Gods Among Us 8 - First Earth Battalion [IC|Meta RP|Open]

[Lessoni]

Jack Dredd

Jack knew that whatever was going on down in the basement probably didn't concern him. He knew, as a new and inexperienced member, he should stay well out of it. He also knew he might be overthinking, and that he had a right to know what was going on. From what he could glean, it was something about the Wikus Micheal had mentioned earlier, the asshole John Wick. So, in the end, his curiosity won out.

"So Elle... what exactly happened with Wikus? I remember he was getting chewed out, something about a prisoner. What's the whole deal there?", he asked, biting into another slice of pizza.

[Kylantha]

---

Finn "Murk" Kavanagh

---

Finn had been sleeping when everybody came back. He emerged from the room he'd been sleeping in and walked around, making almost nothing of the voices he could hear. He peeked into the recreation hall, rubbing at his eyes. He yawned as he stepped into the room, looking lazily around before collapsing on the sofa. He lay there, face down for a few seconds before rolling over. What's going on then? he wondered, reaching under his hat to scratch. At this point he decided to at least try and interact with the people around. Unfortunately he barely recognised the fuzzy shapes he saw bustling around.

"Oi!" he said with eyes half open, pointing at the person closest to him. His arm fell limp against the sofa's backrest after. "What's goin' on here, eh?" he asked with his very prominent Irish accent.

[A Paradise for Few]

Elle looked at Jack, thinking whether they ought to tell the new members about exact specifics. Of course, there is no reason to mention that little experiment he did, but also the fact that Newton was also Blur was not really neccasary to mention, yet. "We caught a supervillain called Blur, who was indeed at the party as the media says. She is the newest prisoner. Well, the only one, that is. So, at the party, Wikus tried to kill her, and she survived, obviously, but her injuries are the reason she awoke only now. No one was particularly happy about the attempted murder, and from that I observed, it indeed wasn't essential, thus counter-productive if she died, because as you might know, she was involved in the Savings Bank robbery, and thus possibly to the HQ explosion. And, because killing people and stuff is bad, too, of course." That last sentence was said in a persuasive tone, even though Elle knew it was a dirty little fallacy. "That's the gist of it. Now that she is on back again, she apparently asked Zinnia to talk to her, and only her. But Michael, ever the incessant one, tried to use the law of increasing returns on her, so there is possibility he've already cracked Blur up before Zinnia, had her chance." He smiled, joking. He noticed Finn entering the room, the younger boy messing around groggily. "Good morning to you too, Finn. How'd you sleep? We had a batch of our newest members arriving, and also, Immy was lecturing Wikus. Here is Jack," he said motioning to the said person with his hand, smiling. ", and Erwin is unpacking, I think"

[Kylantha]

---

Finn "Murk" Kavanagh

---

With each passing second, Finn's consciousness returned to him. It wasn't long before he could make out the familiar faces.. And the unfamiliar one. That one he gave a squinty, confused look. He nodded to Elle regarding the new fellows and the chiding that Wikus person was getting, and moved right to Jack. "Jack. Jack." he said, nodding to himself. "I'll remember that." Then, extending his arm out for a shake he said, "Nice ta meet ya, Jack. If I forget yer' name, don't take it personally. S'just that I'm dying a little bit every day and I'm tryin' not ta." And while shaking the new guy's hand, Finn peeked out at Elle. "I slept like a log, by the way. Like always. I'm surprised I haven't turned into one!.. Anyway, fella." he said, addressing Jack this time, "What can I do for ye? See, I'm the guy that keeps this place runnin' when I ain't sleepin'. Need yer bags brought? Coffee made? How 'bout that other guy? Er- Er- Erbert was it? Where was he again?"

[Lessoni]

Jack Dredd

Jack shook Finn's hand while looking at him with some incredulity. Jack himself wasn't the oldest, sure, but this was a kid. Couldn't be older than 14 or 15, for sure.

"So, uh, out of curiosity, how old are you? Cause you seem pretty young to be doing this, no offense.", he said.

[Riysa]

Erwin hauled his stuff upstairs, computer back over his back and the rest in hand. "Thump!", "Thump!", his steps sounded on the staircase as he climbed up to the top. Yes, he traveled "light", with only some spare clothes, his personal electronics, and a couple books...but all that crime-fighting gear that came with having to fight superpowered humans weighed a decent dozen-plus kilos in that duffel bag.

