[07th April 2011]
[SHIELD Portal Security, Security Zone, Gotham, New Jersey, United States of America, Earth-16]
Home sweet home, and into quarantine after an extended debriefing immediately...itself right after a life and death battle; fun times!
I gave a tired yawn as was escorted out of medical and into my room for the next day or two as they went about the procedure to make sure we were not infected, or mind-controlled, or anything else. Not that I'd complain, too much, as I plopped unto the bed and turned on the television despite it being...
3:22 in the middle of the night, local time, looked like; went on longer than I'd thought as I watched some crappy late night television for a few minutes to unwind before sleep. Anyway, it wasn't being stuck on the other side since Nabu Ankh'd us out, or at least to the threshold of the other Earth's Portal, and then walking through. Cain was dea...in hell, and it seemed to me it looked like everybody wanted us well away from nosy reporters on 'Earth-Bet' as they called themselves.
'Not that letting John near the Press is in anyways a good idea' I thought with a chuckle that morphed into another yawn. Bringing in the walking-talking agent of catastrophe has been a dangerous roll of the dice, but eventually Cain would have breached containment, on an Earth with no arcane knowledge, and the danger level was worth the risk according the all SHIELD Directors, Irish, English, and the onsite Amanda Waller. Not a surprise as Constantine's Synchronicity Wave Travelling as Etrigan referred to the power of The Laughing Magician had effectively countered Cain's Mark of Cain.
I would have shook my head at that; an eternity of pounding on, foaming, delaying, and attritioning that damned monster and John strolls in with a cigarette in mouth, a can of petrol, and made it look easy after we did all the hard work. Honestly...I was somewhat worried what the backlash or negative of using him was going to be, but 'thankfully 'it was on another Earth so it was their problem now according to everyone else. What the hell could I say to that? Not when I'd my own actions to thoroughly detail and explain, with likely more tomorrow with the other side's lot.
"Still woulda liked ta have waited get me guns back..." I muttered to myself laying back on the pillow and closing my eyes. Sure we'd gotten out fast, and on TV apparently, but that meant leaving behind some pistols, that shotgun, and a number of other little items that had time and effort on my part to make. It had been necessary to save lives of course, but now it mildly grated that they were getting studied, or worse, potentially not coming back to me, their rightful owner. Just the nature of things I supposed, considering the past months had been an irritating drain on resources despite the new workshops and access to materials; just a reminder of the uses of the dead villains Freeze Ray knock-off and my merry purchases from Sigil. More tech weapons would be nice...
...think later, sleep first...
--
[07th April 2011]
[Protectorate ENE Headquarters, The Bay, Brockton Bay, United States of America, Earth-Bet]
"Ya'know, sometimes people such as yourself can be too smart for their own good?"
Lisa Wilbourn blinked, glancing around the fire-lit study slash library she appeared to be, despite having gone to bed down in the medical wing of the wards base after a very, very, difficult day. Not only was she essentially being forced into the Wards, or die, but it the whole Mastering of dozens of capes and PRT officers hours ago meant the Master-Stranger protocols were in full effect, and everyone was paranoid. It was also an ideal to do her little...experiment after palming away one of the discarded 'magic seals' the strange cape Enchanter had used in the hospital.
'How did I get into this chair and...' she thought sitting up, arms on the armrests of a comfortable, old fashioned, and tall backed throne-like chair and glancing at the shadowy figure sitting in the room illuminated by firelight and the shadows cast by the red-orange glow "Um, hello?"
"Sara dear...you prefer Lisa yes? You summoned me, rather half-assedly in all honestly, and that's a dangerous thing in this business..." the large robed...man?...in the chair across from her continued head down and seemingly reading a book as his voice rumbled in her mind "...so determined to prove you're right that you dance along the edge of destruction"
"Well I was right, now wasn't I?" she managed to smirk that hiding her fear, and feeling suddenly bereft her power...and her mask at that she found, hand brushing her bar face. It was odd, she wasn't in t-shirt and underwear like she'd gone to sleep in, nor in costume, but instead in an expensive seeming suit, Victorian...sort of like Sherlock Holmes clothes. Heh...
"Yes, you were, but an open invitation? There is no guarantee you'd like who'd reply to you ya'know, but you used one of my Herald's used runes, so, lucky you I guess!"
This was unnerving she found, forcing herself to smirk and give a confident front "Ah, but I knew that of course!"
