Chapter 13
Batman determined that they would let Batgirl stew for a week before bringing them in for their initial training. Among other things, this gave them time to fully integrate the new 'Belfry' operating base into their network, moving in the big technology and connecting the utility uplinks. It would be Batgirl's home base, for at least as long as it takes for her to be trusted with the real Batcave.
But until that happened, there were other matters that needed to be attended to. Like the recent explosion, pun intended, of the metahuman population in an otherwise nondescript midwestern town by the name of Dakota.
They were referred to as 'Bang Babies', due to their abilities being caused by the 'Big Bang' of a mutagenic chemical known as Quantum Vapor, created by Alva Industries, who was the 6th largest chemical company in the United States, and the 9th largest pharmaceutical. In other words, no one would ordinarily suspect them of creating something that could make metahumans. Except for the fact that they were also the smallest private company that was authorized to tinker around with the alien salvage, and the fact that they managed to not only create something like that without the Justice League knowing about it, but also exposing about a thousand people to it, with less than a hundred surviving?
Well, Tanya didn't think it a coincidence that 70% of those exposed were African American, and only 5% were white. The CEO, Edwin Alva, had numerous financial ties, admittedly at a remove, to white supremecist groups. There was also evidence of premeditation among the local police department's files, some shady inventory numbers and signs of a coverup. It wasn't really definitive enough for an American court given that they were talking about a billionaire CEO, even if the man's billionaire status was threatened when Alva Industries' stock dipped, but it was clear enough that Batman was convinced that this 'chemical accident' was human experimentation in disguise.
This, of course, was what Batman could uncover without setting foot inside the state, much less the scene of the crime. The Justice League had to do something, even if it was something more symbolic than useful. Why they didn't until Batman brought it up at Tanya's suggestion… well, the Justice League was still more of a superhero hobby club, despite the space station. The only one who really had a firm grip on PR was Batman… and maybe Green Arrow, both of whom were not particularly interested in doing that job. So it fell to Rhine.
"Okay, the Ring says that was all of it." John Stewart said, a glowing green container of purple liquid floating next to him. "What am I supposed to do next?"
"I've got a pressurized container ready, Rhine will bring it to you." Batman said, looking up at the massive supercomputer the Watchtower had.
Rhine sighed. "This screen shows me an electric connection, along that path, my body, projection." Magic surged as they dove into the screen, emerging from the communicator that John had the foresight to move away from his head before they did so. With a flourish, Rhine produced the aforementioned pressurized container from their wing.
The green container connected to the real one and transferred the chemical without much fuss, the energy field transforming into something that could interface with the unfamiliar attachments. Handy. "Well, that's that." John said, nodding to himself.
"There is one more matter, if you don't mind some chatter." Rhine said, holding up a finger. "It's been only a week, but crime's at a peak. Already in place, a vigilante they face."
John growled. He really didn't like decrypting rhymes, for some reason. "This is about the PR bullshit Batman's been going on about, isn't it?" He asked.
"In hospitals many, patients are plenty." Rhine pointed out, "A kind word or two, what harm could it do?" Superheroes visiting hospitals didn't even need superpowers, and after such a large metahuman disaster, Green Lantern waving the flag, metaphorically, could help the Justice League's image. "To come and go without a word, it would look uncaring, quite untoward."
The fact that John's own skin tone lent him an air of sincerity to the victims of the, likely, racially-motivated crime that even Superman wouldn't be able to match was just a bonus. Not that Rhine wouldn't have gotten Superman to tour if he was here instead, it's just that he likely would have done so on his own initiative. John scowled at Rhine's words, but nodded grumpily. "Fine. We'll go visit the Bang Babies."
"I sometimes wonder, if I let you blunder…" What would happen?
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Some of the Bang Baby cases were, despite being basically dead… weren't quite dead yet. "...A soul I detect, a life to inspect." Rhine said, sniffing faintly at the puddle of goo. "Last one, Correct?" They added, continuing the previous rhyme. They recently figured out they could do that, if they started the next line quick enough. It was pretty much the only trick with rhyming that they could do that made communication easier, instead of just overcomplicating things.
"Yes, thank you." Said Dr. Todd, one of the scientists studying the phenomena in search of a cure. "I must say, the implications that some of these subjects are still alive? Fascinating. Could they be cured? I don't know." Maybe about one in four of the fifty-seven 'remains' that GenomaTech was saving for study was still alive, if one defined that as having a detectable soul. "We'll try to make them more comfortable… somehow."
