Blackstripe

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 26th, 7:58 PM
Caracas, Venezuela

So that was it. He'd just revealed how to stop him from hurting anyone. That suit he was wearing was his weak point, and if it were destroyed that would...what, kill him? She didn't want him to die, creepy as he was. No, wait...it sounded more like he would be alright, so long she didn't bottle him up in anything metallic? Maybe it was because the metal would keep him from "venting" and he'd therefore explode? In that case, she just needed to get that suit off.

And she unfortunately had an idea on how to do that.

Clasping her hands in "awe" of his bravery, Lady Arcana offered him a pretend swoon. "Oh my, you're so brave, Mr. Bang! I don't think I can stand to wait another minute to get out of these old, hot clothes so I can know you better!"

Grasping the hood of her cloak, she pretended to fan herself with it as she desperately fought back her gag reflex. "But I'm a traditional sorta girl, Mr. Bang. I like it when the man takes the lead, so if you show me yours, I'll show you mine..."

Her eyes settled on him as she decided to hammer the point home. "That is the way Jesus intended things, after all. You believe in Jesus, right Mr. Bang?"

Gods, she hated herself so much right now.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 26th, 7:58 PM
Caracas, Venezuela

Oh Gods, he was touching her. He was touching her while staring at her boobs! Why did he have to be such a gross creep? She liked to give everyone calling themselves a superhero a fair chance, but it was becoming increasingly difficult not to beat his ass into the ground. It only made it worse knowing she was only still alive due to her invulnerability. How many women had this radioactive sicko reduced to a skeleton in his efforts to get his fuel rod wet?

"Just a little further, handsome," She replied, doing her best to keep her eye from twitching. It felt like her stomach was turning cartwheels as those words left her mouth.

Still, their close proximity was at least informative. She had initially assumed she was dealing with at least a physical person with out of control radiation powers, but now she wasn't so certain. Glimpsing into his the face of his helmet revealed...something that wasn't human. It looked more like a cloud of yellow-green trying to imitate human facial expressions. Normally her keen eyes would've been able to pick this up sooner, but the shading had made that difficult.

Too bad, she would've really liked to have avoided getting anywhere near him.

As they found themselves over the open ocean, Lady Arcana could now at least feel more relaxed knowing that no more innocents were going to be hurt by him, regardless of how this went down. Now she just had to figure out how she wanted to resolve this. He didn't seem particularly bright, so maybe she could get him to give her that answer. 'Murica seemed to get his mushroom cloud rising, so starting there seemed like a good idea.

"You seem to be really strong, Mr. Bang," Lady Arcana smiled to him. "Every challenge must be so easy for you, though, since you're completely invincible. I mean, I guess that's pretty cool...but, I always found it sexier when a big, strong American man was willing to put himself at risk to do good."

She released a rather melodramatic sigh, and pulled ever so slightly away from him.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

4:44 AM
Brooklyn Hospital Center

The hospital was normally closed to visitors at this hour. In fact, the only ones allowed entry at such a time were those in need of emergency care. Alessandro “Pretty Boy” Marino did have an emergency, at the very least. He had to clean up the mess made by that idiot tasked with ending the thorn in the side of the Colombo family known as “The Tiger”.

Boss Persico had pulled the necessary strings to get him in, and get everyone inside out of his way. He was going to make this quick, and make it messy. He’d rather leave them with a mess than risk there being any chance of that psycho nigger drawing another breath. The staff stuck around just long enough to let him through the door, and now he had a special song he’d composed just for Marvin Hayes.

He knew the door. He knew he would be asleep at this time of night...and even if he wasn’t, he would still be bedridden and unable to put up any kind of fight. As he stepped down the hallway, drawing closing to his target with each breath, Alessandro opened the guitar case he had brought into the hospital to reveal an AK-74.

Shoving the clip into the chamber, he pulled back on the lock as he arrived at the door. Drawing a quick breath, Alessandro dashed forward to kick the door in as he aimed his rifle at the bed and opened fire in a spray of bullets.

