2013.04.13 - Daxamites and their Flashy Entrances

The hustle and bustle of one of the most busy and famous cities in the world is, on a normal day, all some people can take. Throw super-heroes into the mix, and the afternoon rush to lunch and back can often turn into the afternoon rush for cover.
Like today!
Cliche, perhaps, considering the location, but right in the middle of everyone's quiet (ha!) urbane day, there's an explosion. Most citizens aren't prepared for explosions even when they're prepared. Most run, most are ducking for cover. Car alarms go off, traffic careens as a slight ripping sound and then a gout of noise and flame erupt in mid-air. A figure is actually blown out of the 'wound' -- a figure that promptly bounces off the pavement (it cracks and buckles from the force) and careens off of a couple more cars and throws -them- off course even as it struggles to catch its bearings in mid-air.
Unlike most people, there is a woman running /towards/ the explosion. She has black hair and seems to be in a crisp, new woman's pantsuit. She threads through the crowd, forcing them to let her through. She wants to see what happened. If she can help. Or stop whoever might be behind this explosion. Funny how, even in her line of work, Diana never gets used to the noise of explosions and people panicking. They're always surprising.
The explosion seems to have been a one-off; though the gout of flame has scorched the area it opened over, and the *BOOM* certainly rattled everyone's nerves, it doesn't repeat itself. Indeed, as Diana rushes towards it, the 'space' in the air is beginning to... seal? It wasn't a proper doorway between worlds, something just literally blasted between dimensions. The 'cracks' are hanging there in mid air, fire and death and debris floating in space can be seen if one really /looks/, but they're closing over of their own accord - reality sealing itself against reality once more.
Meanwhile, the figure shot out of the other universe finally lands with absolutely no grace on a hastily abandoned spot on the street. The ground quakes beneath her - definitely female - and she makes some sort of noise. Alive, at least - definitely stunned.
Eventually, Diana simply twirls, some kind of magic activating as she does. It leaves her clad in what people can recognize. The Wonder Woman costume. She visibly frowns as the hole 'seals' up. Magic? Science beyond her comprehension? She's not sure. Likely there are a few possibilities. When she hears the groan - she's alive! - Diana turns on her heels and quickly swoops over the ground to the woman's side. At first, she starts with saying 'sister' - that is the Amazon way of course, all women are sisters - but remembering how some have reacted she shifts gear. "Can you hear me...?" Assess the damage. Call for help if need be.
She's certainly clothed like... okay, maybe an Amazon from the future or something. Or from the 90's, judging by the roughed up uniform jacket and black bikini she's wearing beneath it. The language the woman responds in is... NOT of this Earth. Alien of some sort, perhaps - and her blue-green eyes don't particularly seem to want to focus. Concussed, perhaps. The remains of some kind of electronic medical cast cover her left lower leg, though she wears a white boot on her right.
The blonde - she's definitely blonde, as a white-gloved hand gets run through her hair as some kind of expression of exhaustion confusion or both rubs black soot from the explosion off her head and -- she actually looks relatively unharmed, for someone who just got bounced out of another Universe.
She stands shakily, trying to fix her clouded gaze on the woman addressing her. Again, the weird language - though she stops mid-sentence, and says, in English... "Am I dead?"
There's the soft look of relief when Laurel stirs and tries to speak repeatedly. Diana's first impressions are not 'possible concussion', but rather 'language she doesn't know'. Because she doesn't know all of them, but she can at least recognize an actual language there. Another smile of relief passes over her face when the question is asked in English. "I think you seem to be very much alive," she answers. "Are you hurt?"
Nobody is dead, nobody is Attacking the City, and Wonder Woman isn't punching the new chick in the face; obviously, anyone around who hasn't wet themselves in panic or fled for the hills is starting to slowly get their brains back in gear for the reality of everyday life. Police are starting to get statements, others are calling their insurance companies to find out if damage caused by extradimensional explosion is covered. Nitty gritty stuff.
"Maybe?" The woman starts checking herself over for fresh injuries - though she starts to raise her hand to give herself a tap on the side of the head as though it might clear her vision, then thinks better of it and just shrugs. "I'm not in any more pain than I was /before/ the planet Earth exploded, so I suppose not." Concussion and shock, clearly.
"What year is it?"
