Ladies and gents, welcome to the inaugural wave of the Arrowverse Expanded Universe. I will note that canon is going to be loose in comparison to the shows; the only things that are hard canon are those episodes before The Flash's Out Of Time. The events of Flash are as canon until the finale, but Arrow... well there's a reason I won't spoil that I'm deviating from canon.
Late December
Donna Troy sat back in her chair, eyes trained on the woman on the other side of the table. Donna looked abbot 26, with flowing black hair she was letting fall behind her (Jessica Lowdes). She was still clad in her Troia outfit, a black full body outfit leotard covered in white stars with no sleeves or shoulder coverings, a pair of silver bracelets made of an unknown metallic alloy, and a strange silver lasso that glittered like it was also made of metal.
The two were sitting in a poorly lit room that had been only recently been converted into a meeting room from an interrogation room. The woman at the other end of the table was a Hispanic female detective (Alice Braga) in a well-used suit, who has out a steno pad and pen. "Tell me Miss Troy, how did this all come about?"
Donna nodded, thinking back. "It all started on a quiet night in Boston."
October 1st, early morning
The calm Boston air was split by a loud sound halfway between a roar and a squeal. This sound was soon followed by a thunderous stampede of footprints running down Main Street. Storming down the street was a large beast the size of an SUV that looked like an amalgam of different animals. Bits of boar and bull and stag could all be seen in the beast. As the chimera ran through the streets people quickly began to duck and run away, trying desperately to escape its path.
A scantily clad red headed woman in a cloak stood on top of one of the buildings, watching with amusement as the chimera began to tear up the streets and the cars below.
"Circe, you couldn't have waited till sis was home?" a voice asked from behind the woman. Donna touched down onto the roof about ten feet behind Circe, her arms crossed and her legs together in a rigid pose. She was wearing a red outfit with yellow stars, but it was about the same as the one she would wear.
Circe didn't turn around. "Maybe I simply wanted to test the great Wonder Girl" she said with a smirk that, while Donna couldn't see it, that she could sense. Donna was proved right when Circe turned herself halfway around. "Or maybe my plans don't revolve solely around the machinations of Themyscira's champion." Circe raised a glowing hand. "Have fun Wonder Girl" she said before vanishing into thin air. Donna jumped to try and grab Circe, only for have to float to stop herself from hitting the floor.
Donna stood up and sighed. "It's Troia" she muttered to herself before reaching for the sword she had sheathed behind her. She drew it before leaping off of the building. She flew, zooming at the Chimera that Circe had sent.
She figured that since it was a random magical construct that she could kill it, grab it, and haul it off somewhere so that she could give it a proper burial. She zoomed past it, hoping that there was no one in its path. Unfortunately, not far in front of it was a little girl who fell while running. Given the look of her foot she injured it to. Damn.
As the beast rushed towards the girl Donna landed in front of the chimera with a resounding stance, sword in one hand and her lasso in the other. Donna swung her lasso over her head, throwing it over the chimera's antlers. It landed true and she quickly leaped onto the beast's back. As she pulled the lasso behind it the Chimera was pulled back on to its haunches, before Donna proceeded to pull it farther back. The chimera was left flailing on its back in seconds, with Donna quickly hog tying him.
Once Donna was done with that she walked back over to the little girl, who's mother was running back to her. "How're you doing little one" Donna asked. "Does it hurt?" The little girl nodded. "It'll be alright, just rest it okay?"
The mother walked up to the girl and picked her up, a look of gratitude and relief on her face at the realization that her child was alright. The mother turned her head to Donna, incredibly grateful. "Thank you Troia" she said, trying to hold back tears of happiness. As the mother walked away with her kid in hand Donna could hear the little girl say "Bye Wonder Girl!"
Donna smiled, before turning back to the chimera. She looked at it, down at her sword, and the back at the struggling creature. "I'll call in a favor to get you put somewhere nice, that okay big guy?" The animal seemed to calm slightly at the sound of Donna's voice.
Donna was really glad that this was her day off when she got home that morning. Not that she needed to sleep more than a few hours of the day, but she was very behind on a number of things around the house. She landed softly on her balcony, before spinning around in circles with her arms out. In seconds her Troia outfit vanished and was replaced with her street clothes, a button down and black denim jeans. She unlocked her balcony door and walked in, tossing her sword and lasso onto a table.
Donna opened a box in her jewelry box to find a more mundane version of her Troia bracelets. She muttered her apologies to Artemis for not having them on as she clipped them back onto her wrists. She continued to mutter prayers to The Five as she prepared a breakfast deer steak, searing a second one as an offering. She signed when she realized that she was running low. As she ate the slightly smaller steak the larger one vanished in a flamelike flicker.
As she walked to her door so she could got check the mail she found an envelope slid under the door. Donna picked up the envelope she noticed that it had no return address, but it did have a wax seal with a T on it closing it. She looked at it in confusion. When she opened it she found a note, a manifest for a private flight, and a hotel reservation written on a sheet of scrap paper.
"Miss Troy/Prince" Donna read out. "I have something I would like to discuss with you this Tuesday. Please come to the address supplied, in full Troia garb. And do note that you won't be the only person present in tights. Signed, The Oracle of Manhattan. PS, not that one."
