In Brightest Day, In Duckest Night: A Reassembly One-Shot

[herodofcows]

You attempt at a leap hurts MUCH more than it helps. Messing up your footing sends you flying at a sharp angle from the debris field, putting you JUST out of range of any new footholds. You're not moving TOO fast, thankfully, but you're floating without control and someone is going to have to come and get you. For now, it's just you and the void . . .

From a distance, you see Jesús start back from the debris field, off to follow your directions to check in on the rookie. Drax, on the other hand, seems far less inclined to follow orders: you see him continue his assault on the Kryptonian, who continues to parry and dodge with seemingly unbreakable defenses.

"What are you talking about, Howard?"

Suddenly, there's a pulse of green light from Lacrimosa and you see Ryder zooming face-first towards the Kryptonian . . .

"I'm fine!"

Ryder creates a series of shifting green panels that circle rapidly around the Kryptonian, as though trying to restrict her movements. For a moment, all you see are the pulsing lights as you continue to drift away . . .

And then, suddenly, the Kryptonian is right in front of you again.

She grabs at you, and you can see that Drax actually DID manage to score a cut on her face. She may have crazy strength, but out here it looks like Drax was on the money: a few knife strokes and she'll bleed.

And hey, bonus! "Howard's Defensive Spiraling Flying Space Duck Stance"_tm actually seems to work!

[Lizard Lord]

"Oh...." Is all Howard can say before remembering that he is drifting uncontrollably through space.

"Well put that frickin' magic space ring of yours ta work and help me get on tha right track. We can't all frickin' fly and I need ta stay with these @#$%^&* space rocks! As fer tha rest o' us, lets try hitting this broad at tha same time again!"

Once the others are in position and Howard is covered with a green space glow he will once more aim his BFG and fire at the brainwashed Kryptonian assailant. Because his only other option is his Quack-Fu and using non-super powered martial arts on a Kryptonian just seems like something that shouldn't work.

Spoiler

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Will let Richard Ryder use Move Object on me (which I am assuming he has, if not then I can go for whatever other power he could use to stop Howard from floating away.)

Then I will do another Team Attack with Jesùs and Drax.

[herodofcows]

"You got it, Howard!" Ryder chirps ingratiatingly.

As your drift into space begins to approach Bruce-Willis-levels of danger, a large green baseball mitt appears behind you and gives you a semi-gentle push back towards the fight. Moving forward, you take aim and . . .

. . . miss, but the Kryptonian's dodge puts her in the path of Drax's knives, which . . .

"DAMN it, hold still!"

. . . she parries dextrously, dang it, and as she turns to meet Jesús' lacrosse racket she . . .

"¡Has fallado a guardar tu espalda, pinche extraterrestre!"

. . . dang, right in the nose!

She staggers back, blood coming out of her nose as Jesús twirls his lacrosse racket with no small skill in his hands and pride upon his face. The Kryptonian braces herself against the rock and launches herself at him, but Jesús is the pride of the Durango Aguilars! No mere Kryptonian can touch him unless he allows himself to be touched!

"¡Come! ¡Let us finish this!" his voice crackles stridently over the comms.

[Lizard Lord]

"Hah!" Howard gloats to himself about the way this seems to have turned around. "Now hows about all four o' us take this broad down." Howard adds while once again trying to time his shots with the others.

Spoiler

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Second verse same as the first. Only this time with Ryder joining the attack. (1d20+10)[12]

[herodofcows]

No sooner do you all focus fire on her than the Kryptonian becomes a blur. Dodging through your gunfire, she smashes you in the stomach and leaves you briefly gasping. Jesús tries to leap at her with his lacrosse racket, but she grabs him by the waist and suplexes him into an asteroid fragment. You hear the gymnast cry out in gasping pain, writhing ineffectively as he floats end over end back towards Lacrimosa.

"That's ENOUGH!"