Marvin’s senses had been going haywire all day; his body was reacting violently to its present predicament. Each sight and sound was sharper than previous, but this appeared only to be a result of the physical trauma his body had underwent days earlier--much like when his metagene first activated. A headache prevented him from truly sleeping, though he managed in spurts. It was nothing deep, however. His body was healing abnormally quick, much faster than a normal human could, would, or should. He had been rather restless all night.

The hospital itself was quiet. It was a weekday and the nursing staff who were on duty weren’t there. Odd. Not odd enough to arouse suspicion from Marvin, though; there were always anomalies. When a polished dress shoe hit the bottom of the door, Marvin’s head sliced toward the noise; where his senses had failed him before because he was becoming careless, they hadn’t failed him this time. Of course, this was no quarter in helping him avoid the hail of bullets which followed shortly after. A repeat of earlier, he was hit again in the shoulder, once more in his hip, and once in his left hand before he manage to roll out of the bed and onto the floor opposite the door. In the jerk reaction he pulled the IV stand over the bed with him and hand torn the IV needle itself out of the vein.

Coupled with growing fatigue, there swelled a flash of anger he had not felt since his first bout in the ring. It was fight or die. Tonight, Marvin Hayes would not be the one dying. No, not as long as the city needed him. Adrenaline coursed within, and his body tried failing him. he tried to muster what situational awareness he could and glean his surroundings. Cold floor, hospital floor. Alright. Now, set the trap; Marvin used his good arm to drag himself toward the window, and in one succinct motion, gave the illusion that the IV was still attached to him as he crawled and dragged the stand with him. Marvin knew better than to underestimate his opponents, he couldn’t run--his next moves all depended on how smart--or idiotic--this gunman was.

Dammit. God dammit. Why hadn’t he died? What did it take to put this motherfucking maine coon down?! The last guy they sent had been ran off by some fucking punks, like a goddamn amateur. But that wasn’t Alessandro. No man had ever escaped him, and he wasn’t about to see that reputation be ruined by anyone.

Continuing to fire at Hayes as he seemingly attempted to escape towards the window, Alessandro reached into his white suit coat and pulled out a grenade. Pulling the plug with a grunt, he kept up the suppressive fire with his AK-74 as he counted down the seconds. Since he was wielding it with one hand, the shots were no longer terribly accurate in that moment, but that wasn’t the point. It just had to keep him pinned down for a few seconds until…

There, five seconds!

Tossing the grenade over the bed where Hayes had been sleeping moments earlier, Alessandro seized the handle of the door and pulled it shut before charging down the hallway to escape the explosion.

When the shots from the AK lost accuracy with less than sufficient plausibility, it meant something more nefarious was at hand. Marvin had tested his suits using the same weaponry the hitman brought to kill him this very night, and anyone with experience in the use of assault rifles can differentiate the severe drop in accuracy when an amateur believes it fine to shoot with one arm. Though Marvin couldn’t see clearly because most of his visage was covered, this ‘professional’ had left his case in the hospital room with his DNA all over it.

That wasn’t the crux of Marvin’s issues right now; he heard the clank of the grenade pin and its drop alongside him as it cooked. Maybe this hitman wasn’t too amateurish, his boss had finally sent someone with a shred of mettle to try and end the Tiger’s run. Two seconds wouldn’t have been enough time for him to cease suppressing fire, toss the grenade, and leave before the grenade exploded. Nor would it be any set of odd numbers: three seconds would still not be optimal for the hitman to guide himself to safety, one was death for them both, seven was too long, the even numbers suffered a similar fate. He couldn’t tell what type of grenade it was, but it likely packed enough power to blow him and the room to smithereens in the happy medium five seconds he had likely left the timer on. He had enough time to try and lob it out of the window.

The window.

