Star City- Heroes of Tomorrow IC

"Centuries," by Fall Out Boy. (Rose)

Rose didn't stay sitting on the couch for long.

She was kind of long on thought process, slow on action, but once she got her thoughts processed, she got a move on.

Even if later it just turned out she was running in place, she got moving.

The Galleria Mall was all shiny and new. Well, shiny and new but old.

It was the latest completed project by The Valentine Group, a real estate development consortium that was going around "gentrifying" run-down portions of Keystone City in order to breathe new life into them. This basically meant rebuilding old stuff so that it looked retro-cool, and they'd done a bang-up job with The Galleria.

Lots of glass and fountains, palatial mirrored ceilings, Jetsons-looking cylindrical elevators, da woiks.

On top of that, they had a pretty sweet food court.

Rose sat cross-legged in an armchair next to a table crossing stores off a list. Most of the places she'd tried were either not hiring or just told her "we'll keep your application on file," but having put in the legwork made her feel better regardless. She felt best about the little regional cellphone carrier store not far from where she sat-- that place had a good energy, and she'd learned a lot about cellphones from Robby as he'd investigated The H-Dialer.

She sipped from an Orange Julius and she squinted at her list.

She still needed to try Tech Village, and Shocking Suzi's Comics, and then she'd call it an early afternoon and go back home to browse online classifieds.

Her phone was cradled across her thigh, and it sort of grumbled to itself, there came the sound of someone dropping something and a couple of cursewords in a Welsh accent, and then-- "Sorry about that, dear. Any joy as yet?"

Rose picked up her phone and held it up in front of her-- her mother's face smiled back at her from time zones away. "Not 'joy' as such. Just, uh, chasing pavements. How's by you?"

Ceri Grant flared her nostrils and scowled. "We're trying to be as respectful as we can of the local flavor-- this is the first time archaeologists have gotten to investigate this site since it was lost in 1945. A secret shrine to The Goddess Ixchel, hidden in the heart of The Yucatan-- and all this bluddy Federale can do is swagger on in, promise us he'll keep us safe from cartels, and then fish for bribes. It's excruciating."

Rose frowned. "Sounds like a real winner, that guy. You be careful, okay?"

Ceri clawed her hand through her raven-dark hair and nodded. "Yeah, 'course I will. (Forgot what a pain in the arse fieldwork can be.)"

Rose grinned wistfully. "Mum, if you're trying to make me miss being gainfully employed--"

"Har-har," Ceri snorted, as she tied her hair back out of her face. "But that reminds me-- how can yeh afford such a nice phone and a data plan if yeh're out of work? Yeh never did say?"

Rose turned a bit pink. She'd never been a great liar.

But her mom was in Mexico on a dig for The Fairfax Foundation, the nonprofit that funded the museum Ceri worked at, that was hardly an ideal way for Ceri to find out her daughter was ten superheroes.

This secret identity thing was a tricky business.

"Uh," Rose gestured dismissively, "it was a mail-order sweepstakes thing. Like winning the lottery. Plus this mall has great wi-fi, and Skype is free."

Ceri arched an eyebrow. "Mmhmm."

At that moment, Rose's phone started ringing-- the actual phone part of her phone, not the Skype app.

--aa-armed with powers he's on the case
fiiiiighting off evil from Earth or space--

Ceri snorted. "Oh, that dun't half take me back. What is that from?"

Rose grinned softly. "Old TV show I used to love."

"That's catchy, that theme," Ceri mused. "D'yeh need to get that?"

Rose nodded apologetically. "Yeah, it's Robby--"

"Say no more," Ceri nodded. "Give him my love. Love yeh."

"Love you," Rose replied, and then Ceri was gone, back off to digging a centuries-old shrine out of an eighty-year-old mudslide.

"And love you," Rose appended without missing a beat as she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hey," she could hear him smile down the line, "love you too. Where are you? I figured I'd take an early lunch, come meet up."

"That's awesome, yeah," Rose nodded, glancing around. "I'm in the food court, that little sitting area between KC Jitters and Big Belly Burger."

"Actually," Robby's voice sounded surprised, "I can see you, that's a Hell of a bit of synchronicity."

"The Koan would be proud," Rose grinned, darting her gaze around again, trying to pick Robby out.

"I'm not sure that's a compliment," Robby frowned audibly. "That lady is extremely creepy."

And there he was, hanging up his cell as he jogged out of a knot of people and planted himself in the easy chair next to Rose's.

"Hey, you," she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Mum sends her love."

"Hey yourself," he grinned, turning his head and pressing his lips to hers for another quick kiss, then subconsciously self-consciously ran his hand through his messy brown curls as though trying to make himself presentable for Rose's mom. "How's she holding up?"

"'Bout the same," Rose lamented. "Big exciting discovery but she's got to jump through all these bureaucratic hoops." She gestured to her list. "Filling out all these job applications, I forget that I have it easy."

Robby squinted at that list. "No leads yet?"

"Nothing solid," Rose shook her head. "Though I still have Suzi's to try, and--"

--she glanced up at the odd look on his face. "What?"

"It's a shame," Robby enunciated slowly, hesitantly, knowing he was going to regret it as soon as he said it, "you couldn't get a job-- like-- a paying job-- doing the other thing."

Rose stared at him for a moment, almost disbelieving. He'd put up with the superhero thing because of the massive scientific mystery presented by The H-Dialer-- but she knew he was scared out of his wits every time she dialed out. Scared she'd die fighting some monstrosity-- or just man's inhumanity to man--or that the the time-out wouldn't work properly and that she'd never be her-- his her-- ever again.

"Robby," she started.

And Robby sighed. Yep, he was regretting it. "Look. I-- my heart's in my throat, here-- but I see how happy it makes you-- the way your eyes shine when you've thwarted some crook or whatever. Those guys in The Justice Society, do they pull in a paycheck? Or maybe you could be a corporate superhero, one of those metahumans that works as a company mascot while they're fighting crime? At the very least, you could get some training that way. The stuff they've got me working on at Halo, this satellite network, it could be the next leap forward after STAR's meltdown-- I could work a lot better on that knowing you had some kind of mentor thing happening."

Rose stared at Robby... and then stared to nowhere... stared at her hands-- she didn't know where to look. "Oh my God. I mean. I don't want to be some sellout, some coprophagous corporate stooge-- but that Justice Society thing-- why did that never even occur to me?"

"Because you are a rare creature," Robby pontificated wisely, with a smirk adorning the corner of his mouth. "A genuinely good person, and an idealist. Like an artist who thinks material success is a betrayal of your art. But as a scientist, I gotta be a little more pragmatic. Do good. And get paid well for it. Didn't-- didn't artists have patrons, back in the day? And Patreon, is Patreon still a thing?"

Sitting there staring at the phone in her hands-- she'd figured out where to stare, now, Rose looked obviously conflicted. But.

"You," she allowed, "make a compelling case."

"I wish you'd been on the committee the last time I had to do a thesis presentation," Robby cracked wryly.

Rose reached for Robby's hand, and squeezed it, and grinned at him slowly, softly, brightly. "You--"

But she didn't get to finish that sentence.

Because that's when the screaming started.

And a great THROOOM that reverberated through the pillars and practically rippled through all the glassy surfaces.

People were running from deeper in The Galleria, people were bleeding--

--people were missing limbs, falling down, crying over loved ones, glassy-eyed and in shock--

--alarm bells were ringing--

--people were grabbing cellphones, most of them were taking videos some of them were calling 911--

"--oh," Rose's eyes went wide. "Oh, holy shit."

Robby was frozen stiff beside her, his jaw clenched, his eyes wide, panic stations all go, he grabbed for her arm--

--she didn't look at him, she couldn't look at him--

--she could only look at the massive figure stalking through the chaos and laughing. Big as a juggernaut, brazen as a rhino, hair black as night and clad in a bladed, armored suit that gleamed blue white in a whole different flavor of shiny and new than The Galleria that surrounded him.

"You hear me?" he roared. "I'm Razer! I'm the guy you call when you want a place wiped off the map! So run! Unless you wanna get cut down-- you run!"

"Rose--" Robby managed to stammer.

"You heard the man," Rose replied, trying to sound confident and mostly succeeding despite the alarm bells ringing inside her brain and out, "run."

She shot him a look as her phone lit up green in her hand, The H-Dialer App loaded and ready. "I love you. Just run. Get some of these people out of here if you can."

"I'll handle this."

Her thumb swiped the H-rune with almost vicious ferocity even as her fear boiled in her blood.

She felt the dial spin.

