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[IC] M&M: All Star Justice League
Shinyo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
It began as a typical day in Metropolis. People in business suits hurrying to their appointments, shopping women on the edge of popular fashion who had dragged their significant others along, honest and hardworking folks just going about their business, and of course the militant cyborgs with the Lexcorp logo emblazoned proudly on their chests patrolling the streets.
Truly, Metropolis had technologically flourished since Lex Luthor struck a deal with the city to handle any and all threats in exchange for exclusivity in contracts. One could see it in the sleek car bodies, the impossibly slim post boxes that took your package directly to the post office for you, even the design of some of the newer skyscrapers seemed to defy gravity. Most noticeable however were the police force. The MPD never officially disbanded, but they may as well have with Lexcorp's private security force now protecting the general project. Criticized at first for being heavy handed, the people of Metropolis quickly grew accustomed to the overzealous protectors.
Well, not everyone did. There were still some who cared to remember what life was like before all this. When Superman single handedly patrolled the skies instead of swarms of cyborgs and alien looking helicopters. When people didn't have to fear big brother. When people could have faith in a symbol of justice.
As the sun began to set on this somewhat less than picturesque city, the familiar lights of the skyline began to twinkle on. Before you even realized it, the city was aglow in artificial light one moment, and then plunged into darkness but a moment later. It was as if Metropolis was suddenly gone. Everywhere in the city, not a scrap of electricity was to be found. Panicked residents quickly found solace in the glow of their cellphones, only to discover they had no bars. Emergency services quickly turn on their backup generators, only to have those too quickly extinguished but a few minutes later. Only Lexcorp continues to shine brightly.
Three would be heroes find themselves in the midst of a mess. Where were they when this event suddenly struck, and what were they doing?
Truly, Metropolis had technologically flourished since Lex Luthor struck a deal with the city to handle any and all threats in exchange for exclusivity in contracts. One could see it in the sleek car bodies, the impossibly slim post boxes that took your package directly to the post office for you, even the design of some of the newer skyscrapers seemed to defy gravity. Most noticeable however were the police force. The MPD never officially disbanded, but they may as well have with Lexcorp's private security force now protecting the general project. Criticized at first for being heavy handed, the people of Metropolis quickly grew accustomed to the overzealous protectors.
Well, not everyone did. There were still some who cared to remember what life was like before all this. When Superman single handedly patrolled the skies instead of swarms of cyborgs and alien looking helicopters. When people didn't have to fear big brother. When people could have faith in a symbol of justice.
As the sun began to set on this somewhat less than picturesque city, the familiar lights of the skyline began to twinkle on. Before you even realized it, the city was aglow in artificial light one moment, and then plunged into darkness but a moment later. It was as if Metropolis was suddenly gone. Everywhere in the city, not a scrap of electricity was to be found. Panicked residents quickly found solace in the glow of their cellphones, only to discover they had no bars. Emergency services quickly turn on their backup generators, only to have those too quickly extinguished but a few minutes later. Only Lexcorp continues to shine brightly.
Three would be heroes find themselves in the midst of a mess. Where were they when this event suddenly struck, and what were they doing?
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"How's my hair?"
"Magnificent, Sir."
"Alright... then we're ready. Can't say I've ever been inside Lexcorp. What are we looking at here?"
"Lex Luthor means high security, sir. I doubt you could get an appointment."
"Don't suppose you can recall much about architecture?"
"I can search my databanks, sir?"
"That'll have to do for now. Let's head to the roof of one of the adjacent buildings and check things out... and give Metropolis it's Daily Dose of Booster Gold!"
"Why do you go up there, Kal?"
"Sometimes you have to take a moment for yourself. We're still people, Kara, and people need to stop and catch their breath every once in awhile. The source of our strength is the sun, so that's where I go when I need a minute. Plus, the view is spectacular."
The words drifted in Kara Zor-El's mind like she drifted now, aimlessly and silently as she basked in the full radiance of the sun. Back then she'd nodded at the answer he gave her, to show she understood. But she hadn't understood then, not really; she was just a kid. Kryptonian or not she didn't know how much of himself Kal-El gave to his adopted home, that for every time someone got hurt and Kal wasn't there, he took a little of the blame and carried it with him. She knew now.
Now that he was gone, his responsibility, his mission, had fallen to her, the girl who tried her best to be like her cousin but fell short most times. But she'd kept at it, working tirelessly to help people in Kal-El's name.
The view is spectacular.
She let the radiation wash over her, revitalizing her and scrubbing away the bittersweet memories.
zee-zee-zee-zee-zee
The watch.
Never a dull moment.