Looking around, there were a ton of rooms, some with their doors open, some closed. He walked down the hall, checking a few rooms along the way to see if they were available or not, till he came to one midway down the building. The room was furnished with a nice window, but otherwise too pristine and untouched to be in use; perfect, it would work as his room for now. There wasn't anything sensitive that he had in his luggage, so it was fine to just leave it on/around the bed and come back to unpack it later.

Some water splashed on his face from the restroom, gray polo dusted and tucked; now he was ready to go! Calmly, he slid back down the stairs, waiting for Jocelyn to come back and show him around.

[Granis]

"Whoa whoa, calm down!" Michael said, holding up his hands in a placating manner as Harriet started to panic. "Jeez, you make it sound like I'm holding him hostage or something... I just brought him here because I figured no one would be taking care of him with you here. And, yeah, we aren't exactly the best of buds, mostly because he keeps biting and scratching me whenever possible, but I'm not such an asshole I'd turn him over to someone like Wikus over just that! I'm gonna go ahead and assume he was the one shooting you, by the way. He's the only gunner I've met, and also the one who shot you at the party."

He shrugged, a movement that might have seemed relatively casual if not for the frown still on his face.

"Honestly though, that one's kind of on you for letting someone so obviously unhinged meet with you instead of me, who should have caught your attention way easier... Also, while yes, the whole bank FEB HQ mess is also... up there... with some of your crappier acts, I'm gonna guess you were just as blind to what was actually going on as the others were. Pretty sure domestic terrorism and mass murder aren't really your thing, unless you're drastically different to my old Harry, which I also kind of doubt. No, I was just talking about the general thievery gig you've got going on. Donating everything you steal doesn't make it better, you know. You could be doing a lot more good in other lines of work..."

He leaned back against the wall, sighing once more.

"Anyway, just... stop panicking. I'm not as much of a dickhead as you might have expected. Most of us aren't. I'm hoping you'll get to see that soon, but until then, I promise I won't sell out Flyn-"

And almost immediately as he spoke the name, he heard Jojo and Zinny come in.

"-ning is bullshit. I know it looks all cool in the movies, but that's not how real sword fights go at all. Too many half-circle swings, when really you could just go straight for the strike without all that dumb fancines- Oh, Jojo, Zinny, you made it! I was just talking to Harry here about Flynning. It's a style of fencing that used to be used a lot in all the old movies, mostly used by Errol Flynn, hence the name. It's... well, even saying ridiculously impractical in a real sword fight is sugarcoating it a little, but it was a nice little way to not accidentally kill each other during filming."

He grinned as he shrugged.

"Now, you may be wondering why I'm in here, which I know you are, due to my perfect, cat-like hearing. And the answer is because I am ever-so-slowly managing to convince Harry that we were pretty much besties back in my homeworld."

[Kylantha]

---

Finn "Murk" Kavanagh

---

Finn laughed while shaking his head. He could tell Jack was surprised at how young he was, even before he spoke.

"I'm fourteen, boyo." he said like it was nothing. "And don't you worry. I can.." stretching his arms and yawning, "take care of myself just fine. And I mostly just help around here when I can. S'not like I go out and fight crime as often as most others do. Think of me as a.. Hero-in-training." Even though that wasn't remotely true. There were many things he did that the FEB didn't know about.

"So! Like I said. Nothing needin' ta be done? If so I can just sit down and socialize."

[A Paradise for Few]

Seeing Erwin come back, Elle waved to him, and asked, addressing him and Jack. A good time to extract some information.
"So, why did you two join FEB? The usual, to save the world?" He grinned.

[Dyelli Beybi]

"Whoa whoa, calm down!" Michael said, holding up his hands in a placating manner as Harriet started to panic. "Jeez, you make it sound like I'm holding him hostage or something... I just brought him here because I figured no one would be taking care of him with you here. And, yeah, we aren't exactly the best of buds, mostly because he keeps biting and scratching me whenever possible, but I'm not such an asshole I'd turn him over to someone like Wikus over just that! I'm gonna go ahead and assume he was the one shooting you, by the way. He's the only gunner I've met, and also the one who shot you at the party."

He shrugged, a movement that might have seemed relatively casual if not for the frown still on his face.

"Honestly though, that one's kind of on you for letting someone so obviously unhinged meet with you instead of me, who should have caught your attention way easier... Also, while yes, the whole bank FEB HQ mess is also... up there... with some of your crappier acts, I'm gonna guess you were just as blind to what was actually going on as the others were. Pretty sure domestic terrorism and mass murder aren't really your thing, unless you're drastically different to my old Harry, which I also kind of doubt. No, I was just talking about the general thievery gig you've got going on. Donating everything you steal doesn't make it better, you know. You could be doing a lot more good in other lines of work..."

