The Netherverse, Tuesday Evening Fandom Time
Raven swept up her friends into her Soul-Self, teleporting them into the netherverse, where Alligorr and his sorcererous companions awaited on a plateau amongst a rocky terrain. They stood now on a narrow bridge of stone that led to this plateau. The skies above were a strange reddish-orange and black.
Alligorr
"Welcome, friends of Raven," Alligorr, a white-bearded man in green and blue armor greeted them. His companions were all dressed very similarly, and each of them looked like a refugee from an Galdalf convention as well. "I am Alligorr," he continued. "We are prepared to perform the ritual to stop Trigon the Terrible, with the aid of his daughter. We must begin soon, but if you have any questions, speak them now."
sith_happened
Anakin had a lot of questions, ranging from "so the sky's supposed to be that color?" to "and we have to stand on this rickety looking stone cliff why?" but went with the most important one: "This will not harm Raven, right?"
Alligorr
Alligorr shook his head. "It will not harm her," he said. "We simply wish to tap into her connection to her father."
sith_happened
One of Anakin's eyebrows quirked up. "And the ritual can be stopped at any time if things go wrong?" he checked.
Alligorr
"There is the risk of a backlash if the ritual is interrupted at a crucial point," Alligorr admitted. "It is best not to stop it once it has begun."
sith_happened
Of course there was. Anakin sighed. "If she is injured, I'll hold you accountable."
Mmm, threats.
Alligorr
"If we intended any harm to Raven, we would have simply convinced her to come alone," Alligorr said patiently. "I assure you, we mean her no harm. If she were truly her father's daughter, however, we would be forced to destroy her."
sith_happened
"If she were truly her father's daughter, none of you would be able to stop her," Anakin said flatly.
Alligorr
Alligorr flinched, just a little. "If she embraces the mantle of her father, she will be nearly impossible to stop, just as he is," he said. "It must never come to that."
sith_happened
"It never will," Anakin replied, absolutely sure of that.
Alligorr
"I am pleased you have such faith in her," Alligorr said, nodding. "She is more powerful than Trigon's other children, that is the reason she has survived for so long. And now that power will be used to stop her father. We are ready to begin now. It will not take long to know if we are successful."
brat_intraining
"You know," Kennedy mused, looking over the edge of the bridge, "I never wanted to be one of those nerds re-enacting King of the Bracelets or anything like that, but this is kinda cool."
trigons_child
"The Netherverse can be very beautiful at times, but very dangerous," Raven warned. "We stand between worlds now, but few know the paths between them."
brat_intraining
"And what, you do?" Kennedy asked, but backtracked quickly. "Didn't mean for that to come out that way. It's cool. I'm on it. This is me, Alert Girl."
trigons_child
"I do," Raven said, inclining her head. "That is how I teleport. I step through this realm."
brat_intraining
"Everything's always more complicated than it looks," Kennedy complained mildly. Alligorr and the sorcerer guys were creeping her out a little; were the beards and armor really necessary? Really? And didn't the armor give them a penalty on spellcasting? "Okay. Fine. Can we get the mojo show on the road?"
trigons_child
Clearly it was Elven armor.
Raven nodded. "Yes, they are prepared to begin," she said. She smiled at Kennedy. "And thank you again. I am truly grateful for your aid."
brat_intraining
Oh, sure, THEY can get a hold of Elven armor. Munchkins.
"I told you," Kennedy answered, flashing a quick smile back. "It's cool. Let's move."
life_inshadow
The whole set-up made Tara wonder if something was going to come out of the shadows and grab her ankle, but Kennedy's confidence made her more confident.
"In a really ... rocky way," she agreed, reaching for Kennedy's free hand. "It's, um. Really different."
brat_intraining
"As the funky-colored sky kind of screams," agreed Kennedy, moving to link her fingers through Tara's, but loosely; in case anything did come out of the shadows she might have to let go to prevent any ankle-grabbing. "Well. This'll be fun, huh?"
life_inshadow
"Sure." Tara's voice quavered, but she managed an expression very much like a smile as she glanced over at Kennedy briefly. "At least we're together."
brat_intraining
"Which counts for a lot of points in my book. So we're off to a good start." Kennedy gave her hand a light squeeze, projecting as much casual reassurance into her voice as she could. "'cause we're an awesome team."
It was a largely untested theory as of yet. Details.
joan_notjane
Joan got a very creepy and unsettled feeling from this place. She just hoped that the ritual worked and they got back to Fandom without incident. It made her feel a lot better knowing that Professor Skywalker was there.
The ritual had begun. Raven sat cross-legged as Alligorr and his four companions circled her, her Soul-Self rising from her body to hover behind her. The sorcerers focused their power on her, gaining strength from her connection to her father. She could feel her demon side begin to rage inside her in protest, but she clamped down on it, feeding the power back to Alligorr so that he could direct it to bar Trigon's way into this world.
Alligorr
Only a few moments had passed before Alligorr looked up in alarm. "Earthlings!" he said. "Trigon must have summoned them to stop us. They must not succeed!"
Zatanna
In the direction Alligorr was looking, a dark-haired woman in blue (though she seemed to be missing her pants) held one hand to her forehead, concentrating. "I've traced those evil emanations at last -- and I can tell you they're overwhelming in power!" she said. "If we delay even a moment more, I frankly fear for the fate of our world!
Green Lantern
The woman was standing in mid-air, supported by a green disc of energy projected from the hand of the masked man in black and green behind her. He provided a similar disc for another man dressed in a blue cape and wearing a mask with pointed ears. "Then what are we waiting for?" he said. "Let's move it!"
Hawkman
A bare-chested man with large grey wings flew before them. "If Zatanna is right, we could be in for one heckuva battle!" he said.
Wonder Woman
"We'll be ready for it!," said the dark-haired woman wearing what appeared to be a red, white, and blue swimsuit, with a golden glowing rope on her hip. She was flying under her own power. "The Justice League fights as one!"
Raven
Raven teleported from her place in the center of the circle to confront the intruders as they drew near. She knew who these people were; she had begged them for their help a year before, and they had spurned her. "Green Lantern, please, I beseech you, let these sorcerers do what they must!" she cried, as the man in green and black was closest to her. "You do not understand!"
Green Lantern
"You know we can't, Raven," Green Lantern said, holding up his hand. Green energy sprang from his ring to build a cage around Raven. "And I can't let you interfere with us now!"
blondecanary
Holy crap. The Justice League. Which didn't exist in Dinah's world, but she remembered enough from being alternate Black Canaries on weird weekends to recognize most of the members. And know how screwed they could be in a minute.
So she looked for one particular face-- and took a breath when she saw her. "Can I talk to you? Canary to Black Canary?" she asked, taking a step forward and concentrating on her older counterpart. "Do you honestly thing I -- we -- would be supporting something that could hurt Earth?"
Black Canary
The Black Canary from Raven's world stared at Dinah. "What is this, some sort of trick?" she said. She saw a mirror image of herself, but years younger, and that just wasn't possible.
blondecanary
Which really, was a fair question, but one Dinah didn't expect. "Alternate universes. C'mon, keep up!" She bounced on her toes, trying to think how to prove she was herself. Themself. Nnnngh.
"Things are different where I'm from. There isn't any JLA, not yet. But I want to build one. And Raven's my friend, and she asked me to help her with this. She wants to stop her dad. Not help him."
Black Canary
"Raven?" Black Canary said skeptically. "That girl's evil, Zatanna sensed it. We're not going to let her get away with this. She has to be stopped. And you're probably just one of her tricks." Alternate universes weren't entirely out of her realm of experience, but she'd never run into her own personal mini-me before.
blondecanary
"She isn't! There's a big difference between someone having dirty fingerprints all over them, and having dirty fingers, darnit! Zatanna's cutting corners because she's freaking out!" Dinah took a breath, trying to think of what to say to convince her, and said, "I don't know if any of our stuff is the same, but I know about you from Roy. Who you helped out." Don't specify how. "Would Raven know that? Would she know about, uh, the guy with the arrows? Would she know that your mom fought crime too?" That much had to be the same, right?
Black Canary
Those weren't things Black Canary would expect an illusion or an impostor to know, but she was still suspicious. "Maybe she's done some really good homework," she said, but the part about Roy definitely wasn't common knowledge. "I don't have any reason not to trust Zatanna. She knows what she's doing."
blondecanary
"Just this once, can you get a second opinion?" Dinah was still hopeful because her counterpart was still listening, and not attacking yet. "Talk to these guys. They came to Raven with the idea, not the other way around."
