[.Ţ̛̼̗͙̞̠͕̲͍̺̈͂̈̽͌́̊̄̚į̴̨͉̱̬̼͍̼̎͛̽̈̔̃͞ͅm̵̧̗̟͚͎̒̒͋̓̅̐́̕͘̚ẻ̵̢̘̻̭͍̤̤̌́̂́̾̚͟͟ą̶̟̗̝͍̘̼̱͇̣͂͑̎̏̒̈͘͞ǹ̵̢͚̮̠̤̽̀͒̀̋̚ḏ̨̛̰͓̣̱͉̣̞͑͊͆̆͘͠͞ S̰̟̟̺͕̞̟͆͂̍̎̾̋͟͠p̷̨̯͕̪̤̃͌̽͋̌̆̄͆͂̕a̶̝̜̦̹̮͉͇̔̉̃͑͘̚͝ç̶̯̮̣̖̃̊̉̒͌͟͡͠͝è̴̲̘̯͇͇̜̜̜̥̆́͌̀̈́ i̜̟̞͇̗̺͂̾̍́̕͡͡s̨͖͈̼̟̹̔̏̀̓̍̈́͝ R͎͔̬̘̩̦͐͆̐̏̈̀̓ͅë̶̤̦͍̹̘̜͕̤̆̔̽̐͟͡l̸̨̬̱͈̙̓͂̆͛̌̀̎͝a͔̦̥͔̭̣̺̋̂͊̍̿̈̋̑́̐t̷̨͈̼̮͖́̊̾͂̓̾͒͂͘͞ͅi̷̛̲̥̪̺̫̻̱̞̅̀̂́̽̕͟v̧̱͖̱̯̰͉͚͋̅́̒̿̊́̈͢ȩ̴̘͎͎͖͖͋̾̒̉͒͞..]
[.Ş̵͖͈͍͙̜̙͓̞͒́̊͆̚i̬̣͕̘̲͕͑͋͒̍̐̉́̚͢͟͡g̢̨͔͚̤̬̞̝̠̅̃̃̓͗͢i̫̱͉̳̟͕͊̆̄̐̊͂̐͒̕̚l̡͎̟͔̗̯̿̽͆̏͊͢,̺̦̰̙̱͇̟̈́̊̓̏̅͆̏͢͢͞ C̴̦̞̲̱͉͎̻̻̟̦̑̿̐̑̉̀̓͒̚͝i̴̲̯͙̺͇̝̗͔̒̊͘̚͠t̡̠͔̘̳͔̫̯̀͐̓͐́̄͘͠y̷̙̥̫̜̜̑̓̋̒̊̏̿̐̉͂ o̱̣̹̤͓̅̂͌̉̒̄̏f̵̨̣͍̝̥̻̮͚͒̉̇͐̄̈́̓̊͡ D̨̼̤͈͕̼́͊̂̾̇̅̚͘ö̧̤̟̭̺̪̭͙̗́͛̑͋̃̾͘͝o̤̝͈̩͆̏̉̈̆̽̿͢͠r̴̡͔̫̻͕̥͉̆͛̒̐̐̍̿̽̂ș̢̡͚̞̟̣̖̳̅̀͂͂̍̈́̊͝͞͠.]
...pressure, and overwhelming and overbearing sense of wrongness and dread descended on me the moment I stepped through the portal. I gripped my staff and braced, grunting out a breath as the roar of power groaned and flex invisibly yet not, silent yet not, as if an eclipse occurred where the darkness grinned and question and sneered down from the sky above...
...then was gone like the passing breeze and I shivered. That had been really fecking unpleasant to say the least; I'd...expected?...feared?...such a reaction, but on the bright side I hadn't been forcibly ejected, nor have the continued overwhelming sense of dread that had Wyvernspur was supposed to have suffered in the time that hadn't happened. Taking a shaky breath I forced myself to stand properly rather than as if carrying some great weight upon by back, then looked around as the others of my brave band of not-murder-hobos stepped through the portal behind me. Breathe in, breathe out, in, out, all is well...and not feeling absolutely fecking weird to my senses, magical or otherwise.
Hands rested lightly on my shoulders, at a glance I saw Paula had come through the portal behind me seemed to bring us all out together in...what looked like an odd looking alleyway; spitting us out as it pulsed a host of colours impossible to see properly. My bodyguard-assistant though was looking upwards, blinking in confusion, as her blonde haired daughter and my teammate stumbled through a little our right. I glanced up, ah...great; small lizard-person or a kobold riding flying winged people-angel-golem-whatevers. Creepy feeling of dread was gone at least, but this was not going as I'd really liked; ie the plan of coming here years and years from now, and not chasing a mind-flayer with Green Lantern power rings. I sighed, giving Paula and Artemis a glance as they were nearest.
