There were many languages in the world. There were spoken languages, and written languages. There were some who showed their words through artistic expression, and others through song. A trained warrior however, spoke a different language. It was one that did not involve words, but action.
When two combatants, that were both well trained fought each other, they could understand each other, on a level that no amount of talking would ever get them to. Two members of the team were sparring each other, and finding out just how true this was.
Thomas, and Strix the two best hand to hand fighters of the team, had agreed to a friendly sparring match with each other. The skill level they possessed was on equal footing. The two of them met each other, and exchanged attacks in a rhythmic manner.
Thomas blocked a chop by Strix, and went for a blow to her ribs, only for Strix, to avoid the attack, and go for a leg sweep, which Thomas jumped over. When Strix came back up, Thomas went for an elbow to the face, which Strix jumped back from. He then followed with a left hook, at the same time that Strix was going for a roundhouse kick, the two attacks connecting at the same time.
As the fight continued, Emerald walked in and noticed them. At this point, they were very close to each other. "I don't know if you guys are sparring or trying to hug each other, but either way, it's 11:30, boss man, you wanted us to get going."
Thomas put his hands on his hips, feeling the cool air on his muscle shirt. "Thanks, Emerald, good session Strix." Thomas said to both of them. They all three left the training room, and headed for the living room, where Thomas would issue the mission orders.
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Thomas took a seat in the living room, looking at everyone who was present. "Alright so we're looking into two, prime, suspects. Gregory Williams, and Achilles Milo. Both of them had ties to the M99 project. Thanks to Emerald's computer work, we now have sources to track down, and talk to."
Thomas took a brown folder off the table, and opened it. He pulled out a small, stack of papers. "Okay now, we'll be pairing up two by two for this." Thomas said he began to hand out the papers.
The first paper was one that he handed to Alicia. "Alicia, you and Kate will be together, the two of you will be going to 2313, Westgrove. You'll be talking to a Marian Brown, a survivor of the massacre."
The next paper, Thomas handed to Emerald. "You and Morgan will be together, you're going to visit Carl Boer, he is Greg's cousin through marriage. He lives on 1810, Barker Avenue."
Thomas handed out the rest of the files, while explaining to the team who each of them would be paired with. The partners outside of those already mentioned were; Thomas with M, Strix with Tay, and Leeann with Shade.
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Kate, and Alicia found themselves on opposite ends of the idealism versus cynicism spectrum. As a result of this, they were not the best at getting along with each other.
"I don't think you needed to suffocate the guy, he was going to talk." Kate said to the other girl. Alicia responded by asking if she read his mind to figure that out.
"How can someone as brutal as you be considered a hero?" Kate asked her. "I've never called myself a hero. I just take care of those who seek to prey on others." Alicia said to the team healer.
"That can be done without torture, or killing." Kate responded to her. Alicia gave a slight huff before responding to that one. "Look, I get that my methods may come off as grotesque, but where I'm from, they work. Killing sends a very strong message, and criminals think twice before deciding to piss me off on my home turf. My methods scare them, I'm sorry that they scare people like you too."
Their conversation came to an end as they both ascended the concrete steps leading to the front door of the house they were sent to. Kate was the one to ring the doorbell. A few moments later, they were greeted by a middle aged, brown haired woman. They both recognized her as Marian the lady they were looking for.
"Oh hi there. Can I help you two?" Marian asked with a beaming smile and unblinking eyes. Both girls quickly took notice of this, and shared a look of caution with each other. "Yeah, we're hoping to talk to you about a man named Greg Williams." Alicia said to her, getting right to the point.
"Of course! Please, come in." Marian said opening the door for the two heroes to step inside. The decor of Marian's living room was English Cottage. The floor was wooden, though it was mostly covered by a large mahogany colored rug. The rug had an intricate swirl pattern of beige, and green upon it.
The room was not very big. The walls were made of stone, that were a mix of light, gray, and brown in color. A few feet down, but otherwise in front of the door was a small table. It was a cushion table, the sort that looked like a couch cushion, with attached table legs on it. It was blue in color.
