NationStates Jolt Archive

"Good Afternoon Gotham and Welcome to the WJLA Afternoon News Show. I am Joe Craft-."
"- and I am am Sue Young. Starting out with tonight's breaking news Superman has flew into the Sun. What do you think of this Joe?"
"I don't know what to say Sue but I am sure special correspondent Tom Greens can tell us something. Tom you are on.
"Hey Joe, the JLA is going crazy. We have just found out from an inside source that not only is The Man of Steel gone, but the rest of the original seven JLA have disappeared. The Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern, The Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl have all disappeared from Earth."
"What are the rest of the JLA going to do now that their seven leaders are gone, Tom?"
"Our inside source has said that they think that they can hold down the fort without them, Sue. Let's us just hope that they are right. Back to you guys."
"That was Tom Greens with a special report on what is happening with the League. I just hope that they really can keep everything together. For our sakes and thei-"

James Coren cut off the tape that he had checked out from the library in disgust. Coren was a struggling movie maker in a world full of crime. He had a busy life. It had been 30 years since the original Seven had disappeared and they hadn't returned. A new league of heroes had been born. They called themselves the NJLU. James was the Phantom Haze. He was a master of various martial arts and was good at getting the job done. As walked to his fridge to get a snack he was paged the new headquarters. "Haze you are needed at the Watchtower. Be ready to transport in five minutes." He quickly put on his outfit. As he was being teleported he said to himself "Today is going to be one of those days".

"Good morning James" A figure in a white and grey costume walked out calmly from a wall over to James with apparently no effort. Ghost had an annoying habit of calling everyone by thier real names and walking around with no sense of privacy for anyone else. He had joined the new league with apparently with no background, no previous alias's, and there was no information on him anywhere. A mind reader had been called in and said he found him a mystery, it seemed alot of his memory missing. Either that or he was very good at hiding his thoughts. He maintained it was the former.

Angel was doing some very difficult homework when he got a message from the Watchtower. "GL you are needed at the Watchtower, you have 15 minutes to prepare for transport."

When he got the message he used his power ring to put on his uniform sans mask since he was just going to be at the watch tower. After being transported up he noticed that the Phatom Haze and Ghost were already there. "Good morning Ghost and Haze. Who else is here?" He asked them

Angel was doing some very difficult homework when he got a message from the Watchtower. "GL you are needed at the Watchtower, you have 15 minutes to prepare for transport."

When he got the message he used his power ring to put on his uniform sans mask since he was just going to be at the watch tower. After being transported up he noticed that the Phatom Haze and Ghost were already there. "Good morning Ghost and Haze. Who else is here?" He asked them

"As of yet, noone" Ghost said in his calm slightly quiet voice
"That would indeed appear to be the problem. I will continue my search for any members left here" He bowed his head to the two and walked through the opposite wall in search of someone, anyone

Speedy sat in silence, waiting, thinking. He was always thinking, whether it was thinking about how to catch his next dinner, or reflecting on his Teen Titan days as he was now.

I wonder how Robin is doing, or is he called Nightwing now? I never understood why superheroes change their names. What I really don’t understand is where Flash went. He was always making those quick decisions, but he could have at lest told us

Suddenly Speedy’s thoughts were interrupted. His deer had finally arrived. He waited, drawing back his bowstring in intense concentration. He let go just as a buzzer went off somewhere, sending the deer running, as well as making the arrow miss wildly.

“Damn. There goes dinner. Who goes and sets off a buzzer in a forest?” It took Speedy a moment to notice that it was his NJLU communicator. What do they want me for? They haven’t contacted me for seven months now.

“Speedy here. You made me miss dinner so this better be good.”

“Be ready for transport to the Watchtower in 15 minuets, I’m sure you’ll be interested.” The communicator clicked off.

“Great, what about my dinner?”

Angel was standing around the control room when he heard the transporter activate. He turned around and saw Speedy appear. "Speedy, how long has it been? Something like three months when I chased that one guy into your forest, you know from city streets to country fields, but anyway how have you been?" he asked

Sean, better known to the buisness world as a cab driver of NYC Taxi Services, and to the Hero/Villian community as Morph, had just finished his services for the day and was headed home when the beeper went off.

"What is it?" He asked, thought he could already tell what the answer would be.
"You're need up here." At this he launched into a long list of curses as he turned the corner.
"Beam me up Scotty." He said as he was transported to the Tower.

Once up, his reason for the dislike of the teleporter was made obvious as he had to, quite literally pull himself together. "What is it?" He asked with obvious annoyment in his voice.

"No idea they won't tell us until everyone gets here." Angel replied to morph

"Who are we missing?" Angel asked everybody in the room

"Who cares." Sean replied, as he was still in his general, but not default form. Sean then headed down toward the nearest food dispencer and got some food.

"I do because the sooner everybody gets here the sooner we find out what this is about and get back to what we were doing.I have alot of class work to finish" Angel replied

"Oh ya, your still in school, sucks to be you." Sean snarked as he dug into a heaping plate of food. The teleporter really made him grumpy.

"Don't you have to go run somebody over in your cab?" Angel snapped back at Morph

"Get bent, ya little runt." Sean replied as he dug into the food.

Angel grinned as he used his ring to destroy Morphs food

"Now that wasn't nice." Sean replied as he caused a thin tendril to both assume the colour and texture of the floor, and travel to tie Angel's shoes together while he got another load of food.

"Alas, I can find noone. That is not to say there is not anyone here, but I am a very good looker." Ghost entered in his usual way of passing through a wall nearby. He never had much use for doors. Although he was wearing an impassive mask, he gave the impression of raising an eyebrow at the pranks of some of the members present.
"I do hope noone is taking this lightly. In the very words of Sherlock Holms, It is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you.." He chuckled under his breath
"So, we are lucky we have noone stupid here. Aren't we?"

