View source for 2012-03-02 - No Guam, No Foul!

{{Logsummary|
Title=No Guam, No Foul!
|Summary=The Empress of Almerac has claimed the island nation of Guam as the home for her palace - and the location of her wedding to Superman. The citizens have been enslaved by psychic emanations, and a huge statue of the Man of Steel erected before the repurposed cathedral. It looks bad for the Guamians... at least until a cadre of heroes turns up to save the day! Warning: may contain nuts and nudity. Also ducks. So many ducks.
|Who=[[Blue Beetle]], [[Kinetic]], [[Maxima]], [[Superboy]], [[Witching Hour Lurker]], [[Wyld Knight]]
|Date=2012-03-02
|Where=GUAM
|}}


-----==[ RP Suite 1: Guam ]==

The island nation of Guam is a little-known yet astonishingly beautiful place - certainly if you like tropical beaches. Small and very flat, it's almost like one expansive beach resort, all low white buildings nestling amidst pleasant sands and palm fronds. A territory of the United States of America, it does a reasonable tourist trade; and also hosts its own defensive army. This would normally keep it safe from the few troubles it has, but said military has clearly not been up to the task of defending against a psychotic superbeing.

Today, Guam's roadways are patrolled by small hordes of brainwashed soldiers, armed with equipment far beyond military specification - including threatening LASER RIFLES that shine in the sun. The largest concentration of troops lie around Apra Harbor on the west of Guam, where they've already seized control of the major shipping routes in and out - causing the first international shockwave to herald Maxima's arrival on the island.

The centrepiece of the re-envisioned island paradise stands proudly outside the Cathedral Basilica. Where once was a statue of Pope John Paul II, now is a two-hundred foot tall representation of the Man of Steel himself, Superman! Or at least one can only assume that's what it is; this IS Maxima we're dealing with. It's clearly supposed to be very, very manly in appearance, but it's constructed entirely from heaps of household furniture and assorted trash. It's surrounded by an odd, shimmering aura - a force field, perhaps?

A long train of mentally dominated citizens is putting the finishing touches on this 'masterpiece', overlooked by the Empress of Almerac, who - with typical high regard for the cultures of her conquered worlds - has made her home in the cathedral, adorning it with tacky splendour befitting her tastes. It looks like something out of a pulp sci-fi novel, right down to the weapons turrets bristling all over it.

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"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Sandy Mahogany, coming to you live from Guam, where--"

"Where the LADY MAXIMA, Warrior Queen, head of the Royal House, and RULER of all Almerac bids you welcome to the site of her new palace - and the nation that will soon be home to none other than your god, Superman!"

The Empress of Almerac poses grandly for the cameras trained upon her - completely ignorant and uncaring that two of the three are flopping all over the place, poorly held aloft by men who appear to be drooling, their faces waxy and eyes glazed over as they fail utterly to do the jobs they've done their entire lives. The interrupted reporter appears to be about the only person on Guam who doesn't appear so woefully affected. She's a pretty young thing, a slightly uncertain but highly driven twenty-something who'd come to the island to partake in coverage of a minor political shindig taking place in the US territory.

"And-- and would you mind telling the viewers at home precisely why you've seized control of this beau--"

"The LADY MAXIMA needed a home here on Earth, and your Earth-fool governments would not cooperate in my acquisition of a suitable palatial estate befitting an Empress and her celestial husband! In order to form suitable dowry for my wedding to Superman, I have bestowed by grace and benevolence upon Guam, where I mean to rule until such time as I can convince my GLORIOUS mate to return home, with me, to Almerac!"

"N-None of which explains why you've taken to hijacking every boat entering the harbour and--"

This time, Maxima snatches the microphone away, causing it to explode between her fingertips as they tighten around it. Incensed, she leans in close to poor Sandy, looming over her with eyes practically bulging from their sockets and breath fuming from her nostrils.

"/Because/," she grates, voice loud enough to be broadcast just fine without a microphone, "In order to provide suitable dowry for my wedding to Superman I needed to redecorate this miserable excuse for an island, AND I had to ensure I possessed enough raw materials to contruct my masterpiece - my PERFECT WEDDING GIFT to my WONDERFUL BETROTHED! Stop asking so many questions or I shall have Sazu--" She pauses, brows knitting together as she glances up toward the atmosphere, huffing an irritated sigh, "What's the Earth-fool phrase I'm looking for? Ah, yes... I shall have her 'nuke the site from orbit'!"

MEANWHILE, IN SPACE

Above, indeed in geosynchronous orbit, lies Maxima's royal space cruiser. Inside, the Royal Advisor is watching on a monitor screen with a sardonic smirk on her lips - at least when she can spare time between idly buffing her nails and flipping through a trashy magazine packed to bursting with space-gossip about space-celebrities. Beside her, a duck sits on one of the bridge's padded chairs, occasionally letting out a bored 'quack'.

MEANWHILE, ON GUAM

"I... see, and would you mind if we filmed your... your masterpiece, Lady M--"

"The LADY MAXIMA would be pleased to show you, small and puny Earth-fools. Gaze upon its splendour!"

Which is when the cameras pan around to show the full, naturally incredibly regal two-hundred feet of stacked debris forming a vague simulacrum of Superman that towers over the squat expanse of Guam. Sandy looks like she can barely prevent herself giggling - probably because Maxima could crush her just as easily as she did her shattered microphone, because it's frankly pretty ridiculous. A number of small shapes move around the construction, their heads lolling but limbs surprisingly steady as they - the brainwashed inhabitants of Guam - move in a constant train to place the final few touches on the great statue.

It's been twelve hours since the world heard the plight of Guam...

Somebody really should do something to stop this madness.


Twelve hours ago, Jaime Reyes was watching the news with his parents. That'd be when the whole 'aliens invade, conquer Guam' thing became known to him. Ten minutes later, he was having a dicussion with his parents and best friends about what he could do about it. In that discussion, he pointed out that it was a Friday, and therefore not a school night. He also pointed out that he didn't have any housework to do the next day, since he'd just cleaned his room.

Twenty minutes later, the Blue Beetle was flying towards Guam. It has not been a short trip, even at his supersonic speeds. But he got to sleep on the way there, thankfully, and he packed snacks, which have since been eaten. Now, the blue, alien armor is flying over the harbors of Guam, trying to figure out what, exactly, is going on.

Warning. Energy discharge weapons. Danger level minimal individually. "What about not individually?" Concentrated fire potentially dangerous. Further, detecting Almeracian technology in weapons. "What's an Almeracian?" Dangerous. Warrior race. Other information not available at this time. Danger level considered high. "Oh, good."


Really, Kinetic had no idea what if anything he could do about the Guam situation. He'd been on his way to the MetroTower to ask the Justice League if he could lend a hand but his trip had been interrupted. Someone was robbing a bank. Some thug with some weird science fictiony weapon that was making things teleport. And when Kinetic caused it to explode accidentally, he ended up sent warping across the world. And send splashing into the ocean near Guam. Now he's pulling himself out of the water and onto a beach. "Not my best landing..." he mutters, shaking water off himsself. He pauses, looking around. "But I think it may be my luckiest one..."


"Mistress?"

That voice is for Maxima's ears only, rolling out unflustered and unhurried from the Royal Advisor on high, her cool gaze slipping from one monitor to another as the ship detects something... well, something almost exactly like the Blue Beetle soaring his way to the island paradise. It notices him before the gathered troops below have any chance to do so; they're human, after all, and not even really that under Maxima's thrall. Their perceptions are tied to hers, though this usefully just happens to include the wider perceptions of her ship.

Down below, the Empress pauses in admiration of her wondrous statuary to glance at the skies. "What is it, Sazu?" She barks, completely ignoring the presence of Sandy Mahogany, who takes the opportunity to try and slip away between three cameramen - only of whom actually meets her gaze with any sense of intelligence. She puts a finger to her lips, hushing him as she makes toward a group of buildings to the east; the location of the report she actually came here for, where a large group of politicans currently sit in a barred room.

"I'm detecting an incoming threat," continues Sazu, "Should I run a full scan?"

"That won't be necessary, Sazu. It's probably my betrothed come to receive his gift!"

"Nnnnoooo, I don't think so, Lady Maxima. In fact I think it's probably best if--"

"SHUT UP, SAZU. I have this perfectly under control."

