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 Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 11:01 pm
Zatanna had been completely prepared to continue questioning Captain Marvel without stopping for pleasantries--especially when he mentioned the expedition to Hell--but was stopped cold by his ever-present politeness. It was really hard to fault him for it, though; he was just so... honest about it. You got the feeling that he truly believed that relations were supposed to be conducted that way, regardless of the circumstances.
The young woman gritted her teeth, swallowed her impatience, and waited through the introductions like a civilized human being. She nodded to the two young heroes in turn, and tipped her top hat slightly upon being introduced. Paragon's reaction garnered a raised eyebrow, and she shot a half puzzled, half warily amused look at Captain Marvel. "Pleased to meet you, gentlemen. And it's nice to meet you formally, Alex," she added hastily.
Without further ado, she turned back to Captain Marvel. "I'm sorry to drop all of this on you at once, but most of the heavy hitters are apparently missing. Batman, Superman, Diana, J'onn... And I haven't seen any of the lanterns in a while, come to think of it. ...Something... happened," she added after a beat of hesitation, deep unease darkening her eyes. "On the satellite, and... I'm honestly starting to think I'm spectacularly out of my depth."
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Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 11:19 pm
Captain Marvel smiled again, and chuckled once more. "Well, I guess that explains my reason for being here! I don't know if the Powers of Shazam will work in whatever type of Hell is in this... fused universe, I guess, but that's where you come in, Zatanna. If there's something I can't do with my powers, you could likely cover for me."
"Now," Marvel continued, now looking at the three younger heroes, "you're all going through?"
"It's optional," Lucas said, still looking anywhere except Zatanna. "So far, I'm the only one that's volunteered to go through."
"And are you capable of battling whatever may be down there?" Marvel asked, now frowning with concentration. Lucas remained silent for a moment, thinking.
"N-no, sir. I... I don't think I'm able to. I'm as physically perfect as a human can be without being considered truly superhuman, I've got a regeneration factor that can heal wounds within seconds or minutes, usually, and my bones are surgically bonded at a molecular level with Adamantium-- that's... an indestructible metal, in the universe where I'm from. But... I can't fly, shoot energy, perform magic, or anything else. All I have to rely on is my own body and mind, and..." he looked away, feeling ashamed.
"I'll be honest, a part of me is scared out of my mind! I-I only started out towards Manhattan a week ago..."
He looked to Captain Marvel, and forced himself to do the same for Zatanna.
"Would... would one of you help me, if... if I'm the only one to go through?" he asked, and Captain Marvel smiled and placed a hand on the rookie's shoulder.
"Paragon, I'm not sure how much I can help, but... I see something in you. You're... Huh, for once the Wisdom of Solomon is failing me! I can't find the right word here... something positive..."
Lucas just looked at Marvel blankly, who gave an embarrassed laugh before looking to Zatanna.
"A little help here, Zatanna?" he asked, grinning nervously.
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Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 11:34 pm
She laughed despite herself, some of the tension that was so obvious in her frame melting away. The picture that the two of them made was just too funny: Paragon as red as some species of tropical flower, and Captain Marvel's famous, bright grin tinged with something that looked suspiciously like mild panic. "Are you kidding? I'm not a thesaurus; I never even really finished highschool." Nonetheless, she regarded Paragon for a long moment, eyes intent. "... But I see what you mean," she added in a more thoughtful tone. "I think you'll be fine, Paragon."
"That said, I think what happened on the satellite was linked to some kind of demonic entity; I'll happily accompany the group." She glanced at Captain Marvel again, some of the worry returning to her face. "Will you? I'm not sure that Hell is actually the source of our troubles, but whatever it is, it's big. Some people on the mystic ethernet have been talking about this world's magical protector going missing, too. I haven't been able to confirm it, but... "
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Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 11:57 pm
Captain Marvel removed his hand from Paragon's shoulder, and nodded solemnly. "Yes. Of course I'll come along... if I can," he said, sounding slightly nervous. "I may not have the magical ethernet, but I've got over 12,000 TV screens at the Rock of Eternity. Not much gets past me, you know... and even I didn't see that. So... yeah, we may be in trouble. But we've still got Shazam, at least."
"Who?" Lucas asked.
"Shazam-- the most powerful sorcerer in our universe, bar none. I'm one of the mightiest heroes where I come from, and I only use one percent of his power. Pretty sweet, right?" Captain Marvel replied.
"Well, my universe has Doctor Strange..." Lucas said, slightly defensively. "I bet he could kick Shazam around any day!"
"Oho! That'd be nice to see... Shazam would mop the floor with your guy, no doubt about it!" Marvel shot back, grinning ear-to-ear like a teenager in a lighthearted "Yo Mamma" fight.
