Goodbye Log

[legionnpcs]

Who| Anyone that wants in
What| Goodbye log
Where| Legion's Briefing Hall
When| After an award's ceremony at the temporary UPgov building on Earth
Warnings/Notes| N/A

Legion World has been restored, thanks to the Miracle Machine. The Miracle Machine itself has popped off to a new dimension, possibly to the hands of a new Metron. Chronoblivion is dead and so are Its eyes and the remaining Heralds, who exploded to dust in prison once their master was gone.

The awards have been given by Madame President and yes there was a parade.

Time to go home. The Time Trapper left them all with a gift, however, that'll let them return. Strange glowing brands on their bodies that will let them access different dimensions, using T-gates in the Legion's universe as travel hubs, for those that want to want to keep in touch. For those that don't, like the ones that want to run off and make a new criminal life somewhere, they have a chance to grab a T-gate and split before anyone has a chance to stop them, but they'll have to make any goodbyes fast.

Once the Legionnaires walk through the gates to their home universes, their timelines will be locked to the time of the latest person from a particular world -- except for those that are from subtly alternate worlds from each other; they can go home and change the timeline without worrying about changing the past for others. Those walking home to certain death aren't out of luck, either, as the Legionnaires have their ways of faking a death - with fake hologram-disguised bodies, even.

Most of them have retained their powers, though that situation is finicky and strange. In some universes, they'll retain their Legion powers, in some they'll have no powers at all, and for those who had powers back home, they may find they're back to their full powers whenever they're in their home universe.

The native Legionnaires are grateful as anyone could be, especially those trapped for seemingly timeless months in the crystal dimension, who watched the displacees on its crystal walls and actually had hope because of everything they did.

All the displacees have been granted the statue of honorary Legionnaire, and any that feel like they'd like to stay on the team, well...it certainly wouldn't be unwelcome. The Legion needs to get on its feet and the crystal dimension Legionnaires are out of practice and need time to recover. Those that don't want to be Legionnaires but want to settle in the United Planets are welcome to stay as well, and the entire team is to be granted full UP citizenship so that they have dual citizenship with countries in their homeworlds.

Also, surprisingly, the last anon meme that some of them will see went up and instead of cattiness or people judging their coolness, it was filled with one very simple thing: close to thousands of pages of people saying "Thank you, Legionnaires," and giving their heartfelt goodbyes to those that don't intend to stay.

Shock. Awe.

It's the happiest ending they could've asked for. But it is an ending. And now it's time to say goodbye.

Comments

[walkingballpit]

[ Robbie looks up when he hears someone approaching. His lips flatten into a straight line. ]

Don't say it. Let's talk about bacon instead.

[whyarewehere]

...Okay yeah that beats the crap out of anything I was gonna say.

[iamresponding]

Burgers. I missed bacon but it was burgers I missed the most.

Always been burgers, even when I'm up in space.

[He's still in uniform, natch, helmet collapsed in his belt. He's been wearing it again, after his recovery time, and everything after. They're going home and that's a transition of setting, not roles, and he's as close to himself again as he's going to be.]

[Maybe it's a slightly different, more anxious self but that's okay. It's a self that isn't drowning in misery anymore.]

[He takes a deep breath and lets it out again.]

Is it weird that I'm nervous? [He looks away, at nothing, collecting his thoughts, though his expression is more wistful than anything.] I'm different now. And it's going to be different now. I had that groove I was in, avoiding everything back home, and a groove here, and it's time to go back, but it feels...

Like going home - and not. There are familiar things, sure, like the Warriors and my family, but it's also more alien now than everything up in space.

[Space had become his new normal - and Legion had resembled it pretty closed - but home had gone...weird. But it's still time to go back to Earth.]

[sir_vancelot]

Well, that's not kosher.

[It's a bad joke, but it's what comes to mind. And Robbie doesn't usually mind his terrible jokes.]