John Stewart grunted. "Well, glad we could help. Rhine, you think you could do something?"
"I could certainly try, magic's limits are beyond the sky." Rhine opined, "The nature of mine, however, is not inclined."
John sighed heavily. The doctor seemed to be more comfortable with word play, however. "I think she said she doesn't think it would work. Something about her nature?"
"Of course a demon's not going to be great at healing." John grumbled, "Unless she's turning them into demons too, I guess."
Rhine took a moment to contemplate that. "I believe that would work, albeit with a quirk. Demons need magic, going without will be tragic."
"Couldn't they do what you do?" Dr. Todd asked.
"Gotham is steeped, in magic, there are heaps." Rhine replied, "Outside of those grounds, I'm drained and am bound." To emphasize their point, they mimed a yawn, not needing to put special effort into physical language that were paired with words already. "To go without leaves a hole, hunger sated by soul."
"Yikes." John said, worried, "So Gotham's demon central because they don't need to eat people there?"
"There aren't that many kin, just me and the sin." Rhine retorted, "Animal souls will do, and Hell will work too." Admittedly, there were supposedly side-effects for eating animal souls too much, but that wasn't much of a concern for them. "The point is still there, a cure it won't bear."
"Well, maybe as a desperation option." Dr. Todd said after a moment to think about it. "I'd like to try to synthesize a more direct cure first."
Before Rhine could compose a rhyme to express their opinion, there was something of a commotion. A being composed of… energy? Walked in the front door and there was something of a commotion with security.
John, previously not really paying attention, snapped into action and put a wall of green between the energy being and the cops. "Woah now, what's going on here?" He asked authoritatively.
"Green Lantern!?" exclaimed the energy being. Two teenagers who were lingering outside nervously came inside to lollygag. "I-I'm not here to cause any trouble." It said nervously.
"...I believe you." John said after a pause. "You're a Bang Baby, right? This is where they're researching the cure, so if that's what you're here for, you've come to the right place." The green constructs retreated, and instead capped the drawn pistols from the security, who meekly holstered them.
"Yeah, that's right." The energy being said, "I'm Derek, sir. I just… wanna be normal again."
The next few minutes involved the boy's mother showing up, several emotional moments, at least one accidental energy discharge, her signing a contract related to her son's care, and overall just boring minutiae. The whole time, those two teenagers paid attention not only to the famous superhero, but also Derek, watching to see him be laid on a medical bed before deciding that they saw enough. John seemed to agree, because he followed the two teens. "So, how do you know the boy?" John asked them, startling the two boys.
The dark-skinned one spoke up first. "Ah, I'm Virgil. I tutored Derek before… that happened." He explained, "He's a cool dude, he just got a little confused."
"I'm Ritchie. I just tagged along." The pale one said nervously. "Hey, uh…" He leaned over to Virgil. "Hey, didn't you want that autograph? Now's your chance!"
Virgil was clearly far too anxious to actually do that, but this, at least, was familiar territory for a Justice League member. Rhine fetched from their subspace pocket a glossy photograph of the assembled Justice League, a small promotional poster they had made up: Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Batman (with Rhine's blank face peering out from his cloak), and the Flash all assembled in a line. "Is that all?" John asked, uncapping the marker Rhine produced for him and signing the poster with an elaborate 'GL' with a little doodle of his symbol. "I am going to do you a favor and not ask further about what you meant about Derek's past actions. "
Virgil took a moment to digest that. "Yeah that's cool." He said, probably remembering that Green Lantern was a space cop. "So, I have a question. How do you get more members for that Justice League? How does that work?" He laughed nervously, his voice cracking.
John's eyes narrowed. "...I'm not really involved with that." He said carefully. "It's usually Batman that tells everyone else about the new members." He used his ring to scan the two in front of him. "...You've both got some of the gas in your systems." He said bluntly. "You more than him." He added, pointing to Virgil.
Ritchie's eyes widened. "Wait, me too?" he asked, panicked.
Virgil immediately understood the slip. "Damn it, Ritchie!"
"At a guess, you would be Static?" John asked, raising his eyebrow. "I'm not going to rat you out, kid." He added gently. "I'd be doing just as stupid of stuff if I got this thing at your age." He gestured to his power ring. Virgil looked sheepish, but grateful at the soft admonition.