So saying, and so still completely ignoring the running reporter, Maxima sweeps a hand imperiously toward the statue - unconcerned for the people still scampering all over it as she ignites the strange, faintly buzzing forcefield and sets the piled junk to clattering and hopping about. Superman's outline slips and sways, looking for several moments like it may topple completely, and then... something happens. It comes together with a heavy clatter, thrust tightly into what's suddenly an almost perfect semblance of the Man of Steel, indistinct lines becoming detailed musculature, the uncertain mass becoming sleek and smooth. Shiny. Tables, chairs, and so forth all morph into part of the same, impressive whole. It only lacks features on the face.

Which doesn't make it any LESS creepy, let's be fair.

A few moments later, 'Superman^200' moves his arms, placing them on his hips as the few remaining brainwashed people of Guam are sent falling to the ground. Their sad screams and messy splatterings on the concrete do rather ruin the otherwise majestic spectacle, but Maxima is too busy smiling widely to actually care.

"BEHOLD Earth-fools! BEHOLD Superman! WE SHALL BE WED AT LAST!!"

Bellowing a laugh, she suddenly soars into the air, spinning around with her arms flung outward.

Completely in the dark about who's /actually/ approaching.

MEANWHILE, ON THE BEACH

'Luck' comes in a lot of different sizes, shapes, and colours. Kinetic may reconsider his good fortunes, as on making his way to the shore he's met with the snap of a hundred heavy leather boots, and the resonant clatter of fifty high-spec laser rifles as they're lifted by zombified soldiers to train upon him. There's nothing said, nothing spoken, but he has about ten seconds to react before they open fire - each weapon hurtling a hundred and eighty searing bolts per second - and a further thirty seconds before the disturbance reaches the ears of Sazu and an alarm klaxon rings out across the island.

Up in the air, Maxima still doesn't notice, giddy as a schoolgirl as she continues bellowing her laughter and her monstrous statue continues to pose, though the finishing touch finally appears; unravelling from its broad, shiny shoulders is a cape of psychokinetic fire, burning bright red as it trails in the sunlight.


Reachtech does not resemble Superman to the sensors, but that probably doesn't matter to Maxima herself. The fact that a Reach Infiltrator unit is here might matter if she cared to scan - but until she does, well, it's another threat flying around. Jaime, meanwhile, his little idea he's being detected, though he's sure he'll be spotted soon. He doesn't really care - that's part of the job, right?

"Okay, Scarab I need some adv-" He glances over at the statue. "Track those people. I want a full count. Now!" Tracking. Flagging on visual. Advise focus on armed soldiers. "NO! We have to save them! Come on!" The Blue Beetle dives forward, racing through the air as fast as he can. "What can we /do/, Scarab? Tell me! How can we protect them?" Advise focus on- "NO! Protect!" Energy shield. Focus point. Can manage three. Fly and catch the rest. "Right. Will do." Blue energy spheres appear around three of the falling people, stopping them in midair until the Beetle can get to them.

For the rest, well, he's flying aorund trying to catch people, deposit them and catch the next one as fast as possible. Jaime Reyes is one of those idealistic heroes who doesn't like when anyone dies.


Kinetic is just wringing some water out of his vest when he notices those soldiers. He opens his mouth to say something but it just comes out as a little 'eep' when those rifles are trained his way. He's got just enough time to take to the air as the bolts glass the sand where he'd been standing. "What the heck, guys!?" he scowls, sending a quick telekinetic shockwave at the soldiers.


Of course, we couldn't all be out frolicking in the daytime, could we? Forget that a country like Guam was hot enough to make Abel's life a living agony even if he was safe indoors, but one step outside and he wouldn't last 20 minutes before being a nice, kentucky fried bloodsucker.

But, the man who currently called himself Abel Thatcher was all about making lemonaid when life gave him lemons, and found a way to improvise. Hearing about the commotion over in Guam, he had a rather ingenius idea of sneaking into the local morgue late at night, knowing things were so hectic, that nobody would come in here...nobody but squishy criminals trying to avoid all out warfare, that is! A good thing his hunch paid off, too, he was nearly dying of boredom inside a metal little sliding compartment when he heard them enter. The spider grinned to himself, letting the flies gather before making any moves. He just hoped they didn't destroy the hard work he put into this place, what with boarding up all the windows and all. Planning ahead, that was him...


Maxima's not a bad person.

Hey! Stop laughing. She isn't; not really. Conquest of a thousand worlds aside - but they probably asked for it, and who doesn't conquer the occasional country or planet? The point is, that homicide really wasn't the point or purpose of this activity, it's just an unfortunate side effect that she doesn't concern herself with when there are more important things. Like Superman. So while she's cackling on high, the Blue Beetle is left to his own devices - saving the dozen or so people of Guam unfortunate enough to be in dangerous positions when the vast statue was given animation. Others may have bruises, if he's a mite slow but...

Well. Reach technology is impressive-- he'll save the day this time. But each person he assists does nothing to thank him, even the occasional one who does fall won't actually react, just staring glassy-eyed into the void for several moments before wandering away. Even brainwashed, their survival instinct at least leads them to move in a direction other than that of Maxima or her horrible creation. Humanity is good like that.

Speaking of Superman^200, Jaime does have that to worry about with more immediacy than Maxima herself; whose attention is only called to the situation at all when she notices the massive thing suddenly moving with more speed than it should rightfully have, removing hands from hips to squat down and aim a massive double axe-handle with its shiny metallic arms, seeking to cleave the Blue Beetle - or at least about twenty feet of concrete - in twain with a disturbing roar somewhat akin to the ocean rushing through a cave.

"What--- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Booms the Empress of Almerac, lowering her own arms with a huff before swooping forward, placing herself above the hunkered statue and the doubtlessly-evading Beetle, eyes aflame with arrogant indignation at the disruption of her ceremony. She's aware of the alarm at this point, too, but mostly it's the superhero who bothers her. "You're not Superman! And I DIDN'T send you an INVITATION!"

Kinetic, meanwhile, succeeds in disrupting the wave of laser fire coming his way, the group of soldiers parting like a mentally-deficient wave around his countering blast. Several of them are sent tumbling head over heels, landing on the grass with limbs akimbo and laser guns bouncing before coming to a clattering stop; the first part ensuring that errant blasts go wide and far, setting aflame to a fair few palm trees. Those soldiers that manage to evade do so with admirable grace for zombies, their military training dimly remembered, and it's a matter of seconds before they're fanned out in small, tight groups, still blasting away at the young hero.

Two of them seek to get close, using the covering fire to dash in and get beneath the airbone Kin.

They're wordless as they do so; and don't even appear to be properly LOOKING at him. Weird.

MEANWHILE, IN THE MORGUE

The politicians within are mostly huddled together, talking in low voices hurriedly as several of them hammer at cell phones and laptops, trying to get some form of signal off the island - but the efforts of Sazu in orbit are blocking any direct communications save the live feed from the camera crews. Unfortunately she's ALSO monitoring for any attempts to circumvent her efforts, and her painted nails skim across a command console to send a psychic signal via Maxima to one of the many groups of soldiers patrolling the island.

Approximately five seconds later, there's a HAMMERING on the front doors to the Morgue, at the exact same time as a more urgent but far less thunderous rap-tap-tap comes on one of the side entrances, nearest to Abel. If he cares to get close he might just happen to hear the whispered voice of Sandy Mahogany. "Hello? Is anybody there? We need to get off this island! She's gone mad! Crazy!" Understatement of the century.


See, there's irony here. A fair bit of it, really. At the moment, Superboy lives in - or rather, is stationed in - Guam. An off-duty tour de force, birthed of his absolute demand for 'choice beachfront'. That was his key condition. Older, wiser times. Now, any other day, this means the Teen of Steel would be first on the scene. Maybe even fix the problem before this crazy space bitch finishes broadcasting her space crazy all over the airwaves. Today, however, SB is off duty. He made it clear he was not to be disturbed. He took a nap between some secluded dunes, he jammed /out/.

Except now his superhearing is telling him shit just isn't right, as he stirs. Now he's checking out the youtube video so crazy this Maxima chick -has- to be a super-troll. Now everyone is shooting. "What the fuuu..." It's close, too. In a blur of motion, Superboy bursts into adventure clad for combat in his space age... red swim trunks and sleek shades. He barely pauses long enough for Kinetic to get a look at him, landing opposite the squad firing on the teen telekinetic at about the same instant Kin's telekinetic burst comes out. He touches down hard, sand spraying to all sides, showering the area in a circle around him. At least until his own burst comes from a palm planted on the ground, erupting beneath the soldiers and threatening to outright shred their alien weaponry.

His intent, at least, is to be halfway to the screams he hears coming from the center of this mess by the time they realize it. Or that they may be flying, too - into Kinetic's forceblast, for that matter.


