Iruma watched as Jessica groaned, putting her phone back in her pocket. "I don't know if it was Doris getting suplexed by Iruma, or just the time of year again, but Leslie's at it again." As someone who was barely on the internet and new to this school, Iruma was completely confused on what they were talking about.
"Hm?" Luckily, Barbara was in the same boat as he was, and asked for the both of them. "Who is what now?"
"She's the girl that usually hangs out with Doris." Karen explained. "Wears black with blue streaks in their hair."
"Is she also a bully?" Diana asked with a glare.
"Arguably worse. Cyber bully." Kara rolled her eyes.
"She beats you up with machines?" … Was it bad that he shared the Amazon's confusion on that subject?
"Basically she takes embarrassing clips of you and posts them online for everyone to laugh at." Zee answered.
"That is ridiculous." Diana shook her head. "Humans may have a few bad apples, but that does not mean the majority of them would laugh at the shame of another."
"Bffft haahaahahaahahahaaha… oh you're being serious." Barbara winced after noticing the princess' glare. "Sorry to break it to you Diana, but people will pretty much laugh at anything. If someone's embarrassed, then people laugh cause it means they can see it without experiencing it for themselves."
"Oh, so it's a form of protecting one's self from their own insecurities and fears?" Diana asked.
"... Actually yeah, pretty much." Zee nodded. "Especially when it comes to superheroes."
"Cause when the perfect people aren't perfect, everyone gets to feel like they don't have to be either." Kara rolled her eyes.
"All this for something online?" Iruma asked. "Doesn't that seem like a waste of time?"
"Incredibly so, but as teenagers, we're prone to get bored." Barbara explained. "Ooooh, paddle ball!" Barbara turned to someone playing with a paddle. "Done with. Oooh, rapping!"
"...I don't know if her ADHD has gotten better or worse." Iruma muttered to himself as he decided to keep walking ahead for class. As a kid with average grades, he didn't necessarily have to worry about it, but he couldn't afford to slouch on it either. Especially with his… personal project... almost ready. "So basically watch out because some girl will post embarrassing things of anyone she sees online and make fun of it for the world?"
"Yep." Kara nodded.
"...Eh, I've lost the concept of shame, so I think I'll be good." Dignity was not essential for survival after all. "Okay, math is next, gotta get there and-" Iruma blinked as he felt hands trying to pull him away to the side. "Whoa, if you're going to grab me, could you at least say pleaaaase-" He was pulled into a dark room. "...Don't tell me I'm being kidnapped again..." He thought his days of that were over in London.
"Okay kid, talk!" A light was shoved into his face.
Random, but it wasn't like his life was in danger… At least from what he could tell so far. "Okay... it's a nice sunny day outside, with a low chance of rain. I think it's a good day for a stroll where one can just relax and not have any care …"
"Not about the weather! About what you know!" The sound of a screeching girl and a camera clicking.
"But I was telling you what I know." He told the voice in the darkness. "Or we can talk about preferences and cooking tips, I have a couple of those on hand."
"Oooh, know how to make meatloaf?" The sound of a friendly boy asked.
"I know how to grind three types of meat and mold them into the shape of bread." Iruma answered. "The trick is to mix them when they're cooked at medium rare-"
"Do you even know where you are?"
"No." He said. "I'm new to this school, and a pair of hands dragged me into a dark room with a single light source. My three current ideas are: you just want my opinion on something, you want to ransom me for money I don't have, or this is one of those 'adult site' situations I've heard about."
"...Vicki, just be straightforward." The voice of a calmer sounding girl sighed. "This isn't Gotham, and we're not running an interrogation."
"Hah! Shows what you know, Sullivan!" The lights clicked on, and Iruma was greeted by the sight of three kids, two girls, one red haired girl with glasses and a ponytail, one blonde headed girl with short hair, and a boy with curly red hair and freckles. "Alright kid, ya twisted my arm. The names Vale. Vicki Vale, and I run the school paper."
