A/N: I'm finally back!! Sorry it took so long to update. Bad combination
of writer's block, my own "lack of information" and my mom saying I should
be concentrating on my school work rather then "some story." I've been
checking out other fics and I've seen other authors doing shout outs. It
looked like fun so I thought I might try it out. ^_^
Drunk on Tang: ^_^ fun fun silly willy isn't it?
Siora: Thanks for appreciating my humor!! It makes me very happy!
Desert-Rose6: calm down, calm down..... It's uncanny. although I don't know as much about X-men as I'd like so I'm probably gonna screw everyone's personalities up so, if I do, forgive me?
Zeheria: I'm glad you like it. And if you continue to read this chapter you will find out Flash's reaction. :-)
Holly: I'm glad you like it so much!!! Thank you for reading!! And I'm glad you liked my joke so much!! (I didn't think anyone would appreciate it, much less laugh at it.)
Disclaimer: If you see something familiar in this fic....I probably don't own it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------
Nichole slumped back onto the couch. It had only been a few hours, five tops, and she was already bored. There had to be more things to do here. She had blasted all the cds even though she had never heard of any of the groups. She had found one Nintendo system but couldn't find the games. Who put together the furnishing in this room anyway? There had to be some secret compartments or something. Either that or she just wasn't looking hard enough.
Nichole sighed softly. She knew that there was still the decision to be made but she wasn't quite ready to confront the unavoidable change in her future. Her gaze wandered over to the computer on the side of the wall. If only she had paid attention in computer class at school or even when J'onn had tried to teach her about the main computer in the Watchtower.
She got up and sat down on the chair in front of the computer. Maybe if she fooled with it a little she could figure something out. She looked over the various buttons, key boards, and screens. "Well, at least I know how to turn the thing on." Nichole said to herself as she pressed a big, rather important-looking button. The computer turned on in a brilliant array of flashing lights and beeping sounds.
"Cool." Nichole uttered, followed by a somewhat nervous glance at the door. If Batman were to walk into that door.....but she didn't have time to think about that right now. "Let's see if I can figure out how this baby works." She said to herself, closing her eyes tightly while hitting a few random, unimportant-looking buttons.
Immediately, the screens, which had been blank, turned on. In each a section of the Watchtower could be seen. Nichole looked at the screens in wonder. "Batman desperately needs to get a hobby." The entire watchtower was bugged. Cameras were everywhere; Nichole could see into each room. In fact, it seemed that a small group was gathering in the meeting room right now. Must be the council Batman had spoken of.
Nichole had never been much of a superhero fan so she didn't recognize the four distinct figures of Professor Xavier, Dr. Strange, Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man sitting in the room with the Justice League members. Being the nosy girl that she was, she sat back and listened in to the conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for coming on such short notice and with such little information." Superman addressed the four gentlemen. "But before we give what information we have, I would like Professor Xavier to tell what he has learned."
"I would be glad to." Xavier complied. "As of about a month ago, the X-men have been noticing some, how would say, irregular behavior in some humans. They would be normal human beings one day, but then...they would change somehow. Grow psychotic almost. We were afraid this condition might spread to mutants. I was just about to send the X-men to investigate more when the Justice League came."
"But Cyclops said we were expected." Wonder woman said.
"You were. It's not every day that you hear the Justice League has taken in a human girl. And only a month later weird things start happening. I figured you would be paying a visit to us eventually." Charles looked over at Superman. "This does have to do with the girl, correct?"
Superman nodded. "You're right Professor; this situation has everything to do with the girl that we've taken in.
"It has come to our attention that, once again, the earth is in grave danger. Unusually strong aliens plan on attacking earth by the end of this month. We must stop them before they attack, if possible. Their ship is located somewhere near earth, we assume. If we can reach their ship before time runs out perhaps we can find their weakness and destroy them." Superman began.
"You received this information from the girl?" Reed Richards asked.
"Yes." Wonder woman replied first.
"How did she know this?"
"It was told to her by a man known as Carmichael." Wonder woman answered.
