11th Bad Idea [Accidental Joint Video]

[algidity]

[ The video comes to life with a dull thud as Isaac's communicator falls off the couch and onto the floor. He doesn't sound or look all too bothered by it, if it weren't for the quick glance, it'd look like he doesn't even notice.

The video's sideways but it shows both Allison and Isaac, she's on the floor with her back against the couch in question, while he is draped across it, seeming to take up far too much room. His attention is back on Allison, and he's looking a bet vehement. ]

No way, Black Widow has all the same powers as Batman, less money, and still manages to kick more ass. Then there's the whole [ Airquotes ] men are supposed to be stronger than women thing.

[ Allison turns another page in the comic she's reading, totally unaware of the device having fallen, or it even being on. As far as she knows, she's just talking to her boyfriend, while also trying to educate herself on comics.

Well, "talking". They're mostly just arguing at this point. ]

Yeah, but she also had training, almost to a brainwashed level, for a government agency. Batman had to get all that done himself, without the help of the government hiding him. Money doesn't count when you have a country's taxes paying for everything.

[ But then she leans her head back, looking up at him with a smile. A content smile. A "that was cute you got brownie points for that one" kind of smile. Isaac may or may not get lost in her eyes for a second before leaning down to steal a chaste kiss. The fact that she's actually learned so much about this, well, it's endearing.

When he leans down to give her the kiss, she kisses him back. Light, easy. As far as she knows they're alone, after all, so what's the harm? ]

I'll give you the girls versus boys argument, though, but I'm not saying she's not really awesome. I'm just saying that in a fight, if given the time to research and prepare, Batman would totally win.

Batman has had training too! He's had lots of training -- I thought you said you watched the movies. And he has the money to get even more training. Money definitely counts, it totally cancels out her previous training and all the S.H.I.E.L.D. training. Besides Batman is a total crybaby, he gets upset over everything - Black Widow uses all the problems she's faced in her life as something to build off of. Batman's life isn't even that bad, but he acts like it couldn't get worse. Black Widow wouldn't need to research to kick Batman's ass.

You know what else? Black Widow has an interesting story. Batman? Not so much. Do you know how boring Batman actually is? Can you hand me my phone.

[ He leans back away from her and reaches an arm out to point at it, hoping she'll comply.

But when he leans back again, her smile drops and she huffs a little, mostly at herself.

She's not exactly a scholar, after all. ]

I meant that his training was self-driven. He wanted to be his ideal so he went out to learn everything he needed to do. He's a genius, yeah, but other than that he wasn't all that special. I have seen the movies, we watched them a couple of months ago. And money does not cancel out her previous and S.H.I.E.L.D. training!

[ She's not really upset, just kind of playing up her huff when she uses the comic to reach over her head and whack him. ]

Are you kidding me? He does not get upset over everything. Have you seen the movies? It also doesn't matter how bad his life is or how interesting his story is. What matters is the good he's doing. Trying to stop criminals and fight injustice, at the expense of his whole life.

He devoting himself to an ideal. You know, kind of like a code? [ She shoots a look over her shoulder at him, like she's asking him to argue that, as she reaches over to pick up the device and hand it to him over her shoulder, not even looking at it as she does so.

The feed moves with her as she moves the camera, pausing as it hangs over her shoulder. ]

Batman would so win.

[ And you have to agree to get your phone back.

Isaac tries to snatch it out of her hand, only to be denied a couple times before he gives up and makes a noise in the back of his throat that manages to sound offended... And then he's lunging off the couch to tackle her, knocking the device out of her hand and to the ground, where he snatches it up... Only to see that it's been recording from where he's perched on her. Not very comfortable, but that's what she gets for cheating! ]

Great... [ And with that, it clicks off. ]

Comments

video;

[hyperkinesia]

[ Oh boy. Where to even start. ]

Who's Batman?

[ Yes, good plan. Start with that. ]

video;

[driven]

[ oh wait she's totally got this. ]

A superhero. He's fictional, where we're from, but not for everyone.

