Montana
July 4th, 12:41 PDT
"Hello?" Arrowette banged a fist against the side of the spaceship as she called out. "Anybody home?"
"What is this thing?" Aquagirl wondered aloud, touching the side of the red and black vessel a bit more gingerly. It was made from either the strangest metal she'd ever encountered or another material entirely.
"Uh, girls? I don't think we were the first people to get here..." The archer and Atlantean hurried around to the other side of the ship, where Zatanna crouched before a churned up mess of dirt and brush. While that could have been excused as part of the crash, the disassembled pieces of shotgun and hunting rifle didn't exactly fit the narrative.
"Great, just what we needed, locals making our job harder," Arrowette huffed. Nonetheless, she started pacing around the perimeter of the scene, grey eyes scanning the ground for further clues. Zatanna, in the meantime, called upon her magic.
"Laever ot em ruoy srenwo," she murmured. Hazy images appeared over the ruined guns, depicting a pair of young men who looked scared out of their minds as they stared up at the ship.
Aquagirl frowned.
Glancing between Zatanna's spell construct and the crashed vessel, she hummed consideringly. Then, the red-haired Atlantean jumped.
"Uhh, what are you doing?" The smaller girl twisted in place to stare up at her on the ship's roof.
"Investigating," Aquagirl called back down. "And I found the entrance. Arrowette, get over here!"
As the archer jogged back, she gestured over her shoulder towards the treeline. "Whoever these guys were, the tracks look like they hightailed it out of here without anything following them." She took Zatanna's offered hand, and the magician used a rune-disk to lift them up after Aquagirl.
"That's something, at least," their older friend muttered, glancing back down at the circular hole in the top of the ship - no lid on hinges or other mechanical method of closing it that she could see. "Though it does likely mean that whoever or whatever scared them off is still inside."
"Oh. Goody."
"Should... should we call the League?" Zatanna glanced between the others, saw their matching reluctance, and squared her own shoulders. "Right. We're doing this ourselves."
"At least until we know one way or another if there are hostiles," Aquagirl reassured her. That said, the Atlantean took the lead by jumping down the hatch, followed by both younger girls.
They landed in what appeared to be an observation deck, with several seats spaced around the out-looking windows and a raised platform in the center. Zatanna performed a quick scanning spell to make sure they were alone, while Arrowette poked one of the seats and Aquagirl headed for the back wall.
"Well, that's disconcerting," the magician mumbled after a moment. "Something must be throwing my magic off, I think I'm getting a reading off the ship itself..."
"Any way you can analyze what the heck this stuff is?" Her friend asked, substituting her finger for an arrowhead to continue poking at the odd material of the seat. The blonde nearly shrieked when jabbing a little more forcefully resulted in the stuff moving, waving a tendril at her before seamlessly blending back into itself. "Whoa."
"Okay," Zatanna breathed, leaning over her shoulder with wide eyes. "That was so not normal."
"Neither is this." They both straightened to look over at Aquagirl. The older girl had each hand pressed to the wall, eyes glowing with electric power. With a faint whine that almost sounded like an animal in pain, the wall trembled, and gradually an arched opening rippled into existence. With a toss of her head, Aquagirl ordered both younger girls through it, before releasing her power and stepping through as well. The wall swiftly closed behind them, leaving no sign there'd ever been an opening at all.
"Whatever this ship is," Aquagirl said, staring back at it with a narrowed gaze, "It's alive."
-L'sC-
Pain
-coming in too fast, heat building, too much too much, tired, hurt, shut everything down, hibernation mode, calm down calm down we'll survive this we HAVE to-
Impact
-hurts so much, still burning, broken, get up get up, run maintenance checks, set up healing mode, help her, please, make the pain stop, so foggy, can't think straight-
Intruders
-float upwards, can barely open the exterior hatch, can't maintain a coherent form-
PAIN
INJURY
ENEMIES
-scare them, scare them away, rip apart their weapons, send them fleeing, LEAVE US ALONE, get back inside get back inside, bleeding, have to stop the bleeding, have to get the bits of metal out, bullets, they're called bullets, get thEM OUT HURTS HURTS HURTS-
Quiet
Stillness
...new intruders...