"How do you know he is trustworthy?" Reed Richards inquired. "Perhaps he could have been lying in order to set us into a trap?"
"What about this girl?" Iron man asked. "Is she trustworthy?"
"What exactly are you suggesting, Iron Man?" Flash glared at him.
Ignoring Flash's tone, Iron Man responded. "It could be possible that she was either making this up or she could be in on it with them."
Flash immediately jumped to Nichole's defense. "There is no way she's in on it with them!" He rose from his seat, fire burning in his eyes. "Don't you ever say anything like that again!"
"Flash, settle down; they don't know." Wonder woman stared Flash back down into his seat. "He grew up with her." Wonder woman explained. "Nichole is from a dimension similar to ours, with the exception of its lack of superheroes."
"No," Flash corrected quietly. "There are superheroes in her world; you just can't see them. For some weird reason, whenever you enter that world, if you've got superhuman powers, you turn invisible."
"How did she get here?" Dr. Strange asked Flash.
"I don't know....she can't remember either."
"Well, now that we have assurance that she is trustworthy, what about this Carmichael?" Reed Richards asked again.
"I believe he was telling the truth; at least, as much as he could understand of it." Batman said.
"Why do you think this?" Xavier asked him.
"Because I've met him."
The whole room looked at Batman in shock.
"You-you met him?" Flash looked at Batman as if he had said that he was an alien. "When?"
"The night I saved Nichole, although I'm pretty sure I had met him beforehand." Batman said "He's the one who told me where Nichole was, and that she was in grave danger. He said I needed to save her for his own sake. I saw the desperation in his eyes; he wasn't lying.
"It was then that I was able to retrieve a sample of his blood." Batman said, with a glance at Wonder Woman. "I've been doing experiments for some time now. It seems that he somehow acquired a lethal substance that turned his blood to a dark bluish color. However, this substance.....it's almost as if it's a completely different person or creature most likely."
"You think these creatures have something to do with that substance?" Xavier said.
"It is possible."
"If I may add something?" Dr. Strange spoke up.
"Go ahead." Xavier nodded.
"If I were to assume, I would say there is a very high chance that they could be the Esothen. I don't know very much about them, but from what I've heard here today, well, it matches quite well with some of the rumors I have heard."
"The Esothen? I have never heard of them before." Iron Man responded.
"I have heard a little. Most of it was from Silver Surfer but I have picked up several bits of information although they are probably nothing more then rumors." Reed Richards added.
"Could you please enlighten the rest of us?" Green Lantern asked.
"From what I've heard from rumors, these creatures are extremely powerful. That's what all the rumors agree on. What there powers are exactly, well, that's where the rumors begin to differ." Reed Richards said.
"There is one that I know of, that sounds like it would fit with what Batman was saying. It says that they have the ability to insert a deadly liquid into being; controlling their mind and eventually killing them." Dr. Strange added.
"That would explain why Carmichael looked like he was fighting for control while he was talking to me. Although it doesn't explain how he knew what he knew." Batman said.
"He could have stumbled upon the information just like your girl did." J'onn analyzed.
"What does it matter if we trust Carmichael or not? These creatures are obviously hostile and they are going to attack. We should attack them before they attack earth!" Hawk girl finally burst out.
"Hawk girl may have a point. No matter what the specific details; these creatures are a threat to earth. It is our duty to stop them." Iron man pointed out.
"The only question left is, how?" Wonder woman asked.
"I would very much like to meet the girl. Perhaps Professor Xavier would be able to find out more of what she knows." Dr. Strange said. "Where is she?"
"She's somewhere around here." Flash responded eagerly. "I'll go get her."
"She's not here." Batman quickly stated.
"WHAT?!" Flash rushed over to where Batman was calmly sitting. "What do you mean she's not here?? What did you do to her?"
Glaring at an enraged/confused Flash, Batman responded. "I put her somewhere where she will be safe."
"And it's not safe here?"
"Them following us here is a possibility, thanks to you. I had to put her somewhere where she would be safe."