[unrecovered]

The parade had honestly been the weirdest part of this, in Wash's experience. Destroying space cthulu with sheer stubbornness, he could handle - it was basically Tuesday around here. A parade in their honor still tipped his scale of weird.

Of course, he's thinking about that because it's easier than thinking about anything else right now.

He knows that right now isn't necessarily goodbye for everyone - a good number of these will be glorified see you laters. That said, that doesn't stop them from feeling like goodbyes, and he'd hated those long before he'd had to deal with Epsilon's baggage.

But that doesn't mean he can avoid them - that's not fair to anyone, including him. And he doesn't have to leave just yet, either. He knows he'll be dropping back into the middle of a battle; he may as well take the time to set his mind right and tie up loose ends before he does. For once, the war can wait.

He's still in armor, but his helmet is off and locked to his hip and DC is perched on his shoulder, yawning widely. Despite everything, he looks fairly calm.

[isthisapidge]

"If you need someone to train DC for combat, I know a good lion for the job?"

She herself has a war to go home to, and knowing Wash, he'll find a fight to get into if he doesn't have one already. It's entirely possible that she'll never see him again.

That is absolutely the last thing she wants to think about though. So she smiles at him, helmet tucked under one arm, trying to work out how to say thanks for everything without breaking down.

[prettycoolguy]

The parade had definitely been weird. John didn't say it so much as just adopt that characteristic uncertain-but-polite stiffness that was usually code for experiences he'd never had. There hadn't been time for this during the war, and when the war ended? He was way, way too far away to see any of that celebration.

They've done it. That wasn't just a mission accomplished, that was everything. Chronoblivion is gone, and all the problems they have from now on are going to have other sources.

Problems.

That golden feeling of a job well-done is ephemeral. All the problems he'd worried about before this have nothing to keep them away, and now there are new ones too. John has spent his life ticking along from crisis to crisis, and the return to pattern is strangely steadying. ...Even if one of those problems is that an endless string of assignments isn't as appealing as it once was, and having people he would like to be able to see again.

And one of those especially.

"I don't know how long I'm going to be," he's telling Wash. "Something was happening. Maybe the Didact. We weren't sure."

[captainbuzzkill]

His old clothes were too small. He'd had to ask the Athramites to essentially copy them, making them in a slightly larger size. The height difference is something he can explain off as a growth spurt over the summer, and hopefully the bus driver won't notice, but he might think it's weird for him to have changed clothes in the middle of the ride home from Gravity Falls.

He's not swimming in the hat Wendy gave him anymore, either. When he'd first gotten to Legion World, it'd been contaminated with something from Phelolu and by the time he'd gotten it back from being cleaned, it'd felt weird to wear it in the day to day. It made him think too much about Gravity Falls, and home, and those were things he'd had to put out of his mind.

Now, it feels weird to go back wearing one of his baseball caps. Those are Legion baseball caps, some of which were worn during superhero fights. It feels right to take them off for now, as he leaves it all behind. He's taking them with him, of course - and his uniform, too, because Kid Q refused to take that away, just like she'd let him keep his flight ring, but it's all going to be folded up and put in a box somewhere in his room, left untouched for another day.

Or rather, for another year. Because he knows he's not coming back to this next year. Or the year after. Or maybe even the year after that. It's going to be a while before he's ready to be a superhero again.

And that's okay. There's another adventure waiting for him and Mabel back home. Growing up. It's time to get back to that one first.

And so he stands there, hands in his pockets, looking like the young teen he is instead of the adult he kept trying to be.

"Hey, man." He shrugs a full shoulder shrug and looks down at himself. "Check it out. The exciting return debut of Dipper Pines, average teen."

[ordinarily]

When it came down to it, Danny didn't like the spotlight all that much. Sure, it felt nice to be acknowledged for saving all of existence and stuff, but he was a lot more comfortable with parades and good press when he had a superhero alter-ego to hide behind. Danny Phantom could be as confident as he wanted, because he was the superhero, the good guy, the ghost who was gonna fight for the people of Amity Park.

