Jebest4781: this was really great man and laughed on the jokes you have wrote down here. enjoyed the little bit with Deadpool's stuff and wonder what'll go on with Virgil working with his stuff. also the bit at the end was great
NeoNazo356: Yeah, after What Happens in Vegas, I thought of making something a little more laid-back. As for Deadpool's stuff, he canonically has weapon caches, and has canonically had someone buy his loot for the exact same reason, which was a hoot to write in. As for the last bit, another Rick & Mordy reference.
As for the Teleporter Belt… I'm curious to see how I can write that in while still staying "balanced". Especially since the Earth-16 version of Superman is one of the LOW-end versions.
Blaze1992: That were multiple parts that made me laugh
I am just gonna spoil it for everyone but that was one of the many Deadpool storage lockers right?
NeoNazo356: Well, Deadpool did appear back in Motorphobia, and as for the storage locker, that bit was inspired by Deadpool vs Carnage where the same thing happened, and was-in-fact the largest inspiration for THAT scene.
superpierce: Uh what TV show came out in 2010 that you just referenced?
NeoNazo356: Storage Wars, which first aired (or "will have had aired" depending on your temporal positioning) on December 1st, 2010.
OmegaDelta: Wonder if Virgil will find any gun out of deadpools storage locker? Also how will Virgil tellbthe fortune huntwr about his past? keep up the good work.
NeoNazo356: Well, last-chapter Virgil had "first dibs" of Deadpool's loot, of which he appropriate a piece of high-end tech that caught his fancy by the sheer novelty of it being a "teleporter belt". As for telling them about his past, he did promise in exchange for them helping him save Zatanna from the Royal Flush Gang, but of course there'll be a twist.
He did sign an NDA way back in Chapter 13: Model Citizen, after all.
LuckyShadowWolf: Well let me first start off by saying that many people who have never been to Vegas have also said "What happens in Vegas!" Also the Pawn Stars and Storage Wars references were absolutely hilarious and I'm happy to see Virgil utilizing the rarest power of all. That being "Common Sense" what with him staying well away from and getting the heck out of dodge asap upon realizing who once owned that guitar. Beyond that as for his glamor charm I have to ask is he supposed to look like a certain harem protag called Bell?
NeoNazo356: Surprisingly-enough, the answer isn't so cut-and-dry as that.
During the initial planning stages of Young Justice: The Hunter, before current plans regarding the "faux secret identity" of Virgil's alter ego (Nanosuit-clad) were cemented, the secret identity that he let the Team and Justice League "see" was going to be a FaceCamo mask that made him look like a red-eyed white-haired Albino that "records" show to be a child soldier by the name of Carte Blanche, a child mercenary of similar vein to Raiden (Metal Gear). Because of the hair and eye color, as well as the small facial scar under his right eye, Virgil's "Carte Blanche" identity was going to resemble a palette-swapped version of Jonathan "Jonah" Mal from Jormungand, who is also a child mercenary similar to Raiden.
I didn't learn about Danmachi and Bell Cranel until much later, so no, in this case it's literally a coincidence that the Glamour Charm makes Virgil look like Bell.
Animeandgamerlover2: I have to say this is probably one of the best fanfictions I have read up to this point! Great plot, barely, if any grammar mistakes, a big mix of different fictional characters that make sense and make the story so much more interesting than I thought it would be, and with the action, adventures, and drama that comes with this story it's simply one of the best! I thank you for making this masterpiece of a story that makes me feel actual joy for reading it.
NeoNazo356: Thank you so much! It always warms my heart when people think my work is one of the best, and that it's an OC-centric story when most OC-centric stories have a bad rep
Child of the Greek Chaos: I meant magical enchantment for the suit.
NeoNazo356: Well, misunderstandings happen because of bad grammar.
As for the crux of that question, Virgil doesn't own the Prototype Nanosuit/"Protosuit", so it isn't "his" in the sense that he can arbitrarily make upgrades or modifications to it whenever he feels like it. He's the Test Pilot, so there won't be any magical upgrades to the suit, since that isn't what CryNet is aiming to mass-produce.
*DAM IT ALL*
Las Vegas, Nevada
November 18, 7:55 PT
"Damn it all! I still smell like lip balm!" Virgil growled the following morning, even after his shower. That morning. After last night's show he'd showered, scrubbed himself raw twice-over, and went to bed thinking he finally smelled like lilac-scented soap instead of cherry-flavored lip blam.
Of course now he was finding out that wasn't the case.
"You'd better get that smell out before we go home, otherwise Athena might catch on~" Brick teased.
"Catch on?! Catch on to what!? That I got shrunk down to the size of an action figure and slobbered on?!" Virgil shrieked.
"Don't let her catch you calling it that. She might get offended~" Mordecai teased.
"Oh you can go shove it up your ass, bird boy," Virgil bit out as he dug into the room service breakfast they'd gotten.
As long as Giovanni was willing to treat, or rather, as long as the Bellagio was willing to treat them at Giovanni's behest, why not take advantage?
"Anyway, I told her flat-out that I was already seeing someone," Virgil went on to say as he forked a sausage and bit into it.
"Well, maybe this is her way of saying she's still interested if things don't pan out for you," Mordecai hummed.
"Yeah, except she falls short of the half-plus-seven rule."
"Ah, yes. The one rule," Brick hummed sagely. "One rule to ring them all."
Until he said that.
'Lilith. Mordecai, for the love of god save me from this conversation!' Virgil thought.
Between Brick's concussion-induced brain damage and Mordecai's alcohol-induced brain damaged, he felt like his IQ points were swirling down a nearby drain the longer he talked to them.
"Hey guys! We're back!" Lilith whooped as she came back in, Roland at her side.
"Well you're certainly chipper today," Mordecai hummed. "What's the occasion? Decided to have your honeymoon in Vegas too?" he asked, causing Roland to flush in embarrassment.
"No, not that," Lilith huffed, her hands on her hips.
The fact that her wedding band was still on her finger showed their Vegas wedding was still valid.
"I'm excited because I got us some of these! Tickets to the Hoover Dam tour!" she said holding up five tickets to aforementioned tour, each of which featured a cartoon beaver wearing a blue shirt with a yellow H on it.
'Because yeah, that isn't subtle,' Virgil thought looking at aforementioned cartoon beaver.
"Heh. You're such a dork, Lil'," Brick chuckled.
"Better a dork than a dumbass," Lilith snarked back.
" . . . Well that's not very nice," Brick pouted a few moments later.
"Neither is calling Lilith a 'dork' just for being interested in a national landmark," Virgil bit back between eggs.
"Hey, I'm just havin' a little fun with her."
"Look, between the tiger feces, almost getting killed, almost getting killed again, and wandering into a pawn shop with a punk rock guitar cursed out the absolute ass, I'm starting to get really close to by BS Limit's threshold, so if I seem like I'm a little on edge at the moment…" Virgil growled out as cutlery screeched against his plate.
"Alright, we get it, you need a vacation, from your vacation," Mordecai cut in.
"Which is exactly why I got us these tickets," Lilith stated passing them out. "Regular people doing regular stuff. And how-often are you going to be able to do this?" she asked waggling her ticket.
" . . . Okay, I will admit, that does sound pretty good," Virgil sighed. He had always wanted to go to the Hoover Dam; even if only for the novelty of it. "But I am serious. I am nearing my BS threshold, and if one more thing happens…!"
"We know. You'll kill someone," everyone chorused.
"In the most-brutal way you can possibly imagine," Virgil said from behind a glass of milk, making the gesture look rather ominous.
*DAM IT ALL*
Meanwhile, across the hall from the Fortune Hunters.
"That's so cool! Virgil and I talked about that very same tour just yesterday!" Zatanna said to her father over breakfast with a winning smile on her face.