Jaime lets out a long, low breath as the people are saved, releasing his energy spheres. "Okay. That's handled, now - ohcrap." The statue's hands come down at the Blue Beetle, and he leaps into the air, his translucent blue wings spreading and buzzing, keeping him in it. "Okay, that was...not expected." He looks up at Maxima, blinks, and then focuses on a point somewhere to the left of her head. His mother raised him not to stare. "Um, no. I'm not. I'm the Blue Beetle!" Pause. ".../a/ Blue Beetle!" Since, you know, Ted Kord is still around.

Threat Assessment: High. Detecting superhuman strength and durability. "...oh good." And ability to project energy. "...what else? There's got to be more. It's got to get worse." Capable of withstanding atmospheric reentry and vacuum conditions. Neural development high; possible enhanced intellect. Alternatively, possible psionic abilities. Likelihood of the former: 35%. "...so, uh...how do I...?" Jaime is basically talking to himself, to all appearances. He circles around the big statue quickly, trying to get a hold on the situation.

Suggest neurotoxin projector. Small risk of collateral death but crowd is fleeing. "Small risk of /what/?" Likelihood of fatality: 88%. Will need more time to analyze for better odds. "I don't want to kill her, I want her to go away! Look just -" Jaime sighs - and then decides to deal with the /other/ threat first. Which is to say, he launches himself at the big statue's shoulder. "How about this thing?" Analyzing structural weaknesses...


"Okay, seriously? I have some crazy alien warlord to stop, guys!" Kinetic raises a shimmering telekinetic barrier around himself to defend against the blasts. Before he can do more, spatial awareness is going nuts. He ends up just staring at Superboy. "Uhh...okay, who the heck are you?" he really has no idea what's going on here. So much for a simple 'go to Guam, stop alien crazy' trip.


"Well, curiouser and curiouser..."

Of course, in a warzone, a little chaos was to be expected, but all the same, this didn't sound like what he planned for. And so, when your plans weren't going to work, what did you do? You examined the situation, and figured out why not. And so did the Witching Hour Lurker softly push open the metal door with his feet, careful not to alert anyone, before sliding out, and slipping on to the ground. Clad all in black, he kept to any shadows he could in this hopefully dark room, trying to peer in and figure out what the situation was...he wanted to figure out what was happening...


"Oh, PLEASE," booms Maxima in response to the Beetle's introduction, rolling her eyes and waving a hand dismissively in the air. It's interesting to note that when she does that, the massive statue seems to jerk in that direction, just slightly - suggesting some form of immediate link between it and the scantily clad Almeracian. "Sazu! Run a scan on this ANNOYING INTRUDER in relation to the Earth organisms known as 'beetles'. Cross-reference with 'moths' and 'butterflies', please. Mwahaha!" She throws her head back, flipping her enormous mane of scarlet hair, "You have to get up pretty early to catch out the LADY MAXIMA!"

"Mistress, I really don't think--"

"PRETTY EARLY, SAZU. DO IT."

"Very well, your majesty. Running scan now."

Jaime's assault against the statue isn't something the Empress seems bothered about, hovering with smug satisfaction as she almost nonchalantly watches him slam against the vast metal. It's built to the specifications of the Man of Steel himself; and while it may lack the energy and powers of a Kryptonian, the structure is INCREDIBLY solid and unlikely to buckle so easily; it flinches away somewhat, but comes spinning back around with another incredibly loud roar, this time swinging its right arm in a searing uppercut, then following up by planting a foot between the slowly-retreating citizens of Guam to throw in a swatting backhand.

At the beach, Kinetic's efforts are successful, laser fire ricocheting from his barrier, the soldiers soon dwindling to change their tactics. Superboy's arrival puts paid to any immediate plans they may have, his own blast scattering a dozen men into the air. They land with the incredible awkwardness suggesting either broken limbs or concussions, though in their wake come two dozen more, stomping down the roadways of Guam following Sazu's island-wide alarm. Kin and Mini-Supes are treated to a second wave of blaster fire, backed up by the sudden metallic 'tinking' of something new...

Grenades. Four of them fan out in an area beneath the pair of heroes.

Never mind that two soldiers are pretty much right on top of them and still firing carelessly upwards.

IN THE MORGUE

"Hello? Is anybody there? We need to get /off/ this /island!!"

Sandy continues to repeat herself in an ever-rising tone as Abel takes his sweet time, at least until the front doors of the morgue building suddenly explode inward under a hail of high-powered blaster fire, flung so hard that what little of them doesn't disintegrate ends up cleaving through an interior wall and penetrating the chamber holding the politicians. They're panicked into ineffectual dashing and shouting, taking cover under tables bearing corpses and some making it to the back, where one flings open the door and comes face to face with the Lurker.

"OH GOD!" He screams, rearing back in both hands with the laptop he's holding and seeking to brain the vampire - marking probably the first occasion that a Macbook has been used to attack a superhero. It's a sloppy strike, horribly slow by his standards, but the man's fevered in his fear. It's at least pretty dang strong.

Further back, Sandy just screams and starts hammering harder on the door. She's still trapped out there.


Wyld Knight had been held back as a surprise for team hero, it's not like many if any of them knew she even existed yet. That was about to change as Wyld had a job after all. She'd been hired by a Queen. Sure a Queen from space but nobility is nobility after all. Sop here she is perched on a building looking down at the beach. 

"It seems they can not hold against two such as that? Then it seems I will come to their aid." 

She leaps from the building causing some sparks from her boots scraping against the surface of the roof. The agile armoured woman flips several times in the air as she descends towards the beach and she lands in a crouch before looking up at both Superboy and Kinetic. 

"I am afraid you will not be allowed to disturb my My lady. It also seems your both beyond reason. Very well then I shall put a stop to the both of you..." 

There's a strange look on the woman's face as she looks at Kinetic staring long and close at him. She knows him, she tries to remember him. It finally hits her. As she realizes whom Kinetic is. She scowls for a moment but says nothing about whatever she's realized, she pulls her blade off her back and it expand about a half a foot farther and she makes a bring it on gesture. She doesn't seem to be afraid, perhaps she's just dumb?


"Well." Superboy takes off the shades with a sweeping flourish - it's classic. Possibly genetic. Not that Clark Kent lets people see him make that gesture often, and usually not with sunglasses. Then, the Teen of Steel puts them back on - "I'm afraid that information is need-to-know." While it probably -is- protocol? SB clearly enjoys the line entirely too much. The Kryptonian clone, notably, doesn't move immediately as the soldiers converge on their position.

Looks like they got out a call, alright. Maintaining his position further up the beach, behind the initial squad, Superboy seems glad to draw the majority of the fire. Beam rifles sting, but fizzle against nigh-impregnable resistance. He staggers a step after they sustain their efforts, and then shoots skywards. He's green enough to wait till he ascends above the beach to accelerate to supersonic levels, a tremendous boom sending palm trees reeling in all directions as he descends anew, right through the grenade screen and into the line of soldiers, working from one end and basically slamming one into the next about as quickly as he can. They don't have time to touch the ground, generally speaking.

"Lock down their other flank!" the modern mystery man requests of Kinetic. "Lady, you don't even know what you're talking about. Why don't you stand down while 'accessory to psycho super stalkering' is the worst thing they can charge you with." He doesn't stop disabling troops to worry about Wyld Knight, not right away.


Solidly built. Undistracted, it would not be a problem. Cannot handle midfight. Structural integrity too high. Jaime sighs. "Great. Do you have any /good/ news?" He flies backwards, getting just barely out of the way of the uppercut. He turns quickly, crossing his hands in front of his face as the backhand comes. A blue metal shield sprouts from the arms, catching the swat and sending the Beetle tumbling end over end through the air. Fortunately, he doesn't hit anything. His hands unbind from each other, the shield melting away to nothing as he gets his balance.

"Guh...my ears are still ringing from there. Right, let's - let's not do that again. Wait - look at her move." Weapon options needed? "...nonlethal, please." Jaime flies upwards. "I think I have an idea. If I stick close to her, it can't swing at /me/ without hitting /her/...at least it didn't step on anyone." Almeracian biology lacking specific weaknesses. Resilient. Physical force bad plan. Energy weapons suggested. "Okay. How much do I need?" Calculating. Power output should be enough to kill if utilizing strong nuclear force dis- "NO! Give me something nonlethal!" Electrical energy may disrupt nervous system briefly. Highly unlikely, however. Addendum: Earlier calculations revised: enhanced intellect only 3% likely. "...well, that's...good?" Possibly.