Donna paced around her apartment, debating whether she should go or not. On the one hand she could be walking directly into a trap. Who knew what person could have orchestrated this. Who was this 'Oracle of Manhattan'? The last American to be chosen as an Oracle was in Houston. Why would she go several states away so that she could flatter this woman? And how did she know where she lived. But, on the other hand Donna did wonder why she had been called like this. Maybe she really did need help? Maybe she knew something bad was going to happen…
Donna steeled herself, and decided. She quickly grabbed a duffel bag. Her flight would leave at 3 and it was already 10, so she had to quickly pack her things. Donna wasn't sure how long she would be out of town, so she decided to pack for four days. She carefully placed her sword and lasso in the bottom of the bag they would be obscured.
Donna wasn't sure what to think of the luxury treatment she had been getting. She understood the private jet given that she couldn't bring weapons on a plane, but the hotel she was set up at was a four star place called the Wolfman, and her dinner that night was at the Perez, both of which she wasn't allowed to pay for if she wanted to. She wasn't sure who Oracle was, but they had money.
Donna had geared herself up once more and was looking at the building she'd be going to. She stood at the building next to it, looking at the building. The Haney Tower, sitting at the corner of Yale and Ostrander was a large condo building owned by the rich, where one unit could fit an entire massive family. A note that had been left in her hotel room told her to come in from the balcony door, and to look out for a pair of purple candles.
Donna floated off of the building and found the ledge, looking at the row of six large candles standing in rows of three with a small one sitting next to the slightly open door. She touched down on the balcony and pulled the door a bit more open, looking into the room. She saw a well decorated living room, with a beautiful young blonde (Dakota Johnson) sitting on an ottoman, who was looking directly at her as she walked through. Donna also noticed five other individuals in the room, sitting on various couches and recliners. Around the room she noticed eight weird pillars built into one wall on either side of a pair of elevators, and both the elevators and the pillars had numeric keypads next to them. Donna let her eyes move over the other colorfully dressed individuals in the room
The blonde walked over to Donna. "Nice to meet you Troia" she said, taking her by the hand. "You take my seat and I'll go get the boss" she said before walking to a back room.
There was a brown haired woman with a gold ensemble with red accents, a hood pulled over her head, and an arrow shaped belt buckle, with a sheathed sword and a bow and quiver sitting next to her. To that individual's right was a young Asian man (Harry Shum Jr) in a red bodysuit with blue gloves and an odd purple glow around his eyes. To his right was an a young African American man (Eka Darville), who was younger than everyone else present, in what looked like a degrading black morphsuit with white lightning designs all over it, a blue trenchcoat, and a white strip of a mask over his eyes with a pair of yellow goggles lifted onto his forehead. The person sitting closest to her was a man in a blue outfit with a yellow strip between his shoulder area and his belt buckle with an atomic symbol on his chest, and a full face mask. Finally was a blonde haired woman woman (Katee Sackhoff) in a white t-shirt with a lightning bolt logo on it in blue jeans, who was checking her nails.
A woman's voice came from the back room. "I'm sorry for the wait." A man wheeled out a woman in a wheelchair (Charlie Cox, Elyse Levesque) into the room, followed by a German Shepherd who was walking next to her wheelchair. The blonde from before returned to their side. "I'm the person who called the six of you here."
"You're the Oracle?" the man in the trenchcoat asked.
"Yes," Oracle said. "I called you here because I had a vision. Tornadoes will rip through Manhattan, ripping it into little tiny pieces. And in the middle of the carnage is a man with a staff, walking as if he controlled them."
The six heroes perked up in some way, all showing they were focused intently on what she was saying – save the woman in the hood.
"I didn't know that a new Oracle had been chosen" Troia said, awestruck.
"Was this guy a metahuman?" the guy in the full mask asked, his voice heavily distorted as if four people were speaking at once.
"It's clearly some form of magic" the girl in white pointed out.
"But if so how do we stop it?" the man with the glowing eyes asked. "Not every school of magic can be stopped the same wa-"
"You people believe this crap?!" All eyes turned to the girl in the hood as she stood up, grabbing her sword. "She's clearly stringing you along until she leads you into some trap." The girl walked towards Oracle. "What's your angle?"
The man behind Oracle lifted his hand and suddenly she stopped moving her legs. She struggled somewhat as if her legs simply wouldn't move. "You will sit down, or else I will hold you in your seat myself."
"Danny, it's fine" Oracle said. "What's your codename again Miss Queen? Speedy? I thought you were a hero, not some vigilante in a mask impaling criminals with arrows." Thea bit her tongue, sitting back down in her spot.
"Maybe we should introduce ourselves" the blonde next to Oracle said, trying to keep the peace. "You've met the Oracle and Danny, and my name is Lilith."
"I'm Donna Troy" Donna started. "Troia in this outfit. I'm an Amazon from Paradise Island."
The next person to speak up was the one with the glowing eyes. "I don't have a human name, but I go by Tempest."
The man in the trenchcoat projected a bolt of electricity between his hands to show off, catching and reabsorbing the electricity. "The name's Static."
The woman in white kept her legs crossed. "I'm Miss…" she paused continuing her train of thought as she looked up at the ceiling, "Shazam?" When nothing happened, she sighed in relief. "Sorry, sometimes lightning comes down when I do that."
The man in the mask was the last to say anything, with him only saying "Damage."
"Lilith, why don't you go find that sketch of the guy?" Oracle said in a leading manner. Lilith nodded before walking off. She walked into a connected kitchen area before finding a legal pad with a sketch of a man's face.
"Do we know this man's name?" Damage asks.
"No" Oracle admitted. "Which means that you guys will have to do some asking around when the local magic shops open in the morning. In less conspicuous attire." Oracle turned back to Danny. "Danny, can I get a hand getting into bed?"
"Of course" Danny said, turning her chair around without touching it. He turned his head to the others in the room. "Lilith can get you a change of clothes from your hotel rooms. I'll show you to the guest rooms."
