Welcome to Gaia! ::

Had Quinn not run into the two that stood before him, he'd have likely explored all of the tower he could until he ran into others. This was his way of seeking out the others and familiarizing himself with the layout of the surroundings at the same time. Honestly, from what he heard about the League, he was surprised it took him a while to find someone else. He had a good portion of the tower already drawn on his improvised map, as well as making rough estimates about what else was around these rooms. He expected to have to stop after he crossed the kitchen.

The woman returned his greeting and answered his question of if he missed something: a Mxy man hacked into a team training session and made an attack. She stated that she and the man with her were going through the tower, checking to see if anyone was hurt. He heard Anubis chuckling somewhere in the back of his mind: he must have not been impressed by the team so far if they were infiltrated and harmed by one person that may still be present. He took note of the woman eying his map, and saw how she might be interested in them joining. He raised it up to his face and gave it a shake, emphasizing it. “My hand drawn map is incomplete, though it could help your cause. I'd be happy to join. Though, just to note: you are the first two I've run into since I've left my room today. I'm afraid I've nothing to report when it comes to the health of the others.” He followed in step with them and resumed their pace, handing the woman his map and the pencil he used to mark and draw it. “Just go ahead and mark down where you've been. I'll assume wherever you've been is fine.”

The woman gave her name as Gabriella, Bree to friends. She was the nurse of the Tower, which Quinn assumed was due to a power of hers. Both of their gazes shifted over to the man with them, who introduced himself as Ethan, though he also did not state his supernatural ability. Perhaps it was a custom to not state each other's powers in casual conversation around here then. “Gabriella, Ethan.” he said to them both, nodding to each to commit the names to memory. “Quinn Thompson. I'm a new member of the League. I've yet to introduce myself to the Junior Team Leader, this Deacon.” he said to them both, his introduction brief and not telling everything he could have told in an introduction. Despite going through an introduction, his voice lacked the appropriate amount of friendliness to elicit a warm response. It was almost dull, like his words were lines from a script he said over and over again, words losing meaning to repetition.

What terrible company you are. The woman has received a map from a corpse with the personality to match. Anubis' words rang within the everlasting man, Quinn merely balling his fists in his pants pockets to try and ignore the formerly divine being residing within him. Still, Quinn took the god's words as some form of advice, and attempted to continue the conversation. “Is there anything I should know about this Myx-whatnot individual that is reigning terror upon us? Should we be on guard? They must be some threat to be able to infiltrate and cause harm on such a wide scale.” he asked, trying to at least assess the threat level of this apparent enemy. Had he known there was an attack, he might have dressed in his uniform. Not that it would offer a significant amount of protection anyways, as Anubis gave him some type of armor whenever he called upon his powers.

NIGHTWING

Everyone seemed so interested in Bella's arrival – especially the males. They were all so invested in the young, pretty woman who could smash windows with a simple touch, but didn't speak a word. An amusing thought crossed Nightwing's mind: no one gave a damn when he showed up. Then again, he wasn't an attractive lady. Rather, it appeared that many were off-put by his presence – maybe it was the mask.

Aiden had a healthy suspicion of Bella, and for that he earned a small token of the Caped Crusader's respect. Any sort of newcomer in this time of distress should be scrutinized, as it would be too much of a coincidence. Nightwing wasn't suspicious because, well, he knew Bella.

Back to the task at hand, however, there was the issue of getting up to the Comms Array near the roof. He had two partners with him – the young yet intelligent and computer savvy Lily, and now the blond Gotham Police officer Elke. When Nightwing thought about it, having a third party along probably wouldn't be so bad. It was horrible of him to think so, but he severely doubted the young Lily's combat prowess, and he would be remiss to think that he could handle whatever supernatural foe came his way. Put him on the trail of a killer, and he would have no problem. Drop him into a building full of street thugs, and the place would be clean in a matter of minutes. An impish being with the ability to fill an entire room with water on a whim? There would be issues, and having someone who could at least fight back with supernatural powers of their own could be useful.

So, as it stood, Nightwing decided not to protest. Having someone else along was not the big issue at hand – the big issue was that his original idea had literally gone out the window. If the phantom haunting their halls was truly one that could warp reality, then leaping outside without much of a security net was not optimal. The mental image of the cable for his grappling hook suddenly disappearing while going up was hard to shake away.

