Young Justice Plus

Gotham City, New Jersey- July 25, 08: 39 EDT

You hear a shuffling and move forward, and come face to face with a frantic cat instead of a human. A beautiful color between black and gray, the cat hisses and jumps past you, running away.

That was weird. You keep looking.

"Time is running out dear girl. The Justice League is only a phone call away, and your dreams will die with a speed dial." Catwoman's voice is melancholy. "Imagine all you are working for evaporating in the blink of an eye." You find another microphone and focus your hearing further. The cat rushes past you again and in the direction of the rustling. Following the cat's streak you see a crouching figure who leaps away from the beast and into view. You see a long, grotesque smile fixed on the face of Catwoman as she swings by her whip from a broken street lamp and rolls underneath a car quick as lightning.

You advance slowly, cautiously, keeping your illusion in place as you answer Catwoman. "You have more to lose. The League will arrest me, but I will kill you and wash your body down into the sewers." You let your superhearing drop out in order to prepare an attack.

"Will you now? I-" You fire furiously at her shoulders, struggling to maintain your illusion as it happens to give her absolutely no warning. Catwoman rolls out from under the car at an incredible pace, leaving a long trail of hot blood as it streams from her shoulder. You see a huge, maniac grin fixed on her face, which does not strike you as a good sign.

"Dear Figment, you do break your toys don't you?" The thief's voice is subdued, and she leaps forward with her bullwhip swinging from her good arm. The whip dissolves before it strikes you and then you shudder with the realization you messed up as you see her fingers bleeding freely along the undissolved handle.

"You're not a toy," You answer.

"You must be mad to go against the Justice League. But then again, I'm not all there myself." Catwoman hits the ground in a crouch, her dissolved fingertips pointing at you while more blood drips from her failing arm. After a moment's thought you burn her hip, which causes her to fall, but she hurls something at you which you fail to catch which hits you in the face. Coughing, you feel the panic rise in your veins. She probably dosed you with fear toxin earlier, somehow. Breaking into a run you see her on the ground, hopping forward in a disturbing gate using all fours, balanced between her less injured arm and less injured leg.

"Mind warped," You realize out loud. You should have seen it earlier. She's ignoring the pain because she can't not ignore it. You turn the ground around her into one of your quicksand pits and think desperately about what to try next. Your heart is pounding, your ears rushing. The cat is circling around the pit, mewling frantically and pawing at the edge.

Then you feel a heavy blow across your back. Distracted with your powers and fear you didn't even notice Bugbear sneaking up behind you with a heavy board. You bleed from a nail embedded in the board. Flexing back you see the vacant look in his eyes and a card perched against his ear. When you dissolve the card he slumps, muttering vaguely.

"Ms. Cat says. Ms..." You ignore him and turn around. Catwoman is pulling herself out of the solidified ground. If the control is anything like Bugbear's it should be a device somewhere around the head, so you dissolve the top of the costume.

The thief screams a long and blood curdling sound. The cat leaps at her and presses its head against her own. "Isis!" The first coherent word from her doesn't make any sense, but it's a better sign.

"Do you remember anything?" You ask her.

She looks up, her face a mess of pain and costume goo. "Walrus. Big walrus." She shakes her head. "What's happening?"

"You were mind controlled into attacking me. Is the Justice League really in Gotham?" You try to control the chemically induced panic in your voice.

"Zatara, Martian Manhunter, I think they were coming tomorrow. Wolfram and Hart leaked it to the papers. Hired..." She shakes her head again, the pain getting to her. You cast a tactile illusion and her body relaxes as the pain vanishes. "You're better than heroin. Jesus, been a while since I felt something like that."

"Figment, illusionist. You pull her out of the ground and the cat leaps protectively on her belly.

"Catwoman, thief. Do you want to call them? Please, this is bad enough as it is."

You shake your head. "You, mind controlled you, was talking about it. I'm afraid whoever was doing that will make the call."

The injured woman flinches, but gains control back at once. "Get me out of here and I will pay you." You look back at Bugbear. He is an ally.

"Do you have a phone on you?" You ask her.

"There's no one I could call. Do you have anyone?" Scarecrow, maybe, but he could take far too long. Every shadow looks like a Green Manhunter and you can't stop shaking just because someone threw a poison at you.

"No one good," You answer honestly. "Even if it's not the League, he could have other people on this, if he has mind control tech." He'd used it on Bugbear so he probably has a lot. You hear sirens off in the distance, but it is Gotham, so it could be for anything.