Black Canary
"How do you know they're not tricking her?" Black Canary said dubiously. "Or that she's tricking you? We don't have time to get a second opinion. This ceremony has to be stopped!"
blondecanary
"No! Come on!" Dinah fell into a defensive stance, face set. "This is her best chance to stop her dad forever! The worst that'll happen is it won't work-- but if you interrupt, bad things can happen!"
That... was probably not reassuring.
Black Canary
Black Canary shook her head. "I want to believe you," she said, "but I can't. I have to trust Zatanna. She's my teammate. But I don't want to hurt you, so just get out of the way."
blondecanary
"I can't." Dinah gulped, raising her fists. "And I don't want to hurt you. But I have to trust Raven and these robed freaky guys to know what they're doing too."
She took a breath and tried to put on her game face. "So." Gonna die gonna die gonna diiiie! "Bring it."
Black Canary
"You trust your friend, and I trust mine," Black Canary said. "I'm sorry." She drew back her arm and took a swing at Dinah, hoping to just knock her out rather than hurt her much.
blondecanary
"Me too."
Dinah wasn't there when the blow was thrown, though. She'd ducked and spun away, knowing how the other woman would aim the punch, and aimed a kick at Black Canary's knees, as hard as she could. If she could just keep her busy long enough....
Black Canary
Black Canary was impressed by how quickly Dinah moved, almost like she'd know exactly where she'd...hey! She was starting to really believe this somehow was a strange version of herself, but she couldn't let that distract her from the JLA's mission. The sorcerers had to be stopped.
She dodged the kick and aimed one of her own at Dinah's feet, trying to trip her up.
blondecanary
So so so weird, to be fighting her own moves, only more focused, faster, stronger. Dinah jumped, reacted with another punch to the other woman's face, thinking, Have to do something she doesn't expect--
Black Canary
Black Canary blocked the punch and tried to seize Dinah's arm, intending to twist it behind Dinah's back. She was in completely agreement with Dinah's thought that this was so weird.
blondecanary
If Black Canary got her in a headlock, or a real grip, it was all over. With her experience of martial arts and ten years more time, Dinah would be unconscious in seconds.
Panic and focus don't usually go together. But just this once, they merged, and Dinah slammed out a burst of telekinesis toward her double, intending to throw her back at least twenty feet, not caring how she'd land.
Black Canary
That was unexpected, since this version of the Black Canary didn't have any skill with telekinesis. She tumbled backwards but rolled into the fall so that she could control it, springing to her feet as soon as she hit the ground. "How did you do that?" she said. Maybe Mini-Me wasn't really her after all.
blondecanary
"Telekinesis," Dinah said, circling her, hands still up to defend herself. "My mom only had the Canary Cry. And the martial arts. I? Got an upgrade." Thank you, extra mutations. "C'mon. You're not going to let a kid beat you, are you?"
Distract distract distract distract---
Black Canary
"Good for you," Black Canary said with a little grudging respect. "But now that you mentioned the Canary Cry...." She opened her mouth to yell and send a sonic burst at Dinah with the intention of knocking her out. Her power didn't affect her own self, but she wanted to see what it would do to her Mini-Me.
blondecanary
Pretty much nothing, once her reflexive deafness kicked in. Which still had her diving away, eyes wide, because turned up to 11, it wouldn't knock Dinah out but it would knock her over.
So better to get there first. Dinah opened her mouth to scream, aiming it for roll-you-over-and-into-a-wall strength with it.
How much more time did they need? What was going on with the ritual? She didn't dare look....
furnaceface
//I officially take back everything nasty I've ever said about the X-Men's uniforms,// Jono mused to himself before holding his hands up in a passive gesture and approaching whoever seemed the most reasonable at the moment.
And really, if you asked Jono, none of them seemed very reasonable at the moment. The bloke with the black cape and the ridiculous pointy ears on his head seemed like a near bet, though. He was, at least, fully clothed.
//Would you believe me if I told you that we're trying to stop something big and horrible from pokin' his head into this reality and causing some pretty nasty fireworks?//
Batman
"What the hell are you kids doing here?" Batman snapped. "You shouldn't be here."
furnaceface
Well, so much for picking the reasonable one.
//Oh, right, and this is what th'lot of you consider to be yer natural habitat, too,// he mumbled, putting his hands down again and crossing his arms over his chest. //And we're hardly kids. Honestly, now. We can handle ourselves, mate. Thank you.//
Batman
"We're here to stop a great evil from happening," Batman said, unimpressed. "You kids need to get out of here. Now. Before someone gets hurt."
furnaceface
//People getting hurt is exactly what we're here to prevent!// Temper, Jono, temper. Don't let the man with the funny cowl get the better of you. //We're not going anywhere. There's too much at stake for us to even consider that an option.//
He just barely managed to refrain from calling this guy 'granddad' to make up for that kids comment.
Batman
What was visible of Batman's face clearly gave his opinion on what a teenager thought of the situation. "You have no idea what's going on here," he said. "I'm telling you one more time, get out of the way."
furnaceface
See Jono. See Jono roll his eyes upward and throw his hands in the air in a gesture that... might very well have ended in two extended middle fingers, yes. Because, while he was terrible at pretending he knew sign language, there were still some things that he believed could be said without the aid of a telepathic voice.
Just in case there was any room for doubt, however, he added, //Trust me, mate, we're not th'ones in the way right now.//
Batman
Had Raven mentioned the JLA from her world were dicks? Probably not in those words, but the sentiment stood. Despite the rude gesture, Batman wasn't seeing Jono as a threat yet, though he kept an eye on him as he pulled something from his belt and drew back his arm to throw it toward the ritual on the plateau.
furnaceface
//I wouldn't do that, mate.//
Jono wasn't going to let any throwing of things go on, here, no. His hand was sneaking to the bandages over his face, and he was focusing hard on Batman's hand, in case he did let something fly.
Batman
Batman, sadly, had no idea what Jono had under those bandages, and he wasn't about to take orders from a kid. He ignored Jono and threw the stun grenade toward Alligorr and his companions.
furnaceface
Grenades would fall very strictly under Jonothon's 'worth ripping off my bandages for' category, yes.
And so that grenade was intercepted by a crackling blast of psionic energy. And if it was at all possible for such energy to come off as being annoyed, this one did.
Batman
Well, that was unexpected. And terribly annoying. Batman's eyes narrowed (inasmuch as that could be seen beneath the mask) as he now saw Jono as a threat, not just a telepathic teenager with a penchant for a goth look. He'd have to be subdued so they could deal with the sorcerers. He clenched a fist and took a swing at Jono.
furnaceface
Oh, this much could not possibly end well, and Jono just barely managed to stoop under the incoming fist.
//Wot, are you bloody mad?// Yes, he was skipping backwards, trying to stay out of the range of those fists, lest he fail to dodge a second attempt. //You could hurt somebody, throwin' bombs about like that!//
Yes, he was aware that this had been the general idea.
Batman
"That was the idea," Batman said. "That ritual has to be stopped, and we're not going to let children get in our way. I don't know who you are or why you're here, but I will take you down if you interefer in this."
furnaceface
//You don't even know what the ritual is!// Jono's hands balled into fists, sparks jumping out and away from him as he was once again called a child. Emma- his Emma back home- could get away with calling him that. Shaun, too. But not this man. Not when he meant it like that, as an insult. As a way of insinuating that his judgment was completely suspect simply because of his age.
//And anyhow, it looks to me as though yer already lettin' us get in yer way, mate. You want to get by me, I'm not going to make it easy for you.//
Right up until he found himself cold-cocked or something, at least.
Batman
"It's evil, that's all we need to know," Batman said. "And if you're working to protect it, then as far as I'm concerned, you're evil, too." Batman had black and white issues sometimes.
furnaceface
Insert Jonothon's most disbelieving deadpan right about here.
//Yer serious.//
This was kind of making his head hurt.
//Yer a bloody idiot, aren't you?//
Batman
Batman didn't have a chance to answer that question before the ritual abruptly went to hell.
sith_happened
Anakin took a moment to assess who the leader of this group was and honed in on the man in green who'd locked Raven into a cage.
"Explain!" he demanded, glaring at him.