Speedy, who seemed distracted even before Angel's attempt to talk to him, suddenly became alert. “As true as that is Ghost, we haven’t been told just what the danger is yet. You appear to know something we don’t.” he said with something close to a sneer. Actually, you probably know a lot more than you tell us. “Care to enlighten us?”

Speedy had felt Ghost was untrustworthy from the beginning. The fact that his past was entirely unknown had made Speedy very feel he had something to hide. Though his distrust for Ghost was obvious, he never said anything outright, feeling that as long as Ghost continued to be friendly, he would give him a chance.

BlueTiger']Speedy, who seemed distracted even before Angel's attempt to talk to him, suddenly became alert. “As true as that is Ghost, we haven’t been told just what the danger is yet. You appear to know something we don’t.” he said with something close to a sneer. Actually, you probably know a lot more than you tell us. “Care to enlighten us?”

Speedy had felt Ghost was untrustworthy from the beginning. The fact that his past was entirely unknown had made Speedy very feel he had something to hide. Though his distrust for Ghost was obvious, he never said anything outright, feeling that as long as Ghost continued to be friendly, he would give him a chance.

"I know many things you do not Speedy, just as the same can be said vice versa. The...melting point of lead for example. And the danger, or at least the problem as I would see it, is that many of our number are missing." If he had noticed the sneer in Speedy's voice, he did not show it
"You are of course welcome to look for yourself. Should we wait here whilst you perform your own search?" He said with the barest hint of sarcasm

"No thanks, I'm not up here often enough to know the layout. I'd get lost, and then you'd have to come find me. What I ment was what's the danger that you called us up here for?"

"Hey ghost who exactly are we missing?" Angel asked Ghost "by the way speddy why don't I give you the tour while we wait for the rest, we can catch up on old times"

"Sure, sounds good to me."

------------------------------

"Thanks, I'm just glad to get away from Ghost, the mind reading thing is, a little... disturbing. So what room is this?"

"This? this one of the training rooms, they can be modified depending on your needs. What have you been doing since we last met?" Angel said

"I've pretty much just been in the forest a few miles west of Gotham, but you already knew that. What was that guy doing in my forest anyway?"

Although Ghost disliked to admit it, even he did not know the actual danger. Even though he had been accused of it Ghost was certainly no mind reader, he could only read people. Noone ever stopped to think of the simpler explanation, the degree of a frown, the stance of a man, they were all far better ways of knowing what someone was thinking he believed. Even so all he ahd been able to understand was that something was going on that everyone should be present for.

"I was on my way to gotham to visit some friends when that guy and some buddies of his hit a bank car. I managed to wrap the others up but he got away so I had to chase after him and he ran into you first. Do you want to see the living quarters next? by the way why do you live by your self up there?" Angel told him

Sean finished his meal and decided to take a nap, crafting a hammock out of web, he racked out and promptly fell asleep.

The power of the mind was a wonderous thing indeed, and Contra currently used it to keep herself aloft far above Metropolis. Below her, the ant-like inhabitants scurried on about their meaningless existance beneath her cool and indifferent gaze. The dirty streets hid behind their facade of civility and public interest, but she could see the truth of it. The city was rife with crime, second only to Gothem in its disrepair.

She smiled to herself. Soon, none of that would matter. Turning with a cruel sneer, she propelled herself along an invisible but well-used aerial path towards the distant horizon and her lofty goals.

“Well, I wanted a place where I could be by myself for a while.” Speedy replied. “A place where I could live on my own without worrying about politics, and a secret identity, and besides, what better place for an archer then the woods? I’m still in the NJLU because I still want to help people, I just don’t want to… oh I don't know.” Speedy gets lost in thought for a moment, then mutters “I guess I’m not really sure why I went there.”

"you could always do what your mentor did and protect the little people. You don't have to cut yourself off from the world." Angel said as they walked by the living quarters "Here are the living quarters. All active members of the League have to pull shifts up here so we all have our own quarters." As he said so Static stepped out of his room. "Hey Virgil how are you?" He asked him

"Angel and Speedy, how are you two.Why are you up here and is there anyone else up here?" Static asked

"We were called up here for some emergancy. Morph and Ghost are also up here in the ops room." Angel replied

The Phantom Haze said to Ghost" I'm fine except that I keep getting paged to come up here every ten minutes." A voice sounded over all the commotion that was going in the room. "Everyone get to the central room, now!" It sounded like the new Batman. The Haze looked at Angel and said "Batman has had it hard ever since Bruce died hasn't he." He shook his head slowly and said "We better all get in there before he starts yelling over the speakers again".
***

Terry sat in the Central room alongside Warhawk and Static. These three had been the running the NJLU since the original seven had left. Bruce had just died and now he had left Terry and Dick Grayson in charge of the NJLU. Dick Grayson, the original Robin or now Nightwing hadn't been spotted forever. He knew that he wouldn't respond to the call. He never did. Terry said to himself "Time" and a voice whispered 2:54 PM. He looked over at Warhawk and said "Where the hell are the rest of the NJLU?"

OOC: Static is in the living area with GL and Speedy

IC:Angel looked up at the cieling when he heard the call. "Come on Speedy and Static we better get to ops. Lets take the short way"

_____________________________________________________________________
"Sorry we took so long we were in the Living area" Angel said as he Speedy and Static all walked in to the control room

Sean woke from his half sleep and headed down to the command center. "What is it?" He asked the others.