Hahaha! Slightly amusing indeed. Every window, no matter the make, had a weakness in its side; and these were hospital windows at that, the weaker kind, ironically enough. Marvin grabbed the grenade as it cooked and with the might he could muster, bellowed all of his remaining strength and pent up rage to toss the live grenade out of the hospital window.

Alessandro had waited far down the hallway for the sound of the explosion...and he had indeed received it. But there was something wrong. He could feel a slight rumble at his feet, and a muffled roar of thunder...but it should have been so much greater than that. Furthermore, he should have seen a bright flash from within the room, but that too was absent. The blast sounded like it was a good distance away, and there was only one thing he could think of that would’ve allowed that to be the case: the window.

“Motherfucker!” He spat, dashing further down the hallway before skidding to a stop. Kneeling down onto one knee, he took careful aim at the door with his AK-74, switching it to burst fire mode for increased accuracy. He didn’t know if Hayes intended to leap out the window after the explosion had died, but something told him that monkey would be too prideful for that.

He’d heard that Hayes had a freakish strength about him, so just in case he did something unexpected like smashing through the walls of the adjacent room to get at him, he’d at least be able to hear him beforehand and make preparations.

Marvin had used a great portion of his remaining strength to take care of the grenade, and in doing so, he had given himself an out, in some respect at least. He didn’t possess the focus necessary to partake in his usual building scaling, but he had enough to get himself to the lower floor if worst came to worst. There was, of course, the matter of Alessandro being as prideful as himself and returning for round two. But if Alessandro’s boss had told him anything about the Tiger in particular, it was that if you didn’t kill him the first time, there would be no round two for you. He’d have already developed a plan C for your plan B.

The hospital room itself was not as large as those on the bottom floor; the rooms in ICU never were. It meant less space to hide, but more weapons in close proximity. Marvin used the window seal in order to stand and he shuffled himself as best he could toward the hospital bed; yanking off the sheets, Marvin used the moments of Alessandro’s departure to tie a three cord fold stretching from the doorknob to the end rail of the hospital bed and then to to himself. He wrapped the intravenous cord around his good wrist for added measure; it was his lone distance weapon at present, he was still bleeding from the wound in his vein, though it had slowly began to congeal--a sign of the rapid speeding up of his healing factor.

Should he hear footsteps down that hall to the north and toward the room, it was out of the window he went; should he hear them to the south, it was out of the room and down the opposite end of the hall. But first, some quick fiddling with the lock; using the second of his intravenous needles, Marvin made quick work of the hospital door’s archaic lock mechanism, setting the needle into the groove of the lock’s pin so the door was sealed shut. The only way to open it would be to shoot through the window, reach through and unlock it manually, or shoot off the doorknob. Either way, Marvin had a plan.

He wasn’t coming.

He had expected Hayes to either start smashing through the walls, or maybe kick the door out and use it as a shield to rush him. Either way, he’d have a plan for that...but he was still in there. Unless...unless he’d jumped out the window. But no, everything he’d heard about “The Tiger” indicated he was never one to run, so he must be up to something.

That was when he heard it. A small sound, very subtle.

Alessandro hadn’t always been contract killer. He’d started his criminal career breaking into places where he didn’t belong. During those days, he’d learned a good thing or two about picking locks...and while he didn’t need to resort to common thievery anymore, that skill still occasionally came in handy for getting to his targets.

Now, it told him that Hayes was fucking with the hospital door in some way, shape or form. There wasn’t really any way to tell what he was doing. Likely preparing a trap, he would guess. If he tried to go in with a spray of bullets, the cat freak would probably end him then and there. No, he needed to use that.

His last trump card.

Once again reaching into his suit coat, he produced a small green rectangular object. It had been strapped tightly to him to the point where it only slightly distended his suit on his way inside, but after hearing everything this fucker had done, he wasn’t about to take any chances. Slowly removing his shoes, Alessandro began to slowly walk forward at a deliberate and silent pace.