-wake up, get up, they're coming, can't let them, can't let them shoot again-
-three this time, different than before, they're INSIDE-
-hide hide hide hide-
-they sense you, they hear you, they're coming, no no no, hurt them first, blast them, go inside their minds and TAKE THEM DOWN-
-open a side hatch, get them out, quickly, quickly, ignore the pain, need to be alone-
Mob
-too many, too many enemies, shooting, stop the bullets, don't let them hit, no more, please, go away, too many to scare-
Fire
FLAMES
BURNING
"AAAAHHHH!"
-L'sC-
Someone groaned.
Bleary, feeling like her head was full of cotton, Zatanna blinked her eyes open. Shifting in place, it only took a moment to notice and recognize the sensation of ropes binding her ankles together and securing her arms behind her back. Second to this came the realization she'd been gagged, too.
Growling, the girl shook her head to try and dislodge some of the fogginess, but only succeeded in sending beads of sweat flying. Whatever room she'd been imprisoned within was blisteringly hot, and had she been able, Zatanna would have called up a cool breeze to help with the discomfort.
Another groan came from behind her, along with movement against her bound arms. Zatanna guessed that she been tied to one of her friends, an assumption proven correct with Arrowette's familiar voice suddenly muttering a selection of choice curse words.
"Mmf thff rrf," she tried to agree, growling again when the words didn't come out remotely right.
"Zee? You okay?"
"Mm-hm."
"Gag?"
"Grr."
Arrowette snickered, shifting again as she tested the ropes. "Well, at least you're awake. Looks like Aquagirl's still out cold - er, out hot, maybe? Geez, it feels like a sauna in here."
Zatanna made another affirmative noise, craning her neck in order to study their surroundings. Plain stone walls and ceiling, concrete floor, what looked like a heavy steel door... and a security camera in the corner, pointed right at them. The magician narrowed her eyes at it.
A few moments later, she heard muted footsteps approaching, and then a scraping sound as the door was unlocked. Behind her, Arrowette stilled.
Two men entered the room and approached. One of them, decked out in more military gear than a Special Ops agent, stepped close enough to grab the ropes connecting the two girls and yank them upright into sitting positions. The other, dressed a tad more plainly with only a single rifle and sidearm overtop dark plainclothes, moved out of Zatanna's range of vision, presumably to check on Aquagirl.
"Hey, Marine-wannabes," Arrowette spoke up. "Any chance we could get the thermostat turned down in here? I realize this is Montana, but it's also July for crying out loud."
Neither of the men replied. They moved to stand at a parade rest, just as a woman walked in the open door.
"I do apologize for the less than stellar accommodations, but we aren't exactly in the habit of catering to alien spies." She came to a stop beside them, and Zatanna's first impression was simply the words intimidation personified. The woman was even taller than the more heavily-armed of the two men, and while she didn't carry any visible weapons, the almost palpable aura of confidence around her indicated none were needed.
"...wow," Arrowette said, "You've got biceps almost as big as Wonder Woman's. You a fan?"
Zatanna wished she were still laying down, so as to be able to smack her head against the concrete floor.
The woman above them smirked. "Well, you've certainly got the snark of a teenager down pat. I have to wonder, though, how long you've been studying humanity in order to mimic one of our children so thoroughly?"
Blinking, Zatanna stared at her with an incredulous expression. "Wrf nn nffns!"
"Uh, we aren't aliens," Arrowette repeated.
"Sure you aren't," the woman said, crouching down so she could pat them both on the head. "And I suppose that monstrosity you were meeting with is a storybook fairy, hm?"
It took Zatanna a minute to recall what she was talking about-
"Look out-" Aquagirl tried to stand in front of them, but the huge white thing wasn't attacking physically - it felt like her brain was suddenly doused in freezing water, too cold to think, too numb to respond-
-and when the memories presented themselves, she felt more than a little ill.
"Look, lady, we don't know what the heck that thing was, but it's clearly dangerous. So, why don't you untie us, and we can call the Justice League-"
The woman threw her head back, laughing. Eyes wide, Zatanna turned to look at the two men standing guard, and didn't like the way they were smirking.
"Oh, you are a bold one," their main captor finally said. "But don't think we aren't aware the League has been watching us - why else send you three to meet with that thing practically in our backyard, but as a warning? Well, we'll send back a warning shot of our own: Godwatch will not be intimidated."
She stood then, gesturing to the pair of guards. "Get the charcoal. I want video of them revealing their true forms before we carry out the executions." Turning to go, she took all of three steps towards the door before a band of water curled around her feet, yanking them back and sending her crashing to the ground.
