They all arrive at the airport, past the gates, now waiting to board.
The team spots a few familiar faces grouped together.
Jackie Kyles, Elaine Kyles, and Eddie Downing, all grouped together.
Jackie waves over at the team to join them.
Atsuko - really, nobody called her Conduit - calmly walked over, dragging a single suitcase behind her. It contained everything she really felt she needed for the trip, and everything inside was surprisingly... mundane... given the nature of her powers. Some clothes, a smidgen of makeup (she didn't go overboard, but she liked lipstick), a compilation Necronomicon featuring stories by Lovecraft that made her giggle... the usual, really. She wasn't sure what had been up with the Doctor earlier, and she had decided not to ask. There were some things people were better off not knowing.
"Ah, airport security." she said. "By the way, I'm taking bets on whether or not something goes horribly wrong during the flight. Any profits go to charity." Supers had a bad habit of attracting trouble when they were moving around, but she could at least try to smile about it.
"I'd get in on that action, but I'm a bit of a nexus of funds right now."
It wasn't hard getting his weapons and "odd objects" past security. though he did get a few odd looks when he walked though with just an "empty" white bag.
'Hey guys!" Felix greets as he sees the group waiting for them.
The Doctor raises an eyebrow as the walk towards the group waiting for them. "There's no need to tempt fate. It does a good enough job playing with us already." He shrugs, "On the other hand, it might be good to think about what we could do in such a situation. It's a tight space with lots of bystanders. Collateral damage could cause depressurization or a loss of airworthiness."
Masumi showed up, without anything to help hide her identity, and looked haggered and worried for it. No, wait, that's just how she actually looks. The Doctor had already seen how she actualy was before applying the makeup before their last job, and now everyone else can as well.
Her backpack was again over her shoulder, fuller this time. She had no idea how she managed to get the Initializer past security, but she suspected it had something to do with the paper she gave them. The ohantom told her not to look at it, so she did as was told and remained oblivious.
"W-wait, what was that? We're going to be attacked while on the plane-?!" Clearly she didn't hear the entire conversation.
Darkstorm in full costume simply floated as he went through security. He pauses when he see's Elaine, and cursed himself. This cannot be good.
Don't worry so much. I doubt anyone is crazy enough to attack us. But if need be, I can carry one or two of you and still fly. He said, avoiding looking at the Kyles.
The Kyles and Eddie walk up to the group. He there. Jackie said with a thin half-smile, his normally highly noticeable bronx accent almost completely missing. We've all met, I hear. He was quiet. Familiarly so. His hands were in his pockets. Ready for the trip, team?
Elaine smiled, giving a wink to Dale, while Eddie just gave a small wave to Masumi.
"The sooner we're off, the better." Atsuko answered. Honestly, she was anxious to get home. Flying made her a little nervous. Not that she was in danger - falling from any height wouldn't kill her for long - it was just... it was distinctly freaky to realize how mundane the power of airplanes was.
Darkstorm curses himself for being recognized. And that stays between us got it? he says in response to her wink, hoping to call her out.
I'm ready. Though I can make the trip on my own really.
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"Oh, hey Eddie- Nantekotta i?! Eddie, what! What?!" She looks to the others, pointing at said boy with her mouth agape. "He goes to my school, why is he here!" Without waiting for a response she rounds on him herself. "Why are you here?!"
Elaine smiled again. Wait, let me try something. She said, pulling out a phone and doing a quick internet search. She hands it to Dale.
It's a picture of The Phantom on the streets, with both the Banshee and the Wraith by his side.
Looking up, Dale would find Elaine put her hands over her face in a form of domino mask. Jackie just crossed his arms and bit the bottom of his lip.
Are you claiming to be the Banshee? Could have sworn she has blue hair.
He looked to the kid Masumi mentioned. Does that make you Wraith? And you Jackie are you Phantom?
He sighed lowering himself to just a few inches off the ground. You know you could have just told me. Instead of acting like you didn't know.
It's a wig. She said. Keeping my blue hair in both identities would be a little obvious, don't you think? She said.