Donna woke up in one of the guest rooms, dressed in a nightgown she borrowed from Lilith. The unit had a staggering six bedrooms and the residential part of the unit took up half of the top floor, with Oracle apparently owning the other half. That said, even with that many bedrooms when nine people are sleeping in the unit some doubling up was involved. So the room Donna and Shazam had been sleeping in had two double beds against each wall in whgo at was probably a generously sized room for a single person.
Lilith had placed two folded piles of clothes on an end table. One was hers from the fake glasses on top of them and one appeared to be Shazam's. A blonde girl (Aimee Teegarden), who barely looked like she could vote, was standing at the table dressing herself. The girl turned and looked at Donna, embarrassed. "Oh. I… didn't realize that you were awake" she said. "I thought I had time to look like the other…"
"What do you mean?" Donna asked, getting out of bed.
"My real name is Mary" she said, turning while she finished buttoning her shirt and putting on her clothes. "Mary Bromsfield. My younger brother and I were given the power by this Wizard, so that we can call out a word and become empowered as Champions of Myth. Miss Shazam and Captain Marvel."
"So you aged yourself" Donna said. "You turned yourself into some kind of perfect, older version of yourself?"
"Not really… It's all a glamour. Now that you've seen me without it, you'll [i]always[/i] see through my glamour." Mary said, turning around sheepishly. "I hope that's okay."
Donna had a million questions surging in her mind for this girl she just met, but only one felt important to her in that moment. What wizard would give a girl so young such a large responsibility? How much younger was her brother? But in the end Donna decided to ask only one. "So are you any good?"
Mary smiled slightly. "Yeah. The grace of Selene, the strength of Hippolyta, the skill of Ariadne, the fleetness of Zephyrus, the beauty of Aurora, and the wisdom of Minerva. And some lighting power." Mary perked up and became braver as she spoke.
"In that case I'll take it" Donna said.
The two dressed and headed out to the main room. Static, Speedy and Tempest had already woken up, and were dressed in civilian clothes. Of the right four columns the three closest to the elevator either had costumes in them or in Speedy's case, was putting theirs in. Speedy's (Willa Holland) was closest to the elevator, with Static and Tempest's going out towards the empty one. A post-it had "Troia 551989" written on it. Static and Tempest were arguing on the couch.
"Come on man, it's not that bad a name!" Static said.
"Yes it is" Tempest sighed, rubbing his temples. His eyes weren't glowing any more, and in the daylight she noticed they were blue. It looked like he had just gotten out of a pool. "How is Garth Hyde not a bad name?"
"It's that or just go by Tempest" Static looked up and noticed Donna and Mary. "Hey Donna, Garth here says he's from Atlantis."
"Really?" Donna asked, curious as she looked between them and the post it. "I knew there WAS an Atlantis somewhere but I've never met someone from there before. Domed, or just breathing underwater."
"We breathe underwater" Garth said, standing up. "I'm gonna grab something to eat." As he turned to walk into the kitchen he piped up with "Besides, it's better than Virgil."
"Hey man!" Static said, sounding slightly embarrassed. Virgil looked at Speedy. "Thea, I didn't expect you to be a vigilante!"
"I try to keep it out of the tabloids" Thea said as she pressed a button on the keypad to close the case. Thea saw Donna looking at the note in confusion. "It's a passcode. It opens up the case."
"Thanks" Donna said, turning around and punching it into the keypad. Donna retrieved her outfit and put it on the dummy inside. "Good thing I can call it to me" she said as she put it away.
"Listen" Thea started, "I'm sorry about last night. Working in Starling can make you really paranoid sometimes so when someone left this invitation on my coffee table-"
"It's perfectly fine" Donna said, turning her head as she finished putting the suit in. "I was worried about it too…"
"So, about what you said last night. Are you really an Amazon?" Thea asked.
"I am" she replied. "I've only been in American for about a year." A voice from behind the two distracted her.
"So which one's mine?" Donna looked back to see the man who said it. A man with black hair and a permanent five o'clock shadow (Matt Long) was standing not far from the doorway to the room he slept in. Held under his arm was what appeared to be Damage's outfit and a voice changer clutched in his hand. Donna noticed Thea staring at Damage, so she said "There are post-its saying which one is which. I think it's alphabetized."
Damage nodded, before walking over and finding his. "011994" he muttered to himself as he typed. "There are two without names" he pointed out, gesturing to the one farthest to the left and the third from the left.
"Maybe they're no shows?" Mary suggested as she walked over to hers, playing with the keypad to her pillar. "I don't have anything to put in mine."
Damage stared at Mary in confusion. "I don't remember you being around last night…"
"I'm Mary, I turn into Shazam" she explained.
"Huh" Damage said, cautiously. He extended his hand. "Grant Emerson."
"So, what's the plan for today?" Virgil asked. "Are we supposed to just walk around New York ad hope we find him?"
"Lilith left a list of magic shops, maybe we should split up?" Garth said as he walked back in. "We have two magic experts, we can split up and search them. Donna and Thea will take the first six on the list, and Mary, Grant, and Virgil can take the others."
"Actually, you mind if I stay here?" Grant asked, wary. "I'm gonna try if I can find him in any databases."
"We actually have someone for that" Danny said, having been waiting at the doorway to Oracle's back room. He walked up to Grant and put a hand on his shoulder, to Grant's visible discomfort. "But it'll be nice to have two people doing it."
"You heard the man" Donna called. "If anyone needs help, text the word Jazz."