"Where?"
"If I told you it would no longer be safe."
Before the real fight could begin, Superman rushed between them. "Flash, calm down! If Batman says she's safe then she's safe. I don't think it was right of him to take her away without notifying anyone but he did what he thought he had to do."
Rather reluctantly, Flash went back to his seat.
"But did he have to do it?" Mr. Fantastic asked. "I mean, if we're going to attack as soon as possible, then wouldn't it be good if we had the girl near us? That way, if they have followed you, then it would be some kind of distraction for them. That is, if we pull it off right."
"I don't think we should just rush in there and start attacking." Wonder woman said. "It seems that they only get stronger every time we fight them. We need some form of strategy."
"I agree with Wonder woman. We should not just rush in there if we don't have to. Time is running out and it seems that our lack of knowledge of our enemy is our weakness." Professor Xavier concluded. "I also agree with Mr. Richards. We should bring the girl back here and watch over her. I might be able to go into her subconscious and find some information."
"And what if you can't find any information?" Flash asked.
"Then I think we should find the ship and attack. We have no time for information seeking. And we shouldn't go down without a fight."
"We'll separate into groups. Some will go to fight, some will stay here to protect Nichole, and the rest will stay to protect the earth. Since all of you are leaders of your groups respectively; I leave it up to you to decide who is to do what." Superman stated.
The group nodded solemnly. The decisions had been made and agreed upon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nichole stared at the screen, her head spinning. Esothen; the word felt so familiar. As if she not only knew of the word but had at one time used it often. But it didn't matter. Carmichael had probably mentioned the Esothen somewhere when he was talking to her. That was why it felt so distant, so fuzzy.
Nichole continued to stare at the screens, watching the four guests return to their transportations, soon to return with back up. "Well," Nichole said to herself. "At least I'm getting out of here soon."
She turned off the computer. It wouldn't be pleasant if Batman came and saw she had been messing with his computer. Nicole returned to her seat on the couch. All she had to do was wait.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------
Well, that's all I've got for now.......and if you want more, then please review!!! If you don't want more.......please review anyway!!! I'll try hard to get chap. 10 up quicker. Really, I will....
Drunk on Tang: ^_^ fun fun silly willy isn't it?
Siora: Thanks for appreciating my humor!! It makes me very happy!
Desert-Rose6: calm down, calm down..... It's uncanny. although I don't know as much about X-men as I'd like so I'm probably gonna screw everyone's personalities up so, if I do, forgive me?
Zeheria: I'm glad you like it. And if you continue to read this chapter you will find out Flash's reaction. :-)
Holly: I'm glad you like it so much!!! Thank you for reading!! And I'm glad you liked my joke so much!! (I didn't think anyone would appreciate it, much less laugh at it.)
Disclaimer: If you see something familiar in this fic....I probably don't own it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------
Nichole slumped back onto the couch. It had only been a few hours, five tops, and she was already bored. There had to be more things to do here. She had blasted all the cds even though she had never heard of any of the groups. She had found one Nintendo system but couldn't find the games. Who put together the furnishing in this room anyway? There had to be some secret compartments or something. Either that or she just wasn't looking hard enough.
Nichole sighed softly. She knew that there was still the decision to be made but she wasn't quite ready to confront the unavoidable change in her future. Her gaze wandered over to the computer on the side of the wall. If only she had paid attention in computer class at school or even when J'onn had tried to teach her about the main computer in the Watchtower.
She got up and sat down on the chair in front of the computer. Maybe if she fooled with it a little she could figure something out. She looked over the various buttons, key boards, and screens. "Well, at least I know how to turn the thing on." Nichole said to herself as she pressed a big, rather important-looking button. The computer turned on in a brilliant array of flashing lights and beeping sounds.
"Cool." Nichole uttered, followed by a somewhat nervous glance at the door. If Batman were to walk into that door.....but she didn't have time to think about that right now. "Let's see if I can figure out how this baby works." She said to herself, closing her eyes tightly while hitting a few random, unimportant-looking buttons.