Rhine reached into their subspace pocket and produced a burner phone. "We'll speak further tomorrow, tell what aid you can borrow." After Ritchie took it for them, they added: "I'll call at seven, block time 'til eleven."
The two teens conferred with each other. After a moment, Ritchie nodded. "Yeah, we can do that."
Excellent. "That should be all, no more need to trawl." Rhine said to John Stewart, floating out. "I am annoyed, return to the void." Darkness erupted around them and they teleported back to space, specifically right next to the Watchtower, the space station the Justice League used as a home base. They then phased through the window into the room where Batman awaited.
"Another project?" Batman asked, calmly browsing what appeared to be the Dakota police database.
"Static has potential, his power consequential." Rhine replied, "Dakota is a spring tightly wound, we could use an ear on the ground."
Batman grunted approvingly.
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One of the little 'tricks' that Batman played with the secret identities of them was that they were somewhat more lax with the connection between Rhine and 'Tanya Degurechaff, CEO of ArcWayne'. The Justice League connected Batman to Waynetech substantially earlier than ArcWayne's first movements, so there was little risk of someone connecting Batman to Bruce Wayne specifically through that angle.
As such, it was 'known' to the Justice Leaguers that Rhine was capable of assuming a 'mortal guise' who was not limited to speaking only in rhyme… at the cost of the vast majority of their magical might. The fact that this guise was a minor celebrity magical girl CEO was politely kept quiet, and Rhine's mortal form only communicated with people over the phone or other remote connection. With a voice changer to lower her voice over an octave to match Rhine's pitch.
At 8PM on the dot (time zones, you know), Tanya hit 'dial' on her penthouse apartment's computer, and the program opened up a call to the burner phone that she left with Static. "Hello? Who is this?" Came the tone of an annoyed adult man with a very deep voice.
"I'm sorry sir, is this Virgil Hawkins?" Tanya asked in a business-like tone, turning off the voice changer and promptly adding a touch of 'airhead' to her voice, pitching it up from her natural mezzo-soprano to a whiny soprano.
"This is his father, Robert Hawkins." He said dangerously. "I will ask you again: Who is this?"
"My name is Elya Serebyrakov." Tanya lied, "I'm calling to conduct an interview with Virgil Hawkins for some volunteer work that he had expressed interest in yesterday. Is he available to speak with?"
Robert was initially silent, but eventually asked: "What kind of volunteer work?"
Hm. What would work well as a lie? "Well, sir, as you may or may not know, there are quite a few metahumans, you may know them as Bang Babies, that are in treatment at the GenomaTech medical center." This wasn't the best plan, as it was verifiably false, but all she really needs is for him to believe her for just long enough to pass the phone along. "A lot of these metahumans are quarantined, and have few people with the inclination to visit them. One of them is, if you'll keep this small slip-up on confidentiality a secret, a young man named Derek, who I understand Virgil knows. The idea behind this initiative is to provide those metahumans some additional positive human contact; Virgil would be talking with them, playing games of various kinds, things that, above all else, require a kind heart and a gentle disposition." Huh… this was actually a good idea that she just made up on the spot. Maybe she should arrange for it to happen… "It's the kind of thing that would look very good on a college application, if you don't mind me saying so."
"Okay, that all sounds pretty good." Robert said, "But why did you give my boy a cell phone to do it with?"
"I'm afraid I can't speak for the Director, Mr. Hawkins." Tanya said, affecting a sympathetic tone. "But from what I understand of their usual demeanor, such actions are not unusual for him, as it would mean he didn't have to write down your home's phone number. It should just be a small prepaid phone, you can view the number of minutes it has remaining and their expiration date by dialing *72." She rattled off a few other usage tips, like how to check the phone number and how to refill it.
Eventually, Robert acquiesced under the tidal wave of bullshit Tanya was giving him. "Okay, I'll let you get to the interview. Virgil, I want to know how it went the second it's over."
After a moment, Virgil's voice, hesitant, came out. "Uh… hi?" He asked.
Tanya immediately turned the voice changer back on and spoke normally, so he would only hear Rhine's gender-neutral tone. "Did you hear the cover story?" She asked.
"Uh, yeah. I turned it on speaker before Dad grabbed it." He replied, "...Why aren't you talking in rhyme?"
