With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

hkim · Nov 8, 2024

hkim said:
Is this whole thing going to be various LexCorp damsels trying to get Match to flex his manly muscles for them? If so, I am here for it, that's some prime Silver Age silliness

So, "yes", then

Possibly complete with "wait this one was real but Match doesn't notice".

Someguy Somewhere · Nov 8, 2024

Hmm....how about ' as the son of the ambassador to Amazon's, I carry a panic button in case of kidnappings.'

Pretty sure Lex would get tired of having to rebuild the walls when the angry mama bear or Amazonian Secret Service keeps busting them down. These games would not be profitable.

Mr Zoat · Nov 9, 2024

April 28th, 2013
09:58 EST

I open my eyes, taking care to avoid focusing on anything for any length of time just in case they're watching us through a camera or something. We are in the meeting room like they said, and I'm not even tied up. Janet isn't tied up either, but she… She's unconscious. I've seen a lot of unconscious people, and from what I can see it looks like drunk-unconscious rather than head trauma-unconscious. She certainly doesn't smell injured.

What are those guys here for, and does it really matter?

I've heard of Stagg Enterprises, but I don't really know anything about them. Just having the name of your real employer on your paperwork seems like a bad idea for criminals, so I guess it's supposed to be… Misdirection? Or LexCorp trying to implicate a rival if I captured them and it came to trial? Their leader seemed to have definite ideas about giving us the gentle treatment, so it's possible that he's the only one in on this being a fake robbery. I guess that adds verisimilitude, but it also means that they won't know not to use lethal force against-. Janet. And me, but that's more awkward than anything else.

So what happens if I just sit here? Because this isn't one of Robin's training scenarios. I'm not getting taught how to fight better, or handle dangerous situations better or save people. They're just trying to get me to tell someone that I have super powers.

I mean… It might look good on my application if I handle this…

I loll my head, looking through this floor to try and see if any of them are still up here. I can't see through the main walls but-. Yeah, I can see through the glass and partitions just fine. One guy still here, and he's just got a pistol and a gas spray. I can't see the rest of them, but maybe…

I close my eyes and strain my ears, listening for the sound of communication. Ignoring the more muffled sounds from outside. I think this place is well insulated, possibly because Lex Luthor wanted to make it harder for Superman to hear his staff. The elevator doors and the stairwell doors are fire doors but that doesn't mean that they're airtight, and I'm a kryptonian. And if someone told them that -or just their leader- then they could have picked up a white noise generator or some sort of vibration inhibiting field.

"…an A.I.? And it can see us?"

"No. Like I said, the scrambler stops the local system from deciding that we're a problem it needs to refer upwards. And when we're done here, we can delete the records and stop it making more until we've left."

"Huh?"

"What? Oh. Okay, you know when you see something out of the corner of your eye, jerk your head around and then see it's actually just… A plastic bag or whatever?"

"Ah, yeah. I know what you mean."

"Basically, they stop the A.I. seeing us out of the corner of its eye. It can still see us, but it doesn't think anything of us. We're wallpaper. Carpet. A wave in an ocean of waves."

"That's poetic, man. Beautiful."

"Oh, fuck you. You want a full explanation, do three years of college computer science so you can understand it."

"Okay, but what if someone manually checks it?"

"Oh, then we're screwed. But do you really think that there's an actual human watching every camera in all of LexCorp on a Sunday? A Sunday when there isn't even supposed to be anyone in the office?"

"Huh."

"Yeah."

"So how come we're so much smarter than LexCorp?"

"Oh, we're not. The guys who are smarter than LexCorp hired us to take the risks."

"Guess they're smarter than us, too."

"No doubt."

There's a clunk.

"Okay, that's the first part done. Now we're gunna connect the new board up very carefully. This part actually is dangerous. If you get electrocuted, that's a separate warning circuit and it might set off the A.I. whatever else is happening."

"And then what?"

"Then you have to go to a hospital because you got electrocuted."

"And then we pull out, fast. LexCorp won't call in the Justice League and their internal security will take… Well, it depends. They could get their power armour here in-. Can you hold that? Thanks. In about six minutes if it was fuelled and ready to go, but it's more likely that they'd call everyone off-shift in New York. Or the police."

"And then we pull out and get to a hospital."

"The hospital thing depends. If an electrical shock alarm goes off, then anyone who turns up at a hospital with electrical shocks is going to be a suspect."

"So, don't get shocked. You wanna hold this?"

Okay, they're doing something with the server. I could-.

I do have a panic button. They didn't take it off me. I could just press it and there'd be a squad of Amazons here in a few minutes. Or I could press the other one and Johanna would be here in a few seconds. Would that be a pass? A fail? I don't know.

But… If a teenaged intern actually beat off a group of thieves… It wouldn't be strange for the company chairman to pay them a visit. Right? I mean, he knows who I am, but this isn't going to stay a secret, even if they are plants. And even if he doesn't, they'd have to give me the internship, right? And I should be able to beat them.

And it's not like I'm actually in danger. I could-.

I don't jerk my head up, but I can just about hear the burst sound as the roof access door is blown open. The guard on this floor looks up as well, hands going to his gun.

"The fuck..?"

"What was that?"

"I guess we're not the only ones who know that security's down."

"What now?"

"Depends who they are. There's nothing really valuable here, and if we make a fight of it then people are gunna hear it. Guard. Peak. You hear that?"

"Uh, yeah. You see anything?"

"Cameras are going down. Looks like… Two-. Three people."

"Guns?"

"I-. Maybe."

"So, we're pulling out?"

"Head down to us. I'll try and get a better idea of what they're doing."

"And the kids?"

"If we don't kill them, it's not our problem."

"Great. I thought they were a liability anyway."

I hear his footsteps as he heads for the elevator, and-.

And running steps coming down the stairwell.

"Ah, shi-."