Terry sat in the room waiting for the door to open. He was just about to yell over the speakers again when The Haze, Ghost, Angel, Speedy, and Static all came through the door. "Where's the fire, Batboy?", said The Haze humorously to Batman. "I'm surprised that you are joking, Phantom", replied McGinnis to The Haze. "And the name is Batman; don't try it again". The Haze walked around the table to a seat and sat. "Okay Terry, you don't have to bite my head off". Terry looked away shaking his head.

"I am sure no harm was meant." Ghost said smoothly "Now I am sure we are all in suspense waiting to hear what emergency could possibly require all of us at once." As he looked around the room he occasionally wondered that if the public ever saw what the NJL did backstage in the watchtower they would feel as safe.
Probably not he decided.

"yeah Terry it must be big if you called in an Associet member" Angel said

Yes it is major Angel. it seems that of weird stuff has been going on around the world. I need some of you all to Gotham and some to London. I'll explain why later.

"I'll go to London." Sean replied, shifting to take the form and appearence of a Scotlander, down to the accent.

Wooshaba']Yes it is major Angel. it seems that of weird stuff has been going on around the world. I need some of you all to Gotham and some to London. I'll explain why later.

"I will also of course go to london." Ghost nodded gently. He didn't know much about his past, but he did know he originally came from London and it was his home. He knew it's streets like the insides of his eyelids, and if anything was happining there he was going to be present.

"You could have just sent me to Gotham instead of calling me up here you know," said Speedy, slightly annoyed. "I guess that's where I'm going."

"why don't we just send Speedy, Haze, and you down to Gotham and send the rest to London.Gotham is your territory. I'll stay up here to fill in for you and if I am needed in either city I can get there faster then any other member" Angel suggested to Terry

"Yeah Batboy why the hell did I have to come up here if I was just down there." said Haze dryly to Terry.

"I did it just to annoy you", he said to the Haze.

In response to what GL had just suggest Terry replied, "Angel that would work if only I didn't have a meeting with a certain colleague of mine." He looked at all of partners and said "I would rather not answer any questions about where I am going right now. These are the orders Angel, Speedy, Haze, Gotham. Static, Ghost, Warhawk, Morph, London. You will find some major bank robberies going on in London and there seems to be a oil spill in Gotham Harbor. I am off to Bludhaven if anyone needs me".

Terry pressed three buttons on his glove and he was teleported to the neighboring city of Gotham.

"who do you think he is off to see. Let me think, wait a sec did he say Bludhaven? There is only one person I can think of down there. Dick Grayson. Do you think he's going to try to get him to join the league? Any way Speedy, and Haze lets get going down to your hometown. Now do you want to teleport or fly using my ring?" Angel said after Terry left.

"He's right everyone. Time to head off to London" Static said with a smile on his face

Haze looked at Angel and said "Let's ride the ring man. Always wanted to see what it feels like in there."

"Let's go S.S." Sean said as he headed toward the teleporter.

"There is nothing like it. hold on to me were taking the shortcut down." With that he floated off the ground with his ring, carrying Speedy and Haze then passed right trough the wall and headed to gotham city encased in an energy shield

"Morph wait. Lets take a Javalen instead, it's hard to teleport into a city without a frame of reference" Static said as he saw where Morph was going

"Tally ho" Said Ghost with another hint of sarcasm
"Everyone for london into the bubble" He said, referring to GL's ring generated field. He was a little puzzled about the bank robberies, this was not the old west, bank robberies did not just happen. If more than one had occured then somthing important was going on in London, and it could not be good for the city.
"I will help the local forces with the robbery, who wants to help me and who wants to clean up the oil spill? Enviromental dangers are not my forte" He chuckled under his mask

"Javalin's and me do not mix, at all. If I have to, I'll wait till you guys are down to teleport down to meet you." Sean said

OOC: The oilspill is in Gotham which is where GL is already heading

IC: "Why not? I see how the teleporter effects you and the javelen is just a glorified jet" Static asked Morph

"I'd prefere to get splattered to flying in any re-entry vehicle." Sean replied

"Wow", Haze said as they all sped towards Earth. "This is what you experience everyday, huh?"

"Yeah. I told you there was nothing like it" GL said as they approched Gotham "Hang on we're almost there. You have to point me to the habor

"Fine but we'll have to beam to the river Thames so we don't end up in any walls" Static said

"Enh, beam me down scotty." Sean said in his scottish accent.

"Let me finish putting in the coordinates and we will go" Static said as he finished ajusting the controls. "here we go" he said as he jumped onto the teleport platform

"You know, this is a whole lot better than those teleporters. What a great view. Think you can get me one of those rings GL?" Speedy joked.

OOC: Kuroi you need to sign in at the OOC thread http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=432482&page=1&pp=15

IC:"It's not as good as it seems. Where is the Habor" GL asked speedy

As they beamed down and Sean pulled himself back together, following his 'splat' he assumed the form of Morph. "So, where's the fire?"