--
Booster eyed the LexCorp building in anticipation. He could feel the electric tension hanging around him. "Skeets, I need that readout like now - "
The silence that had descended over Metropolis alongside the blackout was shattered as something high above the city broke the sound barrier. It descended like a shooting star, its trajectory aimed at the LexCorp building - until it banked hard left. Right towards Booster.
Two and a half heartbeats later Supergirl landed daintily in front of him, her red cape and long blonde hair billowing in the wind as she crossed her arms.
"Michael? Seriously? If this is another PR grab, I am so not in the mood."
"At the time, I believe we were --"
"Not now. Look, Supergirl... if I was doing a PR stunt, I wouldn't cause a media blackout, now would I? It makes enough sense that Lexcorp has its own power system, but they aren't the only ones. Yet... everything but Lexcorp is out. He's up to something."
zee-zee-zee-zee-zee
"Just wait here and don't do anything reckless, okay?"
In a blur of red and blue Supergirl was off like a rocket. Her destination: The Daily Planet, to see a man about a watch...
"The probability was high, sir."
"Look. Comm me if you dig something up, and keep monitoring the situation. If anything looks too wierd, get the blurk out of here. I hate to leave you on your own for a few minutes, but I'm not about to be upstaged by Little Miss Midriff. Did she say see a man about a watch? Is that some kind of innuendo?"
"Sir, need I remind you again that her age in sun cycles is few enough to--"
"--create near-public scandal and/or embarrassment; as well as interference with the 30th Century or something."
"The exact date would be--"
"Just... keep scanning for events today or tomorrow."
A golden comet-like blur soon followed the red and blue of Supergirl's passage."
Ginger Jimmy Olsen waited on the roof top, pressing a button on his blue, yellow and red watch repeatedly. "C'mon...c'mon, someone with super hearing has gotta be out there."
"Jeez, Jimmy, come on, you only have to hit it once! You'll wear out the batteries if you keep hammering the button."
The lanky photographer pursed his lips. "Superman told me it had an miniaturized fission reactor collapsed inside it."
Sigh.
"Anyway, I'm here, what's the problem? Uh, aside from the obvious."
Jimmy nervously rubbed the back of his head, "I know supers like you aren't in the publics best graces these days. Didn't want to give em' another excuse just charging in at Lex."
He laughed at a stray thought, "Lois actually went digging around in storage and found an old type-writer. Odds are she's probably already on her way over there for the scoop. Keep an eye out for her, ok?"
Booster landed a second later. "Ah, make sure you get my good side, Jimmy."
Jimmy grabbed his camera and primed it. "Sure thing Green Lantern."
Kara interjected before Booster could start pouting. "The Planet received a tip that something's going down at the Metro P.P. Judging by the range of the blackout... I'm betting Livewire. You up for a challenge, Mi - er, Booster?"
(once again pointing at Jimmy's notepad to emphasize his current slogan)
"...Daily Dose of Booster Gold. Let's light this candle."
The voice echoed over Ray Palmer as he moved towards his destination, "Settling in now, Randal. Go ahead and start it up." The grad student nodded and turned on the prototype molecular assembler the pair had been working on. The theory was sound but the darn thing just would not work right.
Ray, currently the size of a molecule himself, was going in for a closer look. Randal had just started the device and so far, so good. Of course, that was when the power blacked out. Ray watched the molecules that were supposed to form into a nano-tech engine drift back into a random matrix. "Ah well." He groused as he enlarged to his normal size, "I wonder what caused the power failure?"
"I don't know, Professor. But look, every building's dark."
"Indeed they are, I'm going out for a look." Atom opened a window and, shrinking down slightly, jumped out into the night. Lowering his density, he rode a tiny current of air rising up the building as it discharged the heat of the day. From his greater vantage point, he could indeed see that every building in sight was indeed without power, save one. Ray wasn't too surprised to see that Lexcorp still poured light into the night sky.
The question was, is Luthor behind this blackout or just immune to it? One way to find out. Atom jumped into an air stream and rode it towards the still-light skyscraper.
"Skeets? Yeah. No. Yeah. Superman was in tomorrow's headlines? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's wrong too. You're... what? Detecting... no, say that again. A tiny man? You are really starting to lose it, lil' buddy. Okay if you want to talk to him, go for it. Tell me about it later. Booster Gold out."
Booster took a hand away from his ear.
"Man, he used to be so much more reliable."
Booster put his hand up to his ear again.
"The Tiny Man is on the Lexcorp building now? Thanks for the update."
The Man Of Gold rolled his eyes as he pulled a hand away from the Comm.
Sure enough, the odd blast of lightning came shooting out into the sky from inside the large concrete funnel.