Grant sat at his laptop, typing as he flipped through various databases. He hadn't come up on anything criminal, so he was trying to come up with a visual match from various government databases. He sat hunched over his computer sipping from a coffee. He pretended he didn't notice, but he could feel Danny boring holes in the back of his head as he sat there. The Oracle was sitting in the backroom, which he guessed was her bedroom. Grant didn't have the chance to look because of Danny's watchful gaze.
"I'm heading out for supplies," he heard Lilith say. He didn't look up, staying deadly focused on his computer.
He could feel the air change as the elevator door closed, though Grant tried to pretend he didn't notice it. Nothing was said in the apartment for an indeterminate length of time, until the coffee mug was yanked out of his hand. His laptop closed as well, causing Grant to see Danny leaning against the elevator. His arms looked somewhat crossed, with his right hand lifted fingers spread. "We need to talk."
Grant bit his tongue for a moment while he tried to stay composed. "About what?"
"You know exactly what," Danny said, trying to hold back his contempt. "I had the pleasure of looking into your history. Did you think we wouldn't look into you?"
"It's all a misunderstanding" Grant said, before being interrupted.
Danny chuckled to himself. "Of course it is!" he said, amused. "Atlanta was just a big misunderstanding. Let me guess, someone else was responsible for something that is your specialty?" Danny said, before changing course. "What do you think mine and Lilith's jobs in this are?"
"I assumed Lilith helped with the visions, maybe cleans up given that Oracle can't" Grant admitted, with a slight knowing edge to his voice. "As for you… Some kind of in home nurse?"
"That's oversimplifying things" Danny said. "I do indeed have medical training, as provided for me by my own time in the military. A day after I got back home from my tour in Corto Maltese I was launched through the windshield of my car. When I woke up in the hospital…" Danny floated the coffee cup into his hand. He took a sip of Grant's coffee before spitting it out. "Do you want some coffee with that cream?"
"I don't like black coffee" Grant said, standing up and walking over to Danny. "So, how does a solider like yourself end up protecting some… Oracle."
"I'm technically a well-paid bodyguard" Danny pointed out. "If you so much look at her or my niece funny…"
"Things might get explosive?" Grant said, standing face to face with Danny. The tension was broken by the sound of the elevator arriving. Wordlessly both men stepped aside and agreed to put this on hold as Lilith walked back out of the elevator. She walked back, carrying several bags of supplies.
"Sorry it took so long" Lilith said, struggling to carry all of the various bags from various places. Danny immediately leaned in and took the Walgreens bags out of her hands, leaving crafts supplies in her hands. "Thanks, could you put those in the kitchen please?"
"What's in the other bag?" Grant asked, walking with her to the kitchen. He figured that he might need to do some PR damage control in case his past did come out and he didn't get a chance to explain it away before it all hit the fan.
"Some more sketchbooks so I can sketch what Oracle sees, but also some more needles and thread" Lilith said, putting them down on the counter. "I decided that I'd try and make a new costume for Virgil. It looked like his suit might not hold up forever so I was thinking of making something for him!" Lilith looked at both of them before asking "Can I get a hand bringing the material up?" Lilith started walking towards the door before tripping.
Danny saw this and held her in midair to stop her from hitting her head. As he floated her over to the couch he rushed over, turning her so she didn't choke on her tongue. Grant rushed over and knelt down next to her himself. "What's happening?" Grant asked, concerned about the girl.
"She's having a vision" Danny said, trying to keep her from hurting herself. Grant was about to ask what was happening when his phone started blowing up.
"What do you mean she's having a vision?!" Grant asked. He looked up slightly and saw the back room. He walked over to the door and kicked it open. The door shattered instantly, but he had enough foresight to grab the pieces as they flew so that the woman calling herself Oracle wasn't hurt. She gasped at the sound of the door breaking, looking terrified behind her glasses. She was sitting at a massive supercomputer set-up with at least seven monitors and complicated equipment he couldn't identify. From the cot in the corner this is where she slept. "What's your REAL name?"
She bit her lip. "Barbara Gordon" she said. Both Grant's phone and Barbara's computer started to beep as they got messages. He cursed, getting his phone out to turn it off when he saw five messages in the last ten minutes, all saying the same word; "Jazz."
Thirty minutes earlier, Manhattan mall
Mary and Virgil sat in the food court to the Manhattan mall, tired from searching all of the stores. They decided to take a break from the search to get something eat, hence the trip to Big belly Burger. Both of them found a non-crowded area so that they could somewhat quietly talk shop.
"So you really like your Static?" Mary said between sips of soda.
"What's wrong with my outfit?" Virgil asked, looking at her. "I had a spare jumpsuit around and not a lot of money." He sighed. "And I don't know how to sew."
"We can always figure something out. It's just that your outfit is… missing something" Mary said. "Not that mine is much better" Mary admitted. "The lightning just changed the shape of the clothing I was wearing at the time. I don't even have a cape!"
"We can find a way to get you a cape" Virgil said, watching people behind Mary. "Something's about to go down" Virgil said, focusing on them.
"What?" Mary asked.
"Three guys just walked in with guns in their jackets" he said.
Mary looked annoyed at this. "This is America, a man is allowed to carry a gu-"
"Yeah but most people who own guns legally aren't hiding them down their pants" Virgil pointed out, standing up to try and follow them. He stayed a unit or two back as he did, trying not to seem suspicious. As he got closer he noticed something odd about them –their skin looked cracked, like it was made of stone. Virgil was already trying to get closer to them. He stood against the wall, watching as they looked over the map display.
"What's the name of the store we're looking for?" Virgil whispered to Mary as she settled next to him.