"Ah. Well, nice to meet you." He held out his hand. "I'm Iruma Suzuki. A pleasure."
"Oh, I know who you are, Suzuki... you're the boy hanging out with the Super Hero Girls!" Vicki shouted with a smirk, holding up a few photos.
"How'd you get these?" Iruma asked, looking them over.
"I pride myself on my only skill." The other boy smiled. "Taking photos of other people more talented and interesting than me."
"...Do you hate yourself?" Iruma asked honestly.
"More shame than hatred." He shrugged. "Jimmy Olsen, nice to meet you."
"We're working on his self esteem." The blonde girl shrugged. "I'm Chloe Sullivan. We're the newspaper club."
"You have a lovely last name." It made him feel warm and cared for for some reason.
"We're getting off topic!" Vicki shouted. "You are in cahoots with the superheroes!"
"… And?" Iruma tilted his head in confusion. He didn't see why it was a big deal.
"See, Vicki, you're not going to get anything if you just yell– wait what?" Chloe blinked.
"Haha, told you I was on the right track!" She exclaimed with a grin, grabbing his collar. "Fess up, you know who they are in real life!" Vicki shouted.
"Yeah." Iruma nodded.
"Don't bother trying to lie– wait what!?" The girl blinked as she dropped her board.
"I mean, it's obvious," Iruma shrugged. "You'd have to be blind and deaf to not see who it is."
"...I don't know if that's an insult or not." Jimmy muttered.
"Sorry, I grew up in Gotham. I've had experience looking at colorful people in masks, so it's not that surprising to me." Iruma shrugged. "So was that all you wanted or …"
"...Names, addresses, now." Vicki growled.
"Okay." Iruma nodded. "We got Batgirl, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Bumblebee, and... never really got a clear hero name for her …" Zee said it was 'magic', but then again …
"Don't start acting cute now, I mean their REAL names!"
"Oooh, why didn't you say so?" Iruma smiled. "Sorry, can't do that."
"WHAT!?" She screamed.
"Apparently super heroes like to keep it secret, so it's rude for me to just say it out loud. Same for supervillains, but that's neither here nor there." He answered.
"...You're not going to release the freaking story of the century… over FREAKING COURTESY!?" Vicki shook him wildly.
"Yeah, like any common and decent human being would." Iruma nodded.
"He's got you there, Vick." Chloe snickered.
"Oh can it!" The girl shouted, before shining a light in his eye. "You ain't leavin' this room until you spill!"
"Why do you want my blood to spill? Unless you're a supervillain. Or a jerk like Doris."
"She's worse." Chloe muttered. "She's a reporter."
"Is that more or less evil than a lawyer?" Iruma asked with a head tilt.
"More invasive, less cold hearted."
"Could you not try to derail the conversation, Sullivan!?" Vicki yelled. "We're on the verge of something life defining here and you're talking like ya taking a stroll down the park!"
"Well what ARE you gonna do to make him talk?" Chloe asked. "He just said he won't tell you anything."
"Oh he'll squawk once I find something…" Vicki smirked. "Olsen, check his socials-"
"Don't have any." Iruma shook his head. "I don't own any device that hooks up to the internet." Like he told Barbara, digital was too hackable.
"And why is that?" Vicki leaned in suspiciously. "Got something to hide, blue boy?"
"No, I just think it's pointless." He said bluntly. "I can entertain myself just fine, I talk to friends daily, and if I really need to communicate, I have carrier pigeons." To illustrate his point, one flew through the window, delivering him a piece of paper he unfurled. "Aww, Pam and the tree are bonding."
"Awww, that's so personal and sweet." Jimmy smiled as he took a picture.
"Don't get distracted, Olsen!" Vicki yelled. "And don't you get cocky now, Suzuki!"
"But I don't have any chickens. I mean, I would LOVE some, because they are the second tastiest form of meat I've ever eaten even though I'll eat pretty much most forms of meat–"
Riiiing
"And that's the bell for class. It's been lovely but I've gotta go." He waved, moving to the door.
