Justice Avengers: Dawn over New York

"Kryptonite," Rocket said to Karen. The raccoon was silent for the past couple of minutes, passing off the intense urge to laugh similarly to a coughing fit before sipping coffee and content to let everyone else talk for a while. He was mildly surprised that Superman came, but considering the circumstances he was not caught off guard by the appearance.

"It is a piece of radioactively charged ore that was once a part of the planet Krypton before it blew up," the raccoon continued, walking over to where he could put his coffee safely down on. "So far, the only people it immediately effects are those who originated from Krypton. How exactly it wound up on Earth is a whole 'nother topic, but the more pressing mystery is how a couple of random punks got their hands on a chunk of it and how they knew to use on Superman, considering the only people who even know about it in the first place is Kal here," he said, nodding towards Superman, "all the other heroes including everyone in this room, and an old fart in a coma."

He then started typing in his computer. "The scan I want to do is to check your DNA composition. I have a theory, and this is confirm it." He accessed the DNA program and hopped up onto Karen's bed. "Everyone else move away, don't want to get a false reading," he told anyone closest to Karen. Rocket then pointed his arm at her.

BEGINNING DNA SCAN

A wave of bright green light flash over the girl up and down, moving like the light of a copying machine.

SCAN COMPLETE. CALCULATING.....

"...Wait, what are you trying to - " Before Karen could properly respond to the veritable infodump Rocket just laid on her, his scanner's green beam washed over her. She stopped talking, eyeing the device in Rocket's hands like it was some kind of otherworldly device^* which it was.

"SCAN COMPLETE. CALCULATING.................. ESTIMATED DNA COMPOSITION: HUMAN - 50%; KRYPTONIAN - 50%."

The blonde's eyes widened slightly. Her gaze slowly moved to Rocket holding the device, then to Rogue, then to Darwin, then to Megan, and finally...

"...This is a joke, right?" she managed, a halfhearted grin forming on her lips. "You guys are just messing with me, right? That thing's fake or busted, isn't it? Right? Right?......"

edited 4th Jun '16 11:07:18 AM by Demovere

Rocket stared wide-eyed at the results. "Huh," he said, scratching his head. "I thought there'd be some Kree in there," he said. "But yes, this app is practically 100% accurate, developed by the most brilliant minds of the Shi'ar empire and possibly joint made with the Guardians of the Universe themselves. Though I could've sworn you were part Kree....." he mumbled to himself before jumping off the bed to ponder a bit.

Rogue, Dealing With The Fallout

"Half-Kryptonian?!" Rogue looked questioningly at Rocket's scanner, but turned to Power Girl when she asked. "Well, I don't know if Rocket's device is busted or not, but what he said was true... That green, glowing rock is Kryptonite and only Kryptonians like Kal-El here are weakened by it."

"We encountered it once before in our battle with the Ultra-Humanite," Rogue explained to Power Girl. "And the only ones who should know about it were those involved in that battle, of which the only villain involved was the Ultra-Humanite who, yes, should be in a coma."

"Because you were affected by the Kryptonite, that means you had to be a Kryptonian of some sort," Rogue concluded to Power Girl, before turning to Rocket. "I can tell you one thing... Those guys who crashed the party weren't Brotherhood or Mutants... Mutants do not rely on technology for their powers like Kryptonite Boy did."

"Our powers are inherent and mutants only use items to keep those powers under control," Rogue clarified to the others. "The ones who attacked were metahumans, but they weren't mutants."

Rocket stopped his thoughts for a moment and looked up to Rogue. "Honestly, I had a feeling the minute I saw that one bruiser with the giant pistons on his back," the raccoon responded. "I've already mentioned I had Pyko do background checks on all our perps last night, and that none could have been able to pull off what they did even if they wanted to. Especially this guy."

He brought a picture of one Julio Santos, aka Output, of whom was small frail, and suffered from Huntington's disease. "This man here should be proof enough to us at this the so-called Brotherhood attack was nothing but a set up to frame an already violent terrorist group with a high profile murder, namely Lex Luthor. What we have to figure out is where they got the tech needed to mimic mutant abilities so well, or outright conversion into a cyborg in the case of Mr. Santos, and who would want Luthor dead that badly."

edited 24th May '16 8:33:01 PM by UdtheImp

While Rogue and Rocket turned their attention to the mystery of the Non-Brotherhood, Superman was more concerned about Power Girl, who, apparently, was somehow a relative of the Kryptonian race, and not in the least bit prepared for it. He said down at the far end of the bed, and tried to talk in a reassuring manner. "Listen, Power Girl," he said, "Clearly you're confused and upset by this sudden revelation, whether it's accurate or not. If you're interested, I have some equipment back home that can give us a more in-depth look at your physiology. It's kind of a long fly away, but I'm sure it could help us get to the bottom of all this."

Heading out of the dining area through the kitchen, Paige would find her way back to the main area, with the front door, elevator, stairs, public phone, public restroom, and doors leading into what looked like a formal sitting room, and what looked like the waiting area outside Professor X's office. Directly outside, of course, was the driveway leading to the garage, stables and front gate. Wherever she went to look for anything else was up to her.