Jaime flies upwards, trying to get close to Maxima. "Uh, look, Superman's not /here/, and I don't think he'll /be/ here. He's probably fighting someone in space or something." Lightning crackles over his arms, and one hand forms itself into what looks like a crackling tesla coil. "So maybe you could just - leave?" As he says this, Jaime fires off a blast of electricity at Maxima, hoping that going for her will mean she swings up at him and smacks herself with the statue.

Or at least it'll do /something/. Hopefully. He isn't sure how much that electricity will hurt, beyond 'it won't kill her.'


Shields still up to defend against laser blasts, Kinetic gives Superboy a flat look. "So...you're nobody?" he rolls his eyes. The boom sends him tumbling, crashing into the sand. When he rights himself, Kinetic spits out some sand and curses. "Yeah, not listening to you until you give me a name, dude," he chimes, dusting sand off himself. He frowns at Wyld Knight and sighs. "Look, can you just...get out of the way, lady? Got to stop the insane alien warlord woman and I'd really rather not fight you too..." 


In fact, Abel saw the panicked figure in the suit take a swing at him with that laptop, and rolling his eyes the vampire grabbed at the device, trying to pivot his body and hurl the piece of technology like a Discus at the approaching gunmen. HARD. And a moment later, he'd grab whatever was close by that wasn't nailed down, most likely a rather large desk, chucking that at the gunment as well. HARDER. He threw out his back and over-extended his shoulder to compensate for the wait, wincing his still human eyes as the pain set through his body. It would pass and heal in a moment, but it wasn't a fabulous feeling, let us just say. If that worked, he'd look around at the politicians, pointing to where he just came from.

"Go, lock yourselves inside...I'll deal with these ninnies, rest assured. For I am...The Witching Hour Lurker!"

He even made sure to stand properly, leg up on the seat of a chair, brow raised, cloak...slightly flapping. A little, anyway.


Maxima's abominable 'wedding gift' may be faster than it ought to be, but it's still two hundred feet tall and weights hundreds of tons; it can't go that quickly, and once Beetle is knocked away he is given his respite. Superman^200 stills a moment, cocking its blank-faced head to one side and then deciding apparently to beat its chest in triumph at scoring such a mighty hit. The Empress smiles indulgently, tipping her head back in obvious pride as she looks on at her pet. Meanwhile, the results of her scan come through....

Beetle's approach is met with a sudden barked laugh, a derisive 'ha!' made as the crazed woman spins in the air, raising a hand out flat as though to stop his approach by command alone. "Leave?" She spits in response to his attempt to sway her benevolence, "I'll do NO SUCH THING! This is my wedding day and you shall not ruin it!" Her teeth bare in a savage grin as his blast comes spiralling in, and she sways to one side, voluminous cape fluttering off her shoulders to catch the energy in passing. It's burnt up immediately, causing a hard, shocked gasp from the Warrior Queen. She's wearing a scowl a beat later.

"Do you KNOW how much that COST?" Booms Maxima, before parting her lips in a war-cry, deep and rumbling in her breast as she hurls herself forward at supersonic speed. Tesla spark is countered with a brutal swipe of her left arm, a backhanded chop aimed directly for the throat - an attempt to stun the hero, before she twists her body in the opposite direction, floating a little higher as she aims a searing roundhouse kick to send him toward the ground below. If he gets hit, well, he'll find out just how accurate his Scarab is.

Bitch hits HARD.

ON THE BEACH

"Wyld Knight," Sazu's voice is suddenly in the young woman's skull, coolly matter-of-fact as she continues to examine her nails while the other hand tap-taps away at the command console, "Our mistress bids that you take maximum caution in dealing with the interlopers. The blonde shouldn't be any trouble for you - he's just an Earthling, but the brunette shows signs of alien origin. I'll tell you more when I know."

Her voice is dissonant against the instinctive grunts and screams of the brainwashed soldiers as the Kryptoclone slams through them, his shockwave tearing up asphalt and cracking trees in twain - there's no hope for the mere human men he comes into contact with, flung into a scrabbling mess, laser beams going far wide if they're even eked out at all from jerking fingers. Still, there's a lot of them, and collateral damage is always possible, particularly as he reaches the end of the encroaching column; super-speed or not, Maxima's enslaved troops don't seem to care enough about themselves not to be firing down the line in preparation, only the speed of Superboy saving themselves from murdering the men he scatters.

The few remaining on Kinetic's side keep firing, but they're starting to run out of energy - literally, their guns sputtering out as the torrent begins to subside, but they're responding to psychic orders and well... Maxima is quite busy. Blankly, blindly, they keep pulling the triggers anyway. Life seems to be getting easier for the heroic tag team if not for anybody ELSE on the island.

IN THE MORGUE

The striking politican is startled by the Lurker's quick response, gasping and falling back onto his butt as his precious work-aid is flung over his head to take the frontmost soldier square in the chest. There's a nasty snapping sound as ribs give way, and the astonishing pain seems to both break Maxima's spell, a scream uttered from his lips as he falls to his knees, sobbing. The second missile tears over HIS head to send his squadmates scattering - or at least the largest part of them, several others going the way of the Dodo as well. Meanwhile, the panicked men all flock toward the back of the room, scooping up their fallen compatriot and hustling past the dramatic vamp.

It's only a few moments before one of them hears Sandy's banging and lets her in before rebarring the doors.

She's a wreck, gasping and crying, but looking over at the Lurker-- well, someone's eyes turn to beating hearts instantly.

The remaining men at the front of the building come staggering almost drunkenly over their own fallen, before levelling a trio of laser beams toward Abel, one missing entirely to set immediate flame to a corpse beside him; the other two aiming a little better, one for the knee and one for the face. They're not bad shots, for brainwashed mooks.


"Your, uh, wedding, right...your wedding dress is a bit, um. Small." The Beetle focuses on Maxima's face, since there's not a lot of safe places to /look/. Fortunately, the suit is made of tough stuff. "Look, no, I don't know how much it cost!" Raise left hand. Form shield. "Huh?" Jaime obeys without thinking - on defense, he tends to. The shield sprouts out of his left hand, catching the throat strike - and sending Jaime hurtling back. "Ow! That hurt!"

He dodges upwards as the roundhouse kick comes in, both shield and tesla cannon gone. He rubs his left arm with his right hand. "That - wait, that /hurt/! You weren't kidding when you said she was dangerous!" Extreme strength. Need to disrupt focus. Body not suggested target. "What?" Eyes. Photon flare. Follow up with neural shock, induce brain death. "No brain death!" Fine. Sonic burst. "Nonlethal?" Yes. Will hopefully daze, give more time.

Jaime is pretty sure Maxima is stronger than he is. She can hurt him through his armor, and that's not easy. He dives in close regardless, bringing one hand up towards her face. The palm flares bright. Photon flare: a flashbulb. Hopefully, Maxima's /senses/ are not super-resilient. He flies back then, following it up with a burst of noise from a sound cannon, trying to rattle her. Unfortunately, rattling isn't painful, really - just, at worst, disorienting.

But Jaime has a /plan/! It's not a very good plan, but it has at /least/ two steps.


Wyld Knight looks at Kinetic says "Humm it seems you have changed little. I have my duty, I always carry out my contact and finish it. I am giving you a chance you never gave them. To just walk away." There's a scowl on her face she seems to know the young hero from somewhere but who knows. She looks at superboy and just laughs at him. "So says someone who behaves little better than a highway man?" Lighting starts to form about the blade as she looks between the two. 

"I am afraid you are the ones who will be in for trouble."


"Ridiculous Earth-fool!" Laughs Maxima, concealing her frustration at the Beetle's successful defensive manuevers by tossing her hair once more, setting a hand to her hip as she rather effortlessly controls her flight patterns to match his motions - keeping them at range as he banters with his Scarab and she... preens. Preening is very important. "This is NOT my wedding dress! Would you like to see my wedding dress, Mr. Blue Earth-fool?" Because she knows he's not a beetle, now. Can't fool her. Nope.

His dive interrupts her subsequent smirking, and puts paid to whatever it is she starts to do that sets her entire body to glowing, flesh igniting from within and what little material she /is/ wearing starting to shimmer with an irridescent light. It probably doesn't help her complete failure to evade a fraction of an instant later, his flaring palm instead met with the disdainful raising of an arm as if to block or parry. She's sensed his strength isn't on par; she's ignorant and self-absorbed but she's not entirely stupid. However, she's forsaken what he hasn't - and done no research whatsoever.

She flinches /hard/ at the bursting light, thrown back fully six feet as she reacts explosively, snarling and throwing both hands over her eyes to rub them clear. "HOW DARE YOU!" She's yelling through gritted teeth, which is really quite impressive - a shame that she's drowned out by the piercing whine of his sonic cannon, though a second whine echoes from the very depths of space as the orbiting ship sends down a disrupting counter-signal.