"Hey, come back here-!" Vicki called out to him as Iruma realized someone was at the door, so he moved out of the way-
SMACK
...and the girl was smacked into the wall by a tall girl with a half shaven head, piercings, and a leather jacket. "Hey Vale, I'm giving you one last chance to...where'd you go?" Given the black and blue hair, along with the fact he saw her with Doris... he was gonna guess this was Leslie.
"Right here, you NITWIT!" Vicki growled as she pulled herself from the wall. "Didn't the principal ban you from this club after you incited their hair remover incident in the girl's locker room?"
"Yeah, and I'm gonna tell you once. Let me back in, or else the school will see the time the paper shredder gave you a wedgie."
"You have no proof, Olsen deleted the pictures himself!"
"Yeah, funny how once things go online, they have a habit of never leaving." The clearly jerkish girl chuckled, lifting up her phone and showing a couple of pictures of a very bad struggle.
Iruma chose to silently walk away while the two were arguing. He should have said something... but class was starting, he can worry about that later. And it wasn't like he had anything to worry about now... unless Vicki was a villain plotting revenge against him like Ratcatcher 2 used to. But that was silly, he's never met her before in his life.
Barbara listened to students laughing on their phones. "Look at her, so much paint."
"The black and pink contrast is hilarious."
"Wow …" She muttered. "Leslie's more popular than I thought."
"This is preposterous." Diana shook her head, looking at Kara's phone. "I understand the need to ignore their own problems and feel better, but this is... this is just mean."
"That's sadly the point." Barbara muttered. For the past week, Leslie Willis was doing quite a bit to make a name for herself online. One prank after another, almost nonstop.
First, it started with posting those pictures of Vicki Vale getting a double printer wedgie online, which was just unpleasant to witness... but admittedly funny. Given what Iruma said about the wannabe reporter when she tried to interrogate him, Barbara didn't feel necessarily guilty.
Then it was that picture of one Barbara Minerva getting her face slammed into the door from some sort of glitch with an automatic. As a fellow Babs, Barbara felt a little bad about that one.
After that Hal Jordan got hit with a malfunctioning sprinkler system that, while making his chiseled face hotter, revealed ready tighty whities. Jessica had a field day with that one… one that didn't last when the girl's posters for an after school recycling club got too close to an old electric socket and lit the hall on fire.
"Yeah." Iruma nodded. "Some people think the best way to live is to joke about other people's pain. Don't understand it myself, but it's just life, especially if you live in Gotham."
"Why would location be a factor?" Diana asked.
"Because in Gotham, there's one villain so heinous and vile he lives for the sole purpose of treating people's lives as one big joke" Barbara shuddered. "No remorse, no regret, just a twisted smile that's filled by the misfortune of other people.
Diana winced. "I can only trust that he is properly contained so as to not harm any innocents."
"Hahahahahaha, yeah, contained." Even someone who loved Batman as much as her knew that the only thing keeping the clown prince of crime from spreading his madness to the rest of the world was his obsession with the dark knight. "So, you ready to be introduced to the magic of burritos?"
"The food that I must kill the vendor in order to receive?" The Amazon asked.
"How have we not cleared up that metaphor by now?" Kara asked with a roll of her eyes.
"There's been a lot we've had to clear up. It didn't even rank top five." Zee nodded.
"Okay." Iruma nodded. "So you see, the thing about-" They leapt over an out of control cart without looking. "Vendors, is that they're just asking for financial compensation for their services. The expression 'kill for a burrito' is more of a hyperbole, and exaggeration."
"Iruma-" Zee tried to ask.
"Most of the time-" An electric scooter came his way, which Iruma ducked his head over. "Anytime someone says they'll 'kill' for something, they mean they really want to do it."
"I... see …" Diana nodded slowly, looking at a nearby sparking wire. "Look-"
"Cool." And Iruma slid around the dangerous piece machinery. "Now that's one less murder complication we need to worry about. Any other analogies or metaphors we need to go over?"
