As the blazing light from the blast diminishes, you find yourself in a nearby park. By the time Shale moves the last few characters, Blue Flash has vanished from the scene, but Boomerang and Tarpit remain. Tarpit is completely entangled with Clayface. Instead of fighting back, he reaches out with his arms toward a nearby parking lot.
Tarpit flows out off the clutches of Clayface, burning a black swath through the grass as he makes it to the parking lot, which begins to melt around him.
Boomerang looks slightly ill from the high speed movement, and really wants no part of fighting all of you by himself. That said, he can't resist getting a shot off against this overextended Flash.
The boomerang themed villain throws...a boomerang! And strikes Shale soundly in the chest as he tries to catch his breath. The boomerang latches onto the hero's chest and waves of distortion flow over Shale.
New Round
Initiative
SHALE
Sinter
Whippoorwill
Clayface
Imagine
Tarpit
Boomerang
Shale distractedly flicks the boomerang off his chest while rising to his feet. Anyone with the senses to do so might notice that it took him several picoseconds longer than usual to do so.
Wonder what that was supposed to do?
A split second later he bolts at Captain Boomerang, striking the man with an absent minded fist as he continues on, taking stock of the current situation and threats to civilians.
Sinter, in a rare flash of insight, decides that cooking the burning tar guy won't work so he tries to blind him with a flash of intense light.
DC 22 reflex
Whippoorwill's focus was on keeping the deadly gas away from the children, so when the entire world blurred for a split second and she was suddenly in the middle of a park she was mightily confused. But she and the children were safe from the gas, that much was clear. The distant flash and subsequent echoing boom of the explosion -- to say nothing of the exhausted Shale nearby -- helped her piece together what had happened.
"Whoa, that was wild," she mutters, mostly to herself as she takes stock of her surroundings.
Whippoorwill quickly recognizes the Boomerang guy from her recent close encounter with one of his weapons, so when he turns to dash away she reacts. Her whip cracks loudly as she tries to entangle his legs to keep him from getting any distance.
"Uh-uh, we're going to have some questions for you," she says.
Bile rises in Briana's throat as the food suddenly tasted like ashes. She rigidly controls her movements, and only trembles slightly as she again sets down the fork. Her eyes, however, blaze in fury as she stares at the woman who dared praise her role in the massacre of an entire village and even had the gall to invite her back into the fold.
Her jaw clenches, but she forces herself to breathe. Perhaps. Perhaps she didn't know the truth. "Listen to me very carefully," she begins, voice low but deadly serious. "There was no offer to buy them out. What happened was considered the optimal solution. The dominoes in that region were set, manipulated, then tipped to ensure that depopulation was the only outcome.
"The promised schools, roads, infrastructure? None of it was real. It was fabricated after the fact, to make the people of Rozovka look unreasonable. Unsympathetic. What's worse is that even though I gave the orders for hostile targets only, the 'cleanup squad' came through after us. I hope you truly didn't know it was all planned from the start. Because the truth is, the entire village was slaughtered for a better 'return on investment.' Man, woman... and child."
She stares hard at Imagine, looking desperately for a crack in that devil-may-care attitude. That somewhere beneath the layers of her spoiled, entitled rich-girl act was the vestiges of a real person capable of remorse.
Shale thumps Captain Boomerang soundly, causing the rebounding hero to spin about. As he attempts to drunkenly stumble across the lawn, Whippoorwill wraps her whip around his legs. The hapless villain tumbles to the ground face first.
Elsewhere, Sinter flashes (not that way) Tarpit. The heap of living asphalt raises one hand to cover his eyes, but too late. Big wobbly black dots somehow fill Tarpit's eyes even though they are made of asphalt.
Clay stares at tarpit trying to pull himself away and let's go, then he focuses on all the noise and people... and flows away towards a storm drain.
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Imagine's head darts around like a dog looking for a ball that doesn't exist. The LexSec recover a bit more quickly and form a perimeter, guns out and searching for targets.
Imagine rises up and sees that the situation is...mostly under control? 'Huh. Well, the guy that blew up the museum is, himself, blown up, the fast-guy is run off, the...who is that guy? BoomerangMan? WTF? Anyway, he's wrapped, and...oh. Okay, Sinter, I got dat. Miiiind Controool.'
No.
Someone can not be exposed to the direct and personal attention of Lex F~*#ing Luthor and still have doubt left.
