video.

[enactors]

( marc still isn't entirely sure where he falls on the 'is this actually real?' question he's asked himself more than a handful of times since finding himself here, since finding the parchment with his crime(s).

still: it feels real enough, and for now that's enough.

he's dressed in a suit — it's white in its entirety, with small crescent moons serving as buttons and cufflinks. it's — fine. it's an outfit that says he — before here, at least — probably spent a small fortune on dry cleaning, and begs the question of how long it's going to stay looking Like That (answer: not long).

with one leg crossed over the other, there's a breath of a pause before he speaks. this isn't how he normally does this, but then, this isn't normal by any — even his — definition of the word. )

My name is Mr. Knight. ( is it? of course not, but there's nothing to marc's demeanour that says otherwise; and for those familiar, his accent says 'chicago!' ) I'm a priest. ( certainly, by A Definition, and by that, we mean 'by marc spector's definition and no-one else's, except (maybe) an ancient egyptian moon god's'. )

At home, I ran a mission — the Midnight Mission — through which I protected my community and my people. Travellers of the night. ( a breath of a pause and he holds up a hand (gloved, white, because of course) and gestures vaguely at his surroundings. ) A change in circumstances doesn't change my duty. If there's anyone that requires help or assistance with, ( at night, because marc is Dedicated, ), no matter how strange or unusual, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Comments

[enactors]

( 'not been back since', that could be varying levels of 'huh' depending on what year it is for peter, meaning that part of peter's response doesn't get much more than a sharp glance. ) It's 2022.

[starguy]

[ Peter's eyes go wide, but he seems more excited than surprised. ]

That's so cool. You must be from the future!

[ He takes a second to do some mental math, before deciding to give up. Whatever, math. ]

I use the standard galactic calendar now, so I have no idea what year it would be back home. But there's no way it's been that long, I'd be super old.

[enactors]

( this seems to be a running them with peter... )

I don't know much about temporal mechanics, but I think it's relative.

[starguy]

Yeah, I hear that. Especially in space, planetary rotations can change wildly. Relativity is weird.

[ Wow, that almost sounded smart. But it's a common enough problem in his neck of the woods... it's too bad that Peter's curiosity is taking over again. ]

So you work at night, huh? What if you're on a planet with really long days? Would that be like, an easy post for you?

[enactors]

I don't tend to leave Earth. ( the easy answer to that question is 'no' because marc consistently makes his life harder than it needs to be. ) I work best at night but that doesn't mean my activities are limited to night.

[starguy]

Makes sense...

[ He did mention that the run in with Gamora was more of a one time thing. ]

Don't you stand out a little in your suit at night, though? Not that it isn't cool or anything.

[enactors]

Yes. ( beat. ) That's the point. I want them to see me coming.

( because obviously. )

[starguy]

[ Obviously. ]

Dude. That's so metal.

[ Peter is so here for it. ]

Has there been any trouble or anything here? Kinda seems like we're all pretty chill, for a bunch of accused or confirmed criminals.

[enactors]

( metal, or: moronic. )

No. It's been quiet. ( which is weird and marc neither likes it nor trusts it. ) Makes you wonder what's being built up to.

[starguy]

[ Same difference, just look at Peter. ]

Yeah, I'm not usually one for waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it seriously feels like we're waiting for the shoe to drop. I mean... so-called criminals get dropped on a weird town and the worst that happens is our tech getting a little fritzy? Town festivals and scut? There's no way this is all there is to this.

[ You know it's bad when Peter's being sensible. ]

[enactors]

( given peter's attitude and responses to date, it's a surprisingly measured response and for (almost) the first time, marc thinks that there's probably more than immediately meets the eye to peter.

he thinks of his first conversation with the doctor. has his opinion changed since then? not really. )

I've wondered if it's a test of character and our reactions.

[starguy]

[ Indeed, even Peter knows there's something fishy going on. He hopes this won't lead to them all dying or something terrible, but he's seen bad stuff and knows there are some messed up people out there. Some that might even find the idea of 'testing criminals' to be an illuminating experience.