"Hmph!" Maxima draws herself up and her eyes begin to flash, going from odd anomaly to searing fire in a half-second to send a broad bolt of psychokinetic energy through the air toward the Beetle. She's fast enough to track him, but he's had time to prepare by then; and her vision's not 100. It's mostly an instinctive blast, fired off as fast and hard as she can possibly make it. It's enough to shatter buildings or induce...

Well, induce brain-death. Speaking of which.

"Mistress, have you noticed how much he /talks/..."

"Little BUSY, SA--"

"/Pay attention/, Lady Maxima! He's talking but I'm not picking up any signals! It's. His. Suit."

It's at that moment that Maxima's eyes widen with alarm. It's not something she'll let herself show often.

Is it the revelation? Is it that Sazu DARED to interrupt? Is it a bird? Or a plane?

Or... has something else happened? Tune in next pose to find out, readers!


With his brow still raised, he managed to dodge two deathbeams with one stone, or chair, as it were. Seeing a laser aimed dead center for his face, and knowing these things were very bad to get hit with, Abel 'kicked' out at nothing, launching the chair he was keeping it on toward that beam, to let it explode from the impact. At the same time, it kept his leg out the way of that attempted laserrific kneecapping, but he snarled when he heard his cape singing.

"Well bugger, isn't that beautiful! That's it, away with thee!"

Wanting to act before these guys fired again, or before they got another bead on him, he leapt through the air, using sudden vampire agility to try and land in the center of the men, immediately launching out with open-palmed slaps(that were as hard as haymakers, here), and roughly grabbing at weapons, trying to use improvised, slightly unorthodox Judo manuevers to flip and disarm these ruffians all at once. Of course, the key word was attempt, wasn't it? He had no idea if these were each little Deathstrokes or the like, and things could end very poorly right now...


"No, no, please don't take off your shirt! Really! I don't need to see your wedding dress!" Jaime does not want to explain to his mother why a supervillain offered to change clothing for him. This is /already/ awkward. At least part one of the plan is going well. Energy. Psychokinetic. Addendum: chance of enhanced intellect 0. Brain development not notable enough to handle both psionic power and intellect. "Yeah, I got that!" Jaime weaves through the air quickly, trying to dodge the blasts. Each could be deadly if they hit.

But he has to handle part two of the plan, too. He moves to try and keep himself between Maxima and the statue. This blasts could easily hit it - and she seemed attached to it, since, well, it looks like Superman. Jaime isn't attacking now - he's focusing entirely on surviving and keeping his position relative to the statue.

"Okay -" Detecting communications signals. Patch in? "How long would that take?" Variable. Divert focus? "Um...no. I need our focus." Half an hour. "Yeah, how fast if we divert a little focus?" 1 minute if no weapons systems are brought online. "Do it."

So Jaime now has no guns for the next minute, as he tries to patch into Maxima's communications. Or, rather, the scarab does. That's okay. He doesn't need guns. Hopefully.


IN THE MORGUE

Mentally-dominated they may be, but the men 'employed' by Maxima were - and are, if they get woken up - trained American marines, posted to the island of Guam to serve and protect some of the wealthier exported citizenry of the United States. However, they're still not match for vampires; Abel's charge is met with fairly ineffectual counter-fire, their weapons slower than the assault rifles they'd normally wield, and psychic seizure no replacement for actual training. Laser blasts go wide, and one even cuts close on the inside as the Lurker lands, roasting one of the poor men to a crisp without so much as a by-his-leave.

The others act as fast as they can, though one is disarmed and struck unconscious in what seems an instant - likely because it IS. By the time two are down, the remaining man has spun away, taking a reeling blow on the temple but moving through the pain and shock of the move, dropping low to charge at Abel in a rapid double-leg takedown. Moving through the gap of the doors are two more men, one taking point to fire into the back room with his rifle; presumably seeing the politicians as a lingering threat.

The other leaps to join his friend on the floor, seeking to pin Abel while he reaches to pull a combat knife.


"Look, dude... right now I don't..." Toss. WHAM. "Much..." Toss. WHAM. "Care..." Toss. WHAM! On down the line, blurring from point to point, "Whatyournameis!" Just what side Kinetic is on. "We'll have to care and share later." Right now, SB is focused on fixing the abundant amount of freeeaking mess going down in his general vicinity. Like the Nanoknight out avenging her royal madmatron. He's a little occupied keeping the professional zombie-soldiers from headshotting each /other/, too. 

The last two members of the squad are tossed (relatively speaking) gently back behind him, making a last haphazard little pile, each containing four to six men all gathered together in groaning groups. The weapons seem to fall apart in his wake which crackles with crimson energy, as if of their own accord. They just don't have the will to fight, apparently. "The Highwayman? Nope, wrong name, sister." He doesn't elaborate further, he just flies up above Wyld, vivid blue eyes never leaving her. "So, are we going through, or do we need to have a little tea party first?" He quips, flippant in the face of danger.


"Excuse me one moment," Kinetic glances over his shoulder, sending a telekinetic shockwave at the men still firing. Not even watching the results, he turns his attention back to Wyld Knight and frowns. "Okay, one...who are you and what do you mean I've changed? And two...they started shooting at me first before I said a word to them and then that guy," he points in Superboy's direction. "showed up and things went nuts," he pauses when he sees the lightning. "of course there's lightning. Nothing here on crazy island is simple," he sighs. The costumed blond watches Superboy a moment before shaking his head. Touching back down on the sand, he concentrates and focuses on sending the sand around Wyld up around her to obscure her vision.


Jaime's conversation with his Scarab goes uninterrupted again...

*FOOM!*

Because Maxima is busy staring in utter horror as she blows the head clean off her wedding gift to Superman. It's not a subtle process - the second or third bolt she fires off, they come out so fast it's hard to be sure, ripples past the agile Beetle to explode against shiny shiny blank-face. The stalwart structure crumbles in an /instant/, showering vicious metal across the skies, some of it raining down upon Jaime and the rest either on Maxima herself or the fleeing citizens. There's a good chance of injury from that; the stuff is red hot, so fatality is certainly not unlikely, but for the Empress of Almerac...

They're just flesh wounds, at worst. Most zing away, some draw crimson lines. These only serve to infuriate her further when she snaps to, mouth a terrible rictus as she whirs upon Jaime and suddenly moves faster than she has /yet/, leaving a sonic boom in her wake that ravages the topside of the cathedral, tearing away some of the unused weapon emplacements and caving in the roof. Maxima's busy trying to brain the Blue Beetle, roaring incoherently as she swings far and wide with scorching hooks and the occasional straight jab, a blitzkrieg combination of blows designed to just completely smear him across the clouds.

"THAT!" *thwak* "WAS!" *whoosh* "FOR!" *smash* "MY!" *crunch* "BETROOOOOOTHED!!!"

Hell hath no fury. Of course, she's angry; anger makes people dumb. It makes Maxima DUMBER.

Meanwhile, the giant statue lets out a dull, hollow roar that oscillates between chest-rumblingly low and earthquake-shudderingly low, the square around the cathedral starting to fragment a moment before it seems to lose its head (pun intended) entirely. One lumbering step is taken, causing an impact crater that thankfully flings most of the Guamians free from further devastation as it takes a second and a third, then belts into a full-bore sprint across the territory of the island. It's going to reach the beach where Kin, Mini-Supes and Wyld are battling in... oh, about one minute or so, roaring all the way.

Supezilla is not a happy bunny.


He was feeling rather good, then, but that was before he got grabbed around by the back of the knees, and felt himself in free-fall, his shoulders clearly about to hit the ground. With his face tight-lipped from effort, he merely concentrated and relaxed his body, doing his best to slip his feet up, and his knees from that guard until the soles of his boots found themselves on the chest of that ambitious soldier. If this all worked, then when he hit the ground he'd tuck his legs in...before launching that soldier out, aiming him like an impromptu projectile toward his allies. Of course, vampire or no, he'd be unable to get right back up after that, for now just trying to deal with the other soldier that had landed on him. Always the danger of fighting multiple opponents, really...


"Crapcrapcrapcrap I forgot about the people!" Jaime can't use his guns to shoot down the pieces, either. Instead, he dives around Maxima, forming up shields on his arms - that's not a weapons system. Energy discharges are. He grits his teeth, but several of her blows manage to land. That's gonna sting later. Hell, it stings /now/. "Scarab! How are we doing?" Nearly patched in.