There are...rumors...that the LexCorp Security Squad that normally surrounds Kara Luthor is afraid of nothing. These rumors hint that it's Kara herself who renders this last benediction. That she sits with them, alone, in a bare room, and drills into their head to make them experience every fear, everything that they hide away and hope never comes to pass, she brings to the fore and makes them experience. Hard, muscular, trained men spend hours, days, weeping, begging, crying, vomiting, until one day they do nothing at all...
but return her calm smile.
'Awwww. You still think you know everything. That's nice.'
Wait...right there. A flash, and then gone. Something. Something like...a crack. A waver. She believes what she knows.
But does she believe that she believes it?
All conversations come to a halt as a space marine walks into the restaurant, directly to your table. This hulking, armored figure is one of the famed LexSec, the elite personal guard that are responsible for the safety of Luthor's progeny. The bars emblazoned on his armored collar denote that this is none other than their leader, Captain Attero Dominatus himself.
his big voice, amplified by an external speaker designed to be heard above the din of battle, booms out. It is not a request.
And there it is. Kara was dismissive of Attero. Until. Until he mentioned that the request was not his own. The crack in her facade was brief, and would not be caught be someone who wasn't watching.
But you were watching.
"Well this was fun," Imagine says as she rises and dabs her mouth, depositing the napkin on the all-but-untouched plate. "We must do this again some time."
She waves at the car keys. "That's yours to do with as you will. It was a gift, no strings. Drive it or burn it. That's what friends are for."
Only after she's well on her way to the door does Attero acknowledge your presence. he says with a slight bow, before turning and following his responsibility.
With Boomerang seemingly well in hand, Whippoorwill turns her attention to the mud guy trying to ooze away. "Hey, wait!" she shouts as she takes a short flight to put herself in front of the storm grate.
"Sorry for the misunderstanding earlier, but did I hear you right? You were learning what it means to be a hero at the museum? That's why you were there? I don't believe the bad guy who said you were working for him."
She stays wary, but holds her hands up, empty, in a placating gesture. "Care to tell us who you are?"
Whippoorwill sits quietly in thought after Imagine is escorted out. The food grows cold, untouched, at the table while she runs the conversation over in her mind. She had been ready to walk out and put the whole Justice League business behind her. Any team with someone like Kara Luthor on it was one best to be avoided.
But there it was. The crack in the facade. Briana had seen it. And suddenly her life just got waaaay more complicated.
Sinter looks around to see if there are any more threats "Are we done? Do I need to blast anybody else?"
"I'll escort you back to the jail, but I should be getting back to monitor duty. "
Clay flows around and through Whippoorwill's space as he reaches for the safety of the sewer. The slurping sound of that much mud flowing in to a storm drain is audible to all around. For a moment after there is silence, and then a small voice comes out of the drain.
"Who are you?
Whippoorwill suppressed a shudder as the flowing mud noisily squelched its way past her, and her heart sank when it seemed like the mud creature was leaving without giving them a chance. But when the voice spoke from the drain, she breathed a sigh of relief.
With a quick glance back to the others, she lowers herself down on her haunches. "Well, my um, 'superhero' name is Whippoorwill. I'm not a member of the Justice League," she says, looking over her shoulder at the actual members. Her face shows mixed emotions when her eyes fall on Imagine, but she quickly turns back to face the drainpipe. "But I might join up with them. I guess it depends on how the rest of them view my performance today. This was the first time I've teamed up with them.
"That fight was pretty chaotic. I don't blame you for swinging at me; I jumped the gun when I used my whip on you. But I think we're all fine, thanks to Shale getting us all out of the way of that explosion. So, I'll ask again: Who are you? And are you looking to become a hero?"
The little voice seems to quiver a bit as the head of a young boy peers up at you.
"You attacked flash, how are you a hero?"
She blinks in surprise at the child's face. "Because even though I make mistakes sometimes, I focus on the heroic thing to do: saving people." She points to Shale. "That 'flash' saved a lot of people from that explosion, friend and foe. That's the one I'm going to believe, not the one who laughed about blowing up his own museum and putting people in danger. Even if the other one looked like Barry Allen. Okay?"
"If you all feel you have the situation in hand, there are matters I must attend to. Whether that was an imposter or truly Barry Allen under some form of mind control, I must make certain the others in his life are safe. Should the man wearing his face return, or if Tarpit wrestles free of Imagines control, hail me, and I shall hasten thither."
If he gets no objections, he will speed from the seen, heading quickly to the Allen residence, both to confirm Iris is safe, and to see if the real Barry Allen is there. He will still take a circuitous route, just in case he is followed, and will double back a few times in an effort to spot any speedster that might try to shadow him.