"The British law enforcement radio channels are saying there are three bank robberies, either in progress or already performed. I'll be going to the central london bank because although whoever is doing this hasn't tried there yet, it seems almost certain they would. They would not go through all of this preperation to grab the trinkets but leave the real prize, and they look skilled enough to pull it off there. Someone ought to search the underground for the culprits of another heist and someone ought to go and help in the pursuit of another group heading down east London. I shall keep in contact" He sprinted off through the crowd phasing through people and road viehcals. After ten minutes, which he hoped was not too late, he arrived at the bank which appeared to be fine and doing a healthy trade. But that was not where the thieves would strike......
Underground in the safe a group was waiting inmpatiently for one of thier number to finally deactivate the door seal and cut the power
"Come on Smith, we only got 10 minutes before someone finds that guard"
"You can't rush art"
A pair of arms slowly snaked out of the wall behind them and covered the mouth of one of the group.
"Gotcha" Whispered Ghost and pulled the mans head sharply back against the wall, the man then slumped to the floor unconscious
"What the hell was that? What happened to Jenkins?"
"Shut up! Keep trying, we'll make sure noone gets near" They got edgy and glanced at all the shadows in the room. Fear was sometimes Ghost's favourite weapon, it was such a simple tool that started a chain reaction.
He phased through the wall and dashed the the other side, the men fired blindly at the fast moving shape and hit the light, causing the room to fall into darkness
"Oh GOD, what the fuck was that?!"
"You hit my LEG, you hit my fu-"
"Shut up, just SHUT UP, lets get out of here"
"Oh, so soon?" That voice was not one of the mens
"Who was that?"
"Lets just go ok?"
There was the sound of a scuffle and another sound of someone falling to the ground
"Somthing got Jimmy!"
"What the hell is this?! We've been set up!"
"Yes....yea we have." One of the men raised a gun to the others head although he could not see it
"And I can't take that risk" He fired and another man went down.
"That really wasn't nessecary you know." Said Ghost as he stood right infront of the man. He fired at ghost again and again but all the bullets passed harmlessly through
"How very nice. But I think it's time to say goodnight don't you?" He drew back a hand and landed a punch squarley on the last thieves chin that knocked him out cold.
After Ghost purpousfully tripped the alarm to notify the guards he got out of the place and waited outside the bank for word of the others.

OOC: NO TAGGERS PLEASE! If you want to be apart of this thread sign up at the link provided above by Luruar. Thanks Luruar.

IC: Uh it is sorta easy to see, Angel. You see that big blob of black surrounded by blue that is the oil spill.

****
Batman landed in the exact center of Bludhaven. He knew he needed to find Nightwing fast but couldn't think of how? Suddenly he heard sirens coming in his direction and knew that Nightwing would be on the trail of the sirens. As he jumped up from his perch he saw a blue and black blur rush by. "There he is and there he goes", he said as he fired up his jet pack so that he could catch up with the former Robin. He might need some help.

"I see it. Lets go in for a landing. Remeber don't use my name down here, Call me Lantern or GL." He landed and approched the police officer in charge "Justicle League is here to help. I'll try to clean up the spill while my companins try to find and fix the source." With that he flew towards the habor and used his ring to start collecting the oil and shiponing it to a barrel he created

"You know Haze, it's kind of strange for someone to just make an oil spill." Speedy thought aloud. "Why would someone do this? What's the point? What advantage would it give someone? Unless they're underwater doing something nasty, I just don't see what an oil spill would do." Speedy thought a moment. "Of course, this could all just be a distraction."

Morph set off into the underground, speeding throught looking for the crooks.

OOC:I'm not running this, but if your charater were already in London or Gotham, then I think you could still squeeze in.

The Haze replied to Speedy "Yeah that does seem sorta weird. Let's go see what is happening under the water." The Haze pulled out two water-to-air converters and through one two Speedy. He put it on and dived into the harbor.

"Hey where are you going? find and patch the leak" GL yelled to the two as they headed to the water

Blade stayed in Bludhaven waiting for Terry. She was wondering why she wasn't contacted earlier and had no idea what was going on.

Meanwhile, she just walked around the river area and looked in some of the shops waiting to hear from Terry or Batman, to be propper.

I wish I knew what was going on here. I haven't seen Terry in years. *sigh* I hate not knowing what's going on.

Eventually she sat down on a bench near a man who looked familiar, but she couldn't place him. Blade had the power of telepathy, but she made it a rule not to pry into strangers minds, or anyone else's if they were not a threat.

She just sat and waited, reading a magazine.

Morph had managed to track down the thieves in the london underground. He ambushed one of the thieves, knocking him unconsious, and binding him in web. He then took the form of the theif and began moving throught knocking the crooks out and binding them as he went.

Once finished he picked up all ten of the crooks, all wrapped nice and neatly in webbing and deposited them outside a local police station, with the money safely stored so the cops could get it when they picked up the criminals.

"Hey dudes, got the undergrounders." Morph said into the comm.

Using his telepathy Haze contacted GL. "Speedy and I think that their is something weird going on down here. I'll contact you later once we find out what is going on." Haze swam down under the oil that was floating on the water. He saw some humanoid figure at the opposite side near a huge boat. Oil was pouring out of it. He caught Speedy's attention and told him the follow him. He could feel a fight brewing.

*******

Batman had a second appointment while in Bludhaven. Batman yelled ahead to Nightwing. "A Dick, (Terry laughed to himself) where is the fire.". Nightwing looked back and smiled. "What you been up to Terry?". Nightwing yelled back as he pulled a drunken driver out of a car window. "Nothing much Nightwing. I see you been busy". A police officer pulled up. Nightwing gave the driver to the police officer. "Thank you, Nightwing". said the officer. Nightwing looked over at Terry and said "I heard about Bruce". He looked at the ground sadly and then looked at him. "I couldn't come. I'm sorry". Terry looked at the other former apprentice of the original Batman. He said "Bruce told me to ask you to join the -". Suddenly a store alarm sounded. "Looks like this will have to wait Batboy." Nightwing took off towards the noise. "I'm coming to Robin". Nightwing looked at him crazily. "Robin?" said Dick as they ran down the street. "Come on man", said Terry to him.