"We need to move. If anyone saw a fight like this they'd call, even here. Maybe not the police, but the rackets they'd call know what to tell cops if they want a problem to go away. Help me." Catwoman hisses, her eyes darting around. You wonder if she got hit with fear toxin as well.

[X] "Sorry." You get up and run. You have your belt, you're not injured, and you aren't recognizable. You don't need to deal with this.

[X] "I have an idea." You use your powers and begin to make something to haul her. She is going to pay you, after all.

[X] "I need to make a call." You pull out a phone and speed dial Ethan. Your judgment is compromised, and you are an apprentice. This is the time to act like one.

 

Gotham City, New Jersey- July 25, 09: 22 EDT

You sit cautiously in the alley that looks exactly like every other alley you have seen in Gotham except for Catwoman telling you to go into this one, sitting next to the Catwoman and Bugbear.

"You said you would pay me." You bring this up after a long gap of silence and breathing. Catwoman's wounds are closed, thanks to you, but she will obviously need to see a doctor. Her injuries are too severe for her not to need a lot of medical treatment.

"I did," She agrees. "You must be low on the totem pole to want that. I'm surprised you didn't ask for a favor."

You shrug. "I don't have any interest in Gotham. I want something I can carry. It's better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it. Besides, what could you do for me? There's nothing in particular I want stolen, and I don't need any information about the city. If my employer wanted your services he would have contacted you."

"You're a loyal minion. It's hard to buy that kind of loyalty. What is in this whole thing for you?" The thief sounds thoughtful.

"What are you willing to give to find out?" You are rather curious what she will answer.

"That's a good question. How about this? I tell you something useful and you tell me what I want to know." Without feeling the pain she looks in much better shape than she is, but no need for her to be in pain when she decides to pay you.

You chew this over. No need to insult her. "I will hear it, and if I agree it's important I will tell you."

She smiles. "They aren't hear for some mob lawyer. The Justice League. Psychic interrogation is barely working in the best of cases, and these lawyers don't play nice with it." She kicks back a bit and pets Isis.

"Then why are they here?" You ask.

"They're not," Her answer is matter of fact. "That is the piece of the puzzle I figured out. They have people who look like them, can talk the talk, but probably not walk the walk. The Justice League wants an alibi for those two right now." Isis purrs happily near Selina's face.

"How do you know this?" You ask. This is useful.

"I'm not sure, but it's not just a guess. The Batman on the street is rarely Batman. Maybe only a third of the time. The rumors are true, I know him. At first it was always him, but then it changed. And I know Wolfram and Hart like the back of her paw, they wouldn't let a psychic touch a client with anything useful, and the League knows that. The Justice League is up to something today."

"That is worthwhile information. Thank you, Catwoman. In answer, my employer has begun to teach me magic. I believe that if I stay with him I can become much magically stronger than I otherwise could be. He is also engaged in a significant project that I am highly in favor of that I believe would benefit many people, though I do not have permission to say more about it. As a practical and ideological manner I have a great deal of faith in this path, and I believe my work has impressed my employer in a way that I'm unsure would go over as well with another superior."

She shakes her head. "That is pretty impressive. How long has it been since you got us here?"

You shrug. "45 minutes, maybe? I wasn't keeping track."

"Should be long enough to make a phone call. It won't send up quite the alert it would have on the scene." She pulls it out. "I just need to make a call and someone will deliver your payment in full and take me home."

Gotham City, New Jersey- July 25, 10: 12 EDT

Catwoman's ally, Holly, arrives much later than you expected. Isis leaps into her arms happily and Holly strokes her nose to tell. "I was wondering where you went," She says to the cat. "Here it is." She hands you a small box.

"This isn't money," You answer suspiciously.

"Last eighteen wire transfers someone tried to pay me with were hacked within six hours. These days cash serial numbers are recorded in cash registers and it's too bulky to carry non-suspicious notes. Jewelry is either notable or worthless these days." Catwoman sounds like she is patiently explaining to a newbie, which you guess you are.

Oh shit. You open the box and glance inside. "Meteor Rocks? You're paying me with that?" A leptokinetic nudge proves you can't transmute it.

"If you're not staying in Gotham that's the best I can do on short notice without a lot of information about you or a lot of promises. This is fast and lets you do whatever you need to do."