Guilty as charged. Jackie said with a nod. You want proof? He asked. Or are we going to take this in good faith?
Eddie smiled at Masumi. Nice to see you, too. He said. We're going to Gotham with you.
Eddie shrugs at Dale's suggested course of action. Why yes, I could have. But this was far more dramatic.
You inherit a sense of gravitas after a few years in the mask. Jackie said.
The Doctor will nod, "...and a sense of paranoia. Even among people vouched for by somebody you trust, you tend to want to observe them for yourselves before revealing one's inner self."
...She could understand that. She, herself, was still observing everyone else here, and trying to decide whether or not she wanted to associate with them long-term. "Anyway, when do we board?" she asked, peeking out towards the planes. She could always go shopping and buy hilariously overpriced tea or something if it was going to be awhile...
"But... But.. But..." She mumbles, mouth agape as she points at Eddie. She could see it now, compare how they looked right now to them while they wore their costumes. After several long seconds she finally musters up enough of herself to forcefully poke the maskless Wraith's chest. "We're going to talk about this later on the plane."
Cementing her point with a pointed glare, rather ineffectual on her face, she turns and walks away with a 'hmph!'
Paranoia is a necessity. Jackie said, patting the good Doctor on the shoulder. We both know that, don't we? He laughed lightly. It's... Common procedure. Most of the Justice League didn't learn each other's identities for the first few years of their run. Nevermind the Avengers, everyone knows their identities. Oh, and Batman. He knows who everyone is.
Soon. Jackie said. Then it's only the matter of waiting the damn hour before it actually takes off.
You bet. Eddie said with a faux innocent shrug.
Soon, it is time to board. The seats on the plane are grouped in four. Two seats facing two with. Mini-table in-between. The entire group is seated in the same row. Jackie, Apocalypse, Atsuko, and Felix on the left. Masumi, The Darkstorm, Eddie, and Elaine on the right.
Jackie immediately attracts the attention of a stewardess. Excuse me, ma'am. He says. I will take six of those mini vodka bottles. He turns to the rest of his table. The rest of you want anything?
"Bring me some of whatever juices you have." Atsuko said with a slight smile. She was fond of experimenting by mixing them in different combinations, often creating flavor combinations that it was unlikely people had tried before. Once the Stewardess was out of sight, though... "...Do we have a count for how many... um... civilians are on board?" Calling them 'non-super' was factually accurate, but kind of rude, since it often lead to the implication that they mattered less just because they couldn't blow things up with their mind or punch open wormholes or whatever it was someone was in the news for this week. (Note the frequency of violent uses there, too.) However, human (and alien and mutant and so on) lives mattered - period.
By now, she's regained most of her usual nature. Or was that more of a loss in that regard? Either way, she was at least no longer glaring at the dark skinned boy sitting across from her. But she wasn't exactly acknowledging his existence either, instead focused on watching out the window. Having reached the plane before Dale, Masumi took the window seat.
'Been awhile since I've been on a plane...'
"So...do we just pretend not to know Darkstorm as he's in full costume?" Felix asks, after he orders several bags of the airplanes pretzels. He didn't know why, but he felt they were exquisitely crunchy.
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Hey now citizen Darkstorm says with a wink. We just happen to have seats next to each other. And I came over to talk to the only good reporter there is.
Darkstorm scans the plane and sticks his tongue out at Felix when no one is watching.
And do not be alarmed my dear citizen. I am here to disrupt your travels. Though if you would like to talk I shall. But don't bring up politics
"Idiot. Baka." She mumbles, doing her best not to try and not to be embarrassed. Honestly, everyone on the plane was probably staring in their direction right now. There's no way she could risk talking about hero stuff with any of the people she sat next to. At least, not verbally. She looks over at Eddie and Elaine, and decided to give sign language a try.
"Please tell me you had a plan for this."
Well, I wasn't planning on him making it through security in that costume... Elaine said. We can't walk into a bank in ours unless it's being robbed.
