He is on Earth 16 now guys. Gone forever.
Yeah then they should absolutely use trains.
Everything that a train would do is done by the portal.
Thank you, corrected.
No, 'had' is correct. She's obviously heard about him now.
No, that's correct.
You have a point, but in this case, no, that was just me. The universe doesn't need two Arsefaces.
Thank you, corrected.
...
Welcome back, @Mr Zoat. Hope the holiday went well. And another double drop to maintain the average, eh? Now, let's see if our estimates of what's happening with the hats are accurate or not, and how the Face and Argent handle investigating...
I'm guessing he hasn't done any homework yet about current concerns for the League. Or at least heard of the Mad Hatter of Gotham City... It's only the really ambitious freaks of Gotham that get attention elsewhere.
I assume the merchandise hats he's thinking of are often cowboy hats or trucker/baseball caps with Uncorporation branding. Anything more unique would be... Peculiar to imagine.
Especially on a sunny day, in a queue out in the open. Going bareheaded is a good way to get a sunburnt face and neck.
It doesn't help that you were just joking about helmets a few minutes ago.
It's not going to be robots again. For one thing, they'd be expecting you to be paranoid about that sort of thing for a while.
A lot of that was just playing to League assumptions, I bet. Obvious goons in stuff like hoodies or cap-and-mask combos tend to be a trope for a reason.
Mookbots were very much of a kind, huh? I'm betting some of those expressions are focused on him and Argent.
Yeah, neither of them are really suited to investigations with those powersets. Doesn't stop them doing so, just eliminates a few exotic options.
Mad Hatter definitely not well-known outside Gotham, of course.
...I mean, I don't doubt it would look odd. Surely she could explain she was checking something for 'work'? Although it would be embarrassing as hell to discuss.
And more than a few folks would probably relish the idea of meeting a 'superhero', even if they aren't well-known.
Good move, always checking her options. I'm guessing she's also a little shy about just approaching people. Between her appearance and being, well, a teenager...
Face taking the showy route, eh? Fitting, given he's hardly covert.
I mean, A guy can't just relax a little? I'm sure that's what he'd tell anyone who asks about it, anyway. Claim he has to vent heat every once in a while to avoid overheating.
Ah, testing to see who didn't look at the big, obvious superhero showing off, eh?
Because not doing so would be suspicious. Looks like they have a narrower range of targets.
Because of course the local sports teams would lean into their city's reputation.
Oh, that's especially sus. Not fidgeting or doomscrolling while in line?
Not out of the ordinary. I doubt folks would arrange to all 'get wormed up' at once for fun.
Yeah, the usual target of your attention isn't there, that's gonna throw a person's responses off.
These days, it's pretty much working on the construction or shipping, I would expect. Tourism isn't exactly a priority yet.
True. Or he's slow to respond because of real-time lag from the remote control. Unless Tetch is in town and in line of sight, there's got to be time needed for him to process a 'perceive-consider-instruction' loop.
Dude could be high, but every moment is making him seem more suspicious.
Ah, could be their control running on a script making them so slow to react. Especially with that repeated 'ignore the annoyance' thing he's doing.
I'm guessing Hatter's Illuminati group are trying to get samples of the organ in order to study it.
A Florida Man, eh. That is a real place, but somehow, I don't think this is as simple as him wanting a detox aid.
Yes, some reasonable possibilities as to why he's odd, but... In these circumstances, best to be a bit wary.
Ah, good question, Face. Well spotted!
Also a good suggestion. Probably better to try discretion before you go running around hoiking people's hats off.
So most of those people are likely under control. Or they're so jaded about superheroes that a flying silver babe doesn't rate a glance. I think we can guess which is more likely.
It is nice to get these rotating perspectives, too. Along with the note of who each perspective is to save time working it out from context...
More than enough eyes on her to respond quickly to any potential trouble.
If it turns out that's rude to ask of them, she can apologise later. Right now expediency trumps politeness.
I'm sure they're aware. OL isn't the sort to spring that on a friendly party under these circumstances.
A tablet with keyboard might be an option to look into, especially with text-to-speech. But there's probably all sorts of other issues. Working out if their tentacles can be picked up by touch-screens, for instance.
And whether there's anyone else like him, just to be careful... But that's for later.
...Hmm, does her alien physiology make her telepathy-resistant, or...
Ah, just took them a second to calibrate. Or the big guy was checking to see if he had to restrain her.
Definitely gonna have some classwork ahead, learning about League-affiliated parties.
Got to love a fellow who takes pride on their skills.
Yeah, that's gonna be some of the teething troubles their group will be the test-bed for settling.
Ah, the G-Gnome a little worried about getting caught up in a fight? That's fair.
I'm not surprised, what with them seeing her fly off then come back with another weird creature.
And there's your targets, little guy.
And here we go...
I hope he meant to drag her along with him, or that might be worrying.
Identical thought pattern to the first guy? No way is that anything but mind-control. And it's pretty clear Tetch gave them a simple program to follow, so he may not paying direct attention.
...Might have wanted to keep that a little more private, Argent.
Ah, the telepathic contact shaking the control slightly, I bet. But not enough to break it.
Even panic conditions for the mind control. Wonder if he was gonna get asked to remove the hat for the implantation procedure or if they'd let him keep it on?
...While the other hat guys are probably taking note now.
Clever. Exploit that programmed indifference to catch him off guard.
Oh, sure, OL told them about that. Presumably as a lesson about assuming you're utterly invulnerable because of a single good defence.
Tetch tech all but confirmed. So getting the rest of those hats off the unresponsive guys just became a priority.
I suspect she'd elicit a similarly shocked reaction, but less fear. She's much nicer on the eyes and all, you know?
So he got hatted in that crowd? I'm sure OL or someone can grab any surveillance records, see if it was Tetch who be-chapeau'd him.
Ah, let's put a pin in that for a second, you're not the only victim here...
What with the mind-control and all. Make sure there's no lingering effects from it or the sudden cessation of it.
Let's hope they're dumb and all ran in the same direction...
So what are the odds that is isn't The Mad Hatter? Not like he has a monopoly on mind-control tech. Or headwear.
I'd say the chances of this not being him are low.
Thank you, corrected.
'its'
'Pacific'
'its'
Zatanna is pretty feisty in this meeting.
'with'?
Broken link.
'blemmya'? Or something anyway, since I think blemmyae is plural.
'And if'?
I initially assumed it was the Anti-Life that changed his personality. I suppose not.
'general'
'has'?
'his'
Same.
'underwater'?
Her powers make her resistant to Anti-Life? That's pretty good.
'effect'
'irreparable'
Thank you, corrected.