Monday
"Very wise. However, I hope you understand my desire for... Privacy. They call me the Sandman. More I shall not say."
The Sandman took one of the pictures down.
"As for your abilities, I suppose a public face would certainly be useful. Though that was not the impression I got from Ms. Dodds. She claimed you would have to tell me more yourself, something about keeping her word."
Sandman held the picture up.
"This is very good. Did you take this?"
"Some of them and I'd apreciate if you put that down. Okay, I'll admit there is more iI could do for you...maybe. But first you have to convince me I can trust you. Would you trust someone who broke into your apartment and that you'd never met before and had no knowledge of? Especially with a secret that could screw your career sideways if it became public knowledge? The only reason I'm not calling the cops now is because I was told you'd be coming by...someone I trust."
edited 8th Sep '12 3:04:50 PM by tricksterson
Trump delenda estTuesday Morning
"I know about that other personality!" Rogue frowned at Rocket Raccoon's comment. "I meant the mild-mannered one has gone off the deep end."
"If ya know about that, then ya must know what happened between me and Langstrom a few days ago," Rogue began to explain. "I'm a mutant who can borrow the powers, abilities, memories, and personality of other be— humanoids with skin contact, but it knocks people unconscious for the duration and I can't control it, so that's why I keep myself covered up."
"When I saw that... monster tear out the spine of that officer and drink the blood of that poor woman, I knew I was the only one there who could stop him, so I took off my gloves and gave him a taste of my mutant power to try to weaken him, even if it meant turnin' into a creature like him," Rogue frowned at the thought. "But I knew somethin' went wrong since I didn't completely gain his powers... I somehow trapped that cannibal inside his own head and cursed the mild-mannered one to the cannibal's monstrous body."
"It's my fault he's trapped like that, but the alternative was to let him kill more people," Rogue continued to tell Rocket. "But I got a good taste of both personalities, though I am a lot better at keepin' borrowed ones under control."
Wizard Needs Food Badly"That was you take managed to take him down?!" Rocket said amazed. "Huh. Didn't take you to be the type to take down beasties that big....."
Then as Rogue explained her powers, Rocket found himself quite intrigued. Very few races in the universe had the same abilities as her, but even more rarely does it come from direct skin contact, but there were many, many who tried to replicate this ability. All failed, the most spectacular of them all were the Controllers. The idea of an individual naturally being born with it and not of those races where it was natural was practically unheard of. Rocket was now talking to a cosmic anomoly here.......
Not that he'll let her know that. He was a bit concerned about the personality side effect though. Already knew of some people that can train her.....
"You did a brave thing there, kid," he said. "Not many people can must up courage like that and taking such a huge gamble. But what it boiled down to was that you saved lives, and the gamble paid off in the long run, and that's all that matters. However, it also explains why the other guy wasn't in control when I saw him the second time."
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HITTING HELPY!!"Oh God!" the mook yelled as Langstorm suddenly grabbed. Not knowing what to do, the mook began to claw at the gigantic Man-Bat's hand. "I d-don't know man, j-just let me go, please!"
Once the mook began to beg, the sound of guns being clicked could be heard. If Langstorm looked around, he would see all of the other mooks pointing their machine guns at him, ready to shoot. "That's enough, sir." Johan said, stepping from the shadows, pointing his pistol at Man-Bat's chest. "Please, drop him."
"What are you boys doing?!" Harley said, standing in front of Langstorm. "Put down those guns, NOW!"
"Miss Quinn, step aside." Johan said. "He has already killed one of Joker's men. I won't let him kill another one."
"Put. Down. The. Gun."
"Are you siding with him, Miss Quinn?" Johan said, a tone of irony in his voice. "Is Harley Quinn- the one who constantly rambles about how Mister J has showed her the light, how Mister J is everything to her- betraying the Joker?"
"What if I am?!" Harley said, stomping towards Johan. "Where is he, anyway? I just turned into a giant bat! Shouldn't he be here to look after me? To care for me like real boyfriends do? Why does he treat me like I'm just another stupid girl? He says he loves me, and then he leaves me to get arrested by the B-Man! He says he cares for me, and then he leaves me hanging over a vat of acid! He says that he'll never abandon me... and look at me! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!" The gigantic humanoid bat creature that was Harley fell to her knees, sobbing and crying. Johan looked at it with a mix of disgust and pity.
