[network] @jwatson; text; Bite the Bullet [Night 250]

[jumpthegun]

[This is an incredibly embarrassing post to have to make, especially after the one he'd put out a few days earlier. Reading through those replies makes him want to curl up and hide from the world for people seeing what he'd been like straight out of the Army. The messages to his friends are a particular humiliation. But it is what it is and he has to deal with this now. Man up, Watson.]

I'd like to apologize to everyone for my attitude and behavior the last several days. My death price has ended and my memories have returned. I can't take back the things I said to any of you, but I'm really very sorry. I was in a bit of a bad place where I was set at.

For anyone who was asking me, I'm in the Entrance area with America, England, and Ginger.

I'm also sorry to report that the cause for Clint Barton's death was the Joker. He mortally wounded Clint, but I'm pretty sure Clint was able to escape the situation along with Harley Quinn. Clint was able to mortally wound the Joker, as well. I'm not sure where the Joker is right now, but please be on your absolute guard. He is well-armed and he'll have been healed up after his revival, even if he might still have severe MN Poisoning.


Action for Team Blonde
[Prior to sending out the message, John is rummaging around the new building they'd made it to for the night. He thinks he's getting the hang of this and he's relaxed a little more around his companions since they've not attacked him suddenly or stolen from him for several consecutive days.

He opens a cabinet in the kitchen and discovers a bottle of white wine, which is surprising, but not unwelcome when everything returns to him in a flash. It's like someone turning on the lights, full power when he's been completely in dark. It hurts.

John squeezes his eyes shut as the swirl of memories pours in, mixing, jumbling, resorting into the proper order and finally stopping when everything is settled. He's clutching his head, breathing hard. One memory in particular sticks out, though, the last one he'd had before dying...]

Fuck!

[Hope the rest of the house doesn't mind swearing.]

Comments

@ASolomons; audio; private

[devoutish]

[thank fuck]

And the cause of your death?

audio; private

[jumpthegun]

[The implication is there already, but of course Alfie wants him to say it.]

The Joker, and no. I didn't go looking for him. We ran into each other while we were both anomalies. Didn't recognize him. He got the jump on me when we were back to ourselves in the morning. Harley was there, too, ended up helping him until Clint turned up and managed to pull her out of it.

@magenta2; text

[himalayanyeti]

i sure hope you remember me now doc

and huh. is harley ok

[jumpthegun]

I do, Magenta. I hope you're keeping away from any revival areas.

You'd have to ask Harley how she is, though. I haven't spoken to her. I think Clint got her away safely, though.

[John roughed her up a bit, but he hadn't gone as full-out as he probably should have from the start to keep her off.]

@gravedigger; voice

[harlequinofhate]

Yes, everyone, please don't annoy me right now, I'm trying to think.

And, dang you lot are loud.

[jumpthegun]

Maybe you can tell us where you are, Joker. We'll know where to leave you alone at.

And by the way, stay the hell away from Harley Quinn, you obnoxious, abusive bastard.

@magenta2; voice

[himalayanyeti]

Have you tried shuttin' up yourself? I've heard it makes a hell of a difference in how much you can hear.

[It's probably not a good idea, but he has to fill his weekly Rude Quota.]

@theiceman, audio

[holmesice]

My name is Mycroft Holmes. I don't think we've been aquatinted.

[The voice is steely.]

action

[keepscalm]

[England is not particularly offended by swearing, but he is rather startled for quite a few reasons. Shouting, loud shouting, John shouting—

He rushes to the kitchen ready to fight, fearing that John has found an anomaly or other hostile surprise. But he just sees John holding a wine bottle and looking very stressed; no sign of any sort of aggressor.

England lowers the chef's knife in his hand, brows furrowed in concern.] What happened? Are you all right?

action

[jumpthegun]

I remember.

[John doesn't turn to face England for the moment, and his voice is low, rough, angry.]

It was the Joker. Clint's dead because of the bloody Joker.

[He wants to throw something, hit something, kick, and scream. John's furious at the Joker, at Harley, at himself. He'd been caught off guard and Clint paid the price. The ultimate price if he's left gone again permanently.]

@featherydouche; voice

[mrcreamsicles]

He what?

[It would be one thing if Clint had died from an anomaly or freak accident, but this and he's still not back...]

voice; private

[jumpthegun]

[John switches over to private.]

I'm sorry, Davesprite. I'm so sorry. Clint should never have gotten mixed up in things, but he walked in while we were in the middle of fighting.

