[IC] Justice League - The Unlimited Protocol

[Omega Man]

_{The Unlimited Protocol}

Superman was in a coma. After the Martian Manhunter was compromised by an alien parasite he almost single handedly took out the League. Batman was suffering back injuries from the same fight and currently rehabilitating in Gotham. Wonder Woman was dealing with a war in Themyscira after someone made an attempt on the Queen's life. Hawkgirl and the Flash chose to enact the Unlimited Protocol when Green Lantern ventured back out into space to deal with Corps business in another sector. They hoped they would get a few dozen heroes looking to step up to the big leagues, what they got was barely a dozen. Heroes like the Question and Animal Man answered the call as well as the grandson of the original Starman. Will these heroes be enough to save the world against a new cadre of enemies put together by a former friend?

Season 1

Episode 1 - Tears for Fears - When a new hero claiming to be taking up the mantle of the Sandman is more than what he seems, someone figures out it's really Batman's enemy the Scarecrow. Who will see their fears come to life while trapped in the Metro Tower under the influence of the fear toxin? And what was Scarecrow's end game?

Episode 2 - Night at the Flash Museum - Two villains (Multiplex and Mirror Master) are tasked with robbing the Flash Museum in Central City. Nobody's sure what they're after, but the League has them surrounded. Who do they work for, and who will they take down in their escape?!

Episode 3 - Gravity is a Liar - Countess Vertigo is causing chaos in the Hub City branch of STAR Labs for information. What can the League figure out when the rooms are spinning, and up and down are both sideways?

Episode 4 - The Door Man - The League works to take down several villains wrecking several branches of STAR Labs. Solomon Grundy, Giganta, the Atomic Skull, and the Cheetah all get away because of one man... the Key. The mysterious cabal of villains are one step closer to their goal!

Rules:

1.) No back-to-back posting. Posting will be restricted to 3-4 posts per player per Episode. Larger storylines will have higher post caps as well as Character-centric Eps.

2.) PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND SET-UPS!!

3.) Make sense. If we can't make heads or tails of your posts they're likely to get skipped over.

4.) Get permission before using another player's character in your posts if it involves changing the scene or making actions. Everybody will take beatings in this game in battle however, so don't get pissed if you get punched or blasted into a wall by the bad guys! Namely me or the Co-GM controlling the badguys...

5.) Problems with the game or players should be sent directly to me or the Co-GM through PM's. I don't want a bunch of bickering in the OOC. And I don't particularly like it when some random argument costs the game players and story potential. So don't be dicks to each other, just send your concerns to us.

6.) Abandoned characters will be used as NPC's or killed off within the context of the story.

7.) “I was waiting for [insert player/character] to make a move” is not how this game is played.

8.) There is no rule #8.

9.) My word is law.

10.) Obey the law.

___________________________________________________________________

Episode 1 - Tears for Fears

Metro Tower was something to behold. The larger than life tower rested on the edge of Battery Park near the center of Metropolis. It was home to many of the newer members of the League, as several were from all across the United States. The large front lobby acted as a sight-seeing attraction and had a small Superman and Justice League museum as well as a gift shop. It was only open between the hours of ten a.m. to around four p.m. Monday through Thursday depending on if there were any emergencies or evacuations. New members of the League would take turns with security duties since there were only two civilians who worked the lobby. Today it was the female Doctor Mid-Night. Captain Atom and Steel could be seen as they walked past the civilians to the League entrance to the rest of the Tower. The wall just opened up for each member as they placed their hands on a scanner.

The Tower was just so massive. Ten floors with everything from a gym with a pool, a holo-deck for training, a library, crime labs, workshops fully stocked with tools, dorms for the full time members who lived on-site... and a lobby and kitchen of their own. Hawkgirl could be seen flying up and through the opened up center of the first several floors of the Tower. Flash was always in and out as he also protected Central City full time, as well as kept a full-time job. There were several legacy heroes in this new and expanded JL Unlimited. The aforementioned Doctor Mid-Night, Blue Beetle, Starman, and a mysterious hooded version of the Sandman just to name a few. He wore strange gauntlets that dispensed his knock-out gas, and his suit was mostly shades of purple with gold trim. This Sandman had a frightening feel to him and constantly boasted to his enemies that he was their worst nightmare. His mask was pulled up exposing his mouth to drink coffee on the far side of the kitchen in the open area lobby space that also included restrooms, an elevator, and a den with several couches and wall mounted tv's.

"So... another legacy hero, huh? The original Starman was my grandfather, you?" Starman asked removing his helmet and the temporary forehead patch that connected him to his helmet's abilities.

"I didn't know any other Sandman heroes. Read about a criminal once. Wouldn't it be easier to refit your helmet instead of depending on those patches?" the dark hero asked.

"I've been tinkering with some things, actually..." Farris began saying before he noticed something in the air. "You smell something, like maybe somebody vaping?"

"My knockout gas is water vapor, but I'm all out right now... otherwise I'd have thought it was maybe leaking." the mysterious man in purple mentioned before throwing his cup in the trash and walking away from the coffee area.

A more observant eye would've noticed the water vapor coming from several of the vents in the lobby area of the League's HQ. Or the smile under Sandman's mask once he pulled it back down over the rest of his face. Before long heroes in the lobby area started feeling tired, and it was barely eleven thirty a.m. The Guardian and Crimson Fox were both asleep on the couch in front of a tv in the den, and after making a sandwich the current Starman aka Farris Knight didn't feel too good either.

"I feel like I've been roofied..." he thought, before he started seeing things that weren't there. "What... the...?"

Starman fell to the floor. His Quarvat was in it's holster on the back of his waist. His helmet was on the table next to his half eaten sandwich near the fridge. He fought sleep but saw aliens all around him destroying the city and everyone in it in horrific fashion. He could barely move, and his eyes were as wide open as they could be. What was happening in the Metro Tower? And where did this new Sandman run off to?!