This table was about a foot in front of a fireplace. There were three places to sit. On the right side of the table there were two chairs. One of them was a recliner, it was yellow in color, and had a design of green, and red vines upon it.
The other chair was a simple, cushioned chair, that was white in color. In the middle of them, there was a small, wooden table. On the other side of the cushioned table, there was a yellow couch, with two cushions to it.
The two heroines took a seat on the yellow couch, while Marian sat down on the white couch. "So, what do you need to know?...Oh, hang on there, I seem to have forgotten my manners, do either of you want a drink? Tea, water, lemonade, perhaps?" She asked them.
The two girls both said no to her offer. "We just want to know what you can tell us about Greg Williams, and then we'll be out of your hair." Kate said to her, in a civil tone.
"Oh well, Greg was a smart man, a very nice man. He was kind of shy though. During our work together, he seemed to get upset when our tests failed." Marian began to explain to them about Greg. Kate meanwhile set up a psychic link with Alicia.
"I apologize for the mental intrusion, please don't make any sudden movements, but this lady is not right." Kate mentally said to her partner. "If you're saying she's lying, I could use some enhanced interrogation." Alicia thought back at Kate.
"That's just it, she doesn't know that she is, it's like her mind was wiped clean, and everything she's telling us is like a rehearsal." Kate mentally responded at the other girl.
The two of them despite knowing of Marian's problem listened to every word that she had to say. "Thank you for your time." Kate said to Marian as she finished telling them about Greg. She was very eager to leave that house, the vibe of it was just off.
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"I like this place." Emerald said as he, and Morgan arrived at 1810 Barker Avenue. The place they were sent to was a mansion. It actually looked like an old, college, house. It even had a couple of lion statues out in the front on either side of the front door.
Morgan rang the doorbell as it was on her side. "Hey, it's the Ghostbuster's tune. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, When there's something bad, in the neighborhood." Emerald began to sing along with the tune, though he stopped abruptly when the door opened.
In front of them stood a man of average stature, with a shaved head, and a suit on. This man was not, Carl. "May I help you?" The man said to them in a formal tone. "Is Carl Boer, home we need to talk about a relative of his." Emerald said to the man, who he suspected was a servant.
"Wait here." The man told them, as he walked off. Morgan, and Emerald were both able to get a look at the interior of the mansion. It seemed that Carl was in the politest terms possible, a nerd.
He had stacks of comics, even life-like, statues of certain League Members. "Well this will be easy." Emerald noted to Morgan, as they waited for someone to return to them. The red door, was then reopened by Carl himself.
He was a slightly overweight, tall man, with a short, flattop of black hair. He was dressed in a black T-shirt, dark, blue, sweat pants, and a large, maroon colored robe. "Are you Justice League?" He asked the two heroes.
"As a matter of fact we are." Emerald said to him, quickly realizing, that it was probably just best, to play along with this man's fantasy. Carl gave an excited fist pump, while mouthing "Yes" before inviting them in.
"So I heard your hear to talk about a relative of mine, this reminds of me of Tales of Strange Happenings, Volume 8, when Ken was visited by the FBI, for information on his sister." Carl explained to them.
"This is,...exactly like that. We're here for information on your cousin Greg Williams." Emerald said to him. "Oh yeah, he went mad, and then he went missing, just like in Ka-Ji Adventures, Issue #46." Carl said in reply.
"Sir with all due respect, this is serious." Morgan said to Carl. Emerald nodded to what Morgan, said which is why he wanted to hear about the comic.
"Tell us, Mr. Boer, how exactly did that issue play out?" Carl smiled at being able to explain a bit of his comic knowledge.
"Well it started with..." Around 15 minuets later, Carl had finished explaining how the particular comic had went.
"Hey Morgan, do you think, that you could get in touch with T-Man? I think this could be useful to him." Emerald said to her. Morgan said that she would do so, and gave Thomas a ring.
