[IC] Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

[Blackstripe]

9:43 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City

Karen had just finished unloading the towels from their old rust-bucket dryer when she was startled by a loud banging at the front door. Her dad was at work, so she was, of course, home alone. Well, alone if you didn't count Sam, at least. She'd taken a few sick days off school following the attack in order to avoid a meltdown.

For a moment, she thought it might be trouble, but...it was kind of early to be trying to rob people, even for The Wedge. Most at least waited until later in the day to start with that shit. They'd been hit a couple of times before, but once everyone figured out that they didn't have all that much worth stealing, they stopped bothering.

"Now who could that be?" Samantha muttered, eying her judgmentally. "Maybe an admirer from your little battle in the sky?"

Karen shook her head in response to this. "No way, nobody knows where exactly I live. Hub City is huge, after all."

"Hold on, let me take a look," Samantha hopped down from the sofa and sauntered over to the door. Karen could see her eyes take on a green luminescence in that moment. "Hmm...looks like a big, bald meth dealer or something...no, wait."

"What?" Karen tilted her head to the side. "It's not that old guy in the fedora again, is it? I thought The Question ran him out of town a while ago!"

Samantha shook her head, "No. I sense...magic around this man. Karen, transform! Do it now!"

"Wah? That bad?" Karen took a step back. Drawing in a heavy breath, she looked to the sky.



In a blinding flash of light, the thunderbolt descended to transform her from the frail little girl she was into an unstoppable, Nazi-busting badass.

Knowing he'd already seen the lightning, most probably, and that he had showed up at her house, a disguise seemed pointless. Offering a final glance to Samantha, Karen confidently moved to open the door, standing face-to-face with what would normally be a horribly intimidating figure if she were in her human form.

"Can I help you?"

[Ceta de Cloyes]

December 3rd, 2019
9:40 AM, ET
GCPD - 13th Precinct, Gotham

---

Hex

Tommy sighed, bouncing a dirty multi-colored tennis ball off the brick wall opposite him. He’d found it a few minutes ago, and was now content to use it as a way of relieving boredom - not that it was working. He sighed again, adding more emotion and volume to it in the vain hope that someone would hear him and finally come outside. This was so boring, and so gross, why couldn’t the officers afford to clean their alleyway out? It was grody out here. A rat hissed at him. Hissed.

Grody.

He threw a bolt of random pink magic at it, sending the obscenely fat creature bolting down the alley for it’s life. He managed a snort of amusement, but lose interest and went back to bouncing the rainbow ball up and down and off the walls.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Pads stepped out from a side door with a murderous expression on his face. Tommy’s expression lit up, and he let the ball ping off into the distance, likely to never be seen again. “Pads!” Or Justin Cárdenas- oh, excuse me, ‘Officer Cárdenas When I’m On Duty Tom’ as he’d corrected more than once, was a scruffy looking young man with dark hair and a permanent expression of long-suffering etched into his face.

“What do you want Tom,” he demanded briskly, “I’m busy.” Judging by the no nonsense tone and the dark circles under his eyes, Tommy would wager that claim might actually be true this time. Not that it mattered.

“We had a deal,” Tommy smirked cheerfully, “I’m just delivering my end is all.” This was going to be brilliant.

It was amusing watching the emotional acrobatics the man’s face pulled, from confusion to surprise to embarrassment and scowling once more. “What?” He squawked, “Here? Now?! But I’m-”

“Too late.” Tommy shrugged, still grinning with a suspiciously bright smile, “You didn’t specify, so I guess you’re just gonna have to take it aren’t you?”

Pads was slow to gather a response, and seemed almost nervous, “Tom, I really don’t think nows the time, this is a police sta-”

“Yep, and there’s a whole street full of people just there,” Tommy pointed out helpfully, shooting a glance towards the end of the alley. “And earlier there was this rat, pretty sure it’s still around here somewhere, ready to see the whole thing and tell all his little furry friends about-”

“Tommy,” he tried, interrupting a little desperately and shifting awkwardly as he blushed a bright red. Mission complete.

Ah well, torturing the poor officer had been fun while it lasted. He burst into barely restrained giggled, which did nothing to comfort the older man, “Relax,” he finally consoled, collecting himself, “I’m not that evil. Just take this-” he dug a small plastic bag out of his pocket and tossed it to the flustered officer, “oh, and call me, I do actually need to give you my end of the deal and you never answer my texts you asshole.”

It was amusing to see the sigh of relief at his words instantly replaced by trepidation as he inspected the severed finger Tommy had just tossed him. Despite the finger being several days old, cut from the finger of the girl who summoned that demon-golem when his dad wasn’t looking, it was preserved by magic and didn’t seem in particularly bad shape. “Witch’s Finger?” Pads asked, suspicious. A rune had been carved into the tip of the finger; a circle with a hexagon inside and a line through it.

“Yep, that whole GCU thing.” Tommy shrugged, already waving it off despite Pads’ rising eyebrows.