When he arrived, he made certain to never step in front of the glass window or the door. They weren’t his target. Rather, it was the section of wall just adjacent to them. Still a part of the room, but at the left hand side from his perspective. The right from Hayes’.

Placing the green rectangle on the ground, he carefully and quietly began to prime the claymore. Once this was done, Alessandro stood and once more distanced himself from the room. Gently nudging the door of an unoccupied room open, he hid around the corner before activating the explosive. It contained enough force to easily blast out the wall and likely pelt the room with a fair amount of shrapnel.

Once the smoke cleared, then he would go in and open fire with precision shots.

A demolition man was Alessandro. As a kid, Marvin enjoyed blowing things up, but as a man, he found it sloppy. Some shrapnel cut across his face and upper chest before he bound himself backward in a freefall, part of him forced out of the broken window from the concussive force of the blast. With the rope tied around his waist, all 220 pounds of his frame and the added force of the blast itself pushed Marvin out of the window and activated his makeshift harness; as he had hoped, the bed dragged along the room’s floor and when it hit the window seal, its top end snagged against the top of the window vertically. It served as an added layer of protection against bullets and made cutting the bedsheet itself difficult unless one had a dozen or so minutes to spare.

By that time, Marvin would have been gone already. His descension to the ground down the side of the hospital wall was not as swift as it would have been were he in better condition, but it was apt enough. Once the bedsheet was finally taut as Marvin lay his feet on the ground soft as possible, he uncoiled himself. Alessandro couldn’t get through the window to give chase, and would likely have to go down the hospital’s several flights of stairs in order to reach the ground. But, ever a master of the urban jungle, Marvin broke for the nearest alley in a limp; he had the entire city of Brooklyn’s landscape nearly memorized. It would be a sin for him not to, much time as he spent watching it every day. Escape and preservation were necessary--especially given today’s news. To live and fight another day was the goal; Marvin would see to it that Alessandro got his due.

He had underestimated him.

As Alessandro stared at the bed, it was obvious that her mark had escaped him, much as he was loathe to admit it. Never before had a target escaped him, but he had today. Never before had he bothered to bring multiple explosives just to kill one man, and yet it hadn’t been enough. Not for this opponent.

It was clear that even a professional like himself was not equipped to bring down somebody like “The Tiger”...even when he was already wounded. There was no telling how long he would even remain so now, given his freakish abilities. No, this was something that was beyond him...beyond any mere hitman the mafia had on their payroll.

But that didn’t mean it was impossible.

No, he knew somebody who would complete his mission for him, and do it for free. A man not interested in money, or “the good life”. No, this man was only driven by one thing in life: the thrill of the hunt.

And there was nothing he loved to hunt more than a Big Cat.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 26th, 7:56 PM
Caracas, Venezuela

Lady Arcana understood now, after hearing the things he was saying. He wasn't just capable of emitting radiation, he was constantly and uncontrollably doing so. He was doing it right as they were having this conversation! If she'd been a normal human, there's no telling what sort of awful things would've happened to her by now. Given that he apparently didn't know she could survive this long while standing near him, that also seemingly didn't matter too much to this guy, despite him constantly trying to pick her up.

Furthermore, if everything he was saying is true, just his mere presence made him a threat to everyone here. There was no telling how much radiation he was expelling as they floated here talking. She needed to get him away from people and then figure out what to do about him!

"Hey, Mr. Bang," Lady Arcana put on the best smile she could. "Would you mind following me? I have something that I really want to show you."

She then did what she imagined was a seductive wink, and then - just a little - died inside.

Karen just had to bear with it for now, until she could lead this radioactive creepo out to sea where he wouldn't be a threat to anything or anyone. Then she could figure out a way to keep him contained or something, even if she had to call for help on it.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 26th, 7:54 PM
Caracas, Venezuela

Lady Arcana felt her jaw drop slightly, her voice lost in the abyss of his oblivious bravado. He really did seem to think he was the greatest thing to ever fall from between a woman's legs. In fact, it'd be fair to say that out of all the other vigilantes she had met, his ego was the most inflated. Even Tiger wasn't this arrogant, though Grim might argue with her on that point.