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 12:08 am
"That was his name!" Zatanna cut in at once, snapping her fingers. The sound fairly cracked through the air; she was very good at snapping. "Doctor Strange! He's the one who's gone missing." That was not good. If someone roughly equivalent to Shazam in power had gone missing in action, that added a whole new level of ominous to this whole affair.
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 12:17 am
Lucas looked to Zatanna, eyes wide with true fear this time.
"He... he's gone?" he asked, aghast. "Oh no... oh, no no no... without him, we'll have guys like Dormammu swarming the universe in no time..."
"I'm supposing Dormammu is like Darkseid. Yeah, that settles it: If the person that caused all this to happen-- the universes coming together I mean-- was in fact the same guy responsible for the disappearances of Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lantern Corps itself... we're going to have to go into Hell. No question about it, Zatanna." Captain Marvel said seriously.
It was at this time that a curious look in Lucas' eyes manifested, unnoticed by anyone. A blink, and Lucas now had an oddly confident look in his eyes. He was Paragon, now, truly.
"We don't have time to worry," Paragon said, now looking much more emboldened and, it would seem, mentally ready to take on the task at hand.
"And I can't afford to be afraid."
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 9:02 am
Blaze just stood there listening making his presence barely known.
The JLA was missing, some man Dr. Strange was missing.
Just nodding every now and again.
Disappearing for a good 5 seconds and reappearing in the same spot.
He stood there until he was ready to speak,"Paragon trust me the minute, he said we had choice for going to Hell. Is the moment I got stuck with going." He laughed with his hands on his head.
"Well if that settle,so Alex it's up to you. are you coming?"
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 9:36 am
Alex had been standing still and silent with her arms crossed for the entire duration of the previous conversation. By the time it was over, her arms were more hugged than crossed. She did feel a little better with the woman, Zatanna, being here. The way she'd taken care of that woman in the warehouse, Alex knew that she was more than capable of handling heavy hitters. But...everything they were talking about...it was completely out of her league. It would, it would be different if Blackstone had some small army of demons that he employed or something. But she had no experience with demons or magic or, or, ANY of this. She had no problem thrashing humans or overly-powerful people around, but if this was dealing with things that took out heroes of a much higher rank of power than her...she didn't...she didn't want to even try it. Not on her own anyway. She might be a little more willing if the rest of her team was there. There had been one major experience where the group DID go to Hell, but she luckily wasn't one of the people who got to go there. The ones who did had been KILLED. And it wasn't quite Hell as much as it was...an Underworld of sorts. The team pretty much got to walk back out.
Alex was quiet for a long moment, then looked away from the group. "I...I don't know what help I'd be." she said uncomfortably. Being uncertain wasn't a feeling she was used to, much less afraid. "I've never dealt with demons or magic or any of this kind of stuff. Tend to have an 'I leave the paranormal alone, they leave me alone' kind of outlook. I don't have a problem with tearing into people or fighting, but...I don't know. Powers kind of run on anger, and if you're talking about people being captured or possessed or whatever, I'd probably be an easy target."
She could go and help slash up some demons or whatever they ran into. But how much damage could fire do in Hell? She really didn't want to get captured or trapped in such a place. And she figured she might be an easy target since her powers ran on her anger and everything. Probably wouldn't be that hard to get possessed. Though...who knows. She didn't really know how stuff like that worked. Maybe she was getting strung out over nothing. There were at least two people here that were completely above her in power...they'd probably have her back. And...if there were other heavy hitters trapped, and they got them out...that would be more on their side.
"Should...should we get anyone else in on this? Or, is there anyone else that's capable of coming?"
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:31 pm
"Not that I know of, at the moment," Captain Marvel said to Alex, shaking his head with regret. "My sister is currently in Fawcett City, patrolling it. I've not heard from other JLA members."
"Alex," Paragon said calmly, "look at me. I don't have any offensive powers. At all. The only qualities I've got that could be considered superhuman are my strength and durability. You've got experience with fighting bad guys-- I don't. Am I scared? Yes, I am. But I can't let it show. I-- we-- can't afford to sit around doing nothing when we're currently the only people who can investigate this. Besides, that being-- the Keeper of Time and Space, he called himself-- chose me to join you and Flashstep. You're both new to this-- but I'm newer than either of you. I'm not backing down from this, despite the fact that I'm walking into something I know nothing about. Neither should you."
Captain Marvel listened to Paragon's pep-talk to Alex, watching the younger man's body language. Just moments before he saw fear in the rookie's eyes... now, Marvel saw only determination, and the man's body seemed to suddenly exude a confidence that Marvel was taken aback by. It was the confidence he'd felt in the likes of Superman, the sort of confidence that came with moral authority as well as authority over others.