"Nah, I think we're fine …" Barbara noted. "Maybe something along the lines of politics? But that's pretty complicated and nuanced …"
"Not really." Iruma shrugged as a car started speeding right behind him.
"Iruma, you might-" Jessica prepared to throw out her ring.
"Politics are just two sides arguing over differences." Iruma flipped over the car and landed perfectly on his feet. "Both sides have pros and cons but they both like fighting."
"I was talking more along the lines of how rich people get away with money." She brought up. "Like Daggett and Luthor."
"Riiiight." Iruma nodded, pausing before an air conditioner could fall out of a building window and onto his head, before he continued walking. "Okay, so there's this thing called 'corruption' …"
"Cutie, not that I'm not enjoying this little show of athleticism you're performing." Zee brought up as she waved to the trail of destruction around them. "But haven't you noticed that the whole street has been trying to kill you?"
"Metaphorically? As if it's a treacherous obstacle field?" Diana asked.
"No, as in literally everything around us is trying to kill him." Karen pointed out, gesturing to an air conditioner and crashed car.
"Yeah, this is why I tend to stick to analog." He said, shrugging without any care or worry. "Less electronics trying to be hacked and murder you."
"Are you seriously not scared at all?" Jessica asked in disbelief.
"Guys, I've known Iruma since we were kids." Babs told her friends. "His Super Evasive Crisis Maneuver is nearly unmatched. I've seen him dodge bullets with more efficiency."
"Again, please stop calling it that." Iruma grumbled as a ceiling fan flew out of a window and went for his head, something that Iruma dodged without question. "Although I will admit that there are slightly more electronics that have tried to kill me than usual today. Usually, it's just the microwave in the morning."
"Yeah, it's weird that even all the stuff happening at school we're all caused by some sort of electronic failure too." Karen muttered.
"Wait a sec... my bat brain's tingling." She rubbed her head, checking on her phone. "Leslie's feeds, the electronics... she's sabotaging machines to intentionally hurt people to post their humiliation online!"
"Come on, you're putting waaay too much thought into that." Kara snorted. "The only thing Leslie's good at is posting on her blog. She pays even less attention in class than I do. She wouldn't have the know-how to mess with ALL these electronics." Almost on cue, power lines fell from their place and landed right next to Kara, barely leaving room for her, and the rest of them, to get out of the way. "... Yeah, I'm not seeing her anywhere around here." The girl continued. "At most just some power surges... really... really powerful ones... beyond normal." Kara shook her head. "You might be right about someone hacking into the electric grid. I'm seeing enough energy to light the city up twice over converging in one spot."
"If someone seeks to cause harm, then it is up to us to stop them." Diana nodded. "Girls, let us unite and defend the helpless from more of these so called 'pranks'."
"Just so we're clear, we ARE all going this time, right?" Karen asked. "Last few times it's just been two or three of us and I'd rather not be fighting a giant by myself again."
"I don't have any shows this afternoon, so why not?" Zee grinned.
"And I had nothing to protest this afternoon either." Jesica nodded.
"I have no jobs to deal with." Barbara finished putting on her Batgirl costume.
"Always down for a beating. And this time I'm not getting thrown into orbit." Kara slapped her hands together as she spun around, getting into her suit.
"I finished up the final touches on my suit." Karen pulled out a necklace and pressed her thumb against a scanner, opening it up as a bunch of small metal parts flew around... before they grew and locked around her in an AWESOME transformation sequence.
"Not a superhero." Iruma waved off. "You guys got this, I'm going to hunt down dinner before anything else tries to kill me." He said as he walked away.
"A shame, but we can still fight as a team." Diana spoke confidently. "Now sisters, let us go into battle!"
"See yah, Iruma!" Barbara waved as she took out her grappling hook. She may have to wait a while until Iruma could join her in kicking butt, but she's enjoying doing it with her other BFFAEAEAEs. "Let's kick some anime villain butt!"
Leslie shouldn't have been born... no, that wasn't a suicidal thing. Her heart wasn't strong enough to beat due to a deficiency. She literally should have died when she was born.