"Uh, Wiccan Wonderland" Mary said, trying to remember. "Why? I thought you were following these guys."
"I am" Virgil said. "They're looking for the same place we are."
"So?" Mary asked. Virgil didn't respond, he simply opted to trail them through the building.
As they went through a department store that connected to the area Wiccan Wodnerland was in, Virgil grabbed a baseball cap, a pair of cheap aviators, and a clearance trenchcoat. He waited in line, watching the men talk out of the corner of his eye. By this point, Mary had noticed that something was up with their skin and had split off, following from a different direction.
Mary took up the following in case they had noticed. She looked through a display of makeup that was coincidentally next to where they were standing.
"What does this rod the boss is looking for even look like?" one of the three asked.
"You idiot, weren't you paying attention? We're trying to find the Zephyrus Rod."
Mary let the three get moving towards the store. "One Mississippi, two Mississippi…" she said to herself, looking through the makeup display to give them time. She continued counting, making sure no one was directly looking at her as she did. As she got to eighteen she stepped into a space that wasn't surrounded by anything flammable. The second she got to twenty, she closed her eyes and incanted "Shazam!"
A flash of lightning struck down from a cloud that appeared from nowhere. Her body was consumed by the lightning, changing her appearance during the flash. Suddenly Shazam had returned, as she brushed the dust off of her t-shirt and got rid of a kink in her neck. When Virgil saw here standing there as Virgil walked up to her side, having shrugged into the coat already. As he put on the sunglasses and baseball cap, he whispered "Aren't you worried about the cameras?"
"The glamour spell wipes camera footage of me transforming, it's fine" Shazam said as they started to walk.
As the two watched, Virgil quickly pointed out to Mary "You know you're shorter as Shazam right."
"That's all part of the plan" she said as the started walking. "So I'm guessing your powers are lightning and only lightning?"
"Well, I can kinda fly too" Virgil said, pulling out a segment of metal before turning it into a large disc.
"Right on" Mary said.
The three thugs pulled out sawed off shotguns and walked into the store, pointing them at the various patrons. "Get down!" one of the three said. He pointed his gun at the clerk. "You! Get me the Zephyrus Rod!"
"What?" she asked, only to have one of the two shooting their gun at the roof.
"Say what again!" the guy on the left said.
"Christ Steve," the guy on the right said, "What is this Pulp Fiction?"
"Will you two shut up?!" the one in charge said, keeping his gun trained on the shopkeep. "I don't know why the guy hired either of you idiots!" As the man spoke and got louder it looked like his skin started to crack more and more, leading up into his sleeve. One of the patrons started to try and crawl away, only for the lead thug to point his shotgun at the guy. "I said get down!" Suddenly, a blur ran in and grabbed the patron out of the way, before the thug's gun was ripped out of his hands.
"Or, you know," Virgil said as he caught the gun. "The three of you could leave."
Mary appeared standing in front of the three, kicking the one on the right in the stomach. As sound as she did, she sent him flying out of the store into a bench. When he hit the bench, something strange happened – he shattered like a rock. "Huh…" Mary said, taking in the fact that she pulled that off. "They're golems."
The only one left with a gun turned to fire it at her, only for the barrel to start to yank up. It took a second for him to realize, but the thug stared in horror as his shotgun's barrel was bent upwards by sheer force of magnetism. Mary smiled, before punching both of their stone heads off in succession.
"Not bad" Static said, offering a high five. Mary turned around and slapped it, visibly holding her strength back so she didn't break his hand. Unfortunately, what the two didn't notice was that the stone hands were twitching. One of the hands broke itself off from its owner, crawling around on the floor.
Mary heard the hand moving. It leaped into a glass case, the glass cracking under its weight. His fingers tapped a feather that didn't look like it came from any naturally occurring bird. Mary watched this, and as she walked up to grab both the hand and the feather disappeared in a puff of swirling dust.
An hour earlier, Chinatown
The three walked down the street, trying to be incognito as possible. Donna was wearing her hair in a bun with her fake glasses and colored contacts, Garth had aviator sunglasses and a hood up to mitigate the sunlight, and Thea was in a short blonde wig and coke bottle sunglasses as they walked.
"How many stores are left on the list?" Garth asked wearing a hooded jacket to keep from overheating in the direct sunlight.
"Not too many" Thea said, looking at the list. "Actually this is the last one on the list.
"Well that's good at least, I could use something to eat" Donna said.
"I wonder if there are any good sushi places around here?" Garth asked, looking around as they walked. "I mean I know this is a Chinese district but still…"
"I could actually use some Tex Mex" Thea said. "Or maybe something Greek."
"I eat Greek food almost daily" Donna said at the thought. "I could use something different. Surf and Turf?"
"I saw a place a couple blocks back" Thea said, looking down at the directions for the last place. She lowered her sunglasses "Wait, this isn't a store, it's-"
"A street bazaar?" Donna asked, as Thea looked up and saw a number of temporary stands set up on both sides of the street, all selling various mystical and new age-y things. As far as the eyes could see were various culture's mystical bits and bobs, some bound to be real and some that were probably just incense for the tourists. "Well, we know we'll find something."
Thea walked up to one of the vendors, legal pad in hand. She smiled at the kind woman selling the merchandise. When her turn came around, Thea smiled to her. "Hi, can I ask you a question? Have you seen this guy around?" Thea turned the pad around to show the vendor, and she stopped and stared. "I'm sorry" she said, her poor English as obvious as the fact that she had seen him before. And she was scared. "I can't help you. Please go."