"[̵̋́̿͒͜N̴̢̛̜͈̜͙͎̈͊̃̔̈̇̔̋̐̌͗͑͝è̴̝̭̪̞͕̳̽͆̈́̉̂̎̃̃̏͜g̶̘̫̣̥̜̮͛̓͂̇̔͂͊̇̏̏͘̚a̶̛̞͖̜̥̭̹͕̖̒͋̌̾̉̑̈́͗͋̏͛̐̚͜͠ͅt̷͖̭͖̣̠̯̳͓̹͖̗̺̆̀͋̓̈̒͛̈́͆͌̚i̶̢̦̬̤̐̀̅̚͝v̴̩͈͚̖̪̠̳̘̲͎̋͌̇͋̋͐͛̈́̓͗͗̓̕͜͝e̵̤̒͊̓͝]̷̧͕̺̮͈̳̠̯̉͌̈̾̇͂̿̈͊̅͝"
"Huh?" Lisa startled, wincing at the strange static noise that burned through for a moment...that staring as she...well herself...
No, Tattletale...herself as Tattletale sauntered out and dropped back into an identical chair to her own, but legs across the sides, smirking...a chair that just poof'ed into existence as Lisa stared in confusion...
"Apparently not Lisa, apparently not, from what your other half here says..." the man with the face hidden in a shroud of gloom and shadows chuckled back softly, golden eyes amused in the darkness as the twinkled back at her "...which was quite a surprise actually. Negotiator, or Tattletale here, has had so much to say, and given as many questions as answers to this humble deity"
"[̷̱͖͓͚̿̄̊̀̎͗͋̈́̓͗͆͐͂͝͠ͅQ̶̢̞̠̬͈̅̀͒̐͑͘ṳ̸̧̘̫͕͚̖̟̠̗̠̿͒͛̂̊͝͠ě̷̢̹͐͑͋̉̀̒̈́͛́̈́̓̚͝ͅr̴̠̺̻̞̯͑͊͑͂̇̇͋̊͂̈̕̕y̴̨̢̢̰̭̦̻̻̳̦͗̈́̄̀̃̓̉̈̇̐̑͘͘͠͝/̶̳̮͈̳̺͆͌̓̏̋̽͊̐̉͋̋͝͠À̵̡̡͚̮͍̜͚̩̤̜̤͎̭͉́̎̑̏̃͘f̴̡͖̠̭͊̐́̈̿̈́͐͛̅̾͘͜ͅͅf̵͍̭̼̩̪̤̣̺̉̈́̉͒͝i̵̢̩̱̔̔͑́̿͛͑͊̉͝͝ͅr̵̡̧̭̞̣̠̜̯̫̜̥̈́͆̔̈́̿͌̏m̵̛̫̳̬̬̞͖͇̣̗̎̈́͒́͐̌̇͌̄̐̇͝ą̸͚̮̟̠̭̙̙͉̖̩̹̯͊̌̓̃́͘t̸̨̢͔̥̣͇̝̹͈͚̂̌͝ȋ̷̛̹̘̪̫̞̭͇̜͙̫̌̍̈̃̔̈́̇̓̚͘v̴͇͖͚̝̙̻̹̰̳̩̪͖̻̲͊̈́̓̏͌̃̀̆̽̐e̵̬̻̖̤͈̰̪͈̪̤̼͍̘̤͚̿͌̾̓̒̆̃͘]̶̡̢̲̣̬̝̘̗͓́͛̔͠"
Lisa winced slightly again at the static as the 'Shrouded Man' nodded, shadow cloaked hand gesturing politely to...Other Lisa "Yes, indeed, you are a curious one, and unsurprisingly attracted to this one's portfolios, and a pleasure to meet. Even if the news you bring is of a war to the knife. Ah, yes, Lisa, meet your power! Negotiator as it called itself once, or Tattletale as you named her...and Names can have Power in this business ya'know?"
Golden eyes shifted to Lisa once again "Now, you called to bargain, and as a God of Knowledge and Pragmatism I have things to offer in trade for worship, or if you prefer to see it as an employment, with a retirement policy when you inevitably shed the mortal coil. Tattletale here is all for a deal, but since you're sharing...well, let's negotiate for terms shall we?"
