dc_apokolips:

Just Outside Metropolis.....


Eventually, the Kryptonian girl stopped struggling.

They'd taken her unaware and she'd still crippled nearly a dozen of the Parademons he'd brought to complete the mission. Still, as she slumps the ground unconscious, Desaad smiles. The master will be happy for the success, if only because they'd taken the daughter of the hated Kryptonian. When they were done with her, the rage of the one called Superman would peak beyond anything ever seen. His anger would be legendary.

Darkseid had foreseen it, so it would come to pass.

Take the girl. She is needed on Apokolips." Desaad says, opening the Boom Tube back to the homeworld. One of the Parademons lifts Jo Kent and drags her into the portal with little issue.

"I have another to find." he says, motioning to the others.

bloodred_robin:

Tim unlocked the door and stepped into the apartment, setting his bags down on the floor. It was good to be home again, though he'd gotten the call this morning about his apartment. The repairs were done and he could move in again anytime he wanted. He doesn't know how to feel about that, but if things with J'anna implode, it'll be best to have another place to go.

Things in Gotham had gone as well as they could have and Marissa was a major help in that. He was sorry he couldn't do more to find Keith, but he promised her he'd keep working on it. Now, he just had to not tell Lian and Mia anything so he didn't get their hopes up and hope that Marissa could convince Keith to end this charade and spare his family more pain.

He'd forgotten the baggage he'd left behind in Star City.

He keeps the lights off as the sun goes down, sitting in the dark to brood.

veryperceptive:

GK came, in full makeup, to the Outsiders' headquarters with a piece of paper. It was for Red Robin, but he was happy to give it to anyone, really. He needed to deal with people outside of work and his immediate loved ones.

burningmartian:

J'anna didn't call ahead and it chewed at her as she made her way over to her father's residence.  What if he was hanging out on Mars? What if he and her mom were, uh, busy?  What if (and this was the big one) he was choosing to spend Father's Day with Jenn?  It'd happened once before, a memory that was still too sharp to touch for long in remembering.  She didn't call ahead because it gave her an out.  If J'onn didn't know she was coming she still had a chance to bail out and that was what she most wanted to do.  Everyone was on her to reach out--Tim, Cerdian, Ruth--but not reaching out was more comfortable.  She'd said some awful things and meant them all.  There was no taking them back, but she could just not do this.  She could just go home, drink a pint of half-and-half, and drown her accumulated sorrows with a few dozen boxes of Chocos.  But, by the time she worked up the nerve to flee...she was standing on J'onn J'onnz's doorstep.

"Damnit," she whispered before swallowing hard and knocking.

whydowescream:

Jay's concerns were valid, even if her gut, or dove-senses, or whatever, wasn't telling her Eli could manage to be a threat right now. And among the warning calls she made, one of the most important would be to J'anna J'onnz of the the Outsiders.

"Hello, this is Mourning Dove of the Teen Titans. Is Manhunter there?"

veryperceptive:

His 18th Birthday. A pretty big deal. And GK was cheerfully wrapping presents, taking a cue from Hobbit culture like a rich, pampered, and geeky boy logically might as well do.

He'd already made sure presents would be waiting for his family when they got back from Switzerland. In the meantime, he had something for Zoe, her Mom, the gang at work, the Outsiders -- to be delivered in costume -- and, last but not least, Eli.

Once the ones for work were dropped off, he headed for the triangle with two packages. On the way, he checked the mail.

There was a card. He blinked in shock to see that the postmark was from England, the return address from the Holdaways' firm. Did they actually give a damn all of a sudden?
And then he read it, and he was barely past the 'Dear Gilbert, Congratulations on your 18th birthday' when he statrted grinding his teeth.

It should have taken more effort to read between the lines. They should have put more effort into looking like, after all this time, they were into something more than getting Grandma's account back. He guessed to people like that, eighteen years and nine months was just a little blip in in a nearly three-century business deal.