"Ah, I'm glad to see you're so receptive to the idea," Giovanni stated, relieved greatly.
As a man who made time for all the members of his staff, new or old, he'd heard every parenting story imaginable, so color him surprised when his daughter didn't think a trip to the Hoover Dam was quote/unquote "lame".
Of course, he didn't really raise her in a way that'd cause her to become self-absorbed like "other kids", but the girl's enthusiasm was a relief nonetheless.
"You think we could bring Virgil along too?" she asked, causing her father's shoulders to hitch.
"Not… unless he happens to have tickets for the same tour," her father returned. "Part of why I brought you along with me was actually so I could introduce you to the niece of another League member who'd come to Earth just-recently, and has yet to make any friends."
"So wait, she's an alien?"
"Martian, actually," Giovanni clarified. "The reason J'onn wanted to introduce his niece to you, instead of any of the other League member proteges, is because in Martian culture, magic-users are greatly-revered."
"I didn't know Martian Manhunter had a niece."
"He actually has an extended family of over three-hundred Martians," Giovanni hummed aloud, thinking back to J'onn's story of how his niece came to be his protégé. "Do you think the two of you could get along?"
"Sure, and maybe while she's here, I can introduce her to Virgil," Zatanna replied.
"You really seem to have taken a liking to this boy."
"Well, we've only known one another for a short while, but he's like a big brother to me. At least… this is how I think it'd be like to have a big brother," she replied sheepishly. "Kinda sucks he's seeing another girl back home. He was really brave, and cute."
"Thank god for small miracles."
"What was that?" she asked tersely.
"Nothing!" the grown man yelped under the irate eyes of his daughter. Eyes that reminded him of his dearly departed Sindella; especially her strong will. "Moving on… I don't think J'onn would necessarily have anything against Virgil's inclusion within his niece's circle of friends, given he's become a part of our world," he said more in reference to the magic than the fighting of super-criminals, which if he was reading the boy correctly, he didn't want to make a habit of. "He was very open-minded about magic, so hopefully the same can be said about extraterrestrials."
"I don't think he displayed any xenophobic tendencies," Zatanna replied. "I mean, he did smack-talk Superman yesterday, but that was more-because he flies around in 'underpants' as he so-aptly put it," she trailed off with air quotes.
"Well… hopefully we won't have to alter his memories," Giovanni hummed. "I suppose we can set up a play date for the three of you another day."
*DAM IT ALL*
Of course, fate, or in this case, Hecate, had a sick sense of humor.
"No way! You're going on the Hoover Dam tour too?" Zatanna asked excitedly outside the Bellagio Hotel shortly after breakfast.
"Yeah, what're the odds?" Virgil hummed aloud.
'Hmmm… Could this be what Hecate has in store for him?' Giovanni contemplated.
It wasn't any major secret that superheroes were "trouble magnets", and based on Virgil's reluctance to learn any more magic than the bare minimum that'd enable him to remain friends with her daughter, it was obvious he didn't want to venture any further down the rabbit hole than he already had. That Virgil was thrust into a situation where he was meeting not just one, but two young protégé of Justice League members was indicative of Hecate having "a sick sense of humor", as it was so-known by magic-users who drew the short end of the stick when throwing the dice so they could enter her domain.
"Well, I'm sure it'll be fine," Giovanni muttered to himself.
"Still, what a freaky coincidence!" Zatanna marveled.
"Yeah… Unless Lilith and your dad planned this."
"We didn't," Lilith and Giovanni found themselves answering simultaneously.
"Okay, so then it is a freaky, freaky coincidence," Virgil hummed aloud. "So… any other surprises you have in store for me?"
"You're looking at me as though I did plan this," Giovanni huffed at the teen's look. "If you want to blame anyone, blame Hecate."
"Yeah, sure, I'll get right on that."
Because no way could doing something like that backfire.
"Oh, by the way, we'll be making a new friend today," Zatanna said with a chipper tone. "A friend of my dad's niece will be joining us today, but if we could keep quiet about what happened the other day, that'd be really appreciated."
'Well, at least she's expressing some form of subtlety,' Giovanni hummed, given his daughter never outright stated his friend's niece had any sort of superhero background. 'Let's hope this trend continues.'
Given how Mount Justice had been compromised by Snapper Carr three years prior, the League had gotten much more stringent on just how much civilians were allowed to be involved with League affairs. Certain distancing between League members and their civilian contacts was more of an unspoken rule than anything else, but at least Virgil seemed to lack any interest in the League, as opposed to how most who tried to get close to League members did so largely to get close to more League members.
In a way, Virgil was a stark contrast to Snapper Carr who had been a "fanboy" of the League; someone who could look at the world of superheroes through an objective lens and remain firmly rooted in "his own world".
'Still, perhaps I should warn J'onn in advance,' he thought as he turned on his heel to use one of the phones in the lobby, only to remember that, now that he had a cellular phone, he could call people wherever he wanted and not worry about a landline. 'Still, let's hope I won't need the extended warranty so soon.'
Magic and tech didn't really mix, hence why so many Homo Magi took the low-tech approach to everything, but as recent events had shown, remaining "technologically illiterate" didn't really solve as many problems as it created.
'At least I have someone to help with the learning curb,' he thought glancing at his daughter as she spoke animatedly with Virgil, remembering how she'd helped him set up "speed dial" the night before as easily as he wove intricate spells capable of warping the very fabric of reality.
*DAM IT ALL*
"Hi there! I'm Megan Moores!" a chipper girl greeted a few minutes later, a large smile on her face once Giovanni had introduced her to them.
"Hey, I'm Zatanna Zatara, nice to meet you!" the brunette replied, happy her circle of friends that were "in-the-know" was growing.
'Well someone loaded up on sugar with their corn flakes this morning,' Virgil thought giving the way-too-chipper girl a once-over.
Megan Moores was a Caucasian girl with red hair going down her back, expressive blue eyes, and freckles on her cheeks, appearing to be in her mid-teens. Her attire consisted of a white T-shirt underneath a short-sleeved crop top sweater, a blue skirt, knee-high socks with brown shoes, and a headband keeping her hair back.
'Still… Why do I feel like I've seen her somewhere before?'
Memories of "Tina's TV Time" that he was often made to sit through when he had to keep the little explosive ball of energy preoccupied as part of his chores flitted across his mind. However, because her fluctuating personality type compelled her to watch so much random crap, he couldn't nail down where he thought he'd seen Megan before.
'Oh well, it's probably nothing,' the brunette shrugged. "So uh… not that it's any of my business or anything, but is a crop top sweater really what you're going to wear? I mean, I know it's November and all, but it still gets pretty damn hot out in the desert," he spoke up from personal experience.
With all that silicon out there, you might as well be standing atop a mirror.
"Oh, don't worry about me. The heat never bothered me," Megan replied, nary a bead of sweat in sight.
Which was weird because even in the shade, everyone else had a bead or two trickling down their temples.
Hell, there was one poor bastard who looked like he was quite literally sweating out water as fast as he could drink it.
Of course it probably didn't help that the fat fucker looked like he weighed three-hundred pounds and still popped Twinkies like tic-tacs. But saying that to his face would just be mean.
"Good to know…" he replied, turning his attention away from "the fat fucker" who began having a heart attack in the background. "I'm Virgil, friend of Zatanna's, and I guess… a friend of yours too?"
"Oh, yes, it's very nice to meet you!" the red-head replied, eagerly shaking both hands with a fervent zeal so-rarely seen on normally-apathetic teenagers.
Meanwhile, away from the group…
"Giovanni, you didn't tell me today's duo would be a trio," a tall, bald, middle-aged African American male with brown eyes clad in a dark blue suit and red tie stated as he and Giovanni conversed away from the others.
"I'm sorry, but things just played out that way," Giovanni apologized. 'Still, as long as M'gann reveals her heritage to him slowly, it shouldn't be a problem.'
