#lazarus 01

[darkxwing]

location / time : a couple days after cemetery shiz, laz and dw’s attic hang-out

status: closed to @lazarusdoe​

It’d been ages since they had spent any real quality time with Laz. With everything that was going on lately, they feel like they’ve been kind of a shit friend. Laz may have not been directly impacted by the cemetery heist that happened a couple days earlier, but that didn’t mean the urge to catch up and check in with them was lessened any, especially after hearing some of the rumors about them and Daydreamer that were making their rounds. 

Eager to finally change their shit friend status, that morning they shoot Laz a text which “read”:  🍺🍕👻?? Which they know Laz would understand immediately, and the other villain’s similar response of an eggplant amongst some other choice emojis confirmed their plans were a go for that night. 

And so a few hours later there they were, shouldering their way into their little secret hang-out, where no one was bound to crash it except for the “ghost” that sometimes flickered the lights and liked knocking over the occasional empty bottle. Neither of them really believed the place was haunted, but that never stopped either of them from affectionately naming the fictitious specter Bert. 

When they finally reach Laz, they set the pizza box and container of hot wings they brought with them near the other villain, before slumping down next to them on the couch someone had hauled up there ages ago. They waste no time in making themself comfortable by throwing their legs over Laz’s lap, and grabbing a bottle of beer that was nearby. 

“Figures the only way I could get you to hang out with me was the offer of free food and my undivided attention,” they tease, before taking a drink. “The pizza guy thought we broke up, swear to god.”

.

[fortunexfinder]

time/location: São Paulo, mid afternoon

status: closed to @lazarusdoe​

When word had spread around the manor that there was yet another Doppelgänger sighting, this time in Brazil, Fortune made a silent promise to himself that he’d try his best to get on this next manhunt for the allusive villain. His desire in joining the mission wasn’t out of revenge though, but rather out of concern. Doppelgänger had once been a good friend of his, after all. They were the first villain he’d ever worked with, the one who took time out of their own day to make sure the new tier one knew how the hell things operated around the manor. They were one of his first real friends, back when he needed one most. 

Which is why when Blue came forward, claiming he’d found evidence that Doppelgänger was selling villain identities on the black market, it was so hard to believe him. The Doppelgänger he knew wouldn’t betray their fellow villains, and their position in the Collective over money, sure they were greedy as the rest of them- but not to the point they’d be willing to ruin not only their life but the lives of five other villains in the process. 

None of it made sense, even six months later when he’d thought maybe time would pull away any blinders he may have been wearing regarding the incident, he still didn’t get it. Which is why one morning, just before Firebrand was off to do his morning check of the mission board, Fortune had a request. “If Dopp’s mission is up there, can you put my name on it for me?”

Which finally brings him to the present, where he’s standing on a street corner of a busy intersection of São Paulo’s financial district, his eyes searching for any clue that his old friend may be hiding among the mass of people. 

“I’m telling you,” he says, to the partner he wasn’t super thrilled to be having beside him. He supposes that’s what he got for not just letting Firebrand join him this time, rather than leaving it up to chance. “They’ll be hiding somewhere around here, among the locals who are just going about their daily lives. They won’t be in a touristy part of the city, sipping margaritas by the beach. They’ll be here, in some hole in the wall bar or café, or held up in a shitty motel where no one would think to look for them.”  

.

[thecollective-npcs]

location/time: winter carnival, behind bookshop, evening

status: closed to @lazarusdoe​

He's on break from his book signing, having stolen a moment away for himself, he slips into the alley behind the book shop to grab a smoke. The small stretch of pavement behind the shop is easily the quietest space in the whole town at the moment, which makes it a perfect place to indulge in one of his secret vices. Pulling the carton out of his back pocket, he takes a cigarette out and places it between his lips. With a snap of his fingers, a flame soon erupts between his index and thumb, which he uses as his own personal lighter. 

He was never one to turn down a meet-and-greet, no matter how long or exhausting they could be, he knew their importance. And sure, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the attention. But that wasn't the reason why he was there, there were far better and namely warmer places to do a book signing after all. But none of them would be in a spot so close to The Collective’s front door.

He's on his second drag, when he hears a set of footsteps near him, and when he looks up he's pleased to see that one of the Collective’s own has decided to hunt him down that evening. He’s especially intrigued to see that its his personal favorite among their ranks.

“I hate to break it to you”, he grins that all-American grin of his, “but the meet and greet tickets sold out two days ago. Who would have known I was so big in the hockey mom demographic.”

“Unless that is, you had something else in mind?” Raising his brows, he takes a long look down Lazarus's muscled form, making no attempt to hide what's on his mind before taking a drag of his cigarette.

Back in the “before”, when Lazarus’s hair was brown rather than white, and they went by a very different name, he never would have imagined the two of them end up back here. Here being both still very much alive, and that a good quick fuck was still on the table. But then again, life has a funny way of working out in his favor sometimes. When he burned down that warehouse, he was content with moving on to the next plaything, his eyes already set on the dearly departed Artemis's grieving brother. Unfortunately, Darren was far too content in fucking his grief away into the god squad’s resident twink, than in him. But then, that eventually wouldn’t matter, not when the super in front of him was reborn and without those pesky memories of their’s.