"I'm only under that geas when I'm in my true form." Tanya explained quickly, "When I've suppressed my power and adopted a mortal guise, I can speak normally."
"...Okay, why do you have to do that?" Ritchie asked.
"I don't actually know." Tanya said truthfully. "Demons of a certain potency get subject to that geas, and stay under it until they manage to become an Archdemon." She theorized it was meant to be an obstacle to doing the kind of soul-dealing that would ordinarily make the rise to Archdemon possible, but she didn't know that for sure. "Moving on: I assume you have secured the room from parental oversight?"
"Yeah, he's not listening in." Virgil confirmed. "Sharon's out, too."
"Good. Now, this is more of an orientation call, setting expectations, making an action plan, and answering any lingering questions. Do you have any others before we begin?" Tanya said professionally. Now that the conversation had moved to more standard areas, she opened up her email and started browsing it. Oh, another missive from the Doom Patrol. Really, that Chief fellow needs to learn brevity.
Virgil and Ritchie conferred with each other, then seemed to come to an agreement. "My dad's gonna be real mad if he looks into that charity thing and it doesn't exist. You know he'll check, right?"
"What kind of devil do you take me for? I've already sent an e-mail to the Wayne Foundation proposing the venture as well as a small donation to get it started." Tanya lied, scoffing for effect. She was writing it now, for a paper trail, and she'll need to get Batman to authorize the donation from the League's PR budget. He tends to rubber stamp her decisions with that budget, but the step still exists. This was mostly because the budget only exists because Tanya suggested it. "Within the week, there'll be people flown over trying to recruit locals to administer the program. A quick hundred thousand should be enough to get materials and a three month overhead budget. Throw in an appearance from the Flash," Wally was her most reliable PR asset. She may have to commit to joining him, though. "-and an endorsement from whatever Leaguer has a press thing next and donations should cover the rest, assuming we can have the non-admin work done by volunteers."
There was a choking sound from the line. "H-hundred thousand?" Virgil eventually managed to stammer.
"...I know you're a teenager, but please keep in mind that a hundred thousand dollars really isn't that much money." Tanya said chidingly. "Sure, for one person it's a tidy sum, but this is a global organization's money, split among multiple people who are going to run the show, plus they'll have to buy fliers, the games, replacements for when the metahumans inevitably destroy the games by accident… it'll go quickly." Come to think of it… "That actually goes well into one of the things I wanted to discuss in a future conversation: collateral damage. You're not as bad as Animal Man's first few forays," So many destroyed cars… "-but the estimate of those sewage lines you ripped up has been quoted upwards of a million." It was phrased in a technically true but inflammatory way, but it sufficed for the point: to get it in the kid's skull that he shouldn't be so reckless.
There was some very pointed silence from the two boys.
"You're not going to be responsible for paying for that. Your state's good samaritan laws are reasonably permissive." Tanya said, pinching the bridge of her nose. Despite the name, Dakota was not in either North or South Dakota. It was in Michigan, a little north of Detroit. Practically the same city. "If you want to make up for it, we can discuss how you can leverage your abilities economically, and you could then use the money earned thereby for that." He clearly generated electricity, but how? In what quantities? Unclear. Would his demonstrated metal-shaping abilities on a scale useful in construction be more or less productive than outright generating electricity? "Do you have any other questions before we move on to the agenda?"
"Uh, I have one." Ritchie piped up. "Green Lantern said I had Bang Baby gas in me too. What's up with that?"
"No idea." Tanya said, "But consider yourself lucky that whatever limited exposure you had hasn't turned you into a giant ant or something equally asinine." Seriously, why an armadillo? "If you do start exhibiting symptoms… call the Watchtower on the number saved in that phone." After a moment, she added: "I would also recommend that you change the contacts into code names that will obfuscate them from your family."
"Good idea." Virgil said, "So how does… this… work?"
"First, you must understand: The Justice League is essentially a hobby club." Tanya began, "Everyone has a day job or are otherwise wealthy, and the only ones who get paid for their work in the Justice League are the janitors and other maintenance and administrative staff." The Watchtower employed about five hundred people and required fifteen wormholes opened up per day just to handle the commute of a 24-hour employment rotation. But they also had an annual budget from members of the U.N. to the tune of two hundred million dollars a year, half of which was from the United States. This was… nowhere near enough to build the Watchtower, but materials and construction was mostly handled by Superman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter. Mars also contributed substantially on that part. Private business (like Waynetech) also contributed, nominally just as non-profit donations but with the implication that companies that donate get first crack at the next alien salvage distribution. "We're not hiring you, and thus have no direct authority to tell you what to do. In fact, you're not even joining, as the Justice League does not accept minors into their ranks. It's in the charter."