God, he hopes the Collector isn't behind all this. ]

Yeah, that's not too out there. You'd have to be some kind of messed up to grab people from different universes and strand them on a backwater planet... but there's a lot of rich weirdos in the galaxy, so.

[ He shrugs. At least whatever rich weirdo is behind this isn't someone like Lady Hellbender, who'd probably make them fight monsters just to prove that she can. ]

You think they're watching, trying to see if we repeat our mistakes or something? And they'll send home whoever gets perfect marks?

[enactors]

Repeat our mistakes? No. ( marc's quite confident, if only because his crime is firmly in the past, linked to a time of his life that he's pointedly left behind. ) But maybe to see how we react. Of their measure of us is correct — my list wasn't just a crime, it was a profile.

[starguy]

[ Peter nods. I mean, he doesn't think his crime was a mistake either, so he hopes he really isn't put in a place to betray someone again. ]

Damn, you got a whole profile? Nice.

[ He's a superhero, probably does lots of illegal shit. Which, again, metal. Meanwhile, Peter's rap sheet was the wimpiest of his friends... and he maybe has the wrong reaction to hearing about cool guys with long lists of crimes. ]

But yeah, maybe they're waiting to see what we do... or how long it takes for 'something' to happen. Could be for anything, at this rate. Guess all we can do is kill time in the meantime. Or fight crime, in your case -- which is, again, very cool.

[enactors]

( marc does have a long list of crimes, but his parchment was fairly succinct on that front. what it had contained was a fairly detailed write-up on him — physical characteristics, observations, comments on his personality (and jake, and steven).

his gaze flits over what he can see of peter in the video, eyebrows pulling together in a momentary frown. )

You mean, how long it takes for us to revert to type? ( as peter had said: it's been remarkably, surprisingly peaceful so far. and, speaking of— ) —I haven't noticed much crime. Like you said, for a bunch of criminals, everyone seems very law-abiding.

( he's probably going to have to earn his keep by dealing with monsters or animals or something, ugh. )

It doesn't make any sense.

[starguy]

[ Peter's so used to seeing his info that he doesn't find it weird. But then Peter's background doesn't hold a candle to Marc's can of worms, so that does explain why it doesn't bother him in the least.

Really, Peter's exceedingly relaxed for a guy who might be stuck here with a bunch of criminals. But he's used to criminals -- he'd probably be more worried if there were those among them who hadn't committed some form of crime. Those are the types that would have a field day here. ]

Pretty much. [ He shrugs. He's the kind of guy who speaks with his hands, so half of that isn't getting caught on video. ] I mean, most criminals I know don't steal for fun, more out of necessity. So it's not too weird that nobody's caused problems yet. But not everybody's a team player, and not everybody knows how to do 'polite society' so there's gotta be a point where somebody does something. Unless they managed to grab the nicest criminals in the multiverse.

[ Which makes him grin in irony. Hey, if you ever wanna do the monster-hunting thing and need a +1, Peter's ready. ]

It really doesn't make any sense. My best guess is they're trying to lull us into a false sense of security or whatever... But the end result'll be the same either way -- all we can do is stay on our toes and wait for something to change.

[ Wow, Peter, you mean all the wandering around and time-wasting you've been doing has been on purpose? Sure. ]

[enactors]

( marc doesn't know many thieves, as such. most of the criminals he deals with are the 'murder and kidnapping, side of organised crime' sort, with the occasional thief thrown in. then there are criminals like taskmaster and 8-ball, who represent opposite ends of the spectrum: one a (mostly) successful contractor of sort, the other an embarrassment.

necessity is an entirely different kettle of fish, one doesn't encounter often: it's not the type of crime khonshu has ever really wanted vengeance or blood for, isn't the sort of activity his neighborhood tended to come to him about.

still — false sense of security and all the rest of it: marc's never been one for being lulled into any sense of security. ) I've never been very good at waiting.

[starguy]

[ See, Peter knows a lot of space pirates. And pirates do quite a lot of thieving. But Peter's seen enough from both sides to give everyone the benefit of the doubt -- it's his weakness as much as it is a strength.