Green Lantern
"Zatanna picked up magical emanations which were creating massive holes in the Earth's ozone layer," Green Lantern said, sizing Anakin up. "Three guesses where those emanations came from."
Raven, meanwhile, teleported herself out of the energy cage to return to the center of the ritual. Hopefully, they could finish it quickly.
sith_happened
Anakin's eyes narrowed as he took a moment to be irritated with himself for not expanding his inquiries as to the danger involved in the ritual past Raven herself.
"Fantastic," he grumbled. "There was a point to this ritual, though, which you might have asked about before just showing up overdramatically."
And Anakin knew drama.
Green Lantern
"And just who are you?" Green Lantern demanded. "Who are these children? If you're helping them" -- he pointed to Raven and the sorcerers -- "we'll stop you as well."
sith_happened
"You could try," Anakin said dryly, "but we're not the bad guys here, and these children have generally been fighting people in worst situations and generally less stupid outfits for much of their lives."
Green Lantern
"And why," Green Lantern said, just as dryly, "should I believe anything you have to say? If you had to stop a great evil and a group of children and their babysitter stood in your way, would you stop to chat?"
sith_happened
Probably not, but Anakin was a little too stuck on part of Green Latern's sentence to be rational.
"Babysitter?!"
Green Lantern
That reaction got a smirk. "You'd prefer a different title?" Green Lantern said.
sith_happened
And out came the lightsaber. "Anakin Skywalker. I'm a Jedi, which means that this is a lightsaber and yes, it's sharp, and yes, I know how to use it. I'm no one's kriffing babysitter. Pack up your little friends and get out of here. We have this covered."
Green Lantern
Sadly, "Jedi" and "lightsaber" (and "Anakin Skywalker") meant nothing to Hal Jordan (although he would turn evil and die and get better at some point in the future, so he'd have something in common with Anakin). "Unless you're planning on stopping those guys, then you don't have it covered," Green Lantern said, thankful that the lighsaber wasn't yellow. "So we'll take things from here."
sith_happened
"The ritual is to stop Raven's father--" don't call him Captain Loincloth, Anakin, "--Trigon from breaking through and taking over this entire planet. I'm sure the ozone will fix itself. Trigon won't be quite as accomodating."
Anakin Skywalker, eco-warrior.
Green Lantern
"That's the story she tried to feed us," Green Lantern said, rolling his eyes. "She didn't make us fall for it, but apparently you're not so smart."
sith_happened
"Raven told you about this plan?" Anakin asked, looking more and more irritated.
For the moment he shelved the insult to his intelligence.
Green Lantern
"Not this exact plan," Green Lantern admitted, "but she tried to convince us that she needed us to stop her father. Zatanna knew she was lying. The girl's evil."
sith_happened
"Zatanna's a moron," Anakin said, stalking closer. "Raven doesn't lie."
Green Lantern
"Zatanna is my teammate and I trust her judgment," Green Lantern said. He raised his hand to aim his ring at Anakin. "Now get out of the way."
sith_happened
"Then you're both morons," Anakin decided, igniting his lightsaber, "and neither of you gets near Raven."
Green Lantern
"Try and stop me," Green Lantern said, sending a burst of green energy at Anakin, intending to knock him out of the way.
sith_happened
He was going to love this trick, then!
Anakin held his hand out to catch and repel the energy. He'd been able to do this with blaster bolts--he figured the green whatever it was would bounce the same way.
Green Lantern
Green Lantern deflected the blast harmlessly away with another burst of energy from his ring. "So you've got more than just a glowing sword," he said. "How do you feel about this?" He created a cage of green energy around Anakin like he had around Raven.
sith_happened
Well, that was going to piss Anakin off.
"Release me!" he demanded, putting the strength of the Force into his voice.
No, he had no problem using the mind-whammy away from campus.
Green Lantern
Unfortunately for Green Lantern, he wasn't immune to Jedi Mind Tricks. "Sure, sorry about that," he said, making the cage vanish and then looking quite confused about why he had done just that.
sith_happened
Time to push it a little bit. "And it's time for you to leave, too," Anakin said, staring hard at the guy.
Green Lantern
Green Lantern was seriously considering doing just that when the ritual suddenly went to hell.
brat_intraining
Figured Kennedy would home in on the woman in the swimsuit with the glowing rope.
"Okay, I gotta ask. Is that outfit for real? Because seriously..."
Wonder Woman
"Who are you?" Wonder Woman demanded, looking the young woman in front of her over. "You don't look like you belong here. This place is dangerous."
brat_intraining
"We weren't doing so bad until you guys all charged in like the crazy spandex cavalry," Kennedy answered, squaring her shoulders (and bristling a little inside-- didn't belong here, her ass); her sword was in her hand, point down and not threatening yet, but ready to flip up into an attack position if needed. "God, get a clue, would you? We're not here to end the world."
Wonder Woman
"But they are," Wonder Woman said, pointing to the sorcerers. "We have to stop them. Stay out of our way."
brat_intraining
"Jesus Christ, are you listening, or does it take all your brainpower to come up with crappy melodramatic speeches?" Kennedy exclaimed. "Because come on!"
Defending sorcerers. What the hell had her life come to?
Wonder Woman
"I have no idea who you are," Wonder Woman said, "but Zatanna sensed the evil coming from this place, and it's our job to stop it. Get out of the way."
brat_intraining
"No," Kennedy shot back through clenched teeth, though she was wavering a little; what if Raven really had been pulling a fast one on them all this time? Except she hadn't come here to turn on her friends, and she wasn't going to let these crazy-ass people who made Deadpool's outfit look good hurt Tara, or Raven, or anyone who'd come with them. She set her feet and twitched the sword in her hand, glaring daggers. "Tell Zat-whatever to get a signal check, and back the hell off."
Wonder Woman
"Sorry, we don't have time to discuss this," Wonder Woman said, going for the lasso at her waist. She respected a fellow female warrior, but Kennedy had no idea what she was talking about. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will restrain you."
brat_intraining
Kennedy would argue right back that Wonder Woman had no idea what she was talking about.
"Not my kink, sorry," she retorted. "And you're really not my type, so I'm gonna pass on that."
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman had no intention of giving Kennedy a pass. But an explosion from the midst of the ritual distracted her from any bondage games with the Potential.
glacial_witch
As soon as the fribble with the winged hat mentioned Zatanna (and oh! how Karla wished she had the time to laugh at these costumes!), Karla whipped her head around and glared at the female so named.
"You," she said, remembering exactly what Raven had told her about her pleas to join the JLA. "You sad, foolish, pathetic excuse for a witch," she said, shaking her head. "How can you be so horribly blind? I can only assume it's deliberate."
Zatanna
Zatanna was startled that Karla would address her like that and glared at the girl. "Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you talking about?"
glacial_witch
Karla drew herself up and gave Zatanna a thin smile. "Me? Well, for one thing, I'm not the one who showed up looking like I'm auditioning for the role of Side-Show Hooker Barbie."
There was a line of Hooker Barbies at 'Dite's. They were dressed very similarly, actually. It was a little weird.
"Also? Between the two of us? I'm the real witch of this pairing." Her hands lit up with Sapphire power--no backwards incantations needed. "And I'm not going to let some never-was like you stop Raven from protecting the innocents of this world."
Zatanna
"I don't want to hurt you, child," Zatanna said, trying not to let the insults get to her. "But you clearly have no idea what's going on here. We must stop this ritual. Stand aside or I will make you."
glacial_witch
"I'm sorry," Karla said, all sweetness. "Perhaps I used words that were too long for you to understand. Let me rephrase. You? Stupid. Wrong. Blind. Incompetent. Raven? Not evil. Helping. Was that better?"
And to think Ben sometimes questioned her diplomatic skills!
"As for making me..." Karla just grinned. "You can certainly try. But if your skills at magic are anything like you gifts of observation, I'm certain I'll be just fine."
Taunting aside, Karla had her shields up and had since before the ritual began. Because it would really suck if Zatanna got a real hit in.
Zatanna
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Zatanna snapped. "That girl is evil, I sensed it. And she's controlling your mind now with her powers. Won evael siht ecalp!"
glacial_witch
Karla stood exactly where she was, tapping her foot impatiently. "Let me know when I'm supposed to be impressed," she said, rolling her eyes. "Though I'm somehow not at all surprised your magic is based on speaking backwards. Are you going to find a coin in my ear next?"