'And why do you say that?' John Jones aka J'onn J'onzz aka Martian Manhunter returned as he and Giovanni exchanged thoughts, their words now private from those around them.
'The boy knows.'
'That my niece and I are Martians?'
'No, not that. He knows about Magic.'
'Ah, so he's from a magical lineage like you then.'
'Not… to my exact knowledge,' Giovanni answered slowly. 'He knows Magic is real, even learned it so he could say friends with my daughter after they met, but the boy has been placed in a rare position where he can befriend those from our world, while still being separate from any kind of hero lineage.'
'And when exactly did all this happen? Does this have something to do with the Royal Flush Gang?'
'I'll explain to you later. For the time being,' Giovanni said turning his attention towards his daughter and the two teens standing near her. 'Let's let the kids be kids. It won't always be this simple.'
At this, J'onn could only nod his head.
While it was true that M'gann's arrival on Earth was unplanned, it wasn't as though he had anything against taking on a protégé of his own, and because she was going to be part of a literal alien world, having good friends, and a foundation to build her life on Earth upon, was a necessary first step to making her own identity away from the racial tensions of Mars.
The company the boy kept was cause for concern, but that was work for another time.
*DAM IT ALL*
The bus that arrived to pick the tour group up (after "that fat fucker" was hauled away) happened to be one of those new high-end busses with the TV screens in the backs of the headrests in front of each seat and a bathroom in the back, the left side dominated by two columns of seats, the right side by columns of three.
The group of a few dozen people disembarking from the Bellagio to the Hoover Dam just outside of Vegas, Zatanna, Virgil, and Megan settled into a trio of seats toward the back with Megan sandwiched between the two. Roland, Lilith, and Mordecai sat up at the front with Brick needing a pair of seats all to himself. Giovanni and John, keeping silent vigil of their respective protégé, sat in the middle of the bus across the aisle from them, the latter of which kept a silent vigil on his niece as she interacted with the proverbial "wild card" in their midst.
"So, have you ever been to the Hoover Dam before?" Zatanna asked.
"Nope. This is the first time," Megan replied, smile ever-present on her face. "I'm so excited!"
'Of course you are,' Virgil thought to himself as he channel surfed.
It wasn't that she wasn't cute and all, but all her exuberant energy was kinda grating on one's nerves.
Hello, Megan!
'Oh god… Now I'm gonna have this ear worm stuck in my head all day,' Virgil sighed, his hand leaving the channel button only because there was nothing else on in all the time he'd been surfing through the bus' limited selection.
School and boys and parents too~
Hold back the chuckle for Miss You-Know-Who~
Hello, Megan~
Hello, Megan~
This cheerleader knows the score~
Center of attention and so much more~
Hello, Megan~
Hello, Megan~
A little bit distractible but never too retractable~
She's really quite attractable, okay a lot distractible~
Eventually she'll get a clue-uuue~
Hello, Megan!
The girl for me, the girl for you~
Hello, Megan~
Hello, Megan~
The girl for me, the girl for you~
Hello, Megan~
Hello, Megan~
Hello, Megan!~
'Well… Hopefully it isn't a re-run of something I've seen already,' Virgil thought to himself as his eyes rolled over the last line of opening credits at the freeze frame.
The scene opening to the Wheeler household, Megan running excitedly down the steps as the episode's plot began to unfold, something suddenly snapped into place inside his head.
Mechanically turning his head to the girl sitting next to him, Megan's eyes, now wide with panic instead of overexuberant joy, darted between his and the monitor, the color draining from her face as though someone had blurted out her biggest, most-embarrassing secret to the entire world.
Virgil's mouth opening and closing without any actual idea of what to say to this, before any words could come out, a loud cry of- 'NO!' –that wasn't his suddenly rang out in his head as her hands clapped over the screen and hiding Megan Wheeler from view, her hands also darting out to cover his mouth and pressing him into the corner of his seat and the window.
No, wait, it wasn't the same pair of hands doing all three, it was two other pair of hands sprouting from her body through her clothes as though by magic.
Which of course was relative, but…
'Wait! Please! I can explain!'
'What the hell?! Get out of my head!'
"Uoy was gnihton," Zatanna hastily spoke, weaving a spell outward as someone looked over their shoulder.
It was only because they were in the absolute rear of the bus that no-one else had caught sight of the exchange yet, but you could never be too careful.
'Oh no! Uncle J'onn told me not to communicate like this while I was on Earth!' Megan said as a fourth pair of hands sprouted from her body and clapped over her mouth, eyes wide with embarrassment, shock, and horror.
'Wait, you're a telepath? And what do you mean by "J'onn"?' Virgil asked into his mind, seeing as how his vocal words wouldn't do him any good here.
Seriously, it was like this girl had the strength of an industrial vise.
'Oh, um, well…' Megan began slowly, her auxiliary appendages slowly melting back into her body. 'I'm… actually a Martian,' she said as she entered a more-comfortable dialogue. 'The name's M'gann, by the way.'
' . . . You know there's eight other planets in our system you could be from, right? You're gonna have to be a little more specific,' Virgil deadpanned as he rubbed his jaw, keeping all other thoughts out of his head since his mind was currently being read.
While Pluto had been demoted from planet to "dwarf planet" in August 2006, in the context of this conversation where the person sitting next to him wasn't from Earth, she could just as easily be from Pluto for all he knew, "dwarf planet" or not.
'Oh, well, I'm actually from Mars,' M'gann replied, the panic in her voice beginning to fade.
'Okay, and… does everyone on Mars communicate telepathically?'
'Yes, actually! Have you been before?' the girl asked excitedly, if a bit naively.
'No. I figured, but didn't want to assume.'
'Oh. I see,' she returned, sounding almost disappointed.
'So… You wanna talk about it?' Virgil asked jabbing a thumb at Megan Wheeler on the screen.
'Oh, um well…' M'gann stated, thinking back to an episode of aforementioned show where the delicate balance between keeping and sharing secrets was brought into question. The fine line between where it was "okay" to keep a secret, where actually keeping it would do more harm than good. 'Growing up on Mars… it was… difficult, for me,' she said after gathering her thoughts, her eyes downcast. 'But, I started watching the broadcasts my uncle sent from Earth to teach us about our sister planet. When I saw "Hello, Megan!", something just clicked for me. Maybe it was the similarities in our names, maybe it was the way all of Megan's problems could be solved in 22 minutes. All I know for sure… it's that Megan helped me smile through a very lonely childhood. So… when I came to Earth and had to adopt a human form, I chose… well… her,' she said pointing up at the screen, Megan Wheeler giggling at something Conner said to her.
'So then the mask… it's who you are on the inside?' Virgil groused as he gestured to her appearance, rather than her body.
'Yes, exactly!' M'gann thought with a broad smile. 'How'd you know?'
'I… know what it's like. Wanting to hide who you are behind another person's face,' Virgil answered, not hazarding thoughts any further along that line as long as they were linked like this.
'You… You aren't mad, are you?' she asked glancing between Virgil and Zatanna.
'Well, I'm a little shocked you modeled yourself after an 80s sitcom star, but it's not like there's anything to be upset about,' Zatanna hummed. 'I think it's really nice, modelling yourself after someone you admire.'
'Still, maybe you should dial back the "Hello" in "Hello, Megan!" a little bit,' Virgil hummed.
'What do you mean?'
'What I mean is, if I can figure out that something's "up" with you looking like that, than anyone with an interest in you and a smartphone can.'
'But what can I do?!' M'gann asked worriedly cupping her face with her hands. 'I don't know if I can give this up! This… this is who I am on the inside!'