Wasn't helped by the incompetent doctor setting the voltage on the defibrillator to MAX according to her dad. So much electricity flooded through her body it even messed with her electrons... yeah she called BS on that too, but apparently science didn't really matter when it came to the metagene.
So she started drinking in electricity every now and then, just some small stuff. Then when she got angry in elementary she learned she could shock people. That had been an awesome thing to discover. By middle school she had been capable of controlling machines, just shocking them with her intention and they'd do what she wanted. By High School... she had become the very thing she messed with.
Living lightning, living energy! Leslie Willis was a Livewire! And she... was havin' a blast! "Ahahahahaha!" She laughed at the people drenched in ice cream from machines she sent haywire. "Seems like some people got their just desserts, shock-a-teers."
It was the perfect little set up. Mess with machines that 'just so happen' to malfunction while she was around, Leslie got 'lucky' enough to snap a pic of said accident that followed, and no one was none the wiser that she was responsible for it! This was better than being in the newspaper club, cause now all the cred and likes went to her.
The only little thing that bothered her was that she could never get an embarrassing pic of that Japanese kid that suplexed Doris a while ago. Sure, it was hilarious to watch the fight, and in the end he was just one guy when she had a sea of students to torment, but at this point, it was becoming a rendition of Moby Dick with 'the one that got away'.
Plus the fact he somehow avoided the vending machine exploding when it covered the entire room made her suspect she wasn't the only metahuman in school. Doris barely counted considering it was basically super steroids that would probably rot her from the inside in the long haul.
"Fiend!" Oooh, she could worry about that later. Right now she had a FUN target to play with. "Cease this despicable mayhem at once!" Shouted the 'Wonder Woman' and her girl posse.
"Well if it isn't the super zeroes come to play." She smirked. "Hope you're in the mood to be humiliated."
"Not today we aren't, supervillain." Batgirl glared. "Or should I say, Leslie Willis! The one who records all electronic mayhem!" … Okay, may have played a little hard on that one, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.
She scoffed. "Please. I'm a shock-a-teer of her show, simply giving her good content. After all, the views clearly say people LOVE it when they see high and mighty people fall and crumble, right?" Leslie let her power grow, making the nearby lamp posts and lights explode and burst. "You could say I'm the one giving things... a certain spark!" And proceeded to blast Green Lantern from behind. "And let's just make this a great show." She hacked the cameras, showing off them all on the big screen.
"I got her!" The yellow bee girl shouted, shooting off some yellow blasts... which she absorbed.
"Thanks for the meal. Now let me help myself to the main course." Leslie jumped inside of the girl's suit, forcing her to dance terribly against her will. She laughed. "Wow, did you make this out of scrap metal? I'd call it impressive if it wasn't so easy to hack!"
"Cease your possession of Bumblebee this instant, electric specter!" Wonder Woman called out, throwing a punch into the little girl. Leslie proceeded to jump out just as the fist collided with her chest, sending the bee into the wall.
"Pffft. Way to go, Blunder Woman. You're doing half my job for me." Leslie snickered. She placed a '#friendlyfirewasoff?' on the image as she played it back in slo-mo on the big screen. "So which of you loser girls wants to try your luck next?"
"Hiya!" Batgirl threw a batarang... which went right through her. "Uuuuh." Leslie just used the metal already on the girl as a conductor to shock the cosplayer.
"Wow, super impressed. You guys know your stuff." She said sarcastically. "You know, I can see why you called yourselves the super hero girls, it's the only notable thing about you nobodies!"
"We did not choose it and trust me-" A car door was flung towards her before she had the chance to phase through, where she saw the brat of steel herself flying toward her. "You're going to notice the fist in your face when I'm done with ya!"
"Suuure, I am." Leslie rolled her eyes as she fired a bolt of lightning, which did nothing.
"Ha, I've taken tougher."
"I see that." She absorbed more energy, draining electronics around her as she fired a larger bolt of lighting, launching her into a trash can. "I can also smell your super stench. PU."