[Eviledd1984]

@Omega Man

Kara had been inside the Metro Tower for about a few hours. Before performing her duties there she had been in the library of the building. For the most part, she was studying human history and their different cultures. All the books she had been reading were quite fascinating to her. However, there were certain aspects of human nature that perplexed her—warring with each other about meaningless things like land or religion. However, she had been taught of similar conflicts happening on Krypton and other planets. She had gone through a few dozen books using her super speed to read through them quickly. When she was called to start her guard duty she put away the book she was reading away. Again she used her super speed to put the books back on a shelf.

“I will be there soon.” She said through the JLA communicator. She used her super speed once again to head towards the ground floor. Switching duties from Doctor Mid-Night. She hovered above the ground while making her rounds in the front lobby. Greetings to the two security guards and the three other heroes who were patrolling the ground floor. One of them is her mentor Steel. “Hello Mr.Irons, how are you doing today? I hope today goes smoothly. I am still a bit sore from the last bit of excitement that happened a few days ago.” She was of course referring to the villain Parasite causing trouble in the city.

While patrolling the floor she stopped in the museum looking over a printed poster of her cousin. She had awakened a few months before her cousin had been in a coma, so she did not have time to bond with him. This made Kara feel incredibly lonely being the only Kryptonian on earth. She stared at the poster imagining what her cousin was like. Being deep in thought she didn’t notice the gas that was coming out of the vents.

Kara suddenly felt so light-headed that she decided to stop floating. Resting her hand against the wall she could hear a familiar voice calling her name. “Kara…Kara help me…” The voice she recognized was her mother. But of course, this was impossible as her mother died when Krypton blew up. “Momma?” She looked around now following the source of the voice. Walking into another room and noticed the walls were suddenly set ablaze. “Kara help me…Your father is dying…” The voice of her mother became louder as she ventured further into the room. Now she noticed her mother who was holding her father who was lying in her lap. “Mother? What happened to father?” She rushed over but before she could reach her parents she was trapped in a pod. It was the same pod she was put in to escape from Krypton’s destruction. Banging on the glass pleading for her mother to let her out, all she could do was watch her parent’s skin melt until they were nothing but ash. Tears ran down her face as the pod violently shook while she could see her former homeworld blowing up. “NO!!!” She screamed out while banging harder against the pod door.

The Kryptonian could hear more voices calling her name. People she knew appeared in front of the pod. The people’s faces were melted while some had certain parts of their bodies torn off. “Help me!” They all said in a loud voice. All of them pleaded with her to come to save them. She tried pulling the pod door open but she couldn’t for some reason. One of the people is a mother holding her baby. “Take my baby, take my baby in the pod.” She screamed while holding a small skeleton to the pod window. Her skin hanging off of her body.

Outside of her hallucination Kara was pounding her fists against the museum wall. Throwing memorabilia and shelves across the room. Causing quite a large mess that would need to be cleaned later. Kara in real life was covering her ears with her hand trying to drown out the pleading voices.

[Bounce]

Metropolis was impressive.

Even the thrift stores were nicer than what he’d found in Fawcett City. That is, at least, until one started sifting through just what it was that one would find in a Metropolis thrift store.

The heather gray t-shirt was obviously second hand, well washed and worn, with a distinctive S-shield emblazoned on the chest that had faded from use.

Humanity, it seemed, never changed. Thousands of years ago, they had built temples and worshipped him as a god. Today, they wore the icons of their heroes on their clothing and spent their money in gift shops, such as the one in the tower. The forms of adoration may have differed, but hero worship was unchanged.

“Gur’sr be pirun!”

Across from the young boy repping the Superman merch, an Atlantean with glowing violet eyes had summoned tendrils of water that snapped and writhed in the air, before lancing out toward the child. Switching from Atlantean to English, Garth snapped, “Quit playing around, transform and get serious.”

A thin smile tugged at the edges of the boy’s mouth. Bringing both arms up, he crossed them at the wrist as his fingers seemed to form some obscure symbol as he uttered, “Asmku het fisos.”

It was a long forgotten language. The echoes of a people whose culture continued only in the child. As soon as he’d spoken the invocation, he split his arms apart.

As he did, the watery spears stopped short of his form, seemingly erupting as droplets of water sprayed harmlessly across the training arena.

“Bring your A-game and I might consider it,” the boy tossed back at the Atlantean mage.

“Heh. Step into the ocean and say that, Shorty,” Garth quipped, faking bravado even as his shoulders slumped slightly in defeat at having his spell broken so easily. Arms crossed over his chest, Tempest raised one eyebrow in curiosity as he asked, “How’d you come up with a counterspell that fast?”

For a moment, the bronze-skinned youth seemed every bit his young age, as he gave a slight roll of his head that was accompanied by a roll of the eyes as he said, “One, appearances not withstanding, I’ve been doing this since before King Tut.”

“About that,” Garth interjected. Gesturing to indicate the timeless hero’s short stature, the Atlantean asked, “Couldn’t you just stay an adult if you wanted?”

The boy shifted underneath Garth’s violet gaze, reaching across his body with one arm as he suddenly looked down, and then away from Tempest. “Yeah, that... that didn’t go well when I tried it,” the boy offered, in a muted tone. After a moment of icy silence, he added, “For anyone.”

Garth just stood there, as though uncertain of what to say. “Heavy,” the former Aqualad deadpanned finally, before asking, “Want to talk about it?”

Teth made a dismissive gesture. “You wouldn’t want to hear about it. Ancient history, right?”

Now it was Garth’s turn to adopt a smug look. “I’m from Atlantis. So, I get it. Can’t live in the past,” the man offered, in a conciliatory tone. Then, electing for a change of topic, opted to get back to what they’d been discussing earlier. “What was the other thing? About my magic, that is.”

The ghost of a soft smile seemed to relax the boy’s apprehensiveness. “Your Atlantean tradition would probably benefit from the study of some wuxing,” Teth offered. “I have some scrolls you could look at. It’d probably help your technique more than if I gave you the answer.”

“Did you seriously just say scrolls?”