'For starters? Maybe change up the number of freckles you have on your cheeks, maybe add some going across your nose,' Virgil groused. M'gann, nodding her head, scrunched her brow in concentration, willing the clusters of concentrated melanin on her disguised skin to change position and multiply; not unlike an octopus changing its color and texture. ' . . . Okay I didn't mean right this second, but alright,' he nodded, not expecting such-immediate results.
'But what does she do if someone does ask?' Zatanna asked, bringing up the obvious question.
'Yes, what do I do?!' M'gann pleaded, holding their hands as she sought counsel.
'Okay… Repeat after me,' Virgil stated after thinking on it for a few moments. 'I get that a lot.'
'I get that a lot?'
'No, not as a question, as a statement,' Virgil asserted. 'Maybe add an 'ugh' to really sell it. Now, let's try this again, and act like your identity's on the line,' he said turning away from M'gann before suddenly whirling around at her. "Hey, don't you look just like the girl from that old 80s sitcom?"
"I… uh… Ugh," the red-head grunted loudly. "I get that a lot."
'Okay, you have the line right, but now you're over-selling it,' Virgil sighed as he palmed his forehead. 'Maybe go over this some more with your uncle. From what I can guess, he's been on this planet way longer, so he'll obviously be better at hiding his secret identity.'
'I will, and thank you so much!' M'gann beamed, sending the teen a megawatt smile before she leaned over and planted one on his cheek.
'Hey, ease up, will ya? He's already seeing someone!' Zatanna hissed.
'But aren't he and I looking at one another right now?' M'gann asked as she looked into Virgil's eyes, the brunette's mouth opening and closing like a fish as he flushed bright red.
'Oh boy… We have a lot of work to do,' Zatanna sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
'Why do you say that?' M'gann asked cutely, her finger resting on her chin as she tilted her head.
*DAM IT ALL*
'The three of them seem to be getting along,' J'onn thought toward Giovanni as he glanced over his shoulder.
'Hmmm… Yes, so it seems,' the magician nodded. 'Virgil and my daughter have only known one another for a short while, but they've already become fast friends after what they went through together, so I think perhaps your niece can trust him with her secret.'
'Well… Let's just hope she can exercise some form of… subtlety…' he trailed off as a wave of palpable panic rolled out of his nice, multiple sets of arms sprouting from her body and almost shoving Virgil out the window.
The next moment Megan sprouted multiple sets of arms, her cover blown.
"Uoy was gnihton."
'I take it your niece blew her cover?'
'Unfortunately,' J'onn answered. Perhaps it was a bit early letting her interact with other people, but the damage had already been done, and at the very least, damage control was being run.
Perking up his metaphorical ears, J'onn began to eavesdrop on their exchange, wondering whether or not he'd have to modify any of the teen's memories like in that alien-centric movie about the man in black suits who managed alien immigration to Earth. The story behind Megan's choice of human form surprised him, but he was both surprised and pleased when Virgil helped aid his niece's disguise, all without sacrificing the face she'd chosen for herself, rather than persecuting her for said choice. All things considered, he was really understanding of M'gann being an extraterrestrial, but given he'd stepped into the world of Magic, it made sense that Virgil would be able to take all this in stride.
'So, Megan… M'gann… Not that it isn't fun talking with you like this, but how do I keep telepaths out?' Virgil asked. 'For future reference.'
'Oh, well, whenever Martians are carrying confidential information, they'll often put up Mental Barriers to keep trespassers out,' M'gann explained in turn. 'It's pretty self-explanatory, to be honest. Just set up a wall or a barrier and will it to keep others out. The stronger you imagine this wall to be, the more-concise your "impression" of it, the harder it'll be to get around. It's all about willpower. You have to believe in it.'
'I feel like it's a bit more nuanced than that, but I guess I can give it a try. I just imagine a really-strong wall that keeps people away from my secrets, right?' Virgil returned, J'onn ever-so-subtly creeping his mind toward the brunette's own.
Entering the breadth of the teen's mind, if only to see whether he could be trusted with his niece's secret so-soon, before he could get any deeper than his surface thoughts, a metallic rattling filled his ears. The metaphorical hairs on his neck standing on end, J'onn wheeled backwards as he was nearly speared by a silver chain lancing out of the void. Countless other chains criss-crossing the expanse of darkness surrounding the teen's inner thoughts, forming a woven net, moments later a myriad of crimson gold-accented Chinese-style locks materialized into being, barring his path.
'Hmmm… Chains and locks to keep trespassers out,' J'onn hummed as he eyed the Mental Barrier placed before him. 'I feel like he's taking M'gann's words too literally. Or… literally enough?' the Martian hummed as he poked his finger on one of the nearby chains, only for the links to hold firm. 'Certain human minds are incredibly strong, even by Martian standards,' he hummed thinking back to his first encounter with Batman, 'so maybe this young man is just wired differently, able to fortify his mind to this extent with as-ambiguous advice as he'd been given by another still-inexperienced telepath.'
Make no mistake, J'onn could easily have forced his way through the teen's first Mental Barrier; he had a century and a half of experience on him, and all a barrier like this could keep out was a novice telepath. Maybe an intermediate if he were made aware in-advance of any mental trespass, but that was a SOFT "maybe"; soft like goose down.
However, doing so could easily alert the teen to his presence, so for the time being he'd relent.
Besides. With how-happy M'gann seemed to be with her first Human friends, it wouldn't hurt too much to have a little faith. A concept he'd come to admire from his time on Mars' sister planet.
And Virgil certainly seemed of a more discrete sort than Snapper Carr, at least, what with how-well he was taking this in stride.
*DAM IT ALL*
'Okay. I've got it set up. How's it look?' Virgil asked, unaware of any mental trespass.
He did feel like he'd "felt" something "pressing against" his mind moments before, but as far as he knew, it was nothing more than his mind setting up an actual mental barrier for the first time.
'Oh, can I see, too?' Zatanna asked.
'Sure. I don't see why not,' M'gann said taking their hands, closing her eyes in concentration as they entered the teen's mind, only to meet a wall of chains and locks face-first.
"Is this…? Are we really in his mind?" Zatanna asked, finding herself floating in the void, and also noting that M'gann's skin had changed to green.
"To be more specific, it's more like we're sitting atop his mind. All you can pick up here are surface thoughts. The memories are going to be deeper in," M'gann explained, only now she was a green-skinned version of herself.
"This is still really weird," Virgil spoke up, coming to form on the other side of the mental barrier, as though emerging from a thick fog. "Hey, before we go any further, am I going to have to worry about people outside hearing us? Like, are we going to be muttering out-loud or anything?"
"Don't worry. I linked us up in a trance-like state, so all anyone will see is the three of us holding hands with our eyes shut."
"Yeah, because that's totally subtle," Virgil said with a roll of his eyes before clamping his hands over his mouth. "What the… Why can't I hide what I'm thinking?"
"Well, we're in your mind, so doesn't it make sense we'd hear what you're thinking?" Zatanna asked.
"Still, this is quite well-done for your first time. Are you sure you've never fortified your psyche against outside attack before?" M'gann asked as she rattled the nearby chains, random images flickering into being over Virgil's shoulder before shrouding in darkness once more.
"Well, you're the first telepath I've ever been aware of, so yes, this is my first time setting something like this up," Virgil answered flippantly.
"Still, this is quite intricate," Zatanna hummed, lifting up one of the locks and looking it over. "Quite ornate, actually."
"Yes, well, when I imagined a mental barrier, I just imagined a wall of Psyche Locks from the Phoenix Wright franchise," he found himself admitting.
"So then… These mental barriers of yours are inspired by fictional mental barriers?" M'gann asked with a tilt of her head.
"Well, this was the strongest mental barrier I could think of that was actually perceptible instead of just abstract," Virgil returned, looking at them through the wall of chains and locks separating them. "To be honest, I didn't actually think it'd turn out this well," he said, a bit of pride in his tone as he admired the handiwork.