"Oh look, she's both a comedian and a content creator." That magician girl waved her hands in the air. "You must get ecaf ruoy ni thgir nwod sbumht tnaig owt!"
Leslie jumped into an outlet to avoid the attack– super easy to dodge something so telegraphed as shouting– as she moved behind the girl, draining a nearby phone as she zapped her skull, making the magician's hair frizz out of control. "Millions actually. The number of people who love to watch heroes fail is amazing."
"You fiend! No one with a right mind and pure heart would ever encourage this vile behavior!" Wonder Woman called out as she charged in with a sword.
She simply stood still as she let her finger hang out in mid air, before shocking the warrior girl straight through the sword. "The name's Livewire, honey, and people love what I have, three million viewers at my whim can't lie. Isn't that right, Metropolis!?"
The crowd that was slowly forming cheered in uproar. "Oh come on, people. She's a supervillain!" The Green Lantern called out. "You can't cheer for her!"
"You can if you're popular~" Leslie grinned as she shocked the girl again. "As long as people find pain hilarious, anything goes!" And no matter how goody gooddy you acted... sadism ran deep inside of every soul.
"You know you're acting JUST like the Joker!" Batgirl called out.
"Aaaand yet the man has a cult. I don't understand the problem." She smirked, dashing up and adding some electromagnetism onto the girl as shopping carts started flying at her. "Do you see Batman having a cult? Superman having an army of fans at their beck and call?"
"No, because they're not psychos with dreams of delusion!" The superbrat called out as she flew right into her direction, Livewire rolling her eyes as she amped her power to a ten, and continuously blasted the girl back.
"I dunno. Constantly trying to hit the woman made of electricity seems like a pretty psychotic thing to me." She snapped with a smirk, as '#supercrazy' went viral. "Can you believe Superman lets an embarrassment like her wear the giant S?" Leslie asked the crowd of fans. "Of course, what can you expect from the wannabe trying to ride on his cred? Can't do anything yourself so you gotta wear the suit and act like it's your own. How sad and desperate."
"YOU LITTLE!" They fired a laser beam... which Livewire redirected into Blunder Woman.
"Friendly fire is still a thing. Man, you gals suck with an S bigger than Superdork's!"
"And you're... A lowbrow… bully… aiming for cheap laughs…" The magic girl growled, summoning pink tentacles from the ground and aiming them right at her.
"Lowbrow eh?" She smirked, going into the wires again. "So you want your stakes higher? Gladly!" She went to an elevator full of dorks... and forced it to release the latch on the cable, the machine dropping a full four stories. "HAHA!"
"NO!" Blunder brat shouted as she dashed forward to catch it. "You.. you lowly FIEND!"
"Oooh, good idea! Let's see what gives out first!" She ripped out a large mass of electric cables from the ground, wrapping them around the hero and activating them on full throttle. "Your limbs or your heart!"
"Wonder Woman!" The green lantern called out as she shot out her glowing green hand to lift the elevator off the girl, only to get electrocuted upon touch.
"Hahahahaahaaaa! Face it, super dweebs, you're not getting out of this unscathed, both socially and physically!" Livewire cackled. "I can do this all day!! There's nothing on this planet that can touch pure electricity! Nothing at all!"
Brriiiiiing
Jessica was not feeling good. The humiliation, the pain, the ringing in her ears...
"Wait, can anyone else hear that?" Barbara asked from under a pile of carts.
"Yeah, it sounds like a fire-" Karen started... before the sprinklers went off. "-alarm... great, now I'm both hurt, humiliated, and wet."
"Really? You think a little water's going to stop me?" The villain laughed... before an arrow went into her boot. "What the-"
"It means you're tangible, right?" Spoke out a... figure that socked the girl in the face. Water seemed to almost lag as it ran down a large white helmet with two, big bright blue eyes that took up a majority of the face. They linked up to a skintight spandex suit that had white and blue lines running like veins, the neck wrapped in a cyan scarf that was flat against the falling water. The forearms and forelegs seemed to be encased in a thicker construct of sorts, along with a blue and cyan belt wrapped around the waist. "If you transform now, it's gonna hurt just as bad as I will."