“But what am I supposed to do with it? Isn’t this supposed to be your thing Witch Kid?” Tommy shot an annoyed look at the mention of that dreaded nickname. Pads continued unperturbed though; “Is this about the divination thing? I told you I needed-”

“Yes, it is, and no, I didn’t get it wrong. This isn’t a substitute for Crone’s Eye, it’s a substitute for Demon’s Gate.” He clarified, words more sharp and professional than his earlier teasing would portray him as being capable of.

Pads blinked at that, then narrowed his eyes as the pieces fell into place; “So the GCU incident was-”

“Necromancer turned Demonologist- by mistake, but eh.” He shrugged, seemingly unimpressed, but that was a flimsy facade to hide how freaky the whole thing had been, especially with the whole… demon thing. Speaking of the demon thing; “I want in on this too.” He said suddenly, “I know what you’re planning, and I want a question.”

Clearly Pads hadn’t expected his sudden interest, and was reluctant to cave; “That's not a good idea. You shouldn’t-”

“I don’t care. I want in.” They met each other's eyes, each unflinchingly serious.

“No.”

What had started out as a cheerful teasing session ended in steely silence and narrowed eyes.

After a long moment, Tommy nodded, accepting that while he’d been leading the conversation, interrupting and teasing the older man, this was still an officer of the law, and a werewolf to boot, both of which lent themselves towards protective ideals. He wasn’t going to let Tommy near something so dangerous as a diviner ritual, no matter what the boy offered. So that was one avenue closed.

...but the girl had more than one finger. He’d do the ritual himself if he had to.

[The Whacko]

9:43 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City
@Blackstripe

The lightning nearly made Clayton jump when the flash of blue surged through the apartment, his massive frame taking a step back as he heard someone on the other side approaching the door. He sighed again deeply, reaching up to straighten the gray hatch tie before the person on the other side opened up. Sure enough, the woman who stood in the doorway was a tall, statuesque, beautiful blonde in a short robe and hood that looked straight out of a fantasy comic book. The woman who had taken down the Nazi scumbag in German. The necromancer stood to his full height, but kept his shoulders slumped, presenting as little of a threat he could, no small feat for a man of his size.

"Karen, right?" The big man stepped forward and offered a massive paw to her. "Clayton Toombs, pleasure to meet you at last. Don't suppose you have a moment to discuss some matters of concern for the arcane community?" The line sounded rehearsed, and it was. It wasn't that Clayton wasn't a people person, but a situation such as this was always going to be awkward."Representing a...let's say an interested party that might be able to provide some insight into your gifts."

[Blackstripe]

9:43 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City

Karen was momentarily left silent by the man's - Clayton Toombs, apparently - introduction. It was clear that he knew who she was, given that he had found her house. Maybe she needed to put up some, like, magical wards or something? Was that even possible? Probably. You could do stuff like that in most settings with magic in them, after all. Giving him one last once over before glancing over her shoulder at Sam who, for once, didn't seem to have much in the way of answers, she thumbed over her shoulder. "Um, sure. Come in."

Stepping aside so that he could enter, she would shut the door behind him. Wouldn't want anyone peeping in on them. "Hope you don't mind if my cat listens in. You can trust her. She's magic too."

"Samantha, Rakshasa, a pleasure," the black Bombay cat bowed her head in greeting.

"Rak-wah?" Karen quirked a brow at her, choosing to fail at pronouncing it for the pure sass.

"Ask me again later."

Moving to the kitchen, Karen gestured for Mr. Toombs to sit while she made her way over to the coffee pot. Pouring him a cup, she extended it to him with a friendly smile. "Coffee? Promise I didn't hex it, I don't know how."

@The Whacko

[The Whacko]

9:43 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City
@Blackstripe

"Ma'am." Clayton said the cat, completely unphased by the animal talking to him. Familiars were one of the first things a mage got to learning about when one entered the world of magic, and while many liked to have them about, Clayton himself preferred a normal, non-sapient dog. Buck, his American Bulldog, was smart enough not to talk. The big man stepped politely into the kitchen as he looked around the apartment, though from the look of things it appeared to be nothing but a normal lower-class tenement. He sat in one of the kitchen chairs, which creaked under his weight.

"Creamer and two sugars, please." The necromancer leaned back and looked up at the pair, watching them wearily watching him while he tried to look as peaceful as possible. "Apologies for the unexpected visit. Now as you probably guessed I'm also a magical sort, specifically a student of The Master. Now to spare you the pretenses, I'm here because he's taken notice of you after your heroics out in Germany." He paused for a moment to take his coffee gratefully, smiling as warmly as he could and taking a sip.

"He's impressed with your ability and courage, but...I'm sure you know the saying about absolute power. He wants to know about you, learn your character, if that makes sense."

[Blackstripe]

9:43 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City

"The Master?" Samantha perked up, stepping into the kitchen and jumping up onto the table as Karen set his coffee in front of him after applying his requested cream and sugar. "I've heard of this individual...or one them, I should say. It is, I suppose, unsurprising that he would be concerned."

Karen glanced between Samantha and Mr. Toombs, subconsciously chewing on her lip. She didn't really know what to say here that wouldn't expose her complete ignorance of the magical world, and so she simply sage-nodded in agreement with Samantha.