Jaime dives for the falling debris, trying to tackle it out of the way of the people. Maybe he'll get lucky and he can even use Maxima's blows to help hurl them away. He can't let people die! Even if it means he takes some hits. Even if it means he has to change plans midstream. He manages to avoid most of the blows...

But this is not a pain-free flight by any means.


The Teen of Steel opens his mouth again immediately, probably to fire out some other arguably witty crack, but he stops midstream. Cants his head slightly to the side. "What the fuu..." It's the second time in five minutes he's been completely distracted from what he was going to do, with what needs to be done, "Uh, dude." He sounds kind of chagrined at this. "People are dying. Hang on here. I'll.. try to hurry." To Wyld. He aims one hand, and finger-guns, "Your lucky day. We'll have to tango later."

Then, he's gone. A flash of color and motion, a resounding *KRAKOW* in the air, an invisible shockwave rattling the scenic shoreline buildings and boardwalks. SB has been around enough crushed buildings and terrified crowds to know that what is going down with giant Steampunk Superman is /bad shit/. He's not the Flash, who would be there even before Jaime changed his mind to seek to stem the new chaos... but he's there instants after the Blue Beetle turns his focus to blasting debris and rescuing babies. That same blur of motion, coming in as the crow flies.

Full bore into the Kryptoclone's replicant idol's chest. It's the kind of sound most dudes don't hear unless they're mid-warzone. Step one: Stop this behemoth in its tracks. Maybe even knock it back the way it's coming from.


Shields, pfft! Maxima does her best to keep on pounding, just completely and utterly abandoned to slugging the Blue Beetle in the mush right now. There are more intelligent things she could be doing - but even were she so inclined and not hormonal beyond all rational belief, her attention is split across the remaining several hundred soldiers on the rest of the island; not to mention still attempting to keep control over that rampaging statue. But then, nobody knows for sure that's what she's DOING, do they?

"Mistress! Stop! I'm monitoring your emanations and... you're losing control. If you keep this up--"

"SAZU!" *sock* "He's RUINING EVERYTHING!" *biff* "I am the LADY MAXIMA and--" *whamwhamwham*

That last combination sends civilians scattering, freeing the last of them from immediate threat range. And then Maxima is snarling more viciously, focus entering her rabid gaze as she swings back away from the Beetle, keeping speed but not closing for a half-second as she watches for a breach in the pattern of his shields. Surely he can't be focusing so completely; while still being a ridiculous hero? She's not sure why he even cares for these petty fools, but-- he broke her things!! The last thought drives the sheer, galaxy-shuddering brutality behind the kick she swings her tall, muscular frame into an instant later, driving it with a spark of psychokinetic energy - giving the attack enough speed it lifts another minor sonic boom in its wake.

It leaves Maxima herself panting. "This... is not... ACCEPTABLE!"

"Your majesty, if you keep attacking like this you /will/ lose everything! I'm releasing the final stage of our defenses, and you /will/ teleport back to the ship /immediately/! Are you /listening/ to me, Lady Maxima?"

Sazu's sudden air of command is coupled with her slamming both fists onto the command console, a familiar yet more intellectual fury entering her gaze as she stares full bore into the monitors, driving her words home with a tiny echo of Maxima's own psychic eminence creeping through her tone. It's not enough to give her any actual control over the Warrior Queen, but it might just give her pause for thought. A second later...

She hits a button, just as Superboy slams into the behemoth headless form of Superman^200.

A gigantic crack rips down the central portion of its mess, and the thing ROARS all the louder, stopped in its tracks only so long as it takes to throw an arm out to either side, and then clap both mighty, hundred-ton palms down toward its chest, seeking to swat the fly bothering it by destroying /itself/ if necessary.

MEANWHILE, IN 'MYSTERIES OF THE WITCHING HOUR LURKER' VOLUME 10,461

Abel's efforts are rewarded one more, his opponent flying into the frantically-firing soldier behind him a moment before he can actually remember how not to aim like a stormtrooper. The braver of the politicians manage to get the door slammed shut a beat later, a bar falling into place over the back room doors just in time to drown out Sandy's besotted cry. "Good luck, handsome str--" *BOOM*

The last laser bolt sizzles a small hole in the woodwork, but it holds.

With just one man left, Abel is treated to the shining glint of a US-issue combat knife, drool working down the lips of the man holding it as he seeks with unheeding skill to drive the edge down against the vampire's throat and make a short, sharp slit across the jugular vein - his thighs squeezing to either side to hold the Lurker still. He's reasonably strong, but lacks the near-superhuman heights a creature of the night may reach.


All those sonic booms are giving Kinetic a major headache, the blond holding his head a moment. When the giant metal superman comes stomping their way, Kinetic's jaw drops. "Oh crud muffins..." he trails off. When Superboy stakes off, Kinetic jumps. "Yeah, done playing with the mooks," he says, letting his aura flare into view around him. The telekinetic teen takes off, ignoring Wyld and heading as fast as he can fly to catch falling people and stop dangerous debris.


Wyld Knight says, "I am Wyld Knight and you don't remeber? Somehow I'm not suprised you do not." She doesn't get much more to say as she watches Superboy take off. "Who was /that/. She's a bit ignorant of the world, but even she has no idea who the heck or what her might be. She turns her attention to the remaining hero. 

"Oh you think your done do you?" 

She leaps after Kinetic with a powerful bound heading right after him and as she's airborn launches a bolt of lighting from her drawn blade at the young super hero. 

"Run like a coward and I will hunt you down!"


Even 'trapped' under a deranged, murderous mind-controlled soldier, Abel can still chuckle at the situation.

"I can tell you're a reality television fan, aren't yo-"

He never gets the chance to finish that quip, as he sees the knife slash forward, he brings his hand up to cushion the blow, knife tearing through leather and stabbing right through the palm of his hand-but he grabs at the man's fist, trying to keep it clenched, now painfully tight...and now, he pulls another trick out of his hat.

This trick involves the masked man's face CHANGING. Cheekbones get higher, face itself grows more gaunt, flesh paling, and fangs growing visibly now, sliding out and eager to sink themselves into warm, willing(or unwilling) flesh, even as Abel now fought that urge.

The biggest change, however, were his eyes, changing from their regular gray playfulness, to black. Jet black, save small, red circles that made for his irises. He spoke in a lower, more commanding tone of voice, dropping all playfulness as he (hopefully) works his magic...

"Listen to me. You're going to stop this foolishness, you're going to let me get up, and we are going to have a rather long chat about what a bother you've been. Is that clear, dear boy?"


Jaime's focus on pure defense is paying off. His shields don't exactly /have/ a pattern, either - they're just two big metal plates on the ends of his arms, which he swings around to try and block the attacks. The holes are easy to spot - Jaime is not a trained fighter by any stretch. Comms patched. However, he now has a new plan. As Maxima holds back for that moment, he comes up with an idea.

As she flies at him, he does his best to defend, bringing the shields together. One of them cracks and shatters under the force of the blow, sending the Blue Beetle hurtling through the air. "GAAAAH! That really stings!" Repair time: 24 hours. "That's great, just - look, get me their radio." Transmitting.

The scarab dives through the ship's systems, hoovering up data on every weapon it can get its hands on. Jaime's eyes widen. He frowns...and then Maxima's radio system releases a burst of Reach language before shifting languages. Jaime's voice, with a background hum translating it into her own tongue, as the Scarab analyzes the language it is reading. "Lady Maxima, huh? Stand down. I'm in your ship now, and I don't even /know/ all of what I could do with it! Just stand down and deactivate your weapons or I'll go play around finding out! That /includes/ your living weapons. If you hurt anyone those are attached to..." Jaime shifts in the air, allowing one arm to protrude a long, jagged blade. "Then I will do whatever I can to mess up your ship - and given I'm in the system, that could be a lot."

Jaime is not a hacker; the scarab /is/, but Jaime has no idea how much his bluff is actually a bluff. (More than he'd like, he's certain.)


All it takes is a touch... but Superboy would rather that not be a crushing blow between the titanic Superidol's palms. "Heh." He has time to smirk. It looks for an instant like the Teen of Steel is crushed, the behemoth's hands crashing together with window-shattering force, nearby buildings lurching in their foundations. In the third-of-a-second before that, though, the Kryptoclone blasts /through/ the giant doppleganger's left palm in a flare of red. Pure solar energy smelts metal... then /vaporizes/ it. It doesn't drip clear, it doesn't run like wax. The eyebeams are full bore heat vision.

