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Infinity Verse Spotlight
Jazz Fenton: Sanctuary
On the lower decks of Skyward Tower, there was a special wing of the Infinity League's base. It was a place of healing. Not one of the body, but of the mind. Everyone, weather they be a young child or a person in political power, all had their own share of personal demons that they fought behind closed doors, and the same could be said for superheroes. They had faced death, loss, war and other great tragedies that became an internal burden to them. Fortunately, now there was somewhere they could go and talk about what troubled them in private. This place was called Sanctuary, and it was run by someone who knew the internal struggles that a superhero had to go through on a daily basis.
Her name was Jasmine 'Jazz' Fenton, the head of Sanctuary, chief counselor of the Infinity League and secret sibling to Danny Phantom. When the League was still in its infancy, Danny told his friends and family about joining this team of fellow heroes, and while they were all supportive, Jazz was worried for her younger brother. She knew that Danny went under a lot of stress being a superhero in Amity Park, but now with the League, he would be dealing with threats on a global scale that would no doubt take a serious toll on his mental state. So, after having a private conversation with him, she offered to be the League's very own therapist. While she hid the fact that she was really Danny's sister for her own protection, she was given the position with no qualms from the other League members.
By this point, Jazz had achieved her degree in psychology and was now more than capable of helping the heroes with whatever internal struggle they were dealing with. At first, the League members were apprehensive of going to Sanctuary, but soon enough, Jazz began to receive visits from almost everyone on the team. From the metahumans to even some of the Joes and Autobots, they all came to the young woman to bare their souls to her. Jazz kept her sessions with the heroes private, though she did record them for further study so she could better help her patients.
Today started out as any other. She was beamed up to Skyward Tower, went to her office, made some green tea, took a deep breath and began her day.
Case File #457 Session #14
Code Name: SheZow
Real Name: N/A
"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice," the pink-clad hero said as she sat down on the couch. "I hope I didn't ruin your schedule."
"Not at all, SheZow. I always make time for my patients," Jazz assured. "So, how have you been since our last session?"
SheZow had come to Sanctuary several times. Mostly to vent about the pressure she felt about being one of the heads of the League, which was common for the other leaders to talk about while they were in here. Aside from Optimus, the others heads of the League regularly came into the counselor's office to talk about the daily stress they had to deal with now that they had to run a massive organization. Today, however, the therapist had a sense that SheZow wanted to talk about something other than her role as a leader.
"I, uh...don't know" SheZow admitted softly. "Lately I've been acting...different."
"Different?" Jazz repeated as a question. "How so?"
"It's like this, you see. Lately, I've been spending more time as SheZow than I have as my civilian identity. I mean, hell, last night I went to sleep in my costume, and it just felt so right to me."
"You think you're getting lost inside your superhero persona?"
"No, not like that. I mean I think I'm starting to question who I am as a person."
Jazz remained silent as she continued.
"Like, a week ago, I was passing by a mall while I was off duty and I noticed all these beautiful dresses in the window of one of the stores. And as I looked at them, I started to imagine myself in those dresses. Before I knew it, I was in the store going though the aisles and checking out the rest of the clothing the women's section."
"You mean you haven't done that before?" Jazz asked.
SheZow's face instantly went red with embarrassment, almost as if she had been caught lying. One of the options for the heroes within the hallowed walls of Sanctuary was that they could reveal their true identities to Jazz without fear of any backlash from the public eye, and while SheZow chose to keep her identity a secret, Jazz always has a sense that the pink-clad hero had more secrets than she was letting on.
"Let's just say I've always been a bit of a tom-boy," the metahuman finally answered. "But these days I can't stand to look at myself in the mirror whenever I'm not in my costume. Like it isn't my reflection looking back at me. Just a stranger who won't leave me alone."
SheZow then looked down in shame.
"I...I think there's something wrong with me."
"I don't think so," Jazz said. "I think your time as SheZow has been allowing you to get in touch with a side of yourself that you've always had subconsciously."