One of the men tried to run to her side, only for Zatanna to throw her legs out and trip him up as well. Behind her, Arrowette finished tearing into the rope cords with the miniature razors kept hidden in the fabric of her gloves. As soon as their bonds gave way, the pair scrambled to their feet, Zatanna yanking the gag from her mouth as Arrowette jumped to help Aquagirl hold off the remaining guard.
"Esuf rieht sehtolc ot dnib meht ni ecalp!" The magician yelled, casting both hands towards the pair rising from the floor. Pants legs melded together, and sleeves fused to torsos, trapping both of them. Zatanna turned to do the same to the third wackjob, but a roundhouse kick from Arrowette took him down just fine.
"Now aren't you glad I made you binge-watch that Avatar show with us?" The archer laughed, clapping Aquagirl on the shoulder.
Their older friend smiled back tiredly, unwinding the last of the chains that had been wrapped around her limbs. "I do admit, the sweat-bending episode was an inspiration."
"Don't congratulate yourselves just yet," the woman on the floor growled. "There are dozens of my soldiers in this compound - you'll never get out alive."
Zatanna sighed, muttering a spell to gag her. She did the same to the guards as well, then tied up the third one before dropping them all in a pile out of sight of the security camera. "Much as I hate to say it, she's right - we've got to get out of here before patting ourselves on the back."
Padding silently, Aquagirl moved to the open doorway and peered out of it. "I don't see any other guards - we're in the middle of a hallway. There's another door to our left, and intersections at both ends, but that's it."
"Security cameras?"
"None that I can see," Aquagirl said after a moment. "Perhaps they are an underfunded extremist group."
"More likely they've just got their internal security focused somewhere else," Arrowette muttered, joining her. "I need to find my weapons, or I'm gonna be next to useless."
"I dunno, you hit plenty hard," Zatanna pointed out. "But while we're on the subject... ediug em ot eht wob fo etteworra." A green light sprang from her outstretched hand, bouncing in place a couple times before it darted left. The girls followed, Aquagirl swinging the steel door shut behind them. As they passed the second door in the hall, however, she slowed, staring at it.
"Uh, Aquagirl?"
"It's warmer here," she murmured.
"So?"
The Atlantean didn't reply, instead grabbing at the locked handle. Straining, she pulled the entire thing free, dropping it to the ground as a wave of heat swept out. The younger girls got to her side in time to keep the taller teenager from falling as well, and all three of them stared in horror at the scene inside.
Multiple bonfires and lines of burning charcoal were laid throughout the room, surrounding the monster they'd encountered on the freaky spaceship. Its white skin looked even more shriveled than earlier, stick-like limbs pulled in close and bound in heavy chains.
As they stared, it shuddered, dull red eyes turning in their direction. Zatanna shivered at the sensation of a touch to her psyche, similar to the intrusion that had knocked her unconscious aboard the ship even if it was far weaker.
*Help... please...*
"Guys," Arrowette started to protest. A second touch came after the first, sharing emotion rather than speech: guilt, sorrow, terror and panic.
"Set me down," Aquagirl rasped, a determined expression on her face despite the dry heat sapping her strength. The other girls did as she ordered, and stood back when bands of light started to glow on the Atlantean's arms and torso. Deep beneath them, something rumbled.
Within the room, stone began the shake, then crack. Little, pressurized sprays of water started to appear, hitting the fires and sending steam curling everywhere. Aquagirl yelled in her native tongue, and the little sprays turned into full-on waterspouts.
As soon as enough flames were doused, Zatanna and Arrowette ran forward together. The archer kicked away the remaining coals while her friend used a spell to dissolve the chains. Once the monster was free, they tucked themselves under its long arms, supporting most of its weight as the creature started to slowly shuffle forwards.
Aquagirl stood up as they approached, letting the tattoos of light fade along with her spell. "Are you alright?"
*I, will be. Thank, you.*
"Think you're up to helping us get out of here, seeing as you're kinda responsible for getting us into this mess anyway?"
"Ettie!"
"What?"
*I'm sorry,* the monster said inside their heads, its mental voice sounding genuinely remorseful. *I'll help in any way I can.*
"Thank you. I am Aquagirl, and these are Arrowette and Zatanna. What is your name?"
*My name is M'gann Morzz, but...* Muscle and bone began to shift, as white turned green, and previously unnoticed bands of red material expanded. In moments, where a disturbing creature had loomed over them was instead a slender, green-skinned girl of comparable height wearing a blue cloak and black suit with red edging. "...you can call me Miss Martian."