Jackie pulls out his carry-on and hands the Darkstorm a change of clothes, just in case. Several sizes bigger than what Dale wears, and the shirt has a coffee stain. He points to the civilians. 90% of them were texting on their phones absent-mindedly. The rest of them were breathing into a bag.
Civilians? Jackie hummed, sipping vodka as soon as it hits the tray, along with a few cups of assorted juices. All of 'em. Entire plane full of them aside from us, unless, of course, they're concealing their own identities.
One of these days they'd have more of a private jet... sigh. Oh well. It was what it was, and she'd just make the best of it. Fortunately, altitude sickness wasn't really something that bothered her any more. Most things in the environment didn't, which was something she appreciated whenever it wasn't too awkward.
Felix dozes off, preferring to sleep on travel time rather than sit patiently. His lolls to one side in his slumber and rests on the person next to him (assuming the seating is in order as posted, Atsuko).
The plane begins making it's descent into Gotham.
So here's the plan. Jackie said. I'm still not up for fighting, so I'll try and distract Br...atman so you may operate without his interference. He said. You should still try and keep a low profile. Round here, you're not likely to be recognized on-sight, like in Eden, and for some reason, the citizens of Gotham are really skeptical around mysterious masked men. Try not and get shot, and for the record, clown-mask, bad sign.
Atsuko looked down at the clothes she normally wore for team activities - a white shirt and an office skirt, neither of which marked her as any kind of empowered figure. "Well, I suppose I could disguise myself a bit more..." she mused. She was pretty sure her book had a page for that, although since she looked pretty normal (when she wasn't hurt) to begin with, it might not have been necessary. She just tended to feel... cautious... in new places.
...Also, Batman was kind of scary, and she didn't want to end up on his naughty list.
Felix is still dozing.
Masumi was feeling nervous already. Things were bad enough for her in Eden, and while things were better by now, they weren't ideal. But in Gotham? She's had some time to look up the city, so she has an idea of what to expect. She's glad she didn't have to be in Batman's shoes. "I'll-I'll certainly try, uh... sir. Uh... when we land, will you tell us more about what we should be doing?"
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The Doctor notes the slip of the tongue and files it away for later.
They make their way out the airport as quickly as possibe (slowly) and are greeted by gothic architecture, half-empty streets, and a night sky that seems a lot darker than it should be at this point in the day.
Elaine sniffs the air. Breath it in team.
That's the smell of crime right there. Eddie finished.
Jackie grunted. Two-Face, in his latest conquest, took over the Chinatown district. You might want to start there. He said.
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"We're not going to... um... really piss off Batman if we intervene in his city, are we?" Atsuko asked nervously. Other new heroes she could handle, but Batman was...
Established. Legendary. Well-connected. Phenomenally capable.
She was immortal, with powers few could identify or understand, but even his mere reputation was such that it had thoroughly convinced her she didn't want to be on his bad side. In her view, that matchup was a Little League pitcher versus an All-Star Home Run King who was up to bat.
Heh. Bat.
(...Self-doubt miiiiiiight have been one of her problems...)
"The best assumption is to assume that our mere presence will offend the Batman. On the other hand, he usually keeps it to a tongue lashing for people helping to fight crime." As he talks, he unconsciously rubs his shoulder.
"Oh... great. I really hope we don't see him then." She says. "Chinatown, then? If only it was a Little Japan..."
Felix peers up at the sky.
"I could have sworn it was still daytime..." he says.
"Anyway, I'm in the mood for Chinese. Know a place with good Lo Mein?"
"Lee Ho Fook's comes highly recommended by a well-dressed aquaintance." he rolls off at a moment's notice.
You won't if he doesn't find out. Jackie said. In which case, I'd suggest running. Far, far away. It took him two decades to achieve a mastery of combat that took me near a century to achieve. He is not someone you want toscrew around with.
I wouldn't be so certain of that. Jackie said. He's punched Superman before. A lot.
It's always night here. Elaine said, looking up. It's like we stepped into the Twilight Zone or something.
Eddie gives the doctor a quick look. I don't wanna know. He said. I'm going to assume it's one guy, but I don't want to know.
Keep my sidekicks close. Jackie said. They're very hard to replace.