"What–Who the hell are you supposed to be?!" Livewire shouted.
"Help." And the blue figure proceeded to kick the girl that they all have been unable to touch right in the chest. "Now, do us all a favor and count up your sins. One for every one like your content has."
"Screw you!" Livewire called called out, trying to form a blast-
BZZZZZT
"AAAAAGGGGGGGHHH!" And the girl herself was shocked by her own power.
"I told you, it's gonna hurt just as bad as I am." The man responded, pulling out a bow... and using it like a baseball bat to smack the villain in the face.
"That seems… brutal.." Jessica winced.
"Are you seriously feeling bad for the chick that was literally frying our rear ends two seconds ago?" Kara glared.
"I mean, I don't exactly feel bad …" Karen muttered, watching the girl get smacked around. "But I don't feel too good …"
"Eh, it's kind of like Batman's fighting style actually." Barbara noted as she freed herself. "Beat up the bad guy till they pass out."
"Sisters." Diana spoke up from under the elevator with sparking wires. "While I appreciate we do not have to worry about this foe at the current moment... some help would be appreciated!"
"Right, sorry. Erofeb saw ti woh ot kcab rotavaele eht tes!" Zatanna 's magic lifted the elevator off of Diana's hands.
Kara meanwhile, moved in and removed the wires without care of the shock.
The fight went on, as the new guy's scarf began to glow. "Charge seems good enough... low setting should do." He messed with a dial on his belt, running up and delivering a punch.
Ring
That sounded like a chiming bell, with a blue shockwave resonating from the impact, sending the villain crashing into a wall. "So, can we skip the whole 'you'll never take me alive' and 'we'll meet again' routines?"
"Bleeggg.. You.. suuuuuck..." Livewire whirled around in a daze, before passing out on the ground.
"Huh, must've made the thing a little too strong. Just meant to daze her. I'll have to check that for next time." The blue stranger shrugged before turning to the rest of them. "You all alright?"
"Yes... we shall recover." Diana spoke with a small huff.
"Good." The guy in a suit waved, before walking away.
"Wait, hold on!" Barbara grappled herself infront of him. "You can't just skip out on a heroic debut like that, mysterious bell ringing masked guy!"
"Didn't Batman establish himself the exact same way by not telling anybody he even existed for the first year he was around?"
"I mean... yeah but …"
"Glad we got that cleared up. Villain's incapacitated, no one's in trouble of dying, my work's done." They responded blankly with the filtered voice. "There's no need to stick around anymore."
"You mean other than telling us who you are?" Zatanna asked.
"Secret Identity. Like you, I like it secret." He waved off.
"Surely you have a codename of sorts." Diana asked.
"No. I only came to help. I don't need people calling out my name."
"You can't NOT have a hero name." Barbara shouted.
"Last I checked neither does your magician." The future pointed to Zatanna . "Now you should quit questioning me and go tie up Livewire now. Preferably something with rubber to prevent conduction."
"I can handle that." Jessica shook her head as she formed several rubber tires with her ring, placing them around the unconscious electric woman. "Did you use rubber in your suit?"
"Nah, I set off some running water, and she's just electricity." He said. "It's common physics."
"… I don't know whether to feel grateful or insulted." Jessica mumbled.
"Definitely lining up more rubber in the batsuit for next, oh helpful blue one!" Barbara got in close. "Please let me name you, pretty please!"
"Do what you want, I can just read about it on the news." He aimed his bow, firing off an arrow with the lower half extending out as a grappling hook. "Later." The stranger said as he flew into the air.
"...Was that weird for everyone else or was it just me?" Karen asked.
"A stranger coming in, helping on our adventure with powerful skills, and then vanishing instantly." Diana muttered. "Sounds like a god in disguise …"
"Or that could just be your brain adjusting from all the electricity." Kara pointed out.