Still, he called himself a superhero. That meant he wasn't here to intentionally cause trouble, so maybe if she just kept her cool and explained things to him in a delicate manner, she could get him to either stop or at least show a bit more caution around civilians.

"Um...yeah, I did want to talk to you," she forced herself to smile. Raising a hand to gesture down at the street below, her eyes remained focused on the hazmat-suited man before her. "It's about what you just did down there. Your powers...they like, involve radiation, don't they?"

A lot of it, if that pillar of light earlier was any indication. They were just lucky it hadn't wiped out everything for a mile. "I mean, it's cool that you took out all the Mudos there, but don't you think the fallout might hurt any nearby civilians?"

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 26th, 7:53 PM
Caracas, Venezuela

Lady Arcana did her best to suppress the "ew" that was bubbling up in her throat at his approach. He was getting uncomfortably close, and while she wasn't the most perceptive individual in this regard, it was plainly obvious to anyone with half a brain that he was coming onto her. It just wasn't fair...all she wanted was a nice night out of saving people and punching walking corpses in the head!

Still, it wasn't like he was the first person to ever put the moves on her. Lady Arcana was quite...popular, and out of everyone that had decided to put on a costume and fight crime, she was willing to bet that she received more catcalls and dirty comments than all of them combined. No wonder Grim pretends to be a man!

Still, maybe she could use his infatuation to defuse this situation? The last thing she wanted was for him to go throwing radiation all over the place here. Besides, he did at least seem to want to...help?

"...Hub City, Illinois," She replied in the least icked out tone of voice she could manage, drifting backwards ever so slightly to give herself a little bit of personal space. "Erm, so you're a superhero then? What's your name? I'm Lady Arcana, though you seem to know that already..."

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 26th, 7:52 PM
Caracas, Venezuela

Lady Arcana had made good progress when it came to dealing with the Mudo horde. Once she had switch to using raw arcane power to simply obliterate all of them, she found it pretty easy. Of course, if there were still people around, then things would naturally go a bit slower. Her main priority in those instances was to help the fleeing civilians get to safety behind the police barricades. For any hero, saving lives though always be their number one priority, even over defeating the bad guys.

That was the creed she had decided to live by. One she'd hope every other person that tried to emulate her would follow as well. As a blinding flash - a flash she knew all too well from her trip to the Middle East in July - caught the corner of her eye, however, something told her that she was probably being naive again.

Feeling her jaw lock in a mixture of fear and anger at the destruction that light might have unleashed on the populace, Lady Arcana immediately ascended high above the city. It didn't take her more than the briefest moment to spot the aftermath: a street practically reduced to molten - and probably highly radioactive - pavement. The surrounding buildings also showed the scorches of a radioactive blast.

She had studied the effects of radiation quite extensively over the past few months following her very close encounter with a nuclear warhead, and there were precious few benefits to radioactive fallout that she could see. Particularly in a crowded city. Who would do something so stupid? Was it the government, possibly?

Not with any bomb she knew of. It was far too focused.

That was when she spotted him, floating above the scene of his reckless destruction. And she knew it was him, as he had a hazmat suit on. It didn't take an ace detective to connect those glowing, radioactive dots!

Dashing forward until she was mere feet away from her, Lady Arcana quirked her brow. She...couldn't really see any face inside that suit of his. She guessed it was probably to hide his identity as much as protect him. "Hey you! Either you're dealing in some serious biznack, or you're the one that just wasted that street, am I right?"

She didn't know who this guy was, but he must be some sort of crazy to be spraying the area with that kind of radiation!

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

12:35 PM, October 26th
Hub City, Silver Leaf Academy

“Come on, I know you can do it, Clare!” Karen whispered her encouragement over the cafeteria table.