Doing this sort of stuff as Fenton though, it felt... weird. Wrong. Like he didn't really deserve it, even when he knew he did.

So, he didn't really talk to the press or the anons that much once it was all over. He just kind of hung back, let everyone else take the credit, and did what he always did: blend in. He hung out by himself, trying not to think about going back home. But he had to, at some point. The ghosts weren't gonna catch themselves.

He was wearing his typical clothing: a white shirt with red graphics, blue jeans, and sneakers. Standing right in front of the T-Gate, and just... staring at it. He probably should've said goodbye to people, really. He had no idea if he'd ever see them again. But instead, he just... continued to stand there. Staring. Like a teenager lazily watching TV.

There was too much on his mind.

[unrecovered]

If nothing else, Wash keeps an eye out for his kids, and Danny is no exception. This level of uproar - even positive uproar - isn't easy to handle, especially for someone who's used to hiding - Wash isn't sure if that's the cause of Danny's stillness or if there's something else on his mind, and he's not going to let this pass without at least trying to find out.

He stands next to Danny in silence for a moment, kitten perched on his shoulder, staring at the T-Gate. "This is always the weirdest part of battle," he says after a few seconds, "after everything's over, but before anyone figures out what 'back to normal' looks like."

[gonebyebye]

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ray asks, pushing along a hovercart full of the equipment he'd built on Legion World. Minus, of course, the gear he'd given Dipper and the small stockpile he'd left behind in case of emergencies.

"I'd have to give you a rain-check on it though, I don't think I have an actual, physical penny on me."

[whyarewehere]

"Dude, you look like you're waiting for the school bus."

Aaaaand there's Grif.

He's anxious about going back, if he's honest. People he cares about are in danger, and he cares about them all even more than he did before. They're kind of a pain in the ass that way, friends.

But Grif isn't honest, so his facade is the usual perfect nonchalance.

[iamresponding]

"This is the part that's always the weirdest. After something huge happens. You go back home, and wonder if it's going to be the same, and even if it was, you realize that it'll never be the same, 'cause you're not the same."

It felt that way ever time now, after he faced some cosmic crisis and headed back.

"You've seen too much - good and bad - to be the same."

[orbislife]

[ Zenyatta is tired, weary in a way that a session of recharging and meditation will not fix, but his meditation session had brought forth a surprising feeling.

He wants to go home, not just back to his world but to the Shambali Monastery.

It seems so long ago when he recorded a message to himself, when he first joined the Legion. And now, he'll be doing what his younger self had suggested. Zenyatta plans to go back to Nepal to feel the warmth of the Iris at its strongest. He's not sure if he'll be welcomed back, but he wants to go. He needs the time reflect on everything that has happened. If there is a place on Earth Zenyatta feels like he could begin to fully process his time with the Legion, it's there.

But going home means goodbyes. Despite his longing to return, he waits quietly, patiently to say farewell. ]

[truefaceofthelaw]

[Rico advances from behind, the sound of boots on the ground heralding his approach. A little dinged and scratched up but otherwise vibrating with an energy. He's grinning, never mind the spark of anticipation thrumming under his skin.]

Zenyatta! We did it, good ol' buddy boy. The universe is saved, and all that. Tell me how you're feeling?

[He reaches out with a firm hand to guide him into a room that he knows has a blind spot in its security, and it's only the bare amount of consideration for him that it lilts into a question at the end instead of an order.]

[unrecovered]

[There is, quite suddenly, a gray kitten on Zenyatta's lap. It meows loudly and starts kneading at his pants, as kittens are wont to do.]

[Of course, DC is rarely anywhere without Wash being close behind. Zenyatta may not have visual facial expressions, but Wash is still fluent in body language, and Zenyatta does not look up to his usual standard.]

I don't have an orb I can stick on you to make you feel better, so. [He gestures at DC and shrugs. Kittens work, right?]