He leaned back against the wall, sighing once more.

"Anyway, just... stop panicking. I'm not as much of a dickhead as you might have expected. Most of us aren't. I'm hoping you'll get to see that soon, but until then, I promise I won't sell out Flyn-"

And almost immediately as he spoke the name, he heard Jojo and Zinny come in.

"-ning is bullshit. I know it looks all cool in the movies, but that's not how real sword fights go at all. Too many half-circle swings, when really you could just go straight for the strike without all that dumb fancines- Oh, Jojo, Zinny, you made it! I was just talking to Harry here about Flynning. It's a style of fencing that used to be used a lot in all the old movies, mostly used by Errol Flynn, hence the name. It's... well, even saying ridiculously impractical in a real sword fight is sugarcoating it a little, but it was a nice little way to not accidentally kill each other during filming."

He grinned as he shrugged.

"Now, you may be wondering why I'm in here, which I know you are, due to my perfect, cat-like hearing. And the answer is because I am ever-so-slowly managing to convince Harry that we were pretty much besties back in my homeworld."

"You think my feeding of the poor is a bad thing?" Harriet laughed, somewhat scornfully, "The rich in this country are born into privilege, pillage the planet of its natural resources and begrudge giving anything to anyone not born into their tiny circle. Do you think that is right? The natural order of things, perhaps? All I'm doing is taking a small amount of some people's extraordinary cash reserves and giving it to people who actually need it. Not want it, need it. Plato was the one who said the richest person should earn no more than five times the poorest. Yet we teach our poor to ask for nothing, just in case asking for an even-remotely fair chance to amount to anything in society ushers in Pol Pot and Stalin. I'm not ashamed of my 'thievery gig'; I'm immensely proud of it."

Zinnia frowned at JJ's concern. "I can't say I blame you for being worried. She's taken on the work that multiple people used to do all on her own. I can't really talk about David being gone all the time when I'm barely a part-timer myself, though. I know there's plenty of people that don't like that." She ran one hand through her tied back hair. "It might be the pessimist in me, but I don't know if things will get better. If Chris doesn't wake up, then I think Imogen will try to work herself to death trying to keep things running. It'll be a team effort just to try to save her from her herself, especially if trouble with Wikus or anyone like him keeps up."

When the door opened, Zinnia sighed and put on the usual stoic face of the catwalk model. She approached the cell, her wings pointed directly behind her. Seeing Michael in the cell already, she glanced over to Jocelyn. "I thought she wasn't talking to anyone, what's he doing here?" she asked quietly. When she got to the entrance, she leaned in the doorway. "I gotta say, I'm surprised. Usually the only people that ask to talk to me are fans or press, never ones that were a centimeter away from my talons. I figured I'd be one of the last people you'd want to see right about now."

JJ retreated as Zinnia stepped into the room, leaving her alone with Harriet. Newton had something of a habit of shutting up when JJ was present and, frankly, JJ didn't care that much about what she had to say. Presumably she had some information on this great big conspiracy that Imogen was so worried about but, from JJ's perspective, there was no guarantee anything she said was true so they might as well have put a bow on her and handed her over to the police... except they didn't have a warrant when they grabbed her, which apparently was a bad thing. She probably needed to watch a police procedural box-set to get an idea of what all the fuss was about...

Meanwhile Harriet turned her attention to Zinnia, "We fought on opposite sides of a conflict so it was fair that you had your talons out. I fought with honour, you fought with honour. It would be childish to bear someone ill will under a situation like that," she responded, fumbling around on the table next to her bed for a moment before making an exasperated sound, "Does anyone have a hair tie?" she asked, giving a moment for a response before getting back on topic.

"What I remember from outside the Bank was you were the only other person interested in saving lives. Yes, I lied a bit to get my people out, but you helped me prevent a massacre. Then, when you had me in your grasp at my flat, you could have let me fall, nobody would have blamed you for that and you would have had your revenge for what the people I was working with did to FEB HQ. Nobody would have blamed you for that. I'm sure plenty of the FEB would have applauded the decision. So I'm happy to talk to you because you, Zinnia Howard, are the only member of the FEB I trust to be working to stop the violence. I didn't have any idea what the Master of Puppets had planned for FEB HQ. Had I known, I wouldn't have worked with him. That was my mistake and I will have to answer for that. I can, however, do what I can to make sure that what happened in New York does not happen again. I'm not asking for special treatment; I am not a rat trying to escape a sinking ship, I am trying to atone for my sins. So, tell me what I can tell you to help and I will give you the full story."