"This is your punishment, Miss Quinn. You're supposed to always be by the Joker's side... and yet, you fell in love with this monster." he said, nodding towards Langstorm. "That is why the Joker poisoned you with his blood, Harley Quinn. And that is why you will return with us to him, and follow his orders like an obedient little girl—"
Johan never got a chance to finish his sentence, as Harley stood up, grabbing him by his head, and raising him into the sky. Johan began multiple foolish attempts to break free, which included punching Harley's hands, trying to kick her head and trying to tell the other mooks to shoot at her. "... you wanna know what, Johan?... that obedient and stupid little girl died." she said, a maniacal grin on her face. "This is a new Harley, boys!... and she's going to kill you." And with that, Harley threw Johan on the ground, and began to step on his face like someone steps on a bug... and she didn't stop until all that remained of Johan's face was a pool of blood and fleshy bits.
"Of course I do, Baney Boy!" the Joker said, grinning as he watched Bane's goon walk off with the X-Gene Booster. "But I won't need to. You see, this war will begin tonight, and it will begin after a very, very interesting sequence of events. First, we hand out the gene booster. Then..." he pulled out a tape from the back of the truck. "We'll air this on all of New York's major channels. Don't worry, I know how to do that. After it airs, I'll press a nifty little button on my suit, and before you know it, there'll be Man-Bats and crazy mutants attacking every part of town. After that, all you have to care about is poisoning the water supply... and, of course, the safety of your own goons. Me? I'm going to ride into town with my Special Surprise Squad, infecting every mutant we see. It's brilliant, isn't it! Oh, it's enough to put a grin on everyone's faces!"
edited 8th Sep '12 4:30:58 PM by Stratofarius
The Sandman returned the picture. She clasped her hands behind her back. The lenses of the gasmask seemed to flash momentarily.
"Mr. Ryder. I was given this address by a mutual friend of ours. Since you first met her at Bruce Wayne's charity event she had met you no less than three times. She has even told you about her dreams."
She withdrew an object and placed it on Jack's mantel piece. It was a small origami swan.
"Miss Dodds does not place trust in others often. You, she trusts implicitly. Just as she trusts me. For this reason alone I am willing to place faith in you. Can you say the same?"
edited 8th Sep '12 5:07:38 PM by SlendidSuit
Gimme yer lunch money, dweeb.As Langstrom gently put the man down after witnessing Harley's brutal execution of Johan, another little smile cracked across his mouth. And his eyes lit up. And his hands clenched. And his teeth were bared. Had this all happened a few days earlier, he would have been a broken man. But he was already broken. This entire scene just made him ecstatic. The violence, the death, the blood, the gore, the revelation of the crimes committed, it was enlightening.
"Harleen. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all what I have said and done. This whole time, I thought we were cursed. But we were really blessed. Joker and Johan have bestowed upon us the ultimate gift. And it's high time we used our blessings to their fullest."
With reflexes far beyond that of a human, the Man-Bat thrust his arm deep into the chest of another henchman, killing the man as he dragged out his lungs, heart ribs, and diaphragm in a huge, slimy clump. With every single life he took, he not only felt better, he knew he was doing the world a service. He turned to face the other gunmen.
"Fear not, cattle. I am giving you all the ultimate gift you can receive. You will be a part of me soon. Your blood and flesh shall course through my tracts and give me the strength I need to enlighten the rest of this concrete hell. Surrender, and join your superiors, and I will guarantee your assimilation into us will be painless and quick."
"@[=g3,8d]&fbb=-q]/hk%fg"Tuesday Morning
"Yeah, Blue Beetle told me that," Rogue sounded disappointed. "I was hopin' Langstrom would succeed with the cure, but... I ain't takin' that chance now that I know the Joker's involved and he's gone, err, batty."
"I need to contact the Institute that Storm's at as well, considering the possible damage Joker could inflict," Rogue was about ready to hang up the phone and call Professor Xavier, though Rocket Raccoon might have time for any offer he might have.
edited 13th Sep '12 12:59:01 AM by GameGuruGG
Wizard Needs Food Badly"Do that," Rocket said to Rogue. "We need for everyone who can help stop this war to be at Stark Manor. After talking to the Xavier Institute, call me back a meeting time. I'll text you the other contacts I have. Later." With that, he hung up, quickly PM'd Rogue Ryder and Wesleigh, and then started calling up Ryder.