SHALE finds a perfectly expected Iris West washing dishes in her sink, disdaining one of the new fangled waterless washers under her counter. There is no Barry, future or past, to be seen, but that is unsurprising. Barry hasn't been around for years now. There is no sign of any speedsters, no Speed Force activity to be found.
-------------------------------
Those with JL communicators or the equivalent hear VICTOR.
"Justice League, I have an ARGUS containment team inbound to secure Tarpit and transport him to Belle Reve. Please engage and advise on Clayface like creature. And thank Whippoorwill for the assist. Once that is done, you might want to turn on the news..."
Sinter will tune in his innate radio sense to a local news channel.
"I don't know, this all seems wrong somehow."
Clayten sits and for Whippoorwill to make a move.
With a shrug, she sits on the ground next to the grate. "Well, I don't know what to say to have it all make sense, since I'm still a little confused. But I'm going to see if there's some answers that can be provided when we talk with the tar guy and Boomerang Man. Maybe we can get a sense of why a Flash look-alike wanted to blow up the Cosmic Treadmill."
She stands up and reaches out a hand like she wants to help Clayten up. "You interested in finding out who tried to blow us up?"
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Imagine and her team nonchalantly guard Tarpit, with mental control and many guns pointed at him, with Kara a bit miffed that Sinter just took off with so much as a half-hearted praise. Even a patronizing, "Well done Citizen! I am infinitely proud of you not slaying this ignoble rogue!" would've sufficed.
Captain Attero bluetooth-dials in his L-phone to local news coverage to see what is going on.
Newsflash-"...going now to Telman Davies in Washington D.C., where he is covering the Return of Superman."[b]
The coverage cuts to a handsome middle aged man standing in front of the Capitol building. [b]"That's right, Diane. We don't have a lot of details, yet, but we can say that a few minutes ago citizens of D.C. heard what sounded like thunder rolling across the city. Then, a figure who appears to be Superman floated down out of the sky and landed on the Capitol steps. We can share with you now this footage that a witness took on her L-phone. We can't be sure what has brought the Man of Steel out of his self imposed exile, but you can be sure that we will keep you up to date. Back to you, Diane."
As L-phone footage of a black clad Superman doing just as described in the news report rolls, you see a talking head in a small box next to the footage.
William McCoy Commentary:
"Diane, it's obvious what has happened here. Just a few weeks ago you had a devastating attack on D.C. and the Justice League, leaving almost all of the heroes out of action. Now you have some Bargain Basement superteam composed of a science fair fire-man, a debutant and her thug-booted escort, and some sort of ghost-flash with a sword. As we were talking about just before Superman reappeared, this team is a total threat to the people. Look what just happened in Central City. They blew up the Flash Museum, killing who knows how many civilians. Obviously, Superman realized he had to come out of hiding and whip this new team into shape."
Completely ignoring the not exactly subtle insult, Sinter gets very excited. One of his boyhood idols is back. He hits the coms to let everyone know. "Sinter here, no emergency, I think, but Superman seems to be back. His did a fashion change though. "
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"Imagine here. Acknowledged. Yeah, we're getting the reports in now. I'm heading into an important meeting so I'll be off-grid for, like, five minutes. Or ten. Gimme ten.
And did you notice how they didn't even mention how we TOTALLY saved the world from the astro-fish! Of course, we didn't really have good press coverage for that, so they wouldn't know. We need better press coverage, people!"
Kara turns off her comms as she hurries to the meeting that was called as soon as a certain black-clad Kryptonian made atmo.
'Would you say I'm a debutante?' she asks the iron-suited man walking just behind her.
He nods. "Yes, Kara. Yes I would," Captain Attero states.
'Meh, that's fair.'
The LexSec stop at the sumptuous door as she steps through.
"Hey Dad. So, what's our position here?" she asks. The topic is obvious.
As communicators start going off all around her, Whippoorwill's own private line comes on. Seeing that it was Whetstone, she holds her finger up to Clayten apologetically. "Can you hold on? I need to take this." Then, turning slightly away, she taps the bud in her ear. "Can this wait?"
"No!" comes the voice over her tiny communicator. "It's all over the news! Superman's back! They're saying some not-nice things about the J-L, and how he's back to -- quote -- 'whip them into shape'!"
"Whet, I don't think they meant me when they said that," she mutters, an oddly anxious feeling hitting her stomach upon hearing the news.
"I know, and I don't care! Supes is back! Back in black, actually! He's got a cool new look and everything."