"I-J-D-I- I called security!" stammered the technician. "You know, called up the security guards, about the lady with the bow and arrows bursting in the control room and yelling at everybody?"

edited 25th May '16 8:43:49 AM by LizardOfAus

TV Area

Kate sighed. He kind of had a point.

"Sorry. Just tell me where I can find Morgan Edge and I'll leave. It'll be like I was never here. People's lives are at stake."

Power Girl

Darwin was rolling his eyes. His entire eyeball was a solid gray, so you couldn't actually tell. He looked at M'gann, broadcasting his thoughts loud toward her.

I'm far more surprised that, apparently, different galactic species can interbreed. Like, who the Hell are the Kree and why would you expect one to show up in her family tree?

Actually, I have so many other questions too.

An expensive New York penthouse

Sitting cross-legged on her living-room sofa, Janet Van Dyne was a picture of bored frustration.

The Wasp suit was draped haphazardly over the arm and back of the sofa, helmet laying on its side on the coffee table, both connected to her laptop computer by a tangle of cables. As far as she could tell, none of the physics-fuckery Pym-Palmer components had been damaged by the EMP at the gala. Only the main control computer had been affected. She'd even got that activated again, but the software looked like it was wiped or corrupted or something. So she'd logged on to the Pym lab's VPN using her old password and used the files there to-reinstall everything from scratch.

Bit of a security breach, that. She wasn't sure if Hank had left her credentials in the system out of affection or absent-mindedness. Her thoughts drifted down that familiar path as she watched the progress bar on the suit's wrist-screen inch forward. She'd only made it this far with the repairs because Hank had spent many an hour teaching her about how the suits worked. She was kinda surprised that she'd absorbed so much of those lessons - the deep-theoretical stuff, at least, had always been beyond her.

Maybe she remembered because the lessons had been delivered by Hank at his most animated and passionate.

The suit chose that moment to glitch and reset its progress bar to zero. Janet sighed and stretched her hands above her head, reaching for the remote control to turn the volume up on the penthouse's big TV. She'd had it on low for some background noise while she worked, and she was surprised to see she'd had it on GBN. Godfrey, slimeball king of the airwaves, was wailing on a girl who... Janet leaned forward. Hadn't she been at the gala last night? In her sour mood, Godfrey was not particularly pleasant viewing, although the kid - Kate Bishop, the ticker informed her - was holding her own pretty well.

As the ad break rolled in, Janet leaned back and reached for the cup of coffee sitting by her laptop, frowning in thought as her suit continued its slow progress.

After cheerfully ignoring several attempted bites from the local equines, Paige walked her bike into the huge garage. There were several vehicles already here: a huge old motorcycle, slightly dusty; a battered and stained van with the words SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED emblazoned across the sides; a curious car apparently made totally out of plastic; and a stylish old car with an enlarged back space for a wheelchair. She also spotted a cat out of the corner of her eye a few times, but was unable to tempt it closer for a belly rub.

After snagging her coat and bag from her sidecar, Paige headed to the second floor of the huge mansion. She found long rows of doors leading to cozy apartments, some occupied, others not. Peeping in some of the open doors told her that the residents were normal teenagers for the most part, thought she wondered why one room had a long bar hanging from the ceiling and another a huge, empty tank.

She finally ended up in what was clearly the females' wing, and cautiously walking into an apparently empty corner room. She snagged a few items from her bag and all but leaped into a nice hot shower. Scrubbing grime off her skin, Ms Guthrie planned her next move. Get cleaned up, put on something nicer, and go see the Professor. I've got about 500 questions for him, and I'd at least like to find out how Sam's doing. And that poor girl. I hope she decides to stay here for a while. She's been through some trouble and needs someone to have her back, I think. The apple smell of her shampoo filled the bathroom, she felt her muscles relaxing in the hot water after the excitement of the day, and Paige smiled. Maybe everything would work out.

Electronics Appliances Store

Axel slowly stared at Question... then at Sandman (not that he had any idea who she was)... then back at Question... then at her...

When are they going to say something? He knew these 'mysterious' types like to take their time to mull things over, but this is ridiculous. He hoped they were coming up with a plan and had not just spaced out.

OK, that wasn't fair. Maybe it was he who was in too much of a rush. But that always happened whenever Ming got involved in his life. dammit.

Maybe this wouldn't be so hard if Dark Chick over there didn't keep sending odd vibes. To him, it was like standing next to an open freezer.

—Manhattan—
"So yeah. Identifying the inner circle. It's a bit of a stretch but are there any crimes you can link to Hellfire? Heists, drug trade, trafficking... anything at all."
She looked between Ivan and Axel.
"While we're doing that I can see if there's any upcoming social events I could reasonably attend. With a plus-two with any luck."

What she really wanted to do was find active members and start burrowing around in their dreamspace, but there was no point mentioning that until they knew who the active members were...