"Yes, well, it's impressive for your first try, but it's far from perfect," M'gann said reaching her arm through the bars and waving her hand about to prove the point.
"So… How do I fix that, then?" he asked, seeing as how this was completely uncharted territory for him.
"Well… This is your mind, so I guess just… imagine it being stronger?" Zatanna groused.
"Imagine it stronger… Like this?"
A moment later and the weave tightened, a few of the Psyche Locks clattering against one another from the sudden movement.
"Hmmm… Better, but…" M'gann said as she began to tug on the chains, widening an opening with a bit of effort. "A strong-enough telepath could still get through this-OW!"
"What happened?" Zatanna asked worriedly.
"Something just… bit me…?" M'gann asked confusedly.
Om~nom~ Nom~nom~ Nom~nom~nom!
"What the- Teeth?!" Zatanna gawped as the chain links M'gann had been grasping suddenly grew razor sharp teeth, chomping at the air.
"You said this was my mind, so I just imagined it," Virgil shrugged. "That's the way the 'Mindscape' works, isn't it?"
"That isn't un-true," M'gann admitted as her flesh knit back together. "And you're right, creativity is key, since anyone trying to get into your mind loses the homefield advantage. However, creativity alone won't keep a telepath like my uncle out. You also need willpower, and mental fortitude."
"Well, I'd like to think I have a decent amount of that," Virgil hummed as the weave of chains realigned themselves. "So… as long as I have a clear-enough image in my head, it'll happen in here?"
"To an extent, yes," M'gann admitted, watching as Virgil brought his fingers up to his temples, scrunching his brown in concentration.
The next moment there was a futuristic sound of hydraulics, the ground at their feet shaking. The two looking over their shoulders to the right, the iconic silhouette of the RX-78-2 Gundam manifested, stomping toward them and looming tall at over eighteen meters tall, its red, white, blue, and yellow color scheme a stark contrast against the nearby pitch-black Mindscape.
"That's… pretty big," M'gann said craning her neck. "Of course, bigger isn't always better."
"Um, M'gann, you haven't been on Earth for very long, and this isn't really my genre, but even I know how much damage one of these could cause," Zatanna said worriedly.
The next moment, the RX-78-2 Gundam's 60mm Vulcan Guns whirred to life, massive shells raining down at the "ground" in front of the walls of Psycho Locks, M'gann and Zatanna shrieking and wheeling back as the rounds panned across the ground they were standing on moments before.
"Okay, now this is really fucking fun!" Virgil whooped. "Get off my lawn you damn kids!" he said shaking a fist at them like a crotchety old man.
"AAUUUGH! WHAT IS THAT THING?!" M'gann cried as the massive machine began to stomp after them, blazing rounds on their heels.
"I'LL TELL YOU LATER! FOR NOW, GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Zatanna cried as the RX-78-2 whipped out its Beam Saber menacingly.
"OOH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Virgil whooped manically as he chased an actual telepath out of his mind.
*DAM IT ALL*
Hoover Dam
November 18, 11:38 PT
"Wow, that bus ride was so much fun!" M'gann whooped chipperly as they got off the bus, last to leave.
"Yes, well, having friends nearby does make a long drive into the middle of nowhere a lot more bearable," Virgil replied.
"Guys, incoming," Zatanna whispered as a young man in his early 20s started walking towards them.
"Hey, excuse me. This has really been bugging me since the bus ride but… Don't you look exactly like that girl from that 80s sitcom?" he asked eyeing her up and down.
"Hey, eyes up top, she's a minor," Virgil bit out, causing the man to shoot up uncomfortably as passerby gave him the eye.
Especially "Megan's" uncle who was a very tall and broad-shouldered black man in his Human skinsuit.
"Ugh. Yes. I get that a lot," M'gann sighed tiredly, idly scratching at her cheek.
"Oh, well, I can see why," he said as his eyes were drawn to her freckles, blinking his eyes and scrutinizing them before walking away. "Sorry for the trouble."
' . . . Wow! I can't believe that worked!' M'gann whooped excitedly.
'I can,' Virgil hummed. 'People only see what they want to see, so it's actually pretty easy to trick them. Our species is kinda dumb that way.'
'Well… There's millions of sentient lifeforms out there, so in a way, it's kind of… relative,' M'gann stated.
'Hey, time to hang up the phone, we have incoming,' Zatanna stated, ribbing them as the Fortune Hunters approached.
Even though they were all clad in actually "casual" clothing, the Fortune Hunters were far from subtle. Brick was bigger and broader than anyone there, Lilith's tattoos were still visible thanks to her midriff-baring short-sleeved shirt, and even though he forewent his mask Mordecai still had Bloodwing on his arm. The only who looked relatively casual was Roland, but because he was totally jacked, it seemed like the casual clothes were wearing him instead of the other way around.
"So, you excited for the tour?" Lilith asked.
"Or are you more-interested in having a girl on each arm?" Mordecai added, Lilith ribbing him a moment later.
"I feel like I'm the fifth wheel with you guys, so I think I'll just stay within my age bracket," Virgil replied, stepping out from between the two girls he was accompanying just to make a point.
"That's fair," Roland nodded. "If you need us, you know where to find us."
"Yeah. The day before yesterday was fun. You want something from the gift shop, just let us know," Brick added as the four of them walked off.
"What happened the day before yesterday?" M'gann asked.
"Nothing," Virgil and Zatanna both stated. "And don't read our minds for it. That's private."
"Right, of course," M'gann nodded, having to get it drilled into her head that she was not supposed to open telepathic contact with total strangers, seeing as how people didn't do that on Earth.
At least not recreationally.
"Megan, how are you enjoying your trip so far?" J'onn asked coming up to them.
"I'm enjoying it very much! I've made two great friends today!" M'gann said throwing an arm around their shoulders and drawing them in until their faces touched, the martian girl in the middle smiling brightly.
"I see," the man nodded, looking between Zatanna and Virgil before turning back to his niece. "I'll be speaking with Giovanni. If you have need of me, just give me a call."
"You got it, uncle John!" Megan said chipperly, holding up a phone in a green alien-themed case.
"How long have you been… on Earth?" Zatanna whispered.
"About a month. Why do you ask?"
"Ugh. You're so lucky. I had to wait thirteen years before my dad got me a cell phone."
"I think this is all being taken way out of context," Virgil said putting in his two cents.
As he watched Zatanna and M'gann interact with one another further, talking about the nuances of cell phones, having cell phones, and not having cell phones and how it related to Earth life, Virgil hoped that after the week he'd been having, that above all else that he would finally have a normal day without any "comic book" shenanigans.
Because in a world where superheroes were nonfiction, media featuring fictional superheroes was regarded as either a parody, a satire, or an allegory of real-life superheroes and correlating issues.
*DAM IT ALL*
The couple-dozen tourists forming into their respective cliques as the tour guide arrived, the first part of the tour was an oral essay about the Dam's history while looking at the various outside structures including the memorial erected to those that literally died building it.
To someone whose personal experience with formalized education was less-than-stellar, the opening to this tour was obviously regarded as being very dry; something he could've just as easily gotten for free by looking at the Wiki.
However, when the guide started going into detail about how the dam had been retrofitted and modified in the last decade to better-weather the surge of superhuman activity in recent decades, then, it actually started getting interesting. There was even a neat story about how Superman stopped an earthquake villain from knocking the dam down because it'd play into some crazy real estate scam. Or something.
Of course, it wasn't the involvement of superheroes that made this tone shift interesting to him; like it did for everyone else, at least. What made it interesting for him was hearing how regular people chose to grow and adapt to the rapidly-changing world around them, as opposed to those who would rather sit back and wait to "be saved" instead of bettering themselves.
Hell, one of the leading causes of deaths in Metropolis was people doing stupid shit thinking Superman would save them at the last moment as though he were some sort of omnipotent god.