Ray muttered to himself, "Did not think this through." Oh well, when subterfuge isn't an option. Go for brazen. He resized himself to full height, exchanging the atoms of his costume for street clothes as he grew. It was a neat trick he'd learned, pulling atoms from the dwarf star matter his belt linked too. The hard part had been programming the assembler to put them together in the right order.
Professor Ray Palmer straightened his tie, smiled, and stepped into the lobby.
Supergirl cringed for a moment, but it turned out that Booster was just adjusting the controls on his belt buckle.
"Dangit, I should have brought Skeets. I'm not going to get any video of this."
Booster pointed the fist with his flight ring skyward, spiralled up in the air, and down into the depths from which the lightning had sparked.
The receptionist, one Mercy Graves according to the small plaque placed on her desk, calmly handled them all. Answering questions in monotone one at a time as if she simply didn't care and not allowing a single one of them beyond her desk.
===
Booster Gold flew into the hyperbolic structure, witnissing Livewire floating in between two massive generators, sucking the electricity from them even as they continued to run.
Booster's gauntlets glowed as he prepared to fire.
"...maybe it's time for a Booster Shot."
Was it cruel to let Michael tangle with Livewire alone? Maybe a little. But he learned best through getting the tar kicked out of him. And if he couldn't handle Livewire, well, a little blue bird would be there to swoop in and save him.
Plus she could get some good shots of him getting kicked around! Everyone wins.
Initiative Roll: 1d20+13=32
"Ya grandstandin' punk, trying to steal my thunder are ya? Well I'll give ya more than you can handle!"
The blast of a couple million volts just leaves some scorching on Booster Gold's armor and a lot of dramatic smoke. Livewire just makes a face, "Ohhhh, a tough guy, eh? GET 'EM!"
Copperhead leaps from the shadows and tackles Booster Gold from behind!
Attack Roll: 1d20+8=18 vs. Booster Gold's Parry of 17.
Horseshoe, make a toughness resistance check vs. Copperhead's Grapple of 12!
Following a hunch, Ray walked down to a convenient ally, one out of sight of the bot. There, he changed back into his red and blue suit, shrunk down to just under an inch high and wafted his way upward.
Ray managed to creep up on the little guy unobserved, he thought. Sure seemed to have not noticed him, because it hadn't moved much since he'd spotted it again. Either way, he was now above the machine, having been helped by an inoperative but still warm steam vent.
Atom floated down until he landed on the robot's shiny top. The tiny hero looked down into the bot's main camera and waved. "Hi there. Looking for little ol' me?"
"I am Skeets, associate of the famous and beloved Booster Gold. I have been observing Lexcorp as instructed. Your unique abilities suggest that you are... The Atom?"
Booster deftly aimed at both Copperhead and Livewire, giving each a debilitating blast from his gauntlets.
[Ranged Affliction Multiattack 7 (Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Accurate 1]
Booster Shot vs. Copperhead: 1d20+11 29
Booster Shot vs. Livewire: 1d20+11 14 meh
edit: my dumb ass wrote immune "entanglement". we'll be switching that to "grapple" now.
Supergirl was off like a blue and red streak towards a water tank she had spied on a rooftop. She landed on the roof, cracked her knuckles, and sunk her fingers deep into the girders. "Come on...!"
With a horrible screech of contorting steel the tank came free of its struts. She wasted no time, immediately zipping back to the power plant.
"Booster, look out!"
Bombs away!
The tank fell on top of Livewire, rupturing and illuminating the entire silo in bright white as the supervillainess began to short out.
Meanwhile, the Booster Shot to Copperhead's butt causes him to violently buck and slither out from under Booster Gold, moving into the shadows.
Livewire has been disabled for a round, but will siphon electricity from the generators on her next turn and be back to full strength if you don't stop her!
Your turn, gents.
"I think you two ought to cool down and switch off."
Booster spun in the air, letting a shot off at each of his opponents.
Single Target: To use a Multiattack against a single
target, make your attack check normally. If successful,
increase the attack’s resistance check DC by +2 for two
degrees of success, and +5 for three or more.
Booster Shot vs. Livewire: 1d20+12 20 -2 = 18
Booster Shot vs. Copperhead: 1d20+10 24
Livewire takes the shot dead in the forehead and falls over backwards, also prone.
"What?"
"Nothing..."
The two took a second to marvel at their work.
"Hey Kara."
"Yeah?"
"Double Down."
"Uuuuughhhh..."
"Well, it was nice while it lasted," said Kara with a sigh. "We should get out of here before Luthor decides to slap us with some false charges. Plus I think I heard your little talking iPhone chatting up Dr. Palmer. Shall we?"
She began to ascend.