"You think I've always been like this and I didn't know it?" the hero surmised. "That's bullshit! I like watching buttwipe and hanging with my bros!"
"There's no reason you can't enjoy those things and still be whoever you want to be," the counselor reasoned. "There are many people who dress as both men and women and live completely normal lives."
"But I still like gir-I mean, guys," Shezow said defensively. "I thought if you crossdressed then that would mean you'd be gay too."
"But you're technically already crossdressing by wearing boys clothing in your off time, aren't you?" Jazz reminded her.
"Uh..." SheZow said, unable to think of a comeback. "Forget I said that."
"Okay then," Jazz replied, still confused by that remark. "Besides, crossdressing doesn't always equate to homosexuality. There are plenty of men and women who crossdress or change genders and still seek companionship from the opposite sex."
"For real?" SheZow asked, now interested. "So, I can still dress differently and still date girls-I mean, guys?"
"If that's your sexual orientation, then yes," the therapist confirmed. "What you wear doesn't define your gender. You do."
SheZow smiled brightly at that revelation, but that smile then became a frown.
"But what about my family? What will they think if I told them? I'm pretty sure my mom, my sister and my sidekick would accept me, but there's no way my dad would."
"Yes, that may happen and it will hurt," Jazz agreed. "But you have to remember: You're SheZow. One of the most powerful beings on Earth and a leader of the Infinity League. You shouldn't care about what anyone says about what you decide to do with your life. Because in the end, it's their loss. Not your's."
The heroine of Australia again smiled brightly at that. She then stood up and hugged the therapist in a tight, yet caring embrace.
"Thanks, doc," she said.
Case File #632 Session #11
Code Name: Maverick
Real Name: Penn Zero
"So, here we are again, 'the rapist,'" Penn teased. "Should I tie myself down while you work your magic?"
"Penn," Jazz said in a calm tone.
"Or maybe I can be be whipped this time?"
"Penn," Jazz repeated in a slightly firmer tone.
"Or how about I go Fifty Shades-"
"Penn!" the counselor nearly shouted. "Have you been taking the anti-depressants I prescribed to you?"
The redhead instantly stopped his jokes as his playful face turned into one of shame. The reason behind Penn's visits to Sanctuary was that he suffered from PTSD, and while he hid his pain well from his fellow League members with a smile and a strong sense of humor, he suffered in silence. Penn had been seeking Jazz's counsel for a while now, and in that time, he was trying to make sure he could keep up appearances around the rest of his team.
"I have," he finally said in a dejected voice. "And aside from Sashi, no one else knows."
Sashi Kobayashi was Penn's part-time sidekick turned girlfriend and was the only other person who knew of the young hero's mental state. Before they were members of the Infinity League, they were guardians of the Multiverse. Together, alongside their fellow friend and fellow part-time Wiseman, Boone, they fought the forces of evil and prevented the multiverse from falling into chaos. As one could imagine, it took quite a toll on the hero's mind. Jazz's sessions with Penn focused mostly on how to handle his depression and his sometime erratic behavior that was brought on by his PTSD. When he first visited Sanctuary, he confessed that before he and Sashi joined the League, he hit a low point in his life and attempted to commit suicide. Jazz had asked him what had driven him to do such a thing, but the young hero always dodged the question.
"I've spoken to Danny recently," the therapist noted. "He says you've been taking on a lot of fill-in shifts for other League members. More than anyone else on the team."
"Well, somebody's gotta save the world, am I right?" the ginger reasoned.
"That is true," Jazz agreed. "But I think you're taking all these shifts so you don't have to go home."
"Why would I do that?" Penn replied in a defensive voice. "I like having down time, but I wanna help the team out. I mean, you are aware that we are in the saving the world business, right?"
"I understand that, but I also understand that even heroes need some down time as well," the counselor answered. "Let me ask you: When was the last time you visited your parents?"
Penn hesitated at first before answering.
"Two weeks ago," he finally admitted before quickly adding "But I stay in constant contact with them when I'm on duty."