Zatanna
Zatanna frowned but tried again. Niatnoc siht dlihc. Od ton tel reh og eerf!"
glacial_witch
"Are you quite finished embarrassing yourself yet? If you'd like, I can show you how Craft truly works."
For this, Karla didn't even bother raising her hand, just giving Zatanna a disdainful look and flinging a blast of concussive Sapphire power at the other female. She wasn't aiming to harm her--much--just fling her around a bit. "Do I have your attention yet?" she called. Her voice rang throughout the chamber, enhanced by Craft. "Are you ready to listen? Too see how much it is you do not yet know? Fool."
Zatanna
Zatanna flew backwards but had enough presence of mind to conjure up something to cushion her fall. "You've got power," she grudgingly admitted, picking herself up. "But why should I listen to you?"
glacial_witch
The temptation to reply, 'because otherwise I'll make you listen' was very, very strong. But Karla throttled down that impulse and tried to answer as a Queen would.
"For one thing, dismissing the words of someone who wields as much power as I do is just tactically stupid," she answered first. Which, you know, was a more diplomatic version of her original answer. "Because you've already let prejudice and unreason blind you to answers before and this might be your opportunity to set things right. Because, contrary to your opinions, we are on the same side here and if you'd just stop being so bloody freaking judgmental, maybe you would see that."
Zatanna
"That girl has the power to manipulate your mind and feelings," Zatanna said stubbornly. "She's fooling you, but she couldn't fool me. She and this ritual have to be stopped."
glacial_witch
"You know, I cherish the day when you learn just how wrong you are," Karla said conversationally. "I hope that when it comes--and, oh, it will come--that you think back to this day, to this moment, and remember exactly what I've told you. And know that I will be laughing at you when you do. Because you are nothing.. All of your vaunted powers--" here, Karla gave Zatanna a withering glare, in case the female had missed the heaping scorn, "--mean nothing if you won't use them to assist one young girl who only wants to do what's right."
Karla deliberately turned away, dismissing Zatanna and any threat the other woman might have represented. She wasn't in the mood to chat anymore--at least, not with someone who refused to see the truth.
oops_mbad
"You're the ones who are interfering!" Diana snapped. "We're not the bad guys here." She remembered her parents telling her something about staying calm. She wasn't really listening at the time. "Is everyone here out of their minds?"
Hawkman
Hawkman swooped down above her. "Get out of here, kid," he said. "You don't belong here. You're going to get hurt."
oops_mbad
"Kid?" Diana demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're the ones bounding in like blind children. And my friend and really good roommate needs my help, so yeah, I do belong here. Unless you know someone else who doesn't snore, steal clothes, or mind the occasional portal in the closet?"
Hawkman
Hawkman gave her a very confused look. "What are you talking about?" he said. "You're crazy."
oops_mbad
"Well, yeah, from your point of view." Diana said casually. "But you're wrong and in our way so either help or ... " She made a shooing motion with her hand.
Hawkman
"I don't take orders from kids," Hawkman said. He shifted the flail in his hands. "Now just get out of here before you get hurt."
oops_mbad
"Is that a threat or a warning?" Diana asked pleasantly, shifting the possibilities around her to keep anything from hitting her. "Either way. I'm. Not. Leaving."
life_inshadow
"We -- we're trying to help," Tara pleaded, speaking to anyone who seemed to be listening. "Honest. We didn't come to get into some big fight, that's what we want not to have happen. "
She hoped, anyhow. She still didn't trust the whole demon thing entirely.
Zatanna
Zatanna had given up trying to reason with Karla. "Your 'friend' is fooling you," she said. "I know she has powers to affect your mind. Please just let us do what must be done."
life_inshadow
Tara swallowed. "I -- I can't believe that about Raven. I've known her all year, and she -- she'd never use her powers against someone. She just wants to heal."
Zatanna
"The girl is filled with incredible evil," Zatanna insisted. "You can't trust her."
life_inshadow
Tara almost said Oh, all right then, sorry but something in the tone -- it was like talking to her cousin Beth.
"That's exactly what my family said about my mom and me," she said, voice almost a growl. "It wasn't true about us, either."
Zatanna
Zatanna opened her mouth to argue, but then Trigon's voice boomed down from above.
trigons_child
Whether it was the fighting disrupting the balance of the ritual or something else entirely wasn't clear, but Raven felt the magics shift. "What? It is suddenly all too late! Trigon is free!" she cried, sensing her father's power.
"THOSE SORCERER FOOLS HAVE FAILED TO STOP ME AGAIN!" a voice boomed down from above. "WILL THEY NEVER LEARN THAT TRIGON IS INVINCIBLE?!"
"Trigon!" Raven called desperately. "Go elsewhere! Leave this world alone!"
"NO! TRIGON HUNGERS FOR EVEN GREATER POWER! a POWER I CAN ONLY CLAIM BY CONQUERING A NEW DIMENSION! I WILL NOT FORFEIT SUCH POWER FOR ANY MAN OR BEAST!"
The plateau exploded, and Raven barely had time to teleport to safety. Alligorr and his companions weren't so lucky; when the smoke cleared, there was no sign of them.
Batman
Batman, of course, pulled attitude. "All right, you kids, what was this all about? You better have explanations." Because it was all the fault of those from Fandom, really.
sith_happened
"Oh, shut up," Anakin commanded, glaring at the man.
blondecanary
Dinah had been staring at up at where Trigon's voice had emanated, and now switched that stare to Batman.
"Now you ask for explanations?" Unbelievable. Helena's dad? Was a tool. "Big ritual, messed up, bad demon, big explosion!" Duh.
Batman
"And how do you know all this?" the tool in question demanded.
brat_intraining
"Uh," Kennedy cut in, full skeptical bitchface on, "we were kind of here for it."
life_inshadow
"It -- it wasn't that hard to notice..." Tara cut in. "You saw it too, right?"
Maybe the cowl impeded his vision!
Batman
"I mean how do you know this isn't exactly what the ritual was meant to do?" Batman demanded suspiciously.
sith_happened
"Oh, don't make me smack you," Anakin retorted. "We don't want Trigon released, being fans of being alive and unblinded by an enormous demon in a loincloth. The monks assured Raven the ritual--which you interrupted, by the way--would seal him away from this dimension permanently."
Zatanna
"And you just took their word for it?" Zatanna scoffed. "You didn't feel the evil that was emanating from that ceremony as I did."
sith_happened
Anakin shot her a withering look. "That's because your calibration is off," he declared. "If there was evil, I would know. But currently, I sense great stupidity in the Force."
blondecanary
"What he said. Because if you'd shown up early, explained and sounded like a sane person instead of a psycho who dissed Raven without even trying to talk to her, maybe we would have taken you seriously," Dinah snarled back. "...and what is up with your outfit? Oh my god."
weetuskenraider
"I don't know if I'd put it that way," Tahiri put in wryly, her expression obstinate. "But the way you're going on about it, you'd think we Jedi ought to be knocked flat on our backs by it, and we're still standing."
She probably should have shut up there, but she kept going.
"Although if you keep insisting we're on the wrong side here, we might get knocked flat by the stupidity."
Master Skywalker, you were a bad influence.
oops_mbad
"Can we knock them flat by their own stupidity instead?" Diana suggested. "Seriously, I've had to put up with some dumb people, but this group is winning the dumb-off."
She glanced down at Samuel by her feet before turning back to glare at the JLA. "And I know what's good and evil."
furnaceface
//Apparently I'm a bad guy because I stopped the bat-eared plonker from throwin' a grenade around,// Jono grumped, narrowing his eyes a little while he surveyed the damage he'd dealt to his bandages while tearing them off. //Some group of heroes. Too bloody stupid to see th'forest for th'trees.//
A beat, for further consideration.
//And more than a touch hypocritical, I might add.//
trigons_child
"You have no idea what you have done," Raven said, still shaking from her near escape and with fear of her father's threat to her homeworld. "I told you before -- I wanted to stop Trigon from claiming this dimension, not help him! Why will you not believe me!"
Zatanna
"We're done here," Zatanna said firmly. "We did what we came to do. And you'll realize one day that girl is controlling your emotions and compelling you to aid her."
With nothing more to say to those of Fandom, the members of the JLA departed.
[OOC: Preplayed with the terribly patient blondecanary, brat_intraining, furnaceface, glacial_witch, joan_notjane, life_inshadow, oops_mbad, sith_happened, and weetuskenraider. Warnings for comic book violence, comic book dialogue, questionable rituals, and the JLA being one-dimensional dickheads. NFI and NFB, but OOC always welcomed!]