@Spoiler ; audio

[spoileralert]

Harley's not with him anymore? You're sure?

[jumpthegun]

I don't think so. Clint got her away. But I haven't seen her since then.

@mewatson, text

[agravating]

You remember now. Sherlock? Rosie?

[She can't quite bring herself to add "me".]

You're safe with those three? I've been worried.

>private; video

[jumpthegun]

[John switches immediately to video and private.]

I remember all of you. All of you. I'm sorry, Mary. I'm so sorry. [He wants to reach through the screen to her.]

Where are you? Are you okay? Don't go after the Joker. Please.

@beyonce | private | audio

[thewarningafter]

[So someone murdered someone and is wandering around mortally wounded with...someone. Stephen's mostly getting (through context and comparison) that the military doctor with the annoying detective friend and the wife Stephen nearly murdered got his memories back.

So that's a thing, and Stephen can finally ask one of the most questions he's been holding in since he woke up in the funeral home.]

Have you had any word from your wife?

[And yes, this comes in after Mary's public reply.]

private

[jumpthegun]

[There's a bit of a pause as John reads this. Maybe Stephen hasn't checked the other replies.]

Yeah. She's replied just before you. Are you all right?

@Mnemosyne; voice

[bookofnope]

[Beckett clears his throat, and launches into his Dispassionate Academic voice:]

On Norfinbury Day 63, Handsome Jack was revealed to be keeping Angel, Rhys, and Dr. Clayton Epps imprisoned. On Day 65 Enoch and myself tracked him down, freed the captives, and transferred Jack to the custody of Captain Steve Rogers. Captain Rogers in turn took him to a planned 'town meeting', where his fate was to be decided; this meeting was besieged by anomalies, allowing Jack to escape. A group led by Captain Rogers again tracked him down and captured him, but he remained in Rogers' custody only briefly before all Norfinbury residents found themselves scattered across town seemingly at random. On Day 86 Jack killed Vriska Serket, who had given her consent; Rogers again attempted a manhunt on Day 88, but this yielded no results. Jack only ceased to be a threat following his so-far-final death.

On Day 115, Dr. Franken Stein performed a lobotomy on Rhys (I don't know what it is about Rhys that attracts these characters, honestly) and later fled. I chased him down with the help of Fiona, and we were able to kill him. However, Stein soon revived.

The Joker's first known act of violence was the murder of Dr. Gregory House circa Day 100. He was chased down and captured by Alphonse Elric, but was able to escape, also killing House. Later he would hold Luna captive, and was briefly incapacitated by America. Dr. Epps attempted to keep him away from the populace, but was killed circa Day 120 after which the Joker escaped into the ice tunnels and claimed to have hidden bombs in order to lure residents into a search and hunt. Both failed, though no bombs had ever existed. The Joker next had another altercation with Dr. House, who was able to escape by himself, and when Dr. John Watson attempted to apprehend him, proceeded to beat him and leave him for dead, this is Day 143 . He was then hunted down by a group led by Tony Stark and Natasha Romanov, who managed to wound but not kill him. Following a death he briefly revived with sanity intact and surrendered to Elric, who was again unable to hold him, and murdered Fiona circa Day 164. He was captured by Bruce Wayne, escaped and has gone free since Wayne's death on Day 180. None of his bouts of captivity lasted longer than a few days, and no one was ever able to kill him, certainly not permanently.

There have been a few other more minor cases of revenge-hunts and killings, however, at no point in Norfinbury's history has any hunt by an individual or group succeeded in permanently capturing, disabling, or killing the threat.

I bring you this record in the expectation that residents read and consider it carefully before making any decisions.

@Spoiler ; voice

[spoileralert]

I still vote somebody cut one of his legs off. Just sayin'.

[ AND SHE WILL KEEP SAYING UNTIL HER DREAMS COME TRUE ]

@user; voice

[cosmicwords]

You've recovered! I was worried your condition might persist for a while yet.

[jumpthegun]

[Ah, it's the weird guy.]

Yeah, it... varies. [There's a pause.] Thanks for... talking to me when I was out of it. Sorry I was a bit of a dick to you.

@carcinoGeneticist; text

[quadrangle]

WELCOME BACK AND THANK YOU FOR NOT DYING AGAIN SINCE WE SPOKE LAST.
AND IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, TRY NOT TO DO IT AGAIN PERIOD.