[Lessoni]

Seeing Erwin come back, Elle waved to him, and asked, addressing him and Jack. A good time to extract some information.
"So, why did you two join FEB? The usual, to save the world?" He grinned.

"Well, I could sound noble and all that and say yeah, but really? I just want to figure out how my powers work. They don't seem to stem from any of the usual sources, so I'm thinking maybe someone in the FEB can point me in the right direction.", said Jack.

He looked down at his hands, fingers together with palms up. There was a lot about himself he didn't know, that was for certain.

[Endem]

"Well, I'll be going" Andrew started to walk to the exit door "If anyone wants some coffee or you need me you know where you'll find me" Andrew then exited the building and started to run to the nearest metro station is a few minutes he was at the Starbucks he worked in when his boss surprised him "Andrew, you need to stop being late" before Andrew could say anything his boss started to talk again "I don't want to listen to this FEB excuse we both know they compromited themselves, if that happens again, you'll need to choose, either FEB or your job" with that the man left Andrew alone, well, not for long as clients came

[Demencia]

Zinnia reached one hand up behind her head and pulled the hair tie from her hair, letting it fall down past her shoulders. She tossed it onto Harriet's lap, then crossed her arms against her chest. "There was still a massacre. Lot of people were in the building when it blew up. Most of 'em didn't make it out. So yea, you're gonna answer for that. The right way, instead of whatever way some people want to see."

"You really threw all your cards on the table, outing yourself like that. Secret identities are really important to some people⁠—those that can get away with one anyway." Her wings twitched a little. "So I oughta at least hear what you have to say. Suppose you should start at the beginning, like who this 'Master of Puppets' is, why he likes Metallica so much, and how he got a hold of you and Burning Man."

[Dyelli Beybi]

"Actually, me outing myself was an attempt to commit suicide by metahuman... though when it came to the crunch, it turns out I didn't want to die after all... thanks." Harriet picked up the tie, using it to secure her waves of long dark hair back in a manageable pony-tail, "I'm obviously still responsible for my part in all this. The Master recruited me saying that Metahumans are in imminent danger, that the FEB has been operating above the law and with no supervision, that it is a place where sociopaths can scratch their murderous itch and, from what I've seen in many of your operations, he isn't wrong. You have people in here who kill for the rush it gives them. He said that the FEB needed to be taken down and taken down by metahumans before the public got wise to what you were up to. If the police did it, the fallout from the scandal would lead, inevitably, to people trying to wipe us out, genetic tests at birth etc. etc. He asked me and Hellgate to provide a distraction on the day he blew your Headquarters up. I was given the impression he was planning to steal some documents from your HQ or something like that."

"The Master of Puppets calls himself that because of what he can do," she added, "Apart from being quite good at manipulating me, he can make dead bodies get up and walk around like they're his marionettes. He can do quite a lot at once and I don't mean shamble about like a zombie movie. They walk and talk naturally and use weapons like they did when they were alive. I'd been working for Hellgate for a while when he turned around and asked if I'd be willing to sign on with the Master. Told me I'd be making a real difference. Not sure how they found each other."

[Demencia]

"And look where that went. All but gone and started a war, with innocent people caught in the crossfire. I'm sure this very public battle for control between any asshole with powers and what's left of the decent people in the FEB will go just great without any public or government reaction." Zinnia pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "You brought along a team of guys dressed in tactical gear and carrying automatic weapons because you thought you were after documents, and you bought into that? There was me thinking you only acted like a dolt to keep appearances up."

She ran her hands through her hair, holding it back for a second as she stared up at the ceiling of the prison cell. "Oh why did you ever get involved in any of this, you could be on an island right now sipping dry martinis but no, you had to do your part." she muttered to herself.

"Genetic tests at birth. Ha. In case you forgot, that's been going on for a long time, but in the opposite direction." She pointed at the set of wings sprouting from her back. "Did you think I found these laying on the props table at a movie studio? If anything, it's only going to happen more now. If the FEB goes down in flames like you started, everyone's gonna want their own metahuman army to fill the vacuum. Production's only going to ramp up now."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Blur have an exasperated sigh, "Hell's bells Howard! I'm not trying to defend myself. You asked why I did it, so I told you why. What did you think I was going to say? I joined a terrorist organisation because I just love being murdering people and being evil? Why didn't you just drop me when you had the chance? I'm sure you would have felt deeply satisfied... Actually, don't worry about answering that one, I don't really care and this isn't getting us anywhere."