[truefaceofthelaw]

[Rico's a bit on a tight schedule, but he's been planning for this moment for quite a while. He could spare a couple of minutes for any goodbyes that might crop up, and are expected of him. The parade, the drokking parade, stomm that was magnificent. The medals, the gratitude, the attention, the cameras on him... It's left him in a good mood. And the statue! Hah.]

[He's thrumming with an anticipatory energy that must show in the way he smiles. It almost looks inviting, for once.]

...

[Some people, he seeks out like a guided missile.]

Hey. [He crooks his finger at them, beckoning them closer.] A word?

...

[Later, when he's finished with his goodbyes - or "goodbyes", he heads off at a carefully controlled clip, arms swinging by his sides. No injudicious black duffel bag over his shoulder to make this obvious. Just him, his boot knife, lawgiver, bank account, and a whole load of promising contacts to make him a new man.]

[He's thought about this more recently. He's missed his playground, his old stomping grounds. And he's been burning with a sick curiosity to see how little Joe has been faring without him. But he's been missing for eight months now. Enough to make him MIA, or a traitor. Either way, a long, long session with the SJS awaits him. And if the time hasn't changed, Rico certainly has. If he comes back, it'd have to be in hiding. So, no. Not yet. He might as well explore this whole new universe that's just opened up to him.]

[And maybe, when he's settled more, he can come back and keep an eye on those future developments. He's been toying with the idea of changing things from the inside. Beeny's coming round in a third of a century or so, isn't she? His grin widens as he casts his mind back. Gotta look ahead to those democracy marches. The power is in his hands now, and he's almost looking forward to it.]

[In the crowded Threshold Hub, he makes a beeline to the T-Gates. A data chip peeks out of one glove compartment, glinting in the light. It's still not too late to catch him.]

[googledox]

Even now, Brainiac has trouble pulling himself away from the lab. There are weapons and equipment to repair after the final battle. There are resources to gather for a few of the people going home to conflicts. There are old friends to reconnect with, now that they've been freed from the crystal dimension.

But the goodbyes are important, too.

In the very beginning, when the displacees had first started arriving, he'd been frequently frazzled and often dour. They'd seen flashes of kindness and warmth, but they were covered up with quite a bit of salt.

And he'd been hated, so very hated by the public, constantly hiding how much it had bothered him. He'd worried that his friends were dead, agonized over possibly being the cause of it, obsessed over figuring out what he'd done wrong. And he'd quietly seethed - and grieved - over seeing the heroic legacy he'd built out of the ashes of his ancestor's destruction utterly destroyed by a single accident he couldn't explain.

But over time, the outer shell covering the warmth had been chiseled away. It'd been gradually, in starts and fits, yet inexorable.

In the end, they had done more than save his life (multiple times). They had restored his faith - in people, and in the Legion's dream of a better universe.

And in himself.

Now he stands there, with his usual upright posture, his hands clasped behind his back. But he's smiling more than he used to before they'd all showed up. Just a little, one of his tiny sardonic ones.

Perhaps he'd failed in his promise to get them home, but he'd at least helped get them all through the fire until somebody else could. And yes, he's feeling a little smug about it. When is he ever not smug about something?

[walkingballpit]

[ Robbie clicks his tongue in mock disappoint to find Brainy standing at military ease. He doesn't think Brainy will ever fully chill, especially without him here to help cajole him.

He doesn't say anything about it though, just holds up a hot pink "World's Greatest Dad" mug. ]

I found this when I was cleaning out my bag of anything remotely futuristic. I must've had a dozen of them in my room on Legion World that I inadvertently - ahem - borrowed. I wanted to make sure it got back to you.

[ And then holds it out to Querl. ]

[whyarewehere]

"Hey, you're not working!"

It's not that Grif wants to see Brainy working nonstop, that's just how things usually are.

"I knew I was a good influence!"