Chojin Patriarch · Nov 9, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
April 28th, 2013
09:58 EST

I open my eyes, taking care to avoid focusing on anything for any length of time just in case they're watching us through a camera or something. We are in the meeting room like they said, and I'm not even tied up. Janet isn't tied up either, but she… She's unconscious. I've seen a lot of unconscious people, and from what I can see it looks like drunk-unconscious rather than head trauma-unconscious. She certainly doesn't smell injured.

Which explains why they added the bottle of alcohol to the 'scene'. That's an impressive little concoction, as long as there aren't any side-effects of a simulated day-drunk session. And big mistake of them to trust it to hold out.

What are those guys here for, and does it really matter?

I've heard of Stagg Enterprises, but I don't really know anything about them. Just having the name of your real employer on your paperwork seems like a bad idea for criminals, so I guess it's supposed to be… Misdirection? Or LexCorp trying to implicate a rival if I captured them and it came to trial? Their leader seemed to have definite ideas about giving us the gentle treatment, so it's possible that he's the only one in on this being a fake robbery. I guess that adds verisimilitude, but it also means that they won't know not to use lethal force against-. Janet. And me, but that's more awkward than anything else.

When in doubt, err on the side of caution. Treat them like real crooks, and let them take their lumps.

So what happens if I just sit here? Because this isn't one of Robin's training scenarios. I'm not getting taught how to fight better, or handle dangerous situations better or save people. They're just trying to get me to tell someone that I have super powers.

I mean… It might look good on my application if I handle this…

Or just play dead, let them have their fun and once they're gone, 'wake up' early.

I loll my head, looking through this floor to try and see if any of them are still up here. I can't see through the main walls but-. Yeah, I can see through the glass and partitions just fine. One guy still here, and he's just got a pistol and a gas spray. I can't see the rest of them, but maybe…

No way to make that stuff x-ray impermeable, after all. Not without employing expensive materials science...

I close my eyes and strain my ears, listening for the sound of communication. Ignoring the more muffled sounds from outside. I think this place is well insulated, possibly because Lex Luthor wanted to make it harder for Superman to hear his staff. The elevator doors and the stairwell doors are fire doors but that doesn't mean that they're airtight, and I'm a kryptonian. And if someone told them that -or just their leader- then they could have picked up a white noise generator or some sort of vibration inhibiting field.

So presumably, someone didn't, or they wanted the guys' loadout to be plausible.

"…an A.I.? And it can see us?"

"No. Like I said, the scrambler stops the local system from deciding that we're a problem it needs to refer upwards. And when we're done here, we can delete the records and stop it making more until we've left."

A convenient workaround for hacking the cameras. Though if they're not inside men, then someone is going to be wondering how they got that.

"Huh?"

"What? Oh. Okay, you know when you see something out of the corner of your eye, jerk your head around and then see it's actually just… A plastic bag or whatever?"

Huh. An interesting way to do it.

"Ah, yeah. I know what you mean."

"Basically, they stop the A.I. seeing us out of the corner of its eye. It can still see us, but it doesn't think anything of us. We're wallpaper. Carpet. A wave in an ocean of waves."

The sneaky kind of 'don't notice me' trick, eh?

"That's poetic, man. Beautiful."

"Oh, fuck you. You want a full explanation, do three years of college computer science so you can understand it."

Ooh, sounds like it's home-made. Or the guy has pretentions of intelligence.

"Okay, but what if someone manually checks it?"

"Oh, then we're screwed. But do you really think that there's an actual human watching every camera in all of LexCorp on a Sunday? A Sunday when there isn't even supposed to be anyone in the office?"

...I don't know, if they know Mitchell is here, they might have someone keeping an eye on him.

"Huh."

"Yeah."

"So how come we're so much smarter than LexCorp?"

Go ahead, blab about your employers, then.

"Oh, we're not. The guys who are smarter than LexCorp hired us to take the risks."

"Guess they're smarter than us, too."

"No doubt."

Not a difficult challenge for some of those guys, it seems.

There's a clunk.

"Okay, that's the first part done. Now we're gunna connect the new board up very carefully. This part actually is dangerous. If you get electrocuted, that's a separate warning circuit and it might set off the A.I. whatever else is happening."

Okay, they're definitely here to add something to Lexcorp's systems. I'm betting it's a concealed tap on their network traffic and file servers.

"And then what?"

"Then you have to go to a hospital because you got electrocuted."

Yeah, household electrics aren't much fun to get shocked by. I don't imagine the office servers are any milder in terms of potential shocks.

"And then we pull out, fast. LexCorp won't call in the Justice League and their internal security will take… Well, it depends. They could get their power armour here in-. Can you hold that? Thanks. In about six minutes if it was fuelled and ready to go, but it's more likely that they'd call everyone off-shift in New York. Or the police."

"And then we pull out and get to a hospital."

Or they send some of their more combat-capable metahumans. Not that I expect the have many. And transit time is still an issue.

"The hospital thing depends. If an electrical shock alarm goes off, then anyone who turns up at a hospital with electrical shocks is going to be a suspect."

"So, don't get shocked. You wanna try this?"

Very astute. I like the interactions between these guys. Very natural.

Okay, they're doing something with the server. I could-.

I do have a panic button. They didn't take it off me. I could just press it and there'd be a squad of Amazons here in a few minutes. Or I could press the other one and Johanna would be here in a few seconds. Would that be a pass? A fail? I don't know.

Certainly, it'd be logical if he didn't have powers. Further misdirection.

But… If a teenaged intern actually beat off a group of thieves… It wouldn't be strange for the company chairman to pay them a visit. Right? I mean, he knows who I am, but this isn't going to stay a secret, even if they are plants. And even if he doesn't, they'd have to give me the internship, right? And I should be able to beat them.
And it's not like I'm actually in danger. I could-.

That's a bit of a stretch, Mitchell. still, if you feel the need to show off...

I don't jerk my head up, but I can just about hear the burst sound as the roof access door is blown open. The guard on this floor looks up as well, hands going to his gun.

"The fuck..?"