Don't even get him started on the Superman cult that'd tried recruiting him on one of the turnovers in Kansas.
The tour slowly moving into the dam's interior, out of nowhere Lilith suddenly fell to her knees, clutching at her head causing the other Fortune Hunters to gather around her.
"Hey, what's wrong, Lil'?" Virgil asked worriedly.
"Hey, kid, don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just got a little winded from the heat is all," the woman returned. "Why don't you go on ahead with the others. I'll catch up in a minute."
Virgil could only nod his head in agreement, albeit a bit tersely, the tour group moving on ahead a minute later.
" . . . Guys, we've got a problem," Lilith said as light began to ripple through her tattoos. "There's something wrong with the energy field surrounding the dam, and it doesn't have anything to do with the hydroelectric plant."
"What do you think it is?" Roland asked.
"I don't know, but I think we should leave the kid out of this one," Lilith said shaking off the sudden bout of fatigue.
"Alright then. Lead the way," Roland stated.
*DAM IT ALL*
'I don't like this…' Virgil said as the hairs on his neck began to stand on end, noticing Giovanni excusing himself from the tour. 'I don't like this one bit.'
"Virgil, is something wrong?" Zatanna asked worriedly.
"God, I hope not…" Virgil said only for a wave of dizziness to wash over him as they passed a darkened hallway, propping himself up against the nearby wall.
"Hey, is something the matter?" M'gann asked worriedly.
"No, not at all. Might just be a touch of claustrophobia," Virgil waved off. "Megan, why don't you meet back up with your uncle. I'll catch up in a bit."
"And I'll make sure he's okay," Zatanna added.
"Okay… Catch up soon, okay?" Megan asked, an upward lilt returning to her tone.
"Don't worry, we will!" Zatanna replied, turning her attention to Virgil once the girl was out of earshot.
Assumedly.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know… Got dizzy all of a sudden… felt like someone was calling me, pulling on my strings," he said glancing over his shoulder to the hallway they'd passed, a light flickering in its depths.
"That looks like a maintenance tunnel… Why would someone be calling you from down there?"
"I have no idea… and I don't really want to go down there… but I feel like if I ignore it, it'll be even worse than not," Virgil said getting his bearings back, glancing up and down the maintenance tunnel before making his way into the darkness. "You go back and join the others. I'll be fine on my own."
"Nuh-uh. Something's up, and I'm not leaving you on your own," Zatanna huffed.
"Fine. Suit yourself," Virgil said as the girl fell into step with him.
"Still, where do you think my dad wandered off to?" she asked worriedly. One minute he was there, the next, he was just gone.
"I don't know… I just hope it was something mundane like wandering off to the bathroom."
*DAM IT ALL*
Elsewhere, Giovanni found himself standing atop one of the concrete watchtowers overlooking the dam, which had been built not only to give snipers the high ground against super-criminals, but to also function as a more-hearty communications tower in case the special forces had to be called in.
The wind whipping against his attire, Giovanni found himself standing behind a rather enigmatic figure, staring off into the Nevada wastes.
Tall, broad-shouldered, and well-muscled, the man had thick light-brown hair and a bushy beard, piercing gray eyes, and a confident yet tired demeanor. His attire, eccentric even by superhero standards, consisted of a green padded jumpsuit dominated by red trim, red lining running down his arms, sides, and legs, various armor plating all in red, and an X-shaped belt beneath an X-shaped chest guard.
" . . . Who are you?" Giovanni began, eyeing the man's futuristic equipment with warranted suspicion.
With no way of knowing who this man was, he'd have to personally ascertain if he was a hero, villain, or just a neutral third party.
At the very least, he didn't seem like a mindless super-criminal, so hopefully they were on the same side.
"Giovanni Zatana," he addressed in a familiar tone as though he knew him. "You can call me… Rip Hunter."
"I see then," Giovanni hummed, not recognizing the name from any Justice League files. "Can you tell me why you're here?"
"I'm pursuing an electrokinetic fugitive. This close to the hydro-electric plant and he'd have a marked advantage over anyone trying to bring him in," Rip Hunter said looking down at a pair of watch-like bands on his right wrist, a holographic readout displaying a 3D wireframe of the dam, with a blinking red light down amidst the maintenance corridors. "Gideon, do we have a match?"
"Unknown. The concrete-based composition of the Hoover Dam is inhibiting my scans," a feminine AI voice answered in turn.
"If you really are hunting some sort of fugitive, shouldn't you leave it to the proper authorities?" Giovanni asked, shelving who this "Gideon" was for a later time.
"Are you really one to talk about protocol?" Rip Hunter questioned.
"Who are you…? Who are you really?" Giovanni asked.
Before Rip could make a witty retort, the braces on his right wrist let out a high-pitched beeping, a second energy signature appearing in the space nearby. "Do you really have the time to be asking something like that?"
Giovanni was about to retort, but a moment later he too picked up on what was going on, the scent of ozone and the hairs on the back of his neck standing on ends as a pocket of nearby space began to fold in on itself, sparks of electricity dancing in a manic sphere of compressed dark-space.
"I suppose I'll have to question you later," Giovanni said turning to the near-and-present threat. "Rorrim Noisnemid!" –he called out, a crystalline wall of glass washing over the dam, isolating himself, the man calling himself Rip Hunter, and the new energy signature as a figure stepped out of the shell of lightning into the surrounding space-time.
*DAM IT ALL*
"So… I noticed we didn't bring M'gann along with us."
"Look, I know that she's an alien shapeshifter with telepathic abilities and that'd be really-helpful for us, but we just met her today, and we have no way of knowing if she's any-good in an actual fight. Plus, she might only be on Earth to sight-see or just immigrate, she may not even want to do the whole 'hero thing'."
Given her powers, it wasn't too hard to figure out who her uncle was.
"Okay, fair point," the younger girl conceded, the two of them tip-toeing down the corridor. "What's your plan for when we get to whoever's pulling your strings?"
"If they're a good guy, I hear them out. If they're a bad guy, I shove my fist so far up their ass people will be going 'wow, that's the worlds whiniest-looking sock puppet' whenever they pass buy."
"Well that's… graphic."
"Quiet. We're almost there," Virgil said stopping at a corner, labored breathing sounding through the quiet air. Raising up three fingers and slowly counting down, Zatanna snapped out her wand and got ready, the two of them rolling into the open ready to strike the moment the counter hit zero.
What greeted them was a young Native American boy, possibly 14, laying against one of the walls with ragged breaths passing his lips. His face was bruised with one eye swelling shut, his clothes were torn with cuts visible underneath. His skin was tanned, his long straight hair jet black, with a simple white-and-blue headband circling his forehead.
However, more-jarring than his injuries was the jet-black collar synched tightly around his neck, three small bars shining red beneath his chin.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Zatanna asked worriedly, Virgil holding out an arm as he gave the boy a once-over for any hidden weapons.
"No… not really…" the boy wheezed. "How… How did you know… I was here…?" he asked.
"Just got a feeling," Virgil said, his free hand going to the back of his neck, his hairs standing on end. "Your turn. What's your story?"
"I… I can't stay here," the boy wheezed, eyes suddenly widening with panic. "I… have to escape… I can't let them catch me…!"
Trying to get up, the Native American boy's face suddenly contorted with pain as his hand went to his side, the young teen sliding down against the wall before coming to rest on the floor once again.
"Z, this isn't getting us anywhere, the kid's too wound-up to give us a straight answer. You got a spell in your repertoire to move this along?" Virgil whispered.
"I might," the girl returned, before turning her full attention to the boy. "Eb mlac, dna yllufhturt llet su ruoy yrots," she ordered, her voice echoing ever-so-slightly, Virgil's hairs standing on end as he "felt" the magic rolling off of her.
