing about this place so far.

Yeah, yeah. They're— Well, it's debatable whether they're the exact opposite of us, or they're just markedly diff'rent. For example, mine's pretty notorious for being a total psycho. Met up with him durin' this human-chess game the Queens had goin'. Came to blows, and he's not much of a fighter, so it ended real fast.

'Course, that's pretty straight-forward, but a friend of mine had a coupla his own versions of Mirrors. One was pretty mean, the other was kinda— [ Something of a twitch stops Blake and he reminds himself he's not really a chatterbox, ] —the other wasn't so mean.

[ End of story. Because Blake's not about go into details about how he's never been sure what to think of Mirrors, and how he'd liked that particular one quite a bit. ]

Sometimes they leave writin'. Sometimes they cross over.

[It's good to have some examples, though while Blake is detailed in describing his own Mirror, it gets more vague after that. Steve understands that he doesn't necessarily want to blab about other people's counterparts, though.

Steve tries to keep in mind that some of the Mirrors might not be so bad. They could put that to use, depending on how this all plays out. Though he gets the feeling his own Mirror is going to be a nightmare to deal with.]

Are we able to write back to them? And how do they cross over?

[It seems like if that were easily done, then he would have seen it happen by now, so there's probably some kind of catch.]

Yeah, we can write back on the mirrors. That's how they cross, too, but I dunno what says they can or can't, other'n maybe the queen.

[ Steve's right to assume there's some kind of catch. In fact, things will go much more smoothly for him if he just keeps that in mind overall. ]

Just be careful trustin' anyone. Things change. People change.

[Steve's had all kinds of lessons lately, about how trust is something he can't hand out as easily as he'd once thought.

Back home, he's got a pretty good hold on who he can trust now, but Wonderland is a whole new ballgame with a new set of rules. Everyone he's spoken to has struck him as genuine, but does that really mean anything anymore?

Steve hasn't lost faith in people. The help he received against the helicarriers had only proved to him that good is still out there.]

I'll be careful. Thanks for all the information, I appreciate it.

[ At least their faith in people is something they share, otherwise this might have been a totally different conversation. ]

Sure thing, man. Offer stands, too, in case you need somethin' in the near future.

[ And then a mock-salute. ] Stay safe out there, Cap.

[ Blake disconnects, mostly to keep Steve from seeing him fanboy. ]

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001 ☆ video

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