Sure, one could argue that the Ravagers do not need to steal from everyone in order to survive in space. But they would say otherwise. And Peter gets that, to an extent. Maybe the people who gathered them all up got this too... but that seems more unlikely with every passing day. ]

Yeah, me neither. [ As was evident by his... everything. He shrugs. ] Plus, being planet-side this long makes me itchy. I might have to go and find myself a job a or a hobby while I'm here or I might start going stir-crazy.

[ Not implying that fighting crime is a job or a hobby. But kinda. No offense. ]

[enactors]

( fighting crime is marc's hobby, and job, and everything else. he doesn't do anything else with his time — up at 6pm for avengers-mandated therapy with andrea sterman at 7pm, then—

moon knight.

that's it. that's his life. mostly.

finding an honest-to-god hobby would probably be healthy, but marc has never been very good at doing anything that's good for him.

and since his mercenary days, since dying (the first time), marc has never held a job. steven had always dealt with the money side of things, jake had dealt with the people side — friends, associates, and marc—

—well, marc mostly punched things and made a mess of his life. )

I don't know how many jobs they've got here that need my particular set of talents.

What does a space man do when he's not in space?

[starguy]

[ One day Peter's gonna help Marc pick up stamp collecting or something. Well, Peter's hobby is also working— whenever he gets ansty, he takes a job, or he picks a fight, or he takes the gang to Knowhere or Contraxia and finds trouble if trouble won't find him. But since all of those are pretty much off the table, maybe he'll pick up music or mixing drinks or something like that.

Is that what normal people do? How hard can it be? ]

Good question! [ He laughs, though it's more deflecting than cheery. He has been pondering this one. ] I'm thinking I might try hunting monsters or whatever the locals can't mess with. I did a little bit of that with my friends before, so that should be right up my alley. I can't take a dragon alone, but smaller stuff's not too bad.

I'm still workshopping it, though. 'Star-Lord's Monster Extermination' doesn't have a great ring to it.

[enactors]

( marc isn't sure if he ever got peter's name when they first spoke-slash-met-slash-whatever, but it's nice to have confirmation that the gaudy 'star-lord' decorating the back of his jacket serves a ...purpose? exists for some unknown reason? isn't just a nonsensical phrase? )

Try something with alliteration. ( that is ... not really why marc went with 'midnight mission', but it may have been part of it. ) And shorter.

[starguy]

[ Marc's got this branding thing down pat, as far as Peter's concerned. He's happy for the help. ]

Yeah, good point. It doesn't really roll off the tongue.

[ Plus the name "Star-Lord" deserves something badass to go with it. ]

Quill's Questing? Nah, that might be too vague. Star-Lord's Monster Mashers? Star Smashers! Nah... [ He clicks his tongue. ] This is harder than I thought. I seriously struck gold with "Guardians of the Galaxy," I can't top that.

[ He only has himself to blame for choosing to name himself after his favorite metal band. ]

[enactors]

Now you're making it too specific. ( outside of the 'quill's questing' suggestion, that is.

but also, peter, do you really want to take tips from the guy that has such belongings as (the) 'mooncopter' and 'moon sticks' (normal people call them 'truncheons')? ) You're limiting your avenues.

[starguy]

You think so?

[ Hmmm maybe Quill's Quests has some legs, then. Clearly this is who he should be listening to -- better to name things after the moon than name your ship after a crush on the girl from Who's the Boss? ]

Maybe I'll try taking down a few monsters and see if I can get some inspiration that way.

[ He ponders this. ]

How'd you pick your name? Assuming your last name isn't really Knight.

[enactors]

( privately, marc had been wondering how long he'd be able to get away with pretending that 'mr. knight' was his actual name. he's never asked reese if she'd thought it was his actual name or if she'd just presumed that whilst it was a pseudonym, his real name was a lot more interesting than ... marc.

here it seems as if the vast majority of people are far more suspicious and far more likely to doubt that it's a real name and marc certainly Feels Some Kind of Way about it.

he doesn't question the concept of 'fighting monsters, finding inspiration' because, frankly, that's an absolutely legitimate method as far as marc's concerned. instead, he sighs. )

Moon Knight. ( does that explain anything? marc certainly seems to think so.

at length, he realises that it probably doesn't explain anything. ) —Mr. Knight is more personable. ( like that explains anything further. )