[ wait why is he asking.........

oh.

oh isaac you're so dead. ]

action

[algidity]

[ Did you hear that shriek of "exactly!" In the background. People don't even know who batman is. ]

video;

[hyperkinesia]

Got it.

[ Kinda makes him wonder if Black Widow's just a fictional character for them too... Which opens up to a whole other set of questions he doesn't want the answer to. ]

Well, he's just a guy, right? Doesn't really matter how strong he is. Black Widow could hit him in all the right places, take him down.

[ #blackwidowteam4ever ]

video;

[oversight]

[ As it stands, Blake doesn't feel like weighing in on this argument. He's feeling a bit like shit after losing someone close to him, and being railroaded at every turn by Wonderland has been wearing him thin. But strangely enough, he's compelled. Clearing his throat, John responds to the message with a gesture toward the camera. ]

'Preciate the thought goin' into this, but you're missin' the third, more likely outcome, where they team up because they're both workin' for the same side.

The Batman wouldn't have any reason to fight Black Widow under normal circumstances.

[ Just call him Buzz Killington. ]

video;

[algidity]

[ Oh, look, it's Lamey McLamepants. ]

Maybe but Batman's fought plenty of superheroes before. Plenty of 'em have been brainwashed for evil or vice versa. [ Get with the picture. ]

What if Batman was brainwashed for evil? Natasha could definitely kick his ass.

video; threadjacks for great justice.

[driven]

And if Natasha was brainwashed for evil, Batman could take her down too. And you just had me read a whole plotline where Black Widow fought other heroes!

[ blowing holes in your argument bro. sorry. ]

video;

[driven]

This is more just hypothetically speaking than anything.

[ have an apologetic smile, almost like she was caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. which, well, she was caught unintentionally. ]

video;

[oversight]

Yeah, figured as much. But even hypothetically speakin', can't recall any kinda evidence that'd suggest it wouldn't end that way, anyway.

[ I mean, come on, there's a bat accessory for everything, right up to and including shark repellent. Putting a kibosh on something like brainwashing isn't outside the realm of possibility for a guy like him. ]

[Video]

[widows_kiss]

[When she first hears her call sign, her initial reaction is a little bit of confusion and amusement. It's not a title she's used here in Wonderland, not to greet anyone. She'd been very upfront about presenting herself as Natasha - as dangerous an alias as that might be back home. So she's a little startled to hear it mentioned at all, especially by two someones she's fairly sure she hasn't met yet.

If it had been only that, she might not have thought too deeply about it - even back home, it was the name that circulated with the others, a superhero name plastered in comics and on action figures and probably even a few trading cards. She'd seen more than one child toting around a toy-sized version of one of them quite frequently in recent months and that was all well and good, everyone needed heroes and the Avengers had been oh-so-very visible during the attack on Manhattan.

No, the general knowledge of the name itself she wouldn't have thought that deeply about, but the knowledge out there about her was, for the most part, carefully contained. As far as she was aware, there were no stories of her out there outside of SHIELD - at least not until they'd leaked all the files and even then...

Let's just say she's suddenly concerned about who has what information on her that she didn't realize until this moment. Even Steve and Sam aren't far enough ahead to have witnessed the fallout of what, exactly, she unleashed with that information dump and she'd been rather relieved about that. Now, however...

Not that she's going to give that away from the start, however.]

If this Batman's code is stopping criminals and fighting injustice, isn't this entire scenario a moot point?

[Video]

[driven]

[ first, it's the name that pops up with the message. then, it's the picture on the video. after that, allison's turning a little red in embarrassment at the realization that this is on the network which means that black widow is here and has seen all of this and-

okay. sure. no problem. she can do this. allison tries for an apologetic sort of smile, despite the fact she's not really...apologizing for anything. ]

I'd would say so, but we were trying to decide what if. Like...off-chance situation. Kind of. Thing.

[ #nailedit. oh god can she go hide in a corner and never come out again please. ]

Threadjack

[algidity]

[ Don't mind Isaac mushing his face against Allison's to see what she's all oogey about. And oh, he perks up, because FEEL THE EMBARRASSMENT ALLISON. FEEL IT. ]

Like if one of you were mind controlled or something -- like by Loki.