Oh, this is going to be messy, I think. Sounds like someone else is crashing this party.

"What was that?"

"I guess we're not the only ones who know that security's down."

Joy. Don't you hate when someone else turns up to your heist?

"What now?"

"Depends who they are. There's nothing really valuable here, and if we make a fight of it then people are gunna hear it. Guard. Peak. You hear that?"

Honestly, if they feign being members of the IT staff or something, they could fake it until the others leave.

"Uh, yeah. You see anything?"

"Cameras are going down. Looks like… Two-. Three people."

So if it came to a fight, the first guys have a slight numbers advantage.

"Guns?"

"I-. Maybe."

Ah, the great equaliser. Bet the first guys didn't bother with anything bigger than a plausibly 'concealed carry' sidearm.

"So, we're pulling out?"

"Head down to us. I'll try and get a better idea of what they're doing."

IF they have to pull out, they'll be screwed if they don't get some intel on the other guys.

"And the kids?"

"If we don't kill them, it's not our problem."

How mercenary of you.

"Great. I thought they were a liability anyway."

I hear his footsteps as he heads for the elevator, and-.

Well, there goes one set of intruders...

And running steps coming down the stairwell.

"Ah, shi-."

...And here's the other. Time to see who these guys are.

Why do I get the feeling the second group are Lex's people doing their staged break-in for Mitchell to 'interrupt', only to walk into the middle of someone else's party? Because the explosive forced entry seems a lot riskier than slipping in as delivery guys. If they aren't an inside crew, their method would attract a lot more heat, from Lexcorp and the authorities...

NightmareWarden · Nov 9, 2024

Please please PLEASE be Blue Paul's universe. Or an escaped OMAC variant designed based on the tech Lex wound up with.

Listen, all I'm saying is I think it would be hilarious if SuperGIRLS are pulled toward the ParagonPaul universe, while SuperBOY and CyborgSuperman candidates keep finding homes elsewhere. It's unfortunate that the reporter close to Brainiac VI breaks that trend, but I'm stubborn enough to ignore that!

Steelplaza · Nov 9, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
But… If a teenaged intern actually beat off a group of thieves… It wouldn't be strange for the company chairman to pay them a visit. Right?

Mitchel has talking about being three years old multiple times in this arc, but this is the first time I've felt it in my gut.

This is motivated reasoning driven by his incredible emotional immaturity. If Mitchel were talking to a third party, he'd see without a shadow of a doubt what a dumb idea all of this is, especially going back to the internship after they messed with him the first time. His own childlike emotions are all tied up in things, though, so he's making bad decisions. It all makes sense.

Mr Zoat · Nov 10, 2024

April 28th, 2013
10:02 EST

Different types of gun make different noises.

There's the bang of an explosive-projectile weapon as the propellant detonates, then the whoosh of expelled gas and the tink of expelled brass. The electrical hum of a railgun's charged capacitor, buzz of air turning to plasma and crack of the broken sound barrier. Lasers are quiet, but they still make a quiet sizzle as they incinerate airborne particles.

Plasma fizzes.

The guard ducks back and pulses of plasma hit the ground behind where he was standing. Three shots, precisely aimed. He looks down at the ground where the carpet is smouldering, and I've give up pretending not to look. I need to know what's happening and he's really distracted right now.

Then he scrabbles backwards as beams of plasma experimentally punch through the thin interior wall near where he was standing, his gun coming up and pointing towards the door.

Okay, there are a lot of different types of plasma and I don't know them well enough to tell them apart by sight or sound. That might stun if it hits-. The shot to the floor didn't set it on fire or punch through, which means it's probably not all that energetic. Containment's good, though, and I know there's a sort of high-pressure low-temperature plasma stream some places use in mining…

"They got guns! Laser guns!"

I suddenly picture Paul and Robin rolling their eyes.

"Can you get out?"

"Fuck, ah… Maybe?" He angles away from the wall, deeper into the room. Those plasma weapons would go through the office furniture easily, but it's concealment and… Maybe it's psychological? "This place have an outside fire escape?"

"No, but there's a second stairwell on the-."

I hear a bang as the door at the opposite end of the floor is kicked open. It's not in this room, so the guard guy might not have heard it, but whoever's shooting at him now has a guy who isn't caught in a choke point.

What's going on?

Setting off robots was pretty easy for LexCorp. They had pretty much perfect control of them the whole time. Getting… One? Of their security guys and some local criminals to raid one of their own offices? A bit less control, but still fairly controlled. Paul was pretty sure that control is a big thing for Lex Luthor.

But where does the second team come into it?

Is this an actual robbery, but the LexCorp Security guards were a whole lot closer than they thought? I know LexCorp has some pretty good power armour but I don't think it goes that fast. And if they had power armour they'd have either stormed in or hit him through the wall. No, it looks like S.W.A.T. gear rather than anything extra special.

Or maybe the first team are the LexCorp guys and the second team is something else? Or… They're both genuine? Two LexCorp teams sounds a bit too disorderly for LexCorp, but, maybe?

"Three guys on the stairs and-." The guard glances in the direction of the guy trying to flank him. I guess he heard something. "-one other-!"

The flanker puts a plasma shot through the door, another near miss. Guard ducks down and scrabbles back towards-. Towards me and Janet. He's still got his gun, but I guess he doesn't think it's worth taking a shot without a clear view of his target.

But if they herd him this way-.

Another S.W.A.T. guy enters from the door nearest the stairwell, sweeping the room with the barrel of his gun. Over his eyes-. Just a visor. No thermal imaging or anything like that.

Okay, if I can't tell who's a real criminal and who's acting, I should just-. Maybe if-.

Stairwell guy gets a clear line of sight and takes aim-.

I close my left eye and squint. Angelika said it's possible to change the wave length of heat vision, and I can see the magnetic containment vessel inside the plasma gun. I haven't really practiced this much but…

A ray of what I hope is infrared light melts a hole in the meeting room window, hits the interior of the plasma gun's barrel and melts a hole in it.