"My name is Jonathan Proudstar, a resident of the nearby Native American reserve where I've lived my entire life, located near a big army base," the now-named Jonathan regurgitated, his features calming significantly. "One day I was being bullied by Jake, the bigot son of a soldier, when my Metahuman abilities first awoke; the power to control electricity. I accidentally hurt Jake while protecting the other kids from him, and a few days later, a mean woman named Augustine and a bunch of scary-looking men in black clothes carrying guns abducted me from my home."
"How did you escape?" Virgil asked, a baaaaaaad feeling forming in the pit of his stomach the moment he heard the words "scary-looking men in black clothes carrying guns".
"The Inhibitor Collar around my neck locks away any electricity going out, but it doesn't stop any electricity from going in; when the men in black hit me with their cattle prods, I was able to absorb the charge, overpower them when they were distracted, and escaped the transport truck. I used my hoodie to hide my collar and sneak onto a tour bus, before winding up here at the Hoover Dam," he continued.
"Esaeler," Zatanna spoke again, Jonathan's nervous look returning.
"Well… That's certainly one hell of a story you've got there," Virgil hummed.
"You… You don't believe me, do you?"
"Oh on the contrary, I definitely believe you. Bad men with guns and government funding abusing a minority? That's Government Stoogery 101," Virgil said with a shrug.
"Can… Can you help me?" Jonathan asked hopefully, heartened by Virgil's lack of dismissal.
" . . . That thing you did to him. Is there any way he was lying?" Virgil asked over his shoulder.
"Unless he got Neuralyzed like in the Men in Black and had his memories altered, I'm pretty sure he's telling the truth," Zatanna answered, patting herself down for her wand.
"I see," Virgil nodded. "Jon. Do you believe in magic?" he asked, the boy raising a brow before he suddenly found a wand pointed at his collar, the hairs on his neck beginning to stand on end as he felt something "supernatural" in the air.
"Ralloc ezeerf, kaerb, dna llaf yawa touhtiw mrah!" Zatanna invoked.
Jon, feeling every hair on his body standing on end, looked down on his nose dumbstruck as frost began to creep across the Inhibitor Collar. Its lights flickering and then failing, within moment the collar froze solid before breaking into pieces and falling away from his neck, the Native American teen taking in a greedy gasp of air once that weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Cause after today, you probably should," Virgil finished as Jon pat his neck, unbelieving of what he saw.
"My dad… is going to be… so mad after this," the girl winced after revealing her magic to a complete stranger.
"Don't worry, none of us are exactly 'normal' here… right, Jon?" Virgil asked as the teen got to his feet, electricity flowing out of a nearby conduit and into his arm, the bruising and cuts on his face healing at a rapid pace. "That's cool."
"Thank you. Thank you very much," Jon replied. "So… think I could hitch a ride with you back to… anywhere?" he asked hopefully.
" . . . Alright, I'm going to go out on a limb and help you with this," Virgil asserted. "But we have to act quickly. If we fiddle-fart for too long, this Augustine lady's gonna-"
The next moment a loud chime sounded through the air, echoing down into the hallway they were all standing in.
"Attention all staff and tourists. This is an emergency broadcast. An escaped metahuman terrorist has been spotted in the area. He has proven extremely dangerous in the past, but government agents have arrived on-site to ensure your safety. Please assemble at the top-floor Meeting Hall for further instructions. Please do not panic and move in an orderly fashion," a smooth, calm-sounding voice spoke over the intercom in a way that hinted the speaker had made this speech in the past.
"Aaand… crapbaskets…" Virgil groaned as Jon's face lost all its color, realizing this Augustine woman had not only just penned them in like cattle to the slaughter, but also turned everyone at the entire dam completely against them. "I literally cannot imagine how this could get any worse."
The universe, of course, would prove to be very… inspirational.
In the coming minutes.
Even the ever-spiteful universe was willing to wait at least that long.
*DAM IT ALL*
Elsewhere, on the Hoover Dam's topside…
"Not good. We're completely boxed in," Lilith said from their hiding place as they eyed the Hoover's east and west sides.
Digging themselves in on both ends of the dam, spilling out of a multitude of black armored vehicles, dozens of soldiers clad in black, gray, and yellow-striped armor began to pour out into the desert air. Their vehicles forming phalanx on each side, penning anyone and everyone inside, the shadowy group tightened their chokehold on the area making escape all but impossible. That they were sending squads to man the river on the north and south side made escape even more impossible.
"Guys. It looks like their boss is stepping out," Mordecai said looking through a telescope, before passing it over to Roland.
Roland, following a group of men as they all saluted, landed eyes upon a fairly-aged woman with red hair parted down the middle clad in a dark trench coat, combat armor, and radios in her ears. The woman commanded absolute authority of those around her, and a chill went up Roland's spine as he looked at her, the man cupping his hand over the lens of his scope as she turned their way.
"Damn it all. The one time we leave our heavy weapons at home, and something like this happens," Roland swore. He himself being the only one with a firearm, while all the enemy soldiers, their insignia indicating them to be members of the D.U.P, Department of Unified Protection, had automatic weapons and head-to-toe body armor at the bare minimum.
"I'm still tapped out from the other day. Even if it was just getting the kid out of here, I don't have enough energy to get us out of their range, and the moment I use my powers, we'll all be lit up like the Fourth of July," Lilith bit out as the D.U.P soldiers began setting up meta-ability scanners.
The only saving grace they had was that those scanners had to be calibrated for a specific type of power, so as long as the "metahuman terrorist" did not have fire or dimension-warping-type abilities, she actually could use her powers if it came down to it.
Of course, even in the desert heat, a fireball upon re-entry would still be pretty telling of their position.
"Still, at least we know what to break," Brick hummed as the D.U.P troops continued setting up equipment. "Damn, they must be really hot wearing all that black."
*DAM IT ALL*
Elsewhere, in the Hoover Dam's meeting hall…
True to form, the tour groups taking the Hoover Dam Tour had all been brought up into one of the meeting rooms by a number of government agents. That they were all clad in combat armor and carrying automatic weapons left little room for protest, and the people were eventually gathered together like sardines in a tin.
'Uncle J'onn… Are we going to be okay?' M'gann asked her uncle as they hovered at the back of the room.
'Do not worry. Everything will be fine,' J'onn returned, his eyes falling on the black-clad soldiers as the last of the free people in the dam were funneled into the room.
J'onn J'onz, having been on this planet since 1955, had become aware of and versed in the various governmental and paramilitary organizations that ran things on Earth. That an extraterrestrial immigration bureau would produce movies about its exploits as a double-negative cover-up was actually quite ingenious even by Martian standards.
The D.U.P, Department of Unified Protection, was one such organization, gaining prominence following World War II as the birth-rate of Mutants and manifestation-rate of Metahumans began to rise.
On-paper, the D.U.P's job was to locate, apprehend, and contain "bio-terrorists", a government buzz-word used to summarily defined Mutants or Meta-Humans whose abilities if left unchecked could prove to be a nuisance if not outright hazard to the common people without any ability to defend themselves. While Belle Reve Penitentiary did the same thing, that facility was focused toward those with criminal charges pressed against them, as opposed to simply being a near-and-present danger.
Batman, and by extension the League, had kept an eye on the D.U.P as they did their work, gathering together more than two hundred "bio-terrorists" and nearing the three-hundred mark more and more every passing week. And while it was true that the D.U.P were keeping people safe, for a long time speculation had run rampant that civil and human rights were being trod upon; as was a common theme among humans, trading freedom for safety, and only realizing the cost once it was too late.
However, regardless of whatever personal opinions he had of them, containing SPBs who were a danger to themselves and/or others was a dirty job that needed doing, and the D.U.P were just the Mike Rowe to do it.