"Stage one achieved; well folks – welcome to Sigil looks like"
Artemis looked at the dirty walls, cobblestone street, and general smell of a magically influenced, but still somewhat shoddily built medieval town "Eh...for the centre of the universe its looks less than impressive Skulls. I don't see what..."
I pointed upwards at the same time as her mother, and after giving us an odd look glanced in the indicated direction "...oh, right...okay. Wait...how does that work? Why aren't they falling? Or are we on the top looking down"
Shrugging seemed the honest answer when the sky wasn't the sky, but the curving, swirling cityscape like something out of an Escher artwork. Non-Euclidean geometries at work, and I looked at the others rather than upwards as it started me getting wonky about heights "Not really sure to be honest, so I'll go with the multiple choice answer of maybe magic, maybe tech I can't grasp, or maybe just crazy reality warping powers. All I know is this place is big, or small, as the Lady of Pain wants it to be at any given time; so, yeah...city is upside-down in the sky. May just learn to live it and not get vertigo looking up it constantly"
"Nuffin' haven't seen before..." the gruff voice of the alien Green Lantern Kilowog rumbled standing just to our left as the last two members of the group, Wonder Woman and Red Tornado came through as the portal vanished a few moments later. Kilowog and Stewart though already had their rings up and glowing, though a stuttering, flickering light for some reason; guttering out and on, before the alien Lantern waved his hand in disgust causing it to return to its normal glow "...but this place is as screwy as was warned. My Ring started actin' crazy second I tried to scan our surroundings and the entirety of the place"
Lantern Stewart's ring had resumed its own regular faint glow, emerald shield around his body like his companion, as he seemingly cut off whatever they were doing "Yes, it's getting something of an image of the area immediately around us, and the Laira and her ring are here...somewhere...but after that it seems to start throwing out, well, nonsense about distance and smell tasting of dust and shadows and blades. Scanning evidently will take till..."
Kilowog rumbled again, unhappily it seemed "...beyond eternity and the end of time. Yeah, screwy place as ah told ya. So let's not waste time, we explore our surroundings...cause I hears alot of poosers out that end of the alley...and then we get to work. Now first thought..." he motioned at us "...Rings are here, and we've both sent a little update from the Guardians to the rings that'd the mind eater pooser took"
"Update?" Wonder Woman queried without looking up as she was checking her gear to be sure of everything while Red Tornado and Steward stood watch while the rest of us got organised. M'gann and Connor coming over to myself and the two Nguyen's, though staying quiet as the Lanterns explained the situation. Damn did those little green magic wielding smurfs move fast...though the Galaxy-wide near FTL comms were certainly impressive between their Green Hyper-tech Rings. Or at least I assumed it was for them to have had such a rapid turnaround on something like this; something I'd kinda hoped was the case for finding said ring. Not this fast but still...
...sadly my hopes there weren't met as Steward gave a shake of his head as Kilowog's ring pulsed again "Don't get your hopes up Diana, we can't actually detect them beyond...that they are here, in this dimension. That data packet we just sent should at least shut down the rings at worst, and in a perfect universe have them return to us or signal their position somehow..."
'Still that's pretty damned good from the Green Smurfs, albeit likely to get the captured Lantern dead by those silent looks of the two' I mused silently to myself, nodding in agreement before conversation ceased after a general pep-talk on being on guard. Nobody had reacted yet to our entrance, but that was unsurprising as we seemed to be in a back alley of a back alley...or within a building as we started to edge forward carefully; traps were a thing after all. Having Red Tornado, a mage in myself, two green Lanterns, plus Huntress and Wonder Woman, did help with that I found as I 'marked' our entry point with a spell, then hiding it behind an illusion matching the wall. And then we were around a corner, through a battered looking warehouse perhaps and then...it was out in a large, rather spacious street with a bustling crowd moving of, well...
"Sooo...we just ask someone for directions then? Preferably someone...something...that'll give an' answer without them trying to kill us as well, or sell us some junk from the looks of all, well, that!" Artemis asked as we exited the building and I shook my head at the bizarre admixture of people, creatures, and various walking abominations (opinion dependent) that were moving about before us. Around buildings, and market stalls it looked like to me even with that unnerving tunnel-like effect as the cityscape twisted up and around, with what appeared to be clouds in between.
"It would seem the best course of action as young Artemis has suggested..." the metallic monotone of Red Tornado advised "...ascertaining our present location within the confines of this dimensional nexus would advisable so as to locate the Temple of Hermes as planned"
All repeating what we'd discussed before we'd left Earth, but it was one thing to discuss it there and rather another when in bustling market place filled with all the wonders and horrors of the multiverse. Such as the Lamia over there, snake lower half slithering over stone, greatsword strapped to his back as he argued, in a language I didn't recognise, with a...fox-woman?...dressed in what appeared to be a skin-tight spacesuit, sans a helmet and spot where the tail poke through, with a fancy looking gun at her belt. Or the sedan chair carried by two mixed pairs of topless, and rather heavily muscled, Minotaurs further up the road with an elaborately, but rather scantily, dressed female figure in a veil lounging on it and reading a book of some sort.