I immediately close my eye and try relaxing my eye muscles. That felt… Weird, but the plasma gun should-. Well, if it explodes then-.

I hear it chime, and the guy carrying in stows it and draws a handgun.

Ah, it had a safety mechanism. That means that I can-.

The guard opens the door, scrambles inside and then slams it shut before rolling to the side. My eyes are still closed, and from the sound of it he isn't going to spend much time looking at me.

"Two on me, don't know where the other two went."

"They look like LexCorp?"

"Didn't see a name badge!"

His heart rate is faster, but he's no where near panicking. Ah. Okay, open my left eye a little-. Both of the… Guys from Group Two are hanging back to deny the guard a good angle. He's only got a handgun, so unless he gets real lucky their armour should be able to take that. So either they don't know what he's carrying, or their armor is… Fake? No, decent armor is easier to get than plasma guns-.

Wait. That's Justifier armour. They just changed the helmet! So they're not professionals, they're just-.

Squint real hard and… Fire. And there's the chime.

"You too, huh?"

The voice sounds male. Nothing else about it really stands out. I mean, Justifiers don't sound like that, but nothing else.

"What we get for buying from that asshole. What do we do about their hostages?"

"They work for LexCorp."

"Fair. Breach the room?"

"Pretty sure I can shoot them from here, actual-"

Open eye a little, squint and fire a short burst.

Using heat vision on a regular gun… It work pretty well, but it's really obvious and… You can mess up the person holding the gun if you're not really careful. If it's a revolver you can usually heat the grip without cooking off the bullets, but if it's got a magazine then you can't. It's not a matter of control; the conduction of the metal is just too efficient. And there's no clever detection system if you warp the barrel. Superman and Angelika both said that they'd had people get injured because the gun they melted a little misfired.

Plus, rays of heat don't just appear. A plasma gun overheating because it wasn't properly maintained, that's believable. A regular gun? That's not. So…

Distraction.

I make a sleeping yawn noise, then act like I'm trying to get up before stumbling to my knees. One of the guys outside raises his gun and fires at where I'd be if I stood up, but I'm already on all fours and… Trying to do a convincing drunk-crawl towards the wall next to the door. The guard guy stares at me for a moment, so I give him a drunken smile before getting back to my crawling.

Okay, stare forwards. The door doesn't block my vision, so I can see the two guys outside approaching the other side of the door.

Let's see if I can do drunken kung fu without being drunk or knowing kung fu.

Darko · Nov 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
they'd had people get injure because

"injured"

Ngamer11 · Nov 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Different types of gun make different noises.

That should say 'guns'.

PepeTheFrog · Nov 10, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'guns'.

I think it's fine in this case? Not sure but I think if he's referring to types as in models instead of types the thugs are currently using it should work.

Chojin Patriarch · Nov 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
April 28th, 2013
10:02 EST

Different types of gun make different noises.

There's the bang of an explosive-projectile weapon as the propellant detonates, then the whoosh of expelled gas and the tink of expelled brass. The electrical hum of a railgun's charged capacitor, buzz of air turning to plasma and crack of the broken sound barrier. Lasers are quiet, but they still make a quiet sizzle as they incinerate airborne particles.

That's something not a lot of people think about. Heck, most people don't even recognise gunshots from a distance - too much like a faint crack like a backfiring car. But someone with reason to learn and very good hearing can identify the difference.

Plasma fizzes.

The guard ducks back and pulses of plasma hit the ground behind where he was standing. Three shots, precisely aimed. He looks down at the ground where the carpet is smouldering, and I've give up pretending not to look. I need to know what's happening and he's really distracted right now.

Worst case, play it like the juice they hit you with wasn't very strong. Healthy guy like you would shrug off stuff like that, and adrenaline is a hell of a combat drug.

Then he scrabbles backwards as beams of plasma experimentally punch through the thin interior wall near where he was standing, his gun coming up and pointing towards the door.

Okay, there are a lot of different types of plasma and I don't know them well enough to tell them apart by sight or sound. That might stun if it hits-. The shot to the floor didn't set it on fire or punch through, which means it's probably not all that energetic. Containment's good, though, and I know there's a sort of high-pressure low-temperature plasma stream some places use in mining…

Indeed, some operations do use plasma torches. Not just mining, either. They make great tools for cutting large metal pieces.

"They got guns! Laser guns!"

I suddenly picture Paul and Robin rolling their eyes.

It's like assuming any firearm with a black finish and 'scary' attachment points is a deadly 'assault rifle'.

Even if it's not a real gun. People can be real smart and real dumb at the same time...

"Can you get out?"

"Fuck, ah… Maybe?" He angles away from the wall, deeper into the room. Those plasma weapons would go through the office furniture easily, but it's concealment and… Maybe it's psychological? "This place have an outside fire escape?"

Yes, feeling like you're hidden from the scary thing does make you feel safer. And while chipboard and plaster may not be great cover, it does make it harder for them to see him, so concealment is good. ...Unless they have optics that can penetrate walls...

"No, but there's a second stairwell on the-."

I hear a bang as the door at the opposite end of the floor is kicked open. It's not in this room, so the guard guy might not have heard it, but whoever's shooting at him now has a guy who isn't caught in a choke point.

So if he can find the guts to run, he might get away without scorch marks on his ass.

What's going on?

Setting off robots was pretty easy for LexCorp. They had pretty much perfect control of them the whole time. Getting… One? Of their security guys and some local criminals to raid one of their own offices? A bit less control, but still fairly controlled. Paul was pretty sure that control is a big thing for Lex Luthor.

That's putting it... Mildly.

But where does the second team come into it?

Is this an actual robbery, but the LexCorp Security guards were a whole lot closer than they thought? I know LexCorp has some pretty good power armour but I don't think it goes that fast. And if they had power armour they'd have either stormed in or hit him through the wall. No, it looks like S.W.A.T. gear rather than anything extra special.