"I understand that you spent some of your time as a part-time hero trying to find your parents after they went missing," Jazz commented. "You finally have them back, and yet you still keep your distance from them."
"I'm not keeping my distance from them!" Penn suddenly snapped, shooting up from couch as he did. "I'm doing my goddamn job!"
Jazz knew that she had struck a nerve, but she kept her cool. This wasn't the first time that she had been shouted at by those she was trying to help, and like all those times before, she knew that the rage her patients showed was only part of the healing process. The therapist also knew that she had hit another soft spot by bringing up the young man's parents, who had only recently been brought back into his life after being lost on the most hostile world within the multiverse. The teen's parents were also invited to join the team, but they declined, saying they had officially retired from being heroes. Jazz was aware that Penn's parents also received therapy in order to heal from the mental scars they endured while in the hellscape they were trapped on for so long.
Boone also refused a membership to the League, also stated that he was done with his time as a hero. This caused a bit of a rift between the former Wiseman and his friends, who claimed that he was taking the easy way out. Since joining the Infinity League, neither Penn nor Sashi had kept in touch with Boone. Jazz also often wondered about Penn's lover's mental state as well, but she knew that she'd have little to no luck in trying to convince a woman who could snap her neck like a twig to visit Sanctuary anytime soon.
"They know I'm keeping the world safe like they did!" Penn continued to shout. "They're proud of what I'm doing and understand I have to be away from them!"
"I'm sure that they do, but you're also their son," Jazz noted. "I'm sure they would like to see you in person and not on a hologram."
"I can't afford to take a break," Penn defended. "If I do then it might be the end of someone's life."
"Yes, but whose life?" Jazz furthered. "I'm starting to wonder if the real reason you don't want to take a break is because you can't cope with a normal life."
Penn was about to make a retort, but his doctor continued.
"I read your file and noticed something," she furthered. "Three days after you tried to take your life, you and Sashi joined the League. And as I recall, you were overly ecstatic about joining."
"Yeah, so?"
"I think you weren't adjusting well to your life after your time being a part-time hero. You experienced so much and faced so many dangers. You even saved the Multiverse from being torn apart. I can only imagine that trying to transfer back to the days of being a normal teenager were hard after going through everything you encountered."
"That's an understatement," Penn said. "I mean, I protected the Multiverse on a daily basis for God sake! I nearly died on more than one occasion at the hands of my fucking art teacher who knew where I lived! Hell, there were nights were I couldn't sleep because I had this fear of him sneaking into my room and killing me!"
The two remained silent for several moments before Jazz spoke up again.
"I think it's time we finally talked about it," she began gently. "Tell me about the day you tried to kill yourself."
Penn's face became one of dejection once again before he slumped back down onto the couch. He took in a deep breath to collect his thoughts. There was no other way he could dodge this moment any longer.
"It started out as a pretty fun day to be honest," he began. "I took Sashi on a date to the movies. I don't think we watched it though, because we spent most of the time making out throughout it. We had ice cream after that and I took her home. Then I went home and had dinner and game night with my parents."
He sighed again before speaking again.
"But the thing is...The thing is...the whole day I was in this...haze. Like my body was on autopilot while on the inside I was trapped in this sort of fog that was nothing but hate for myself. It's like I was screaming at myself 'You don't deserve this!' 'You should be dead or out fighting villains!'"
Tears started to fall from his eyes.
"The next thing I know, I'm in my room late at night with a gun Uncle Chuck left behind when they moved back out," he furthered as his voice cracked from the oncoming pain. "It just felt like a logical train of thought to me at the time, you know? This was the only way I could get those voices out of my head!"
He buried his head in his hands as he started to sob.
"Just as I put the gun to my head and turned the safety off, my mom came up to my room. She startled me enough to make me pull the gun away from my head, but my finger pulled the trigger."
He then lifted his long curly red hair on the side of his head and revealed a scar sitting there.
"The bullet grazed the side of my head. My parents rushed me to the hospital, but..."