She then turned to Michael, apparently having decided she was going to ignore Zinnia, "You seem to be interested in actually getting to the bottom of what is going on. Like I said, I'm willing to help but I don't know what you need to know."

[A Paradise for Few]

Jack's reason was much better than stereotypical "altrusitic" reason for helping the world, which were simply uninteresting. It was early to expect anything, but Jack could turn out to be unusually a bit more useful than people are typically. Perhaps he was also acting, hiding his true nature, and this mixed answer was simply a hint of Jack's test for their worldview compatibility, just as he could imagine himself doing.
"Nothing wrong with that!" he laughed, a hard-to-spot hinting smirk on his face, that he knewband expected only skilled observers to notice", because you will obviously still help people and stuff, which is very good, if you know that I mean, and have fun, which is very important for having good and healthy life. As for your ability, we'll figure it out sometime, I am sure. So, how did you get it? Can you teleport other objects like people or sofas, cars, fixed items, etcetera?"

[Demencia]

"I just find it hard to believe that you were completely in the dark about everything the whole time, or at the very least that you didn't suspect someone who chooses to go by the name 'Master of Puppets' wasn't giving you the full scoop about the plan." Zinnia crossed her arms in front of her chest. "And what you say about this person is true, what proof do we have that you're not still part of some plan, or that you're really still you. No, on second thought, you're still you. I've seen that look on your face enough to know that much at least."

She uncrossed her arms and leaned down, grabbing both sides of the bed.

"Even you must be smart enough to realize that if I wanted you dead you'd have already been paste over the streets of Manhattan. Unlike the others, no one would have questioned it because I had the perfect opportunity. It took almost everything I had just to keep myself in the air, let alone the two of us. But I didn't drop you, no matter how miserable or despicable you are, instead I lost a lot of blood getting you out safely. I don't expect your gratitude and I don't want it either, but I won't let you lay there and twist everything the way you want it to be because you're cynical and think the worst out of everyone."

[Granis]

Michael was content to let Harry's insinuations slide as he simply laid back against the wall and let her talk with Zinny. He already knew how hard it was to convince the speedster of something when she had already set her mind on the opposite being the case, and in this case, she was still set on the idea that stealing from the rich and giving to the poor was the right course of action. Of course, he would still try to after the conversation was done, but he decided to wait for the moment, so he could try to come up with a new speech in his head while she was distracted.

That being said, it was mighty hard when he was hearing so much juicy gossip... Or intel. That was probably a better term to use. Whatever it was though, he was getting a lot of it.

He was a little startled when Harry apparently decided she was going to ignore Zinny and try to get his thoughts on the subject. After a brief, apologetic glance to Zinny for stealing away her new bestie, he stroked his chin in thought.

"Well, I'm probably not the best person to ask, because I don't really know everything we're after either, but at the moment, I think the most important thing is to figure out what the puppet masters motives are. I mean, I he told you he was trying to take down the FEB before we end up starting a war with the rest of humanity, but it's entirely possible, even probable, that it was a lie to get you to go along with it. So first of all, I'd say you tell Immy everything you just told us so we can come up with a proper plan of action. Don't worry, she's a good one, I'd say she's even more morally straight-laced than me. Anyway, after we get her opinion on all of this, I reckon it might be an idea to try and talk to someone else involved with his plot. This... it might involve trying to capture Hellgate, if that's even possible, but there's also a teensy tiny chance I might have a lead of my own. Itsy bitsy though. Very small."

[Lessoni]

Jack's reason was much better than stereotypical "altrusitic" reason for helping the world, which were simply uninteresting. It was early to expect anything, but Jack could turn out to be unusually a bit more useful than people are typically. Perhaps he was also acting, hiding his true nature, and this mixed answer was simply a hint of Jack's test for their worldview compatibility, just as he could imagine himself doing.
"Nothing wrong with that!" he laughed, a hard-to-spot hinting smirk on his face, that he knewband expected only skilled observers to notice", because you will obviously still help people and stuff, which is very good, if you know that I mean, and have fun, which is very important for having good and healthy life. As for your ability, we'll figure it out sometime, I am sure. So, how did you get it? Can you teleport other objects like people or sofas, cars, fixed items, etcetera?"