When in doubt, focus on the guys throwing lethal energy discharges around first.

Or maybe the first team are the LexCorp guys and the second team is something else? Or… They're both genuine? Two LexCorp teams sounds a bit too disorderly for LexCorp, but, maybe?

"Three guys on the stairs and-." The guard glances in the direction of the guy trying to flank him. I guess he heard something. "-one other-!"

It could be simple bad luck, it could be two different managers trying a scheme without talking to each other. It is definitely one hell of a fluke both showed up at the same time.

The flanker puts a plasma shot through the door, another near miss. Guard ducks down and scrabbles back towards-. Towards me and Janet. He's still got his gun, but I guess he doesn't think it's worth taking a shot without a clear view of his target.

But if they herd him this way-.

Plus, who knows what these guys are wearing as protection?

Another S.W.A.T. guy enters from the door nearest the stairwell, sweeping the room with the barrel of his gun. Over his eyes-. Just a visor. No thermal imaging or anything like that.

Okay, if I can't tell who's a real criminal and who's acting, I should just-. Maybe if-.

Okay, so they're either legit police (unlikely given the rather free attitude to firing their weapons against unknown targets with unknown gear) or they're disguised as them.

Stairwell guy gets a clear line of sight and takes aim-.

I close my left eye and squint. Angelika said it's possible to change the wave length of heat vision, and I can see the magnetic containment vessel inside the plasma gun. I haven't really practiced this much but…

Kryptonian powers are weird that way. After all, most biological creatures don't have laser eyes as it is.

I ray of what I hope is infrared light melts a hole in the meeting room window, hits the interior of the plasma gun's barrel and melts a hole in it.

I immediately close my eye and try relaxing my eye muscles. That felt… Weird, but the plasma gun should-. Well, if it explodes then-.

You'll know not to use that frequency again. Especially if it causes eye strain like that.

I hear it chime, and the guy carrying in stows it and draws a handgun.

Ah, it had a safety mechanism. That means that I can-.

Already a step up over stuff like Warhammer 40k Human plasma weapons.

The guard opens the door, scrambles inside and then slams it shut before rolling to the side. My eyes are still closed, and from the sound of it he isn't going to spend much time looking at me.

"Two on me, don't know where the other two went."

No great. Between him hiding out right next to the squishy hostages and the fairly liberal application of plasma the new guys seem to indulge in, there's a high chance of Janet getting cooked.

"They look like LexCorp?"

"Didn't see a name badge!"

Lacking a snazzy golden or purple-and-green colour scheme probably makes it trickier.

His heart rate is faster, but he's no where near panicking. Ah. Okay, open my left eye a little-. Both of the… Guys from Group Two are hanging back to deny the guard a good angle. He's only got a handgun, so unless he gets real lucky their armour should be able to take that. So either they don't know what he's carrying, or their armor is… Fake? No, decent armor is easier to get than plasma guns-.

And it's a safe bet that their armour can probably soak their own shots, for a hit or two if they start spraying wildly.

Wait. That's Justifier armour. They just changed the helmet! So they're not professionals, they're just-.

Squint real hard and… Fire. And there's the chime.

Looted gear from the Anti-Life event, eh? It had to happen sooner or later.

"You too, huh?"

The voice sounds male. Nothing else about it really stands out. I mean, Justifiers don't sound like that, but nothing else.

So not Justifiers, just goons who snagged some goodies from one of their sites.

"What we get for buying from that asshole. What do we do about their hostages?"

"They work for LexCorp."

...That doesn't make them bad people, you know.

"Fair. Breach the room?"

"Pretty sure I can shoot them from here, actual-"

Because of course they have sidearms, whether plasma or conventional guns.

Open eye a little, squint and fire a short burst.

Using heat vision on a regular gun… It work pretty well, but it's really obvious and… You can mess up the person holding the gun if you're not really careful. If it's a revolver you can usually heat the grip without cooking off the bullets, but if it's got a magazine then you can't. It's not a matter of control; the conduction of the metal is just too efficient. And there's no clever detection system if you warp the barrel. Superman and Angelika both said that they'd had people get injure because the gun they melted a little misfired.

Yeah, most rounds do not like heat. Though most are safe enough that they won't explode unless they get really hot... Like 'being exposed to a Kryptonian's heat vision' hot.

Plus, rays of heat don't just appear. A plasma gun overheating because it wasn't properly maintained, that's believable. A regular gun? That's not. So…

Distraction.

Definitely draw their lines of fire away from the squishy human lady who's still sleeping off the mickey-finn spray.

I make a sleeping yawn noise, then act like I'm trying to get up before stumbling to my knees. One of the guys outside raises his gun and fires at where I'd be if I stood up, but I'm already on all fours and… Trying to do a convincing drunk-crawl towards the wall next to the door. The guard guy stares at me for a moment, so I give him a drunken smile before getting back to my crawling.

Plaster and chipboard, remember? Not an impediment to a significant number of pistol calibres. And while wall-bangs are fun for FPS players...

Okay, stare forwards. The door doesn't block my vision, so I can see the two guys outside approaching the other side of the door.

Let's see if I can do drunken kung fu without being drunk or knowing kung fu.

I mean, with flight powers, you could pull off some of the more acrobatic stances seen in Jackie Chan's iconic scenes.

Right, looks like Mitchell's going into action, Lexcorp ploy or not. And at this point, it's definitely leaning towards 'not'. And if nothing else, he can pass on to the league that he fought people with looted Justifier equipment, which raises worrying questions about what happened to it all. I'll bet there's a big black market trade in things like that which may need to be looked into...

I ray of what I hope is infrared light melts a hole...

A ray of what I hope is infrared light melts a hole...

Ngamer11 · Nov 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"The only other thing it… You haven't seen John Constantine, have you?"

I was rereading and I think I found an error. That should say 'is'.

Temp0101 · Nov 10, 2024

This is some classic Clark stuck trying to solve the situation incognito.