Immediately, the screens, which had been blank, turned on. In each a section of the Watchtower could be seen. Nichole looked at the screens in wonder. "Batman desperately needs to get a hobby." The entire watchtower was bugged. Cameras were everywhere; Nichole could see into each room. In fact, it seemed that a small group was gathering in the meeting room right now. Must be the council Batman had spoken of.
Nichole had never been much of a superhero fan so she didn't recognize the four distinct figures of Professor Xavier, Dr. Strange, Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man sitting in the room with the Justice League members. Being the nosy girl that she was, she sat back and listened in to the conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for coming on such short notice and with such little information." Superman addressed the four gentlemen. "But before we give what information we have, I would like Professor Xavier to tell what he has learned."
"I would be glad to." Xavier complied. "As of about a month ago, the X-men have been noticing some, how would say, irregular behavior in some humans. They would be normal human beings one day, but then...they would change somehow. Grow psychotic almost. We were afraid this condition might spread to mutants. I was just about to send the X-men to investigate more when the Justice League came."
"But Cyclops said we were expected." Wonder woman said.
"You were. It's not every day that you hear the Justice League has taken in a human girl. And only a month later weird things start happening. I figured you would be paying a visit to us eventually." Charles looked over at Superman. "This does have to do with the girl, correct?"
Superman nodded. "You're right Professor; this situation has everything to do with the girl that we've taken in.
"It has come to our attention that, once again, the earth is in grave danger. Unusually strong aliens plan on attacking earth by the end of this month. We must stop them before they attack, if possible. Their ship is located somewhere near earth, we assume. If we can reach their ship before time runs out perhaps we can find their weakness and destroy them." Superman began.
"You received this information from the girl?" Reed Richards asked.
"Yes." Wonder woman replied first.
"How did she know this?"
"It was told to her by a man known as Carmichael." Wonder woman answered.
"How do you know he is trustworthy?" Reed Richards inquired. "Perhaps he could have been lying in order to set us into a trap?"
"What about this girl?" Iron man asked. "Is she trustworthy?"
"What exactly are you suggesting, Iron Man?" Flash glared at him.
Ignoring Flash's tone, Iron Man responded. "It could be possible that she was either making this up or she could be in on it with them."
Flash immediately jumped to Nichole's defense. "There is no way she's in on it with them!" He rose from his seat, fire burning in his eyes. "Don't you ever say anything like that again!"
"Flash, settle down; they don't know." Wonder woman stared Flash back down into his seat. "He grew up with her." Wonder woman explained. "Nichole is from a dimension similar to ours, with the exception of its lack of superheroes."
"No," Flash corrected quietly. "There are superheroes in her world; you just can't see them. For some weird reason, whenever you enter that world, if you've got superhuman powers, you turn invisible."
"How did she get here?" Dr. Strange asked Flash.
"I don't know....she can't remember either."
"Well, now that we have assurance that she is trustworthy, what about this Carmichael?" Reed Richards asked again.
"I believe he was telling the truth; at least, as much as he could understand of it." Batman said.
"Why do you think this?" Xavier asked him.
"Because I've met him."
The whole room looked at Batman in shock.
"You-you met him?" Flash looked at Batman as if he had said that he was an alien. "When?"
"The night I saved Nichole, although I'm pretty sure I had met him beforehand." Batman said "He's the one who told me where Nichole was, and that she was in grave danger. He said I needed to save her for his own sake. I saw the desperation in his eyes; he wasn't lying.
"It was then that I was able to retrieve a sample of his blood." Batman said, with a glance at Wonder Woman. "I've been doing experiments for some time now. It seems that he somehow acquired a lethal substance that turned his blood to a dark bluish color. However, this substance.....it's almost as if it's a completely different person or creature most likely."
"You think these creatures have something to do with that substance?" Xavier said.
"It is possible."
"If I may add something?" Dr. Strange spoke up.
"Go ahead." Xavier nodded.