Alligorr
"Welcome, friends of Raven," Alligorr, a white-bearded man in green and blue armor greeted them. His companions were all dressed very similarly, and each of them looked like a refugee from an Galdalf convention as well. "I am Alligorr," he continued. "We are prepared to perform the ritual to stop Trigon the Terrible, with the aid of his daughter. We must begin soon, but if you have any questions, speak them now."
sith_happened
Anakin had a lot of questions, ranging from "so the sky's supposed to be that color?" to "and we have to stand on this rickety looking stone cliff why?" but went with the most important one: "This will not harm Raven, right?"
Alligorr
Alligorr shook his head. "It will not harm her," he said. "We simply wish to tap into her connection to her father."
sith_happened
One of Anakin's eyebrows quirked up. "And the ritual can be stopped at any time if things go wrong?" he checked.
Alligorr
"There is the risk of a backlash if the ritual is interrupted at a crucial point," Alligorr admitted. "It is best not to stop it once it has begun."
sith_happened
Of course there was. Anakin sighed. "If she is injured, I'll hold you accountable."
Mmm, threats.
Alligorr
"If we intended any harm to Raven, we would have simply convinced her to come alone," Alligorr said patiently. "I assure you, we mean her no harm. If she were truly her father's daughter, however, we would be forced to destroy her."
sith_happened
"If she were truly her father's daughter, none of you would be able to stop her," Anakin said flatly.
Alligorr
Alligorr flinched, just a little. "If she embraces the mantle of her father, she will be nearly impossible to stop, just as he is," he said. "It must never come to that."
sith_happened
"It never will," Anakin replied, absolutely sure of that.
Alligorr
"I am pleased you have such faith in her," Alligorr said, nodding. "She is more powerful than Trigon's other children, that is the reason she has survived for so long. And now that power will be used to stop her father. We are ready to begin now. It will not take long to know if we are successful."
brat_intraining
"You know," Kennedy mused, looking over the edge of the bridge, "I never wanted to be one of those nerds re-enacting King of the Bracelets or anything like that, but this is kinda cool."
trigons_child
"The Netherverse can be very beautiful at times, but very dangerous," Raven warned. "We stand between worlds now, but few know the paths between them."
brat_intraining
"And what, you do?" Kennedy asked, but backtracked quickly. "Didn't mean for that to come out that way. It's cool. I'm on it. This is me, Alert Girl."
trigons_child
"I do," Raven said, inclining her head. "That is how I teleport. I step through this realm."
brat_intraining
"Everything's always more complicated than it looks," Kennedy complained mildly. Alligorr and the sorcerer guys were creeping her out a little; were the beards and armor really necessary? Really? And didn't the armor give them a penalty on spellcasting? "Okay. Fine. Can we get the mojo show on the road?"
trigons_child
Clearly it was Elven armor.
Raven nodded. "Yes, they are prepared to begin," she said. She smiled at Kennedy. "And thank you again. I am truly grateful for your aid."
brat_intraining
Oh, sure, THEY can get a hold of Elven armor. Munchkins.
"I told you," Kennedy answered, flashing a quick smile back. "It's cool. Let's move."
life_inshadow
The whole set-up made Tara wonder if something was going to come out of the shadows and grab her ankle, but Kennedy's confidence made her more confident.
"In a really ... rocky way," she agreed, reaching for Kennedy's free hand. "It's, um. Really different."
brat_intraining
"As the funky-colored sky kind of screams," agreed Kennedy, moving to link her fingers through Tara's, but loosely; in case anything did come out of the shadows she might have to let go to prevent any ankle-grabbing. "Well. This'll be fun, huh?"
life_inshadow
"Sure." Tara's voice quavered, but she managed an expression very much like a smile as she glanced over at Kennedy briefly. "At least we're together."
brat_intraining
"Which counts for a lot of points in my book. So we're off to a good start." Kennedy gave her hand a light squeeze, projecting as much casual reassurance into her voice as she could. "'cause we're an awesome team."
It was a largely untested theory as of yet. Details.
joan_notjane
Joan got a very creepy and unsettled feeling from this place. She just hoped that the ritual worked and they got back to Fandom without incident. It made her feel a lot better knowing that Professor Skywalker was there.
The ritual had begun. Raven sat cross-legged as Alligorr and his four companions circled her, her Soul-Self rising from her body to hover behind her. The sorcerers focused their power on her, gaining strength from her connection to her father. She could feel her demon side begin to rage inside her in protest, but she clamped down on it, feeding the power back to Alligorr so that he could direct it to bar Trigon's way into this world.
Alligorr
Only a few moments had passed before Alligorr looked up in alarm. "Earthlings!" he said. "Trigon must have summoned them to stop us. They must not succeed!"
Zatanna
In the direction Alligorr was looking, a dark-haired woman in blue (though she seemed to be missing her pants) held one hand to her forehead, concentrating. "I've traced those evil emanations at last -- and I can tell you they're overwhelming in power!" she said. "If we delay even a moment more, I frankly fear for the fate of our world!
Green Lantern
The woman was standing in mid-air, supported by a green disc of energy projected from the hand of the masked man in black and green behind her. He provided a similar disc for another man dressed in a blue cape and wearing a mask with pointed ears. "Then what are we waiting for?" he said. "Let's move it!"
Hawkman
A bare-chested man with large grey wings flew before them. "If Zatanna is right, we could be in for one heckuva battle!" he said.
Wonder Woman
"We'll be ready for it!," said the dark-haired woman wearing what appeared to be a red, white, and blue swimsuit, with a golden glowing rope on her hip. She was flying under her own power. "The Justice League fights as one!"
Raven
Raven teleported from her place in the center of the circle to confront the intruders as they drew near. She knew who these people were; she had begged them for their help a year before, and they had spurned her. "Green Lantern, please, I beseech you, let these sorcerers do what they must!" she cried, as the man in green and black was closest to her. "You do not understand!"
Green Lantern
"You know we can't, Raven," Green Lantern said, holding up his hand. Green energy sprang from his ring to build a cage around Raven. "And I can't let you interfere with us now!"
blondecanary
Holy crap. The Justice League. Which didn't exist in Dinah's world, but she remembered enough from being alternate Black Canaries on weird weekends to recognize most of the members. And know how screwed they could be in a minute.
So she looked for one particular face-- and took a breath when she saw her. "Can I talk to you? Canary to Black Canary?" she asked, taking a step forward and concentrating on her older counterpart. "Do you honestly thing I -- we -- would be supporting something that could hurt Earth?"
Black Canary
The Black Canary from Raven's world stared at Dinah. "What is this, some sort of trick?" she said. She saw a mirror image of herself, but years younger, and that just wasn't possible.
blondecanary
Which really, was a fair question, but one Dinah didn't expect. "Alternate universes. C'mon, keep up!" She bounced on her toes, trying to think how to prove she was herself. Themself. Nnnngh.
"Things are different where I'm from. There isn't any JLA, not yet. But I want to build one. And Raven's my friend, and she asked me to help her with this. She wants to stop her dad. Not help him."
Black Canary
"Raven?" Black Canary said skeptically. "That girl's evil, Zatanna sensed it. We're not going to let her get away with this. She has to be stopped. And you're probably just one of her tricks." Alternate universes weren't entirely out of her realm of experience, but she'd never run into her own personal mini-me before.
blondecanary
"She isn't! There's a big difference between someone having dirty fingerprints all over them, and having dirty fingers, darnit! Zatanna's cutting corners because she's freaking out!" Dinah took a breath, trying to think of what to say to convince her, and said, "I don't know if any of our stuff is the same, but I know about you from Roy. Who you helped out." Don't specify how. "Would Raven know that? Would she know about, uh, the guy with the arrows? Would she know that your mom fought crime too?" That much had to be the same, right?
Black Canary
Those weren't things Black Canary would expect an illusion or an impostor to know, but she was still suspicious. "Maybe she's done some really good homework," she said, but the part about Roy definitely wasn't common knowledge. "I don't have any reason not to trust Zatanna. She knows what she's doing."
blondecanary
"Just this once, can you get a second opinion?" Dinah was still hopeful because her counterpart was still listening, and not attacking yet. "Talk to these guys. They came to Raven with the idea, not the other way around."