Lily merely stated to tell her what to do, and she'd do it. She appeared to not really be an alpha (fe)male, and for that Nightwing was grateful. When it came to superheroes, many of them had large egos and were always trying to take the lead, throwing in whatever (possibly dumb) suggestions they had to at the very least make themselves look good. Put many of those people in the same setting, like with a team full of superheroes, and there were bound to be problems. Lily was different, though – she was level-headed, provided useful information, and was helpful. There was a lot of potential in her, Nightwing knew that much.

As Elke began to explain her ability and how she could transport herself using it, having her take them to the top seemed like a much more plausible scenario. Since they were only a few floors below the Comms Array, going up that way would still be faster than taking the stairs with the biggest crowd of people. From what Nightwing figured, if this man was really just in it for the humor, then he would go after the most people for the largest effect. That wasn't to say that their little trio wouldn't be targeted for whatever high jinks Mr. Mxyzptlk had up his sleeve, but he felt safer not having to deal with large groups of people – two were just fine.

"Is it possible for you to take more than one person with you?" Nightwing asked Elke, hoping that the answer would be yes. If she could at the very least take Lily, Nightwing would take his chances by going outside on his own and meeting them at the top. Then again, splitting up wouldn't be a great option… "It would be best if we stay together. If you can take us, then I suggest we go as quickly as possible."

d r e a m i n g about the things ↺ t h a t . w e could be

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWe'll be counting stars yeah we'll be counting stars



“Maybe. Time will tell if you’re all that lucky or not.” The biokinetic responded to Mason, a Cheshire’s grin set in her expression. At the very least, the self proclaimed newb to superhero-ing had made her welcome to the team a whole lot more amusing. She’d be looking forward to more bouts of banter from him in the future. She made sure to tell him that he was welcome to come pester her in the infirmary when he wanted - so long as he didn’t intentionally bring himself to harm’s way just for an excuse.

He asked about sponge baths, and Gabriella couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the thought, only for her to assure him that some girl, one day might actually go for that line. “Persistence often pays the highest price.” She agreed with a small bob of her head, bright eyes glittering with her mirth.

As much as she would have loved to go back and forth with the ironman, Deacon prattled off pairs of people to work together through the obstacle course, and her attention was split between the demonstration and her new partner. He’d caught onto her accent, and she didn’t stop herself from commenting on how astute the men in the Tower seemed to be already. Aiden assured her that she shouldn’t mistake the fact that they were observant with the idea that they were all intelligent, which garnered a few good-natured chuckles before she could ask for clarification. “I’m guessing a few of the men here think with their little brains instead of the one inside their skull?” She suggested saucily. “That’d be no different than anywhere else… Though I’ve sadly come to find that most men fall into that category at some point or another.”

Then again, so did women… but she wasn’t about to offer up her own kind for scrutiny.

While they watched Deacon and Savanna start the course, their conversation segued into touching on why, exactly Aiden had confronted the leader. She asked how long he’d been off the ice when the cryokinetic said that the formerly sickly kid had made a lot of wrong decisions, trying to make sense of it all. “Me either.” She agreed, but for reasons that her partner definitely wouldn’t suspect.

But rather than focus on their leader’s shortcomings, they both chose a different topic - jumping from one to another like they both had forgotten to take their ritalin. She asked a few questions about him, wanting to get to know the person she was going to have to trust in just a few short minutes, and avoid questions about herself. If he noticed, he hadn’t seemed to mind how she kept steering the focus back on him. It intrigued her that he’d once been a cop, and had traded in his badge when he’d been promised a promotion for the League. Most people wouldn’t make that call, but when she asked, the cryokinetic’s expression became pensive enough for her to realize that there still remained some bitterness.

Bree offered up a piece of herself then to pull him away from the ghosts that still haunted him over the matter, stating at one point, she’d considered being a firewoman - until she found out how much their equipment weighed. Her diversion seemed to work, because his comedic act returned almost instantly.