"Tell me then, have you come equipped with a portal?" Samantha questioned, her ears twitching. "Or were you hoping she would fly you back to wherever he might be?"

Karen was honestly surprised that Sam was going along with this so easily...but maybe the cat knew something that she didn't?

[The Whacko]

9:43 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City
@Blackstripe

Clayton nodded over to Samantha, reaching into his jacket pocket for a moment and removing the heavy bag of salt he'd brought along. The cat was clever, and if it knew The Master then this would probably go a lot easier than he had figured. He stood then, opening up the enormous zip-lock bag and starting toward the largest empty spot in the kitchen.

"Of course. Would be rude of me to show up uninvited and without the proper tools." He said before dumping the contents of the bag onto the floor. Without a further word he knelt down and began to draw with a thick finger in the pile of salt. It was delicate work, creating the spell for teleportation, but he was well practiced at it. A square, then a circle, a triangle, another square and another triangle later the intricate spell was complete. He smiled back at the two, pressing two fingers against the inner triangle. The salt suddenly solidified, forming a surface of what looked like gleaming, wet obsidian, and it began to collapse into a flight of stairs down into inky blackness, fog sifting up through the portal.

"Right this way, ladies." He said with a faint smirk, and then started down the stairs.

[Blackstripe]

9:49 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City

Karen watched intently when their guest began scribbling something onto the kitchen floor, quietly noting that she would need to mop that up later. Still, this was the first magic spell she'd seen someone cast since her meeting with the old Wizard. Since she was transformed, she would be able to remember it with perfect clarity and maybe trying it herself at some point. Salt, and then draw a square, a circle...

When he at last finished the ritual, the floor seemingly collapsed into an abyssal stairway. Hopefully dad wouldn't fall down it if he got back before them. In all seriousness though, he could not see this, but unless he decided to skip out on work early, they should have at least a few hours to work with here.

"Wowzers," Karen muttered, lightly waving off the fog that emerged from the hole. "Magic is so cool!"

Samantha's eyes flashed green once again, her gaze this time trained upon the portal. After a moment's observation, she gently nodded to Karen before lightly stepping through it. Pursing her lips for only a moment, Karen swiftly followed behind her, descending the staircase with a look of pure wonder etched onto her face.

[pyroman]

7:30 AM
Spencer Heights, Coast City USA
December 3rd

---

"it's the most, wonderful time, of the year~"

Preston's alarm clock sang a seasonal tune, waking the emerald knight. He music was accompanied with a slow groan, wishing that he didn't have to wake up.

Tuesday. Still too early in the week. Another groan. Everything between now and his trip to Oa had beena blur, but he remembered some key points. It turned out he wasn't the only hero on the planet. But at the same time, there wasn't just one villain. Preston was rather glad they there were people like the Question out there who fought crime on the sscale that they did. Preston had a big job, watching over an entire star sector, so there was no way he couldn't solve every little problem.

But that came with another problem. Tony offered to cover for Preston whenever possible, but the nature of his day job kept him frm always being free when problems arose. Maybe it would just be easier to abandon his life as an astronomer? Live as a green lantern full time. Not only would it put an insane bounty on his head from everyone on earth, but earth itself would be subject to more interpanetary attacks, if people saw that the humans were capable of leaving their planet at will.

He couldn't spend too much time on these questions. He needed to get out of bed and charge up his ring. He made it a habit of charging his ring at about the same time every morning, to make sure it wouldn't run out of power during his patrols.

Forcing himself out of bed, he swept up his power ring that hat been sitting on his nightstand. Slipping it on, his mouth gaped open for a long yawn.

In brigest day
in blackest night
no evil shall escape my sight
let those who worship evil's might
beware my power, green lantern's light

It kind of sounded boring, but that's how the guardians wanted it. Maybe something with the word fist in it would sound better.

With a resounding hum, the lantern battery came to life, powering Preston's ring for the next twenty four hours. Since that was done, Preston let himself sigh, and used the lantern to create simple constructs.

Little wires flew out from the ring, stretching out across Preston's bedroom. The wires opened his closet and his dresser, and pulled out his normal work clothes. The clothes flew back to Preston and the ring put them on his body. He was too tired to actually move today.

Fully clothed and not yet fed, Preston walked out of his house and got into his car. It would be so easy to just fly around, but he didn't think that it'd be good publicity for the Green Lantern to be ordering mcdonalds.

[Taytay]

10:50 AM
Wednesday December 4, 2019
High Rise Condos, Midway City-Michigan

---

Ira was up and ready, by the time Cher arrived and presented his schedule. He had a busy week ahead of him and on top of the photo shoots, interviews, and social meetings the city was still a little shaken by the events of last Wednesday (Nov 20). But everyone was still raving about the green man who saved most of the trains from disaster. Ira was only able to help out 3 more trains and the rest he had to help after they crashed. People wanted to know who he was, what he was, where he came from. The local authorities denounced his existence completely, but the videos were there all over the internet. So Ira just accepted it, and tired to stay under the radar for a while.