Suddenly, she is blasted in the stomach by a cloud of what appear to be buckshot pellets. From above you, Ryder takes aim with his shotgun construct and prepares to fire again.

"By the authority of the Corps and the Guardians of the Universe, you are under-"

"Just SHOOT, kid, don't be an idiot!"

"-arrearrrrrrgh!"

Quicker than blinking, the Kryptonian wings a hefty meteor chunk right into his face. Ryder yells in pain and his construct disappears as his hands go for his eyes.

"Come on, COME ON!" Drax roars as he goes in for another flurry of knife blows. He and the Kryptonian get into some heavy close quarters combat now, neither managing to land a solid blow on the other as they make their way back and forth across the floating rock they share.

This . . . could be going better.

[Lizard Lord]

"Waugh!" Is all can gasp out as he takes a kryptonian punch to the gut. How he actually managed to survive that when this broad can smash meteors is anyone's guess.

Howard thinks they might have this locked down when Ryder blasts the kryptonian, only to press the palm of his hand against his space helmet when the rookie hesitates and calls for the surrender of someone that doesn't have control of their own mind.

"Ya gotta be @#$%^&* kidding me kid! Do tha Lanterns not have any freaking protocols fer dealin' with brainwashed folks that ain't physically capable o' surrederin'? What do they @#$%^&* teach ya on Oa? Speakin' o' tha Lanterns, when are they gonna @#$%^&* get here already?"

Turning his attention to his gymnast sidekick, who seemed to have suffered the worst of the kryptonian's assault, Howard calls out to his companion. "Jesus, ya alright pal? Try ta keep yer distance. She's only interested in me so if ya attack from range ya can still help and stay fresh in this fight. Got it? Er, do ya have a way of doing that?"


Finally Howard will focus on the duel between the destroyer and the kryptonian, firing upon the latter to assistance the former.

Spoiler

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I request for Jesùs to stick to his lacrosse shot ability for now. Howard will team attack with the others using the BFG: [roll]1d20+10[roll]

[herodofcows]

Once again, the Kryptonian dodges your blast (possibly because your B.F.G. is a Big Flippin' Gun and not something in front of which even a brainwashed superhuman would willingly jump.

But alas for her, the dodge sets her spinning SLIGHTLY off of the floating rock. For a brief moment, she is wrong-footed. And in this crazy, beautiful, utterly chaotic universe, a brief moment is all that is needed.

As she twists slightly off into the void, Jesús wings a devastating piece of space debris at the back of her knee with a skillful twist of the lacrosse racket. Over the comms, you can hear him muttering something in Spanish:

". . . equis te va a darlo . . . que sea chingado esperar tomarlo ti mismo, equis te va a conseguirlo . . ."

The debris shot sends her into a fully uncontrolled twist, disallowing her from any kind of meaningful dodging ability. She spreads her arms out trying to reach for a handhold, only for Ryder to blast her to the side, which sends her careening right into Drax. Drax, for his part, pins her to the rock with his knives and . . . well, apparently she isn't close enough to the sun to be able to take THAT many punches.

"HA!" Drax roars in a brief moment of elation, "We got her! WE GOT HER!"

"Guys, our backup is almost here!" Ryder interjects. The rookie sounds like he's trembling slightly over the comms, possibly from adrenaline or delayed terror, "They'll . . . they'll take her to Oa and we'll get her to talk! Ha ha!"

As Ryder whoops, you notice that Drax has gone silent. The big guy has turned to you and is making some gestures at you. He clearly doesn't want Jesús or Ryder hearing what he has to say, and he's trying to say SOMEthing.

He gestures in rapid succession at the Kryptonian, at you, at him, and at the ship. The meaning gets real clear real fast: Drax wants to take the ship and the Kryptonian and get justice on his own terms, and he wants to know if you're on board . . .

Spoiler: OOC

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This is the second to last post! React as you will, and it'll dictate how we move forward into the upcoming prologue.