Please.

Please give me something that can knock this psycho's teeth out through the back of his helmet--

--give me Roentgen-Ray Rose, just this once--

--please.

SWOOOSH.

"A Light That Never Comes," by Linkin Park ft. Steve Aoki. (Rose)

She stood up straight, and the tiles cracked under her bare feet. Muscles like steel cable stretched taut beneath thick, sculpted skin. Armor like crustacean exoskeleton clacked around portions of her mighty body. Long, orange-and-white hair spilled down her bare back, hair the color of koi fish.

She wasn't Roentgen-Ray Rose. Not by a long chalk.

But she wasn't powerless, either--

--she was Submersive.

"RAZER!" she snarled, her accent vaguely Greek laced with something much more exotic, and beckoned to the hulking one-man wrecking crew. "I do not care for the constructions of air-breathers. But you will not spill one drop of blood more."

Razer took a moment to run his eyes up and down the powerful, scantily-clad frame.

"My contract says different," he smirked, and then leveled his armored fists at her. "Here, check the provisos."

Whining like buzzing saws, a hail of circular blades showered out of launchers in his guantlets--

--Submersive had reflexes to spare, but the blades were many, and they were fast, and even as she twisted to evade, three managed to gash her--

--each arm, and her right side, even through her armor.

Roaring with dismay, she vaulted for cover, even as Razer unleashed another hail of the murderous projectiles and laughed at the top of his lungs.

Landing in a crouch behind a pillar-- even as spinning blades chiseled through it like hot knives through butter-- Submersive summoned her own power of hydrokinesis to stem her bleeding, gritting her teeth and holding her hand just above the gash in her side, willing the blood to clot. It wouldn't take much-- her biology had evolved to survive under the sea, and that included accelerated healing and reduced blood-loss-- wouldn't do to get sniffed out by and frenzied upon by a shark, after all-- but it was still... inconvenient.

"Ro--!" she heard a shout-- "--uh-- Submersive!"

Submersive looked up in mingled surprise and horror to see that Robby Reed was huddled behind a pillar just across from her. He hadn't run like Rose had told him.

"You are meant to be a genius, Robert," Submersive glowered at him. "Do the smart thing and escape!"

Robby shook his head. "No, no, you don't understand! I can help you! I know what that stuff is!"

"Some enchanted weapon," Submersive growled, "that it can pierce Atlantean hide with such impunity!"

"It's called Lubrilon," Robby insisted. "It's a common misconception that bullets coated with Teflon become more armor piercing, it just helps them spin more freely in the barrel, but coat a thing with this stuff, its coefficient of friction is so low it can basically slice through anything."

The screaming was starting again in earnest, as Razer-- having decided that this barely-costumed heroine was no threat-- went laughing back to work.

Submersive surged to her feet. She would not let this monster win, any more than she would let the great dark monsters of the uncharted deep drag down vessels of comparatively innocent cruise-goers.

"Thank you, my love," Submersive growled. "I shall endeavor to not let him cut me again, though this seems common sense. Now go."

"But if he's wearing--" Robby attempted to continue, but Submersive was gone, bounding twenty feet into the fray in a single leap, and Robby cringed, tried not to have a panic attack-- "oh-- oh-- God, please don't die."

Submersive hurtled at Razer with both fists over her head, her teeth gritted grimly-- "You will pick on someone your own size!"

--her fists slammed against his helmet but--

--slid and skidded off, the coating on his armor causing her brute force to simply slough aside. She tried again, swinging a straight right hard for his chestplate-- but again, it skipped across him like a stone across the surface of the sea.

Razer chortled and swung a backhand for her-- she recoiled, but he still managed to gash her cheek with one of his gauntlet wrist-blades-- "Lady, you don't know when you're beat."

"On the contrary," Submersive backpedaled a few yards, grimacing. "I am fully aware of my capabilities. It just so happens that you do not exceed them."

"Uh-huh," Razer snorted dubiously, and aimed his blade-launchers-- but before he could fire, Submersive flexed her left fist, snapped her fingers open wide-- and water from a nearby fountain rippled and lashed out like a bullwhip, cracking into Razer's exposed face.

"Rrraaahhh!" Razer roared, and with a growl raised his arm once more and fired--

--not at Submersive, but at one of those fancy cylindrical elevators, severing cables and emergency brakes--

--there were people still aboard, stuck between floors when someone had hit the big red stop button--

--they howled in terror--

Submersive dove for the fountain, plunged her hand into the water, came up holding her waterblade Benthesikyme, and with a cry of furious mental effort, she unleashed another, more powerful spout of water from the fountain--

--a high-pressure hose, slowing the descent of the elevator, cushioning it so that the passengers didn't snap bones when they hit--

--though of course this effort left Submersive wide open to attack from behind, and Razer capitalized.

Ordinarily, gauntlets coated with Lubrilon would make his trying to grab hold of anything as wasted an effort as trying to grab onto him. But razor-sharp retractable spines lined the insides of his armored palms, and with these spines extended he grabbed hold hard of Submersive's compact powerhouse shoulders.

Despite herself, she bayed out, not just from pain, pain she could deal with, but with the continued effort of trying to catch the elevator even as dozens of tiny spikes drilled into her skin, again right through her armor.

"Trouble with picking on someone my own size," Razer grrrrowled, "is when I hack 'em to pieces they don't stay my size for long."

"I am familiar," Submersive snarled through gritted teeth, "with the concept of chum."

And she smashed her head backwards, again striking him in his bared face, this time with the full force of a skull capable of withstanding oceanic pressures.

Razer reeled, staggering backwards, his grip-spines popped out of her shoulders with a collective schluck and Submersive unleashed another cry of agony mingled with effort.

As soon as the elevator thudded noisily to the floor, Submersive whirled to face her foe once more.

Razer snorted blood out of his nostrils and half his face started to blacken and bruise. Yet again, he leveled his arms to launch hails of blades--

--but this time Submersive was waiting, Benthesikyme twirled to an underhand grip, and as the blades bore down on her, Submersive powered into their hail, slapping the discs away with the flat of her mystical weapon--

--she sprinted almost into his very grasp, and as he grabbed for her again with those spiny palms, she hurled her sword aside and instead leaped straight upward--

--over his head--

--over his head and down behind him--

--grabbed two fistfuls of his thick black mane on the way down and hauled him head over heels with her, slamming him down so hard on his front the whole Galleria seemed to rattle.

WHOOM.

Sprawled on the cratered floor at her feet, Razer groaned, rocked from side to side like the world's slipperiest turtle, tried to use his grip-spines to try and claw his way to his feet-- managed to roll himself onto his back--

--but Submersive's bare foot came up in an axe kick and crashed back down onto his face, fracturing his skull and driving him firmly into unconsciousness.

She went to pick up her sword, and found it took two tries to wrap her fingers around the hilt. Even with her accelerated metabolism, blood loss had made her woozy. Nevertheless, she forced herself to steady, and rested Benthesikyme across an uninjured part of one shoulder.

"I have had a very busy morning," she reflected to the fallen Razer. "Pray I do not busy myself further... chum."

Virgil Hawkins rolled his chair away from his work station and rubbed his tired eyes. He had been sitting in front of his computer for the last four hours going over the data he had collected from the experiment he had run the previous night in the Halo's experimental magnetron. Sure it had not been quite up to the task and he had juiced it a little, but the figures he had collected still were viable. The thing was they just weren't adding up right.

He had been working on this stupid problem for four months now and he knew he was so close, but he just couldn't put his finger on the solution. If he was going to solve the problem of actual physical instantaneous transportation anywhere on the world, he was going to have to take a break and look at this another way.

He shut down his computer and triple bared it as usual, then as extra security locked it with a coded zap of his own power field. It would not harm any of the delicate components, he had long since managed to control that, but his terminal would be dead and useless until receiving that same pulse from him again. Walking out massaging his neck he headed to the staff cafeteria to grab a bite to eat and ponder the situation.

Ten minutes later he was sitting in a quiet corner drinking Coffee and eating his lunch pondering what he had missed. He was sure he had the wavelength right as he had tested it several times in computer mockups and every time it had come out correctly. It was the molecular bonding process that was the stumbling block. Of course he was no slouch in this department, but he knew people that were better and he had requested that they be brought on board, but the best he got was some early work by the brilliant Ray Palmer. Of course Virgil knew he was the Atom and had requested him as one of the scientists but having his work was almost as good. It had helped him immensely and he knew the answer was there somewhere he was just missing it. Maybe if he actually shrank the subject and then transmogrified the smaller atoms into energy as they were super dense then transported them it could work.