“Yeah!” the boy exclaimed, slipping back into the energy and enthusiasm appropriate for his age. “The library in the Rock contains humanity’s earliest writings on the mystica arcana. There are clay tablets dating all the way back to Babel!”

A few thousands years hooked up to the wisdom of Zehuti had definitely made the former slave-boy into a bit of a nerd, which was on full display with the enthusiasm he was projecting at the thought of ancient libraries, papyrus scrolls, and inscribed tablets covered with a layer of dust.

It was an energy that Garth clearly did not share. “Dude, ain’t nobody got time for that,” Tempest stated flatly.

Now it was Teth’s turn for his shoulders to slump in defeat, as if Garth had just taken all the air out of him.

“Can’t you put the collection on a Kindle or something?”

The boy blinked. The look of momentary confusion transformed into a scowl as the young Canaanite shot a look up at the Atlantean that made clear his disapproval of the idea. “Nevermind,” Teth uttered, with another roll of his eyes. Instead, turning his back to Garth, the boy started toward the exit into the tower proper. “I’m going to get some coffee.”

Who knew hot bean juice could be so addictive? For a fifteenth century novelty, coffee was proving to be one of Teth’s favorite parts of the modern world.

As Garth watched the boy head for the exit, the Atlantean’s violet eyes began to glow. The droplets of water around the room began to slowly coalesce behind the child’s back.

_“Pirun,” Tempest whispered, summoning an orb of water that was suddenly lobbed at Teth’s unsuspecting back like a water balloon.

The boy’s hand came up, his voice echoing, “Fisos,” as he snapped his thumb and finger loudly.

The same moment as the snap, the watery orb reversed it’s arc through the air. As it hit Garth, the water suddenly turned to ice, trapping him in an icy webbing.

“Damn it!” Garth seethed.

Without so much as a glance back, Teth made his way through the door and walked out of the room.

It wasn’t until he was well into his way down the hall that he finally let out the laugh that he’d been holding in, another crack in the veneer of the mature face that the boy put forth.

Then he stopped.

His nose wrinkled, as a look of disgust passed over his face.

He really hoped it wasn’t something that someone had brought into the break room. It wasn’t as bad as when Garth had shared some of his Atlantean cuisine with them – sea urchin surprise was not for the faint of heart – but it definitely wasn’t pleasant.

The boy rounded the corner...

...and found himself stopping short as he nearly collided with someone.

The figure was dressed in black. The lower part of a lightning bolt glowed with an otherworldly light. Teth's head went back, his green eyes tracing up along the lighting bolt until he found that he was looking up at himself.

_{“This can’t be.”}

[GubGar]

Red Tornado

Monitor duty was Red Tornado's preferred assignment when not actively on missions performing heroics. The work was clinical, not very 'human.' It limited the mistakes he could make, which he was grateful for, as it seemed he had been making many of those since being let onto the team. He felt he was well suited to guard duty as well, but some of the other heroes felt uncomfortable with him patrolling the tower so vigorously. Insight, and several questions to those willing to answer him had revealed the primary reason why;

His joining speech.

He had been, to his surprise (if he could truly feel surprise), welcomed into the Justice League. Of the remaining two senior members, it was The Flash that vouched for him in particular. Red Tornado found this strange, given it was also The Flash that foiled him in their original encounter. But he thought perhaps that could be exactly why. Confidence that he could be stopped again. Still, the act had earned gratitude, which Red Tornado expressed publicly.

The android's words were something along the lines of; 'I deeply appreciate the second chance, and swear to you that this time, I have no intention nor desire to betray and/or attempt to suck the air out of your lungs.' He thought it had been a reasonable assurance to make, but evidently not. As that, combined with a difficulty with social cues, had left him feeling rather alienated. There were many confusing things that Red Tornado found difficult to keep track of.

For instance; Children were not allowed in the tower, except for one particular child, unless said child had deceived him. Asking for specific details about the abilities of one's comrades was considered suspicious behavior. And assistance was not always appreciated, especially with puzzles.

So, yes, monitor duty was his preferred form of spending time in the tower. Much harder to make mistakes when one was isolated at the monitors near the top of the building. Especially when he was able to multi-task quite efficiently. Currently, he was watching old footage of previous appearances of the original team while monitoring for trouble. He hoped he could learn from the footage how to better fit in, but suspected attempting to imitate one of the original members would be another faux pas he was unaware of.

That was when he became aware of an issue. Some heroes had begun to collapse, others had begun to shout in a panic.

Drawn from his duties, Red Tornado scans the room to find- No signs of hostiles. But a strange mist seemed to have been coming from the ventilation system. Poison? It would explain its lack of effect on the android to be certain. Rising from his seat, Red Tornado's left arm whirls to life, creating a vortex of wind to disperse the gas within the room. It was likely whatever harm it caused had already been done to any nearby, but a higher dose may cause a higher problem.

Then, hurriedly inputting his credentials, he taps into the tower's intercom.

"This is Red Tornado speaking. I strongly suspect that our base of operations has been struck by some type of airborne poison. However there is a small chance the instance of gaseous fumes is coincidental, so I do not feel confident declaring it for certain. Regardless, please attempt to find a safe place to avoid further contact with potential toxins."

Long-winded, but hopefully helpful. But obviously, a hero's work could not conclude there. Whatever was effecting the League was not effecting him, which meant he may be alone, or at least in a very small sample size, in his ability to stop whatever was at play. He had to make haste, and search for the source.

[rocketrobie2]

THE BLUE BEETLE

Ted never used to dream. Even when he was younger his mind would drift into oblivion before being yanked back to the world of the waking, no fun astral escapades in-between. Nowadays though, Ted found himself drifting into the real of the unreal more and more, whether that was a result of his new sleep schedule, new stresses from prancing around in tights or maybe some otherworldly being finally blessed him with fantasies it didn't matter to Ted. All in all the dreams were just yet another new addition to his rapidly changing lifestyle. However the nightmares had peaked his attention. Reliving the night that the frantic man in gold broke into his home was hard on Ted's psyche and the feelings of inadequacy when he'd dream about fighting the likes of Doomsday alongside the team was just fertilizer to the doubt Ted had already sown regarding his superheroics.