"I got my whole powerset after... I'm really not sure what happened. Something with an unconnected portal, and now I can teleport. And as for objects, it's sort of hit or miss. Generally, it's items I can lift with two hands or smaller, but I've done cars before on a few occasions. People, though, I can teleport pretty much anyone who sees me as a friend. Oh, I also have this thing where I can teleport up to about 200 feet and switch spots with an ally. Drains my energy though, eats up quite a bit of my jumps. See, I can teleport about 20 times off a full stomach, more off a protein rich meal, but switching costs me... I'd say around 10.", said Jack. He was quite eager to talk about his power, and it showed in the enthusiasm of his speech.

[A Paradise for Few]

He nodded, thinking for a moment. "A portal? What exactly happened there? So, I suppose it's a good idea to carry some sort of nutritionally dense food, maybe nuts, with you all time time, eh? Also, what if you just spammed teleporting and eating, what effect do you reckon it'd have, make your metabolism or ability extensively efficient or something?"

[Dyelli Beybi]

Harriet sighed, "No... I don't know what the Master's motives are. I thought they were to bring in a more just society but you don't generally do that by planting bombs. Clearly I was mistaken."

She looked at Michael, blinked a couple of times, then sighed again, "Who on earth is Immy? And I couldn't possibly say if you are morally straight laced or not, but you are the only one who seems to be treating me like a human being... wait... is that your cute pet name for Imogen Vaughan? The one who is regarded as a war criminal in several central African countries? Huh." she raised both eyebrows, looking quite surprised, "She's one of the reasons I chose to oppose your group to begin with. I know everyone has their own type but I'd have thought that dating a homicidal maniac was crossing the line for most people, but to each their own I guess."

She gave an expansive shrug, "Okay, I'm not sure I'm actually giving anybody any helpful information. I have a rendezvous point I was supposed to use if I ever got compromised. Apparently it's the Master's base of operations though I never actually went there. I mean they've probably moved their stuff out of there by now, but it's possibly worth investigating? I don't know."

[Granis]

"Well, I wouldn't say we're dating." Michael said with a thoughtful expression, staring at nothing in particular as he spoke. "Not to her face at least. I won't pretend it won't be hilarious if you say it though. She'll probably get all flustered or something, which now that I think about it, might actually help her calm down a little considering how things've been going recently. So yeah, make sure you ask her that when you see her. But it's not a pet name, it's just a normal nick one. Like how you're Harry, and Zinny here is Zinny."

He stood up and stretched, which he hoped was enough to hide the sudden confusion and nervousness that had taken over his mind.

"Now, for the whole 'war criminal' bit, I'll admit that's pretty new. I mean, I knew her pretty well in my old universe, and she was pretty much... well, I don't think she's the kind of person who could be called a homicidal maniac. And yes, I know that could have changed in this new one, but everyone else seems pretty much the same. Then again, Jojo seems a lot scarier, so I guess I can't discount it..."

And then his eyes widened, and he looked back to Harry with a new sense of urgency.

"Wait, what's the story there? It wasn't in the Congo was it?"

Despite how well he was usually able to hide it, even someone who didn't know him well would be able to pick up on the sudden seriousness in his voice.

[Dyelli Beybi]

"Why do you have a nickname for me?" Newton had the blank expression of someone who was being bombarded with far too much information for them to absorb, "Congo? I don't know. Somewhere in Africa, I didn't pay too much to the superfluous details. She was a mercenary. She killed people. She is wanted. The FEB decided that justice in 'little countries' and the pain she caused to the people that live there aren't as important as getting a big-bad killer to help them defend America. Those are the important facts."

"And who is Jojo? And why are you asking me this? Vaughan is the best person to tell you her story."

[Granis]

"Because we're like best friends! Or at least we were. Back in my home universe, you were one of my closest allies. So was Immy, and the... thing... that we were fighting against might be behind what you're talking about too."

As he spoke, his smile expression changed to match his tone. Serious, but... tired...

"I don't know much about the mercenary part, but I can tell you now that there's most likely more to the story than you realise. From what I've been hearing, it's entirely possible that Imogen wasn't even the one who killed those people, at least if it was in the Congo. Jojo is Jocelyn Jane Triggs, the scary blonde woman. And I'm asking you this because you think you know more about the situation than you probably actually do, and I want to make sure you know the truth. And that you understand that it's far, far worse."

And then he looked Newton dead in the eyes.

"Have you ever heard of a being called Slaggep?"