"[̸̲͎̯͚̰͚̀̀̉E̴̛̙̹͖͎͕̖̟̋́̌̌̆̓̒̀͒̒͆͌̚͝x̴̹͎̝̗̮̳̺͌̿̚̚c̷̛̙͌̽͒̽͋̎͗́̑͗̄̃͝ȟ̸̝͎̬̤̦͙̆̒͒̎̆̄̔̾̀̐͝a̵̢̧̡̰͍̻͎̹̪̘̣̞͛̈́̈́́̏́̍̓̄̐̇̕̚ͅń̶̨̡̲̼̪̻͆g̶̢͈̘̹̤̠͙͓͒̏͂͐̌̍̒̄̑͜͜ē̴̝͇͚̣͈̻̰͈͓̲̂/̴̨̠͇̬̺͈̙̲̯̤͂́̅̒̌̂̐͝Q̷̗̬̇̃͛͗͒̌̆̀̌̅͐̕͝u̵̢͚͈͈̜̗̳̰̻͉̜̯̜͍̭͝e̸̖̟̲͖̮̠̹̝̩͒r̸̡̧̝͍̯͍͓̗̘̩̪͎̪͔͒̋͌͒́̀̊́̔̓͆̓̿̈̓y̵̺̳̋̎̆͊̑̏͒̃́̾̕]̵̢̹͙̫̑̎͐̾̽͌̒̋̓͛͆̓̐̿͠"
'Okay...this isn't as I planned" she thought as...well, 'Tattletale' smirked back at her. God, she just wanted to punch that smirking bitch...
--
[07th April 2011]
[SHIELD Portal Security, Security Zone, Gotham, New Jersey, United States of America, Earth-16]
"The situation is improved with the removal of Cain and his vampires from the equation..." Amanda Waller stated to the ad-hoc Committee formed as the Board of Directors of SHIELD. Not the ideal situation, but the unfolding events had allowed her to wedge the paralysis in Congress to give her more control of her own bailiwick by encouraging the expansion of the national system with SHIELD structures. It was enough to keep the UN out beyond a basic Charter at least "...and we can control the narrative on our side of the portal by having the debriefs conducted on our terms"
"Our agents have been returned safely, and the situation has been resolved to our satisfaction in general, so congratulations are in order for your progress to date Director Waller" the Irishman responded having largely stayed out of the late-night discussion till now. Not unsurprising, they'd limited interest beyond trade and maintaining access to her Gate site, and this was going to be good for public relations for them due to the results their assigned agents gave. It was good to remind criminals and terrorists what nasty things could happen to them when the gloves came off and law enforcement, rather than colourfully clad vigilantes, dealt with those that went too far.
The similarly adjusted shadow image of the English Director nodded "Yes, congratulations are indeed in order Director Waller. I think all our governments are in agreement this is an all-round success, especially with Canada joining our ranks in short. Not only did we not need to call in the Justice League, but we have a clearer idea of the power levels of our opposite's superhero abilities. That and their procedures and system are useful to learn from considering the troubles on their world. Even if it is concerning between what we've seen of those levels, and the general willingness of their supervillains to cooperate with them in a crisis"
Amanda nodded at that, fingers closing together as she sat elbows on the table "Yes, that is a concern, but we have reinforced this facility, and ensured a failsafe...failsafes in truth, since one was in cooperation with the Batman and Justice League. I do believe our own deployed agents have sufficiently proven to the other side that it would be...inadvisable...to think they could easily rollover us, and Doctor Fate..." she nodded to the golden helmed magic-user "...assures me that the barriers to dimensional intrusion are currently in the process of being strengthened to prevent any of these...Endbringers...coming through to attack our cities"
"Indeed, Fate has done much, with greater yet to still be done in cooperation with others of the mystic arts. Not only for our protection, but from preventing panic amongst the populace of both sides" one of her primary intended counters to a few individuals, should certain vigilantes ever go too far, or be controlled, replied in that odd harmony voice before turning more serious "Though Fate fears some oddities amongst our opposite earth be studied for the danger as Enchanter's patron and the Laughing Magician have warned"
Amanda couldn't do much else but agree, as the possibility of another alien being, for that's what this 'Scion' must be, stronger than Superman was concerning enough "Oh, yes, very much a matter of priority; containment measures..." and lethal ones "...will be part of the next review on the Omega Protocols I believe? It will be a useful international thought exercise for our planners at the very least considering limited information available. What concerns me is the seeming inhumanity displayed from this other Earth's records...he's either a superpowered idiot, which would be bad, or is simply hiding behind good acts to trick them. For now though I believe it best to conclude this meeting so I can prepare for the other side's officials tomorrow..."
--