Today though, Ted was taking the risk of nightmares a little sooner than usual as he was dead asleep. He'd managed to wrangle an old storage room kitted out with a futon at the tower and was sleeping like a baby thanks to the white noise of his portable CPAP machine attachment for his BB gun. Originally the design had been more for fun than anything but with how much energy super heroics took out of him, these naps were becoming more and more frequent, necessitating the attachment be made. Blissfully unaware of the coming chaos, Ted's inky black subconscious gave way to wonderful dream.

Looking around, Ted would notice he was back at Dan Garret's apartment, sitting down for a drink with his neighbor. Ted glanced down at his drink and notice it to be lemonade; a childhood favorite.

"...then Sphinx charges at me, deadman's switch in hand, ready to blow the whole subway system" Dan continued, entranced in his own story "but I grab him by the hand, keep the button pressed, and knock his lights out through that stupid suit of his. I really thought I'd rattled him too hard but luckily he left there breathin'"

It was a story Ted had heard before, a story about a villain with a grudge against any and all subway systems and a moniker that didn't fit at all. It was a favorite of Ted to hear and Dan to tell, evidenced by Ted's relaxed posture in his chair and occasional nod to show his interest. Dreams were strange. You could be placed into any situation and have no reason to consider how long you had been there. There was just enough context to give the illusion of a passage of time but not enough-

Suddenly Ted's eyes darted to his drink. Something was wrong, the yellow reflection of the glass didn't quite fit and as he brought the drink up to his eyes, the voice of his friend became more and more distant. It took a good amount of inspection but eventually Ted made out a figure in the refection, other than his own quizzical one. The man in gold. Ted quickly spun around and-

Now he was awake, awoken by a voice of the intercom:

"-operations has been struck by some type of airborne poison. However there is a small chance the instance of gaseous fumes is coincidental, so I do not feel confident declaring it for certain. Regardless, please attempt to find a safe place to avoid further contact with potential toxins. My calculations conclude that this is almost certainly the work of the Sphinx."

The Spinx? Like Dan's Sphinx? There's no wa-" yet another interruption as Ted's hand shot to cover his mouth. He was too distracted by the Sphinx comment to comprehend the poisonous gas that he now saw was slowly creeping under the crack of his door. Ted began to panic and in turn began to run out of air which made Ted realize he'd completely forgotten about his nose, launching his other hand to squeeze it shut, only to recoil in pain as he war reminded of his CPAP. Letting the cogs turn, Ted realized the only reason he likely wasn't poisoned was because of his CPAP machine. Still lacking in air, Ted frantically fiddled with his BB gun to increase the pressure and give him some more breathing room.

Keeping his mouth shut, Ted got to his feet and left the safety of his closest, meeting a wall of gas the now freely flowed into the room. The grandiose Blue Beetle turned up his air just a little more as his panic rose. Without much thought Ted headed for the monitor room where the only leaguer without a set of lungs was stationed. Waling through the halls of the tower was a foggy mess, sometimes he'd come across a someone, eyes-wide and on the ground, other times they were fighting off whatever invisible demons they were seeing. Even more rarely though, Ted would catch glimpses of the Sphinx, stupid costume and all, just how Dan described it and Ted imagined it. Without his BB gun, Ted knew he was in no shape to fight the villain and so he continued through the hazy labyrinth until he was greeted by a small plaque that read monitor room. How quickly had he gotten there? Had he sprinted (was that why he was still breathing so heavy)? Maybe he walked? Was Red Tornado still in there? Only one way to find out. He reached for the door nob but stopped. What if there were others in there? Red could probably fend off the poison decently but opening a door to the miasma infesting the tower would help. Compromising, Ted took a quick look to seek if the coast was clear before knocking on the door.

"Red!... Red!... You in there?... Can I come in?... Don't want to open the seal.... if you've got some others in there... but I don't want to... hold on..." Ted has been taking deep breathes in-between words but the amount of mental effort to keep from taking said breathes through his mouth was excruciating.

"Can ya just open up?... I'm kinda defenseless out here... and I don't want to be banging on the door here... when the Sphinx shows up." Ted said, looking around as if speaking the villain's name would summon him.

[WXer]

Episode 1 - Tears for Fears : Mad World

Among the new recruits of the Justice League, perhaps none drummed up more fanfare for themselves than Buddy Baker, the Animal Man. Spending the days leading up to his official induction to the League on a media tour, the metahuman maverick's brand was at the highest that it had ever been though this was not without controversy. The criticisms were many, only a few were valid - why wasn't he out there stopping crime on the streets, why was he wasting time stopping petty crime, why would he push his political agenda of animal rights so blatantly, et cetera.

Indeed, even before he was part of the League, Buddy had always been a very divisive figure and this new chapter of his career would only increase his notoriety. He knew this though as the last twenty years of vigilantism had prepared him for this.

So what exactly was the newest signing of the League doing right now? Why, scrolling through his social media feed while slacking off on paperwork of course. Crossing T's and dotting i's wasn't exactly the most exhilarating work in the world. In fact, a headache was slowly creeping up on him that was somehow getting worse by the second... Wait. This sensation was familiar.

Instinctively, Buddy would activate his powers and cycle through a variety of immune systems. Within the passing of a second, he had shifted through a honey badger, a mongoose, an octopus, a pig and a snake. Still, this was not enough to completely block the effects of what he now realized was an airborne poison. He would use his remaining strength to stagger out of his room and trudge his way to the main lobby, having a coughing fit along the way.

With each step however, a gruesome scene was developing right in front of him. Blood was everywhere - splashed on the walls, seeping through the ceiling, even leaking through his eyes and the taste of it lingering on his mouth. All of this was a grim reminder of the worst day of his life.

"Show yourself, beast! I'm ready this time!" he would shout from one of the hallways.