"Are you sure?" Thea asked.
"Yes, leave" the vendor said. "Next!"
"Mam, if you're scared I can help you" Thea said.
"I don't need help, leave."
Thea walked away, sighing as she did. Thea walked away, back to where the other two were standing. "She knows something, but she's too scared to talk" Thea explained. "Maybe if I had been nicer I could have gotten something out of her."
"It's alright" Donna said. "Maybe we can talk to the other vendors. It's a bazaar, at least one person is bound to have seen something."
But even so, the three didn't turn up a person willing to talk to them about the man with the staff. They all seemed to know a little about him, but no one said anything. "Maybe we should try it again?" Donna asked. She scratched the back of her head, trying to think of their next move. She didn't have to think long however. Suddenly an explosion of wind burst from one of the buildings behind them, causing glass to fly around like shrapnel. Two of the vendors behind the three were seriously cut, and they noticed that the wall to the building had been destroyed, dust swirling around itself.
In an instant, Thea ran to the men who had been hit by the flying glass. Donna went over as well. "Are you alright sir?" Donna asked.
"Let me call you a doctor" Thea said. Garth however, pulled down his hood. He glanced at the two women with him, making sure that they had the civilians handled. He stepped over the shrapnel and broken bricks as he walked into the store.
The store appeared to be an occult bookstore, with walls of shelves and displays surrounding them on all sides. Books were swirling around in about seven miniaturized tornadoes, all bringing them to a tall man with graying hair in a dark khaki jacket, black pants, and what appeared to be a Stetson with a number of tiny charms placed all around it. Garth recognized the man from the sketch immediately, focusing his gaze on him. Garth's eyes began to glow as he muttered and he tried to find any other beings in the room by their astral signatures. When he did he noticed that the small tornadoes were dancing wind spirits, all tethered to a small item in the man's pocket – a purple rod the size of a baton. What's more, he could sense a similar presence to the rod in the building – and another person in the room.
This second person was a young woman, barely twenty by the feel of it. The woman herself had a very limited magical talent to her. She was hiding behind the desk in a corner, by what Garth could gleam was a dead body. Her fear was obvious to him, and the fact that the man didn't know where she was made Garth think that he didn't have magic of his own.
Garth ended the aura spell and addressed the man. "You know you have to pay for any of the books you damage right?" he said, focusing the magic back into his hands once more.
The man didn't turn around, simply staying where he was as his tornadoes moved through the store. He seemed to have them looking for something, but what exactly was unclear. "Nothing in this store is worth paying a dime for," His voice was gravelly and deep, like he gargled glass on a regular basis.
"What do you call yourself?" Garth asked, likewise standing his ground. He could see the desk at the wall to the left, where the woman was hiding, but he didn't want to move towards her in case the man decided to attack her.
"My mundane name is none of your concern" the man responded, slowly turning around to face Garth. "You may refer to me as Bröm Zephyr." He seemed to intentionally be mispronouncing Zephyr, like Ze-Fear.
"Tempest" Garth said, introducing himself by his own codename. "Why are you here?" Garth ran through his head on what spells he was willing to use. He didn't want to destroy this woman's livelihood on the same day that this woman lost someone close to her, but he didn't have a lot of spells without a destructive force to them. His mentor described the types of things he did with his spells as being 'all flash and no subtlety'.
"My wants are none of your concern" Brom responded. "These stores are all alike, controlled by wannabes and those who can only attain power by using and abusing talismans. They're no better than mortals who use a gun to make them seem like kings."
"That's where you made a mistake" Garth responded, lifting a hand. "You became my problem when you decided to rip through this store's wall while tearing up their inventory. So unless they accidentally ran over your familiar, I'd suggest you clear out. Now."
Brom laughed. "I could rip the air from your lungs for a statement like that" he said casually, "but you amuse me. Not many men have the balls to walk up to me and threaten me."
"Really?" Garth asked, taking subtle steps forward and to the left while still locking eyes with Brom. "Because from the feel of it I have a LOT more experience than you. My magic is channeled through raw talent, while you derive it from the charms you have adorned yourself with." Wow Garth, big talk for someone who didn't know what he could do, he chided himself. But he had to keep talking, hopefully keep distracting him.
"You know nothing of my power" Brom said, growing ever steadily more vexed as Garth spoke. His hand went into his pocket, as if to grab the stuff held inside. "Tell me why I shouldn't magically twist your neck now."
"Because you can't do it yourself" Garth said, moving towards the desk and standing in front of it. "You're okay with using your pet spirits to find books for you, but you'd rather die than admit that you need to use a wind spirit to kill me FOR you."
Brom lifted the rod and suddenly channeled all of his wind power into it. The tornadoes vanished from the naked eye before swirling and gathering around the rod. Thinking quickly, Garth cupped his hands as both started glowing – his left a fiery orange and his right a cold blue. He blew into his hands as beams of light met each other, generating a tornado moving the opposite direction. The tornado that Garth created was small, no more than a trick, but it was enough to block the tornado when the collided.
Brom changed his stance slightly, as if he was trying to put his back into it. Garth moved his own shoulders into a more comfortable position as he stood. He had stopped blowing into it, knowing that he had enough wind to keep the tornado from tearing him apart but mana was the bigger question. He had no idea how much longer he or Brom could last. He was looking winded though, which was a plus.
Taking a wild guess, Garth blinked, his eyes now manifesting a burning glow around them. He projected an energy blast from his eyes, hitting Brom square in the chest and knocking him square on his ass. Brom flew back across the room, knocking over at least three bookshelves like dominoes and hitting his head on one of the shelves.