"Morph, perhaps we should go and investigate the oil spill. I am curious how this fits into the grand scheme" Ghost rubbed his chin for a second.
" 'When a man embarks upon a crime, he is morally guilty of any other crime which may spring from it.' Sherlock holmes..." He tried to piece the two togetherr but all he could think of was that the oil was a distraction for the media. If this was true then A: The criminals had rescources. And B: They were unimaginative.
"I shall be there in five minutes"

Blade was getting a little anxious. The man next to her looked like he was done with his magazine as he had it sitting on his lap. She had finished hers and he started to throw his magazine into the garbage.

"Wait!", Blade said to him. "Why don't we trade magazines. I'm done with mine." She had been reading the Wall Street Journal actually.

"Sure," the man said and he took her Wall Street and she took his... Hustler. She just rolled her eyes and threw it out, while the man chuckled.

"Ha ha very funny." She said with a grin, and picked up a Time magazine at the news stand.

I wonder what's taking him so long?

"How will we get there, Ghost?" Morph asked as he headed to where they were going to be meeting.

"The watchtower can teleport us there. Hold still and the tower can lock onto you" Ghost phased in and he became more solid, he'd never been teleported while phased out and he didn't know what would happen if he tried. Not did he wish to find out. His vision rippled for a secnd and was replaced with a view of the harbour.
"Sean, try and clean up the slick. I'm going to try and find the leak and try and see what it was caused by" He strode firmly into the tank from where the leak was pouring. For the first few disoriented moments he couldn't see anything, but he solidifed a hand ever so slightly to feel the flow of the oil and headed for the leak.
Hmm....a clean cut He took a closer look
The edges......slightly rounded. A heated tool was used. And not a rush job, time was taken....
He passed through the space where the cut was made and came out into the slightly murky water. He looked around for anything that had been left behind but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He solidified completly and swam up quickly. After gasping when he broke the surface and catching his breath he looked around for the others.

Blade thought perhaps since Terry was so late, he wasn't going to show up at all. She'd already bought and read a ton of magazines, then passied them to the man sitting next to her. He asked her to buy Penthouse, at which she gave him a dirty look, making sure she didn't stab him. The man just laughed.

"You know buddy, I could kick your ass, so be polite." Blade said smiling.

"uhhuh... surrrre you can," said the linebacker shaped man. The both just laughed.

"Well, your free mags are over, pal. I'm going shopping." She turned around and waved as she walked away.

Maybe I'll go jewelry shopping. There were some amazying jewelry stores along the river. It would give her something to do. If Terry was another half hour late, she decided she would just go home. Maybe there had been some misunderstanding regarding the time.

When Haze finally reached the ship he realized that the humanoid figure was Ghost. "Aye Ghost, what the hell are you doing here?" he voiced to him.

Morph began doing what he could to contain/clean the oil spill.

Wooshaba']When Haze finally reached the ship he realized that the humanoid figure was Ghost. "Aye Ghost, what the hell are you doing here?" he voiced to him.

We curtailed the thieves, I came here to investigate the way the spill happened. I believe there is a possible connection, I think perhaps this was set up to divide our attention. Inside his mask he smiled to himself
Or perhaps it is me simply being paranoid He pulled himself out of the water and stood up on the jetty soaking wet. He emptied a boot and then wrung out his hood.

Blade was wondering how much longer she would wait. Suddenly a gorgeous pair of diamond earings caught her eye and she asked the owner to see them. She would shop for a little longer, and then she would leave.

Looks like Terry would be a no show. Blade was a bit pissed.

As Phantom Haze got out of the Harbor he said to Ghost "I think your paranoia might have some basis Ghost. Give me some time at my apartment and then I will figure out if these events are connected.

*******

Batman and Nightwing sprinted past a jewelry store to a pawn shop. Inside the shop, the owner had his hands raised up in front of masked man with a gun. Batman and Nightwing both launched their boomerang like weapons at the thief. Batman's hit the man in his hand and knocked the gun out of his hand. The thief turned his head to see a blue and black birdarang coming at his face. The man was out before he could count to one. "That was easy", said Dick as he caught his birdarang. "Not quite, Nightwing.", replied Terry as a six armed men ran into the pawn shop. "Uh-oh", said the former Robin as he took up a defensive fighting stance. "Uh-oh, right", said Bruce Wayne's biological son as he also took up a stance. They stood up waiting for the men to make a move.

Thre was somthing that Ghost felt he was missing here, some link to all the evidence, some connection.....the problem was none of the clues had any relation. At least any ovbious one.
But wait.... He thought to himself The cut in the tanker, that metal was the strongest available, and it had been melted wide open. The heat needed would be tremendous....
"Of course. The only man I know who could make that cut and leave behind no bulky equipment is-" His sentence was cut off with an exclamation of pain as somthing that flooded his body with high voltage. With his wet clothes the shock passed right through the material and he slumped to the floor unconscious
"Sorry Ghost, you always were too clever for yer own good." A man dressed in the same manner as the thieves he had thwarted ealier sprinted off, leaving him lying on the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

Morph continued to remain in the water, and continued to contain the oil spill, thus he didn't and couldn't see Ghost get knocked down.

He slowly managed to get the spill partially under control and began doing some cleaning/filtering work with the oil.

"Morph, Ghost, Haze, and Speedy, How are you doing down there" GL yelled as he started to get it under control

"Oily, but fine." Morph replied as he dragged his oil-laden self up, and standing over a oil barrel, twisted himself out, nearly filling the barrel and ridding himself of the oil.

He noted a foot sticking out, and wandered over. "GL, get down here now." He snapped into the comm, "Ghost is down."

"What? Ghost is down?" He said before he headed down to the bottom of the harbor and saw ghost in lying in poor shape. "Static, take charge I'll bring him to the medbay in the Watch Tower"

"Right. Get him there fast." Static said as GL started flying up towards the watchtower at full speed

As GL took Ghost up, Morph was trying to figure out who, or what had managed to nail him, "Hey, anybody got any ideas of who could have gotten Ghost?"