He was about to go back to work when the red lights and warning sirens went off. Suddenly guards appeared at all the exits and began to herd the scientists towards the safety rooms set up for such situations. All of them were calm expecting it to just be another drill, but Virgil saw the sweat on the guards faces and the anxious looks on their faces. This was not a drill, something bad was happening. Slipping away was relatively easy and soon in a bathroom stall he was using the cylinder he always kept in his pocket to change quickly into his uniform. Virgil had stepped into the Bathroom but Static stepped out.

He tapped into the chatter of the guards two ways and learned that a Gang was busting into Halo and heading for the armory. Well he couldn't allow that. Dialing up the police all he got was (Pardon the pun) Static on the line. Damn a scrambler field and he didn't have time to break it. Pulling out his disk he charged it up and began flying down the corridors headed for the armory. maybe the field was only limited to emergency services. He had to chance it. he had noticed Robby heading out earlier, he had mentioned something about meeting his girl for lunch. Pulling up his number on his HUD he dialed it and was rewarded when it started ringing. Finally Robby answered and he barely got his ""Hello", out before he cut him off.
"Robby it's Virgil man. Look sorry I don't have time for a lot of pleasantries. Halo is being attacked by some form of gang and they have set up a scrambler so no one can call the cops. I am guessing they forgot about cell phones but they will remember quickly. Call the cops and get them down here ASAP. They are heading for the armory and you know the sort of stuff stored down there. Hurry before.....," Virgil cursed as he heard the line dissolve into static. Well he hoped Robby got all that, but for now it was just him against who knew how many. Powering up he rushed forward towards the sounds of gunfire. It sounded like he was about to find out.

Together In The Dark

The two preteens moved as quickly as they could. They held tight to each other and ran a hand along the wall as they tried to move as far from the killer as they could. Suddenly the wall was gone. Sarah and Billy froze. They had seemed to have entered a larger area, but they couldn't see where to go.

"Sarah, we gotta keep going. Should we try to cross or move along a side wall? What if there is a drop off or something?"

Sarah smiled to soothe Billy before realizing that he couldn't have seen it. "It's okay. We just go slow. If there is a drop it shouldn't be too steep, I mean how would the trains take it? Maybe we are in another terminal."

Maybe. But wouldn't the tunnel still be down the middle? And up higher? So we should still have the wall. I don't get it. Maybe a storage yard, or something. Maybe there is somewhere to hide."

"So far no light behind us. Means he couldn't be following us. Unless he sees in the dark. Let's try to move straight across. If we come to a train or something we can rest there, if he does come along maybe he won't find us."

The children moved forward cautiously. Testing each step. Suddenly they were blinded as light flooded the room around them. They were standing in a large circular room. They were surrounded by statues, 14 of them around the circular room.

"Wow. Where the..."

"Not there love I assure yeh."

The voice came from behind one of the statues and startled both the kids.

Been there. Not as nice. Name's John." The blonde man with the brown overcoat strode out from behind one of the statues. "Don't worry kids. Not here to hurt ya.From your reaction I am guessin' you lot were runnin' from somethin'. Well, yer safe here. But don't mind me. Was jus' passin' through. Came to see an ol' friend. But guess he stepped out. Doesn't do that much the old bugger. How did you lot find yer way here?" The man looked quizzically at the two youths.

"I'm Billy. This is Sarah. We were kidnapped. We got away from the guy, ran down a tunnel and ended up here. Um... where is here?" Billy steps in front of Sarah. Taking a protective position.

"Calm down mate. Not gonna hurt ya's. You have no idea where you are eh? Right. Well, this is about to be down right interesting. 'Fraid I can't stick aroun' ta see it loves. No matter what though, know one thing..., Yer safe 'ere." John smiled as he lit a cigarette and stepped back behind the statue.

"You still never said where here is? Um... John?" Billy let go of Sarah's hand and began to walk toward the statue, but when he gets there John is gone. "What... Sarah, he's gone. I think I am crazy. You saw him right?"

Sarah nodded and moved to take Billy's hand again. "What was that. Where are we? Is this maybe part of the museum? Would explain the cool statues."

"Louder Than Words," by Les Friction. (Rose)

As ambulances and police and news crews descended, Submersive limped away through one of the employee access corridors that led out to the Dumpsters tucked behind the food court, Robby shadowing her to make sure they weren't followed.

Submersive staggered and fell to her knees between the Dumpsters, and at that moment The H-Dialer App timed out.

SWOOOSH.

"--oh my God," Rose mumbled, down there on her knees, all of Submersive's injuries and blood loss a fading memory-- but not the memory that had brought her to her knees. "All those people. All those-- all those people--"

She retched, then, upchucking what she'd sipped of her Orange Julius.

"Hghk!" she shook her head. "Oh-- oh God--"

Robby dropped to a crouch behind her, touching her back gently, tucking her hair back in case she puked again. "It's okay. It's okay. It's over. You-- you--" he took a long, shaky breath, obviously forcing himself to be steady for her, he was just as rattled, he was more rattled-- "--you were amazing. There would be so many more people hurt or dead except for you."

Rose pressed the heel of her watch-hand into her eye, and shook her head. "I don't-- feel amazing. That guy. That guy."

"I know," Robby nodded with chagrin. "God, his armor. Lubrilon's crazy expensive, whoever bankrolled that son of a bitch must be-- I dunno-- King Midas."

Rose laughed a little broken laugh, and smiled a little broken smile. "Always the logistics, with you."

Opening his mouth to quip a reply, Robby couldn't quite get the word out-- his phone rang-- yanking the phone out of his pocket, he made an incredulous noise-- "Virgil. Hawkins. How am I supposed to go back to work after this?"

He answered the phone, "Hello--"

--but couldn't get out more than those two syllables, his eyes widening, and he quickly put Virgil on speaker.

"--some form of gang and they have set up a scrambler so no one can call the cops. I am guessing they forgot about cell phones but they will remember quickly. Call the cops and get them down here ASAP. They are heading for the armory and you know the sort of stuff stored down there. Hurry before...."

Robby stared, horrified, at his phone, saw the call had ended, swore, tried to call Virgil back but got no response. "Goddammit. It's Halo. Same old Keystone-Central story, lab does military R&D, supervillain breaks into lab and steals said R&D--"

--but he trailed off as Rose rose to her feet, her watch glowing green on her wrist, the H-rune luminous and prominent.

"Do what he said," she murmured, and gazed down at her wrist. "Call the cops."

Robby had already been pale from the shock of seeing the Galleria carnage, but now he went about as white as snow. "Wh-- wh-- what are you doing?"

"Right now?" Rose smiled that wobbly smile again, though now her eyes were full of a strange breed of determination that Robby hadn't seen before-- "I'm hoping for one of the fliers-- or at least one of the ones that can get me there fast--"

She didn't bother specifically begging for Roentgen-Ray Rose again this time.

She just brought her palm clapping down on her watch's face, and hoped for the best she could get--

--Robby pleaded, "Rose, wait--"

--but the dial dialed out and Robby was interrupted by the

SWOOOSH.

"Live to Rise," by Soundgarden. (Rose)

The green light faded, and she was blue.

Blue, and sensuous in a predatory sort of way-- and cool, and prickly, and proud.

She was ShadowPax.

"Yes," ShadowPax decided. "I'll do."

And then shadows bled out from beneath the Dumpsters on either side of her, and climbed up the outside of her body the way that water climbs up the inside of a tree-- and then that darkness collapsed into a puddle and blew away on a breeze.

She was gone.

Robby stared at the spot where ShadowPax had stood, and then, snapping himself out of it, fumbled with his phone, hurriedly dialed 911-- "Uh, hi, I need to report a-- a 10-13. No, not the one at The Galleria, this one's at The Halo Corporation branch office on the corner of Waid and Wieringo-- multiple, uh, multiple subjects, heavily armed, possibly meta-- no, no, I just spoke with someone inside while it was happening, I'm-- I'm anonymous, this is an anonymous tip--"

--he hung up sharply, shook himself. "Ah, Rose. Ah, Hell."

But Rose, as it turned out, had not gone to Hell.

More the outskirts.

As the darkness had melted away from her blue blue skin, ShadowPax had found herself standing under a twilit sky bereft of sun, moon or stars. The sky had a soft indigo glow to it, but it was the light of a sun that had just set below the horizon, with no moon ready to rise.

She stood on the edge of a lake, with a stone tower rising before her like an artifact from a forgotten realm.