"But?" Jazz repeated questioningly.
"But I just kept begging them to let me die!" Penn admitted as he cried. "Oh God, I was screaming at my parents to let me finish it!"
As Penn cried into his hands, Jazz sat in silence. It broke her heart to see this young man, who was known to be a kind and happy go lucky member of the team be, nearly consumed by his own demons.
"My parents told Sashi and Boone about what happened, and they rushed to the hospital," Penn finally continued. "I felt like I failed them and failed myself."
"By trying to kill yourself?" his doctor inquired.
"No, by failing to," the hero corrected sadly. "I felt like, by not killing myself, I now forced them to pay attention to me and deal with this mess I put them in. A few days later, Sashi told me that we got offered to join the League. She told me that I hurt myself by falling down the stairs. Sashi and I accepted the invitation, but now that I think about...I don't think it was because it was the right thing to do, but because I knew if I was left alone at home, I'd try to end it all over again."
There where so many things Jazz wished she could say that could magically fix Penn's current situation, but sadly, with cases such as Penn's, it would be a long, painful road before he could be healed, and even then that relief may only be a brief respite. So, Jazz sat in silence and let Penn cry for the rest of his session with her.
After spending her hour with Penn and prescribing him another refill for his anti-depressants, she escorted the hero out of Sanctuary. As she waved Penn goodbye, she noticed the Ninja storming down the hall among the other passing heroes, but it wasn't just the Ninja who was moving fast in the hall. Someone was chasing after him. It was Kim Possible, and judging by the cross look in her eyes, she had some rather choice words for the protector of Norrsiville.
"Hey!" she snapped at him as she took him by the shoulder and spun him around to face her. "We are so not done having this conversation!"
"Yes we are, Kim!" the fellow League leader snapped. "I stand by what I said back there!"
"You can't say those things on public TV! And to make things worse, you put Rena in the spotlight too! What were you even thinking?!"
"I was thinking about all the people we could be helping right now! Or did you forget that was our job?"
"I'm not blind to what's going on over there, but it's not our business! How could you say those things and not stop to think about how it would make the rest of the League look?!"
"So, we'll just leave them to die then? And why? Because you care more about our appearance instead of having the spine to do the right thing?!"
"I'd step off if I were you. You are so fucking close to getting kicked out of the League at this point!"
"For what? Having the balls to want to do the right thing? If anyone should be kicked out, it's you for being a coward!"
As the two leaders continued to argue in the middle of everyone in the hall, Jazz was confused as to why they were so furious with on another or why they fighting in the first place. She had been with patients all day, so she hadn't been updated on any recent events today. Wanting answers, she went over to one of the heroes in the hall, Odd Della Robbia, AKA: Wild Katt, in order to get some answers.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Kim's chewing the Ninja out for some stuff he said on TV today," Odd began. "The Ninja was on a date with Rena Rouge after skipping out on a meeting with the other heads of the League when some reporters ambushed them and asked them a bunch of questions. When they asked them about why didn't the League step in during the riots in Paris, the Ninja said he wanted to before talking about he wants the League to be involved in certain affairs like the war in Ukraine."
Jazz was taken aback by that. The Infinity League had tried their best to stay out of affairs such as the Paris riots and the civil war in Ukraine for various reasons, but she never thought anyone on the team would be vocal about getting involved in such matters.
"Kelly's getting ready to do damage control with the press in about an hour," the cat-themed hero continued. "She's going to need to to do some serious clean up after this mess."
Kelly Hampton was the head of the SheZow fan club and the head of the Infinity League's P.R. department. Also, like Jazz, she was also secretly the sibling of the very hero whom she supported. It was Kelly's job to handle any and all matters of the press that centered around the League, weather that be after a major battle against the forces of evil or if someone within the League had done something that reflected poorly on the rest of the team.
"Optimus just left the Tower to go Moscow to personally apologize to the Russian Prime Minister for what the Ninja said about him," Cover Girl, a member of G.I. Joe, added. "Hopefully, he can smooth things over before this gets any worse."