"Oh don't forget that we have that trip to Coast City coming up next week, and make sure your packed I do not want a repeat of last time. Having to literally hold the plan for you almost got me put on the ban list." She said with a shake of her head as they stepped outside his building and into their car.

Ira laughed and assured her he would be ready, although he only had to take some pictures to make the situation better. There was another reason that he took this trip, and it had to do with the explosions. Soon after, there was a lot of over the top security surrounding the investigation and Ira had no choice but to sit back and watch, but that did not mean he wasn't in the minds of every cop involved. For some reason the "special agents" had been blocking his telepathy so he gathered what he could from others. Ira was able to find something, a name and address. He checked out everything yesterday, and it lead him to wanting to make this trip to find out more information.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-11:37 PM
Tuesday December 3, 2019
Strata Industrial Building 54th Floor, Midway City-Michigan

It was quiet ride up the elevator, and Ira was kinda sick of the ride. When it finally dinged he walked back into the sixties. The office was simple, open floor plan maybe one or two closed off rooms brick walls. There where no computers, just file cabinets and a freshly used office. So Ira began to look around for clues, through cabinets, desk, book shelves, and came up with nothing. After about an hour with nothing to show for it, Ira heard a ding form the elevator. It was not form the one he rode up in though, it was from a newly formed hole in the that produced 4 people dressed in black. Ira immediately made himself invisible and stood off to the side so he could listen to their conversation.

"So still no sightings of him and its been almost a week. I don't even know why the higher ups sent us here, I mean if they are gonna freak at the sight of every green man, then they need to set up operations at every city in America." The only woman of the group said, it looked like they were getting ready to leave.

"Well we are also here to investigate the explosions, to see if it was involved. Plus Midway is not that bad." One of the men said.

"That does not matter. We know that the explosions were man made and that it was only there to help. The only reason we are still here is because he showed signs of power and they want us to make contact and either detain or monitor it. Honestly this is a waste of time and of my skills." She said frustrated as they walked into the elevator and left. Ira was bothered that he could not read their minds, no matter how he tried to probe into their thoughts nothing happened.

After they left Ira phased through the wall and was faced with an all white lad of sorts. Computers could be heard, beeping and buzzing, one monitor was showing a map of the city with red dots all over it some were moving some weren't. Another large monitor was showing the same thing but a state wide map, Ira walked up and began to fiddle with the controls clicking on the red dots and seeing the information displayed. It showed names residence, predicted/confirmed species, occupation, and threat level. Whoever these people were, Ira knew what the were doing now. Monitoring aliens across the country, he looked for himself but Ira's name could not be found.

While he was digging for more info, Ira did not notice the 2 agents standing behind him, and it was only the charging of two energy weapons that caught his attention. Ira lifted his hands slowly and made no move to turn around, he was wearing all black, with a baseball cap on so his face would stay hidden. In order to make sure he stayed off their radar he morphed his face to look older.

"Turn around slowly, and keep your hands up. We don't want to hurt you so just stay calm and tell us how you got in here." The man on the left said.

Ira did as they asked and assessed he situation once he faced them. They both hand small guns with laser sights pointed at the martian's chest. He acted quickly and focused in on the guns, with a flick of his wrist they went flying to the roof as if a magnet had pulled them. The two of them jumped towards Ira and he phased right through them. He stretched his arm and grabbed one of the men, throwing him into one of the consoles and knocking him out. The guns had fallen when Ira attacked so the second man had already retrieved his gun and was pointing it at Ira again. They were staring each other down and finally the trigger was pulled but each shot went through Ira as if he was thing air. The man kept firing at the red eyed martian, and with each shot Ira took another step closer. When he stood in front of him, Ira lifted him up by the neck and started to force choke him.

"Now me and you are gonna have a little talk. Matter of fact just give me your mind so I can get what I need myself." Ira said, but he still could not read his mind it was as if there was a giant wall blocking him. But he could feel where the wall was coming from, it was inside his jacket pocket. Ira floated it out and let the man down, his badge had a slight orange glow to it, Ira immediately recognized the metal form his home world, it was called Zmari, this particular metal was used to block out telepathy and mostly used in prisons. Ira had questions, and this man was going to give him answers on way or another.

When he left he building, Ira had a head full of questions but no answers. All he knew was that Coast city is where the mystery man was previously stationed and the base they had there was much larger and had more than just 13 agents. Ira would need to investigate this if he wanted more info on how they got martian metals, and what did the DEPARTMENT OF EXTRANORMAL OPERATIONS, have in stored for the aliens of earth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What Ira did not know was that the woman he listened to earlier had been watching the entire thing form her phone. She knew it was the green martian she had been looking for and was no longer up set with her new posting. This woman knew it was the green alien she was looking for and now she had a a case that spiked her interest.

[The Whacko]

9:51 AM, December 3rd
Unknown Location

@Blackstripe

The staircase was long, winding, sometimes seeming to defy logic with their spiraling nature, the air around them deathly silent and cool. There was no question they weren't in the mortal plane any more, the trio surrounded by inky black skies and a thin, ghostly fog that seemed to caress each of them curiously before dissipating around them, almost as if it were a sentient being sizing up intruders into it's territory. Clayton didn't seem to be the least bit bothered by it all, and in fact seemed to look almost nostalgic about his surroundings as he stepped heavily down the stairs.