Squinting in frustration, Clarissa seemed to direct her gaze out the window. “It...isn’t all that clear, but I think the next one’s happening to the North East.”

”North East? Well, that’s something at least! Thanks. I can tell you’re getting better at using your abilities!” Karen complimented her, watching her friend needle the side of her head in pain.

This was very much a good thing, as she needed all the help she could get. Over the past several days, reports had been filling the news sites about an escalating series of attacks on people by what the media has dub “Mudo”, Spanish for mute. They had first appeared in Caracas, Venezuela, but soon began appearing in several other notoriously crime ridden cities throughout North and South America.

This included Hub City, naturally.

Rising from cemeteries without warning, the Mudo - shambling corpses, really - would stagger towards any living creatures before viciously attempting to kill it with tooth and nail...if they even had any left. Worse, it wasn’t just in graveyards. Sometimes the morgues of hospitals would see the recently dead return to the world of the living. Those tended to be far swifter and more dangerous than their decaying counterparts.

She had already been to nearly a dozen graveyards and hospitals around Hub City alone, and it was apparently far worse elsewhere. She needed to start helping out around the world before things escalated out of control.

“At least things haven’t gotten as bad here as in that Venezuelan place,” Clarissa muttered, having returned to flipping through her portfolio after that brief period of exertion on her part. Good luck ever getting her to be a superhero. “I hear they’re practically having a Mudo orgy over there.”

“Caracas,” Karen muttered in irritation. “And you shouldn’t make light of people dying! I’m going out there tonight to make sure - oh fuck, Clare, what are you drawing?! Gross!”

Her friend’s beaming grin thankfully offered some distraction from the horrors coming to life beneath her pen, as Karen released a heavy breath. Sometimes she wondered if it was a good idea asking Zoey to help get Clarissa into the same private school. Unlike Hub City Elementary, Silver Leaf Academy covered grades one through twelve, so they were able to eat lunch together and hang out after school still...for better or worse.

So much had happened in her life in these past few months. After Zoey had found out about her…situation with her father, she had literally kicked in the door as Grim and laid him out. It was something she should’ve done herself the moment she became the Wizard, now that she had enough time away from his abuse to admit it to herself. She knew, though, that she probably never would have. Even now, she still loved her dad...and maybe that meant there was something wrong with her.

Shaking her head, Karen stared out the distant window.

Adjusting to her new life wasn’t going to be easy. Both her and Clarissa were really out of place here. The kids used different slang, they had different standards and expectations...and everyone noticed. She had received more than a few odd looks on her first day here, and nobody would really associate with her. Still, she had yet to be directly bullied. Perhaps because such behavior wasn’t tolerated here. When your parents were dropping tens of thousands of dollars for you to attend somewhere, expulsion was a very effective punishment.

She wanted to tell herself that she got Zoey to allow Clarissa to attend with her purely out of concern and generosity, but part of it was definitely so she wouldn’t have to face this place alone.

Not that being alone was entirely bad…

---

3:34 PM
Ashton Ridge Apartments, Old Town

“Phew,” Karen exhaled, stepping out of the elevator to her penthouse. “Home sweet home.”

Tossing her backpack on the couch, she quickly followed after it by landing on the plush, silken cushions. Kicking her feet up on the equally luxurious...table-like thing in front of her, she laid her head back. The dead were usually only a problem at night, so she had a little bit of time before she had to fly out to Venezuela. This was good, because she really needed to wind down after school. She had always had good grades at Hub City Elementary, but at Silver Leaf she really had to struggle to keep up. It was like they were practically a grade ahead of where they should be.

It was like she was living in an entirely different world at this point. Even though it was the same city, it might as well be a different state. Old Town was completely different than The Wedge, even after she had cleaned it up. The people behaved differently, spoke differently, dressed differently. The only one of those she had managed to emulate thus far was the last.