Mr Zoat · Nov 10, 2024

Darko said:
"injured"

Ngamer11 said:
I was rereading and I think I found an error. That should say 'is'.

Chojin Patriarch said:
A ray of what I hope is infrared light melts a hole...

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Already a step up over stuff like Warhammer 40k Human plasma weapons.

This is a Second Edition thread. Keep your techno-heresy and excommunicated weaponry to yourself.

Someguy Somewhere · Nov 10, 2024

Death to the False Emperor!
Death to the Weakling Imper- *BOOM*

(Rolled a 1)

Mr Zoat · Nov 10, 2024

Someguy Somewhere said:
Death to the False Emperor!
Death to the Weakling Imper- *BOOM*

(Rolled a 1)

I mean, it's a strength D3 hit and you get your full armour save...

Xmaster3000 · Nov 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Let's see if I can do drunken kung fu without being drunk or knowing kung fu.

Ha!

Someguy Somewhere · Nov 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I mean, it's a strength D3 hit and you get your full armour save...

Sadly the Chaos Gods have a sense of humour. In my years playing 3rd and 4th ed I'm pretty sure I lost more of my own men to self inflicted plasma fire then the enemy.

Mr Zoat · Nov 10, 2024

Someguy Somewhere said:
Sadly the Chaos Gods have a sense of humour. In my years playing 3rd and 4th ed I'm pretty sure I lost more of my own men to self inflicted plasma fire then the enemy.

Maybe you'd like to consider transitioning to 2nd Edition?

Someguy Somewhere · Nov 10, 2024

I'm a recovered plastic crack addict that fled the game near the start of 5th ed. Haven't touched the tabletop in years for reasons of not wishing to give GW money, and there's a lack of a community for it this far north these days. I keep my ear to the ground for lore and peruse the new editions rules now and then, but at this point I'm admiring from a safe distance. The odd novel keeps me inspired, and a few folk drag me into the newer video games just to have someone spout lore at them while they figure out which end of the bolt gun the rockets come out.

Closest I got to Second Ed was playing Chaos Gate back in the day which...being effectively an X-com Clone, didn't do my issues with RNG much better.

I still suffer cursed dice at the D&D / Pathfinder tables, much to the horror of my party mates, and anyone else in the blast radius of my latest foul up.

Old Knife · Nov 10, 2024

Connor is trying so hard.
It's gonna look like he's got precog and super luck.

Mr Zoat · Nov 10, 2024

Old Knife said:
Connor is trying so hard.
It's gonna look like he's got precog and super luck.

Mitchell.

Mr Zoat · Nov 11, 2024

April 28th, 2013
10:05 EST

The first guy approaches the side of the door furthest from the hinges, so I can't just open it in his face. The second guy hangs back a bit, so he can shoot into the doorway if the door opens suddenly. Second guy counts down with his fingers as the first guy nods. I get my legs under me for-.

Zero. First guy wrenches the door open and then gets both hands back on his gun, but I'm up and barrelling forwards with a theatrical stumble, slapping the gun out of his grip in a way that I hope looks natural. Then I smile like the drunk women on the one Dionysia I went to, grabbing the armour of the guy I just disarmed and pulling him into the line of sight of his colleague.

"Heyyyyyy!"

I pull him into a hug, leaning on him like the drunk I'm pretending to be. Keep smiling, keep up the dazed expression.

"Y' muh… Muh best friend..!"

I'm taller, but I'm leaning enough that his body shields me completely. My left arm around his back pins his right upper arm against his body and his gun's on the floor.

"What do-?"

"Get him off, I don't have a shot!"

He tries to push me off with his left hand, but I raise my right and act like I'm trying to high-five him. It blocks his swing and lets me drop my hand onto his shoulder and pull!

We both fall back towards the dividing wall, and I use a little flight to slam the side of his head into the brickwork. No Justifier helmet means that his skull takes the full force of the impact, stunning him.

"Ste-? Ah, Four? You okay?"

Ste..? Steve? Sterling? I can't get a great view of his face with x-ray vision. There are to many different textures and degrees of translucency across his head.

"I fell over!"

"Shit. One, Three. Four's K.O.."

"Did he fall over?"

"Drunk kid pulled him over and slammed his face into a wall. By accident. They're lying on the ground-."

"I-. Okay. Did you get the courier?"

"No, not yet. I'm keeping an eye, but-. Fuck, he was just there, I didn't get-."

"Don't get distracted. Are they moving?"

"Four's moving a bit. The kid is just kind of laying there."

"Shoot the kid, shoot the courier, and… I dunno, put Four in the recovery position or something."

"He's kind of between Four and the wall, there isn't really-."

"He's falling down drunk. Move, get a shot, then take it."

"Right."

I watch through… 'Four's' body as Three gets closer, gun pointing in my direction. A pistol that calibre… Probably wouldn't penetrate the body lying on top of me. Definitely not with two layers of body armour in the way. I glance back and see what the courier is doing. He's come up to a crouch with his gun at the ready, preparing to charge Three down while he's focused on me. I need to stop him doing that, but the cameras aren't reporting and if I knock Three out first…

Three cautiously comes around to the left side, but still can't get a clear shot. He could probably shoot me, but it wouldn't be a killing shot and if they assumed that their plasma guns would be their main guns then they might not have reloads. Those pistols can be deadly, but they don't have all that much stopping power. Even if he shoots the courier, they could just power through and-.

Three gets closer, gun aiming at where my head will be once he moves around Four. Closer. Closer-.

I twist, hooking my left leg around his calf and pulling, making him fall onto his back.

"Ugh!"

"Heeeeeey. You fell down." I lift Four off me as I push myself up, and then drop him onto Three just as he starts to recover. "You two should… Get some sleep."

I stomp forwards, 'accidentally' stepping on his gun hand and forcing-

"Aow!"

-him to let go before 'slipping' on it and kicking it across the room. And… Ah, that's great! Falling back onto Three and elbow dropping onto his forehead.