"When you meet him, keep your eyes forward, look him in the face. He may or may not look like a Human when you see him, so don't be too surprised if you see a...I dunno, cerberus, or a friggin' cthuluoid space monster. He likes to make points." He said, not looking back at either Karen or Samantha, his eyes focused down the stairs, at the singular truly colorful spot in this plane. It was circular, covered in a wide, bright red rug that stretched out at least 100 feet, a golden throne adored with cushions of the same blood red as the rug. A pair of golden braziers flanked the throne, pink flames roaring in the bowls as the three approached the man in the throne.

The figure was a tall, stocky, White and sporting a truly massive brown beard, with clothes that clearly didn't belong in that century. His fingers were steepled as he looked over them all, his eyes fixing on Karen after he'd offered polite nods to Samantha and Clayton. When he spoke, it was almost as if his beard moved rather than his lips, it was so thick.

"I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and king unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they can do no wrong. If there is any assumption, it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. History shows the greatest names are coupled with the greatest crimes." He spoke the words like scripture, rising up from his throne and starting towards the trio, straight toward Karen with his eyes fixed on her face, as if he were trying to peer into her very soul. He stopped three feet in front of her.

"Do you understand why you are here?"

[Blackstripe]

9:51 AM, December 3rd
Unknown Location

"Uhh...gross?" Karen visibly cringed when the fog started trying to feel her and her cat up, as well as Mr. Toombs. This whole place was creepy and unnerving for her. It just seemed...wrong on so many levels, with its never ending and starless sky of black that seemed to surround them from all sides, and a staircase that seemed to be suspended in absolute nothingness. All of her senses told her that such a thing shouldn't be possible, and yet it clearly was since they were walking upon it. While it may not have been the first time she had encountered something this weird, but it was still pretty jarring.

Tilting her head to the side when their guide mentioned the possibility of this "Master" person looking like Cthulhu, Karen couldn't really shake the feeling that she was a lot more ill-prepared to face the magical world than she had first realized. Then again, Sam had told her that she would be facing "creatures from beyond the veil", so maybe encountering one of them that wasn't so hostile would be beneficial to her? Also, would this place be considered beyond the veil? So many questions...

Finally, they seemed to arrive at their destination: a colorful and ornate throne occupied by an old bearded dude. Now that, at least, was somewhat familiar to her.

He then began to speak like her dad's preacher did whenever he'd forgotten to take his meds. Trying to figure out what exactly he was trying to say was pretty difficult, and she raised a hand to scratch at the side of her cloaked head. Was he trying to say she would be corrupted or something by the power she'd been given? I mean, she supposed that was an understandable fear, given that even she didn't know the exact limits of her abilities.

"Um, kinda?" Karen muttered in response to his question. "Something about not abusing my power or being corrupt, right?"

[pyroman]

"I beat the baddies, hit them good. Protect the intergalactic neighborhood. So from the shoulder, beyond my wrist, look out evil, it's my fist!" Preston tried out a new oath. Maybe he could tell his ring to accept that as his chant. It certainly made him feel good and powerful about himself. Maybe he could pitch it to the guardians the next time he went to Oa.

Breakfast time! Preston needed breakfast. Seated in his car, he made his way through the city. Music played quietly in his car, just enough to take up space so he wasn't left alone with his thoughts.

Driving about, he found a mcdonalds and ordered some food. Looking at the clock on his radio, he figured he had some more time before he had to be at work. Currently, he was trying to weasel himself into getting easier hours, or find a way to keep everyone off his back so he could disappear easier into the Emerald Knight. Hopefully he wouldn't be forced to leave for an extended period of time again.

"Ring." Preston wore his ring for the time being. He'd slip it off once he got to work.

"Yes, Preston." It answered him in more of a sentence than a questioning tone.

"Give me the atmospheric data for the upcoming week. I don't want to get caught off guard by snow."

[Cu Chulainn]

BREAKING NEWS

10:07 AM, December 3rd 2017

New York City, New York

---

"This just in, museum robbery in broad daylight?! "

"Jean Mcready with the news at Channel 52, here! Looks like the impossible really happens at the Museum of Impossibilities in New York City as Jade Mantis's famous bulletproof pilot goggles have been stolen in the middle of bussiness hours. We'll go onto our man on the scene, Ted Giannopolous, for more."

---

"Hey, thanks, Jeanie. It's the Ted Giannopolous here in front of the Museum of Impossibilities! It seems the museum was closed after the alarms went off. Police and witnesses say the goggles just... disappeared. Eerie. They're playing back the cameras right now, but while we wait for those to air, lets talk to some witnesses!"

...

"So like, I was eating my chili dog, and, like, looking at the rad exhibits, man. Then suddenly, there's this... flash. Not like, the bright kind, but... the goggles just, like, went poof, man. I was about to take another bite of my chili dog until it went poof, too. If you find that guy who stole my chili dog, he better, like, pay me back for that dog, man."