"no clue, anybody else?" Static said as they finished up

As Blade was admiring the earings, she told the owner they were a little above her price range. As she looked up, six armed men ran past the jewelry shop.

"Thanks sir, gotta go!" she yelled as she ran toward the door. She got out the door just in time to see the men enter the pawn shop a couple doors down.

Shit, what's this... a beautiful jewelry store and they're robbing a pawn shop?

Blade morphed into her superhero body. Even her face was metal. Thanks to an alloy stronger and lighter than titanium, she was very fast on her feet.

Before entering the pawn shop she saw Batman and Nightwing cornered. Blade opened the door and shot every man in the head with blades similar to butcher knives that radiated from her body, but far sharper and at near bullet speed.

"Batman! Nightwing! Are you two OK? It's great to see you. Too bad it's under such nasty circumstances." The pawnshop owner stared at her. Who wouldn't stare at a completely metal woman.

"What is going on?" she asked as she morphed back into her human form. "I haven't been aprised of anything yet."

"Well, this night just gets better and better." Speedy said bitterly as he climbed out of the water after Haze. Sure I don't trust Ghost, but he is a teamate, and when a teamate goes down, it's bad news. “Someone want to try and revive Ghost?"

"How the hell did that happen?", said Haze. I turn my back for a minute and then Ghost decides he wants to get knocked out. Looking at Speedy Haze said, "Ghost was talking about something before he went down. I don't know what it was."

*******

Terry looked up surprisingly at Blade. He looked at her and said "I was just about to come see you". Nightwing was looking at the metal girl weirdly. Finally after she transformed back into human form he said "You know me but I don't know you.". Terry looked at Dick and said "This is Blade." She is a reserve member of the league." Nightwing looked at Terry and said "I should have known why you came and said something to me. You want me to join the NJLU." Before he could respond he said "Don't worry I have been thinking about this. I want to join". "That is great" said Batman to Nightwing.

Morph continued to serve as a spounge to soak up the oil and transfer it to barrels.

Wooshaba']"How the hell did that happen?", said Haze. I turn my back for a minute and then Ghost decides he wants to get knocked out. Looking at Speedy Haze said, "Ghost was talking about something before he went down. I don't know what it was."

*******

Terry looked up surprisingly at Blade. He looked at her and said "I was just about to come see you". Nightwing was looking at the metal girl weirdly. Finally after she transformed back into human form he said "You know me but I don't know you.". Terry looked at Dick and said "This is Blade." She is a reserve member of the league." Nightwing looked at Terry and said "I should have known why you came and said something to me. You want me to join the NJLU." Before he could respond he said "Don't worry I have been thinking about this. I want to join". "That is great" said Batman to Nightwing.

I wonder if this means I'm still just a reserve member, she thought, hoping that wasn't the case. I can pull my own weight, obviously.

"So what is going on?" Blade asked Terry, wondering what was so urgent.

Contra watched with a self-satisfied grin from high atop one of Gothem's many buildings as the so-called "heroes" went about cleaning up the oil spill. Perfect. But further observation would have to wait. She had a meeting waiting on her..

Rising swiftly, she took to flight once more and left the city limits, ever closing on her final destination. Superman and the others would be waiting for her message by the time she finally got to where she was going.

"What was he saying?" Speedy said. "Was it about London?"

"John has she arrived yet", said the Last Son of Krypton to his collegue. "No Kal- El, she hasn't. J'onn and I aren't expecting her for another hour or so. Where is Bruce?" replied the mighty green lantern. Wonder Woman tapped into the conversation. "He is somewhere designing his new gadgets. I haven't heard from him since the last time we talked to Contra". Superman nodded. "Flash I need you to find the original Batman and get him to come to the meeting. Contra will be here soon." Flash said "Gotcha big guy. I be with Bruce in a sec. Just send over the cordinates J'onn. Thank You.". Flash raised towards wherever Bruce Wayne was.

*****

Terry looked at Blade and said "You know it is your choice to be a reserve or active member of the JLA, right". He smiled and told her everything that had been going on from the robberies in London to the oil spill in Gotham City. "I think that they are both distractions that is why I came and got Nightwing" said Batman as he pointined towards Dick in his blue and black suit. "We were about to go up to the Watchtower and put together scenerios. I need to talk with the Haze and Ghost since those two are some of the best detectives I have ever met. You will enjoy those two, Dick." Terry hit three buttons and the group was transported to the Watchtower.

Wooshaba']"John has she arrived yet", said the Last Son of Krypton to his collegue. "No Kal- El, she hasn't. J'onn and I aren't expecting her for another hour or so. Where is Bruce?" replied the mighty green lantern. Wonder Woman tapped into the conversation. "He is somewhere designing his new gadgets. I haven't heard from him since the last time we talked to Contra". Superman nodded. "Flash I need you to find the original Batman and get him to come to the meeting. Contra will be here soon." Flash said "Gotcha big guy. I be with Bruce in a sec. Just send over the cordinates J'onn. Thank You.". Flash raised towards wherever Bruce Wayne was.

*****

Terry looked at Blade and said "You know it is your choice to be a reserve or active member of the JLA, right". He smiled and told her everything that had been going on from the robberies in London to the oil spill in Gotham City. "I think that they are both distractions that is why I came and got Nightwing" said Batman as he pointined towards Dick in his blue and black suit. "We were about to go up to the Watchtower and put together scenerios. I need to talk with the Haze and Ghost since those two are some of the best detectives I have ever met. You will enjoy those two, Dick." Terry hit three buttons and the group was transported to the Watchtower.