[jumpthegun]

Yeah, it's not top of my list. Sorry for being a dick to you, Karkat. Wasn't in a good place where I got set back to.

@duster, private, audio

[bywolves]

Good to see you alive again.

[ That's all. ]

private, audio

[jumpthegun]

Good to be myself again. [He'd been alive, Royce. Don't be weird about it.] Alfie said your thing's let up as well. Sorry about being a dick.

@theiceman, audio; private

[holmesice]

Welcome back, Doctor Watson.

audio; private

[jumpthegun]

[John sighs to himself at this message.]

Yeah, thanks. Y'know, you could act like less of a creepy supervillain. You knew me back then. You know I don't respond to threats well.

@bucky; text

[advanced]

Welcome back.

[He can't deny that it's a relief to hear him back to normal, or as normal as any of them get in this place.]

>private

[jumpthegun]

[John switches to private.]

Glad to be back. Thanks for dealing with me. I wasn't as nice without my memories as you were.

@309_W1C_2DZ; text;

[howdull]

[He would say that it's a relief to see, but he had honestly forgotten that John had any memory issues at all. So it takes him a little longer to reply, as he once again has his own private mini freak out about his own memory and then catches himself switfly up to speed.]

About time, I've been stuck with nobody but Mycroft for company. Have you any idea how tedious that is?

[jumpthegun]

[John's not sure if Sherlock's price has ended. At least he seems to know what's going on.]

'Very?'

Have you challenged him to Spyglass, yet?

@mlaurin; audio

[standing_waters]

*This man died...he'd read about it int he guides, but it seemed too surreal. That one could come back after death so quickly--and as the same person, no less--he doesn't think its something he'd ever truly get used to. What did it mean about this place?*

Ah...forgive me, this is probably a pretty sore subject, but...what was it like?

[jumpthegun]

[Well, hello, new person.]

You mean forgetting everything? I dunno. It was like being new here all over again, I guess. But with people telling you they knew you already. So it was uncomfortable.

@godsend, private text (laaate, but whatever)

[termineur]

Don't know if you really should apologize. You didn't have any control over it. Welcome back.

By the way, I got the NIMA procedure done a few days ago. So far, no unusual signs. My violent thoughts are essentially on 'mute' and its honestly a relief to me. Dr. Strange checked me over and made sure I wasn't having any unfortunate side effects, and Al's watching for any unusual behavior.

I do have mania right now- it started up the day before the procedure, I think. Royce pointed it out. Don't suppose there's anything to do about it, but I thought I'd include it here.

private

[jumpthegun]

[On the one hand, John knows that snapping and snarling at Sylar is going to be pointless for just being civil at him when he'd lost his memories. On the other, it feels like a trick by the other man. Present himself as eminently reasonable while John doesn't remember him and then let him feel conflicted about his prejudices after. The same ploy from Stein, he rather suspects.

The problem is that it worked to an extent, and John finds himself irritatingly conflicted about his response. Is the suspicion born out of that prejudice. Or...?

Luckily, Sylar gives him something else to respond to.]

Dr. Strange would seem to be your primary physician. Why are you telling me this?

@standardissue; text

[deus_ex_phs]

Don't worry about apologizing. Memory loss isn't exactly something you can control.

Welcome back, though.

[jumpthegun]

Thanks. I'm embarrassed as much as I am sorry for how I snapped at people. I appreciate you taking it all in stride.

action;

[lacecase]

[This could be a little while after England and John broke open the wine; Ginger wouldn't want to get in the middle of a Nation-Citizen thing. But she saw the Network post, of course, and she's torn. On one hand, she's so glad he's back. On the other, poor, poor John! Poor John!!! He must be feeling so awful. She just needs to give him a hug. So she'll finally give in and come to peek at him.]

Joooooohn?

[She's practically pouting, her expression all twisted up in worry.]

Would it be okay if the hug police took you aside for some questioning?

action;

[jumpthegun]

[John's... rather drunk at this point. He looks up from where he's sitting and waves t her.]

Hmm? Yeah, sure. [He giggles for a moment.] Sure D.I. Hale. That's Detective Inspector. Americans have... 's just detectives, right? Detective Ginger Hale.

[The doctor tilts his head and nearly topples.] Why's it Ginger? You're not a ginger. I mean, if you were a ginger, that'd be fine. D'you dye your hair? You'd be lovely as a ginger. But you're lovely blonde, too. Mary's blonde.