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HITTING HELPY!!"All right." Jack took the swan gently then told the tale of how he had become the Creeper.
When he had finished he said, "The problem is that he's...not like other heros. If you can even call him a hero. I have no control over what he does. Which is why I'm not sure how much good he'll be to you in this war. Or any other situation I can think of."
edited 8th Sep '12 6:20:24 PM by tricksterson
Trump delenda estTuesday Morning
Rogue decided to finally call up Professor Xavier, but she didn't know Xavier's number. She frowned and decided to call up Storm and hopefully relay that message to Professor Xavier. Rogue did obtain Storm's number as well as the numbers of the New Mutants after all.
"Storm?" Rogue began with. "It's me, Rogue."
"Listen... I need ya to get Prof. Xavier, Mr. Worthington, or anyone there and tell them that someone named Dr. Langstrom has gone off the deep end and is workin' with the Joker on a so-called mutant cure, but I don't think it's a cure at all"
"I also think he's gonna unleash the so-called "cure" tonight, as well," Rogue frowned at having to explain this to Storm. "I've already talked to Rocket Raccoon, Blue Beetle, and Iron Man on the subject, and Rocket Raccoon and Blue Beetle are bringin' some of their friends over as well."
"Tony Stark has allowed us to meet at one of his places, and he can help get the student body to safe houses if need be," Rogue then gave her the address to Stark Manor, which Storm would recognize as being Tony's old family mansion.
Rogue then thought for a moment. After all, she was about to do what was essentially superheroing and felt she would need a superhero outfit for the meeting. "...Could you bring one of those outfits from the Institute?"
"I ain't used to this superheroin' business, but I'll need an outfit... Make it somethin' green and yellow that can cover my body save for my head, but has gloves I could easily pull off," Rogue then remembered the lack of pockets on most of those outfits. "And also a jacket... I want pockets."
Wizard Needs Food BadlyThe Sandman listened calmly.
After Jack was finished she took a moment to straighten her hat before speaking.
"Mr. Ryder, you are of course aware of the threat the Joker poses. If I am correct, The Creeper has always ultimately done the right thing. We need all the help we can get. I would like to invite you and by extension your lodger to join us in ending this menace before he dooms us all."
edited 9th Sep '12 5:51:43 AM by SlendidSuit
Gimme yer lunch money, dweeb.Monday Night
"I'll give whatever help I can as me. If I see a situation where the Creeper is needed I'll release him and if you can convince him to help more power to you. Just keep in mind that there's no communication between us. I not only can't control him, I have no idea what he is doing when he does it and as far as I know he has the same lack of knowledge about me. Which means that just because i agree to something is no guarantee he will."
Tuesday Morning
Coming out of the shower jack saw a message from Rocket waiting for him and texted back:
What's going on?
Trump delenda estJaime waved out of habit.
"I'm just gonna cut the pleasantries and make this concise. There is a doctor working for the Joker who created a cure for mutants. It isn't really a cure and probably does horrible stuff. The Joker wants to start a mutant/non-mutant war, so it probably fits into that. This is probably gonna all go down really soon an I am arranging a meeting between all the hero's I can find. Do you wanna come, and could you pass all this along to Sandman. I'll text you with the time and place later."
edited 8th Sep '12 10:17:50 PM by luckybreak91
Tv Tropes Powers. Activate!!!!!Ivan's eyes widened, he smacked himself on the forehead for having failed to see most of the bigger picture "I see... Count with me, I'll relay this along to the Sandman, Goodbye"
He said and hanged up and pulled himself off the dinning table. He headed through to the workshop and packed any surplus bombs, darts and other gadgetry he had lying around in suitcases. He pull took also every communicator he built, now functional thanks to a web of repeaters peppered in the city's sewer and subway system. Then he packed all his schematics and the basic of his tools and 'ingredients'. Finally he dressed in his faceless attire, now with a padded vest disguised as a formal dressing vest. All in all he was carrying three suitcases on himself as he waited for Beetle's instructions.
edited 8th Sep '12 10:35:59 PM by Sanojutsu
The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.Bane's eyes narrowed, Tonight? was this guy seriuos?....One look at the big smile on the clown's face turned the question into steam.