...

"First off, hiiii Brad! He's my boo, we've been together for... three weeks now, and I feel like he's the one, you know? Annnnnnyway... what were we talking about, again? Oh, yeah! So our class had to come to this lame museum to learn about some old guys or whatever, and when I went to take a selfie with my friends, the alarms, like, went off! I was freaking out so much, I had to send a snap to everyone so they all know how freaked out I was! When I took the snap, this weirdo in a ski mask was behind me with his arm around my shoulder, raising the peace sign and everything! Ugh, that's sooooo 2007. But when I looked behind me, there was nobody there! If this is a bad joke, Brad, you can stop now!"

...

"So it seems some pretty weird things are happening down here at the Big Apple! Could it be the same culprits as the weirdos in Hub City? Find out more after this commercial break! Also, Jeanie, you never texted me back about lu-"

---

[Korkoa]

December 3, 8:30 am PST
Coast City College, downtown campus, Coast City.

Jessie's phone buzzed harshly in her hand as she stepped outside the college campus building and into the harsh morning light. The sun was just starting to burn away the morning haze that hung over the city, leaving the streets in an uncomfortable extra-humid stage that would last about another hour or so. Jessie always hated this time of day, but there was nothing she could do about it, she needed this class. Fortunately, she didn't usually have to be outside at this time, but today there were some special circumstances.

Looking at her phone as it buzzed again, Jessie opened the device to see another news headline staring at her; this time a museum robbery in New York, in broad daylight, with people around... And nobody saw a thing. Except one girl who got a selfie with the suspect, which was going viral. A masked guy, who stole a pair of goggles that belonged to one of the Activists... No way in hell that wasn't another metahuman. Like the Nazi and the purple lightning chick from the other day, or the reports of 'magic' shenanigans happening all over. Everything was starting to happen. If Jessie wanted in on this whole thing, she'd have to act pretty soon.

But Jessie knew she couldn't just think about herself now. Ezra was still in hiding, and probably would be for a long time. Jessie was confident that she wouldn't get caught in her heists, but she kind of wanted Ezra involved now too, and she didn't want to be responsible for him getting found by the government. So her plans had to change. She still needed cash, even more now that she had a whole new world's worth of technology to experiment with, and to be able to leave her parents with a nest egg when she flew the coop, and to support herself with, and whatever Ezra needed. So she needed a new target, one that didn't just involve walking into a bank and demanding sacks full of money. Fortunately, Jessie was nothing if not flexible.

Crossing the street towards the secured ATM, Jessie ducked inside the small windowed building and shivered, glad to be out of the damp cold for a moment. She turned her attention to the automated money-dispensing kiosk and took a deep breath, stepping up to the screen. The nervous girl took her card out of her pocket and made a show of pretending to slide it into the machine. This was just a test run, so it had to look good for the cameras. As she rested her left hand on the keypad, Jessie reached out with her mind to poke experimentally at the programming inside. Firewalls, antiviruses, redundancies, everyone you would expect from a secured computer. Most of that would be enough to stop an ordinary hacker in their tracks. Jessie was no ordinary hacker. Nobody designed their computers with a direct neural interface in mind. Who would? You'd have to be insane to think of it, let alone devote resources to implementing it.

Pushing forward with her mind, Jessie's consciousness swerved and dove through the processes and algorithms of the machine, her fingers pretending to tap buttons as she poked and prodded the ATMs brain with her own unrelenting curiosity. She had to wrap it up, had to get out of here soon, she just had to...

DISPENSE FUNDS

Fuck. Yes. Just a test run, don't try for anything crazy, just... Take a chunk, leave the big hauls for later. Jessie pushed the command through into the machine directly before backing her mind out of the poorly defended cash robot. The machine whirred to life and she could hear the gears and sensors inside activating and counting out bills. Now for the moment of truth...

The ATM opened the cash drawer and a thick stack of bills slid out, waiting for Jessie's eager hand to grab them. A quick glance through the stack confirmed her thoughts and she breathed an elated sigh of relief. This could work. Sticking the stack into her coat pocket, Jessie pulled out her phone again as she walked away from the ATM, dialing up Ezra's number and typing out a quick text.

"Ez, meet me for lunch on campus today after class. Want to talk to you about the crazy happenings in the news, and show you something. I have some plans for our tech project that I need to run by you."

[DragonofTheWest]

10:10 AM
December 3rd 2017
Brooklyn, New York

"So it seems some pretty weird things are happening down here at the Big Apple! Could it be the same culprits as the weirdos in Hub City? Find out more after this commercial break! Also, Jeanie, you never texted me back about lu-"

“Stupid kids” Mike murmured as he shook his head in disappointment as he took a long sip from his morning coffee. The middle age man lay slouched in his sofa as he raised his remote preparing to change the channel when the sounds of the front door of the house opened leaving the man to take a peek. “Hey Johnny that you?” he pondered out loud.
“Yeah, morning uncle” John replied, strolling through the front door as he took a glance at the television and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you hated the news” he commented.
“Yeah well someone apparently made some trouble at the museum. Sounds more like some publicity stunt bullshit” Mike shrugged and once again raised the remote preparing to change the channel till John suddenly compelled him to stop. “Wait!” The sudden urgency in John’s voice was rather drastic “What? Did I do something?”