[Lizard Lord]

Howard stares hard at Drax and then begins speaking over the comms in reply to Ryder's rejoicing. "Yep. Hey Drax ya were on Apokolips right? And ya said tha place brainwashed folks there right?" This a rhetorical question course. Howard remembered Drax explaining this fully, heck he had already brought up how the Kryptonian was most likely brainwashed during the fight.

"Tha brainwashing didn't affect yer memories did it? As soon as this victim o' Darkshmuck's evil ways is cured do ya think we can still interview her? I mean it doesn't seem like she can talk with it still on. And we all want this victim of brainwashing to be cured of said brainwashing, right? Of @#$%&*+ course we do. Everyone here can surely sympathize with a victim of Darkseid's." Howard's stare does not leave Drax as he says this, and he made sure to hammer home each use of the words "victim" and "brainwashing." Though he wasn't going to explain what exactly was going on he wasn't trying to be subtle, if only because he didn't know how subtle he would need to be to make his point clear to Drax. If the destroyer wants justice he isn't going to get it by taking out his frustrations on a victim of brainwashing, with or without Howard's help.

[herodofcows]

Drax gives Howard a scowl, but visibly stands down. He's far from relaxed, but for now, at least, he'll abide by your will.

"See, there's the thing," he growls as three streaks of green become visible on the edge of the asteroid belt, "I fought Darkseid's thoughts. I made out on my own terms. This one, whoever she is . . . she couldn't, or didn't. So I don't know how they're going to break her of that on Oa. Hell, I don't know how they're even gonna prove that that's what it is."

He raises his hands in a mock surrender as the Lanterns come into view.

"Guess we'll see. Maybe the system'll work this time."

You recognize two of the three Lanterns that show up. Stewart is in the lead, of course. He flies immediately over to Ryder and the two begin talking off the comms (because of course the Lanterns can go off the grid all they please). An unknown dark-haired humanoid-looking Lantern takes over securing the Kryptonian, frowning pensively over her as green manacles bind her arms and legs.

And behind them all, slowly approaching you as he surveys the scene . . . Jordan.

"Solid work," he salutes you in that half-formal, half-cocky way that only he and Ms. Marvel seem to manage. Maybe it's an Air Force thing.

"So, we put you on retainer to get a person of interest," he continues, with a certain breezy glibness, "And lo and behold, we've got one! Unknown Kryptonian, came by Boom Tube, attacked a duly deputized representative of the Green Lantern Corps . . . Think we're good here! We'll take her back to Oa and have a little talk with her in the Sciencells. So, congrats, you're off the clock now! We'll have your payment to you as soon as everything gets processed, probably a couple days max, and we'll follow up if we need you. For now, though . . . well, unless you've got anything else, we'll drop you right back to Earth!"

Spoiler: Insight DC 25

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Lantern Jordan's easy breezy façade is just that: a façade. He's clearly uncomfortable talking to you for some reason . . .

Spoiler: Insight DC 30

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Coast City, the whole Parallax set of shenanigans, his recent reinstatement . . . Hal Jordan is a man who feels the need for a fresh start after some very dark and disgraceful times. Whether he deserves one is up to you.

Spoiler: OOC

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Hahaaaaa forget the second-to-last post thing.

[Lizard Lord]

Howard mutters to himself as the lanterns come into view. "Yea, and what was yer plan? Beat tha brainwashin' out o' her?"

After an exhausting fight with a Kryptonian Howard could really use a smoke but this freaking procedural stuff needs to be done first and he can't exactly smoke in the space suit. With that said his eyes continuously shift between Jordon and the spaceship throughout the whole conversation with the Green Lantern.


"Don't ferget expenses. Every bullet fired and every cigar smoked (I can't work without it) counts fer that. Plus while I was talkin' ta a contact on Earth a couple o' Yella Lanterns showed up and trashed tha place, so those damages will be included in tha expenses. Oh, also ya should be receivin' a couple o' Yella Lanterns via Silver Surfer sometime soon. Tha dog oughta know more about their deal wit' Darkseid."