He folded the card and shoved it in his pocket as he headed to Zoe's. Very quickly, since he wasn't bringing his stick.

rightontarget:

J'anna was one of Lian's best friends. So naturally, her birthday was not going to go unnoticed. And Lian knew just what to get her. Cookware and chocos. She'd gotten her a new bread machine. And while Lian couldn't cook or bake to save her soul, the bakery down the street from Outsiders headquarters could...and Lian had them make an entire cake out of Oreos. Well... technically, she had to get two cakes, because she knew that J'anna would eat the oreo cake all by herself. Lian got a red velvet for everyone else, as she knew that the oreo cake would be gone in a matter of minutes.

Lian placed the cake and the wrapped bread machine on the kitchen counter in Outsiders HQ. She'd told the rest of the team about J'anna's birthday.

burningmartian:

J'anna had made contact in one form or another with nearly everyone she was close to since her ressurrection.  There were three exceptions to that: her mother, her father, and Cerdian.  She couldn't face her parents, not yet, but Cerdian was another story.  He'd been turned a monster, too.  Even then she'd put it off as long as possible, not out of dread but out of fear.  J'anna wasn't sure what she was afraid of exactly, but the whole world seemed scarier in ways she couldn't express since she'd died.  When she had her third panic attack in the university library in as many hours she realized that she needed to reach out to the only person she trusted who would actually understand where she'd been.

Ditching school early she waited for Cerdian and their usual burger and shakes place, a strawberry milkshake before her.  It wasn't for her, though.  It was for him.

rightontarget:

Lian had called Uncle Ollie and pulled a couple of favors. It took a couple of weeks, but Outsiders Headquarters was back and running, it was like it had never been attacked by Black Lanterns. All of the damages to the building had been repaired, and the security system was updated so only members of the team could get in (and Uncle Ollie, as it was his company's abandoned old warehouse that they were using).

Lian was going over checking the security system, running all of the tests that Uncle Vic had told her to. After everything that happened recently, between getting kidnapped and everything with Cerdian, she really needed the distraction.

A couple more tests later, and the security systems were all up-to-date. Lian made her way into the kitchen, putting down her clipboard and going over her notes.

burningmartian:

She scared a fire investigator.  The man was sifting through the remains of what had been Tim's building when J'anna all of a sudden rose out of the ashes all green and Martian with her bright red eyes and wisps of flames dancing up from her body.  She was as confused as he was scared and it took her a moment before she managed to go invisible and slip out of the decimated structure without delay or questions from the investigator.  J'anna had questions of her own, though, what the hell happened being chief among them.  Several blocks from what had once been her home J'anna slipped into her visible human form as she tried to sort things out.  She remembered date night with Tim, all curled up on the couch.  She remembered the sudden appearance of Giselle.  She remembered...her heart being torn out.  Being dead.  She remembered that feeling, that moment where the color disappeared from before her eyes and J'anna remembered her vision being replaced and everything going colder.  It was then her memories began to change, almost like she was outside herself and inside her mind all at the same time.  Tim had destroyed the building to save himself and she?  She'd burned int he flames only to leave things behind and go straight for her father and Jenn.

As she walked along J'anna was acutely aware of everything she'd said to her father and her friend and with each step she was more and more horrified.  How could she have said those things?  Those weren't things one spewed at their father, but she'd said them.  And, worse, had meant them.  Tim thought she was dead.  She'd said horrible things to her father and friend.  She again had no home and no place to belong.  Well, that wasn't exactly true.  There was one place she knew she could go.  Tim had shown her the place once, his backup base in the Triangle.  it was a safe place that she could go so that is exactly where she went.  When she arrived she realized that she wasn't the only person hiding out there.  There were a couple of barely-eaten bowls of ramen on the work table and the small bed in the corner looked like it had barely been slept in.

Tim.