John stepped forward and his eyes focused on the television, as the news replayed the cameras surveillance. Nothing particularly stood out but John remained intent on staring at the television. “The hell is wrong with you kid? You see a pretty girl or something?” Mike questioned laughing to himself not seeing anything unusual.

“No. Someone was there. He’s fast, really fast.” John replied, his voice dropped almost as if he was in disbelief. Nobody could be that fast and he himself had trouble seeing it but there was no doubt there was someone or something there.
“Oh don’t give me that bull shit.” Mike rolled his eyes and started racing through the channels looking to find anything of interest, not believing in any of this news crap before he heard the backdoor open up. “Hey Johnny what the hell you just got home?” Mike tried to take a look from his position before he cursed to himself in annoyance as he lifted himself of the sofa and headed through the open door that lead to the backyard.

“Ah shit.” Mike commented as he saw John standing there having switched into the mysterious black suit they took from the spacecraft wreckage. “Just what the hell do you think you are doing?”
“Whoever that guy was, I’m going to find him and I’m going to bring the goggles back.” John replied with a shrug. “Are you stupid, Johnny there was nothing there, you are seeing shit that ain’t there” John ignored his uncle as he stretched his neck and rotated his shoulders in preparation for take off. Mike was suddenly fixed with anxiety, realizing that John had every intention of doing this. “Woah wait wait, Johnny wait. Ok maybe you saw something, but that doesn’t mean your gonna find him. Look New York is way too big, you’ll never…”
“Uncle, you saw the news and the type of the guy he is.” John replied, his smirk never having left. “He’s my type of guy”
Mike shot back with a rather confused look. “He’s a showoff uncle. And you know what pisses of show offs? When a bigger show off comes along. He’ll come to me, and I’ll bring him in”
“Johnny that has to be the stupidest fuc-“
“Keep your eyes on the news uncle! They are going to be talking about this one until the new year!” John gave a quick wink before in an instant he rocked off the sky, the sheer force of the acceleration nearly knocking Mike off his feet as the area around him echoed as if a gun shot went off. Mike looked around inspecting himself as if to make sure he was still alive. “I think I just pissed myself…”

10:20 A.M
Times Square, New York
December 3rd

“And good morning New York, we are here live at the center of Times Square in this wonderful outdoor setup. Wonderful crowd we have today!”
“That’s right Kevin, good to have a great live audience as we discuss the latest in the tragedies that we call, New York sports teams”
“Yikes Chris, just a bit too harsh no? haha well the city is abuzz from an earlier incident involving a theft at the Museum of Impossibilities. But do we really care about that? Of course not! What better to start this morning then to start trashing on…”
Suddenly a thud echoed on the set as a tall caped figure slowly landed from the open roof setup and stood behind the sports reporters who could only look behind them in complete shock. John gazed around real quick, inspecting the area knowing full well he was in full camera view exposing himself. The Kyryptonian could hear the various whispers of the audience in complete confusion which was fine because he had everybody's attention.
“I always wanted to be the show, thanks for having me” John stated but the joke did nothing to unerve the crowd as the Kryptonian focused his attention at the center camera man. “We’re live right? Ok good” John stared dead ahead into the camera lens with a certain competitive intensity.
“Hey asshole” John began. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before letting his mind flow freely, oozing with confidence as he attempted to speak as naturally as possible “Yeah I’m talking about you, the dickhead from the Museum. You thought you were real slick, thinking nobody saw you. Well guess what? I did and you got 5 minutes to return those goggles otherwise I’m coming for your ass.”
“A-A-and who are you..?” John turned to the stuttering sports reporter to his left. “Me?” John said outloud before turning towards the camera again. “I’m…" John's mind was racing, searching for any sort of answer. As John felt people tune in, curious on the response, John couldn't help but reply with "Superman”.

[The Whacko]

9:54 AM, December 3rd
Unknown Location

@Blackstripe

"An obvious point, I'm aware, but one that must be made, especially considering the nature of your powers." The Master said, nodding to Karen as he continued to look over her face. For a long moment he merely stood there, examining the girl in the form of a grown woman, before he nodded slowly and turned from her, starting toward his throne. In an instant the bearded man was gone, replaced by a tall, slim elderly man, Black with a thin, steel gray mustache and hair pulled into a short ponytail so tightly that it seemed to tug at the corners of his eyes, which bored into Karen even from the twenty foot distance between them.

"I apologize for not apporaching you myself, but I needed to know your character. Sending my student, seeing how you reacted to him and his request, it gave me some slight insight, but now I require a fuller picture." He spoke with a tone surprisingly strong for a figure of his body's apparent age, leaning back into the throne and making a pyramid of his boney fingers. Clayton, meanwhile, was knelt before the man in reverence, head kept low. The Master merely smiled.