Howard eyes briefly take a break from giving the ship with a breathable and smoke-able atmosphere longing looks to place a concerned one to the Kryptonian.

"One more thing I gotta ask. Well no, okay, I don't gotta ask but I'm gonna anyhow. Did tha kid also tell ya tha we got strong reason ta think tha broad may have a whammy put on her from Apokolips? Now it ain't my job ta say, and at this point there is literally nothin' I can do 'bout it, but I do hope that ya make sure ta treat 'er like a victim and not a criminal. Got it?"

Truth be told Howard doesn't know if Jordon deserves a second chance. It has now occurred to him that he may not even know a lot of the details surrounding the incident. Either way it depends on what Hal Jordon is doing to make sure it doesn't happen again, and also on what kind of person he is when he is allegedly sane. Howard eyes the Green Lantern suspiciously and hope that bringing up the Kryptonian's condition will give him a clue to that second part.

[herodofcows]

Jordan gets a look on his face when you start talking about brainwashing: two parts sympathy and one part regret. For a moment, the flyboy swagger is stripped away and you see something of the gravitas that the situation and his position both merit.

"If that's what you think happened . . ." he muses, looking at the now-bound Kryptonian, "Well, it'd be the second time we've heard that defense in the past week. We'll try to figure out who she is, maybe see if we can get in touch with her family or otherwise account for her whereabouts. I'll be honest, though; mind control is tricky business to prove on the legal side of things. That's half the reason this investigation is running into so much trouble: the Guardians have had to deal with so many Patty Hearst-type claims over the years, it'd be a miracle if this one goes through without something more than your suspicions.

"But for all that . . . yes, you have my word. Until we know more, she'll be treated carefully. If she is under someone else's control . . ."

He struggles for a moment, words piling up behind his teeth for a hot second.

". . . Well, then she's one of the bigger victims in this whole case."

He looks off in the distance, momentarily lost in thought.

"Sorry, where am I taking you? Back to Oa, or down to Earth?"

[Lizard Lord]

Well that's good that they'll try at least. Howard would have had to do something incredibly stupid that would likely only get him and any accomplices thrown in prison on Oa should the Lantern's refused to handle it delicately. So, yea, good thing it didn't go down like that.

When the subject of whether or not they had more evidence Howard glances at Drax briefly before turning to face Jordon again. So if we, say hypothetically, had someone that has been ta Apokolips and felt it try ta control his mind, even if he were ta resist, and had seen it control other folks would that person could give a helpful testimony that may help this broad and maybe also help get ya guys ta act against Darkschmuck?" Howards responds, speaking into the suits radio for all with the frequency to listen the whole time. "Hey Drax, ya been around space yea? Do ya think that if there was a guy like that and he knew about all this that he would be quite tha @#$%!^& if he kept his mouth shut this whole time?" Howard wasn't going to rat Drax out, mostly because Howard can't give a testimony on someone else's behalf. Probably.

"Well anyway, as fer where ta go. Yea ya can take me back to Earth, there's some folks there I need ta tell a few things. On the ship I can smoke even, cause I really need ta frickin' smoke. Maybe ask Drax if he wants ta go ta Oa though. He might have some unfinished business there."

[herodofcows]

Drax is visibly exasperated as you call out at him, throwing you a rude gesture.

"You know who'd be the bigger @#$%!^&, Howard?" he snarls through the intercom, "The officers who didn't believe him the first time he told his story!"

"We've been over this, Drax," Stewart interjects, turning away from Ryder to glare at the Destroyer, "The New Gods have some of the best lawyers this side of the galaxy. We can't go at him with one witness who can't even prove his species, much less his actual identity-"

"F*** off, Stewart, nobody's talking to you-"

"-but now that, LISTEN, but now that we have another potential-"

"-s*** I had to go through to get off that rock, I TRY to trust the system, and-"

"-can use your testimony, but only if you can act RESPECTABLE, and-"

"Oooookay," Jordan sighs as Stewart and Drax continue to yell at one another, "Let's get you on that ship and back to Earth, huh?"