This was The Demiplane of Shadow, a Faerie-land of eternal gloaming and ShadowPax' genetic heritage.

"'Hello Darkness, my old friend.'"

In the distance, there came the sound of a dragon's roaring, but she paid it no heed. She would be long gone, even if it sniffed her out and flew for her.

While ShadowPax could step into a nearby shadow and then immediately step out again in another shadow up to two miles away, a further distance required stepping entirely into Shadow, capital "S," and then back out again. Of course, such a great leap could only be made to places Rose or any of her Heroes had physically been before...

...fortunately, in this instance this was not a problem.

Stepping once more from darkness into darkness, ShadowPax emerged from a pool of velvet black into the computer room where Robby Reed often busied himself developing algorithms for coordinating orbital satellites.

Rose had been in this room earlier this very day, and a few times before.

But this time, she was up to something more important than Super Smash Bros.

Tucking locks of her midnight-dark hair back behind her blue pointed ears, she pressed her lips grimly together.

She could hear gunfire in the near distance.

Near enough to shadow-step.

"I should really say something pithy here."

"Pre-combat one-liner."

"But let's just do this."

ShadowPax silked into a murky patch behind one of the servers and-- then out again--

--into chaos.

Static Glided down the halls on his new board. It had been redesigned from a single surface to a combination of several different interconnecting discs. They were held together by his own magnetism and he could actually use them as projectiles when needed. It also had some other neat tricks that he was sure he was going to need real soon.

He glided to a halt near the ceiling at the entrance to the armory building. Below him he saw several of the Halo's security forces lying dead or unconscious. he was hoping for the latter as there didn't seem to be too much blood splattered around but he didn't have the time to check.

He used a blast of magnetism to open the doors and shot through quickly and moved upwards into the shadows near the ceiling. It was always best to conceal yourself until you knew what you were dealing with. He had learned that lesson the hard way several times in his youth. Also most people did not tend to look up when raiding a place unless forced to. He moved forward cautiously following the sounds of battle and getting more concerned as he did. now he was spotting guys in advanced Halo battle armor down there lying in heaps. Whoever it was breaking in, they were no amateurs and they were packing some serious firepower or they were super powered.

Rounding a corner he finally came upon the battle and saw the attackers for the first time. His chest tightened as he recognized them from the files he had seen in the Justice leagues computers as well. The Royal Flush Gang. Criminals for higher that had abilities they used to complete the jobs they took. Originally a small time family of crooks, they had managed to get a hold of some serious power and it looked like they had recruited some new talent again.

If the records had been right Arrow had stopped them when there had only been three of them. Ace, Jack and Ten. Unfortunately King had been killed and it had turned out they had all been related. Now it looked like Ace and ten were back in business although Ace was now the new King.

The new Ace appeared to be a huge muscled man. Obviously the strongman of the team. The Queen was a sultry looking woman wearing a small crown, while there was also another woman down there. He was too far away at the moment to see who was who between the old ten and jack, but he assumed they were them.

At the moment The big guy had pulled several large boxes off the storage racks setting up a temporary barrier that was stopping the securities bullets from hitting them, while King and Queen were searching the surrounding area for something. Every now and then the other two would peek around the barrier and bursts of some kind of energy would streak towards the clustered forces. Several times he saw men go down and he heard laughter from below.

He couldn't let this go on any longer even if he wasn't sure of what sort of powers they had and that he was outnumbered. He had surprise on his side and he knew where they were. He should take out the energy users first enabling him to stay out of range of their attacks and let security back him up, then go for the strong guy. Taking a deep breath he prepared two large taser blasts and swooped down towards Ten and Jack.

Security really wasn't a problem.

Even once the lights and sirens started to go off, the Royal Flush Gang continued working. They had already taken care of a few guards, but they didn't have to worry about the rest of them. Their only concern was getting to the armory. While some of the guards they had come across packed some pretty heavy armor, their battle suits proved to be little more than bump in the road.

The 'strongest' of the group, Ace, threw one of the guards against the far wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Ooh-hoo! He's going to have a major headache when he wakes up," Jack said with a crooked smile, his mask only showing the left side of his face.

Ace remained silent for a couple of moments, as if he were listening for something, but then they continued on their way to rejoin the others. To allow the other members of the gang to continue working undisturbed, Ace started taking some of the heavier nearby boxes and crates and stacking them up on the floor to create a sort of barricade to deflect or absorb the spray of bullets.

"How much more time do you think we have?" Ten asked as she joined Jack near the barricade, who popped out from behind one of the crates to launch a stream of energy at the guards.

"I have no idea," he responded. "The jammer should give us at least ten more minutes."

While Jack provided her with some cover, Ten reached into her jacket and pulled out a stack of playing cards. She fanned them out and smiled as their razor-sharp edges began to glow.

Several of the cards exploded once they reached their targets, and the others sliced through their battle armor as if they were made out of nothing but paper.

"I'll never understand why that clown limits himself to just one card," she said as she pulled out another stack. "Even with Four of a kind, a Royal Flush always wins!"

"You can't actually play poker with jokers," Jack reminded her.

"Depends on what kind of poker you're playing," Ten said as she came out from behind the stack of boxes to launch another attack.

Jack frowned at her.

"No! If you're gonna play poker, you better play it straight... not one of those crappy variations," he snapped.

When Ten pulled back, Jack stepped out to fire another blast at the guards. He staggered back, however, when he was struck by an intense electric discharge. The suit he wore would protect him, but being caught by surprise had momentarily stunned him. Ten, however, rolled off to the side to avoid a second similar blast, and she quickly drew out another handful of playing cards and charged them up.

"Great. I thought we had this place checked out," she complained as Jack started to get up.

"Here! Pick a card!" Ten called out as she expertly threw the cards in Static's direction. "Any card."

Static wasn't worried too much about Ten's cards. He already had his charge screen up that would deflect all physical projectiles that came his way and he had long since learned to ride out explosive concussion blasts unless they were very big or caught him unawares. No he was more worried about the fact that their suits seemed to be well insulated. The fact that Jack was already getting up , although woosily, from a blast that should have knocked him out for several hours proved that.

Damn that meant he was going to have to crank up the power which in turn meant he was going to drain himself a lot quicker. Well he did have other means at his disposal now. Reaching into one of the pockets of his costume he pulled out a small cylinder put with a flick of his wrist and a small charge it become a long bow staff. Swooping around avoiding most of Ten's cards, picking off a few more with well placed small blasts and allowing his field to repulse the others he swooped back down aiming for the groggy Jack keeping him between himself and Ten. At the last minute he also stepped back and launched two pieces of his disk at Ten. The curved either side of Jack to come at her from different angles, one high one low. Each was protected by it's own field but he hoped Ten did not know that as they didn't glow.

He flipped as he came at Jack and swung at his head hoping the move would put any retaliatory fire from his weapon off target.

"My Songs Know What You Did in The Dark (Light 'Em Up)," by Fall Out Boy. (Rose)

It was a curious thing, Dialing a Hero.

They were always Rose. They were always her.

It was her mind in control. ...wasn't it?

...anyway, when she got into an action sequence, she had found there was this autopilot that kind of took over. And up 'till now, for various D-list meta-villains and burning buildings and cats in trees, that had been enough.

Razer had gotten the closest to punching her ticket, but even then she'd succeeded.

This gave her confidence, perhaps unfounded, but confidence nonetheless.

ShadowPax, meanwhile, was already... confident. Defiantly confident.

She was quick and she was strong-- she could bench almost a ton --and she could climb walls and step through shadows-- and she could cast webs out of the shadows.

On top of all this, she had magic swords. A whole arsenal of them.

So Rose-- ShadowPax --could perhaps be forgiven for eschewing her element of surprise, her ability to reconnoiter a fight scene before engaging, and simply stepping out of a pool of shadow behind King and Queen, twin short-swords drawn, and her lip curled.

Gleaming eyes registered the electrical hero, almost absently-- defiantly confidently.

But she was focused on her prey.

She twirled her twin blades, one in each hand, and narrowed her gaze, her tone dour.

"Nice motif."

"Time for me to hit the deck."

"You're Going Down," by Sick Puppies

"Are you sure it's here?" Queen asked.

"Yes," King said simply, using his sword to slice open one of the armored crates.

Queen pointed her jewel-encrusted scepter at one of the locked crates as well, and a bolt of energy shot out from the tip and obliterated the protective casing. She frowned in disappointment when its contents spilled out, and discovered that nothing seemed to match the description of the object they were looking for. She started to wonder if this had all been some elaborate ruse, but King had assured her that he had it on good authority that the item would be there.

