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GameMaster: AndyC
Assistant GM: Master Bruce
Discord Chat: (Coming Soon)

R O S T E R:

Even in the dead of night, the streets of Tokyo are a dazzle of neon, a crush of motorists and pedestrians, businessmen and tourists alike seeming to never stop or even slow down. Car horns blare, music thrums from an assortment of bars and night clubs, and advertisements flash across massive LED banners. For all of the wondrous attractions and sights to see throughout Japan's capital, just standing in the heart of Tokyo is a spectacle all of its own.

High above the hustle and bustle, however, shadows flit unnoticed across the night sky, dark-clad figures leaping across rooftops. Each bounding stride propels them far further than humanly possible, but each landing is quiet as a whisper. Advanced optic displays filter through the haze of strobes and neon and light-pollution from below to provide crisp and clear outlines of their surroundings, while active optical camouflage lets them blend in, covering their signatures across most of the electromagnetic spectrum. Ferro-fibrous exoskeletons provide protection against most conventional weapons, while nano-cerrated vibro-blades allow them to cut through titanium like wet paper.

Their equipment is bleeding-edge....



.....but their techniques are ancient.

As the city swarms with ignorant tourists and nameless sararimen below, a dozen cybernetically-enhanced ninja converge on their target: the Tokyo branch of S.T.A.R. Labs. The company has been on the forefront of scientific research and development since its founding, and the Tokyo branch in particular is known for being a technological wonderland. So many projects that could be worth untold fortunes.....or do unspeakable damage to the world at large.

The security systems at S.T.A.R. Labs are formidable to most, but paltry compared to the capabilities of its assailants. With a method that is frightening in both its meticulousness and its speed, firewalls are broken, sensors scrambled, camera feeds set on loops, and wayward security guards cut down. With deathly silence and murderous precision, the ninja make their way through the offices and administrative floors, headed towards R&D.

It is only by sheer chance that one is discovered: a technician who had stayed late to complete work on a minor project, happens to glance out of his cubicle and see a skulking figure clad in high-tech armor. He puts his hand over his mouth to cover up a gasp, but even that noise gives him away. The masked intruder snaps its head to face the terrified technician, who bolts out of the cubicle in a dead run.

The technician makes it only six paces before the ninja is upon him, and only makes a seventh before a blade carves into his back. It doesn't even occur to him to scream, as the man is dead before he even feels it. However, his lifeless body, now propelled only by a few remaining unconscious reflexes, staggers forward a few more steps, just far enough to cross a laser sensor before crumpling to the floor.

While the ninja were indeed thorough in disabling the S.T.A.R. Labs security, there was a secondary security system installed in places like this, by someone just as meticulous as they. Highly sensitive targets, such as the homes of prominent public figures, military installations, or major scientific firms, were often wired with security and alarm systems unbeknownst even to the people who worked there. These alarms did not go off inside the building, or alert the local authorities....

....but elsewhere, in high orbit, an alarm goes off on the Watchtower of the Justice League.

Newsroom of the Daily Planet
Metropolis
11:00am Local Time

"--says to me 'I need blood, semen, urine, and stool samples from you'," Steve Lombard continues, nudging me with his elbow as regales me of his latest encounter with the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. "So I say, 'look, officer, I don't have time to stick around, how 'bout I just leave you a pair of my briefs?'"

This elicits groans from various cubicles. Jenny rolls her eyes, Troupe tries as hard as he can to pretend that Lombard doesn't exist. Jimmy looks up with some recognition.

"Isn't that from a movie?" he asks. "Yeah, that's from--"

"Oh, ha-ha, that is funny," I force a chuckle, trying to spare Lombard the embarrassment-- he's a bit of a blowhard, and his jokes crash more often than they land, but I suppose he's just trying to relate. "That reminds me, did I tell you the one about--"

ZEEE- ZEEE- ZEEE- ZEEE- ZEEE-

"Oof!" I say, putting my hand to my mouth as if to cover a burp.

The others in the room can't hear the ultrasonic signal ringing in my eardrums, but I hear it loud and clear. An emergency signal from the Watchtower, broadcast to all members of the Justice League. While the signal can be picked up by the communicator earpieces all of the members have on them, my enhanced senses hear the signal wave itself directly.

"Whoah, somethin' wrong, Kent?" Lombard asks, only half concerned.