"What are you?!" Brom growled, contorting his face as if he was trying to stir up enough mana to create one more spell. "What is that magic?"
"To answer both" Garth said, lowering the glow on his eyes and dispelling it around his hands, "Atlantean." Donna and Thea charged into the room, Donna geared up in her Troia outfit and Thea carrying Troia's sword. "And these ladies," Garth said raising his hand to gesture to them, "aren't even half of my team."
"I'll fry you!" he growled, enraged. "I'll rip all of you in half!" Brom cursed in an archaic language, before vanishing into a swirl of wind and smoke.
Garth dropped the glow, breathing heavily directly after. He turned his head to look behind the counter, seeing a woman with pink hair in a pixie cut (Michelle Williams) huddled in the corner, terrified and clutching a bag of crystals. Her eyes were wet with tears as she stared at a dead body lying in most of the space behind the counter. Garth reached down a hand, asking "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
The woman didn't reach for his hand, she just sat there horrified by the body she was sitting with. "He killed Aunt Devin… He killed Aunt Devin…"
"Miss" Garth said, trying to get her attention. She looked up at the three of them, and looked like she was about to crawl into an even smaller hole. After a couple of minutes of staring at it she took it and pulled herself up, Garth helped her over the threshold only for her to collapse into his arms.
"He killed Aunt Devin" she said, before burying her face into his neck. Garth looked at the two girls, not sure what to do about the woman crying into his shoulder.
"What's your name honey?" Thea said, tapping her on the shoulder.
She sniffled. "Kole. Kole Weathers." Donna stepped aside from the scene to text Grant and call the coroner. "Is the guy…?"
"He's gone Kole" Garth said, trying to comfort this poor young woman. She's was about the age same age as and she saw a strange man rip the air out of her aunt's lungs. "I'll make sure he never comes back."
"Do you know what he wanted?" Thea asked, as delicately as possible.
"A ring" Kole sniffed. "A ring Aunt Devin wore… But it wasn't on her tonight and I don't know where it is. Hell of a way to turn nineteen"
"Is… today your birthday?" Thea asked. Kole nodded.
"I haven't even gotten to open my present yet…" she said, gesturing to a tiny box behind the counter. Thea walked over and got the box, handing it to her. Garth by this time had let go of her and found a chair for her to sit in among the rubble as Thea put the quiet, old-style white box tied shut with twine. She pulled it open to reveal two rings – one covered in crystals similar to the bag Kole has been holding, and a plain brass one with etching similar to a tornado in it. Kole immediately recognized the second one. "That's… that's Devin's ring" she said, staring at it in shock.
"Can I borrow that for the night?" Garth asked, his eyes glowing as he noticed the magic being similar to the rod in Brom's pocket. "I promise I will get it back to you."
"What do you mean the Oracle is lying?" Donna said, visibly angry.
Back at the apartment, everyone wanted answers. All six of the heroes were in place, in the middle of gearing up while also standing around talking. The chatter from the six stopped dead silent when they heard Barbara wheeling herself out from her makeshift bedroom, Danny behind her.
"Lilith Is resting safely" Danny announced, before grabbing a dog's leash. "I'm going to go take Ace for a walk Barbara" he said, calling her service dog over to him. "Fix your mess." He hooked the leash onto the dog and took him off for a walk, with nothing being said.
"I suppose I should explain my actions" Barbara said. "And I will answer any questions you have?"
"How did you get our identities?" Thea asked, enraged. She had her hand near her sword's hilt, glaring at her.
"Lilith had a vision of a team of larger than life heroes, who protected the city of New York from a number of massive threats. And at the end of it, she saw six faces" Barbara began. She reached into a bag on the side of her chair, pulling out a binder. She flipped it open, and saw Lilith's sketches of six figures that were reminiscent of all six of them. Some were wearing different outfits, but they were all clearly the ones from the sketch. "From there I just used facial recognition to try and track you down. The only reason we found Mary was that we found her on Facebook…"
"And how can we trust you in any way?" Grant asked with his mask off behind him like a hood Contempt seared in his eyes and a faint glow surrounded his hands.
"Because I know why you do what you do. I know why you go out in masks hoping to God you don't get hurt because sometimes the law can't stop those killing and hurting people. Because there are some that the cops just can't even come close to touching." Barbara spoke with nostalgia, regret, and longing. "My name is Barbara Gordon. One day I'll tell you my other name. But until then, I'll just have to hope that you can trust me."
Donna looked at her with a mixed combination of rage, understanding, and compassion. She fidgeted with her lasso, before asking only a single question. "How do we find Zepyhr?"
"I can help with that" Garth said, smiling and holding up the ring. "The staff he's looking for is in three parts – and we have the one he's missing."
Brom paced around his repurposed, warehouse lair. Sigils marked the walls and floors, with no two schools in common. Goetic pentagrams mingled with Norse ruins. A quarter of the warehouse had been dedicated to a ritual space. The rest either stored various unused or used up talismans, while the rest were simply empty creates. A number of stone golems with mostly human appearances lined the walls, about ten in total.
"It's not enough" Brom said, staring at the rod and the feather. "It's not enough!"
Just as he shouted this, a wall behind him was smashed through. Brom turned, startled, to see Damage standing in the wreckage, his hands glowing. An arrow flew in through the wall and lodged itself in the wall next to Brom. In the space of a few seconds, Speedy slid in on the rope, using her bow to hold on before kicking Brom square in the face.
Speedy jumped down off the rope in a three point landing, her left hand held up. "You need the Zephyrus Ring don't you?" she asked, yanking off her glove.