She pointed her scepter at another case and broke it open.

Nothing.

They were distracted for a moment by the commotion Jack and Ten were making, and it seemed that someone a bit more capable of fighting had arrived to try and stop them. It had only been a matter of time before someone other than the guards had shown up, but Queen had hoped that it would take them a bit longer.

Yet if it was only one person, then they really didn't have too much to worry about.

"Nice motif. Time for me to hit the deck."

King had been kneeling down next to one of the armored crates when ShadowPax appeared out of the shadows, twirling her weapons over and over.

"I think it's best that you do," King said, and Ace picked up one of the heavier crates and threw it in her direction.

Queen, meanwhile, pointed her scepter at the dark-haired superhero, and unleashed a torrent of mystical energy at her.

10 & Jack v. Static

Ten wasn't too surprised that Static had managed to avoid harm when his shields either deflected or absorbed her attacks, but she had more than a couple tricks hidden up her sleeves. She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a special set of cards, but Static had already gone on the offensive once he had landed, and Ten was forced to try and avoid the discs that he had thrown at her.

Pulling out a larger card from the deck, Ten threw it at her feet and then jumped up into the air as the card grew even bigger, becoming large enough for her to stand and ride on.

Ten managed to avoid the first disc that had been flying lower to the ground, but with its protective shield, the second disc thrown at her head had managed to strike her scooter as it hovered up over the ground, and Ten was forced to jump off it before it crashed into the wall and exploded. The force of the blast knocked her down, but she wasn't seriously hurt.

Jack, meanwhile, had taken the full brunt of one of Static's initial taser blasts, but it would take a lot more than that to keep him grounded.

Even so, he was still a bit dazed.

"Ngh. Did anyone get the license plate of that mack truck?"

"Jack! Get up off your ass and do something!" Ten yelled as Static came down to swing at her partner with his staff.

Jack turned to face Static, and the red gem that had been placed in his mask over his eye glowed red before a focused laser lashed out at the hero. When Static flipped upside down and struck him with his staff, however, Jack's laser was sent way off course. It struck parts of the ceiling and support beams high above them, causing several large pieces of debris to come falling down. One of the larger chunks caught Ten as she rolled to the side and ducked for cover, and it knocked her out for a short while.

Static

Static had been surprised by Jack's attack and was glad he had thought to flip over at the last second. He wasn't sure if his shield would have been able to absorb such an intense blast of laser power from that distance.

He reached out with his powers and his disks once again joined up with his main flyer as he looked back at Jack. The man was obviously very dazed now, and it looked as if he had taken his own partner out with his blast. The problem was he had also taken out a fair sized chunk of the support beams right above them and already the ceiling was starting to sag a little. A couple more blasts like that and they could have a major structural collapse. He had to take out Jack before that happened.

As he looped back around he saw that Queen and King seemed to be fighting a blue woman twirling a couple of swords. Well it seemed Robby had managed to contact the police and another Hero had joined the party, although one he had never seen before. Still he wasn't about to say no to any help he received.

Flying back towards jack his main question was where was Ace? He hadn't seen the big man in his quick survey and he just hoped he wasn't lurking around somewhere. Increasing the strength of his static field just in case, he fired off a couple of shots at Jack to rattle him and to hopefully throw off his aim as he barreled down on him yet again.

"End of Time," by Lacuna Coil. (Rose)

TearsoftheWorld said:

"Nice motif. Time for me to hit the deck."

King had been kneeling down next to one of the armored crates when ShadowPax appeared out of the shadows, twirling her weapons over and over.

"I think it's best that you do," King said, and Ace picked up one of the heavier crates and threw it in her direction.

Queen, meanwhile, pointed her scepter at the dark-haired superhero, and unleashed a torrent of mystical energy at her.

Click to expand...

As Queen's bolt speared at ShadowPax, the otherworldly swordswoman whirled--

--crossing her wrists over her head and pointing her blades straight downwards, ShadowPax angled the flats so that when one sword parried the energy attack, it deflected ninety-degrees to the right to strike the other blade-- and then pinball again back towards Queen.

It was an incredible display of dexterity, a supernatural swiftness, demonstrating that as well as lightning reflexes, ShadowPax-- wherever she was from-- had received warrior training like unto Tolkien's most legendary Elves.

Unfortunately, however cool this made her seem would be instantly and almost entirely undermined by her getting utterly blindsided by that crate. "Agh!"

Before the crate could continue on its path and mash her into the wall, she tore herself into a shadowport--

--and instantly out again, appearing in mid-air before Ace's face--

--her own nose and lips were bleeding black blood, one pointed ear was badly torn--

--but she fired a kick fast as a flash (though not a Flash) at his face, with her swords clenched by her sides.


...just over two miles away, Robby stood on a sidewalk not far from The Galleria, desperately trying to flag a cab.

"I could call one," he muttered to himself, "I could--"

--but as he took his phone out of his pocket, he got a text message that brought him up short.

'Tell her to call me,' the text read.

There was no name on the contact, but the number came up (777) 777-7777.

Robby scowled incredulously. "Who the Hell...?"

Jack and Ten

Jack was physically and emotionally rattled, and having taken out his own partner didn't help matters any. Static wasn't a pushover, but Jack felt confident that his abilities and weapons would be more than enough to deal with the electrified fly-boy. When Static launched a few volleys at him, Jack had to duck and roll to avoid them, and his own attacks were too slow to hit their mark.

"Ngh. Stand still!"

The gem covering Jack's eye started to turn on its own, and the next beam was a bit wider.

He didn't care too much about the hitting the building.

So what if it fell apart? King and Queen would've certainly found the item by the time the place would start to collapse, and they'd all be long gone.

Even though Jack was a competent fighter, he tried to keep as much distance between himself and Static as possible, hoping that his lasers would finally find their mark.

Akq

ShadowPax was good.

Really good.

Even King thought that she'd make an excellent addition to the Royal Flush Gang. Deflecting the Queen's attack back at her was accomplished beautifully, though the scepter she held allowed the attack to be absorbed harmlessly back into it, and it crackled with renewed energy as a new attack was prepared. King, however, watched silently as the crate Ace threw was smashed into bits against the wall, but, just as quickly as ShadowPax had appeared, she was gone.

"Wh-"

King pointed over at their hired help.

Ace may have been strong, but he wasn't invincible.

ShadowPax appeared in front of his body, and when her leg smashed into his face, enough speed and force had been used to knock him flat on his ass.

"Useless," King mumbled as their robotic helper remained on the ground, his head twisted sharply to one side.

Queen aimed her scepter at the wounded hero, and she let loose another blast of mystical energy.

Although he drew his sword, King had opted to continue searching. If two heroes had come to stop them, he had no reason not to suspected that more would soon be on their way. He activated a special part of his suit that allowed him to slip through solid objects, though it would only last for a couple of minutes before needing to be recharged.

Time was no longer on their side.

While Barry and Bart engaged in their superspeed familial spat, Oliver looked at the gathered crew.

"Ok. We know that at least one person involved has superpowers. We have to assume he has back up. J'onn, once we get within a mile I want to go dark. No radio contact. If he has Ray's tech we don't know what else he has. He may be able to pick us up. Can you keep us connected?"

Oliver looked to Artemis and Venom. [COLOR="rgb(DarkGreen)"]"Artemis, Ray, Venom. I want you covering the exit. If he runs I need to have you in place to stop him. I want him alive. How alive is not a concern."[/COLOR] Oliver looks to John. "You take the front with me. J'onn, if you can get in and get us a visual before we all move in? John and I will take the initial assault. If he has back up, you guys move in. Let's try to take him quickly. Limit the danger the kids are in. J'onn, don't engage alone. Just get us a head count. Questions?"

Oliver had already mounted his bike as he waited for the others to confirm they were ready.

The Martian considered Oliver Queen. He may not have the raw power of the Manhunter, but he was every bit as dangerous. Yes, he could just swoop in and take out anyone there and save the children. But there could be contingencies. In doing so he could inadvertently kill those children. He had seen far too many children lost in his life. He would not risk that. While he had the raw power, this new order of heroes, this Justice Society, they were more than power.

"Yes, Arrow. I can connect our minds. If everyone is willing. I will look ahead and send a report. See you there."

The Martian Manhunter didn't wait any longer. His form distorted and faded from view as he took off at incredible speed. His intangibility preventing the shockwave of his passage. In an impossibly short time he was phasing through the walls of the forgotten station. The Martian sensed that something was... off. Like there was more to this place than the physical space he was entering. His mind could sense a distance. A connection now lost to someone, something more than just the space before him.