You close the box tightly. "This box can hold it well, right?"

Holly nods. "I swear. I wouldn't be carrying it if it wasn't."

You are about to storm off when you remember Bugbear is still unconscious. "Take care of him, get him help, and we're square." Holly nods, and you leave.

Gotham Estates, New Jersey- July 25, 10: 32 EDT

You call Ethan and explain what happened.

"What she did was fair. Meteor Rock is an accepted medium of exchange in most of the criminal underworld for the reasons she suggested. Law enforcement is increasingly desperate to strangle the free flow of finance. I believe she overestimated the number of chipped cash registers, but they are an initiative by the Wayne Foundation and could easily be that common there. The initial resistance to the process is believed to have given the FBI too much information on the rackets to be maintained. However, cash is not as traceless as it was, so she has a point. I don't think we actually have a use for Meteor Rock yet, but it is extremely easy to trade, if a felony to carry."

"I have enough felonies already. Want me to come back?" You look out at the suburb, which has a long wall with check points you needed to illusion your way through to protect itself from Gotham.

Ethan is silent for a moment. "There is a possible assignment for you, but I would understand if you wanted to wait for a run at it. Your recent acquisition also helps with this. Abin Sur's bones are being sold in Metropolis." You snort.

"Abin Sur what?" The old Green Lantern was being cut up and sold.

"Everything is quite above board. His son recently came to Earth in the man's old space ship. The rumor is that he wants superpowers of his own, and wants the money to do it." Ethan sounds amused.

"Can money even do that?" You ask.

"Well, it would destroy a large fortune, but he might have that fortune soon enough. There are options. Magical artifacts, alien technology, becoming a wizard, Meteor Rock procedures. Amon Sur is dedicated. One of his bones would actually be quite useful to this project, metaphysically. He was on every world that I am trying to contact, and his species does not regrow bones. It would be a powerful talisman to reinforce the spell to have something like that."

"Metropolis." You remind him. "Metropolis, Kansas. Superman. Lives. There. They say there's not a gang left, that the city is powered by something from a space ship, that he stops two thirds of the accidents there."

"I suspect the statistics are exaggerated. Even if they are not, you don't want to do anything criminal, you want to bid legally on a publicly available good." Ethan sounds a bit worried.

"With what money?" You ask. "I don't think the weight in Meteor Rocks would cover it."

"I have promised a favor to someone. A very big favor, admittedly. Money will not be a problem. Ensuring the bone is not stolen is in my opinion the largest issue in play."

"How exactly do you have that much money? What did you promise?" You are not in a good mood.

"Technically, you are going to be stealing from the younger sister of Queen Bee of Bialya, who is bidding for her country. She contacted a friend of a friend with a request for a spell and an offer of treason. My request is by far the least disturbing of the bidders who could provide the spell." Ethan's voice is a bit disappointed at that.

[X] "I'm on my way." Ethan wouldn't ask you for this if it wasn't important.

[X] "See you in Rosewood." This strikes you as plausibly another test of your competence. They are starting to get on your nerves.

[X] "I can meet with her, but not in Metropolis." You don't want to get near Superman, but you can see the merits of taking it home yourself.

 

Richmond, Indiana- July 26, 13: 22 EDT

You sleep in an Indiana motel, finally resting enough, and dawdle in the town a bit. This place should be far from the prying eyes of superheroes and not a priority for the endless octopus arms of the law. Something like a real breakfast in a diner, a long shower, and not being in a car for a while lift your spirits.

You go to a local library and read up on the Abin Sur auction. Amon Sur son of Abin Sur had apparently arrived on Earth several months before, but had been keeping his arrival discrete until he felt he was comfortable making deals with Earthlings. Amon Sur does not speak English and apparently lacks translation technology, and is employing a former Hork-Bajir-Controller to translate for him. The few reports about the man indicate a somber individual prone to apparent outbursts at his translator, but given the nature of the translator that could be understandable. Hork-Bajir are little more intelligent than a human toddler, so relying on one for communication would be quite frustrating. The Hork-Bajir, Mab Hullan, is himself relying on a human assistant. The whole situation appears rather agonizing for all three of them, and the operation appears to be rather in debt until the auction is complete.

Amon Sur had also brought with him a variety of other materials, but they are all in one of the Ungaran languages, which make translation difficult. The language, academically labeled Ungaran-3, exists in only a few dictionary programs that can provide low end translation. Ungara's civil war had made cultural exchange over Z-Space communicators difficult. As a general rule both Earth and Ungara had historically found other planets more interesting than each other.