J'anna couldn't help herself.  She went directly to the bed and curled up on it, holding the pillow to her chest hoping it might smell like Tim.  She was so bewildered, embarrassed and scared,.  She was desperate for comfort wherever she could find it.

thesonsdaughter:

Since her arrival on Earth some months back, Jenn had kept a relatively low profile, the only people she had really seen much of regularly were "Uncle" J'onn and J'anna.  Recent upheavals, with the awakening of J'anna's mother and J'anna's own death had only served to isolate the Saturnian princess further.

Home was on the other end of the solar system, still eclipsed by rising civil war.  The news was grim.  Her father had yet to recover and the rebels attacks were growing more and more fierce.

For the moment, she flew over the city, on her way to see J'onn J'onzz.  She hated to intrude upon his private moments, especially now with the death of his daughter, but she needed something familiar.

burningmartian:

It was a rare night when patrol--for both Tim and J'anna--was shorter than the usual so they decided to take advantage of it with a quiet night in: dinner, some dvds, and then quality time (snuggling included.)  They were already well into part two of their evening, with J'anna curled up on the couch with Tim, a big bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and one of the old black and white romances J'anna seemed permanently enchanted with on the television.  J'anna herself was about half asleep and she suspected Tim was, too.

That's when she heard a noise.

"Tim, did you hear that?"

dc_misc:

The information has been coming in from around the world since 1:00 am EST. Each news outlet tells the story in a slightly different fashion, but the facts remain the same: at some time after 12:00am, planes on five continents fell from the sky, cars slammed into each other in traffic and regular people going about their every business simply fell over unconscious for no discernible reason.

"This is Austin Davis for the Daily Planet. The only word that can adequately describe what has happened is "catastrophe". Information is still coming in at this time, but it seems that most of Earth's inhabitants seemed to lose consciouness for exactly two minutes. In that time, planes,c cars and buses crashed, pedestrians were hit where they lay, and the world fell into chaos. Even now, the death toll is nearing the double digits and still climbing.

Stranger still is that the survivors, this reporter included, all report having a lucid dream of some kind during their black-out. Few dreams were alike, but one common thread unites them all; each person spoken to thus far believes they saw a relative or friend or lover who passed away some time ago returning to speak with them and offer advice. Many are shaken and unable to understand the meaning of these visions or why they were given.

The heroic community has leaped into action valiantly, aiding in relief efforts, but many are asking if the heroes knew about it in advance. Moreover, may are asking why America remained unaffected by the blackout. Thus far, no portion of the United States has reported any crashes or loss of life due to the blackout. We will bring you more on this story as it develops.

Austin Davis for the Daily Planet, London." 

dc_holiday:

The beginning of a New Year, a time for new hopes, new experiences to come. A time to reflect on times past, remembering fond memories happily and trying to put less pleasant thoughts and experiences in the past.

It is a time of renewal, a time of rebirth. And for much of the world, it is a time of celebration. This is no less true for the super hero set as anyone else. If anything, they just have that much bigger of things to look forward to.

dc_holiday:

There's a piece of paper and a pen attached to a bulletin board. Across the top is written:

New Year's Resolutions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
+

Anonymous entries accepted.

dc_baddie:

Robo-Santa had escaped control of the rogue government agency that had created him with a ton of weapons and his naughty meter that could detect who had been naughty or nice.

Flying on his sleigh lead by robo-reindeer he drops Molotov-Eggnog on down on to Star City as he falls the Naughty meter to the Outsiders headquarters.

Blowing open the main doors to the building he cries out, "Ho Ho Ho. You have all been very naughty."

greengenes:

Mickey had roped off the living room in the JSA Brownstone for the afternoon. She had spent the entire morning getting the food ready and setting up. She had sent out invites to the JLA, Titans (both East and West Coast), Shadowpact, Outsiders, Birds of Prey, and of course, the JSA girls. She had also invited Cindy in case she wanted to come, and Angie, as she was basically a JSA brat herself. Mikey had built her a projection bot, and security bot that would alert her if any of the boys thought to try and see what the girls were up to.