J'onn could hear the man speaking. He moved cautiously, despite his intangible and invisible form, there were still beings that could sense him. He needed to be sure that this Palmer-Tech thieving brute was the only one. If there were others, the children could be more danger than he and the others thought. With the stealth and the skills of a seasoned Manhunter he moved through the tunnel system and came to the room holding the children.

The man with the knife is crouched on a pile of debris watching the children cower. A sick smile on his face. The man taps the side of his mask and begins to speak. "Yeah. I have them. Couple dozen. I expect the fee is in place."

While the children are unable to hear the voice on the other end, it is a simple enough matter for the Martian to hear the silky woman's voice.

"I only pay if they are in good health. No injuries. I don't buy damaged goods. Extraction to come. Keep the line open and be ready. It will be an extremely small window."

The man with the knife stands and draws the back end of the blade across his hand. "Listen you lot, won't be long now. We will be moving soon. If any of you so much as think about strugglin' I will gut you. Leave you bleeding out and holding your own insides. Understood?"

The chidlren murmur their agreement.

The man stands quickly, a fiery rage burning behind his eyes, "I SAID UNDERSTOOD?!"

The children quickly, meakly, bark out in the affirmative.

J'onn scanned the scene before him, not just with the five senses of man, but with all the senses of a Martian. There was definitely something beyond the normal about this space. It was in the geometry, in the symbols. This space held power. Was this chosen for a reason? Was this intentional or just happenstance? J'onn knew he needed to get the others in place. Once the children were safe they could figure the rest out. But he children were the priority.

J'onn reached out. His mind sinuously seeking the minds of the team. He could use force to dig into them. To see and know all they did. He could force the information into their minds. But these were men and women he respected deeply. Not all of them had the gifts of a Martian. Yet they put everything on the line. No superpower, just heart and conviction. That was a power beyond all others. J'onn gently nudged the minds of the Society.

"I have one figure. He just spoke to a handler. Extraction is incoming. Means there could be more coming soon. There is also some thing about this space. The geometry, the symbols. It is not just decoration. This place has power. We have to assume that was the purpose. We need to move now before whatever they have planned comes to fruition."

The Arrow was already zipping through the city. Taking risks that he normally wouldn't. Time was of the essence. He was in mid air, jumping from an overpass on his bike when he felt the familiar tingle that was J'onn reaching out. He nearly spilled the landing as he opened his mind. He skidded to a stop over the sewer line entrance they would use to access the forgotten tunnels. The Guardian was right behind him.

"You sure your okay. You might be too close. How many times have you told me to take a step back with issues involving family?"

"How many times did you listen? You fought Ras for your family. I am willing to go just as far for mine. I have this. Controlled fury. We get the kids, we take out this bastard and we find out who this handler is. Lets do this."

The Arrow nodded as he levered open the entrance. They descended, following the route that Felicity had provided. The Arrow reached out, using the open connection that J'onn had provided. "Remember to be careful of collateral damage. Not only do we have the kids, but the tunnel is in bad shape and if there is damage we could flood not only it, but half the subway tunnels in the glades. That is a lot of lives on the line." Tapping his earpiece The Arrow waited for the connection to go through.

"Lance. What have you got?"

"Closing in. We have a location. I need you to call an emergency evac of the subway tunnels in the glades. Keep it quite. If someone is watching we don't want to tip our hands. We are a couple minutes out. Get officers evacuating the stations. Everything south of Waid and Loeb."

"Want a backup squad?"

"Too dangerous. We have this. Just get those tunnels emptied."

"Understood. And... be careful."

Lance hangs up as he looks at the pictures on his desk. He smiles at the photo of him and his girls at dinner with Oliver Queen. A tear forms in the corner of his eye as he opens the draw and touches the small package still there. Today was Sara's birthday. He never did get to give her this last gift. So many regrets. But through it all, the man he once hated and blamed for all his loss, Oliver Queen had been the closest thing he had to a son. He had tried to protect Sara. Saved her life on at least one occasion. And he had fought to keep Laurel from following in Sara's footsteps. He wiped his eyes as he sent the bulletin over the police channels to quietly evacuate. He wondered where Laurel was. He knew she was with Roy at least. Off on some mission or another. Lance knew what it was to lose a child. He hoped deeply that no one else would learn that tonight.

The Bargaining

Sara and Billy stood in the center of the room. They were more fascinated now than scared. Who was that guy and where did he go? And what was up with all these weird statues. Sara was intrigued with the beauty of the images. She had always loved art. Aunt Laurel had given he a book about classical sculpture last time she was in town. Each page had a photo of the real statue paper clipped to it that Aunt Laurel had taken. She promised some day to bring Sara to see them all.

"Billy these are amazing. They're like the ones in my book. I wonder who owns them?"

"Hope they aren't psycho killers." Billy smiled weakly as he looked around. "Uh. Sara, there was a door before right? Cause, it's sort of gone."

The fear began flooding into the kids again as they realized that the door they came through had disappeared. They took hands again and stood huddled in the middle of the circle.

"There is a choice to be made." The voice boomed through the room. From nowhere and everywhere at once.

Oh yeah? What choice? First you kidnap us and now this weird room? Look, let Sara go. Just give her a pass. I might not be much, but you can have me. I won't fight or run anymore. Just let her be safe."

Billy let go of Sara's hand and began to step forward from her. He didn't get far before he felt her small trembling hand grasp his once more.

"NO! Even if he would take that deal, we leave together or not at all. I love my dad, and my mom, but your my family too. We stay together."

"You die for one another? Just like that?" The voice sounded closer. Clearer. As Billy and Sara were looking at one another, they are surprised to see a large man now leaning on one of the statues. "What about your friends back there?"

The kids look to one another and nod. "Listen, let them go. Please. Whatever you planned to do to us, just take us. Let them be. My family doesn't have a ton of money, but we are really close to a bunch of rich people. They would pay for us. No one else in our class has money. Most of them are from the Glades. Take us and get your pay day. Or whatever you wanted. Sara refused to wipe the tear that was slowly rolling down her cheek as she thought about never seeing her family again.

The man moved quickly. A knife in his hand. He had her throat in his other hand before she could react. the knife pressed sharply against not her throat, but Billy's. "Fine. I kill you two, and the rest can go. Deal?"

Billy struggled with the emotions welling up inside him. "Sure. Better us than them. Sara, I love you."

Sara forced a weak smile through the pain. Love you too." Sara closed her eyes, not wanting to see the blade take Billy's life, or to see the man flex his large muscular arm and snap her neck like a twig.

"Fine. Choose your path. If you go to the door on the right, you will die. My associates will torture and kill you. But your friends will be fine. Door on the left, you live. But who knows what will happen to your friends. I don't dirty my hands. Make your choice." With that the man was gone.

"Really wish people would stop doing that." Billy and Sara hold hands and look at the newly appeared doors. One on each side of the circular room. They nodded and hugged as they walked to and opened the right door.

There was a searing flash of light. Electricty tore through their bodies as they stepped across the threshold together. You could smell the ozone and the burning of the kids clothes as they were engulfed in a huge jolt.

"The Choice was made."

Venom

It was go time.

The Martian faded away and they knew that he was on his way. A running start, jump, whip-like extension against a lamp pole, hard yank to add momentum. Webbing shot at building, another yank and direction is added. As the different members of the team take off towards their designated destinations, Venom swung, jumped and...

"The hell?"

They had jumped from a high building, the symbiote had spread his arms and suddenly a membrane stretched from wrist to hip and between the spread legs up to the ankles

Relax, I know what I'm doing

They were gliding. Using currents rising between the buildings to make speed, they landed on top of a building, a jump, webbing and another yank sent them onto the top of a building overlooking the target area. He had felt the Martian's touch and listened, using that very same link he reported

"Venom in position."

Impulse

[The 'highway' within Star City]

Something.

It was something. Within his mind. Could it have, actually. Been a trigger, which. Of which. For which. Well...packaged up, and. Sandwiched, in words. Spoken to him, the not. Too, long ago. By....

By the one, person. Man. Guardian. Family, member even. Charged with his, safety. With his....'best interests'. By The Flash...?

Whence he, addressed. The youth, thereby. Prompting him. "What are you doing here? I appreciate the... imitation. But not now. We have a real problem. GO HOME."

Mouth...agape? His yellow irises, captured. Captivated.