"Actually, I didn't know it was my choice whther or not to be an active member," Blade said stunned, "or I would have become an active member long ago. I swear no one told me this." Blade was just taking this in. She had been so bored working on her own and felt she would be more useful in the group.

"I definitely want to be an active member." she told Terry.

When they got to the Watchtower she was amazed as usual. She always thought it so beautiful, in a minimalist way. And of course had all the candy.

"Good thing you showed up when you did, Ter- I mean Batman. You saved me from blowing about $20,000 on a pair of earings." Blade grinned.

She followed Terry, her long red hair flowing behind her. She knew she would be apprised of the situation soon. Blade wasn't sure, but she could swear Nightwing was occassionally looking at her as if she was the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

Angel came running down the hall "Terry! We have some bad news." He started but stopped short when he saw Terry's compainoins. He turned to Nightwing and extended his hand. "Hi you must be the legendary Dick Grason." After he shook the hand Angel turned to the other. "I'm sorry but, I'm afaird I don't know who you are"

ooc: Just a heads up, because of numerous reasons, including a great deal of personal attacks, KHJ has left NS and is most likely not going to be returning. This is done at her request.

"-Superman" Ghost gasped and sat up quickly in bed. His head felt as if someone had used his brain as a wash mitt. He focused on the two objects infront of him....what where they....oh yes, his hands. To his credit he did not ask where he was as the first thing he said.
"What happened? Why are we in the watchtower?" He demanded, a little unsettled.

Nightwing smiled at the new GL. Looking towards Batman he said "I heard about this new guy. Supposed to have a really strong will I hear.". Terry shrugged and said "Yeah, he does. Very useful in tight situations." Batman and Nightwing walked into the room with GL. They stood there talking when the Ghost yells, "Superman". Nightwing ran beside him and said "Superman, what?".

It was just under an hour later when Contra arrived at the Citadel. Or so she liked to call it. The structure itself was remote and unassuming, but as with all things, it was the stuff on the inside that counted. The original Justice League. The very picture of confidence and poise, she made her way to a large room which served as a briefing forum, to address her cohorts as they assembled.

Having finished with the oil, Morph used the comm device to beam himself up. "So any word on Ghost?"

Wooshaba']Nightwing smiled at the new GL. Looking towards Batman he said "I heard about this new guy. Supposed to have a really strong will I hear.". Terry shrugged and said "Yeah, he does. Very useful in tight situations." Batman and Nightwing walked into the room with GL. They stood there talking when the Ghost yells, "Superman". Nightwing ran beside him and said "Superman, what?".

"Superman...he was the only one who could have made that cut...heat vision. If not superman then another kryptonian" He tried to assemble his muggy thoughts and settled on getting out of bed. After a few false starts he staggered upright and leant on the wall. He felt carefully around to his back and his fingers brushed a burn
"Ah, I see" He winced and tried to ignore it
"Is everyone else ok?" He managed to return to his usual level voice

"it can't be Superman, he's been gone for 30 years. And Kyrptonians tend to stand out until they learn how to control thier powers.Can you think of any other explaintion?" GL asked Ghost. "Anyway I can handle a Kyrpotonian if I have to." He said while lifting up his ring

"it can't be Superman, he's been gone for 30 years. And Kyrptonians tend to stand out until they learn how to control thier powers.Can you think of any other explaintion?" GL asked Ghost. "Anyway I can handle a Kyrpotonian if I have to." He said while lifting up his ring

"I don't doubt it, but while a kryptonian may have done it we can't be sure. It is the enemy you cannot see that is the deadliest of all" He flexed his back and fingered the burn in his costume
"I learnt that lesson just now. If it was not a kryptonian it was somone with the same power or one similar to the heat vision associated with the species. That cut was made by somthing hotter than human technology can provide."

"Don't be so sure. Remember I'm an engineer. I've seen some hot cutting instruments." Angel replied to Ghost

"Don't be so sure. Remember I'm an engineer. I've seen some hot cutting instruments." Angel replied to Ghost

"Then enlighten me, is there such a cutting instrument, that is both portable and usable underwater, and able to make a cut this wide with heat?" He indicated a width of a metre

"Maybe a plasma thorch, but they are pretty unstable" Angel replied after thinking on it

"What ever it is that caused the burn, I'd really not like to meet it." Morph commented as he entered the de-brief room.

"Maybe a plasma thorch, but they are pretty unstable" Angel replied after thinking on it

"No. This was a job where unessesary risks were not to be taken. Would you dive under to a depth of 15 metres and make a huge cut into a tanker of combustable liquid with an unstable impliment? And somebody did not want us to work this out. Now if you would be so kind as to excuse me-" He inclined his torso towards them in a slight bow
"I must go and change into somthing less...medium rare"

"Terry, this is bad. We should call the founding members together and discuss this." Static said as he walked in having heard everything

Nightwing smiled at the new GL. He admired his determination but was sorta disappointed by his foolishness. He thinks he can handle Superman or even another Kryptonian by himself. he thought to himself He has a long way to go. Looking at Terry, Dick could tell that he was thinking hard. His brow was furrowed in deep thought. Nightwing started running over possibilities when Ghost had left the room. He thought to himself Is it possible that someone with powers that rival Superman's has returned or even that he himself, Superman returned. He said under his breath were is the Oracle when you need her.

"Terry, this is bad. We should call the founding members together and discuss this." Static said as he walked in having heard everything

Breaking about of his thought he said "Yes I do think the founding members should meet Virgil. Find Warhawk and Nightwing, Ghost and I will join you in the main conference building. Looking towards all of the other superheroes he said "All of you guys are on patrol. Each of you go down to your hometown city and report back on what has been happening there. Batman and Nightwing exited the room to find Ghost.