"If I were to assume, I would say there is a very high chance that they could be the Esothen. I don't know very much about them, but from what I've heard here today, well, it matches quite well with some of the rumors I have heard."
"The Esothen? I have never heard of them before." Iron Man responded.
"I have heard a little. Most of it was from Silver Surfer but I have picked up several bits of information although they are probably nothing more then rumors." Reed Richards added.
"Could you please enlighten the rest of us?" Green Lantern asked.
"From what I've heard from rumors, these creatures are extremely powerful. That's what all the rumors agree on. What there powers are exactly, well, that's where the rumors begin to differ." Reed Richards said.
"There is one that I know of, that sounds like it would fit with what Batman was saying. It says that they have the ability to insert a deadly liquid into being; controlling their mind and eventually killing them." Dr. Strange added.
"That would explain why Carmichael looked like he was fighting for control while he was talking to me. Although it doesn't explain how he knew what he knew." Batman said.
"He could have stumbled upon the information just like your girl did." J'onn analyzed.
"What does it matter if we trust Carmichael or not? These creatures are obviously hostile and they are going to attack. We should attack them before they attack earth!" Hawk girl finally burst out.
"Hawk girl may have a point. No matter what the specific details; these creatures are a threat to earth. It is our duty to stop them." Iron man pointed out.
"The only question left is, how?" Wonder woman asked.
"I would very much like to meet the girl. Perhaps Professor Xavier would be able to find out more of what she knows." Dr. Strange said. "Where is she?"
"She's somewhere around here." Flash responded eagerly. "I'll go get her."
"She's not here." Batman quickly stated.
"WHAT?!" Flash rushed over to where Batman was calmly sitting. "What do you mean she's not here?? What did you do to her?"
Glaring at an enraged/confused Flash, Batman responded. "I put her somewhere where she will be safe."
"And it's not safe here?"
"Them following us here is a possibility, thanks to you. I had to put her somewhere where she would be safe."
"Where?"
"If I told you it would no longer be safe."
Before the real fight could begin, Superman rushed between them. "Flash, calm down! If Batman says she's safe then she's safe. I don't think it was right of him to take her away without notifying anyone but he did what he thought he had to do."
Rather reluctantly, Flash went back to his seat.
"But did he have to do it?" Mr. Fantastic asked. "I mean, if we're going to attack as soon as possible, then wouldn't it be good if we had the girl near us? That way, if they have followed you, then it would be some kind of distraction for them. That is, if we pull it off right."
"I don't think we should just rush in there and start attacking." Wonder woman said. "It seems that they only get stronger every time we fight them. We need some form of strategy."
"I agree with Wonder woman. We should not just rush in there if we don't have to. Time is running out and it seems that our lack of knowledge of our enemy is our weakness." Professor Xavier concluded. "I also agree with Mr. Richards. We should bring the girl back here and watch over her. I might be able to go into her subconscious and find some information."
"And what if you can't find any information?" Flash asked.
"Then I think we should find the ship and attack. We have no time for information seeking. And we shouldn't go down without a fight."
"We'll separate into groups. Some will go to fight, some will stay here to protect Nichole, and the rest will stay to protect the earth. Since all of you are leaders of your groups respectively; I leave it up to you to decide who is to do what." Superman stated.
The group nodded solemnly. The decisions had been made and agreed upon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nichole stared at the screen, her head spinning. Esothen; the word felt so familiar. As if she not only knew of the word but had at one time used it often. But it didn't matter. Carmichael had probably mentioned the Esothen somewhere when he was talking to her. That was why it felt so distant, so fuzzy.
Nichole continued to stare at the screens, watching the four guests return to their transportations, soon to return with back up. "Well," Nichole said to herself. "At least I'm getting out of here soon."
She turned off the computer. It wouldn't be pleasant if Batman came and saw she had been messing with his computer. Nicole returned to her seat on the couch. All she had to do was wait.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------
Well, that's all I've got for now.......and if you want more, then please review!!! If you don't want more.......please review anyway!!! I'll try hard to get chap. 10 up quicker. Really, I will....