"I don't know, it looks pretty bad enough as it is," Warpath, an Autobot commando, retorted. "Our ol' pal Senator Masterson has been having a-BLAM!-field day with what the Ninja said. He keeps calling us tyrants and monsters. It's-POW!-crazy!"
Just then, Jazz and the heroes heard the sound of angry shouts. They turned and saw that Kim and the Ninja were now screaming in each other's faces. Wanting to prevent a full on fist fight, two other heroes who were watching the drama unfold, Augger, the geologist of the Earth Cops, and Pearl, one of the Crystal Gems, quickly stepped in and pulled both leaders away from one another before they had a chance to try and take a swing at each other. After being separated, the two young heroes storm down opposites sides of the hallway.
Jazz wanted to try and help the two reconcile, but she knew that both Kim and the Ninja could be so stubborn, so she decided it would best to try and talk to them one-on-one for now. She went up the the Ninja and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"You want to talk about it?" she asked.
The Ninja paused for several moments before he finally gave Jazz his answer.
"...Yes."
Case File #874 Session #16
Code Name: The Ninja
Real Name: N/A
"I can't believe Kim could be this cold!" the Ninja fumed angrily as he paced back and fourth in the room. "I just told it like it was and she refused to back me up?! I'm a head of this team like she is!"
Like with Penn, Jazz remained quiet and allowed the Ninja to get his rage out before further speaking to him. This wasn't the first time the Ninja had visited Sanctuary, for he too spoke about the stress that came with being a leader to her. He also told her about the ups and down he had with his lover, Rena Rouge, and how his relationship with her was sometimes strained by the fact that she wished to keep their identities a secret from one another.
But this was different. This time the Ninja was angry for something entirely different.
"We could be doing so much more out there and yet we just stick to fighting guys in costumes!" he stated. "I mean hell, we've got the smartest people on the planet working for us. If we really wanted to, we could have those guys find a cure for cancer, solve world hunger and end global warming in less than a year! Even more than that, we could doing way more good in places like Darfur, Roanapur, the Middle East and places like that than we are here!"
"Your heart is in the right place, Ninja," Jazz said. "But consider this: If the League did this, would we still be seen as heroes?"
"Of course we would!" the defender of Norrisville defended. "We'd be saving people more than their own government's would!"
Since being a part of the Infinity League, the Ninja had been very vocal about his distrust in the governments of the world, who he believed allowed the pain and suffering of the people they were supposed to serve while they got rich off of it. It was a vision that several heroes on the team shared, but the Ninja was the one who spoke up about the most. Jazz could understand why the Ninja would be so jaded by such groups, considering that his arch-enemy was a billionaire who no doubt had his hands in several pockets in the White House. She also knew that her brother shared that same distrust, since he fought the Guys in White, a government sanctioned group, more times than she could count. Thankfully, neither the Ninja nor Danny went to great extremes with their ideals.
"It's not that simple, and I think you know that," Jazz said. "Yes, some people would see us saviors, but others would see us as conquerors. We'd only split the world even further apart than it was before."
"But I don't see why we can't just go into somewhere like Ukraine, drive out the separatists and then help them restore order," the the black clad hero reasoned.
"Because there'd be a good chance they might want us to be in power," Jazz explained. "Or see us as another enemy to fight if they think we might use our powers on them."
The Ninja didn't consider that. He wanted nothing more than to rescue the people of the earth from what he considered to be the true evils of the world. He always wanted to fight for those who could not stand up against those whose voices overpowered theirs. His best friend, Howard, once said that he had become the people's hero ever since he defeated the Sorcerer. Always publicly outcrying Mcfist and joining in rallies against corporate villainy. But he never wanted that power, nor did he want to make the mistake of helping to put someone cruel into power either.
"I know you want to help everyone, but there are certain things that the League simply can't do," the therapist continued.
"So, what should I do?" the Ninja asked solemnly.
"The same as the rest of us. The best we can do."