"Just a little....ngggh....indigestion," I say, clutching my stomach and squirming with mock nausea. "One second, if you don't mind."

With just a touch of overacting, I hurry out of the newsroom and towards the men's room. Once I'm out of eyesight, I touch own earpiece to hear the actual message.

PRIORITY ALERT
UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS IN S.T.A.R. LABS, TOKYO
MULTIPLE CIVILIAN FATALITIES
PLEASE RESPOND

The comedy of my upset-stomach routine vanishes, and I feel my brow furrow. Innocent people are already dead, and Heaven knows how many people might still be in danger.

"Everything okay, Smallville?" asks Lois as she follows me out of the newsroom.

"Just a little indigestion," I say, "I think the Japanese takeout we had last night was a bit strong for me."

It would be a fairly easy code to crack, using food to tell her where exactly I'm needed. Thankfully, everyone at the Planet knows Clark Kent has the weakest stomach of anyone they've met, so anything spicier than white bread and skim milk sends him running to the stalls.

Lois nods. "Well, you might want to take care of that before you make a mess. I've still got a deadline to meet, and one of us needs to be free in time to pick up Jon from little league practice."

"Got it, I should be quick," I say with an apologetic smile. "Love you, hon."

I give her a quick kiss, then rather than the men's room, I head to the janitor's closet.....



....and I change into my work clothes.

Seconds later, I'm hurtling through the skies, across the Continental US, across the Pacific Ocean, across the International Date Line as day turns to night on the far side of the planet.

Tokyo, here I come.

---

Kyle Rayner’s Studio Apartment
Los Angeles
11:00am Local Time

Having started out as a cartoonist for a little circulated series of short-lived Sunday comics, Kyle Rayner hadn’t seriously considered a career in sculpting. He didn’t really like the feel of the mud on his hands, the need to pay attention to the moisture in the air, the temperature, and the like but he’d taken to it recently. He’d been a Green Lantern for the better part of a decade and had grown accustomed to wielding the wild whims of his own willpower, intimidating and inspiring the viridescent incandescence into innumerable incarnations. For those in the know, it was often thought that using his own hard light to operate his own pottery wheel was cheating because he didn’t have to deal with the imprecision common to all machinery. They were wrong. There’s nothing convenient about keeping the image of the gears turning steadily around their focus while also working his fingers through the unforgiving earth. Even the slightest lapse in—

--ZEEE- ZEEE- ZEEE- ZEEE- ZEEE-

“Yaagck!” he screams as he faces a personal catastrophe. Five hours of gear turning, hand washing, meticulously implemented measurements catapulted upon his face as his hand, spurred by the Justice League emergency alert, impaled his immaculate investment.

PRIORITY ALERT
UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS IN S.T.A.R. LABS, TOKYO
MULTIPLE CIVILIAN FATALITIES
PLEASE RESPOND

No time to mourn his momentary monument, the clay washes off of his being as his protective aura streams like a waterfall into his rubbish bin. The entire room had been overlaid with a hard light shield, making clean up a synch. It was actually a trick he’d learned from Sinestro trying to kill him. Uniform in place, the man in green rockets out his windowsill and trails a streak of emerald lightning across the Los Angeles skyline before increasing his thrust and luminescence and tracking into the troposphere and beyond, taking mere minutes to make his way to the moonlit metropolis.

Rhiannon Palmer stood off to the side of the conference room in Hollester Hall glancing out the window at the campus. It was one of those "joyous" campus occasions she "lived" for called the welcoming mixer. This one was a bit different in that they were not only welcoming a new faculty members, but also one who also was the new department chair. Getting to hire astronomer Dr. Kent Nelson from FSU was a huge deal, but it came at the expense of Rhiannon not getting the position of department chair. A position that many in the department thought, not only was a shoo-in, but she deserved it. She sipped on a bottle of water very slowly as her friend Dr. Celia Becker walked over to her carrying a glass of white zin.

Celia said, "Well at least with this being in the middle of the day there is a bright side."

Rhiannon took a sip and and asked, "And that is?"

Celia replied, "With this being in the middle of the day classes aren't being held. We do a little bit of the schmoozing and then we cut out of here and head off to 'Charley's Place' and do Tequila shooters until we pass out."