Thanks, dad. Elaine muttered. C'mon, let's go.
Of course, Chinatown in Gotham would look completely hopeless. In addition to the Two-Face related tags on the walls, looking down any given alley, one could find a thug in wait or a deal taking place.
I smell General Tsos. Eddie said with a nervous grin, looking around.
Going by Atsuko's expression, she wasn't finding Jackie's words to be terribly reassuring. Maybe if she sent a polite letter to him afterwards, saying what they'd done and why... she didn't want to come off as fawning or shaking in her boots, thugh. Urgh.
Still, they were here for a reason - she'd just have to do her best. At the end of the day, they were heroes - so she was sure he'd understand.
...Probably.
Atsuko exhaled slightly, then nodded a bit. "All right. Anything in particular you want me to look for?" she asked.
Darkstorm sighed in the civilian clothes, sticking close by Elaine. and here I was hoping to fight side by side with the Batman! Also... If she is the Banshee how old is she really?
I could simply vanish and fly around on my own, probably cover the city in a day. Granted, I need to know how you found out Banshee.
We could ask around. Eddie said. You can't bump into a person here who hasn't seen something somewhere.
You could. Banshee said to the Darkstorm. But this whole city is a risk. We should stick together. She smiled at him. My dad told me the day he recruited you all.
Eddie raised his hand. Ditto.
"I don't think I would've even guessed, if he hadn't been so obvious about it... He dosn't look that old, but..." She shakes her head, dismissing the irrelevant thoughts. "I'll uh, follow along with whatever you guys decided if that's okay."
Elaine smiles at Masumi's comment. Well, how he'd put it is, he has a good heart. Same as his father's, alchemically altered at birth to fulfil his ancestors' goals global manipulation. League of shadows-type stuff... But not. It keeps him alive, halts aging, halts disease. Thing is, She said, looking sad. it doesn't cure anything. So if you get anything strong enough, it'll keep you from dynig and it getting worse from it. It just won't heal what it does do.
Atsuko was just fine with sticking together in a foreign city. ...Not that she couldn't get all the way home on her own if she really had to, but she wasn't here for a pleasure trip. They were here to get a job done, and until she knew what was needed, she had no problem sticking together.
In the meantime... probably best to not stand around being too conspicuous, yeah?
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"Wh-really? That's incredible... and, and also terrible. Wait wait, what I mean is that... uh..." Deciding it best not to continue further with whatever she's trying to say, she focuses elsewhere. The young girl sees Atsuko trying to blend in with the crowd, and makes to try and do the same. Unfortunately she's completely and utterly terrible at it and sticks out like a sore thumb. Honestly, what business does a teenager have in a place like this anyway?
Felix approaches someone on the street who looks decent enough not to shank him and, using the ring of Babel if necessary, asks for directions to a good Chinese Restaurant.
Yup. Elaine said, the melancholy clear in her voice. He's beginning to realize that he's not going to be able to do this forever. He want to fight till the end, but... Well, I worry that that'll come sooner than it should.
Atsuko is almost one with the crowd, blending with the grim crowd of Gotham's chinatown.
Masumi... Is certainly there, and most every watchful eye on the street is aware of that.
Meanwhile, impressed with his Chinese, one of civilians points out the recently opened Twin Gates restaraunt. It's expensive, but it has good food, they say.
Masumi isn't aware of the watchful eyes, and keeps near the group as normal. She occupies herself by worrying over their benefactor while waiting for a destination to be decided upon.
"Anyone in the mood for Chinese? Just got a tip that Twin Gates restaurant is pretty good. And I'm starved after only having peanuts and whatever they served on the plane that looked like a sandwich but definitely wasn't."
He also mutters in a lower tone.
"It wouldn't hurt to take a sit down and listen for info either. People tend to slip when their bellies are full and happy."
She would've preferred Japanese food herself, but... just like everything else related to that country, Chinese restaurants tended to be bigger, and would probably have more people to listen in on. "That'll be fine." she said quietly, communicating her desires while trying to avoid breaking her efforts to blend into the population.