[Simple Unicycle]

A small picture of a famous rapper hailing from New York City was pressed up against a bulletin board by a red thumb tack. A red string attached to the thumb tack linked the picture to a newspaper clipping about an increase in drug usage among teens, which was in turn linked to a picture of a New York City drug kingpin, which was in turn linked to a newspaper clipping about increased gang activity in the NYC metropolitan area, and so on and so forth.

"Wait... No, that's not it."

The Question pulled the rapper's picture off the board. Even though the rapper's music was laden with drug references, that still wasn't concrete proof that he was involved in this drug ring the Question had been investigating. A finger tapped against his masked chin as he considered whether to abandon this lead or not. His racing thoughts were enough to distract him from the hazy mist slowly seeping into his room from the vents.

Then, the intercom came on.

"This is Red Tornado speaking. I strongly suspect that our base of operations has been struck by some type of airborne poison. However there is a small chance the instance of gaseous fumes is coincidental, so I do not feel confident declaring it for certain. Regardless, please attempt to find a safe place to avoid further contact with potential toxins."

"Hrm? ... Hmm." The Question noticed the mist enveloping his room. He almost panicked before remembering the filter built into his mask. Even still, he knew that it wouldn't be able to fight off the mist's effects for long.

Breaking into a sprint, the faceless vigilante left his room, holding a sleeve up to his mouth to hopefully help against the gas. He continued his sprint towards the monitor room, but it was a struggle to make his way through the halls with the thick clouds of gas. His breathing grew increasingly labored, and he came to a stop as his chest was racked with coughs. Footsteps were approaching from up ahead.

Suddenly, he felt small. Through the mist, a tall man in priest's attire approached him. The sight of the man brought the Question back to his childhood in the orphanage and the encounter he had with this man so long ago.

"No..."

"Are you ready for some real fun, Victor?"

[Bounce]

The child’s green eyes seemed unusually large as he stared up at the figure before him. A figure that, by all appearances, was himself. The likeness of Shazam peered back at the small youth with an intense energy that caused the air around the larger figure to crackle with electricity.

Then the man’s head went back, his face adopting a sneer as he barked, “Do you not bow before your god?”

_{“God complex maybe,”} the boy uttered under his breath, along with the absolutely necessary roll of his eyes.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground at the child’s feet.

The figure before him seemed larger than life as he levitated up from the ground, voice booming as he spoke, “I am Theo Ramses Teth-Adam. I forged the chains of Egypt into weapons. I built the great cities of Khandaq...”

“-tch-” the boy uttered, a derisive clicking of his tongue. There was a roll of his head before he leveled a glare up at the figure, arms crossed, and he tossed back, “You made the name up to try and impress the Assyrians.”

Wait, why was he even wasting time with this conversation? His arms un-crossed, making a gesture as if to try and wave off the figure of Shazam, as he boy began to think out loud. “We can’t both exist. An illusion? I bet this is Mister Mind’s work.”

A shadow passing over the boy gave him a warning. Jumping backward, Teth narrowly avoided a fist that slammed down into the floor where he’d been standing.

“Ignore me at your peril, mortal!” the figure of Shazam barked, before a roll of thunder seemed to shake the walls. “I am the THUNDER GOD!”

Hands balled into fists, the child glared up at the glowing megalomaniac. “You were supposed to be the best version of me, and somehow, you’re a total jerk!” the boy snapped, before taking a deep breath. His green eyes flashed dangerously as he boasted, “You want to play with lightning? Then let’s do this – SHAZAM!”

This was generally the point where Metro Tower was supposed to get hit with lightning and Teth was going to get yelled at for one or more broken window, burned out electrical appliance, and or exploding television.

He also should have been over six feet tall and spitting lightning bolts.

Sadly, none of that was happening right now. And, instead, Teth just found himself staring up at a large fist that was coming right at him.

Pitching himself to one side, the child rolled out from under the sweeping punch and then scrambled to his feet as he started to break into a run.

_{“This has to be an illusion. This can’t be real. This can’t be happening...”} the boy muttered to himself, as he skidded around a corner and broke into a sprint, as a voice came overhead.

This is Red Tornado speaking. I strongly suspect that our base of operations has been struck by some type of airborne poison...

That was reassurance.

...well, maybe not reassurance, but at least it was confirmation of what Teth already suspected. “Great,” the boy muttered, turning another corner and looking to see if this illusionary Shazam was following him or not.

Wait, if he wasn’t real, then why was Teth running?

“We’re under attack and I’m too high to be of use,” the boy remarked aloud.

Definitely not a good look for a new Leaguer.

[Hound55]

SHANE, THE CHANGING MAN

---

Shane gradually unpacked his delicates into the drawers of the Metro Tower dorm which would be his new home until...

...well, let's be honest, until they get sick of him and fling him out to the street.

Should it come to that, he suspected he'd be the delicate in question. A fancy coat probably not enough to hold back the will of a Kryptonian, a master of magic, a speedster, or most any of the types who called these four walls home. Power always has degrees, and Shane had never felt particularly powerful. No matter what the chick in fishnets had said.

It was a Hell of a fancy coat, mind.

Been enough to help him lay out a small crowd of people back at 'Metropofest: The Sounds of Tomorrow'. Some mouthy guy had told him to take it off, saying it was giving people headaches. He'd suggested he could probably do something better, like holding back his girl's hair since she was puking up a forty and a half's worth on the grass.

It turns out she hadn't drunk anything at all. And the guy apparently didn't care for the insinuation. Because violence came quick and fast.

A few minutes later and the scuffle had turned into something closer resembling a riot and there were about fifty to sixty people on the ground in varying degrees of distress.

In a very public place.

You know, the kind of thing which brings about attention. Attention from the types who wear their delicates on the outside...

Only it wasn't that bunch who turned up.

---

"Are you really sure about that one?" Doctor Mid-Nite brought up a hologram of Shane, which rotated, and brought up various details from a short Bio on the display screen, including the outline of a hand.

"Not completely. No." Zatanna replied, not instilling Mid-Nite with a great deal of confidence. "But my team is right. There's no better place for him."

"Had some issues getting into the building. Security went glitchy. Struggled to recognise his hand print."