"Uuh."

And they're.. both unconscious. Great.

"The..? Fuck..?"

The guard walks out of the meeting room, gun in his right hand. But his grip isn't strong, it's just sort of hanging as he stares at the Three and Four and then at me.

"Heeeeeey!" I smile broadly and do a circular wave with my right hand. "How's the..? Packages?"

"H-ey." He looks me over, then slides his gun into his pocket. "Did you-?"

"I'm-. I am… Like, so… Out of it… Right now. Heh. Hey. One time? One of my Mom's friends gave me this.. wine, right? But I didn't know it was fortified, so I just downed it… Kinda like this."

I let my face fall and my gaze grow distant.

"I don't think I was supposed to drink anything today. Mom got real mad last time."

"Right. Ah. Okay, so… Why don't you..? Go back in the meeting room with you friend and sleep it off. I'll go get you a glass of water."

"You are so great!" I stagger towards the door, and he awkwardly moves aside. "Can you-? Like, not tell my Mom?"

"Sure, dude." He looks around the room, probably wondering if there are more people in Justifier armour around. "I-."

This time I actually use my powers, hitting him in the back of the head hard enough to knock him out in the brief moment when he's looking away. I catch him before he hits the ground.

Huh. Paul was right. There really is an art to knocking people out with head trauma. I'm glad Conner set up all those lessons for me now.

Now what?

Janet's still unconscious. The guard guy will leave her alone if he wakes up, but the other two will kill her. He'll kill the other two, and they'll kill him. So…

I walk around and pick up all three handguns. Then I head over to the closest window, open it and throw the magazines outside. That should be safe. And then I drop the guns on the floor, because I'm not going to use them. The plasma guns won't fire unless someone does a lot of work on them, so I can leave them where they are. Then… Check the bodies-. Ah, unconscious people. If I can find some handcuffs or zip ties-.

No such luck.

Okay, where could I get something to restrain someone in an office? I mean, I could find some metal and bend it, but that makes it obvious that I've got super strength. Don't… I.T. use zip ties for tying up cables? So if I can find that, I can tie them up in different places, and… Find out where the rest of them went. The main computer room is-.

Bang!

Chojin Patriarch · Nov 11, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
April 28th, 2013
10:05 EST

The first guy approaches the side of the door furthest from the hinges, so I can't just open it in his face. The second guy hangs back a bit, so he can shoot into the doorway if the door opens suddenly. Second guy counts down with his fingers as the first guy nods. I get my legs under me for-.

Well, they're certainly professional enough about breaching and clearing, even if they know their only opposition is one thug with a pistol and two presumably impaired civilians. Let's hope they're overconfident, or at least sloppy.

Zero. First guy wrenches the door open and then gets both hands back on his gun, but I'm up and barrelling forwards with a theatrical stumble, slapping the gun out of his grip in a way that I hope looks natural. Then I smile like the drunk women on the one Dionysia I went to, grabbing the armour of the guy I just disarmed and pulling him into the line of sight of his colleague.

I'll bet that was an eye-opener, even if he didn't get to see any of the fun parties.

"Heyyyyyy!"

I pull him into a hug, leaning on him like the drunk I'm pretending to be. Keep smiling, keep up the dazed expression.

I can absolutely hear the tone of voice.

"Y' muh… Muh best friend..!"

I'm taller, but I'm leaning enough that his body shields me completely. My left arm around his back pins his right upper arm against his body and his gun's on the floor.

Handily taking away his main options of attack.

"What do-?"

"Get him off, I don't have a shot!"

Heh. One drunk guy and they just fall to pieces.

So much for professional.

He tries to push me off with his left hand, but I raise my right and act like I'm trying to high-five him. It blocks his swing and lets me drop my hand onto his shoulder and pull!

We both fall back towards the dividing wall, and I use a little flight to slam the side of his head into the brickwork. No Justifier helmet means that his skull takes the full force of the impact, stunning him.

And that's one down, likely with quite the headache when he wakes up.

"Ste-? Ah, Four? You okay?"

Ste..? Steve? Sterling? I can't get a great view of his face with x-ray vision. There are to many different textures and degrees of translucency across his head.

Especially since the soft tissue is much less visible than the skull inside or the plating outside.

"I fell over!"

"Shit. One, Three. Four's K.O.."

Might be over-playing the bit a little too much, Mitchell, but it looks like they're buying it.

"Did he fall over?"

"Drunk kid pulled him over and slammed his face into a wall. By accident. They're lying on the ground-."

And if they get out of this they are so going to rib him about it.

"I-. Okay. Did you get the courier?"

"No, not yet. I'm keeping an eye, but-. Fuck, he was just there, I didn't get-."

'Courier', eh? The one delivery that stayed back? Though I assume all of them count for these guys' objectives.

"Don't get distracted. Are they moving?"

"Four's moving a bit. The kid is just kind of laying there."

Feigning that particular boneless flop of the deeply drunk, eh?

"Shoot the kid, shoot the courier, and… I dunno, put Four in the recovery position or something."

"He's kind of between Four and the wall, there isn't really-."

Yeah, their leader is totally getting annoyed that this little operation is not going smoothly.

"He's falling down drunk. Move, get a shot, then take it."

"Right."

And he sounds a little bit frustrated about his troops. These are definitely not smooth operators.

I watch through… 'Four's' body as Three gets closer, gun pointing in my direction. A pistol that calibre… Probably wouldn't penetrate the body lying on top of me. Definitely not with two layers of body armour in the way. I glance back and see what the courier is doing. He's come up to a crouch with his gun at the ready, preparing to charge Three down while he's focused on me. I need to stop him doing that, but the cameras aren't reporting and if I knock Three out first…

Joy, trying to stop them from killing each other without hurting any of them too badly. Just for that extra challenge.

Three cautiously comes around to the left side, but still can't get a clear shot. He could probably shoot me, but it wouldn't be a killing shot and if they assumed that their plasma guns would be their main guns then they might not have reloads. Those pistols can be deadly, but they don't have all that much stopping power. Even if he shoots the courier, they could just power through and-.