The question, of course lay, in who exactly to approach for that opening piece of information and not getting screwed over by the exchange. Right now we had a decent amount of what we hoped were tradable goods, and smaller valuables like gems, coins, and various 'spare' enchanted items of SHIELD's or Mister Zatara, but till we got a idea of the value around here...it could be rather to trade a priceless artefact for worthless beads. Coin was quite useful for trading for information; and right now we were looking at a very sparse trail, limited information on the criminal, and a dangerous place to find them in. All of that, and more, without revealing the location of our dimension to dangerous others as well; fun times ahead really.
"I agree; but who to approach is the issue, so let's start walking while we get our bearings so we appear as if we know what we're doing" Lantern Stewart muttered softly, just loud enough for all of us to hear but not to draw any attention. I nodded, as did the others despite some looks of unease like Connor's at the situation, and found myself walking beside M'gann, Artemis and her mother just behind, while Wonder Woman and Connor were just ahead with Stewart. Lantern Kilowog and Red Tornado taking up the rear as we made our way through the crowds ahead of us and trying to study who best to approach. Hard enough when most of our merry ground had one teeny, tiny, insignificant little problem...
"John...um, I can't understand anyone..." M'gann whispered leaning into me as we walked amidst the various raucous shouts of the insanely large marketplace. Words in a host of languages were being shouted out, some of which I faintly recognised and others that I hadn't clue of either. Unsurprisingly when you came to a place at the heart of limitless planes of reality it wasn't unsurprising that people didn't speak the same languages, or even speak at all in some cases according my vague information the place.
"I can't either, but try and watch the body language and the way customers act around them..." Wonder Woman answered looking back at us and giving us a glance "...both Lanterns rings can translate for them, and you young man?"
I nodded "Magic, it should cover me for a chunk of the languages as"
"Noted; though I would expect the shop-keeps of this dimension, at the very least, to have similar abilities considering their professional need"
At least I hoped it would; damned inconvenient if it didn't after all. It was in the mission briefing, rather rushed I'll admit, but I got that this was more for encouraging a clearly uneasy M'gann. Truth be told I was still a little confused why she had come with us rather than her Uncle; yes he'd been a better person to meet with the soon to arrive delegation from Mars...but not dramatically so in my view.
After all he was the better trained Psionist, arguments that M'gann was naturally stronger regardless, and she could get hurt out here. Honestly I felt bad endangering her here after the trauma's she gone through recently, she needed a nice break; not being sent after a creature like a Mind-Flayer. Still, professional requirements had led those of my teammates currently with me even if personally I felt rather protective of their welfare. M'gann and Connor especially, as she wasn't really up to this and there was something strange about the fact he had been effected by the Alaya Gestalt while Superman wasn't.
That...indicated that he was human, or at least part-human, to be affected so; and this little field trip kept him out of suspicious hands while SHIELD got paperwork finalised for him so no Americans decided to play God-Scientist testing at his DNA in a less that friendly manner. Sadly I didn't have time to think much on it as Wonder Woman suggested we try a series of the less shabby looking stalls in pairs while the rest of the groups stood watch nearby; herself and Stewart, Kilowog and Paula, and myself and M'gann. I could see her game at least by the team choice and the nature of the goods been sold at them.
"Greetings to you honourable merchant..." I offered politely in English, to the four-armed grey-skinned person as I, and M'gann in tow, stepped under the tent covering of the now empty; a covering that mercifully hid that unnatural and vertigo inducing skyline for a time "...might I enquire into the nature of your many fine wares? They have certainly drawn our attention, and we are curious of them"
Magic was great I noted as the spell worked to translate after a momentary delay, and then more smoothly as the merchant with the shovel-like head replied "Greetings Honourable Customers! Most gracious greetings on this auspicious day! This one is Ninura of Shallow Rock Coves, and owner of this honourable and orderly establishment. Before thine eyes lie the wares of this one's far distant home amidst the Worlds of the Pact, many ideal for a human such as yourself and your companion. Or this one is open to purchase of goods or services; if that is what one's goal is noble customer?"
I gave a polite half bow "A pleasure to meet you Ninura, you may call me John, and this is Megan though sadly she does not speak your language and I shall serve as translator for us both"
A friendly smile in return "Have no fear honourable customer, Ninura thinks of everything for the benefit of her customers as this humble shop possesses the finest in translation abilities..." I glanced at M'gann who gave me a sheepishly silent 'Hello Megan' pose that she had understood and never motioned to me that she could understand the merchant Ninura "...and defeats such limitations!"
"Well okay then, that's for the best. Now I'm curious a few items, but when you mention trading I would ask if you have some interesting in purchasing certain items from our world. Or perhaps even a barter, for information as much as..."
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