Grif gives Brainy a congratulatory clap on the back.

cw: mention of suicide

[iamresponding]

When he'd first gotten here, he'd just been glad to be alive. His last memory was what he'd thought was his death. He'd been missing an arm. But he was alive and so it'd been good for a while. Then things had gotten bad - real bad - when he'd discovered the truth about when he'd been pulled from and what nightmares he'd been carrying with him.

But now he's... himself again. Maybe not his old self, but this new self can make it. While he still carries the hurt it's got its positives, like making him want more than ever to not have to see other people hurt. And it's made him stronger. If he could survive that, he can survive damn near anything.

Most importantly of all: the little voice has gone quiet, the one that used to tell him he was never good enough. The one that somehow survived the war, even despite him killing Annihilus and basically saving his universe. Over the years, it'd gotten quieter since his teens, of course, especially with the way the New Warriors had treated him, but it'd never really been this quiet.

He's heard too much. He's heard too many people treat him as worthwhile. He's heard the pleading and anger in the voices of his friends when they were trying to talk him down from hurling himself into a black hole. And that was all much louder.

Rich stands there, arms folded, helmet collapsed in his belt, watching people say their goodbyes and saying his whenever someone comes close that he wants to say goodbye to. And he thinks about how his universe will try to top this somehow, but he's not sure it can.

It doesn't get much bigger than saving the entire multiverse, sooo they've basically all peaked.

They've done a hell of a thing here. Hell of a thing. And for once, instead of looking to the horizon for the next cosmic crisis, he's looking at an actual future where he's alive, and where things might be just a little bit brighter.

[whyarewehere]

Grif's own helmet is mag clipped at his belt for now, he's not eager to go back to being fully tin-canned all the time. As he searches through the other Legionnaires, he's noticing how weird the armor feels after getting so used to a uniform. It's bulky and heavy, and the way it sits on his body is different now. (...Maybe. He's pretty sure.)

When Grif finds Rich, he grins. There's something in that expression, a little softer and a little brighter, that only Rich gets from him. He picks his way over and slides up next to him, perfectly casual, like he belongs in this space.

"I hoped I'd catch you before you zoom out of here," he says, as if that's what was actually happening. "Had something I needed to tell you first."

Grif moves in to kiss his boyfriend, and there is no force in this universe strong enough to stop him.

[sir_vancelot]

At least for Vance, this isn't good-bye. Not like he thought it would be at one point. Once, when he'd envisioned this moment, he thought he'd be trying to talk Rich into staying with the Legion. Someplace he'd still be alive and could help others.

Now, though, he walks over and leans next to Rich, looking out at the entire group.

"We've done well."

[whyarewehere]

It's over. It being over almost doesn't make sense to Grif. He knew, intellectually, that it would be over one day, but not what that day was going to feel like. Or what looking at the glow of all the T-Gates with his red army kit back on was going to feel like.

A bright side of all the activity is he hasn't really had to sit down and think about what all of it means, or (most troublingly) weird superpowered entities that may or may not have been kind of a version of him.

Here, though, it hits him how much has changed. He's still the same person that came through at Phelolu over a year ago, but he's... different. Grif is stronger now. The world is a worthwhile place, and he's can do things in it that matter. He has friends, and even friends like Wash and Tucker matter more and make more sense to him than they did before. He's a worthy human being, and not a lucky fuckup.

...Well. As he looks over the people he's struggled beside, he amends the thought. He is a pretty lucky fuckup. It's safe to admit that inside his own head, now.

He may be going back to a dangerous situation they don't completely understand, but Grif? Grif finally feels equal to it. He's a goddamn superhero, with goddamn superhero friends, and the universe is full of beautiful possibility.

"So," says Grif. "Are you excited, or nah?"

[rushing_by]

"Excited's the wrong word. More like...ready," says Barry with quick nod. And he was ready. Maybe not for *everything* that might lie ahead, but he was definitely better equipped to handle it.

"I better see you at my wedding, by the way. Don't make me come and drag you there."