A hasty blow often goes astray Mister Joker.....I will help where I will in this war, I have done my part now you must do yours- plunge this filthy city into the cleansing fire.
Bane threw Joker the keys to the motorcycles and strode off, then turning to the mooks he barked out the orders even as some of them were driving off with the Joker's ice cream van.
I want the snipers and rocket troops in position within the hour, the trucks are to be in place around Stark tower before the sun rises and all other personel are to be either in the bunkers or in position for the prison break.
So Bane orderd and so it was done.
He left the Joker with the motor bikes.
Tuesday
This got The Sandman's attention. Keeping the mic aimed at the conversation with one hand she reached into a pocket and pulled out a micro-recorder. It didn't have a whole lot of space but now she knew where the conversation was going she'd better capture whatever she could.
Monday
The Sandman looked thoughtful.
"I suppose that is risk we must take. You shall be a valuable addition regardless. I shall be in touch. Good luck with your show, Mr. Ryder."
There was a popping noise like a bulb filament bursting and the lights came on, leaving nothing but the origami.
If Jack were to unfold it he would find a phone number, written in a hand that looked almost familiar...
edited 9th Sep '12 5:22:45 AM by SlendidSuit
Gimme yer lunch money, dweeb.The Riddler smiled as his men threw the corpse of his latest participant into the furnace. Moron. Couldn't even solve a simple riddle.
Still, it had been amusing, watching the moron desperately trying to force open the box to get at the antidote. A good start to the Riddler's stay in New York.
Mark, the Riddler's most intelligent and trusted henchman (although this isn't saying much), walked over to his boss. "So what now, boss?"
"I need to made a name for myself in this cesspool of a city," The Riddler replied.
"So what are we going to do, boss?"
"I'm going to do something big. Something that will make the idiots in this city bow down before me. Something that will let them know that I am better than they could ever hope to be. Something that will make them fear the Riddler!"
The mooks simply stared at both Man-Bat and She-Bat, all of them trying to find out what to do. "Screw that!" one of them yelled. "I'm not going to get eaten by some abomination!" The courageous mook flicked the safety off his machine gun and began to shoot at the Man-Bat. Two other mooks followed him, also shooting at the bat creatures, while all the others dropped whatever they were carrying and ran towards the exit, screaming for help.
"Yes, Baney! Tonight! Tonight's the night! Tonight's the day! Tonight's when everyone says hooray!" the Joker said, picking up his cane and doing an awkward little dance right in the middle of Bane's hideout, all while whistling a tune that no one ever heard of in their lives. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. Baney, you may need to watch out for... well... bats. Nothing your trusty workers can't handle, of course."
"Okay, you remember that girl Rogue, right?" Rocket started saying to Ryder. "She just confirmed to me that Langstrom is indeed working for the Joker, and the supposed 'cure' could be anything but a cure, since this is the freakin' Joker we're talking about. She also told me all the other heroes in the city are going to be coming together at Stark Manor and talk about how we're gonna be dealing with the upcoming war and all these newest developments." He then told Ryder the address to Stark Manor.
edited 9th Sep '12 9:43:44 AM by UdtheImp
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HITTING HELPY!!Man-Bat was not invulnerable to bullets, and as he was assaulted by gunfire, blood began seeping from his chest and arms as he tried to protect his face from the shots. Crimson drips fell off his brown and grey fur, and small holes were torn into his great wings. Fighting back would have been suicide had he been a human being, but he obviously wasn't. It just made him all the more ecstatic to shed the blood of the crooks in turn. With a single swipe, he yanked the throat out of the first man who dared to fire upon him as though he was soft like a fruit, then threw a skull shattering punch in the face of another, more than enough to make the man unconscious for the rest of his life. And with another breakneck tackle, he pounced on the final member of Joker's army who dared assault him, unintentionally crushing his ribcage with the sheer force of his attack.
Langstrom rose from the ground silently after making sure the last man was dead, watching the others flee, pitying them for being so cowardly.