*******

The Phantom Haze teleported down to the Gotham City. He didn't know what was going on so he decided to find an old enemy of his predecessor. He thought to himself Two-Face always knows what is happening in Gotham.

"Right" Static said as he ran off looking for Warhawk.

"Wait Terry. If Kyrptonians might be involved,I should be in on the meeting." Angel said before Terry left

Wooshaba']
Breaking about of his thought he said "Yes I do think the founding members should meet Virgil. Find Warhawk and Nightwing, Ghost and I will join you in the main conference building. Looking towards all of the other superheroes he said "All of you guys are on patrol. Each of you go down to your hometown city and report back on what has been happening there. Batman and Nightwing exited the room to find Ghost.
[/I]
Ghost was not happy. There was somthing missing in his deductions but he couldn't place it. It was irking him like an insect bite he could not scratch.
"Are you aware what having an unknown kryptonian on earth could mean? Not to mention the possibility of superman." Ghost phased in behind them
"Both possibilities contain more mysteries. Why would a kryptonian engineer all this, they are not known for subtleties, and why would Superman do the same? Most curious..." He raised a finger in the air as if demonstrating a point
"Although...this is discounting the nature of the occurences. This was large scale yes, but for the resourses used, not as big as it should have been. This was a test.." He straightened up
"But that is of course only my opinion"

"Right" Static said as he ran off looking for Warhawk.

"Wait Terry. If Kyrptonians might be involved,I should be in on the meeting." Angel said before Terry left

"No Angel you are needed on Earth right now. We need to make sure that this is a Kryptonian that we are dealing with before we get to hasty. You need alot more training and experience before you can go head to head with one of them." Terry exited the room followed by Nightwing and walked into Ghost's room. "Ghost we will be having a meeting momentarily. Meet us in the main conference room".

Angel followed Terry. "I'm a New Yorker, Morph can find out more then me. MY unique talents make the Watchtower the best place for me. And I can take on a Kryptonian, Kyle told me a secret before he died" He reasoned with him

Terry turned around and said "What that you can create kryptonite with your ring. Yeah that is possible. But for all we know he might has been able to surpass that weakness. Do you realize how long Superman has been living in the Sun. 30 years. If he has come back we are going to need more than a piece of Kryptonite to stop the big guy." Looking at Angel he said "I know you want to help but I really think it is best if you just go to Earth. You will be one of the first people we call if anything develops. You will be able to get to a problem on Earth faster than anyone down there right now." Nightwing nodded and backed him up "You would probably do better on Earth Green Lantern. Just roll with it for now and then if we need you we will get you back up here as fast as possible." The two former Bruce apprentices walked out of Ghost's room and toward the conference area.

Morph headed into the conference room, "So what is the plan and does anyone have any ideas what we're up against?" He asked as he changed his hair to bright blue and took his normal(human) form.

"No Morph but do you have any ideas where Warhawk is", said Terry

OOC: Theao are you doing Warhawk or is someone else.

"Not sure where he is." Morph replied

ooc: If you want will take him, but no idea of his temperment/behavior.

"Alright. I'll be patrol the US if you need me." Angel said as he powered up and flew through the door on the way to earth

(OOC:Warhawk is a pratical warrior with a tendacy to get a little hotheaded)

Static walked into the conference room with Warhawk walking behind him. "Whats the story?" He asked as he walked in.

Static walked into the conference room with Warhawk walking behind him. "Whats the story?" He asked as he walked in.

"That would be the purpous of the meeting. We do not know. And while we all may be saying how we can take on a kryptonite with ease" He raised an eyebrow inside his mask
"the reason why Superman would be here and use his talents in this way are still a mystery, which makes the problem of taking him down moot at this point. I would understand why he has returned, I have always had suspicions he would as many of us have. But why in this manner. I believe we will not be able to work out much more without further evidence or happenings. All we know is that Superman or one of his kind are here, and I would put my vote on Superman oil slick or no."

"Since this behavior is so un-Superman like, might the true cuplrit be someone like Brainiac, or someone else controlling Superman." Sean commented, "Or it could be one of the other kryptonians."

"I agree. This isn't Sup's style. He was always a break down the door in broad daylight kind of guy. This subtle stuff, just isn't him." Static said as he took a seat.

(OOC: Can you take Warhawk Theao?))

WH had caught the last bit of the conversation, "Whoever it is needs to be dealt with." He said


Meanwhile Morph had oozed under the table and had fallen asleep.

ooc: Sure

Terry sat there and listened to everyone's comments about the Superman thing. He had considered that it might be Superman but it sounded to far fetched. He looked at Ghost and asked him "What is the main reason why you think Superman would have the motive to do this?"

Wooshaba']Terry sat there and listened to everyone's comments about the Superman thing. He had considered that it might be Superman but it sounded to far fetched. He looked at Ghost and asked him "What is the main reason why you think Superman would have the motive to do this?"

"Superman as we know him, with the motives we knew him to have, would have no reason to do this. But he has been away from us for a long time, and many things could have happened. Perhaps he has a good reason for this, perhaps he is no longer the person we knew and our prejudices about him will be useless in finding his reasons." He looked up from studying the pattern of the table.
"I am a realist, I do not believe it beyond anyone for them to be subverted."

Terry looked at Ghost and said "I think you are overthinking things, but anything is possible. Everyone watch out for anything that resembles a Kryptonian and report any weird acts back to the Watchtower. Meeting Adjourned." Terry and Dick got up and left out of the conference room.