[ But he's a good boyfriend and doesn't throw Allison under the bus, even if he should!! ]

video

[vates]

If she was brainwashed, and then overcame it, then doesn't that make her stronger than a guy with money who trained himself on his own his whole life?

[ Kevin doesn't know the specifics of these characters we'll go with that, but he's talked superheroes before, back home. He's vaguely aware of some Batman details. Isn't Black Widow an Avenger? Maybe? He's lived in a houseboat and then an underground bunker for a year; he's behind on his pop culture. ]

video.

[driven]

Strong, yeah, but Batman's done the same thing, so I don't know about stronger. Also, Black Widow is just a girl, too, who was trained by the government.

And that wasn't the kind of brainwashed I meant.

[ she huffs a little, looking sideways off towards where isaac is with an annoyed expression. ]

[algidity]

You're just a girl too. [ He'll HUFF RIGHT BACK before leaning into frame. ]

Batman hasn't done the same thing and she's just mad because I'm right.

Video;

[impalementarts]

[Staunch defender right here.] Who or what's a batman. And why is the black widow fighting him?

It's a moot point. She'd win hands down.

Video;

[driven]

[ noooooooooo hawkeye don't hate her. ]

It's hypothetical - if they met they'd probably be on the same side anyway.

[ not going to argue that other point and will hold back the pout, so that she doesn't look like the teenager she is. ]

Re: Video;

[impalementarts]

[he looks amused]

Why's the guy a batman? Is he part bad? Did some accident make him bat like?

video;

[alionsheart]

[ He's really doing his best to follow this entire conversation, and he vaguely recognizes the comic book, having seen some through a shop window briefly in Storybrooke.

He's just not terribly familiar with the content of these comic books, only that they apparently contain fantastical stories of various heroes, much like some of the legends from his world.

Still, he's fixated on one thing in particular: ]

You...read stories about a man who wishes to be a bat?

video;

[algidity]

[ U g h the amount of poopoo face that whole sentence gets is astounding. ]

I don't. But uh, he doesn't... Want to be a bat... He just..... Dresses up like one... And fights crime... And kidnaps orphans. [ Don't mind that pointed look at Allison.

He doesn't understand how she can love Batman so much but hate Derek so much... They're basically the same person.

He had a nasty split with DC, he doesn't like to talk about it. It was the same sort of heartbreaking and betrayal he felt when Marvel killed off Peter Parker. ]

You've never heard of Batman?

video;

[alionsheart]

I can't imagine that's the most effective choice of clothing to wear.

...and why, precisely, is he regarded as a hero?

[ Presuming that Isaac isn't completely biased, and telling the truth, though Robin has his doubts. ]

I've not been in the same world you're likely from for very long. [ Likely because he really doesn't know at this point, there are so many worlds. ] We didn't have comic books in the Enchanted Forest.

video;

[driven]

[ huffs. ]

He doesn't want to be a bat. When he was younger he was terrified of bats - and when he found a way to fight crime, he wanted to embody the fear he was going to make the criminals feel when he fought them. Bats frightened him, so he was going to make bats frighten the bad guys too.

[ hashtag movie knowledge. ]

video;

[alionsheart]

...I see.

[ He's...still perplexed by this whole thing, but at least he has a better understanding of how these stories and comic books work. ]

And you regard him more highly than you do this...Black Widow?

video; sorry it's late - feel free to ignore if you want!

[tryit]

Look, I'll give you that Batman's cool and all - for a fictional superhero.

[Said as if there's some distaste in that thought. After all, why does any self respecting publishing house or movie studio bother with fictional characters when there are so many cooler, not to mention real heroes to base your stories on.]

But have you ever seen Romanoff in action? Anyone in their right mind would give the fight to her. She can be scary sometimes.

video; no worries!

[driven]

[ oh man, kate. you're going to regret making that argument. especially considering the way allison reaches over and pulls up a black widow comic to show to the video screen. ]

They're both fictional where I'm from.

[ you were saying? ]

No, I haven't, and I also haven't seen Batman in action either so I couldn't say either way.