Sadly, unlike most fiction's claims, bullets are not little packages of instant death that send people flying... Turns out a human body can take a lot of them and keep moving, especially when the adrenaline's pumping.

Three gets closer, gun aiming at where my head will be once he moves around Four. Closer. Closer-.

I twist, hooking my left leg around his calf and pulling, making him fall onto his back.

A subtle little trip. Took a chance that the guy wouldn't pull the trigger as he fell, though...

"Ugh!"

"Heeeeeey. You fell down." I lift Four off me as I push myself up, and then drop him onto Three just as he starts to recover. "You two should… Get some sleep."

Oh, Three is probably getting really annoyed now.

I stomp forwards, 'accidentally' stepping on his gun hand and forcing-

"Aow!"

Nice.

-to let go before 'slipping' on it and kicking it across the room. And… Ah, that's great! Falling back onto Three and elbow dropping onto his forehead.

"Uuh."

And if anyone's watching the cameras (or through hidden ones on a separate circuit,) all they'll see if Mitchell rolling about drunkenly and the goons getting tripped up on him.

And they're.. both unconscious. Great.

"The..? Fuck..?"

Ah, yes, the 'courier'. Bet he's surprised Mitchell is even up and about yet.

The guard walks out of the meeting room, gun in his right hand. But his grip isn't strong, it's just sort of hanging as he stares at the Three and Four and then at me.

"Heeeeeey!" I smile broadly and do a circular wave with my right hand. "How's the..? Packages?"

Underestimating the drunk kid in his shock. Good, good...

"H-ey." He looks me over, then slides his gun into his pocket. "Did you-?"

"I'm-. I am… Like, so… Out of it… Right now. Heh. Hey. One time? One of my Mom's friends gave me this.. wine, right? But I didn't know it was fortified, so I just downed it… Kinda like this."

Amusingly, I could believe that happening. And the courier certainly will, especially if he knows Mitchell is an Amazon.

I let my face fall and my gaze grow distant.

"I don't think I was supposed to drink anything today. Mom got real mad last time."

Hey, it's better than some of Hercules' big drinking sessions. Those tended to end with someone dead...

"Right. Ah. Okay, so… Why don't you..? Go back in the meeting room with you friend and sleep it off. I'll go get you a glass of water."

"You are so great!" I stagger towards the door, and he awkwardly moves aside. "Can you-? Like, not tell my Mom?"

Letting him get in arm's reach, drunk or not? This guy is an amateur.

"Sure, dude." He looks around the room, probably wondering if there are more people in Justifier armour around. "I-."

This time I actually use my powers, hitting him in the back of the head hard enough to knock him out in the brief moment when he's looking away. I catch him before he hits the ground.

Could at least have made it look like you bumped into him and knocked him into the door-frame or something...

Huh. Paul was right. There really is an art to knocking people out with head trauma. I'm glad Conner set up all those lessons for me now.

Now what?

Janet's still unconscious. The guard guy will leave her alone if he wakes up, but the other two will kill her. He'll kill the other two, and they'll kill him. So…

Stash her somewhere? Ladies' room, maybe?

I walk around and pick up all three handguns. Then I head over to the closet window, open it and throw the magazines outside. That should be safe. And then I drop the guns on the floor, because I'm not going to use them. The plasma guns won't fire unless someone does a lot of work on them, so I can leave them where they are. Then… Check the bodies-. Ah, unconscious people. If I can find some handcuffs or zip ties-.

The former is probably rare in an office... The latter, well...

No such luck.

Okay, where could I get something to restrain someone in an office? I mean, I could find some metal and bend it, but that makes it obvious that I've got super strength. Don't… I.T. use zip ties for tying up cables? So if I can find that, I can tie them up in different places, and… Find out where the rest of them went. The main computer room is-.

If in doubt, just pull a few cables off the computers and use them.

Bang!

...Dangit, I remember some piece of advice about writing: 'When at a loss for how to end a scene, make something explode'...

Raymond Chandler, maybe? Cliche, but it's always fun.

Well, three goons down, at least five more to find. Fortunately, the two groups are likely whittling each other down, so Mitchell might simply need to bat clean-up. The hard part will be keeping anyone from seeing him do it, whether working security cameras or some goon's body-cam, any of which may or may not exist... Still, I'm confident he can pull it off. Go, Wonder-boy!

CTrees · Nov 11, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I walk around and pick up all three handguns. Then I head over to the closet window, open it and throw the magazines outside. That should be safe. And then I drop the guns on the floor, because I'm not going to use them.

Not clearing the chambers, Match? These guys were ready to shoot, so each of those handguns are still going to have one shot still available, if all you did was pull out the magazines.

BR549 · Nov 11, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
...Dangit, I remember some piece of advice about writing: 'When at a loss for how to end a scene, make something explode'...
Raymond Chandler, maybe? Cliche, but it's always fun.

"When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand." - Raymond Chandler

Mr Zoat · Nov 11, 2024

-to let go before 'slipping' on it and kicking

Thank me, corrected.

Rebu · Nov 11, 2024

I see Match has been trained in the ancient and most noble art of Stooges-fu.

Clell65619 · Nov 11, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
April 28th, 2013
10:05 EST

I walk around and pick up all three handguns. Then I head over to the closet window, open it and throw the magazines outside. That should be safe. And then I drop the guns on the floor, because I'm not going to use them. The plasma guns won't fire unless someone does a lot of work on them, so I can leave them where they are. Then… Check the bodies-. Ah, unconscious people. If I can find some handcuffs or zip ties-.

"closet window" ? I've never seen a closet with a window, so 'closest window'? Or maybe 'nearest window'?

Old Knife · Nov 11, 2024

Going from drunken fist to terminator in 3,2,1.

With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Know what you're doing yet?

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hey, little Anna, you're the one

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