Brom glared, leveling the wand segment of the staff at her. "Hand it over!"
"Sure you want to do that?" Damage asked, stepping in and standing next to her. "You might harm the ring."
Brom muttered something in a strange language, and suddenly all of the golems around the room began to move. The ten slowly came towards the two of them, starting to surround the two. "These are stronger than the rejects I sent out earlier" Brom bragged. "Surrender now."
"Like Hell" Speedy said drawing her blade and swinging it at one of them as they came. Damage likewise started grappling with one of them, the glow of his hands growing stronger as it did. Brom backed up, moving towards his circles. He locked down to see the circles and runes had already been disturbed, with tiny parts of them having been melted away. His eyes trailed upwards to a massive hole that had been melted in the roof, with Tempest, Troia, Shazam, and Static all standing or floating above it.
One by one, they dropped down into the room. Miss Shazam flew in first, hanging in the air and waving with a sharklike smile on her face. Donna followed, hanging stoically in the air. Static was the next in, lowering in on his lightning covered disc with his arms crossed. Tempest jumped down last, looking Brom in the eyes. "Where was it that we left off?" he asked as the others flew to help Speedy and Damage.
Damage held one down as Speedy stabbed her sword through the golem's chest. Three more came from behind the two, until the shelves began to topple on top of them. Damage turned to look, seeing Static hanging in the air with his hands extended. Troia and Shazam started duking it out one on one with their own.
Troia's grew claws, lunging at her. She managed to move out of the way just in time for the belly of her shirt to get ripped instead of her stomach. She looked down to see this before kicking it in the face. It caught onto her leg with its claws before she whirled around and nailed it with her other leg, hovering in midair. When she looked down she noticed that one of her pants lets had been torn up. "Great" she said, before taking out her lasso and bashing it against one of the downed shelves.
Three more leapt on, trying to hold onto Shazam as she flew up. She didn't feel like fighting too hard against these three, simply smiling. Putting every ounce of force into the statement, she yelled "Shazam!" Lightning struck down from the sky and struck, vaporizing the three golems holding onto Shazam. Speedy rolled her eyes beneath her hood at this, calling up "Showoff!"
Brom backed up from Tempest, scared. "What is it you people want? I don't show up at your domain and throw bolts of lightning at your minions!"
Tempest scowled, contempt in his voice. "No," he growled. "You simply killed an innocent so you could tear her ring off of her corpse, while leaving her niece lying horrified behind the counter. Only she didn't have it on her anymore, and now we do." Tempest projected a blast of energy from his right hand, freezing Brom's legs solid where he stood.
A golem managed to grab Speedy's hand, yanking the ring off of her finger. As soon as it did, Brom smiled. "You'll regret doing that" he said, lifting the components of the staff and calling the ring to him. Speedy stabbed it in the head with an arrow to get it to let go, but this only caused the ring to start moving through the air on its own power. Damage and Troia reached out, trying to grab it only for it to move too fast. Brom brought the wand and the feather together as the ring appeared. The three bonded together in a great purple light, creating the staff from the vision. Brom laughed, slamming one end onto the ground as he did. A whirlwind radiated from around it, knocking everyone flat onto their asses.
He started chanting a spell, his gaze focused on Tempest as he stood there. Shazam stared, recognizing the Babylonian spell he was incanting. She grabbed one of the golems and hurled it at Brom. As it flew a purple energy flew from his mouth, accidentally colliding with the golem. Brom fell to the ground, his eyes glazed over and soulless.
"Bodysnatching?" Lilith asked the next morning over a cup of coffee and her sewing machine.
"Yeah" Garth said, sitting in front of her talking.
"I wish I could have seen that" Lilith said. "So are we sure he isn't some badass statue now?"
"Oh, I put the golem at the bottom of the ocean. A soul without a proper body will eventually die, almost as quickly as a body without a soul" Garth said, watching her sew. "So how's the project coming along?"
"Pretty well" Lilith said. She handed him her sketch, showing Static dressed in a black t-shirt with a white symbol on his chest, black pants, and a blue trenchcoat. "I figured he could hold onto the shades he picked up the other day."
Late December
"Interesting," the woman said as she wrote something down on a stenopad. "Of course, you know I will have to talk to the rest of your team right? Your little support staff and all?"
Donna nodded. "Yeah, I figured."
TITANS
Barbara was sitting in front of the pillars, staring with a smile at the costumes. She wheeled herself over to the pillar the farthest to the right, positioning herself directly in front of the keypad. Ace followed her, staring at her with some worry as she typed in the number 231989. She looked happy and content when the pillar opened up and once again saw what was inside of it. Stored inside was a black leather suit fitted for a woman, with purple accents down the sides and yellow belts, as well as a yellow bat-symbol placed on the chest. The cowl likewise looked like it had attached ears, with lenses placed in the eyes of the mask. A long black cape flowed behind the costume.
Ace stared at her, letting out a soft whine. Barbara smiled softly, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at the display. She put her hands on the edges of her arm rest, pushing herself to her feet. She put one foot down, then the other before letting go of the chair. Unfortunately, as soon as she did she collapsed back onto the ground, unable to pick herself up. She began to sob to herself, as Ace ran over and licked her face.
AN: Hey guys, this is Crimson I hope you liked what I've put up for you. Things are gonna get weird in Manhattan, what with all the magic and varied costume creeps that are prowling it - and that's before we get to Episode 11, which Shazam fans I think will enjoy. R&R and all that. If you message us, please make sure to note who you wanted the message to go to in the title. Now if you excuse me, I gotta see three men about a trident!