Yes. There. It definitely, was. It was, present. Perhaps, the clarity -- the sense -- of exactly what. Whom. Or even, the where. Could even, begin. To be made apparent to the teen. But...but there was. If anything. Something. One thing...to focus on...

"You think that what I do is a game? You have no idea how many people I have lost. I need you to go home. Now."

BlinkBlink. HoldInA...Breath. Gaze, his gaze. Upon, even now upon. Always, upon. The man, before. Him. Bart, now. Eerily, in. Stillness...

As a, word. The ONE, penetrated. Looped, and. Ricocheted. From within, his mind.

"........"
========================================================================
Far. The manyment of centuries. Into the Future. [Within the birthing household, of Bart Allen]

It couldn't have, possibly. Been explained. Nor foreseen. Not this. Not with him.

And. And...there. There wasn't, one. A damnable, ANY. The thing. To cure it. To fix him. To make everything, better. How then, did one. Did a mother. Did a caretaker. Did a provider. How....in the high heavens, how. Maternally, paternally. Could said individual, allow. For the youth, to. To be comforted? To know, that. At the end of the day, if at the least. It -- all, any a thing -- would. Be all right? If and....reality, was so....

Hopeless.

Small clear, rivulets. Trickled, from her. Eyes. As she scooped, up. Her two month old, in the form of a toddler. Thus far. And did, the only. Instinctive notion, she. Could think to. To combat, the situation.

Dream.

"Some-wheeeeere...over the raaaiiinbow....
Wayy up hiiighhhhh.
There's a land that I heard of...
Once in a lull-a-byyyyyy...."
========================================================================
[Between the Here and the Now]

....now lest one forget, Mister Allen. The objective here. You need to find the wizard. Complete his task(s). In order to get HOME.

WizzWizz. NoNoNoBuddy BeatsTheWizz...erd....

Find(or locate). Not beat. There is a difference.

iDon'tiCan't, iDon'tiCan't, iDon'tiCan't.....Where'sa Wizz...erd?

Look down, Bart. At your feet.

HelpMeHelpMeHelpMe! There'sa Wizz..erd OnMyFeet. There. OnMyFeet, OnMyFeet -- HelpMeHelpMe!

.....no. Those are boots, which protect your feet. The yellow brick road. Follow that, and----

*FFFFSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh*

......

Never learns...
========================================================================
Now.

"I need you to go home. Now."

In. Hale, before. The breath. Released. From his, chest's. Cavity.

BlinkBlinkBliiiink's. And then, he was. Snapped. Out of his, reverie. Anything learned, gained, or all. Otherwise, acknowledged. From that -- or the 'word' -- mm....

Not. So. Much.

"--temis, Ray, Venom. I want you covering the exit. If he runs I need to have you in place to stop him. I want him alive. How alive is not a concern."

Hm? Wha? WhipWhipWhipp'ing head 'round. LookLookLook'ing AllOverThePlace.

People. Leaving. Everyone. Leaving. One - by - one. All, leaving. To where. For why?

What did he miss?
What did he need to know?
Why did he not hear...the instructions?

*FFFFSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh*

At first, Bart took off. After the green tinted, hairless. Individual. The one, with the emanating. Reds...

That was....until. The person -- mysteriously -- dematerialized. Before the speedster's, vision!

!!!!!?!!!!!

"OhMyOhMyOhMy -- HOOLLLLLYYY CRAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPP! DidAnyOne, DidYou, DidSomeOne......see thaaaaat?"

Then.

*FFFFSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh*

"Heyyyyyyyyy. FastNotSoFast. I'mFastToo. WhereWhatHow....and...Why, y'know? iWannaKnow, iDoiDo. Wass'upp. WhereWhereWhere WeAllHeadin'??" Next up, he found himself. Before. After. Around. And, alongside....the swinging, black costumed. Being!

Up a building. On a roof. Pensive. Cheerful. Yet completely, fascinated. By the entity's, suit. And seeming, 'life'. Of its own(how little he would or could ever know of it, truly!). "inkinkinnnnnnnnkkkkkky-maAAAz'ing!" He gestured, toward the. Moving symbiote's. Constant, eb. And flowing. Quite, dazzled. "Iss'at real? ForReal, ForReal iss'at?"

?

Something caught his iris.

*FFFFSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh*

A cycle. Motor-cycle. Running, through. Blonde pony, tail. Whipping from, the. Behind.

And he appeared. Zoom'ing right, next. To it. To her. To the blonde, archer. In green threads. From the 'fore. Wasn't she. Didn't she....

"ItWasItWasItWas...the...the....OhCrapWass'a...called?" ThinkThinkThunnnnnk. FretFretFretttt! "YummyDarkAndWhite...sammich? Uhmmmmm....."

1+1=2

"CandyCandyCandy - sammich(cookie)!" Bart felt so proud, in his. Gentlesome, 'jogging'. Alternating from either, side. of her 'cycle. That he, couldn't. For all he was worth. Help himself. He beamed, a great. BiggggggggggggggSmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile. And, plastered it. Across the whole of his face. For the other teen. The girl. Artemis!

For the moment -- difficult as one could, conceive -- he, allowed, slip. From his front, consiousness. The reason, he had. Come, out. Here. After some. Body, any. One. All, and every. Person. Most recent, ly. The spider 'guy', and. This candy, talk. With her, clearly. Knowingly. Well.....it really, did. Take precedence....

Until.

Something, once more. Happened, within. His mind. This time, however. It was, different. It was, unfamiliar. It was....psionic!

<>I have one figure. He just spoke to a handler. Extraction is incoming. Means there could be more coming soon....<>

G-GASSSPPPPP!

<>I have one figure. He just spoke to a handler. Extraction is incoming. Means there could be more coming soon....<>

StopStopStop...running.

<>I have one figure. He just spoke to a handler. Extraction is incoming. Means there could be more coming soon....<>

StopStopStop....talking.

<>I have one figure. He just spoke to a handler. Extraction is incoming. Means there could be more coming soon....<>

GASP. GASP. BlinkBlinkBlinkkkkkkk??

<>I have one figure. He just spoke to a handler. Extraction is incoming. Means there could be more coming soon....<>

Still. StandStill. Don'tMove. Don'tTalk. Don'tBreathe.

AnyAnyAny...thing?

??

The....'alien' thought, within his mind. A notion, once more. Unfamiliar. At that, strange. If not, a mite. Unsettling....

Softly. "...hello?...can'tseeyoubutbutbut...ihearyou...whyyycan'tiseeyou?.............help?..." Confusion, painted across. His features. In abundance. As he took off, his. Visor. And attempted, to. Rub away. Any lingering. Concerns. From his shocked, yellow. Eyes....

He was everything, but. Prepared, for this. Simulation.

Would be so much less, vague if the prompt were working---! But then again, this was Bart Allen. In question, here....
========================================================================

Barry had taken off after the blur that was his ward. He was just as fast as the young speedster, but he knew that a physical confrontation with another speedster was the last thing this city needed. Instead he kept pace, watched and waited. Trying to figure out an angle to get the kid to listen and focus.

The Flash smiled as he saw the look of wonder in the kid's eyes. The same look he had so many years ago. When he took his first run. In that moment he realized that the kid in front of him needed more. Not just a dormitory. Not just the VR tutors and programs. He needed someone like Barry had all those years ago. If not for Joe he would have been a very different man indeed. He knew that now it was his turn. He needed to take the place that Joe had held for him. He needed to be a mentor.

He skidded to a stop next to the boy as he asked for help.

"Bart. Listen. This is not a simulation. Not a program. Not a test. This is real. Your not in the chamber. Your in my world. The real world. You need to stop. Go back to he dorm room. Wait for me. I promise, if this is the life you really want, I will teach you. Its time. But right now there are a lot of children depending on me and my friends. I can't be afraid that your not ready to do this safely. Go back to the brownstone and wait for me." Barry reached out placing a hand on Bart's shoulder. "Your the last thing I have that is truly like family. I can't risk losing that. I need you safe while we do this."

Static

Static was a little worried. He was having trouble hitting Jack, but at the same time Jack was in no state to hit him. No the worrying part was that the man had no problems firing his weapon off with no thought to the consequences. Already he had taken out his partner, and if he wasn't careful he was going to take out the entire ceiling in the area they were fighting in.

He needed to end the fight and he needed to end it quickly. Of course the only way he could see himself being able to do that was to be able to get into close contact with him, and he was doing a very admiral job of staying well away from him. Well he would just have to try something very unexpected.

