reality_crossroads | (no subject)

"Including you and Jeannie?" Marty asks, before snickering. "Really? Well, hey, what the Riddler's best at. . .though the Azores?" He racks his brain for whatever old geography knowledge might still be rattling around in there. "Isn't that off the coast of -- Spain? Or was it Portugal?"

"Wish I could say I remembered the first time that happened," he admits, though at least he's pretty sure they were married once. It's definitely good enough reason to go through that again.

"Might as well say it's off the coast of Newfoundland," he says with a grin. "Since it's right in the middle of the ocean and there's only a couple hundred miles difference either way. ... That is, if there is a Newfoundland or a Portugal yet. All we can see is ocean, and no one's got a boat!"

Marty shrugs sympathetically. "Yeah. . .but hey, now you get to make brand-new nice memories, at least. And you don't have to worry about the writers screwing it all up."

"Really? Didn't know that. . ." Marty shrugs again. "One of you guys could build one. I mean, you're gonna need to find out sooner or later what's out there. I don't know much about the Azores, but I'm betting things are gonna get cramped once more people start gettin' out. And hey, keeps at least one guy busy and out of trouble."

"True. now we only have to worry about screwing it up ourselves!"

"Oh, we'll get around to something like that eventually. I mean, the island's nice and all, but it's not home. If there's a Gotham out there or going to be, we'll find our way back there... but for now, where we are's not such a bad place for a vacation."

"Yeah, well -- you're in a better place for not screwing it up, too." Keeping positive!

Marty nods. "I get that. My family -- we've got a whole country open to us to live in, but Chicago. . .it's where we feel we belong. Probably Doc and Victor most out of any of us, but still. I don't even miss Hill Valley that much anymore." Still a little -- always a little -- but the sting of escaping from Arcadia only to find another Marty already in his place has faded. "But we still like to go on little road trips, see the sights."

"I've got no plans to be the one upsetting the apple cart this time. So far I actually like things just as they are... well, except for the not being home yet, but we'll either get there or we won't." Why worry about it. They could all spontaneously drop dead tomorrow and he wouldn't be surprised. It's all been too surreal. But so far it's been good, and, hey, he'll take what he can get!

"Might be interesting to see what other places pop up besides Gotham, if there are some from other universes in the 'Timesoup'. Could be some interesting sights to see out there."

"That's the way to look at it," Marty agrees. "You've got a good thing going -- might as well enjoy it."

"I can bet. Do you know what else might have gotten added, or is that all Jeannie's domain? I mean, I'd say you've got wherever the Pokemon come from, but -- I dunno if it counts if they're all from the vending machine."

"Hey, we do actually talk to each other," Jokester points out with a grin. "Can't spend all our time doing... other things." Yes, that was innuendo. But to the actual topic, "I know there was some kind of unexpected chain reaction with the first two universes involved, neither of which was ours. Some of the ones that are 'connected' somehow haven't gotten unstable enough to 'fall' into the 'timesoup' yet. They've gotta fall apart to fall in, you see. If they're stable enough on their own, nothing's gonna happen. And some others, they're kind of 'hanging' on the last events before they take a tumble. But of the ones that are already in? Well, Jeannie's already had some troublesome patients tucked away on the 'other side' from some horror movie timeline where they spent decades possessed by demons or something. Something with puzzle boxes in it that drag you to hell, which doesn't sound fair to me. I don't know too much about them because of the whole doctor-patient confidentiality thing, but one of them's a little kid. And several of the ex-Pokemon seem to have been turned into Moogles... I think those are from the Final Fantasy games, so there's at least some version of that in there somewhere. Pretty sure one of those was one of the first two, and the other was some kind of swords and sorcery thing too..."

"Yeah, I know -- guy's gotta eat and hit the toilet every so often," Marty jokes back. He listens with interest as Jokester explains how the whole business works. "I get it -- if a universe isn't in trouble, it's not gonna fall in. And if it is in trouble -- well, it's gotta finish whatever it started first, it sounds like. Guess we'll see what happens, then. . ."

He grimaces as Jokester tells him about some of the people already in the soup. "Demons? For decades? Shit. That must have sucked -- and one of them was a kid?! Jeez. . ." He shakes his head. "Tell Jeannie to tell 'em I'm rooting for 'em. That sounds like the worst." He shrugs at the next bit. "I don't know anything about Final Fantasy. Swords and sorcery, though -- that sounds like Dungeons and Dragons. Maybe you got one of their settings? Probably one of them's imploded from rewrites or something by now."

"She, heh... wanted to make sure her skills weren't too rusty before she had to deal with me again. So she asked for someone who'd really been through hell, and apparently got taken literally. And then the four of them were kind of a set."

"Whatever we've got, it's a safe bet it's going to get interesting. I can hardly wait to meet some of the new people."

"Yeah, possessed by demons is about as literal as you can get. . .though I bet it was good practice for dealing with the Joker," Marty admits. "And hey, you seem to have turned out pretty good. . .I hope they're doing better now too."

"Oh, yeah, definitely. You're gonna have the ultimate definition of 'melting pot' in this new world, I bet."