She’d pinched his cheek and dubbed him just a wee thing in not so many words, but the physical contact seemed to surprise him more than the jokes. “Oh, you see… I’ve heard that line before... And I still always wind up being the teacher.” The nurse responded with a grin.

He asked her not to call herself the ‘town-ride’ (omitting the fact that cougar-town had been meant to be one word and not two), unless she wanted to see him deck anyone else who agreed with the term. That caused her to throw her head back in laughter - all the humor in recent moments causing her ribs to ache deliciously. “Oh, don’t worry… I’m not that loose.” She said, a devious smile spreading over her features. “But it’s Cougar-town. One word. Not a town in general.” Bree said, feeling the need to correct him. Surely to god he’d heard the term before.
Aiden insisted that she’d not been testing the right things when looking for potential partners, and she asked for a list of variables to try in her next ‘study.’ She listed qualities she saw in him, only for him to feign as though he were clueless to what she was insinuating. “Oh, I didn’t doubt you would.” She teased. “Those who are virtuous would faint at the task.”

It seemed to dawn on him then that she’d called him green, just a little too late. “You must be this tall to experience this ride.” She said, not even bothering to hold up an arm at the required height. Considering he still had a blind fold on, she’d leave it to his imagination.

They probably could have gone on forever, teasing the way they had, but Savanna and Deacon tumbling to the ground stole their attentions away from their conversation, and back on the more serious situation. In a rush, he built an ice bridge so that she could rush across the gap between her and the pair. She found her knees about six feet too soon, and slid the rest of the way.

After tending to both Savanna and Deacon, her old friend split the entire group into two, hastily making plans in an effort to stop their newest menace. Bree decided to break off on her own, as did a few others, who chose to go with Nightwing. With her first aid kit in hand, (which served more as a prop than it did any actual use), Gabriella headed up the stairs, not caring overly much about heading off on her own.

A man named Ethan decided to accompany her, and she thanked him - grateful to have at least one person who knew the tower, as she hadn’t gotten the chance to familiarize herself with the layout. He wasn’t a man of too many words though, and mostly just seemed to point her in the right direction.

Most of the tower appeared empty, but they did come across another new person to the tower. He greeted them, and she smiled before answering his question on whether or not he’d missed something. It took only a few seconds to fill him in on the happenings in the tower, and he agreed to come along in their search for any injured. Quinn offered his hand drawn map to help, and Bree smiled at that. “I didn’t know that cartographers still existed.” She said appreciatively, shrugging off the fact that he’d not seen anyone yet.

He handed her the map to mark off where she’d checked. Instead of immediately etching any sort of checks on his paper, she admired the work for what it was. “This is pretty good.” She observed, noting the detail in his designs. “Seems to scale too.”

Actually checking off where they’d been took a little more effort, because she had to mentally map out what parts of the tower she’d seen thus far. It was then she remembered that she should probably do a proper introduction of herself and her companion. When she said she was the nurse, she held up the first aid kit as evidence. If his voice was unfriendly, she didn’t let it cause her to miss a beat. His lines sounded rehearsed, to be sure… but she wasn’t going to question the lack of depth behind his words. “It’s nice to meet you Quinn… It’s my first day here as well. I’m sure Deacon will want to meet you once we get everything sorted out.”

Quinn wisely asked if they should know anything about their attacker, which only caused her to shrug hap-hazardly. “The rest of the team is scouring what they can to dig up information on him, as only one person on the team was remotely familiar with him.. All I know is, thus far, he bends physics to his will, and rules don’t apply to him, and he appears to be a little insane.” She glanced back at Ethan, to see if her description was apt.

"He nearly drowned all of us with his idea of a bubble bath." She said with a shake of her head. Obviously she wasn't fond of the little imp. "The gods only know what else he's managed to do."

In all fairness, jumping out a however-many-storeys window wasn't a smart idea even under the best of circumstances. So many different possible factors could have gone wrong that he could not have anticipated. An eagle could have chosen that exact moment to swoop in, claw out his eyes, and cause enough distraction to keep him from remembering he could fly and send him falling to his death. He could have been hit with some kind of magic-negation beam at the exact moment he decided to jump out the window. Mxy could have turned the window into a portal to another dimension. All of these were very, very improbable situations that were exactly the kinds of things the Justice League would stumble into that were each compelling reasons not to jump out of a window. There were plenty of other reasons, of course, but most of those were obvious and therefore boring. The point being, that jumping out of a window is a very stupid idea. He deserved a Nobel for coming up with this startling realization. That being said, he was sure it looked so cool. Rule of cool always overwrote these kinds of things. And hey, at least he could fly, even if the landing this time wasn't particularly ideal.