Wonder Woman lifts an eyebrow. "...exploded?" She says it in more of a hushed tone, clearly not wishing to upset anyone who may overhear. She stands close by to help stabilize and/or catch Laurel if she proves to still be unsteady. "By the calendar of Man's World, it is 2013," she answers. "My name is Diana. What year are you from?" She may come from a rather... primitive culture when compared to the societies beyond Themyscira, but she has grasped concepts quickly.
"Exploded," the woman repeats. "It was total nass. Dominator plot. We were too late." She starts to rub her forehead, squeezing the bridge of her nose. "Spangled shorts, tiara - Wonder Woman. It's an honor, usually it was just Valor I met on trips to the past. I'm Laurel."
Oh, hold the phone there was another question wasn't there -- "Oh! It was... uhm. 2996. When I..." gestures at the space where she was forcefully ejected. "Left."
Wonder Woman blinks in surprise. "You... know who I am?" Almost one thousand years later, and someone knows who she is? There's no worry that Laurel is lying; Diana can sense the truth as it is spoken. "I... don't know who or what Dominators are," she admits. But by the name, she can guess what sort of beings they are. "Something pushed you back in time?"
 
Laurel almost laughs. It's funny, except it's totally not funny. "Well, I was then and now I'm now so, it looks like." Then she bites her lower lip and visibly frets. "I hope Rokk is okay, and the others, I--" shakes head. "Can't think about that right now. Bearings fi--"
*CLICK*
Laurel raises a gloved finger and asks, very seriously, "Did the pea-brain behind me just take a picture of my caboose with his phone?"
Wonder Woman has had this happen before. She finds it perplexing, but well. It happens. "Can you fly?" asks the Amazon, rounding the question entirely. "It may be easier if we talk away from... photograph opportunities."
"Soooo that's a yes then. Great." Laurel *GLARES* behind her at the suddenly frightful dude behind her, and she all but /hisses/, "You are SO LUCKY I'm with /Wonder Woman/ right now, you sexist trog!"
Turning back to Diana, Laurel answers by starting to hover and nodding a 'lead on' indicator. "I /knew/ there was a reason we stuck to the earlier decades when we time-traveled," she grouses aloud. "Centuries from now, nobody will care. But it takes about that long."
"Trog?" questions Wonder Woman, as she lifts from the ground. She heads up to a comfortable level, waits for Laurel, and then starts flying in one direction. "Centuries from now, no one will care about what?" She can make guesses, but she prefers to know and not make assumptions. Especially since Laurel is speaking of the future.
"About what I'm wearing," Laurel gestures. "Or you, for that matter. Friends will still crack a joke now and then, but there isn't the rampant salacious ogling." She even makes a face as they fly -- "I think I'm going to want /pants/," she decides out loud, sounding a little shocked.
"Anyway! So... 2013, and me without a ride home. Or possibly a home to go-to. There anything I should know in regards to going about setting up some sort of ... I don't know. Place to stay at the very least, probably. Somewhere I can base from while I look for other Legionnaires."
Wonder Woman looks down at herself. "What I'm wearing?" Well okay, it is perhaps a little... well, much like Laurel's own costume, with a different design and scheme for colours. As Laurel mentions a base, the Amazon considers. "I don't know how much you know about me, Laurel," she begins. "I like to think I am a good judge of character." Of course, gifts from the gods themselves help in that respect. "I have an embassy here in the city, and we have many spare rooms for guests. You would be welcome to stay at the embassy for as long as you need."
"I appreciate that, Diana, thank you. As far as what I know - not a WHOLE lot. Rokk is really the TwenCen nerd in our group, and Lar would know more because he's FROM this time. The specifics on things tend to fade, blur around the edges - but you're judged by the company you keep and lets face it: what company was better than the Justice League at this time, right?" Laurel grins, having gone on a bit - starting to seem a bit steadier, too.
"I'm happy to take you up on your offer, certainly in the short term. There's no way I'm the first Legionnaire to end up back here -- usually the trips are planned, but when one of us turns up in the past UNplanned, it sort of seems to act like a magnet. I've got to start looking for them - if they aren't looking for me all ready. Anything else? Omnipresent bad guys to watch out for, current threats that are being trouble? Khunds? Khunds are the worst. Government hiccups? Even the Legion has trouble with those sometimes."