"Possibly, I AM seeing double." The Amazon nodded. "Green Lantern, keep her contained. Supergirl, get the police. Everyone else... rest." The girl proceeded to pass out.
"...If a villain like Livewire was able to wear out Diana like that.. Ugh… I hate to imagine something worse than her." Jessica muttered.
"Hey, we at least... softened her up before the blue guy came in." Barbara waved off. "And was it just me or did he look kind of like a power ranger?"
"I was getting more of a Kamen Rider vibe myself." Karen raised her hand.
"A what?" Zee asked with her head tilted.
"Japanese heroes. Large bug-like helmets, minimal armored suits. He even had the scarf motif of the first one." Karen explained.
"...How...?"
"I… spend a lot of time alone… you know.. Before I met you guys." Karen sighed. "It opened a lot of shows that are rarely watched."
"When we get back to the lair, we're definitely having a binge marathon." Barbara grinned. "Oooh, I wonder if Iruma would be interested given he's Japanese… feels weird that this is the one time he didn't get in the middle of a fight."
"He DID say he was avoiding it." Jessica pointed out.
"I know, but going by the track record of his luck, that usually means he'd end up here regardless due to circumstances beyond his control." Barbara explained.
"Come on." Kara rolled her eyes as she took to the air. "It's not like our lives are a story!"
"And finished with today's story." Vicki sighed, leaning back into her chair. "Electrifying new villain gets shocked by new hero." It would be a satisfactory piece for the school paper, one that people would actually be WILLING to pay for and read, and not just make newspaper hats and boats out of. One of the upsides of living in a city full of super heroes and metahumans. And it was much cleaner than Gotham too.
Chloe snickered. "Meanwhile, Leslie's site is gaining cred and people are making jokes about how her latest 'shock-a-teer' got totally owned." Ironic that a fan of a humiliation site became its front page cover. "Guess you didn't need that super hero girl expose story you were clambering for earlier."
"Yeah… for now that is." Vicki clasped her hands. She had a trail and she wasn't going to let that go. Not when she had a promising lead… speaking of which. "Olsen, you sure you didn't see Suzuki during the big brawl?"
"Nope, not a single hint of blue." Jimmy nodded, showing off the pictures. "Other than Supergirl's costume, Livewire's complexion, and suit on the new guy… girl… the voice was filtered so I couldn't tell you which."
"Can't be a girl." Chloe said optimistically. "No girl's THAT flat chested."
"True that..." Vicki glared into the picture. No Iruma Suzuki, but there was an appearance of a new hero. One with the same height and relative build, one that showed up to help the other Super hero girls just like Suzuki always did. It didn't take a degree in forensics to make the obvious conclusion... but something else kept calling to Vicki Vale, something that scratched an itch to her journalistic pride.
Iruma Suzuki... didn't exist. Or rather, had a record so small it was like he was a ghost, dead or nonexistent. An ID, birth certificate, driver's license.. As well as a couple of OTHER licenses that no 15 year old should have… that was it. That was all Vicki could find within her attempt to blackmail him for information. Underhanded? Yes, but that was just the Gothamite in her. Not ALL reporters could have clean reps like Lois Lane.
But... "Suzuki said he was from Gotham." She muttered. "A blue-haired boy from Gotham …" She vaguely recalled a scandal from Gotham… a scandal that involved the DEATH of one Roland Daggett…
Superheroes were one thing... but this was a much, MUCH bigger story, Vicki could feel it in her bones. "So …" Jimmy started. "Is she going to say anything or …"
"Give it a moment. It could be days before she talks again." Chloe rolled her eyes. "She's got that plotting face."
"Oh I'm plotting... I'm plotting up a storm that's unlike the world has ever seen…"
"Vicki, we're a school paper-"
"And I'm going to throw all others out of the water, even the Daily Planet..." She smirked. "Jimmy, you're on hero duty like usual. Chloe, hold down the fort while I'm gone... I've got a case to work up." A case that will revolutionize Metropolis!