Closing her eyes for what seemed like only a few seconds, she opened them again to find the clear - if polluted - afternoon sky replaced with the orange hue of the sleepy evening sun. Pushing off the couch, Karen pushed her arms into the air as she stretched the kinks out of her stiff body.

Wandering over to the kitchen counter where a small black remote sat, she took the device in hand and pointed it at a section of the wall. A light hum heralded the parting of the dark marble as a large flat screen slid forward. Flickering to life with reports of escalating violence in the cities afflicted with the Mudo scourge, Karen noted that it was now after six. She’d slept for nearly three hours.

Pouring some fruit juice into a wine glass, she quietly enjoyed the feeling of the cherry-flavored liquid sliding down her parched throat while keeping an eye on the television.

“Casualties in Caracas have now risen to over fifteen thousand injured, and over a thousand confirmed dead,” the news anchor reported, her face remaining affixed with a neutral-sad expression. “Furthermore, there are reports of those recently killed in the attacks rising up to join the ranks of Mudo. The World Health Organization has issued a statement to all affected regions warning them to cremate all corpses - recently dead or otherwise - to prevent the further expansion of the Mudo threat.”

Gulping down the last of the juice in the glass, Karen shook away the last of her grogginess. It was time to go to work.

Sliding open the glass door that lead out onto the balcony overlooking Old Town, she couldn’t help but smile. Transforming was so much easier now. Her penthouse was highest point for miles, and the balcony extended out in such a way that nobody below could see her unless she stood at the very edge. Better yet, the pollution in Hub City offered a wonderfully thick layer of smog that kept satellites from being able to easily spot her, not that they’d know to try...hopefully.

Now she could stop unintentionally antagonizing the local power companies with her “unexplained electrical discharges”. She was getting worried, particularly after they started installing cameras at her usual transformation spots.

Glancing up at the darkening sky, she drew a breath and prepared to speak that word she had grown so accustomed to over the past year.

“SHAZAM!”

---

7:48 PM
Caracas, Venezuela

“Keep the line steady! Don’t let them pass!” One officer screamed from behind a row of riot shields, his fellow policemen doing their best to withstand the flood of the undead crashing down against them.

From her position above, Lady Arcana could see that they were doing their best to contain the horde, but with all the alleyways and access points available to the Mudos, it was simply an impossible task. She could see that the lights in the normally bright city had grown dim in many areas as people fled.

The police were frantically trying to aid in the evacuation even as they - and the national guard - were simultaneously locked in battle with an army of corpses.

Descending in front of the line of riot shields and right onto a pair of Mudos, Lady Arcana glanced over her shoulder at their startled faces. Speaking in Spanish, she immediately attempted to soothe their visible concern. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help!”

Confused murmuring in Spanish filled her ears, but for once she didn’t need the Intellect of Mnemosyne. She was just as fluent in her father’s native tongue as she was in English, after all. The Wedge’s large Latino population had certainly given her plenty of practice.

Feeling several sets of rotting hands grasping and clawing at her as equally decaying teeth gnawed futilely against her unbreakable skin. Stepping forward to carry the group of undead with her, she briefly lifted off the ground to perform a quick aerial spin to throw the lot of them back onto the street.

She...wasn’t really looking forward to this. Being seemingly mindless and rotting corpses, she didn’t have to worry about holding back too much. At the same time, she just knew this was going to be a very bloody mess....

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered, balling her fingers into a fist. Diving down at the Mudo-packed street, drove her knuckles into the jaw of one...and his head went flying clean off. Staring at the headless corpse in horror for a moment, she waited for the spray of blood...but it never came.

Blinking several times, she dared a glance at the neck of the still standing body. It was a dried out and devoid of any kind of liquid.

Of course….these were mostly old corpses! They wouldn’t still have blood pumping through them! Duh, biology 101, Karen! But wait...why wasn’t the body falling? It had staggered back from the impact, but-

“...Oh,” Karen’s eyes grew wide when it reached out for her throat, the other Mudos turning to close in on her. Pursing her lips as several more began trying to gnaw at her, she rammed her fist into the now headless body with enough force to completely shatter it into pieces. “There, that should do it!”