Wonder Woman goes over what she does know. She prefaces it with an explanation that she is relatively new to Man's World. Barely here six months. "So there's a chance that, because you are here, your friends may show up as well? But not immediately..." Time travel is an odd thing, she has decided. And she hasn't even experienced it yet!
"They could be here all ready, there could be some and not others, they... could..." Waaaaaait a second. "It's 2013, and you've only been here six months?" Laurel almost recoils a little, not in disgust but confusion - even raising a hand and muttering to herself (this time in a totally different alien-sounding language, though it sounds like rationalizations and possibly also math problems.)
An eyebrow goes RIGHT UP, and Laurel's English returns, "You're /certain/ this is 2013?"
Wonder Woman lifts an eyebrow back, not understanding. "I'm certain," she answers. Knowing Laurel probably knows much about her, being from the future - and that she has been quite open about what brought her to the world of men - she continues. "My friend, Steve Trevor, crashed his plane in my homeland in the summer of last year. We had a tournament to choose his guide back to Man's World, and I came here shortly after."
 
"Oh God," Laurel mutters, her hands coming up to cover her face. She takes a deep breath, then drops them with a sigh. "Apparently, I didn't just travel in time. Fantastic." A smile - perfect in execution if not quite in form, too. "Add to the list that the Legionnaires I find may not even be the ones I /know./ Peachy."
"I don't understand," she admits. Damn, where's Kal when she needs him? Diana's sure he would understand this. "Where else would you have gone, exactly, if not just back in time?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm not even in the same /world/," Laurel admits, a growl of frustration and mild panic edging the tone of her voice. "You're supposed to have been here since 1985!"
Wonder Woman blinks. "...Laurel? Just who do you think my teammates in the Justice League are?" she wonders, frowning. She turns ever slightly as she flies, specifically leading the blonde towards the embassy.
"Superman, Batman, Green Latern, the Flash, Aquaman, and sometimes Black Canary and Green Arrow," Laurel lists off, BARELY watching where she's going as she and Wonder Woman fly towards the Themysciran Embassy. "Right?"
Wonder Woman lifts her brows and frowns. "Doctor Fate, Black Canary, Stargirl, Colossus, Superman, Zatanna, Aquaman, and Green Lantern," she says, listing off the members she's aware of. "In the history you remember, I have been here longer, but the group I work with is smaller?" The duo are flying through the air, specifically in the direction of Wonder Woman's embassy.
Having been scanning for a legion signature for days now, Val is overjoyed when his ring finally picks one up. It's odd... something not quite right.. but it's Legion and that's all he cares about. Following the 'ping' the ring is giving him, he soars across the city in search of it's wearer. Cos? Triplicate Girl? Perhaps Imra? He's pushing the ring to it's limits, trying to catch them from across the city.
"... Yep," Laurel answers, lips pursed. They aren't traveling at top-speed or anything, so Val should certainly overtake them before long. "I mean, the other names are familiar-ish -- like I said, Rokk's the history nerd, not me -- but that particular line-up... not familiar. I've never even heard of Colossus. Is he new?"
"I think Superman said he recruited Colossus before asking me to join. I haven't met him specifically." She just remembers the name. Superman mentioned it. The Amazon Princess flies slowly. Mostly because she's unsure how fast Laurel can fly, and wants to be nearby in case the blonde falters.
Val catches the women up shortly. Soaring down from above them, they'll see his shadow before they see him more than likely. "Wait.. I.. this is going to sound odd but.. Do either of you know what the Legion of Superhero's is?" He asks the pair of older women. Older than he is at the very least. He doesn't know either of them.
"I'll take your word for it, Diana," Laurel replies - with very much the 'I give up on figuring THIS out for now' tone. Which is grand, because -- "Geezum crow! VAL?" She turns in mid-air, still flying alongside Wonder Woman but now backwards so that she can look up at Karate Kid. "Sprocking nass, you're young! Did you just get here too?"
Wonder Woman turns as Laurel does. Honestly, she hadn't expected they'd come across someone that Laurel knew so quickly. But then... he didn't seem to recognize Laurel, either. Things are only going to get more complicated, aren't they?