... and another pair of shades bites the dust. "/Damnit!" Superboy manages the protest before darting back into the titan's grill, and mockingly clapping his own hands before pressing both palms to the bottom of the cracked replica 'S' shield. "Man. This is the worst tribute since Fatal Attraction." Superboy's words might be lost to the wrenching scream of bending, rending metal as he vastly worstens the splintering wound down the statue's front. Near-invisible energies ripple and expand, tear through on the molecular level, holding nothing back. All it takes is a touch. It takes him a moment to follow the wavelength to pick up on Jaime, amid the Reachtech's distortion particularly, but he's not waiting to find out if the gambit pays off... he's tearing the thing down now.

Possibly the most alarming part of the effort to disable the creature is the way it all rends down towards the monolithic thing's not-quite-booted feet, nothing falling free. The collateral is already bad, here... but he's not making it worse if he can help it, instead shoving the thing down towards submission. From what he's picked up so far this Beetle dude at least has the crazy space stalker /occupied/. Don't let her look at him don't let her look at him...


Just setting down some falling debris, Kinetic blinks when he senses Wyld Knight leaping his way. "The heck?!" he yelps, using the debris to shield against the lightning. "Lady, what is your problem? There's more important things that need doing than fighting you!" he calls, sending the chunk of debris rocketing at Wyld in hopes of knocking her off path.


By the time the Beetle gets inside Maxima's systems, well, the button is pressed.

"Quack," says the first thing that emerges. "Quack!" Echo all the others. Hundreds of them.

Ordinarily mere ducks might not be a threat to powerful superbeings, but not only are these also under the thrall of Maxima's psychic prowess; they're loaded forebear, tiny flashing lights visible on their wings and each feathered undercarriage carrying a small but incredibly potent bomb. Almeracian tech, each carries a payload equivalent to a cruise missile. The flock spreads wide and high, then comes arcing down at all angles; with perhaps three or hundred to go around, that's quite a few for each individual hero to deal with. Though their aim is not perfect - it's a wide and scattered spread. Sadly this means enough to level most of Guam.

Fortunately for Guam and our heroes, there's a very simple 'disarm' button of sorts.

The initial burst in alienese causes Maxima's face to scrunch like she's just smelled a particularly loathesome fart, some recognition flashing through her gaze with the natural confusion. "Sazu..." she begins to address her indignant Royal Advisor before Jaime's voice cuts in. Up on the bridge, her childhood friend hammers at the console, cursing herself and the ship for not having better /automatic/ hacking defenses, but it's too late to really do anything more than she has.

The Empress of Almerac has other ideas, and she's rushing at Jaime before he finishes, throwing herself at him with devastating fury, her eyes beginning to spark with more of that explosive psychic power when-- he utters that threat, and suddenly her brain goes a cartwheel as it wakes up. The entire purpose of this excursion was to make Superman marry her; she needed POSSESSIONS to do that way, she needs a DOWRY. If she squishes this beetle, like the pathetic Earth-fool she assumed he was, then she potentially loses all of that...

But there's another question in that reasoning.

"What ARE you?" She demands, billowing to a halt in the air, putting on the brakes hard but still coming to within striking distance of him. Arrogantly she flings out a hand, stopping short of hitting - but pointing a single digit directly into his face. "I demand to know! You may have control of MY data but now I have yours; my ship's scanners will know what you are. I /recognize/ that language you spoke, and your suit..." Her eyes narrow to perilous slits, and she seems to think for a long moment, then belts out a laugh, throwing her head back, crimson hair rippling in the breeze - both the wind and her own, released energies.

She's actually lowered her guard. And the psychic links across the island with it.

"Hmph!" A smile curls upon her lips. She's still /seething/ and it shows in her eyes, but there's something else there now. Because what she assumed to be a pitiful, worthless planet just might be something more. Her collossus falls to pieces as Kon tears it asunder nearby, but with his final efforts it's falling apart of its own volition too - released from her control, from the only thing binding it. His final shove sends it crashing down, where what remains falls into the component parts, tat and toot gathered from the island and the intercepted boats. It's nothing, now; as useless as the men and women now regaining their senses and falling to their knees, sobbing and shaking, by the thousand. They don't matter to Maxima, not any more.

"VERY WELL, Blue Earth-fool," announces the Empress, flying backward, arms spread in a vast shrug, "You may keep your pathetic excuse for an island nation. I shall build my palace elsewhere! Relinquish control of my ship and I shall have Sazu beam me aboard. You may consider this a LUCKY ESCAPE. But be aware, little one..."

She flings an arm forth, one more pointing directly and incredibly rudely at Jaime's covered face.

"We SHALL meet again!"

Across the island, ducks begin to land, doing so in pools or on beaches, quacking in confusion.

It seems like she might actually be... capable of keeping her word? So far, so good, at least.

IN THE MORGUE

The release of Maxima's control carries with it respite for the Lurker; at first, all he gathers from his efforts if a confused and drooling face, saliva pattering down over his chest as the poor bemused mook appears stunned more than frightened - the knife hanging an inch from cutting throat, fingers quivering and gentle, uncertain grunts coming from between those moist lips. But when he finishes speaking...

It's like a spell is suddenly cast, or rather removed. The US trooper suddenly casts his knife aside and sinks back, tumbling off the vampire with a whimper, wiping first at his mouth and then at his face as tears begin to course down his cheeks. NOW he's terrified, looking at the nightmare face in front of him with a grimace of childish horror, reduced to little more than a babe despite his uniform and physique. A glance goes to his men, and then instinct cuts in-- he's up and on his feet, and running a moment later, leaving WHL alone...

A monster in the gloom. A monster who's saved many lives today.


When the man pulled his knife back, he pulled it through flesh, not slicing through bone, but cutting it enough to count, and causing Abel to wince and curse at the sudden sensation.

"I would have given it back to you, you sodding..."

But now, he lets it recover, and not quite knowing they were mind controlled, he puts two and two together by the looks in their faces and the sudden "daring escape" by the last soldier...as Abel let his 'Vampface' fade away to something more normal and suitable, and his hand mended into a simple fleshwound, he took care to round all the weapons away from the incapacitated soldiers, just in case...when said weapons were in a big pile in the middle of the room, THEN he knocked on the doors where the politicians were hid.

"Alright, it's safe to come out, then!"


Jaime closes his eyes, preparing for the hit that will smash through his defenses. You should have killed her. "I..." He doesn't answer his suit, looking up at Maxima as she stops just short of striking him. His eyes focus on the finger. "I...I told you. I'm the Blue Beetle. That's all I have to be." It's much more confident-sounding than he actually is. Jaime has no idea where his suit came from or what language he spoke. It's just /there/.

He looks down at the ducks. "Anyway...thank you. I appreciate it. Disconnecting." You're sure? "/Do it./" The scarab drops its connection. Jaime keeps his word, too.

The scarab, at this point, alerts him to another threat nearby. It flags 'Kryptonite gas' as a weapon to use. "...wait, what?" Highly effective. "Just stop." He hangs in the air, letting out a long breath.

He is, at least, smart enough not to vocalize his thoughts here: 'Man, I can't believe that worked.'


The deconstructing idol is managed as efficiently as possible, Superboy basically crushing it down like an invisible baler, its components compressed around themselves in a tight little cube. More of a mass, really. He's not taking time to be geometrically proper, just smooshing. It affords him cover from Maxima, which proves to be a large part of the extensive effort, as the clone of her 'betrothed' flies upwards once more, out into the open at least for a moment.

He's near the Blue beetle in the next, looking up after the space queen. "What the hell?" It's not something the other hero is likely to be able to answer a whole lot better. The Teen of Steel pauses. Considers. "Uh. Who are you talking to?" One thing he can't hear: Reachvoice in Jaime's head. Then he remembers the Telekinetic and the Nanoknight, "Oh, crap." He bolts back the way he came, to Kinetic and Wyld. It's not an odd encounter next to Maxima; but it sure ain't normal at all.


"Seriously," Kinetic groans, strengthening his bodyfield. "why me?" he mutters. Catching the chunk of concrete he threw, he sets it down and quickly grabs any other debris he can to set down safely. The ducks just get a stare from Kinetic. "What....why...Kamekazi Ducks?!" he yelps, flying out of the way of where he thinks Wyld Knight will land. As things start to settle down, the telekinetic just looks lost. Remembering Wyld, Kinetic turns back towards her. "Your boss is leaving. Gonna stand down yet?" he asks, almost positive she's just going to attack him again.


"Sazu?" Maxima rarely sounds less than entirely confident, but she's testing the waters slightly with that, an eyebrow quirking as she maintains eye contact with the Beetle. Her word is her bond, in spite of all else that she is, but that's no guarantee that his is also; clever he might have proven, selfless and just, but she's not entirely sure that's he a WARRIOR yet. Her command is answered only by silence for several seconds, and her gaze begins to narrow once more, a reddish-purple glow subsuming the whites of her eyes.