He felt a light tap at her back, and he quickly twirled around, coat billowing behind him and staff pointed outward. Before he could banish whatever thing had intruded on him, he stopped when he saw a familiar face, though not one he expected to see just now. ”Well you came right in the nick of time, didn't you?” he said to Sylvia with a wry grin. For once, he was actually grateful that she refused to call him anything even resembling his actual first name. If Mxyzptlk was listening just now, he would think his name Alexander, and any connections he could make with that name were non-existent. It was no Eldritch, but at least she did not call him by his actual name, which was a step above the team's fearless leader. She explained why she was here, and he simply nodded. ”I'm... sorry about that. I shouldn't have left you like that, but I had business that needed taking care of. But I told you I would help you, and I always keep my promises.”

He turned toward the rest of the team as they arrived. Some of them addressed him directly, while a few others looked at Sylvia. Savanna demanded to know whether or not she was a friend or foe, and Isis showed an unexpected bit of testosterone in her threatening of the fae. ”Relax. She's a friend of mine. I asked her to come here.” He took a second to dust off his coat with his hands, before turning his attention toward Mason, who asked him if he was okay. He nodded, even as Aman seemed to speak for him, mostly incorrect in his assumption. ”I'm fine. Believe it or not, this isn't the first time an evil sorcerer sent me crashing into a building. I think it's safe to say our little friend isn't letting us out, however.” In truth, this was totally the first time he's been sent careening into a building. But he was a wizard. It was his job to embellish his reputation. That was at least half a wizard's job, anyway, when they weren't busy leading little people into dragon caves and volcanoes.

Savanna gathered them all together, and he motioned Sylvia to come with him as he rejoined the rest of the group. ”Long story,” he told the fae. ”We're being attacked by your normal everyday evil gnome wizard, is the short of it,” he informed her, a sense of casual arrogance in his tone. She pointed out the sub-basement on the map, and the fact that it lead into the sewers. He had to wonder how effective a tactic that would be, and whether or not Mxyzptlk would have planned for that, but before he could voice his concerned, one of the newer members, Reina, had already asked. She also asked him if Mxyzptlk had a hand in smashing the glass all around the floor. ”Well, technically, I'm the one who made the mess,” he said with a smirk, ”But if I hadn't, there would have been a much different, grislier, mess.” Fortunately for him, he was a quick thinker... and the magic certainly did not hurt. If the imp did not know about the sub-basement before, he probably knew about it now, and would try and stop them before they could get to it. He'd probably summon dire penguins or something just to keep them away from the place.

Kat claimed it was either this, or they could distract the imp while the others went after their objective. Aurelio liked that idea a bit better, but waited to see if anyone else had any ideas before he spoke up. Before anyone could say anything of note, however, the imp appeared once more and made a bunch of furniture come to life as if this was some twisted remake of Beauty and the Beast. The walls came to life as well, slowly moving to crush them. Well this was just a pickle, wasn't it? Mason immediately looked to Aurelio for a solution, which the wizard had to admit certainly fed his ego. It was nice to be the one people went to for a solution to their problems. His eyes began to glow again as he smirked at the iron man. His skin began to tingle with electricity as he gathered the energies from the talisman on his chest, along with whatever willpower he had. ”I always have a trick up my sleeve, Goliath.” With a casual stroll he walked toward the thickest of the action, even as his teammates al around around sprang to life. He held his staff firmly in his left hand, his wand in the right, and immediately he began to go to work against the evil mutant furniture. ”Coraxo zch!” he shouted as he pointed his wand at a particularly angry office chair, a ball of energy erupting from the tip and smashing against the chair. It was mostly a concussive force blast, charged with electricity, as he figured electricution would be relatively useless against against wood, leather, and plastic. But enough force could certainly shatter and tear framing and upholstery.