Jazz and the Ninja spoke for another half hour until the hero of Norrisville finally felt that he was at some sort of peace. He had left and allowed Jazz to close Sanctuary for the night. It had been a long and mentally exhausting day, but still satisfying for the redhead none the less. Now it was time to be beamed back down to her home for a good night's rest.
Just then, she felt a hand reach out and touch her shoulder, making her spin around with a gasp of fright. To her surprise, it was Wendy Corduroy. A young heroine who hailed from Gravity Falls, Oregon. It was also shocking for her considering that Wendy had never had visited Sanctuary before until now.
"Wendy, what are you doing here?" Jazz asked.
"Hey, doc," she greeted timidly. "Listen, I know it's late, but I was wondering if we could chat?"
"I'd love to, but it's late-" Jazz attempted to say.
"Please!" Wendy nearly shouted in a panic. "I can't sleep! I'm starting to lose my mind!"
Up until now, Jazz had never met Wendy personally, but she was told that the heroine named Lumberjane was a strong willed and confidant young woman. However, Jazz only saw fear and near madness in the poor girl's eyes. Eyes that were begging for help.
"Come inside," the therapist offered as she reopened the doors to Sanctuary. [1]
Case File #976 Session #1
Name: Wendy Corduroy
Code Name: Lumberjane
"So, how long have these dreams been bothering you?" Jazz asked.
"About four times this week," Wendy replied. "I had a few bad dreams last week, but lately they've been more...intense."
"Intense?" Jazz repeated questioningly. "How so?"
"Lately the dreams have been feeling more and more real," the heroine explained. "It's like I'm there."
"Tell me about these dreams," the therapist inquired.
Wendy took a deep breath before finally speaking.
"In these dreams, I'm standing in a destroyed city. It's Tokyo, I think, and in my dreams, I'm not alone. I'm with Steven, the White Ranger, I think I could even make out Star, Blossom, April and Aelita, and two other women. I couldn't tell who they were. We're all...looking at something."
"What are you looking at?" Jazz questioned calmly.
"At first, we're just looking at the city burning, but then..." Wendy's voice trailed off before she composed herself again. "There's this voice calling out to us."
"What does it say?" Jazz asked.
"It says that it wants one of us to join with it," the heroine answered. "God, it feels all so real! I can feel all this pain and death around me, but...but..."
"...But what?" Jazz persisted.
"I want to join with it!" Wendy nearly shouted. "God help me, I just want to be with that thing!"
Wendy began to weep as she buried her head in her hands, ashamed of herself for saying such a thing. Jazz was by no means an expert in deciphering dreams, but she knew that these nightmares were having a clear and traumatic effect on the young girl.
"I'm going to prescribe you some medication to help you sleep for now until we can get to the root of these dreams," the the therapist said. "If that doesn't help, we'll see if we can give you something a bit stronger. If you want, I'll see if I can get you ship you some Hypnocil from Springwood."
"You mean I have to come back here?" Wendy said in almost disbelief. "But I thought you could fix this."
"I wish it was that simple," the counselor answered. "But these things take time. Problems like these can't just be taken care of in one session."
"But I can't be seen here," Wendy denied. "What would people say?"
"They'd say that you're doing a good thing by taking care of yourself mentally," Jazz informed her. "Ford and Mason have visited Sanctuary several times. Even Mabel has had at least three sessions with me."
Wendy remained silent for several moments as she thought about her options. Her family weren't exactly the most forthcoming about their emotions, but these dreams were starting to take their toll on her and she was starting to get desperate for help.
"Okay, doc, I'll see you again," she finally relented. "Can you put me in for next Tuesday?"
"I think we can do that," Jazz assured.
With that, Jazz wrote a prescription for Wendy and showed her out of her office. But while she was happy that she could help the heroine, she couldn't help but have this deep feeling that these nightmares were only a small piece to something far greater and more terrible than she could imagine.
[1] - This meeting is a continuation of the events from chapter 2 of The Dark Phoenix.