"...I'm back in control, mistress. Prepare to teleport?"

"Hmph." Her hands clap to her hips, and the Warrior Queen goes so far as to cock them, swaying in mid-air to show off her curves top and bottom with a sauntering physical arrogance she probably believes is coquettish. It's mostly really, really slutty, not helped at all by the fluttering of her eyelids at the besuited Beetle. "I accept your gratitude, but must repeat my assertion with full and..." She pauses, biting down on her bottom lip as she glances out over the island, the island she's given up for what? For this? For HIM? Her eyes are back on Jaime a beat later, and she leans forward, smiling wide and predatory. "/Honourable/ intent."

She doesn't make it sound very 'honourable'. She makes it sound like the least 'honourable' thing EVER.

"We SHALL meet again. SAZU! Take me home! And then run a bath! I have a lot to... think about."

Oh dear. There's thankful little time to think about that as she breaks down into individual molecules with a whirring, pulpy sci-fi hum as the ship's teleporter engages. Within a few seconds, the resulting rainbow-coloured motes have coalesced into a loose beam and thundered heavenward with a dynamic *whoooosh*. Back on the ship, five minutes later, Maxima drops what little clothing she was wearing onto the floor and dips a toe, squeaking with pleasure at the perfect temperature of her tub. Behind her, Sazu is back to buffing her nails.

"Mistress?" She asks boredly. "Hm?" Replies Maxima. "What should we do about Wyld?"

BACK IN THE MORGUE

The doors are flung open, revealing to the saved faces of the politicans their hero of the hour. A 'hip-hip-huzzah!' is soon in full force like we've entered some terrible timewarp to the 1950s, until the wave of fat, reddish faces parts to reveal a woman clad in business attire, clutching a ruined microphone to her breast and gazing at Abel as invisible birds sing a hymn around her dazed and exhaustedly relieved skull.

Sandy Mahogany wanders forward like she's in a dream and then...

With no more fanfare at all, flings herself at the Witching Hour Lurker and tries to get a woman made of herself.

Love is /definitely/ in the air today.


Jaime coughs as Superboy asks him a question. "Um...voice in my head." Accurate. He then backs away in the air from Maxima, trying desperately to maintain eye contact. This is kind of an effort; he's /sixteen/. "Um...yeah. Uh. Okay." Neurotoxins are still available. Jaime does not answer as Maxima teleports out, instead shaking his head and then flying after Superboy.

"Uh, thanks for the assist with the statue. I'm the Blue Beetle. The, uh, I was talking to my armor." Threat Assessment: High. "Stop that! Anyway, um...is it /normal/ for supervillains to hit on you after you get them to go away?"


Wyld Knight is still keeping after Kinetic and she looks right at him. There's something strange about her that's for sure, something's off but more than just the standard villain working ofr another one. The Ducks however ruffle her feathers shocking her as well. She sees her employer is leaving and it's time for her to go. "It seems you have a point, it seems my contract is finished for the moment." 

Not the thing you expected she turning, droping towards the ground, she's now sprinting at high speed trying to get the heck out of here before she's left behind.


Contrary to popular belief, vampires -could-, in fact, partake in activities that they used to, as long as it didn't involve tanning or firebathing. Abel could sit down and eat a meal without suffering any ill effects. He wouldn't truly 'benefit' from it, but he could still enjoy the taste, enjoy the smells, but it would never be as big a part of his life as it used to be. It moved from a necessity and thus sort of 'addiction'...to more of a passing interest, at most. A novelty he indulged in from time to time.

It was much the same way with sex, and physical attraction. Much like an adult viewed his once important childhood obsessions, so did Abel Thatcher view the act of physically joining with another. A pleasant, fond memory, but something that didn't hold sway over him any lonver. And so, when she beelined toward him, he opened his arms wide, grasping Sandy and immediately putting her in the arms of her colleagues, speaking authoritatively toward them as he did so.

"Poor thing, she's in shock, and still hysterical from the danger of it all. Go get her to a warm bed, and insist she rest and stay hydrated. Perhaps a damp cloth over her head, it should right itself quick. I'm afraid you'll all have to let yourselves out, can't bare to be outside. Deadly allergies, horrible stuff, you understand. I'll wait here until it's not as powerful tonight, then I'll be on my way...toodles!"

Fast talking them, rushing them out, as long as it didn't bring him to the broken doors outside. No, no, he needed to wait, needed to make his exit when he could...

Well, unless there were any hidden tunnels underneath the morgue. He started tapping the floor with his shoes, checking for hollow points.


MEANWHILE, IN SPACE

"Hm?" Maxima repeats, then waves a hand, "Whatever you like, Sazu."

"...you know, sometimes I wonder who's really in charge here."

"What was that, Sazu?"

"Teleporting her up now, mistress!"

A flick of a switch, a push of a button, and Wyld Knight is next to break down to rainbow molecules.

The Empress of Almerac sighs, hooking a leg over the edge of her tub and sinking deep into the frothy bubbles. Win or lose; it's GOOD to be bad.


"Man." It's somewhere between frustrated and just /confused/ as he sees Wyld speed off. It's the space between seconds where the Teen of Steel arrives, suddenly commentating from just above Kinetic, floating there easily. "Just a minute." He's gone just as fast. First, make sure the ducks aren't... detonating. They're not right? No death by ducks. He arrives back on that same street only perhaps a quarter-minute later, now wearing a rather LOUD blue shirt over his trunks, and a fresh pair of shiny sleek silver-framed shades.

"Superboy." It's offered to Kinetic simply when he arrives. He pauses a moment. Looks around at the mayhem. The destruction. The zombies regaining their senses. He looks for words. He echoes himself. "What the hell man?"


Wyld Knight is there running one moment, poof rainbows and she's gone. She'll reappear where ever that Maxima has teleported her too. She's thankful though and now doesn't regret at all working for the alien queen. She seems to take care of the hired help!


The Blue Beetle lands by Kinetic and Superboy, looking around. "No, really. Is that /normal/? I mean, I was not expecting her to hit on me. Anyway, uh..." Big red S, Kryptonite recommendation. "...you're with Superman, then?" He shakes his head. "Man, I hope she doesn't actually come back for me. The last thing I need is explaining to my mom why a crazy alien lady wants to jump my bones."


He already sent the politicians out of the morgue. They might be seen by some of the heroes, who would most assuredly tell them about who rescued them if questioned. Lurker would take care of this himself, but, you know, there was that minor obstacle...


"With Superman? Not.. exactly." Family matters are complicated, sometimes! Particularly when you don't have a mommy or a daddy, not really. "Normal? Well." Superboy floats in a bit neared to the Blue Beetle, stage whispering, "Sometimes they hit on us, yep. I think they're all a little crazy, too. ... not usually island-shattering, population-cleansing batshit, though." The Teen of Steel scratches pensively at the back of his neck, shaking his head.

It's a pretty important distinction. "You're.. the Blue Beetle? Why not.. Stellar Scarab, or Azure Avenger, Cobalt Carapace or like..." Pause. Maybe he realizes the guy might just like beetles, or that it doesn't really matter. "You alright?"


"Uh..." Jaime rubs the back of his neck. "...because the thing I got is the Blue Beetle's. There was this scarab, and when we looked it up online it turns out it belonged to the first Blue Beetle. And the second one. I'd give it back to him, but, well, it kind of...I can't any more?" Jaime shrugs. Explaining that he got a giant metal beetle lodged in his spine is never easy.

"And, uh...well, she hits pretty hard. I think I might have cracked rib..." Two. Will heal in two days. ".../two/ cracked ribs. But I'll be okay in a few days. At least, that's what the suit says."


"Gotcha." Superboy doesn't, not really. It's a start, though. He takes a moment to peel back the layers, going inward on the onion with a look of focus as he confirms the stability of Jaime's injuries briefly. He's seen a couple emergencies in the field, now. Enough to look out for unforseen problems on that front, for sure. "Wouldn't strain them if I were you." Not that 'broken bones' are on the forefront of his frequent experiences list, but... he still remembers just being 'boy', before any of the sun-fueled powers started kicking in properly.

He hovers there a moment, another hero carrying a lost legacy, without fully knowing the purposes behind it. "Come on Blue Beetle, uh, teke-dude." He starts flying off from Beetle and Kinetic, "There's a safehouse this way, you guys can nurse your wounds." While the emergency crews tend to the others... they may have averted major casualties, but damn. Close shave in the islands today.