Flying straight up towards the ceiling he shot down towards Jack, then disengaged all but two of his disks. The others streaked forward towards the man while he swooped to the left and approached low. He set the disks buzzing around Jacks head, flying in close to his eyes and around his head, trying to distract him.

His plan was to tackle him, catching him unawares and tazer him on his unprotected face, thus putting him out of commission for awhile and letting him go to the aide of that mysterious lady who had shown up.

Jaime Reyes

Star City was a lot different in many ways, from Starling City. Jaime Reyes stepped off the bus and hefted his duffle, looking around. The buildings were mostly the same style, the streets the same grimy, cracked concrete. The people the same mix of middle class and well-to-do, with a few furtive poor people and minorities thrown into the mix. Jaime scuffed his boots a bit in the dust of the bus station parking lot, pondering why he was back in this city after so many years. He waited for the voice of the Scarab to answer that question for him, but it remained silent, as it had for the last couple of months.

Sighing out loud, Jaime started walking, with no particular goal in mind, just an effort to familiarize himself with the city. Nearly fifteen years ago, he had been on vacation here with some friends. Far from home, in a strange city, with little adult supervision, they had explored and wanted to see the particle accelerator go online, as had so many others. That was the night the Blue Scarab has chosen him. It had literally flown through the air and slammed into his back, embedding itself into his spine.

That night changed his life forever. In the years since, he’d learned that the Scarab was created as an infiltration agent and potential world destroying weapon by an alien race called the Reach. Jaime had come to terms with the sentient entity that the Scarab was, learned to use the powers it supplied him as The Blue Beetle, and had fought evil in many guises both inside and out of the armor. Jaime had faced the darkness, inside himself, as well as out in the world, and even on other worlds.

But the time had come to face a truth that he was unwilling, perhaps unable to face. So much had changed. He could no longer call himself an ordinary man. In all honesty, Jaime was no longer certain he was human at all. The Scarab said he wasn’t. The Scarab wanted to leave Earth behind forever and patrol the known Universe together for the next eternity, fighting evils like The Reach.

But Jaime had always relied on his human heart to guide his path. To leave that behind would make him something and someone else. Would he even know which path to tread, then? He wasn’t certain what path to choose now. And the disagreement on their mutual destiny had caused a rift between Jaime and the being closest to him, his greatest friend, his other self. The Scarab was no longer talking. Jaime felt lost, anchorless and adrift in a sea of uncertainty.

So he had come back here, to Starling- Star City, where it had all started. Hoping that maybe he could find the way forward. Or at least that something would happen to shake him from this holding pattern his life had become. He kept walking, hoping for a sign…

"I See Fire," by Ed Sheeran. (Rose)

TearsoftheWorld said:

Ace may have been strong, but he wasn't invincible.

ShadowPax appeared in front of his body, and when her leg smashed into his face, enough speed and force had been used to knock him flat on his ass.

Click to expand...

ShadowPax landed in a crouch, swords planted tip-down into the floor.

And expressed-- "Huh." --that she was surprised but not impressed that Ace had gone down like a sack of android potatoes.

Her foot stung like Hell, though.

"52 Pick-up," she deadpanned, wiping black black blood from her face with a blue blue forearm.

TearsoftheWorld said:

Queen aimed her scepter at the wounded hero, and she let loose another blast of mystical energy.

Click to expand...

The bolt speared through the intervening space and, while ShadowPax did not possess any form of spider-sense-- she was quick-- and her eyes were sharp.

That said, there was no time for fancy moves this time, no shadows to call to her in the path of a brightly-glowing energy beam-- and there certainly wasn't time to web Ace down to prevent him from rejoining the fight if he recovered somehow --she just jumped straight up, flipped in mid-air, and landed in a crouch on the ceiling that mirrored the one she'd been on the floor.

The good news was, she'd dodged the attack with barely her long dark hair singed-- oh, no, there was a burning-hair smell, damn. The bad news was, she'd left her swords behind stuck in the floor.

"Scrazzat," she swore coldly. That crate to the head must have left her thinking-- less-- autopiloty?

All the same, she was eager to mix it up with the swordsman rather than this bolt-spewing hag.

If only that lightning caster would get done messing around and take her off his hands so she could clash steel on steel--

--in the meantime, she was not without ranged attacks of her own.

Sure, she didn't have concussive darkbolts in her optional extras-- or the fancy bio-metallic armor-- ...wait, what was she remembering that made her think those would be included? no, focus, let the Hero flow through you --but she had webbing that was damn near impossible to break-- though pretty easy to cut.

With one hand and two feet she clung to the ceiling, and with her other hand she made a gesture familiar to many practitioners of The Mystic Arts, a handsign that looked like the ASL for I love you.

Darkest shadow-weave, sticky and strong, darted out from a spot on the underside of that out-thrust wrist, and stabbed for that scepter, hoping to anchor to that accursed rod and then yank it from Queen's fetid grasp.

Tightly-Strung, and Feathers Ruffled. (Artemis/Felicity)

They all peeled out, to various expressions of the notion-- flight, superspeed, motorcycle--

--uh-- creepy webswing jumpy-- goodness--

--Artemis glanced at The Atom.

"Sir," though she hated to be deferential, Palmer was such a gosh-darn nice fella the politeness came almost like a reflex, "do you need a hitch on my handlebars, or are you gonna just skate the photons via Bluetooth or something?"

Once he'd responded and she'd accommodated, she roared off like the others, searching the skyline for that Venom fella.

Arrow'd told her to stick with Venom, why'd he have to be so slippery--

--fortunately, his black slick coating stood out like a sore thumb in the blue sky and against the mirrored facade of steel-and-glass skyscrapers scraping that sky--

At least theoretically.

"Where the Hell did he go?" she growled, half to herself, half to Felicity, and half to Ray, if he was with her-- yes that's three halves, Artemis doesn't have time for your geometry lessons. "Seriously, it's worse than working with whatever brat's being Robin this week."

And he appeared. Zoom'ing right, next. To it. To her. To the blonde, archer. In green threads. From the 'fore.

"Oh. Great. Sonic the Hedgehog's back."

Wasn't she. Didn't she....

"ItWasItWasItWas...the...the....OhCrapWass'a...called?" ThinkThinkThunnnnnk. FretFretFretttt! "YummyDarkAndWhite...sammich? Uhmmmmm....."

1+1=2

"CandyCandyCandy - sammich(cookie)!" Bart felt so proud, in his. Gentlesome, 'jogging'. Alternating from either, side. of her 'cycle. That he, couldn't. For all he was worth. Help himself. He beamed, a great. BiggggggggggggggSmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile. And, plastered it. Across the whole of his face. For the other teen. The girl. Artemis! [/I]

Artemis, for Artemis she was-- stared agog at Impulse, and had to forcibly remind herself to get her eyes back on the road ahead.

"You want a prize, Speedball?" she shook her head. "You gotta do more than ace a one-word vocab quiz. There are kids in danger, get your game face on. Do you even have a game face? Get a game face!"

I have one figure. He just spoke to a handler. Extraction is incoming. Means there could be more coming soon. There is also some thing about this space. The geometry, the symbols. It is not just decoration. This place has power. We have to assume that was the purpose. We need to move now before whatever they have planned comes to fruition.

J'onn's mental touch was an intentionally gentle one, requesting without overstepping-- but it was still-- a uniquely cringe-inducing experience for Artemis to have another voice in her mind. Even one as ominously soothing as The Martian's.

Artemis' life had been one mindgame after another. She did not relinquish the solitude of her thoughts lightly.

But for J'onn-- she decided, her grip knuckling slightly less white on the handlebars, her back unstiffening by a degree or two --she would make an exception. Besides it was good intel, and that cookie had been good.

"Training Wheels, did you--" she glanced to her side to look again at the younger speedster-- and found him gone.

A glance in her wing mirror showed him behind standing there next to Barry. Someone qualified to deal with him.

"--thank God."

Pushing her cycle harder, she zeroed in on that selfsame target area.

A grapple-arrow from saddleback hauled her up the side of a particular building, and she landed in a crouch next to Agent Venom. "Artemis in position."

She nodded to him again, and followed his gaze peering downwards.

"What do we got?"


Tracking all the chatter, Felicity let them talk and transit-- she had her own stuff to work on-- especially now that one of her archive macros had come up with some hits.

"Atom," she wondered, on an open channel. "Keith Kenyon-- a labtech during Queen Consolidated's run as Palmer Technologies-- he was the one to access those unfinished files. Except his employee profile says he's dead-- except-except we've all got reasons in our lives to be cynical about death certificates. What was his deal, would he have a beef with you? I never heard you mention him."