"Hmm." Zatanna replied in an unsurprised murmur. "I suspect that just means the security system's working properly."

Doctor Mid-Nite's brow raised behind her mask, bringing out further explanation from the Mistress of Magic.

"That coat he wears. It contorts reality. It's not that the hand-print in the data-file is wrong. He's in flux. It's changing. I'm not surprised that it's taking a few attempts to recognise him."

"Reality? That's-- That sounds incredibly dangerous. Are you sure we can trust him with it?"

"Incredibly dangerous. So much so, I wouldn't really feel completely comfortable no matter who was wearing it. But there's two things which make me feel better about the fact that he's the one who has it."

"What's that?"

"He REALLY doesn't want to have it. But he has enough sense that he doesn't trust anybody else with it either."

Knowing her relief would soon be here, Mid-Nite closed the file. The rotating hologram and Bio disappeared from the displays.

---

Shane looked in his wardrobe, at the numerous coats and jackets he'd brought over thoughtlessly, only to now realise how superfluous they now were.

An obsolete wardrobe. Replaced by a single purpose M-Vest. A coat for all seasons.

His friends were gone. Some he hadn't even had the opportunity to piss away with his behaviour and general personality yet.

Or rather he was gone. They were still there, living the lives they'd built for theselves. The lives he'd drifted in and out of. Mooching, shooting the shit and playing his guest star cameo role.

To silent outside applause.

Would they miss him? Would they notice? Dragged away to this new life of his own he'd become 'one of those people'. The ones who get out. Who study abroad. Who look to a new career, a new purpose. Who miss the every day events, the minutiae, the gossip, the breath of the town you grew up in.

He was one of the ones who'd have to hear the stories in passing now. Not the one who'd tell as he bumped into someone familiar.

Because this place was anything but familiar.

He was surrounded by driven people, often absorbed in their own worlds. Most didn't have time for him.

And this was where he was expected to live now.

He closed the wardrobe and its past of choice that he'd left behind. It was depressing to think about.

He sighed deeply and then copped a breathful of some strange scent. Did they--? Did they have some kind of air fresheners in the dorm rooms?

He breathed in more, trying to get a sense of what it was, and where it could have been coming from.

*Sniff, sniff*

He followed his nose like a dog, before it led him to an overhead vent, he was considering what it could mean as his M-Vest began to throb and pulsate. Suddenly, a tinny voice echoed through Metro Tower's in-house intercom system.

"This is Red Tornado speaking. I strongly suspect that our base of operations has been struck by some type of airborne poison."

Suddenly the M-Vest regurgitated a stream of bones. Of flowers. Of pencil shavings and pinky toenails.

Shane's breathing, his heartrate rapidly accelerated. His hands came to the sides of his face.

"However there is a small chance the instance of gaseous fumes is coincidental, so I do not feel confident declaring it for certain."

He turned and looked around his room, suddenly a set of books on his desktop became a dozen eggs, before the eggs themselves erupted, yolk bursting over everything. His top drawer handle became a video game controller. Then a crying baby. Then he yelped as its screams were silenced as it became a shoe.

Was-- was the baby alive? Had he created life and then ended it just as fleetingly? Could he do that? What did it mean? What did any of this mea--?

Then his door burst open, and darkness exploded, and from deep within the darkness a woman emerged… who he scarcely had time to recognise before she turned into a lamp.

And that's when Shane started screaming.

"Regardless, please attempt to find a safe place to avoid further contact with potential toxins. pLease cHecK in oN thE moRe juNioR meMbeRrs anD ensUre thEIr saFeTy."

He threw himself behind the door and tried to hold it closed. To hold back the deluge of the most powerful people on earth, for their own safety. From him.

What was it the chick in tights had said the coat had been called before?

"The Madness vest--?"

He tried to take the garment off, but his arms were too long or the sleeves were too tight. Ridiculously too long. Six feet before the elbow. He couldn't get it off. And as he tried another slipped through.

A man with a golden shield who he'd briefly seen by the cafeteria, but never had a chance to learn his name, rushed in before he turned into a potted plant.

He threw himself at the door again. He started crying and his hands shook.

"sHaNe. pLeaSe heLp sHaNe. shOw nO reGaRd fOr youR oWn saFeTy aNd shOw thE wORld whAt lEagueRs aRe mAde oF. dIe bRaveLY aS aLl heROes doo-oo."

Shane lay on the floor in the foetal position screaming and rocking, the world surrounding him a tapestry made from the rapidly fraying threads of his own sanity...

[Eviledd1984]

@Omega Man @GubGar @Bounce

Kara by this point had been flying around the many different floors trying to lose the melting Kryptonians. Hiding inside of a room and stacking the large tables and shelves to block the door. She could still hear the pleading voices wanting Kara to come to rescue them from their suffering. “I can’t….I can’t…” Kara would scream out while hiding underneath a table. Of course, trying to block out the voices and shutting her eyes did not stop the hallucinations. But she could hear a knocking above her.

Looking up she could see her cousin standing there with his arms crossed. But his expression was not of joy seeing her cousin but it was of anger. Flipping the desk which crashed and split into millions of pieces against the wall. Her cousin grabbed Kara by the neck and lifted her high up in the air.

“You failed me Kara…you failed everyone. You could have saved them…you could have saved me…” He said now squeezing harder on the girl’s neck. Tears were running down Kara’s cheeks as she struggled to breathe.

“Kal…please don’t do this…” She wanted to say something else to try and convince her cousin to let go, but nothing was coming out except for a gargling sound. Her hand placed on her cousin’s hands trying to remove it, but he was too strong for her to overpower him. Over her communicator, she could hear a comrade speaking.

"This is Red Tornado speaking. I strongly suspect that some type of airborne poison has struck our base of operations. However there is a small chance the instance of gaseous fumes is coincidental, so I do not feel confident declaring it for certain. Regardless, please attempt to find a safe place to avoid further contact with potential toxins."