Chuckling a bit Rhiannon said, "I forgot sometimes which one of us is the bad influence again? You know I can't drink in case I get a phone call, but I will gorge myself on some cheese fries while you get boiled." Not only was it because of her family situation that Rhiannon didn't drink, but one time she had a couple of drinks and then changed into The Atom. When that happened her body hadn't finished processing the alcohol. Which meant not only was she six-inches tall but she was falling down drunk. She was so drunk she didn't have the ability to focus to turn back into Rhiannon Palmer for almost two hours.

Celia said with a smile, "That's my girl my favorite designated driver." Celia took a sip of her wine and then asked, "How is your dad?"

Rhiannon looked at Celia for a second and composed herself. She said looking out the window again, "He's still alive, and that's about all I can say C. Metropolis plays Central City on Thanksgiving night. It's a prime-time game and so the Stallions are going to retire his number officially that night. Which will probably be his last public appearance according to mom." Rhiannon shook her head slowly and said, "More than likely he'll be gone before the Super Bowl."

Celia put her hand on Rhiannon's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry Ray." Rhiannon looked over at Celia and replied, "Thanks C." Turning back to the window Rhiannon asked, "So have you met our Lord and Savior Dr. Kent Nelson yet?"

Just then Rhiannon heard a different voice reply, "Oh no need for such lofty titles Dr. Palmer. When I'm here you can just call me Dr. Nelson." Rhiannon felt her eyes grow wide as she saw her career going down in flames. She turned to see Dr. Kent Nelson with a cup of coffee standing behind her and Celia as she said, "Oh my Lord." Nelson responded, "Again Dr. Palmer just call me Dr. Nelson." He turned to Celia and said, "Dr. Becker a pleasure to meet you as well." She replied, "Likewise my Lord I mean Dr. Nelson. Would you two excuse me I think I saw them getting ready to bring out the buffet."

Celia quickly left and Rhiannon looked at Dr. Nelson and said, "I am so sorry Dr. Nelson. I didn't mean to disparage you or to imply anything."

Nelson nodded and replied, "It's all right Dr. Palmer. You're the first honest person I've met since I got here. Everyone has been kissing my ass and, to borrow from you, expecting me to walk on water. Not to mention that there are many here who felt you should be in this position. So they look at me like I just nuked Disneyland and canceled Christmas."

Rhiannon said, "Well again I'm sorry Dr. Nelson for what I said you've earned your place in the scientific community and we're lucky to have you. If there's anything I can do to help you please let me know."

Nelson replied taking a sip, "It's Kent and I could use a tour guide around here. This place isn't exactly Tallahassee, and afterwards I could make us dinner I make a mean steak sandwich."

Rhiannon said, "Well I'm kind of busy with my dad, the semester just getting underway, and I got this other group I volunteer to help out with, but I think I can..."

Just then her earrings began to vibrate very slowly. That could only mean one thing...

Rhiannon quickly grabbed her cell phone and looked at it as if it was the cause of her distraction. She said, "Uh-oh it's an emergency."

Nelson asked, "Your family?" Rhiannon looked a little surprised for a moment and then Nelson replied, "I make it my business to know as much as I can about my colleagues, and I'm sorry to hear about your dad."

Rhiannon said, "Thank you Kent, and yeah it's a family issue. I was supposed to make a couple of remarks welcoming you to the department though but this..." Rhiannon looked pained and torn.

Nelson replied, "I'll explain it to President Winters don't worry go take care of your family Dr. Palmer."

Rhiannon said somewhat relieved, "Thank you Kent." As she turned to leave she looked back and said, "Oh by the way it's Rhiannon." She smiled and Kent gave a nod and replied, "A pleasure Rhiannon."

Quickly Rhiannon left the room and looked around. Seeing no one nearby she tapped her earrings twice and heard...

PRIORITY ALERT
UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS IN S.T.A.R. LABS, TOKYO
MULTIPLE CIVILIAN FATALITIES
PLEASE RESPOND

She shook her head and said, "Duty calls." Rhiannon sprinted back to her office and closed the door. She quickly pulled up the name of a restaurant near S.T.A.R Labs and said, "That'll work." Rhiannon closed the blinds and said, "Showtime." Rhiannon closed her eyes, concentrated, and within seconds she could feel herself getting smaller. Rhiannon opened her eyes and saw that she was wearing the familiar costume of The Atom. Quickly she floated up to her desk and dialed the number of the restaurant. Once she heard an answer Atom shrunk to microscopic size and rode the phone signal all the way to Tokyo.