He continued on his magical rampage of force spells, alternating between his wand and staff, against whatever furniture came at him. Hopefully the others could work on finding a way out of this, specifically the ever-encroaching walls, as he did not exactly have a spell ready that could deal with those things. He did know a transmutation spell that could turn the walls into cotton, but that just meant they would die of suffocation instead of being crushed. If only this was an Indiana Jones movie, then there would be some oddly convenient and not-at-all-contrived secret wall panel that would stop this whole mess. If he had the time, he could probably gather enough energy for a strong enough spell to smash through the walls like a massive magical drill, but even if he did have that time there was nothing that said Mxy couldn't just put it back together again. Eventually, the imp came back, and made it clear that he knew exactly what they had planned. This thing was a walking deus ex machina. But before Aurelio could unleash a hellish bolt of lightning at the imp, the room changed suddenly, and they were in those sewers they wanted to get to.

”s**t,” he said, uncharacteristically vulgar, as the imp brought to life a few “friends” that he claimed want to wrestle. ”Hecate help me,” he said, resigned. He wanted to smite these things to smithereens, but he did not want to risk electrocuting everyone in this tunnel. It was a damp sewer, after all, and one poorly aimed lightning spell could spell the death of them all. Instead, he pulled off his hat, and reached into it, hand disappearing impossibly into the relatively small space within the rim. He then pulled out a small drawstring sack, and handed it to Sylvia. In it, she would find a varied assortment of seeds. ”Is there anything you could do with these?”

((OOC: I'm so sorry this took as long as it did. School's been absolutely murdering me.))

First Floor
Nothing Ever Changes

Codename: Babel
Location: Tower
Thoughts: Putting on my codebreaker hat...kind of...



Lily turned to Elke when the blonde police officer approached them and insisted that she would accompany them on their small mission. She caught a whiff of tension from Deacon, likely at the idea that she would so blatantly ignore his orders, but didn't say anything about it. She knew better than to inject herself into a boiling situation that really didn't concern her. For now, she was just glad that no one was making a big deal of her going off with Nightwing. She'd take the little victories where she could find them.

Nightwing was the first to break the silence that passed between their small band, inquiring as to how Elke proposed to make good on her suggestion that she could get them to their destination. Hazel eyes moved to the blonde as she responded - the most obvious answer. She let it linger for a moment before going on to explain just how it was going to work, suggesting that she could at least get herself up to the top and would leave the two of them free to travel up using the caped crusader's knick knacks.

The brunette polyglot stated simply that she would do what was asked of her, considering she wasn't the one coming up with the plan (for better, or worse). Nightwing asked if she would be able to take them with her, since it would be best if they could stay together. Time, it seemed, was a-wastin', and they needed to get a move on. Before they could get much further, however, Mxyzptlk appeared, grinning the creepiest cheshire grin she'd ever seen. Whatever was in store for them, it couldn't be good. Chiding them like they were naughty schoolchildren, her eyes widened in anticipation as he teased the games he still had in store for them.

The hallway before them seemed to expand into infinity, door upon door spreading out before them. His cackling caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end, informing them that there was a correct order to be able to exit before disappearing as quickly and randomly as he had appeared.

"Well, this is just great," she exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air with exasperation. Her instincts told her to panic, but she knew that it wouldn't get them anywhere. Not to mention, she didn't want to appear childish to her companions - she needed them to think that she would be able to hold her own if she was going to start making a real impression around the Tower. So, she took a deep, steady breath to calm her nerves, and then turned her attentions to the problem at hand. Language was a series of patterns - if there was a right order here, the pattern was bound to emerge eventually.

"Alright, we need a structured approach to this. There's going to be a pattern, we just need to make sure that we find it," she muttered, mostly to herself, though not quietly so she wouldn't be overheard by her companions. They really needed to take this little imp down.

Deacon Richards
Location: The Archives
Thoughts: Frustration overload…

This a*****e is going to give me a ******** aneurism. he thought to himself as he tried to do what he could with this ******** bubble. It was already frustrating enough that Karmen was in danger once more, the fact that it was caused by this son of a b***h drove him up the wall even further. He flew about in a vain attempt to get through that damn bubble. The frustration within him grew and grew as Avalon also attempted to break the bubble, remarking that the bubble was also phasing through things. “The son of a b***h thinks of everything now does he?” he growled to himself as he still made an attempt, any attempt really, to get Kindle out of there. The time-displaced hero did his damndest, but the bubble kept getting just out his reach.