Streets of Manhattan

Question was indeed mulling over the plan, its possible dangers and more importantly where to go from there "sounds good I think... with the information we have this is the best we can do, Infiltration, espionage and extraction. At least we have a good way out" he mused. He eyed Access as he thought though, and noticed his glances at Wes.

"something wrong, kid?" he asked the young hero

"Uh, no no" Axel lied. He was a pretty bad liar, tough, especially under stress.

Realizing he was under the spot now, he felt that he had no choice but to ask Wesleigh:

"...You know Ming. And you saw me at the party". A beat.

"Do I know you?"

What he really wanted to ask was why do you feel so weird but, that wouldn't have been polite.

edited 30th May '16 12:25:46 PM by Sijo

There was a fairly good chance Axel did know Wes. She didn't remember. Then again, there'd be a hell of a lot of people that had vague memories of her passing, somewhere in their psyche. She shrugged and affected a smile.

"I mean, probably. I'm the Sandman."
The words were out before she could check herself. It was true after all, she was more Sandman than anything else these days but... she looked at Ivan, as if checking for feedback.
"...are people supposed to know that?"

Axel did a mental double-take. *Wait. She's- The Sandman? I thought he was, well, a man.*

And then, after watching her address Question: *Oh Lord. She is a Spaz.*

Manhattan

"Not exactly" said the faceless man, looking at his friend "as far as I know we can trust you, can't we?" he said gesturing to access with his head "But it isn't something to be announced so publicly, I know you were gone for a good while but things haven't changed that much, we're still masked vigilantes" he said with a sense of wistful pride.

Wesleigh pursed her lips and frowned. The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed to deny her true nature. And yet... there would be consequences for people that knew her. Ivan was right, she'd need to try and catch herself if she just out and said it again.

"I think I was gone longer than you realise. But fine, head in the game."
She looked between the two men.
"So how do we feel about the plan? I've got some tricks I can bring to the table but-" she looked at Ivan "still in a public space, so."

It sounded to Axel like something had happened to Sandman- Sandwoman- whomever- that had left her- "odd". But hey, if Question still trusted her, why shouldn't he? (not that he had any choice.)

Then she mentioned they needed privacy to discuss the plan.

"I can provide that" he offered helpfully. "Just tell me where to go. Like I said, anywhere on Earth, as long as I've seen it. I know Manhattan pretty well."

Paige stepped out of the bathroom feeling like a new person. That hot shower had felt like it had lasted for DAYS and had been just what she needed after the long trip and craziness she'd found here at the mansion.

She dressed hurriedly in cargo pants and an old USCG shirt and slipped downstairs. Paige had been bracing herself for taking the long trip home today-seeing Sam had been as far as her planning had gone even before she discovered her gift, and getting a room in a cheap motel afterwards had sounded unpleasant. Now her options seemed to have opened up.

The teenager walked down the main stairs, taking everything in as she went. The calls and laughter of the students seemed to ring everywhere, and she felt herself smiling in return. Finally she found herself in front of a door engraved with a small plaque that read simply "Headmaster." Paige raised her hand and, after a moment of hesitation, knocked briskly.

"Someplace safe... It would need to be somewhere we could go and have access to information too... Hmmm think you can send us to Tony's Manor?" Asked the faceless vigilante, again lapsing between actually talking and thinking out loud.

"Sure!" Axel responded, glad to finally be doing something. "Err, right now, or should we walk outside first? I can 'pop' us away in an alley or something."

Studio

"Your next interview is with—"

"I know who this joker is." Godfrey bellowed in the young producer's face, pushing aside a couple of makeup people as he marched towards Booster. "In fact, I'd much rather have to interview the actual Joker than him. I told the director a thousand times I'm not having an idiot of his caliber in my show!"

The producer didn't even open his mouth before Godfrey interjected with a "and if he tells me to suck it up, tell him to find another ratings juggernaut to fill my timeslot" before trying to march off and leave Booster behind in a huff of anger.

Underneath the Mansion

Throughout the entire dramatic moment, the people in the medical area could hear a faint high pitched noise that sounded more and more like a boiling kettle begging to be taken off the fire. That sound, in fact, was Megan, squealing as loud as she could, before throwing herself into a hug around Power Girl. "You're an alien! Like me! Well, half an alien, but, you know, in alien terms, that's almost as much as a whole alien!"

Clearly, the green-skinned teen didn't see the terrifying ramifications of this revelation.

"Do you think there might be a mention of you in my family's books? Oh, oh, maybe we could go on a journey to search for the origin of this revelation? And and and I could go with you, and we could have adventures, and people wouldn't frown at you because you're half-alien just like me and that would be so awesome!"

Booster grinned like an absolute bastard as Godfrey walked past.

"You sure you wanna do that?" Booster called after the sickening would-be demagogue, "I mean, I can just walk onto set and talk by myself for fifteen minutes. What could I possibly do?"

Godfrey stopped and turned around, stomping down the corridor just so he could point at Booster. "I could turn off my cameras and replay an old clip from a previous episode— are you even capable of processing information or is that flashy costume and idiotic behavior really all that you have to offer?!"