You feel a bit sorry for Amon Sur, but his father knew all the planets in the Sector. He has to have chosen Earth for a reason.

You are about to leave the town when you are surprised by a man walking down the street. Green skinned and red horned, you briefly mistake him for a Green Martian. On a closer examination he is something a bit more rare and not something you are familiar with. Weighing the risks, you decide that the chance to talk to an alien is worthwhile.

"Hello sir. I'm sorry to bother you, but..."




"Is my tie really so hideous? Or do I have something on my shoes? I just bought them. Now, babe, you are just cute as a button, but why did you have to do that to your hair?" He gives you a very human smile.

"What's wrong with my-" You pull back your hair, currently black, sensitively.

"Believe me little lady, you can't just go around with any old dye job. Someone with your face needs a professional. Where exactly do you live? Because this is just a tragedy and I need to give you a better hairdresser."

"A town in Pennsylvania. It's pretty out of the way and I just moved." You keep pace with him as he keeps walking.

"Now that's a crying shame. And I have to wonder what a sweet thing like you is doing all the way out here if you just moved to Pennsylvania." He sounds a bit distracted.

"It's just a job. Sorry, I guess I just got excited. I don't see aliens much and I've always, well, liked them." You realize that your excitement distracted you from the fact that you had no plan or reason to go after this.

"So that's what they're calling us these days? It's demon, sugar. Or friendly sub-terrestrial in Gringo-speak. Alien is just a way of saying I don't belong here when I have a show to get to and my bus is broken down. Unless you can fix a bus when the mechanic has absolutely no idea what's wrong with it I really need to get back to the auto-shop." He waves his hands in a gesture of disgust.

"Well, actually..."

Richmond, Indiana- July 26, 14: 22 EDT

"Well ain't that the darndest thing." "Lorne" shakes his head. "Just goes to show that a pretty face can get you everywhere."

"It's just..." You pause for a moment and try to explain without giving too much away, and look over the "tools" you "used" to repair the bus. "I never really felt like I belonged here. It's like there's somewhere I've never been that I can still miss." The smallest of lies. You were there, once.

"Oh, baby doll. You have no idea how much I hear ya'. Where I come from is a place without music. A world of pure good and evil, black and white. No nuances, no shades of gray. I hated every minute of it. Compared to this a place like Richmond Indiana is paradise, and L.A. is Heaven."

"You like it here?" You ask it thoughtfully.

"More then you can imagine." Lorne looks at you thoughtfully. "I've got a bit of a party trick. Demon power you could call it. Mind belting a few bars for me?"

"What?" You practically choke.

"Come on. Whatever comes to mind. Right off the top of your head."

I won't leave/I can't hide/I cannot be/Until you're resting here with me..." You stop as Lorne raises his hand.

"Slow down. That's a lot. Girl..." He is silent for a moment.

"What did I do?" You ask.

"I am leaving right now," He answers. His expression is suddenly very serious. "You are going to keep on driven' and I am going to get to my show. I can't help you, but you're going to do that." You pause and focus, trying to activate your aura sight. You see curls of bright blue swirling too hard for you to see anything else. "Believe me, this is the right path." He gets right into the bus and pulls out so quickly it seems dangerous.

"Well, that's interesting." You smile. This looks good indeed.

Metropolis, Kansas- July 28, 1: 22 EDT

You get the phone call when you are fast asleep from days of driving and excitement and jet lag. You are staying in a small Metropolis hotel that Ethan recommended.

"Ethan?" You ask sleepily.

"It's Marcia. The woman you are meeting, Figment." You try to jerk awake, but you have had too many days of driving to do it this quickly.

"What is it?" You mutter.

"Someone's in my room. The Tipton Hotel, New Troy, Raven Street." You get out of bed and transmute a thin layer of clothing.

"Why me?" You ask.

"You're the one sent to protect me. Please..." There's huge crashing sound. "Help me!"

[X] "I'm on my way!" You pause, and suddenly have a flash of want. You transmute yourself a costume out of the bed sheets, and are off.
-[X] Costume.

[X] You can't go running into a mess like this. Not this easily. You dial Ethan. You can handle the rescue, but not protecting the girl.

[X] You calmly call the police. It is a bit risky under the circumstances, but this is their job.