"Rise, Clayton, I thought we were past such formality." The big man rose then, seeming just a little sheepish at that. No matter how much his teacher might have discouraged it, he never could stop thinking of the man as a second father after all he had done for him, how he'd taught him and taken him in at his lowest point. The Master turned back then to face Karen. "I see from your face that you are unaware of the nature of your powers. I will not obfuscate it; You are blessed by gods and champions. Do you wonder why you must shout 'Shazam!' to take your form? It is because of the beings that have lent their power to you. Selene, Hermes, Alceus, Zeus, Atlas, Mnemosyne. You have been granted their might because someone deemed you worthy of carrying on their power. My question, though, is what you will do with it?"

[Blackstripe]

9:55 AM, December 3rd
Unknown Location

Before her very eyes, the man she had been speaking to had transformed into an entirely different person! She expected magic, so maybe it was dumb of her to be so impressed...but wow. She couldn't tell whether or not it had been a mere illusion or something more, but it was undoubtedly amazing. More than ever now, she wanted to learn proper magic. All she could use were the most basic abilities that were granted to her, and even those she wasn't all that great with yet. She had so much left to learn that it was almost disheartening.

Whoever this guy was clearly commanded the respect of Mr. Toombs, also. She had no idea how long they had known each other or how they were related, but the large man didn't seem like the type to kneel easily. That must mean this guy was as incredibly powerful as she suspected.

Listening to him list off the Gods that empowered her, she nodded slowly. Sam had told her their names and given her a basic idea of what they each had gifted to her, but this was the first time anyone had elaborated on the word 'Shazam' and its nature. It made sense: their names made up one letter each of that old Wizard's name, and he had given her the power. He was the one that deemed her worthy, and now "The Master" was essentially asking if that was indeed the case.

"I...want to help people. I want to save them, and make the world a better place if I can," Karen answered honestly. "Sam has told me that my duty is to protect this world from 'horrors that lurk beyond the veil', but I don't want to just stop there. I want to help even when it has nothing to do with magic!"

[The Whacko]

9:56 AM, December 3rd
Unknown Location

"A noble goal, one that I can respect, laud." The Master said with a slow nod, and perhaps a smile of approval as he leaned back again, the braziers flanking his throne changing from their purple flames to a light cyan blue. His tone was kind, understanding, but held a slight edge of concern. Clayton was looking at Karen with a smirk of his own, not mocking but with a slight edge to it that said that he'd heard the speech a few times before. The Master's smile was gone a moment later, though, his face taking on an impassive expression as he leaned forward in his seat. "But also one that can easily lead to great terrors. Even I and my forebears cannot recall all the tales of heroes who sought only to aid their fellow man, to protect their world, only to become dictators when those desires grew to their most extreme conclusion. You are not the first to possess the power of Gods and Champions, and others before you have abused that power in the name of law and justice."

"Seen a lotta people without magic skip down the road to hell with good intentions in hand." Clayton chimed, nodding at his mentor's assessment. He turned back to Karen then, a faint smile crossing his lips. "Course, from what I saw you do in Berlin, I'm inclined to believe you're the real deal right now. I'd ask you to knock some of those commie and anarchist thugs around too, but that'd be making The Master's point for him."

On cue the old sighed faintly, then chuckled at his student. Some things never did change, but those were what made a Human what they were.

"Some of my students never smooth out all their edges." The eyes were back on Karen. "I am not saying that I believe you are doomed to follow the path of others, but I cannot know you will not either. That is why I have asked for you to be here. I would know you, Karen, so that I might set a worried heart at ease. At my age, I don't need much more. Please, show me that you are speaking the truth. I would welcome a true hero in these times."

[Blackstripe]

9:57 AM, December 3rd
Unknown Location

Karen's just dropped for a moment when The Master talked about others before her who had possessed this power. She didn't know there were others before her. No, wait...that old Wizard, he must have been someone like that. He did say she was inheriting his power and burden, after all. And there must have been others before him too! That was a scary thought, that she was just one in a long line of "wizards" who all eventually died giving their powers to someone else. And some had apparently abused that power...considering how difficult it had been for her to gain even a basic grasp on her strength, that thought sent chills up her spine.

Glancing to Mr. Toombs when he addressed her, she returned his smile. She still didn't really get how wanting to help people could lead to so many bad things, but if that was true, then it was definitely something to watch out for. She felt like beating people up for their opinions was definitely crossing a nasty line, though. Generally speaking, she only resorted to violence if there was no peaceful way to resolve a conflict. That seemed like the right thing to do.

The Master then continued speaking, saying how he desired to know her. Well, she wasn't exactly sure how she could prove herself to him right here and now, but if he meant in the long term...

"I want to be a true hero, and give kids like me something actually good to aspire to," she stated firmly. She then paused, closing her eyes as she considered how to best let him know her. "Erm...also, my name is Karen and I like the Vampire Diaries, spinners, writing fanfiction and surfing Deviantart. My favorite 'VD' ship is 'Delena', and I've always wanted to go to Orlando Studios. Also, I hate bullies and love sweets!"

Yeah, that seemed like a good summation of who she was!