"I'll have to ask for an update, if she'll give me one," Jokester says. "The last I heard about them at least the little kid was responsive, but she was pretty sure he's completely forgotten how to talk."

"I think that's going to be half the fun! And maybe half the pending disasters as well. Not sure just what will happen with people that might recognize me after all... reputation's a sticky thing sometimes. Or if there are any in there I recognize. Jeannie's been vague, but those patients she mentioned sound kind of familiar if I could just place it."

"She can probably tell you some nonspecific stuff," Marty says, before wincing at what news they do have. "Seriously? That sucks. Poor guys." Makes him very grateful he got out of Arcadia with his wits firmly in place.

"Heh, yeah. . .well, hopefully most of 'em won't run screaming," Marty says with an awkward smile. "And really?" He furrows his brow, trying to remember anything he might have read that would involve demon possession, then shrugs. "Well, maybe once you meet 'em in person, you'll figure it out."

"It probably helps - or doesn't in this case - that, despite what you might think, horror movies weren't really my thing."

"Actually, I can see that," Marty admits. "I mean, the Joker was all about causing chaos, not just watching it. . .granted, I could see him breaking onto a horror movie set to terrorize the actors and make everything that much more lethal." And yes, he's well aware the guy in front of him was the Joker -- he just feels awkward saying 'you.' There's a big disconnect for him between the Clown Prince of Crime and the pretty nice guy asking about where to find somebody to perform weddings.

"No, you see, then I'd be stealing Basil's routine... the actor out of the various Clayfaces. He was the one who'd get into a snit about modern films relying more on gore and shock than the horror films he used to do. Heh, maybe we oughtta see about getting him out next. That'd be a laugh."

"Ahhh -- yeah, can't be doing that," Marty agrees, smiling. "Can't say I disagree with him, honestly. I mean, I've watched some slasher movies, sure, but some of the stuff I've caught on the TV. . ." He was not a fan of that brief glimpse of the Saw movie he caught. "Is he still gonna be, uh, clay-y when he does get out?"

"I can't blame him either. I feel the same when it comes to comparing good classic comedy with some of the modern drek... not that there aren't a few gems in the mud now and then."

"As for the rest, honestly, I've got no idea," Jokester says with a shrug. "He started off normal enough, till he came up with a plot to swipe powers from three of the other people who went by the name. Heh, I guess the writers were just in a mood to try to consolidate that tangle."

"Yeah -- I find myself looking for classic 80s stuff whenever we decide to get new movies or something," Marty confesses. "Feels weird to be nostalgic when I'm in my 20s, but. . ." He shrugs.

"Guess we'll find out then." He wrinkles his brow. "How many Clayfaces were there, anyway? You got Basil -- who I know started out as just a guy in a costume -- Matt, Preston. . .and a gal named Sondra, right?"

"Well, I may have been peeking through some of the files after that surprise ol' Pengy dropped on us, just to stay ahead of the game... and turns out Preston and Sondra managed to have a kid at some point. With each other. Named 'em Cassius... which just shows that me and my immediate family aren't the only ones from Gotham with a sense of humor. I've heard something about a little girl, too, but I'm not sure what's up with that."

"Seriously?" Marty shakes his head. "Yeah, really. . .I'm not sure either." He does a quick mental recount. "So Cassius and mystery girl take the total up to six. That's -- a lot of Clayfaces. You think one of 'em would have chosen a different name. Unless they did and I just never heard about it."

"Well, Sondra went by Lady Clay sometimes, and apparently if you get enough of them together at once they go by 'the Mud Pack', but..." Jokester shrugs. "Sometimes I think the writers were having trouble telling them apart... or just didn't care enough to bother."

Marty snorts. "Okay, gotta admit, I like 'The Mud Pack' for a group of 'em working together. But yeah, I can buy the writers just not giving enough of a shit. Which is weird, because these guys were getting paid to be creative." Kind of frustrating when you think about it. How many of them just went with the obvious choice, or didn't bother doing the research?

"Honestly, it's lazy. Especially when it's not that hard if you give it even half a try. Basil didn't even have powers until he messed himself up using dna samples from the other three... not counting kidlets there, mind you. Matt Hagen and Sondra Fuller were the 'classic' mud-person-that-shapeshifts that I'm betting most think of when 'Clayface' gets mentioned. And poor ol' Preston Payne didn't even really fit the theme... unless you count that his abilities gave him a melty face along with the ability to melt anything and anyone he touched. About as much fun as the Midas Touch and without the cash payoff. He had to be in a suit to keep from becoming a puddle, and had no control over his powers and chronic migrane headaches unless he'd just melted someone to death... seemed to stabilize 'em for a bit. Which makes it even more of a surprise he managed to get Sondra knocked up!"

"Matt was dead by the time Basil decided to 'upgrade' from large ham to mudball monster, so there isn't even any overlap there."

"Super lazy," Marty agrees. "I mean, it's okay if it's a name that's actually being passed down, like a legacy character thing, but that. . .and man, I didn't realize Preston had it that bad. Who's freaking brilliant idea was to give him that power? I guess Sondra being already kinda melty must have made a difference. . ." He shrugs. "More reasons to be glad they're not mucking around in your lives anymore, I guess."