Once you and Jesús get back into the vessel, Jordan creates a construct around it and begins towing it back to Earth. The vessel's nav systems are disabled, but the communication rig still seems to work just fine. If you want to make a few calls down to Earth, now's the time . . .

Spoiler: OOC

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Thank you so much for your patience with my posting. I figure NOW we're closing into the end. If you want to contact folks, you can. The next post should be the end and will lead into the prologue. Again, thank you for waiting.

[Lizard Lord]

"Yea, they were tha @#$%^&* then, you are the @#$%^&* now." Howard just mumbles under his breath as he sulks away from Drax and Stewart and follows Jordon back to the ship.

"By the way, although I wasn't on tha job at tha time I expect ya ta pay fer my door. Seeing how it was one o' yous that broke it."

Once Howard gets on the ship and out of the space suit he does three things. The first is to light a cigar and have a nice relaxing smoke after all this stress. The second is to call Morbius and leave a message. "Heya Mike. Its Howard, just callin' ta say that things are wrappin' up on my end. Case closed. I found a way ta get tha cost fer tha damages ta yer work covered so ya shouldn't worry 'bout that. Also let me know if Silver Boy picked up those yella schmucks yet. Bye."

The third thing he does is yet another call. He waits surprisingly patiently for it to ring before the other end picks up. "Hey Katie, its Howard. Ya got a minute? Its 'bout Darkseid."

[herodofcows]

As you make your call and brief Potence about the frankly PREPOSTEROUS number of ridiculous things that have been going on within the past day and change, Hal brings you in on approach to Earth.

You get the full view: the Earth as a marble, blue speckled with green, a cosmic jewel sun-burnished and starbound, spinning through the stars on an ovoid road to nowhere.

As you get closer, the jewel becomes a curiosity, a masterfully-crafted sculpture of land and sea and air turning majestically.

Closer still, and the flaws become apparent: scorched land, shrinking polar caps, urban sprawl. Brown where there was once green. Humans, man.

From there it stops being an experience in flight and becomes an exercise in controlled falling. You see North America, the Midwest stretching on in fields and plains and mountain ranges . . . and derelict factories, abandoned farms, insane amounts of pollution and FRIGGIN HUMANS MAN.

Finally, you approach your city, your block, your apartment. Of all the bejeweled reaches of the galaxy's arm, of all the sculpted marvels of creation, of all the flights of fancy and fascination that the universe offers . . . this dingy corner of it is yours.

"All right, home sweet home, I, uh, I guess," Jordan announces with a bit of mock-grandiose theatricality as the spaceship opens up. It's now the middle of the day, and a number of curious passerbys are giving you strange looks as you clamber out of a Green Lantern's spaceship. Granted, there aren't as many strange looks as you'd expect: this is Suicide Slum in Metropolis, after all, and you're a reasonably-known fixture of the area as the sole anthropomorphic duck PI around. Weirdness tolerance is a little high.

"We'll be getting your payment to you via the Justice League. Expect a check in the mail tomorrow."

Jordan hovers awkwardly for a moment, as though trying to figure a way to end this conversation on a professional note reflecting the services you've rendered in busting open his case and possibly staving off another invasion of Earth.

"Good, uh, good work."

And with that, off he flies.

You enter into your apartment building and head up the stairs. Your door is still busted open, a charming little reminder of Gamora's temper. Inside, things are messy and strewn about, approximately as you'd left them. Man, today has just been one kick in the cloaca after anothe-

"Howard."

SONOFAB****

"Doop told me ya'd be a good guy ta talk with. Said you were solid. Said I could trust ya."

From your second-best chair, Nick Fury lights up a stogie that even you might feel inclined to envy.

"We gotta talk about the Misfits, Howard . . ."

Howard gets 1 HP and 2 pp

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE MAIN STORY