"Back in black?" she asks with a shudder. An even worse feeling begins creeping over her. She begins walking away from anyone who might be able to overhear her side of the conversation. "Um, hey, I just encountered someone who looked just like the good Flash, Barry Allen, but he turned out bad. So, maybe, just to be on the safe side, could you look up everything there is to know about fighting Kryptonians and let me know what you find?"
At the stunned silence on the other end, Whippoorwill smiles brightly. "Thanks, you're the best! Bye!" She cuts off the communicator and turns to walk back to the others.
"I take it you're all hearing the news? What do you think of that?"
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"Ah hell," Imagine says as she glimpses the all-too-familiar boyishly-handsome face of the Earth's most powerful man. "Ah hell," she says as he phone chirps. She doesn't need to see the message, she knows what comes next.
'Come on guys, we gotta head back to the tower for 2 seconds,' she communicates to the LexSec. But they're already moving, heading up to the waiting helicopters. They know the drill too: Kara Luthor isn't going to so much as say "Hi" to the S-man without knowing in which direction her chain is being yanked. Subjugation to seduction, it's all on the table. And from the sounds of it, he might come a-calling. Every bank in the world could be being robbed, and this meeting would still take priority.
**Imagine here. Acknowledged. Yeah, we're getting the reports in now. I'm heading into an important meeting so I'll be off-grid for, like, five minutes. Or ten. Gimme ten.**
Looking at Shale and Whip "She we go out there and see him? I mean he's gotta have loads of experience and maybe he can help with all the weird stuff we've seen lately. "
Clay watches as Whippoorwill heads off. Not knowing what to do now, and having some want to meet this super man, Clay follows after Whip as a thin rope flowing from one safe spot to another.
In the kitchen at the Allen residence, Shale is explaining what had happened at the museum, and the appearance of the man that looked like Barry.
"I do not believe it was Barry, but as it looked and sounded just like him, and moved with super speed, we must allow for the possibility. He manifested some strange ability utilizing blue fire, that he was able to shape into solid objects."
"I suggest you find a place to go into hiding temporarily, until we get to the bottom of this. On the chance that this is Barry, under some form of mind control, or that blue fire, I suggest you go to a location unknown to Barry; other members of the Justice League have maintained such protocols with their loved ones, as being controlled and forced to harm them is an unfortunately common tactic amongst the our more vengeful adversaries. If you have such a failsafe, I suggest you use it. If you do not, I would recommend that you consider spending some time aboard the Watchtower. I..."
He cuts off as something from the small clock radio, softly chattering above the a kitchen sink full of dishes and soapy water, catches his attention. He steps up to it and turns up the volume.
"...killing who knows how many civilians. Obviously, Superman realized he had to come out of hiding and whip this new team into shape. That's right people, Superman has returned!"
Shale shares a concerned look with Iris, before checking the alert status on his communicator. A voice emerges just then, Sinter's distorted energetic hum, "Sinter here, no emergency, I think, but Superman seems to be back. He did a fashion change though. "
"Acknowledged, Sinter. I'll be there momentarily. To all members: Given the appearance of the Flash, the timing of this return seems odd, particularly if Superman has changed his appearance. I suggest we proceed with exceptional caution until we have verified both his identity and mental status."
Exchanging a final few words with Iris regarding her plans, he departs from her home. Milliseconds later he appears at the foot of the Capital Building stairs, in the plain view of all, looking up at the apparent figure of Superman.
Listening to Shale's comment Sinter replies with rather less enthusiasm. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll meet you there. " and he launches upwards with a reasonable increase in velocity to prevent a ground level sonic boom. Once trans atmospheric he puts on the speed, and slowing for descent into the DC area so he doesn't cause property damage. This takes a few minutes.
Whippoorwill nods in agreement when Sinter suggests heading to D.C. But then he rises rapidly into the air and accelerates to supersonic. She cups her hands to her mouth, shouting, "I can't fly that fast!! --dammit!"
She kicks the ground in frustration, muttering, "It's going to take me hours to fly to D.C. on my own... hmmm." The whine of military-grade helicopters taking off gives her an idea.
"Clay, if you want a chance to meet Superman, you might want to hitch a ride, too." Whippoorwill sprints toward the nearest chopper, taking flight herself as it whirls around to orient towards the capital. Before it gets out of reach, her whip lashes out and catches on one of the landing struts. She angles her wings to reduce drag and give her a smooth flight as she tags along behind the helicopter.