Though things finally came to a stop when Glacier took the initiative to drastically lower the temperature of the room. This, in spite of all the illogical happenings that were occurring, was the one thing the bubble decided to follow in the spirit of physics and start to freeze over. Eventually it shattered, spilling out water across the floor. He was frustrated by this guy, this interdimensional p***k popping in and out causing all kinds of mayhem. He finally came down from the ground, a small gash across his forehead from attempting to get close to the bubble. His armor was torn a bit, bits and pieces of his bare arms were exposed. He looked to Kindle, his eyes softened with concern for her, hardening as Glacier growled towards him.

Aiden held Karmen in his arms, telling him how he was going to run the team. He then noticed that she was struggling to get out of his grip. With an eerie calm Deacon looked at the ice manipulator, “Put her down Glacier. Even I can tell she wants to stand on her own feet.” he felt the hot blood, even more so given the rapid drop in temperature as it gently cascaded across brow, down his cheekbone, almost like a bloody tear. Though however calm he may have seemed, he was on the verge of breaking. His frustration with Mxy, with how things were just seeming to be dumped on the lot of them, it was unbearable. But even then he had to bear it. The tattoos that adorned his forearms glowed through the patches of his uniform that were torn apart.

Looking to Glacier he simply said, “Right.” The two of them were going to have to hash this out later, but he needed to get this moment through, “I am sick and tired of his a*****e, and want him gone . Put her down and let’s move. She’s not a china doll.” he thought to himself that it wasn’t his call to make. The hothead had already threatened him before; he was not about to be letting him call the shots on his team. He didn’t have the time nor patience to argue with him, not right now.

Mxy then appeared, twice believe it or not. First to turn Dahlia into a child. Lola summed up his frustrations with a loud cry of annoyance. The second time he appeared, he informed the merry group that he was only having “fun”. And that it wasn’t his fault if something happened.

“Great! Well at least we know he’s doing this for kicks!” he bellowed out, slamming his fist into a wall. He took in a deep breath, and began to move towards the exit, “This way. It’s gonna be a tight fit the rest of the way up, so file in after me.” as he opened the door. They lead to a series of emergency access railings that went up and down the tower. They were still a distance from their destination, but at least here they had a direct shot. He lead the group, how they would stack up behind him was ultimately up to them. The railing was narrow, so it would have to be single file.

OOC: Let me know if I missed some stuff. Sorry if this post is not too hot.

His laughter sounded as gleeful as a child who’d awakened on Christmas morning to discover a room full of presents. These new friends of his were so much fun to play with, that he doubted he’d bore of them any time in the foreseeable future. The guy in charge seemed to be frustrated with his antics - it reminded him a lot of the first days he’d messed with Superman, the similarities in how annoyed they got was uncanny. “Of course it’s for kicks… what else would it be for?” Though, he didn’t make another appearance, his voice just carried through the base as though he was everywhere at once. “We’re going to play lots of games together.” His voice sounded excited, but everyone else would likely see it as a warning anyway. Mxy thought they’d have great fun.

He checked in on the group he’d left with an infinite number of doors and sniggered loudly when the youngest tried to rationalize what he’d done. “Patterns can always change.” He piped up in a sing song voice, flashing before her face and then teleporting out of it in an instant. “The only thing that stays the same is that everything changes. But watch out behind some of the doors - the prizes aren’t always what you want...” He left them with that, his little clues echoing down the hall.

The cat-lady’s group proved to be the most fun - a man who controlled sand made short work of his dancing furniture, reacting violently to the animated objects. There was a wizard there with them, who pulled a bag out of his hat, and he followed just after, as though he’d been inside the brim the entire time. “Hi again!” The reality-warper greeted with more pep than seemed possible. “You all are so adorable!” He did a backflip in the air, dodging any of their potential advances and floated high above them.