Kara looked over at her cousin before something clicked in her head. She placed her hands on her cousin’s and released his grip. “You must be some sort of hallucination caused by this toxin in the air. You're not real.” She took a few heavy breaths while backing away from the hallucination of Superman. The hallucination Superman was moving closer towards her with a clenched fist.

“This is very real Kara, and you can’t help the other leaguers. YOUR WEAK!!!” Kal started walking closer to Kara. The face of her cousin melted and turned into the face of someone who scared her greatly.

“I’M NOT WEAK!!!” Kara yelled out while punching the hallucination in the face. Superman’s head fell off the ground with a loud thud. The head is now unidentifiable from being her cousin’s. Long mechanical tentacles come off the sides of the head.

“Your planet will be collected for information, and this planet you call home will be eradicated.” The head spoke in a monotone voice. It was Brainiac the A.I. that had taken Kandor before the destruction of Krypton. Kara clenched her fist while her eyes glowed bright red shooting a long heat vision shoot at the head. The intense heat caused the head to explode and in reality, caused a large hole in the ground. Breaking the barricaded door and flying around to find her other team members.

She noticed a child a few feet away from her. She could quickly identify that it was Teth-Adam also known as the hero Shazam. Slowly she moved closer towards him not wanting to frighten him. “Teth are you okay? It’s me, Kara. I need help figuring out where this gas is coming from. Do you know where ventilation room is?” Kara stood a few feet from him wondering if he thought she was a hallucination of some kind.

[Omega Man]

_{EPISODE - 1 - Tears for Fears
Featuring: Red Tornado @GubGar - the Flash - Guardian}

Alarms were going off, members of the expanded League were compromised, and the Flash had only just got to the Tower. Doc Mid-Nite was still evacuating the museum and gift shop areas with the civilian manager Gary.

"I can't leave for five minutes can I Gary?" Flash asks with a chuckle.

"We got everybody out, we still don't know what's going on..." Gary said sounding winded.

"Something came through the vents, people started hallucinating. The walls shook and soon after Red Tornado came over the comms. I called emergency crews for the civilians effected by the gas or whatever. We still don't know what's happening on the other side of the wall..." Mid-Nite explained.

"It's okay, I got it..." Flash stated vibrating his molecules through the wall to see the chaotic scene before him. Red Tornado seemed to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary creating whirlwinds to help disperse the chemicals in the air.

Several floors above the chaos walked the man in the purple hood calling himself Sandman. He seemed to be talking to someone, but it was unclear who, or how he was able to communicate with them.

"The Tower went into lockdown. I didn't expect the Tornado to be on monitor duty sixteen out of the twenty-four hours of the day. We may need a distraction across town to get the robot out of our way if we try this again."

Back on the ground floor both Tornado and the Flash created tornadoes from their hands for several moments before they both stopped.

"I think that's got it, Red. You see anything out of place?" asked the Flash of the android hero.

Red Tornado's spinning hands came to a gradual stop, the windstorm they generated halting with them. Teamwork with The Flash... how strange. A year ago he had been the one to *defeat* Red Tornado. He wasn't attempting to make any sort of comment just yet. The android hero scanned the room (non-literally, Professor Morrow unfortunately did not install particularly advanced scanners) a second time to be certain. There was nothing he could pick up on...

"I must apologize for the collateral damage done to the interior of the rooms by my aerokinesis, necessary though it may have been." the android hero continued.

"I can clean everything up in no time. Barely an inconvenience." the Flash replied making quick work of the mess as heroes began coming out of the mental trip and/or drowsiness.

Later...

Starman was finishing up a session in the training holo-deck with the Guardian. The two heroes fought against an enemy known to several more of the street level heroes than anyone, Blockbuster. The setting was an urban block of a nameless city with several cars, civilians, and debris in play. The objective was simple. Get the civilians to safe areas and take down Blockbuster with no major damage to the surrounding area. The obvious course of action would have been Guardian on crowd control and the guy with the cosmic weapon taking down the buff crimelord. So they did it the other way. Guardian deflected melee strikes from Blockbuster with his golden shield as Starman flew through the area and rescued the civilians in faster time. Once the crowd was dealt with Farris assisted Guardian in taking down the badguy and shortly after the holographic 'skin' of the civilian and enemy holo-droids faded as quickly as the surroundings.

"Have you heard anything about the gas attack on the HQ from earlier?" Guardian asked as they made their way to the exit.

"I overheard Flash talking with Hawkgirl and Steel about how a bunch of security cameras all went offline shortly before it happened. It could have been coming from the museum side of the lobby or somewhere on our side either one... who knows?" Starman replied. "Some of us didn't get to sleep it off, I had visions of Lovecraft styled space monsters eating the planet. By the time I got off the ground the sandwich I'd made was already ruined... I still need to grab some food..."

[Bounce]

If he could just concentrate for a moment, he could weave a spell to purge the toxins from his body. Or maybe carry his body backward in time to a point before he’d been exposed. Or forward to a point that the toxins had been processed out of the body?

He couldn’t make up his mind. It was like one idea after another, floating in a fog.

Then an explosion ripped a hole between the floors of the tower. The boy looked and saw what appeared to be Shazam emerging from the smoking ruins.

The black-and-gold clad figure started toward him.

Instinctively, the boy shied away, even as he tried to steel himself. “You’re just an illusion. You’re not real. You’re not me,” the boy uttered, speaking to himself to try and muster up the courage to stand up to his hallucination even as he took another step back.

“Teth are you okay?”

The child’s green eyes just blinked. A look of confusion replaced that of fear, before the boy’s head tilted to one side.

That was a... very odd thing for him to say to, well, himself.

Plus, Shazam was way too much of a jerk to ask that. Something about the wisdom of Zehuti. Ultimate intelligence...

...and absolutely zero social skills.

“It’s me, Kara.”

The boy’s head went back at the statement, as what appeared to be Shazam’s face was now speaking with Supergirl’s voice.

“I believe the appropriate idiom for this situation is, I am tripping balls right now,” the boy deadpanned flatly, still noticeably apprehensive toward the spectre of his empowered form, but accepting for the moment that it was just a product of whatever he’d inhaled.