(I had to cut out Carl's retelling of the storyline, or else the plot would be resolved right here.)
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Thomas and M had been interrogating Jacob Rutherford, a man who was not all together interested in being questioned. Thomas had become fed up with his attitude. "I've tried being nice, but I don't wear a badge, I don't need a search warrant, to kick your door in. Now you can choose to talk, and be safe, or you can continue your current attitude, and I'll beat the information from you." Thomas said to him in a serious tone. It was for the most part a bluff, Thomas would never just harm a civilian without a very justified reason, even if they were behaving like jerks. The bluff seemed to work, as Jacob's eyes took on a frightened look, and he gulped, much to Thomas's satisfaction. "Good, now where you on the following date's." Thomas began to run through a list of date's and times. Jacob began to answer them, and as he got halfway through, Thomas received a call. "Hold on there man." Thomas said to Jacob, and then answered the phone. "Hello, yeah hey, Morgan...Alright, go ahead." Thomas for a little bit, became quiet as he listened to what the girl on the other end had to say. As the phone call went on, Thomas went from vague surprise, to a smirk coming across his face. "Well, Mr. Rutherford, it seems that you won't be needed." Thomas said to him, as he stood up. Thomas then sent a message to all team members. "I know what to do, meet me back at base, and we'll end this."
(Time SKip)
Greg had been having a rather bizarre day. He woke up, and did not remember pretty much anything, aside from his name. He was not sure why, but he had a fake mustache, and beard on. He also suspected that he must have dyed his hair, as the roots were black, while the rest was a dirty blonde, color. His day had went from awkward, to being terrifying. It had been night time, and Greg had been taken from his home, with a dark bag, placed over his head.
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"I don't normally do, late night calls." Hugo Strange said to the boy in the baseball cap. Hugo Strange also noted a hearing aid in his ear.
"Well Prof Man, I've got some problems, and I need the help." Tay said to Hugo Strange as he sat in his office.
"I see, go on, where do these problems stem from?" Hugo asked of the young man, not knowing his true identity. "I guess, I'd probably say my mom, she left when I was a four, and my dad got involved with the drug trade, to try and raise me."
Tay said, lying to the psychologist. "It sounds like you've been through a rough time." Strange said to the teenager. "You know what's really rough? My dad has this little God Complex going on, I think you'd know about that." Tay said to him.
Strange paused for a moment, before responding. "I'm sorry?" Hugo replied in a questioning manner. "Oh I'm just saying, the way you took a scientist, and then brainwashed a new identity into him, so that he'd think he was a different scientist, while both of them worked on the same project." Tay said to him, dropping all pretense.
Hugo Strange was good at hiding his anger, though he did tense slightly. "Interesting theory you have there." Hugo said in response to that.
"Oh it's not a theory, I know Achillies Milo, and Greg Williams, found him, we injected him with an antidote to your toxins." Tay explained to him, and noticed as Hugo became angrier.
"Are you attempting to threaten me young man? My experiment with turning people into what they truly are, was a success, you have no proof, even what I'm saying now, is just my word against yours. Besides, how will you tell anyone, if you don't even know who you are?" Hugo said to Tay, as he switched on a small radio.
The radio began to play out a specialized pitch, and Strange smirked. "I noticed your hearing aid, but I believe this pitch will be right for you. As Tay seemed to not be affected, his smirk became surprised, fear.
Tay stood up, and went to the desk, where he turned off the radio. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's not a hearing aid, it's a Comm-Link."
"Okay guys, come on in." Tay said, as he pressed on the communications link. The door opened, and several SWAT members stepped inside.
"We just heard a full confession, you're under arrest, Professor Strange." Tay grinned widely, and said "Gotcha". As the officers filed out, he gave Thomas a ring to let him know that the plan had worked.
(And no this is not over yet, I'm not one to wrap the plot just yet, I'm one of those overarch kind of people. However for now, let's appluad the V-Team on a fully successful mission.)