Black Canary
"How do you know they're not tricking her?" Black Canary said dubiously. "Or that she's tricking you? We don't have time to get a second opinion. This ceremony has to be stopped!"
blondecanary
"No! Come on!" Dinah fell into a defensive stance, face set. "This is her best chance to stop her dad forever! The worst that'll happen is it won't work-- but if you interrupt, bad things can happen!"
That... was probably not reassuring.
Black Canary
Black Canary shook her head. "I want to believe you," she said, "but I can't. I have to trust Zatanna. She's my teammate. But I don't want to hurt you, so just get out of the way."
blondecanary
"I can't." Dinah gulped, raising her fists. "And I don't want to hurt you. But I have to trust Raven and these robed freaky guys to know what they're doing too."
She took a breath and tried to put on her game face. "So." Gonna die gonna die gonna diiiie! "Bring it."
Black Canary
"You trust your friend, and I trust mine," Black Canary said. "I'm sorry." She drew back her arm and took a swing at Dinah, hoping to just knock her out rather than hurt her much.
blondecanary
"Me too."
Dinah wasn't there when the blow was thrown, though. She'd ducked and spun away, knowing how the other woman would aim the punch, and aimed a kick at Black Canary's knees, as hard as she could. If she could just keep her busy long enough....
Black Canary
Black Canary was impressed by how quickly Dinah moved, almost like she'd know exactly where she'd...hey! She was starting to really believe this somehow was a strange version of herself, but she couldn't let that distract her from the JLA's mission. The sorcerers had to be stopped.
She dodged the kick and aimed one of her own at Dinah's feet, trying to trip her up.
blondecanary
So so so weird, to be fighting her own moves, only more focused, faster, stronger. Dinah jumped, reacted with another punch to the other woman's face, thinking, Have to do something she doesn't expect--
Black Canary
Black Canary blocked the punch and tried to seize Dinah's arm, intending to twist it behind Dinah's back. She was in completely agreement with Dinah's thought that this was so weird.
blondecanary
If Black Canary got her in a headlock, or a real grip, it was all over. With her experience of martial arts and ten years more time, Dinah would be unconscious in seconds.
Panic and focus don't usually go together. But just this once, they merged, and Dinah slammed out a burst of telekinesis toward her double, intending to throw her back at least twenty feet, not caring how she'd land.
Black Canary
That was unexpected, since this version of the Black Canary didn't have any skill with telekinesis. She tumbled backwards but rolled into the fall so that she could control it, springing to her feet as soon as she hit the ground. "How did you do that?" she said. Maybe Mini-Me wasn't really her after all.
blondecanary
"Telekinesis," Dinah said, circling her, hands still up to defend herself. "My mom only had the Canary Cry. And the martial arts. I? Got an upgrade." Thank you, extra mutations. "C'mon. You're not going to let a kid beat you, are you?"
Distract distract distract distract---
Black Canary
"Good for you," Black Canary said with a little grudging respect. "But now that you mentioned the Canary Cry...." She opened her mouth to yell and send a sonic burst at Dinah with the intention of knocking her out. Her power didn't affect her own self, but she wanted to see what it would do to her Mini-Me.
blondecanary
Pretty much nothing, once her reflexive deafness kicked in. Which still had her diving away, eyes wide, because turned up to 11, it wouldn't knock Dinah out but it would knock her over.
So better to get there first. Dinah opened her mouth to scream, aiming it for roll-you-over-and-into-a-wall strength with it.
How much more time did they need? What was going on with the ritual? She didn't dare look....
furnaceface
//I officially take back everything nasty I've ever said about the X-Men's uniforms,// Jono mused to himself before holding his hands up in a passive gesture and approaching whoever seemed the most reasonable at the moment.
And really, if you asked Jono, none of them seemed very reasonable at the moment. The bloke with the black cape and the ridiculous pointy ears on his head seemed like a near bet, though. He was, at least, fully clothed.
//Would you believe me if I told you that we're trying to stop something big and horrible from pokin' his head into this reality and causing some pretty nasty fireworks?//
Batman
"What the hell are you kids doing here?" Batman snapped. "You shouldn't be here."
furnaceface
Well, so much for picking the reasonable one.
//Oh, right, and this is what th'lot of you consider to be yer natural habitat, too,// he mumbled, putting his hands down again and crossing his arms over his chest. //And we're hardly kids. Honestly, now. We can handle ourselves, mate. Thank you.//
Batman
"We're here to stop a great evil from happening," Batman said, unimpressed. "You kids need to get out of here. Now. Before someone gets hurt."
furnaceface
//People getting hurt is exactly what we're here to prevent!// Temper, Jono, temper. Don't let the man with the funny cowl get the better of you. //We're not going anywhere. There's too much at stake for us to even consider that an option.//
He just barely managed to refrain from calling this guy 'granddad' to make up for that kids comment.
Batman
What was visible of Batman's face clearly gave his opinion on what a teenager thought of the situation. "You have no idea what's going on here," he said. "I'm telling you one more time, get out of the way."
furnaceface
See Jono. See Jono roll his eyes upward and throw his hands in the air in a gesture that... might very well have ended in two extended middle fingers, yes. Because, while he was terrible at pretending he knew sign language, there were still some things that he believed could be said without the aid of a telepathic voice.
Just in case there was any room for doubt, however, he added, //Trust me, mate, we're not th'ones in the way right now.//
Batman
Had Raven mentioned the JLA from her world were dicks? Probably not in those words, but the sentiment stood. Despite the rude gesture, Batman wasn't seeing Jono as a threat yet, though he kept an eye on him as he pulled something from his belt and drew back his arm to throw it toward the ritual on the plateau.
furnaceface
//I wouldn't do that, mate.//
Jono wasn't going to let any throwing of things go on, here, no. His hand was sneaking to the bandages over his face, and he was focusing hard on Batman's hand, in case he did let something fly.
Batman
Batman, sadly, had no idea what Jono had under those bandages, and he wasn't about to take orders from a kid. He ignored Jono and threw the stun grenade toward Alligorr and his companions.
furnaceface
Grenades would fall very strictly under Jonothon's 'worth ripping off my bandages for' category, yes.
And so that grenade was intercepted by a crackling blast of psionic energy. And if it was at all possible for such energy to come off as being annoyed, this one did.
Batman
Well, that was unexpected. And terribly annoying. Batman's eyes narrowed (inasmuch as that could be seen beneath the mask) as he now saw Jono as a threat, not just a telepathic teenager with a penchant for a goth look. He'd have to be subdued so they could deal with the sorcerers. He clenched a fist and took a swing at Jono.
furnaceface
Oh, this much could not possibly end well, and Jono just barely managed to stoop under the incoming fist.
//Wot, are you bloody mad?// Yes, he was skipping backwards, trying to stay out of the range of those fists, lest he fail to dodge a second attempt. //You could hurt somebody, throwin' bombs about like that!//
Yes, he was aware that this had been the general idea.
Batman
"That was the idea," Batman said. "That ritual has to be stopped, and we're not going to let children get in our way. I don't know who you are or why you're here, but I will take you down if you interefer in this."
furnaceface
//You don't even know what the ritual is!// Jono's hands balled into fists, sparks jumping out and away from him as he was once again called a child. Emma- his Emma back home- could get away with calling him that. Shaun, too. But not this man. Not when he meant it like that, as an insult. As a way of insinuating that his judgment was completely suspect simply because of his age.
//And anyhow, it looks to me as though yer already lettin' us get in yer way, mate. You want to get by me, I'm not going to make it easy for you.//
Right up until he found himself cold-cocked or something, at least.
Batman
"It's evil, that's all we need to know," Batman said. "And if you're working to protect it, then as far as I'm concerned, you're evil, too." Batman had black and white issues sometimes.
furnaceface
Insert Jonothon's most disbelieving deadpan right about here.
//Yer serious.//
This was kind of making his head hurt.
//Yer a bloody idiot, aren't you?//
Batman
Batman didn't have a chance to answer that question before the ritual abruptly went to hell.
sith_happened
Anakin took a moment to assess who the leader of this group was and honed in on the man in green who'd locked Raven into a cage.
"Explain!" he demanded, glaring at him.
Green Lantern
"Zatanna picked up magical emanations which were creating massive holes in the Earth's ozone layer," Green Lantern said, sizing Anakin up. "Three guesses where those emanations came from."