Mickey finished setting up the projector. She had pictures of all the guys from the various teams that she had managed to get to her hands on. She made sure that there would be enough food and drinks for everyone, and waited for people to start arriving.

dc_baddie:

"Well, well, well... Brion Markov, you have a bastard daughter. Who would have guessed, right?"

Frederick chuckled as he paced back and forth. Behind the plate glass window, locked in a shuttle, were Calypso and Brion Markov. Frederick took the time out of his day to mock them from the control center. He had figured out the relation between the two heroes some time ago, and it was a point of pride for Frderick that Brion hadn't known until just that moment.

"And now that the two of you are helpless, I'm going to make sure you really leave this world. My mother was the one that gave Geo-Force his powers, Brion. I know exactly how to kill you, and your daughter. Oh, how I anticipate your dying words. What kind of touching moment will it be?"

He cut off the transmission for the moment and cackled. Then he checked in his new motley crew of Geo-Force mock-ups.

questionthis:

Max was in costume doing a little decorating around the Outsiders Base for Christmas. He still didn't trust any of them enough to tell them who he really was and had been careful to make sure that even Red Robin couldn't figure it out.

Max really liked Christmas and figured a few decorations  would be nice around the base. Currently Max stringing up a few lights in the rec room humming Christmas songs to himself.

dc_holiday:

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." JFK

In America today is a day for being thankful for the things in people's lives. Today was a day to celebrate family, friends, prosperity and health with food, family and friends. It is a time to reflect on what is important us and to recognize the gratitude we hold for having those things in our lives.

rightontarget:

Takes place before Calypso leaves.

Lian surveyed the damage done to the Outsiders' base. While the place wasn't exactly in ruins, it didn't look like her apartment after she'd torn it apart looking for something she'd misplaced, either. Shards of broken glass here, a burnt table there.

She sighed. It was all replaceable. She could make a couple of calls and get everything fixed.

But she couldn't stay. She'd made a huge mistake, in going off undercover in the League on her own, without telling anyone. Yes, the team knew that she had been undercover, her and Tim made pretty damn sure to fill them in on that little detail when they briefed them on the League, but they didn't know the whole story. About her and Damien.

It was her fault that this had happened. Her fault that the League attacked.

Her fault that her best friend was dead.

She couldn't allow herself to put her teammates at risk like that again. She'd gather her things, make sure that arrangements for repairs were made, and then she'd leave, and they'd never have to see her again.

dc_misc:

"Coming to you live from the capitol city of Markovia is Darlene Johnson, of Channel 13 News. The deaths of Iona Markov, the Queen of Markovia, and her son, Gregor Jr., crowned prince of Markovia, has put the country in a state of anarchy.

"It appears that a group of men dressed like the hero Geo-Force have been patrolling the streets, causing more chaos and killing many people.

"And who is the one responsible for all of this chaos? Brion Markov, ex-Regent of Markovia. He was captured earlier, but has since escaped and his whereabouts are unknown at present.

"This is Darlene Johns- AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

The TV screen went black and white with fuzz, and then switched to the anchors sitting in their seats, in shock with fear at the last image shown on the screen; a stream of lava dousing Darlene and the camera crew.

demonchild:

It was going to be a dark day in Star City.

Or at least, it was going to be a dark day for those that dared to tangle with the League of Assassins.

The plan was set in motion, and the League was on the move.

They each had their mission. Vesper had already done his part and freed Bane from where they had been holding him. The guards at the Super-Max were currently keeping their hands full with a full-prison riot. It had been discovered that Slade Wilson was no longer at the prison, having been broken out by a team of individuals sometime previous, though that was neither here nor there.

Getting a location for where Red Robin and his allies would be was difficult, but the Informant wasn't just your everyday run-of-the-mill hacker, she was one of the best.

And now, Morgaine, along with her brother's decoy and the rest of the League, were in a helicopter headed straight towards Outsider's headquarters.