“I need help figuring out where this gas is coming from. Do you know where ventilation room is?”

“The what room?” the boy asked, for a moment looking his age as he stared up at the man, who was really a woman.

Ventilation, as in air conditioning? To be honest, he’d never even given the tower’s method of air circulation a thought.

Maybe if he’d been in his empowered form, he could have helped, but as it was...

That was when it seemed that the air pressure suddenly dialed up, as the tower was aired out. “I have a feeling that’s Red Tornado,” the boy opined aloud.

Later

“Zor Isis Fulmis.”

As he spoke the incantation, the child moved a hand in the air. As he did, the damage that Kara had inflicted from earlier seemed to reverse itself, until the hole was patched as if it had never happened.

Rather than inspecting his handiwork, the child looked down at his hand. Snapping his fingers a few times, pale sparks seemed to form.

He was finally back to being able to cast magic again.

“Well, that was officially annoying,” the boy commented aloud.

[Eviledd1984]

@Omega Man @GubGar @Bounce

Kara looked oddly at the young boy. She did not understand that particular idiom. “I am affected as well by this toxin. I believe it is what is causing us to see these hallucinations.” Kara moved a little closer towards the boy. Although as she said that she could feel the gas starting to dissipate from the tower. “I am glad he was able to get rid of this hellish gas.” Kara felt relieved but wondered who would try to gas the other leaguers. Looking around she noticed some of the damage done by her seemed to disappear. “I should speak to Red Tornado or the others if they say any suspicious characters come into the building. Are you okay though?” She asked with concern in her voice.

After her conversation with Teth she left to go back to her room. Meditating for a couple of hours. During the meditation, she thought of what she could do to fortify her mind. The next time this would happen she would be better prepared. Leaving her room to meet with Red Tornado and the Question. If anything perhaps they would have some answers on what is going on. Making her way over to where the two other heroes were. “Hello. Did you find any clue of who could be the culprit?” Asking while also wondering if the android hallucinated during this time. She was sure the Question would have some theories of who the culprit could be.

[Omega Man]

_{EPISODE - 1 - Tears for Fears
Featuring: Red Tornado @GubGar - Supergirl @Eviledd1984 - the Question @Simple Unicycle - Tempest - Guardian}

Starman headed back to the kitchen area again down on the first floor of the Tower. It had been nearly six hours since the incident that morning and since he'd only been there a few weeks he just assumed stuff like that must happen often. The museum and gift shop on the other side of the lobby wall was still evacuated and the day manager Gary had left for the evening. Parts of the wall had an open view of the League's lobby so it was also something of a site seeing attraction. Flash once joked about it being a 'superhero zoo', but then realized it brought in nearly four million dollars annually that went into maintaining the Tower and adding several dorm styled living quarters for full time heroes on-call. Starman wasn't thinking about any of that though....

"I can't believe I still haven't eaten anything yet." Starman thought to himself taking off his helmet and heading towards the kitchen. "Next time I go into the training War Room thing or whatever I need to go with somebody that isn't some street level goon as an enemy. I wonder if papaw Ted had an arch-enemy?"

Sometime when he was still in his twenties, Farris Knight worked as a cook in a cafe down in Opal City. Watching him make a grilled sandwich was like watching some chef on tv. The sandwich he'd made before being gassed was something quick, but he wanted to enjoy this one. He buttered a skillet and threw what looked like steak and cheese on it with a few diced peppers and onions off to the side he'd prepared. It looked like he had made enough for more than one sandwich, but nobody got too close to him. Farris was dancing to the beat of his own drum and whatever synthwave music he had playing in an earbud while making the food. He had removed his helmet when he got to the kitchen as well as his gloves and rolled up his sleeves. Starman noticed the three heroes congregating off to the side of the lobby just a few feet away from the kitchen area. Tempest and Guardian were watching some NFL game on the tv over where the couches were located at this point and Tempest looked over the back of the couch towards Farris as he'd never smelled an Opal City styled Philly Cheese Steak.

Farris thought that the Question looked over when he first started cooking, but he wasn't entirely sure since the guy didn't have a face. He decided to walk over to Q with the extra sandwich to see what was up with the three of them. Supergirl and Red Tornado were there as well.

"Anybody seen that new Sandman? Guy was giving me weird vibes earlier just before that gas or whatever hit. Was hoping to catch him with a sandwich and some small talk to see what was up with him... unless one of you guys want it?" Farris asked already biting into his sandwich and waving the other at the three heroes knowing that only two of the three of them could even eat it. The Question looked at the sandwich then back up to Starman before shrugging.

"Sure. Sandwich sounds good after that... ordeal. Sandman, though..." the faceless man fell silent, pondering what connection the missing hero had to the attack on the Tower.

[Eviledd1984]

@Omega Man @Simple Unicycle

Kara walked into the room where the other heroes were. She wasn’t as hungry as the others, she felt quite anxious about a villain being able to sneak into the tower. The blonde hero folded her arms while speaking to the other heroes. “I didn’t see Sandman before the tower was attacked, so I cannot say if he was acting suspiciously.” Turning her attention towards The Question. “Do you have any theories about who could have attacked the tower?” She thought he would have some idea about who the culprit was. Part of her wished that Batman was here to help with the investigation.

“I don’t think I have any villains that would have access to that kind of gas.” She thought for a moment about anyone in her rogue gallery that such a devastating weapon. “But feel like there’s a villain Batman had fought before that would use something like that. Poison Ivy, or was it Doctor Death?” Rubbing her chin being in deep thought. Her stomach started rumbling, all of that hallucinating had made her quite hungry. “If you can could you get me a pepper and egg sandwich, I would greatly appreciate it.” She said to Starman. It seemed for a moment her mind had wandered towards food.

“What do you think of this whole situation Mr.Tornado?” Focusing back on the situation at hand. She too was trying to figure out the whole situation. “Where is Sandman right now? Perhaps we could talk to him about his whereabouts before the attack?” Her statement sounded more like an interrogation than asking a few questions. But what Question brought up made her a little suspicious of Sandman.