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As her whip secures her a rather awkward and uncomfortable hitchhiking, and armored form flies out of the helicopter and hovers near Whipoorwill.
"Greetings," his voices booms out over his vox. "Kara would like to extend to you invitation to join her at table and travel in comfort. She is currently serving mojitos and gourmet popcorn, but anything can be managed," he says, as politely as a commander of an elite military unit that is now playing a waiter and matre d' can.
As Shale arrives at the Capitol, he finds the area flooded with onlookers: tourists, government employees who have come for a look. At least 30 news groups have set up, ignoring protocol and scattering themselves outside of the official press areas. The video of Superman was recorded earlier by someone who happened to be on the scene, so he has already gone inside.
On the helicopter, Whippoorwill and (hopefully) Clayten find Kara occupied on a private teleconference, but Captain Attero makes a fine host.
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Imagine sits comfortably with her eyes glued to the LexCorp Telecom projector. For all her appearance of calm, above and behind her an empty glass, an icecube, a pen and a rifle bullet all dance in a complicated orbit--the nervous habit of a world-class telekinetic.
"JL inbound, ETA 60 mikes," she says in an abbreviated biz-speak, designed to convey maximum data in minimum time, in a stark contrast to her normal pseudo-Valley Girl patois. "High chance we'll be given audience, high chance he'll read us the riot act and try to place himself on top. What's our ceiling on this?"
The word 'ceiling' was just that--the point at which the price is too high and the deal breaks. For most things there was a point of walking away, or of enganging in heavy-handed, even violent, policies. And if there was no ceiling, then no price was too high to pay just to stay in contact.
Even while Imagine is concentrating on the conversation, Whippoorwill hears her voice in her head. 'Don't get caught up on the word 'manipulate'. He means that in the sterile, Heisenberg-esque way. Which is to say, so that it stops freaking out whenever it encounters someone with the name of 'Luthor'. =)'
Exactly how she puts emojis into telepathic conversation is not fully understood.
This wasn't the first time Whippoorwill had hitched a ride on a much faster aerial vehicle. Nor, she figured, would it be her last. After nursing a strained shoulder for two weeks from being given a crazed ride through Star City by a maniac in a black-market knockoff batwing, Whetstone had made a couple modifications to her outfit. A trio of hidden straps pull out and attach to the end of her whip to form a sort of three-point harness. That, coupled with the stabilization effect of her angled wings and her own modified physiology, made it a not unpleasant experience to be towed behind something, especially when it's moving straight and level.
That being said, she went ahead and accepted Attero's invitation for a ride inside Kara's chopper. "I don't think mojitos go with--" she cuts herself off when she sees Imagine in a tense communication and she hangs back.
Whippoorwill's lips press together tightly when Imagine sends her mental message, and she folds her arms, hanging close to the side hatch.
When she estimates they're about 10 minutes inbound, she throws the hatch open. "I hope you'll understand, but first impressions count. And I'd rather not show up to my first meeting with Superman riding in a LexCorp helicopter."
She gives Imagine a wink and dives out to fly the rest of the way.
Clay reaches out and grabs on to the nearest helicopter, wrapping himself around the skids. From this vantage point he listens to the conversation going on above him by stretching tiny tendrils up in to the fuselage.
Shale walks up the steps at an seriously slow normal human pace. Conscious of the cameras and many people watching, he tries to put them out of his mind as he advances towards the top. He lets himself in the front doors, only to be immediately greeted by the forward security post. He presents his JLA identification, allowing it to be verified before proceeding.
A page meets Shale as he clears security. "Welcome, Shale, I assume you are here for the impromptu hearing. If you will follow me I'll take you in at an appropriate moment."
Shale waits an interminable 12 minutes as one Senator questions Superman on the other side of a pair of steel doors covered in attractive wood paneling. During a lull in the questioning, a light above the door turns green and the page opens the door, allowing Shale into the hearing.
Superman is speaking: "As I said, up until this point, the Justice League has been doing fine. Supergirl, Knightingale, Martian Manhunter, Archer. These experienced heroes handled a variety of threats both interplanetary and Earth-bound. With the devastating injuries to the League, it seemed appropriate at this point for me to come back and take control of the League. It seems obvious that Director Grayson's judgement is not sufficient to the task of training up this new team. While they aquitted themselves well against the Conqueror, we can't risk them being ill prepared. And given their allying themselves with Black Manta and their failure only moments ago to prevent the destruction of the Flash Museum, I request that you immediately make me the acting Director of ARGUS and give me control of the League."
The questioning of Superman continues until everyone else arrives.