"The plan is simple," Morgaine said, briefing her team for a final time before they began their attack. "While the Demon's Head has instructed us to kill anyone that stands in our way, we are merely providing a distraction while he rescues his Lady from her imprisonment. Do not hesitate do deliver a killing strike, but wiping out the entire team is not required of us at this time. We will keep them busy until the Demon's Head informs us that he has Lian, and then we will make our getaway.

Understood?"

A chorus of yeses arose from the team, and Morgaine nodded. "Excellent. We will be approaching the target shortly."

When the helicopter was in within range of the Outsiders headquarters, a rocket was fired at one of the windows. Not one to bring the entire place to the ground, but it would definitely set the alarms off, at the very least.

The team reached the drop off point, and the League of Assassins came in through the blown-out window. Morgaine pulled out both of her swords, a bloodthirsty grin crossing her face.

"Knock-knock."

bloodred_robin:

Red Robin has been watching the Dobrev Cartel's movements for the last week, since he decoded some of the information he procured from the Shadow Broker's pawn. The Dobreva's are aiding Mexican Cartels in getting weapons and drugs into the United States. Shutting them down would mean crippling a major source of income for these people. He'd already contacted Detective Falconeri of the Star City Police Department to give him the names for the warrants he should obtain as well as informing him of where the S.W.A.T. team needed to be.

Two hours before their team goes hot, Red Robin is in the Triangle, infiltraiting the building and shutting down their communications. He'll do this alone, despite the forces he can bring to bear, because he needs to know that he can still operate on  his own.

Creeping along silently, Tim sneaks up behind the next guard and locks him in a sleeper hold, dragging him into an abandoned apartment nearby and setting him down. As soon as his struggle stops, Tim sneaks out of the apartment and into the stairwell.

So far, so good.

terra_mater:

Calypso was back in her domain, the sub-basement of the Outsiders HQ. The Titans of Myth were defeated and she could take a break from the frustrations of the entire incident. After a period of rest, she ventured into the kitchen on the main floor and started making Hamburger Helper for lunch.

dc_titansofmyth:

Near Logan International Airport there were a number of industrial areas. Warehouses and manufacturing plants were scattered through out the area and closing in on a manufacturing planted owned by LexCorp was Helios, Titan and once worshiped as the sun god. Until Zeus and his Olympians usurped the Titans and cast them into Hades.

Helios pulled upon his fiery powers and engulfed the plant in flames.

burningmartian:

There was a week between the afternoon she worked her way into a recon partnership with Red Robin and the evening of the event and J'anna hadn't wasted a moment of it.  With the scant information she had been provided while Red Robin ate, she had done some of her own digging and her own research not just on the targets but also on the event they would be attending.  It had all lead to shopping.  One couldn't go to an event without a proper dress and there was the added complication: the fact that she kind of liked Red Robin so she wanted to not only look appropriate, but also pretty.  Not as though it would particularly matter, she had reasoned, but since she'd never gotten to go to prom (another consequence of Lian's endless pursuit of White Martians) she figured what the hell.

The preparation was all classic J'anna. She not only looked perfect but was done early and was properly waiting for Red Robin to show up, idly wondering if he'd be in cape and cowl.  That could be amusing.  There was one twist to her appearance, however.  Rather than being dressed in her typical June Cleaver meets J Crew modest fashion, the Martian was wearing a knockout of a blue gown that showed plenty of shoulder and was bare from her neck to the small of her back.

It was blue.  She liked it.

rightontarget:

Lian had been giving this some thought. Ever since she'd discovered that her mother was alive.

Cheshire needed to be stopped. While Cheshire was her mother, and yes, Lian did love her, and knew that her mother loved her in her own way, she couldn't just let her keep killing people.

She had to find. Had to make sure that she stopped her for good. While she wouldn't kill her own mother, she could at least make sure that she was put away somewhere where she WOULDN'T escape this time.

This was something she had to do on her own. As much as she trusted her new team, it was something she had to do with no help.