Raven, meanwhile, teleported herself out of the energy cage to return to the center of the ritual. Hopefully, they could finish it quickly.
sith_happened
Anakin's eyes narrowed as he took a moment to be irritated with himself for not expanding his inquiries as to the danger involved in the ritual past Raven herself.
"Fantastic," he grumbled. "There was a point to this ritual, though, which you might have asked about before just showing up overdramatically."
And Anakin knew drama.
Green Lantern
"And just who are you?" Green Lantern demanded. "Who are these children? If you're helping them" -- he pointed to Raven and the sorcerers -- "we'll stop you as well."
sith_happened
"You could try," Anakin said dryly, "but we're not the bad guys here, and these children have generally been fighting people in worst situations and generally less stupid outfits for much of their lives."
Green Lantern
"And why," Green Lantern said, just as dryly, "should I believe anything you have to say? If you had to stop a great evil and a group of children and their babysitter stood in your way, would you stop to chat?"
sith_happened
Probably not, but Anakin was a little too stuck on part of Green Latern's sentence to be rational.
"Babysitter?!"
Green Lantern
That reaction got a smirk. "You'd prefer a different title?" Green Lantern said.
sith_happened
And out came the lightsaber. "Anakin Skywalker. I'm a Jedi, which means that this is a lightsaber and yes, it's sharp, and yes, I know how to use it. I'm no one's kriffing babysitter. Pack up your little friends and get out of here. We have this covered."
Green Lantern
Sadly, "Jedi" and "lightsaber" (and "Anakin Skywalker") meant nothing to Hal Jordan (although he would turn evil and die and get better at some point in the future, so he'd have something in common with Anakin). "Unless you're planning on stopping those guys, then you don't have it covered," Green Lantern said, thankful that the lighsaber wasn't yellow. "So we'll take things from here."
sith_happened
"The ritual is to stop Raven's father--" don't call him Captain Loincloth, Anakin, "--Trigon from breaking through and taking over this entire planet. I'm sure the ozone will fix itself. Trigon won't be quite as accomodating."
Anakin Skywalker, eco-warrior.
Green Lantern
"That's the story she tried to feed us," Green Lantern said, rolling his eyes. "She didn't make us fall for it, but apparently you're not so smart."
sith_happened
"Raven told you about this plan?" Anakin asked, looking more and more irritated.
For the moment he shelved the insult to his intelligence.
Green Lantern
"Not this exact plan," Green Lantern admitted, "but she tried to convince us that she needed us to stop her father. Zatanna knew she was lying. The girl's evil."
sith_happened
"Zatanna's a moron," Anakin said, stalking closer. "Raven doesn't lie."
Green Lantern
"Zatanna is my teammate and I trust her judgment," Green Lantern said. He raised his hand to aim his ring at Anakin. "Now get out of the way."
sith_happened
"Then you're both morons," Anakin decided, igniting his lightsaber, "and neither of you gets near Raven."
Green Lantern
"Try and stop me," Green Lantern said, sending a burst of green energy at Anakin, intending to knock him out of the way.
sith_happened
He was going to love this trick, then!
Anakin held his hand out to catch and repel the energy. He'd been able to do this with blaster bolts--he figured the green whatever it was would bounce the same way.
Green Lantern
Green Lantern deflected the blast harmlessly away with another burst of energy from his ring. "So you've got more than just a glowing sword," he said. "How do you feel about this?" He created a cage of green energy around Anakin like he had around Raven.
sith_happened
Well, that was going to piss Anakin off.
"Release me!" he demanded, putting the strength of the Force into his voice.
No, he had no problem using the mind-whammy away from campus.
Green Lantern
Unfortunately for Green Lantern, he wasn't immune to Jedi Mind Tricks. "Sure, sorry about that," he said, making the cage vanish and then looking quite confused about why he had done just that.
sith_happened
Time to push it a little bit. "And it's time for you to leave, too," Anakin said, staring hard at the guy.
Green Lantern
Green Lantern was seriously considering doing just that when the ritual suddenly went to hell.
brat_intraining
Figured Kennedy would home in on the woman in the swimsuit with the glowing rope.
"Okay, I gotta ask. Is that outfit for real? Because seriously..."
Wonder Woman
"Who are you?" Wonder Woman demanded, looking the young woman in front of her over. "You don't look like you belong here. This place is dangerous."
brat_intraining
"We weren't doing so bad until you guys all charged in like the crazy spandex cavalry," Kennedy answered, squaring her shoulders (and bristling a little inside-- didn't belong here, her ass); her sword was in her hand, point down and not threatening yet, but ready to flip up into an attack position if needed. "God, get a clue, would you? We're not here to end the world."
Wonder Woman
"But they are," Wonder Woman said, pointing to the sorcerers. "We have to stop them. Stay out of our way."
brat_intraining
"Jesus Christ, are you listening, or does it take all your brainpower to come up with crappy melodramatic speeches?" Kennedy exclaimed. "Because come on!"
Defending sorcerers. What the hell had her life come to?
Wonder Woman
"I have no idea who you are," Wonder Woman said, "but Zatanna sensed the evil coming from this place, and it's our job to stop it. Get out of the way."
brat_intraining
"No," Kennedy shot back through clenched teeth, though she was wavering a little; what if Raven really had been pulling a fast one on them all this time? Except she hadn't come here to turn on her friends, and she wasn't going to let these crazy-ass people who made Deadpool's outfit look good hurt Tara, or Raven, or anyone who'd come with them. She set her feet and twitched the sword in her hand, glaring daggers. "Tell Zat-whatever to get a signal check, and back the hell off."
Wonder Woman
"Sorry, we don't have time to discuss this," Wonder Woman said, going for the lasso at her waist. She respected a fellow female warrior, but Kennedy had no idea what she was talking about. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will restrain you."
brat_intraining
Kennedy would argue right back that Wonder Woman had no idea what she was talking about.
"Not my kink, sorry," she retorted. "And you're really not my type, so I'm gonna pass on that."
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman had no intention of giving Kennedy a pass. But an explosion from the midst of the ritual distracted her from any bondage games with the Potential.
glacial_witch
As soon as the fribble with the winged hat mentioned Zatanna (and oh! how Karla wished she had the time to laugh at these costumes!), Karla whipped her head around and glared at the female so named.
"You," she said, remembering exactly what Raven had told her about her pleas to join the JLA. "You sad, foolish, pathetic excuse for a witch," she said, shaking her head. "How can you be so horribly blind? I can only assume it's deliberate."
Zatanna
Zatanna was startled that Karla would address her like that and glared at the girl. "Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you talking about?"
glacial_witch
Karla drew herself up and gave Zatanna a thin smile. "Me? Well, for one thing, I'm not the one who showed up looking like I'm auditioning for the role of Side-Show Hooker Barbie."
There was a line of Hooker Barbies at 'Dite's. They were dressed very similarly, actually. It was a little weird.
"Also? Between the two of us? I'm the real witch of this pairing." Her hands lit up with Sapphire power--no backwards incantations needed. "And I'm not going to let some never-was like you stop Raven from protecting the innocents of this world."
Zatanna
"I don't want to hurt you, child," Zatanna said, trying not to let the insults get to her. "But you clearly have no idea what's going on here. We must stop this ritual. Stand aside or I will make you."
glacial_witch
"I'm sorry," Karla said, all sweetness. "Perhaps I used words that were too long for you to understand. Let me rephrase. You? Stupid. Wrong. Blind. Incompetent. Raven? Not evil. Helping. Was that better?"
And to think Ben sometimes questioned her diplomatic skills!
"As for making me..." Karla just grinned. "You can certainly try. But if your skills at magic are anything like you gifts of observation, I'm certain I'll be just fine."
Taunting aside, Karla had her shields up and had since before the ritual began. Because it would really suck if Zatanna got a real hit in.
Zatanna
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Zatanna snapped. "That girl is evil, I sensed it. And she's controlling your mind now with her powers. Won evael siht ecalp!"
glacial_witch
Karla stood exactly where she was, tapping her foot impatiently. "Let me know when I'm supposed to be impressed," she said, rolling her eyes. "Though I'm somehow not at all surprised your magic is based on speaking backwards. Are you going to find a coin in my ear next?"
Zatanna
Zatanna frowned but tried again. Niatnoc siht dlihc. Od ton tel reh og eerf!"
glacial_witch
"Are you quite finished embarrassing yourself yet? If you'd like, I can show you how Craft truly works."