Val Armorr blinks and slows. "I uh.. I'm sorry do I." He starts to ask, then he see's the Legion ring. The lingo is right. Some of the other Legionnaires spoke like that. Whereas Val prefered the relatively older terms of Earth. Being that he never learned the various languages of the galaxy, he never caught on to the lingo. "I.. No I've been here for a day or two. Sorry who are you?" He asks. She has a ring but he doesn't know her. Something is off.
"It's Laurel. Laurel Gand?" Ok, totally stopping now to hover in midair because this is gonna get ridiculous. "I mean... you're young but you're not THAT young. I've been a Legionnaire since before you joined. Do you seriously not remember me?" Because woah, what?
"Laurel. Is it possible he doesn't know you because he's not from your team?" Diana asks softly. "After all, my history deviates from what you know. Maybe he isn't the young man you know." Yep. More complicated.
Val Armorr blinks. "Mon-El? I know Lar Gand.. but.. he had a brother, not a sister." He stops and sakes his head, his gaze shifting from Laurel to Diana and back again. "A paradox. What your friend says is true by everything I know of time travel. We apparently met in your time, but not mine... And your timeline is apparently farther along than mine was, or you've been here for a while. I left a battle with the Timer Trapper just yesterday." He says and frowns.
"My head hurts," Laurel complains. And not just because she got bounced off the pavement and a few cars in an explosion a little while ago. "I'm Valor's cousin, not his sister. His brother's my great-times-a-whole-bunch grandfather. I--" she stops then, looking between Diana and Val, and Laurel just folds her arms. "Oh, it's possible - but if my Universe and his Universe are so close except for the detail of oh, say, /me/, then it's just really, really unfair."
"You said in your universe I arrived in Man's World in 1985." Diana turns to Val, a curious look on her face. "Do you know who I am?" she wonders. If not, her methods of finding out where Val's from - or at least trying to - may be for naught.
Val Armorr scowls. Not angry, just confused. But then his face lights up. "Valor.. but.. Oh you mean Mon-El.. He often spoke of his cousin, that he was trying to recruit him.. er.. I mean her." He says and motions to Laurel. "She.. you.. were to be interviewed following the Legion shutting down the Time Trapper. That's why we never met. I got kicked back here a few days before we met. In my timeline." 
He turns to Diana, and looks her over, thinking. "I met The Martian Manhunter yesterday.. so that would make you Wonder Woman?" He guesses. Either that or someone trained by her. Pass down the gear. "Yes Ma'am. You and the original Justice League have statues still standing in my time. You, Superman, The Manhunter, The Green Lantern John Stewart, Batman and the Flash."
"Oooo... kay. Fairly big differences, it's looking like," Laurel admits, pressing her lips together. "Look, anyway you slice it we're still Legionnaires - right? So now we know there's two of us, a guarantee that there's more here somewhere, or will be turning up soon. So that's a good thing. We'll figure out ... whatever the heck is going on, I'm sure. In the meantime, I'm going to go with Wonder Woman and get cleaned up and do some recon. Where are you hanging your hat right now?"
Wonder Woman nods. "That is who I am." But clearly Val remembers a different League. "If you need a place..." she glances towards Laurel. "Any... teammates of Laurel's is welcome." She's going to get a reputation for picking up stray heroes and putting a roof over their heads at this rate!
Val Armorr raises an eyebrow. "I don't currently have a roof over my head. J'onn mentioned that several teams might be looking for a man of my skills, so I had entertained the thought of petitioning one of them, but seeing as the Legion is alive in the twenty first.. I see no reason why we shouldn't stay Legionnaires. I'd be glad to go with you two if you'll have me. I don't eat much. " He says and smiles. Unlike his powered compatriots, Val sticks to a VERY strict and controlled diet. He has to to maintain his fighting edge to stay on par with those with powers.
"I don't know how long we'll stay, Diana, but we definitely appreciate the generosity." And with Val on board, Laurel just nods once - all right! "So it's settled for now at least. We'll get a good rest and start putting together intel for any other Legionnaires that might show up tomorrow." Passing out honestly sounds pretty friggin' sweet, though. "Lead on!"
"Stay as long as you'd like." Diana smiles. Of course, it's a cultural thing. She has to offer them a place. She turns back in the right direction and starts flying back towards the embassy. During which time, just to be sure, she gives both Legionnaires an idea of why exactly the embassy is here, and her aims as Ambassador. Hey, might as well get it out of the way.
Category:Log