"I lived my life idolizing heroes, always wanting to be like them. I have the ability to do that now-- and this is my first chance to live my dream... and I'm gonna take it, no matter what comes my way," Paragon continued, now looking to each of them in the eyes, and the rookie's eyes had a vigor that said: Don't worry, we'll be fine. I'll make sure of it.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 3:25 pm
xxsoullessANGELUSxx Jaquelyn looked up briefly, her eyes following her sister before she took her place in the middle of the paper. After about ten more seconds, she slapped the Central Times down on the table and gave a muffled sound of surprise. She was staring at a couple articles by reporters back from the coasts.
"Look at this, 'San Fransisco's massive communications break is finally at an end. With thousands of eye-witnesses from surrounding cities and video feeds recording the scene outside the dome, we catch its disappearance into seemingly nothing...' Vickie-"
She pulled off the coat and placed in on the seat of the chair next to her as she leaned over the newspaper.
Standing quickly, Victoria was at her sister's side in a second. She looked at the paper, wondering if the news was really true. She furrowed her brows in confusion. "I don't understand. Does this mean... we can go there?" She cautiously suggested it, wary of her sister's protective shoulder. Her safety was everything to her sister, but this was the opportunity they had been waiting for. What else could they do but accept it?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________↯
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High-functioning Cranberry
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 7:53 pm
"I dunno..."
She stared at the paper with her arms crossed and her expression twisted in thought. Just because San Fransisco was out of that weird 'bubble'... didn't mean it had anything to do with people they knew. FG turned to see her dog sleeping around the corner in the next room and looked back to the paper.
"What happens when we don't get there, and there's nothing to find?"
What would the sisters even be looking for? Traces of friends and family? After all these months, communications had been cut... and her golden retriever pup was only happy with their little move from Central to Keystone because she recognized Wally's faded scent throughout the apartment.
Jackie's eyes wandered onto the next article, the one written by the reporter back from the east coast.
"Whoa..."
She read a little further to herself.
"The guy back from Gotham wrote about a 'blackout resulting in several car crashes, at the same time almost all glass shattered in a two mile radius around Gotham's own S.T.A.R. Labs facility. Police are still unsure the cause and the whole city was in lock down order of S.T.A.R. lab officials.'...... whoa."
Maybe Gotham was the place to go? FG was not certain what their next plan of action should be. Gotham was more corrupt... dangerous for kids.... and both cities didn't actually hold sure signs of any familiar faces.
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 10:58 am
___________________↯
She peered over her sister's shoulder cautiously. At the thought of nothing to find, her teeth gritted. She had half a mind to say they had nothing to lose, but she bit her tongue. Any outspokenness from her and they wouldn't be going anywhere.
But there was something else in the paper. Gotham? Alright, now it was certain something was up, but the caution in her sister's face cause Victoria to stop and think as well. But just for a moment. "Well? Which way should we go?" She looked at both reports and inspected them again. "Neither of them say they found anyone... but..." A smile crept across her face. Gotham... Gotham meant Batman. Batman meant Robin. Her face flushed at the thought. "I think we should go to Gotham." She bit her tongue for a moment, but quickly searched for something to catch her slip of the tongue. "I mean... um, the Gotham one is more recent. If we go there, it'll be less likely that anything else has changed. Besides, if anything happens, Gotham is darker and easier to, um, hide in." She tired making her last statement not a question, but it somehow felt like one. Testing her sister wasn't safe. She only hoped she wasn't.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________↯
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High-functioning Cranberry
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 5:30 pm
She stared at the paper for another moment... she would have chosen San Fransisco if it had not been for the distruction of Titan's Tower... the very thought still made her shutter.... then her face suddenly lit with the arrival of an idea. FG turned to her sister.
"And... remember when Kai showed me... well, the cave?"
Of course- they'd been waiting around Central and Keystone for family, or signs of friends through newspapers.... but in all reality, one of the safest and most secure places in the world had to be Batman's cave on the outskirts of Gotham. If anything went wrong, they could always dash back there without a trace. Hopefully they'd find something about their Gothamite friends too. Jackie beamed in triumph. Despite the city's dank appearance, Gotham was starting to show itself as the best option.
"You're right, that's it. That's where we should go."
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 7:08 pm
((i hate when life gets busy let me catch up and see what happened))
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 7:23 pm
James stepped out from behind the shadows and moved into full view of the group. The white star on his chest could be clearly seen.
"Maybe I can be of some assistance as well."
James pulled out his S.H.I.E.L.D. badge and flashed it to them.
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