It was for this very reason that the League didn't "compete" with the D.U.P, and part of their charter with the UN was that they not involve themselves with the various Meta-containment bureaus the world over. Because these agencies operated with the oversight of their respective nations, the League had no real authority to commit their own investigations.
What was happening now, right in front of him, would be the closest that anyone in the League had ever gotten to seeing how the D.U.P operated first-hand.
If the fugitive at-hand truly was a bio-terrorist, then he and his niece would stand back, allow them to do their jobs, and be on their merry way. However, the almost child-like eagerness rolling off the D.U.P in regards to using their weapons on anything other than cardboard cutouts, palpable to him even without his telepathy, did little to inspire confidence on that front.
'I hope Zatanna and Virgil are alright. I'm really worried about them,' M'gann thought worriedly, noticing her small circle of friends were still absent.
'Don't worry. I'm sure they'll be fine,' J'onn hummed, before turning his enhanced senses to the other end of the room where two D.U.P were conversing; one seemed to be a rank-and-file soldier going over the contents of a tablet, while the other was a finely-dressed man in a long coat, likely a second-in-command.
"Sir, I've checked the tour registry, but a number of people are still unaccounted for," one of the more slight-looking men stated as he looked up from a tablet he'd been using to take role call.
"I see…" the D.U.P second-in-command stated, before turning his attention back to the frightened civilians in the room. "Ladies, gentlemen, if you could all remain calm, I promise you you'll all be able to go home safely."
"Why can't we go home now?"
"Yeah! You can't keep us here!"
"Let us go!"
"I'm sorry, but standard D.U.P procedure dictates we keep the site on lockdown until the bio-terrorist has been apprehended," the second-in-command apologized, though the inflections of his speech hinted, at least to J'onn, that this man had given this speech many times in the past.
"Bullshit! You can't do this to us!"
"We have rights!"
"Ugh… They always play the 'we have rights card'…" the man sighed tiredly, running his hand through his hair.
A moment later he drew his firearm from his shoulder holster and pistol-whipped one of the civilians across the face for getting too close. The deafening *CRACK* of metal against bone ringing throughout the room, the man who spoke up found himself floored, blood and teeth pouring out of his mouth from the force of the blow. After a few moments, fear and panic spread throughout the room, children clinging to their mothers, women recoiling, and men seething with impotent rage as they were kept in check by the wall of firearms separating them from the only exit.
"Let me make myself abundantly clear," he said leveling the firearm at them, causing everyone to fall silent. "We will contain the threat, and if any of you aid or abed the bio-terrorist in any way, shape, or form, I'll see to it that each and every one of you rots in a cell! Do I make myself clear?!" he demanded, all friendly undertones disappearing as he cocked the hammer on his pistol. "WELL?!"
At his outburst, those that were panicking or crying shut up, a myriad of hushed sniffles sounding through the crowd as everyone huddled down, resigned in their defeat.
Were Virgil present for all this, he would've been having some serious Blackwatch flashbacks.
*DAM IT ALL*
Meanwhile, back atop the Hoover Dam…
" . . . Hey."
"Yeah?"
"You ever wonder why we're here?" a pair of D.U.P Pawns exchanged as they stood atop the edge of the dam, looking out into the distance.
"You know, man… I used to not care. I just went along with orders, and hoped that everything would work out for me. But after everything I've seen on this job, you know what I've learned?" the second of the two asked back. "It's not about hating the guy on the other side just because someone told you to. I mean, you should hate someone because they're an asshole, or a pervert, or a snob, or they're lazy, or arrogant or an idiot or a know-it-all. Those are the reasons you dislike somebody. You don't hate a person because someone told you. You have to learn to despise people on a personal level. Not because they're Mutant, or Meta, or Human, but because you know them, and you see them every single day, and you can't stand them because they're a complete and total fucking douchebag."
" . . . "
" . . . "
"I meant… why are we up here in the sun, when we could be standing over there in the shade?" the second man asked pointing to the deep shadows cast by a concrete structure.
" . . . Oh. Yeah, okay. Let's go stand in the shade," the first replied.
"Hey guys! Look at that!" a third D.U.P Pawn chimed in as he ran up to him, hand pointing excitedly to the sky. "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SupermAUUUUUGH! SONOFABIIIITCH!" the man shrieked as the bird of prey swooped down at him, and with strength bellying its size sent him screaming -literally and figuratively- over the side of the dam, his body rolling and tumbling over the long concrete incline until he hit the flat concrete surface at the bottom, painting it a very ugly color.
"Son of a bitch!"
"Son of a bitch!"
*WHAM*
Before either of them could raise the alarm, a massive ham-sized fist plowed into the second one's skull, the first one being pulled into a chokehold as he was dragged behind a piece of cover.
The Fortune Hunters, having dispatched the sentries at their insertion point, moved stealthily across the dam to the west side, hiding behind the barricades that were being set up.
A few moments later and Bloodwing began to harass one of the guys standing atop an APV.
"Jo-Annis. Jo-Annis! Stop playing with the wildlife and get down here!" another Pawn shouted up.
"For the millionth time, my name is pronounced 'Jones'. 'Jones'!" the now-named Jones repeated, moments before a knife was thrown into the gap in his armor below the chin and he was flung from his perch.
The onlookers, dumbstruck by what they saw, were unprepared for Roland, Lilith, and Mordecai to jump out of their cover and knocked them unconscious with throat-strikes or outright choke them out. Brick on the other hand, literally knocked heads together, and even drowned a guy in a crate of firearms.
Which of course, doesn't sound physically possible.
Come to think of it, that was the same thing Roland said aloud the first time he saw Brick beat a man to death with his own skull.
Medical impossibilities aside…
"Okay, no-one's raised the alarm," Roland said pressing a radio to his ear, listening to the chatter; or more-importantly, the lack thereof. "Lilith, get on the radio and get as many police and state troopers down here as you can. An armed occupation of a national landmark cannot be legal. Brick, grab the guns and ammo; we pushed hard, but it's only a matter of time until they push back."
"Now that sounds like a vacation activity I can get behind," Brick chuckled as he wielded large assault rifles in each hand.
"Um… Guys…" Mordecai spoke up as the shadow of a silhouette began to loom over them, the sound of rumbling stone filling the air as large chunks of concrete orbited around the floating individual. "I think we might have a problem."
To be continued…
*DAM IT ALL*
AN:
Canonically, M'gann comes to Earth on June 2010, not November 2009, but when the subject of the Hoover Dam came up between Spaceman and I during the creative process of this loosely-connected arc (following the "Clash of Clans" chapter), partly as a consequence of me re-playing Fallout: New Vegas, we decided to introduce her here, for a number of reasons.
In the mainstream comics, M'gann's home base is located in Arizona, which is Nevada's southeast neighbor. In Young Justice, Megan Moores' claimed birthplace is Arizona, given she can't very well claim to be from Mars which for all intents and purposes, the people of Earth in the Earth-16 universe still believe to be a lifeless red ball of dirt. Also, after the big brother vibe I set up between Virgil and Zatanna, I couldn't help but write in something similar for M'gann.
Doubly-so because it seems like no-one "Megan" crossed paths with ever watched Hello, Megan! and called her out on the fact that she looked exactly like Megan Wheeler as portrayed by Marie Logan from "that one 80s sitcom that never got a second season".
Of course, there's more to this than just that.
PLUS! Having Zatanna be in Las Vegas for a reason other than happening to run into Virgil, was a happy accident Spaceman and I stumbled upon, since having Zatanna be in Las Vegas for a reason other than accompanying her dad to a show at the Bellagio makes Earth-16H feel more-alive than a series of standalone stories that happen to take place in-sequence.
As for the Earthquake Villain, that's a reference to the Superman movie where Lex Luthor tried to destroy the Western US in order to have beachfront property east of the San Andreas.
Yeah… Shit got weird when things were hammy.
Anyway, hope to hear from you in the Review column! Until next time!