For this, Karla didn't even bother raising her hand, just giving Zatanna a disdainful look and flinging a blast of concussive Sapphire power at the other female. She wasn't aiming to harm her--much--just fling her around a bit. "Do I have your attention yet?" she called. Her voice rang throughout the chamber, enhanced by Craft. "Are you ready to listen? Too see how much it is you do not yet know? Fool."
Zatanna
Zatanna flew backwards but had enough presence of mind to conjure up something to cushion her fall. "You've got power," she grudgingly admitted, picking herself up. "But why should I listen to you?"
glacial_witch
The temptation to reply, 'because otherwise I'll make you listen' was very, very strong. But Karla throttled down that impulse and tried to answer as a Queen would.
"For one thing, dismissing the words of someone who wields as much power as I do is just tactically stupid," she answered first. Which, you know, was a more diplomatic version of her original answer. "Because you've already let prejudice and unreason blind you to answers before and this might be your opportunity to set things right. Because, contrary to your opinions, we are on the same side here and if you'd just stop being so bloody freaking judgmental, maybe you would see that."
Zatanna
"That girl has the power to manipulate your mind and feelings," Zatanna said stubbornly. "She's fooling you, but she couldn't fool me. She and this ritual have to be stopped."
glacial_witch
"You know, I cherish the day when you learn just how wrong you are," Karla said conversationally. "I hope that when it comes--and, oh, it will come--that you think back to this day, to this moment, and remember exactly what I've told you. And know that I will be laughing at you when you do. Because you are nothing.. All of your vaunted powers--" here, Karla gave Zatanna a withering glare, in case the female had missed the heaping scorn, "--mean nothing if you won't use them to assist one young girl who only wants to do what's right."
Karla deliberately turned away, dismissing Zatanna and any threat the other woman might have represented. She wasn't in the mood to chat anymore--at least, not with someone who refused to see the truth.
oops_mbad
"You're the ones who are interfering!" Diana snapped. "We're not the bad guys here." She remembered her parents telling her something about staying calm. She wasn't really listening at the time. "Is everyone here out of their minds?"
Hawkman
Hawkman swooped down above her. "Get out of here, kid," he said. "You don't belong here. You're going to get hurt."
oops_mbad
"Kid?" Diana demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're the ones bounding in like blind children. And my friend and really good roommate needs my help, so yeah, I do belong here. Unless you know someone else who doesn't snore, steal clothes, or mind the occasional portal in the closet?"
Hawkman
Hawkman gave her a very confused look. "What are you talking about?" he said. "You're crazy."
oops_mbad
"Well, yeah, from your point of view." Diana said casually. "But you're wrong and in our way so either help or ... " She made a shooing motion with her hand.
Hawkman
"I don't take orders from kids," Hawkman said. He shifted the flail in his hands. "Now just get out of here before you get hurt."
oops_mbad
"Is that a threat or a warning?" Diana asked pleasantly, shifting the possibilities around her to keep anything from hitting her. "Either way. I'm. Not. Leaving."
life_inshadow
"We -- we're trying to help," Tara pleaded, speaking to anyone who seemed to be listening. "Honest. We didn't come to get into some big fight, that's what we want not to have happen. "
She hoped, anyhow. She still didn't trust the whole demon thing entirely.
Zatanna
Zatanna had given up trying to reason with Karla. "Your 'friend' is fooling you," she said. "I know she has powers to affect your mind. Please just let us do what must be done."
life_inshadow
Tara swallowed. "I -- I can't believe that about Raven. I've known her all year, and she -- she'd never use her powers against someone. She just wants to heal."
Zatanna
"The girl is filled with incredible evil," Zatanna insisted. "You can't trust her."
life_inshadow
Tara almost said Oh, all right then, sorry but something in the tone -- it was like talking to her cousin Beth.
"That's exactly what my family said about my mom and me," she said, voice almost a growl. "It wasn't true about us, either."
Zatanna
Zatanna opened her mouth to argue, but then Trigon's voice boomed down from above.
trigons_child
Whether it was the fighting disrupting the balance of the ritual or something else entirely wasn't clear, but Raven felt the magics shift. "What? It is suddenly all too late! Trigon is free!" she cried, sensing her father's power.
"THOSE SORCERER FOOLS HAVE FAILED TO STOP ME AGAIN!" a voice boomed down from above. "WILL THEY NEVER LEARN THAT TRIGON IS INVINCIBLE?!"
"Trigon!" Raven called desperately. "Go elsewhere! Leave this world alone!"
"NO! TRIGON HUNGERS FOR EVEN GREATER POWER! a POWER I CAN ONLY CLAIM BY CONQUERING A NEW DIMENSION! I WILL NOT FORFEIT SUCH POWER FOR ANY MAN OR BEAST!"
The plateau exploded, and Raven barely had time to teleport to safety. Alligorr and his companions weren't so lucky; when the smoke cleared, there was no sign of them.
Batman
Batman, of course, pulled attitude. "All right, you kids, what was this all about? You better have explanations." Because it was all the fault of those from Fandom, really.
sith_happened
"Oh, shut up," Anakin commanded, glaring at the man.
blondecanary
Dinah had been staring at up at where Trigon's voice had emanated, and now switched that stare to Batman.
"Now you ask for explanations?" Unbelievable. Helena's dad? Was a tool. "Big ritual, messed up, bad demon, big explosion!" Duh.
Batman
"And how do you know all this?" the tool in question demanded.
brat_intraining
"Uh," Kennedy cut in, full skeptical bitchface on, "we were kind of here for it."
life_inshadow
"It -- it wasn't that hard to notice..." Tara cut in. "You saw it too, right?"
Maybe the cowl impeded his vision!
Batman
"I mean how do you know this isn't exactly what the ritual was meant to do?" Batman demanded suspiciously.
sith_happened
"Oh, don't make me smack you," Anakin retorted. "We don't want Trigon released, being fans of being alive and unblinded by an enormous demon in a loincloth. The monks assured Raven the ritual--which you interrupted, by the way--would seal him away from this dimension permanently."
Zatanna
"And you just took their word for it?" Zatanna scoffed. "You didn't feel the evil that was emanating from that ceremony as I did."
sith_happened
Anakin shot her a withering look. "That's because your calibration is off," he declared. "If there was evil, I would know. But currently, I sense great stupidity in the Force."
blondecanary
"What he said. Because if you'd shown up early, explained and sounded like a sane person instead of a psycho who dissed Raven without even trying to talk to her, maybe we would have taken you seriously," Dinah snarled back. "...and what is up with your outfit? Oh my god."
weetuskenraider
"I don't know if I'd put it that way," Tahiri put in wryly, her expression obstinate. "But the way you're going on about it, you'd think we Jedi ought to be knocked flat on our backs by it, and we're still standing."
She probably should have shut up there, but she kept going.
"Although if you keep insisting we're on the wrong side here, we might get knocked flat by the stupidity."
Master Skywalker, you were a bad influence.
oops_mbad
"Can we knock them flat by their own stupidity instead?" Diana suggested. "Seriously, I've had to put up with some dumb people, but this group is winning the dumb-off."
She glanced down at Samuel by her feet before turning back to glare at the JLA. "And I know what's good and evil."
furnaceface
//Apparently I'm a bad guy because I stopped the bat-eared plonker from throwin' a grenade around,// Jono grumped, narrowing his eyes a little while he surveyed the damage he'd dealt to his bandages while tearing them off. //Some group of heroes. Too bloody stupid to see th'forest for th'trees.//
A beat, for further consideration.
//And more than a touch hypocritical, I might add.//
trigons_child
"You have no idea what you have done," Raven said, still shaking from her near escape and with fear of her father's threat to her homeworld. "I told you before -- I wanted to stop Trigon from claiming this dimension, not help him! Why will you not believe me!"
Zatanna
"We're done here," Zatanna said firmly. "We did what we came to do. And you'll realize one day that girl is controlling your emotions and compelling you to aid her."
With nothing more to say to those of Fandom, the members of the JLA departed.
[OOC: Preplayed with the terribly patient blondecanary, brat_intraining, furnaceface, glacial_witch, joan_notjane, life_inshadow, oops_mbad, sith_happened, and weetuskenraider. Warnings for comic book violence, comic book dialogue, questionable rituals, and the JLA being one-dimensional dickheads. NFI and NFB, but OOC always welcomed!]