"What? Bogus." Virgil said, disappointed.
"Why not?" Ritchie asked, also annoyed.
"Several reasons, but most relevant to you: Your dad would need to sign his approval." The law was more complicated than that, but it was close enough. "If you were an emancipated minor, I could maybe convince a quorum of founders to allow it, " she could probably manage it even without that, but Static wasn't important enough for her to bother. "-but as things stand, I'll have to insist that you wait. If your circumstances change substantially, we can revisit the subject." Not to let him join, but if it was a big enough change they could get him out of Dakota and set up elsewhere, if nothing else. "This is more of a public relations program that I'm personally running, trying to reduce the number of newbie heroes that get themselves killed or cause some massive disaster. That would be bad for the Justice League."
The teenagers grumbled, but didn't try and volunteer telling Robert as an option. "The reason we aren't paying you to be a hero is because what you're doing is illegal: Vigilantism, specifically. Even Superman is a criminal, you know." Tanya continued, "So it's important that we don't spend money supporting that crime. The Justice League's mandate only applies to alien invasions and the management of alien technology. We can sort of stretch it to other metahuman matters by saying it might be related to alien technology and needs more investigation, but that's the kind of legal argument we'd prefer not be tested." They still weren't sure if Alva's Quantum Vapor was derived from alien technology. It probably was, but Alva had covered their tracks passably well. The invasion's ships contained stolen technology from all over the galaxy, so… there were quite a few known unknowns.
"...Why do I want to join the Justice League again?" Virgil asked.
"Good question." Tanya replied, "There are many benefits to joining," Most relevantly social connections to other superheroes, a priceless resource; "-but I'll leave that sales pitch until you can make a decision. Now, the first thing we need to set up is a secure location in which I can send you educational materials on the legal boundaries…"
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"You done with the zap guy?" Richard asked, sipping a mug of hot cocoa.
"It is a school night, you know." Tanya said, annoyed. "You really should be in bed." It was only ten in the evening, so it wasn't a large problem yet, but…
"Why are you spending so much time with these guys?"
Tanya sighed, annoyed. "Well, for one: Static in particular as an electrokinetic would be an excellent person to have on call if his talents would be useful. His magnetokinesis is secondary, but it could come in handy down the line."
"Okay, yeah I can see it." Richard said, humming. "But why Virago? Does she even have powers?"
"She does, actually." Tanya said idly. She channeled the spirits of warriors who died in battle. She's small-time, and while her home town of Philadelphia did have quite a few veterans available… The revolutionary and civil wars didn't exactly have highly trained, elite troops. She gets by more on a handful of Native American warriors most of the time, and Tanya had been discussing ways of expanding her repertoire with her. "I do notice that you aren't criticizing me about Mas y Menos."
"They're basically another Flash between them." Richard said, as if it was obvious. "Even if they're half the speedster the red guy is, we definitely want them on side."
"Exactly." Tanya said, smiling. "If those two are half the speedster Flash is, then Static needs to be only half the kinetic Green Lantern is for this to be worth it. Getting them to join the league when they mature would be an easy sell." She waved him off. "Now go to bed."
"You need to go to bed too. Alfred said so." Richard pointed out, finishing off his hot chocolate.
Tanya sighed. "Well, I suppose that magical tracker can wait…" The samples of the clay monster have been irritatingly bad at tracking it. Not because it failed, but because it couldn't lock on to a distinct entity, instead just leading Batman to the nearest sample. She had an idea on how to do it right, but it required a fresher sample. "Alright, I'm going." She stood up and started to walk to her room, yawning. "Rhine. Berechnung. Mahou. Despite what's filed, I'm still a child." With a burst of flame, her maturing body was left behind in favor of the one that was shorter than the eleven year old boy she was following. "Mmmm… I want a snack." She muttered as they entered the mansion proper.
Alfred, ever reliable, presented her with a glass of warm milk and some whole wheat toast with unsweetened peanut butter. Being predictable had its perks.
Tanya smiled. Ah, even with all the tasks and challenges, life was good.