He’d made some sewage monsters for them, and the cat-girl’s sassy only riled him further. She’d said earlier that she didn’t want any more of his friends and he shrugged, ignoring the concept of “no.” “Everyone can always use friends.” He said, waving his hand as though the monsters were merely stringed puppets for him to control.

She kept insisting that they didn’t want to play with him anymore and he shook his head so vigorously that his own hat should have fallen off. “Nonsense! Everyone loves games!” With that, he stirred his fingers and stopped the clock, effectively freezing them in place. He pranced about in the air and grinned. “She said she’ll give you time… I’ll give you as much as you want!” He exclaimed, clapping excitedly, he freed them of the spell.

Savanna sprung into action, choosing herself as the next wrestling contestant, but quickly got stuck and cursed out loud. “Actually, the correct word is ‘poop.’” Mxy amended her obscenity - clearly thinking his pun was genius by the way he kicked in the air as he guffawed. The monster moved, grabbing the lodged woman and pulled her out of what appeared to be his stomach, and held her upside down for a second, before placing her back on the ground.

“You have to wait for the whistle to blow before you start.” He chided, pulling her out with an invisible hand and setting her back on the ground. With two fingers at the corners of his mouth, he blew until a shrill sound issued forth. “Round one! Now you can play.”

Savanna couldn't help the scowl that had set in on her face as the little imp decided to pay them another visit. She couldn't help her retorts as he mentioned bringing new friends to play with. They didn't want them, they didn't need them, but because he found it amusing they had to deal with them. "No, not everyone loves game. Games get old, and yours have reached their limit." She countered before moving to Aurelio and Sylvia. She tried to keep her voice low as she mentioned trying to give them time. Though before more could be said, he stopped them in their tracks effectively freezing the clock. Of course when he unfroze it she hadn't seen much of a difference, other than his position in the room.

Savanna made her move, sprinting towards the other wall, the one closest to the first sludge monster. She climbed it with the efficiency of a feline, using what she could as hand and foot holds. With fluid movements she had landed herself behind the monster, aiming a direct hit at it's head. She had simply assumed there would be something under the slimy shell that she could bounce off of, but the assumption was wrong. She was effectively stuck knee deep inside the sludge. She attempted to pull herself free, but only managed to loose her grip on the pipes, causing her back to collide with the monster. She couldn't help the curse that fell from her lips.

Another glare set in as the troll made a comment of her obscenity. She wanted to yell and scream at the man, but the words never left her lips. She could feel herself being pulled further in, and chose to hold her breath for as long as she could. She was head deep in s**t now, and her mind couldn't shake that fact. Though as she reached the other side, her mouth opened, her lungs gasping for air. She was looking at the monster from her upside down position, expecting it to throw her against the wall. Instead, like a gentle giant, it sat her upright on the floor below.

Savanna fought to wipe the sludge from her eyes, now fully realizing she was covered in feces. Part of her wanted to freak out, and the other part warned her to stay calm. She couldn't help but spit, trying to keep the sludge from entering her mouth. "We don't want you to play, we want you to go home, to get out of our lives." She said, anger still lacing her voice. "How do we do that?!" She demanded.

“What do you have to do to send me home?” He repeated, tapping his finger against his lips as if he didn’t already know the answer. “In order to go home, I have to say my name backwards! And I won’t be outsmarted this time!” He assured them, promising to stay for a long time to come.

Savanna's eyes narrowed as she looked to the imp, her hands still trying to keep the slime from impeding her vision. Say his name backwards? "I don't even know how to say your name forwards, let alone backwards!" She shouted at the troll.

“Oh it’s not that hard! You just say ‘kil-tip-zee-zim!’” His eyes widened as he realized he said it, and his hands found the tufts of white hair on the side of his head and pulled them in frustration. He had enough time to get out an “Aawwwww, nuts!” before he poofed back into his own dimension. With his displacement from Earth’s realm, all of his tricks disappeared - the sewage and their monsters evaporated, Nightwing’s group found themselves back in the room Mxy had found them, Ethan, Bree and Quinn were no longer stuck, and Dahlia returned to her normal size. Were it not for the damage they’d incurred trying to fight him off, there would have been no evidence that Mister Mxyztplk had ever plagued the Watch Tower.