"If only they knew, how much good they could let us do if they just surrendered themselves. But they can't. They are livestock, too stupid to see the bigger picture. If only they were superior beings like us, they would understand. Wait... Maybe that can happen, Harleen. If my blood infected you so easily, it should do the same to the rest of the cattle here in this city. We don't need to kill these human lambs. We need to assimilate them. We have to free them from their miserable lives as human flesh, and let them have the glory of being angels, like us."
edited 9th Sep '12 12:34:01 PM by TailsDoll
"@[=g3,8d]&fbb=-q]/hk%fg"Storm sat up in bed, groping for her cell phone and listening to what Rogue had to say.
"...Got it, Rogue. I'll be at the Manor within an hour," she told the other girl.
"I heard you met Karma the other day? She, I, and the other members of our group will be ready to defend what needs defending. I'll get the message out to Professor Xavier. Anything else?" she asked, more out of habit than need for info.
Avatar from http://x0whitelily0x.livejournal.com/7486.html

"The Bat- *erhm* the Batman?!" Nicco blurted out, managing to lower his voice before he started shouting in surprise. "Not to be mean, but... why you, just a local meta?"
"I know, right?" Karen replied, gazing out at the sky again while staying a little closer to Nicco so they could hear each others' lowered voices. "But that wasn't why he contacted me. Seems like he's trying to get every metahero in the city together. Says there's a war that's about to erupt."
Nicco was silent for a moment, his blinking eyes the only movement visible. "A...... war?" he parroted again, his brow furrowing in concern. "You mean like the whole 'war against crime' thing and all that?"
"It sounded like it was going to be...... bigger. And frankly, that's what I'm worried about."
Karen bit her lip, her gaze rising high into the sky above, not really looking at anything. "At first I was... well, excited about the Batman coming to see me. It's not everyday that a metahero as well-known as him breaks into your apartment just to ask for your help, right?" As if expecting Nicco's aghast reaction at that last statement, she raised a hand to stop him from commenting. "Relax, it wasn't like he crashed through the windows and made a scene. But anyway... after a while thinking about it, what he said got to me. A war. Maybe it'll happen, maybe not... but it's the Batman who told me that, and I'd think he of all people would be on the up-and-up. I mean, all I've been doing for the past few years is stopping bank heists, saving suicidal folks, and sometimes fighting some crazy meta who decides it'd be fun to ice up half a city block. But a war?"
She looked at Nicco again, not paying attention to how his expression softened the more she said. "I'm not some career soldier or whatever, you know? Just someone who wants to help however she can. I know we've all seen stuff go crazy for some time now, but I...... I don't know if I'm cut out for something this crazy."
A silence settled between the two for a while. Karen's gaze shifted downwards at the parking lot below; Nicco looked away for a moment, now biting his own lip.
"Even before I met... well, met met you, I've seen and heard of the stuff you did before that," he finally spoke. "Yeah, there are a lot of people who think we're better off without metas of any kind - have you read the crap Jameson puts out about that Spider-Man guy? - but even then, there are still plenty of folks who appreciate what you guys do, and they pass the good stories around - like that one time you jumped in front of a bus with the brakes broken to stop it from hitting another car." Karen visibly blushed at that little anecdote. "Other metas decide to go nuts with their powers, making life hard for the rest of us who just want to live in peace. But you? You didn't wake up with your powers one day and, like, rob Fort Knox or something - "
"I think Fort Knox would be more than secure enough to stop me, Nicco - "
"Not the point, Karen - you didn't do something like that yourself. You decided to help people with your powers. You stand up for the guys who can't always fight this thing for themselves." Nicco smiled softly, placing a hand on Karen's shoulder and squeezing reassuringly. "I think... I think that makes you even a little bit qualified to fight in this 'war'."
Despite the perpetually sad look in her eyes, Karen's lips slowly curled into a smile as well.
"So just do what you can, okay? Do what you do best."
Nicco drew closer to Karen, eventually catching her in a friendly hug. She blinked, surprised at the sudden gesture, before allowing her own arms to draw around him as well.
"Man, did you put on some weight lately, Karen? You're a little bigger than before, I think..."
"I can bearhug you to the emergency room right now, you know."
"Shutting up."
edited 8th Sep '12 2:06:32 PM by Demovere