Besides, where she was going...she couldn't take her team. Hell, she couldn't even take her costume. Jade Arrow had to be left behind, and Lian had to become someone else.

Grabbing her bow and throwing knives, she left a note for the Outsiders.

Hey all,

I have to go away for awhile. I have family things that need to be taken care of, and I don't know how long it's going to take me. J'anna, you and Red Robin are in charge until I get back.

-Lian

Lian left the note taped to the fridge and left the building. She had a plane to catch.

rightontarget:

Lian had called in a favor to Uncle Ollie after her and the others had driven off her mother. Since she HAD saved his life (and the lives of his board members), not to mention that she may have dropped that she was starting a team and needed someplace for them to meet that WASN'T a rooftop, Ollie had given the Outsiders an old warehouse that he was no longer using for Queen Industries. Not to mention that she'd called a couple favors in with her "aunts and uncles".

So in other words- the Outsiders had one TRICKED OUT HQ.

Uncle Vic supplied the security system. Which meant that no one could really break in without them knowing...and without feeling really stupid about even THINKING to break in.

Dad had called in a couple of favors with the JLA and gotten them a fully stocked workout room, capable of catering to the team's various needs.

Uncle Ollie provided the means to refurbish the warehouse to include a kitchen, lounge (complete with a nice home theater system), and bedrooms in case anyone needed to crash overnight. While she didn't expect anyone to move in, as several of them (including her) had lives outside of the team, they at least had a place to stay if they needed it.

Lian wasn't wearing her costume. She'd told the team who she was. Her mask wasn't needed here. She'd commed them earlier and told them that the new headquarters was all set and the Outsiders were go.

Lian poured herself a glass of water and made her way into the lounge area.

brainiac_6:

Alura's head was spinning, reeling.  Her sense of direction and position, usually almost flawless, was currently failing her.  Her immediate memory was hazy too.  She remembered fighting... someone, something, but the details were fuzzy.  Troubling, that.  Her 12th level intellect gave her a flawless recall.  How could she not remember what had happened to her?

There was also, it seemed to be, the matter of reentry.  She was falling, had already reached terminal velocity. She quickly calculated her relative position in the sky compared to her rate of falling and deduced that even if she could regain completely control of her faculties--something that currently seemed to be eluding her--she would not be able to stop in time.


BOOM!

The Kryptonian/Coluan hero hit the pavement in Star City hard, like a meteor strike.

rightontarget:

bendytimed to the night after Cheshire fled Gotham

Lian, J'anna, and Calypso were at Queen Industries on stakeout. Or rather, on the rooftop across from Queen Industries, that is. Lian pulled out her night-vision goggles, as they waited for Red Robin to meet up with them. Lian had alerted him earlier on the comms that they were going on stakeout tonight.

She'd gotten in some more information about who they were looking for. From what she could gather, they were based from out of Gotham City, or somewhere near that area. Also, from what she'd picked up, they had added someone else to their roster. Someone who's methods were more...lethal than the rest of the group's. Lian had a sinking feeling of it could possibly be, but that was a big, fat, if. After all...she was dead, right?

"He should be here soon," Lian said, her eyes still focused on the building's windows as she looked for any unusual activity. "Keep an eye out. Then, we'll take it from there."

rightontarget:

Jade Arrow made her way over Star City's rooftops, Calypso and J'anna at her side. She'd been helping Cal settle into Star City and hero life, and had brought J'anna along on patrol with her that evening so Calypso could meet another superhero their age.

Also, she needed backup with her this evening.

Someone had broken into Queen Industries the other night and stolen some important tech. And from what Lian had gathered when she investigated earlier she was able to figure out a couple of clues- one, it was a group that had broken in last night. And two, they hadn't gotten everything that they wanted. From what the security guards had told her as well, they had never seen any villains like these in Star City ever before last night.

Lian took a moment to pause over on the rooftop.

"Okay," she said, turning to Calypso and J'anna, "Let's go over what we know again."