Turning to the countless other Mudos surrounding her, she began to unload body splattering blow after body splattering blow against them all. Without the threat of blood and guts flying everywhere, she no longer felt any degree of hesitation when it came to obliterating these guys. It was...actually kind of fun, in fact!

“Heehee,” Karen giggled, taking the head of one Mudo and hurling it with enough force to blast a hole clean through several closely packed together undead.

But...there was something a bit off here, she was starting to notice. Even when she smashed them into pieces, the individual parts continued to crawl around! In fact, they seemed to be inching their way back to the other severed parts of their respective bodies!

“Wait, then how am I supposed to…” Karen muttered, glancing down at her hands.

Right, magic. Of course.

She still wasn’t particularly good with her spells, even with Raymond’s continued instruction...but she did at least have a basic grasp on channeling! If it was something as simple as blasting some old corpses to smithereens, then she could do it!

Narrowing her eyes, she lifted off the ground and returned to the line of shields. Extending her hands outwards, she began to draw power from the laylines that intersected with Caraco...of which there was a surprisingly high number. It actually reminded her of both Gotham and Hub City in that regard.

Her palms began to glow with the arcane power she gathered, and with a small shout she unleashed a wave of magic in lightning form. Sweeping over the massive crowd of Mudos, their withered forms instantly ignited on contact with the torrent of power washing over the street, before being reduced to a pile of ash.

Lowering her hands slowly, she smirked. “Try and piece yourselves together now.”

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

July 28th, 11:48 AM, New York City
Lundgrau Intelligence Services NA HQ

Lady Arcana hadn’t been seen for nearly two weeks at this point, an unusual amount of time for her to be completely off the radar. Karen had seen the reports, still talking about how she had “abducted” little Timothy McClellan after Iron Eagle’s second attack on the city. She...couldn’t really argue with that, she had taken him to the Rock without a word to anyone. It must have seemed crazy to anyone that didn’t know...which was everyone but her and Sam right now.

She hadn’t really talked to anyone else since then. Hadn’t changed back to Lady Arcana. Hadn’t even gone to school until they started calling, at which point her dad made her go. After that point she just drifted from class to class, probably failing her tests. She honestly didn’t remember how she’d done, and her dad didn’t care so long as they didn’t bother him.

But she knew she couldn’t just stay like this forever. She couldn’t hide away from the world, when it needed her the most, as inept as she was at doing her job. So it was now that she found herself in New York, staring at the headquarters of one Raymond von Luneburg...the one man that could perhaps teach her how to never let anything like this happen again.

She hadn’t bothered to ask Samantha, despite her concern. She didn’t have the energy to argue with her about whether or not she was ready to learn it. She wasn’t ready for any of this, but it was happening anyhow.

But how should she approach? Through the top window? No, that’d be rude. She was asking for help, after all.

Instead, she touched down gently in front of the ground floor. People outside the admittedly impressive steel and glass building recoiled in shock at her sudden descent, but she paid them - or their flashing cell phones - no mind. Instead, she simply walked through the front doors and approached the receptionist’s desk.

Regarding the young woman with a somber expression, her words rolled off her tongue in a muted voice. ”Is Mr. Luneburg here? I...really need to see him right now.”

Glancing up from the desk that seemed rife with paperwork and paging systems, the woman took one look at Lady Arcana and nodded slowly. "Ah, one moment." Her thin fingers worked swiftly across the board, punching in a series of numbers even as the headset was adjusted against the side of her face. "Mr. Lüneburg? Your noon appointment is here… I'll let her know." A subtle click sounded from the earpiece and the receptionist looked back up from the desk. "He'll be down in just a moment. Would you like a drink? There's a coffee machine just around the corner. If coffee isn't to your liking then it also dispenses water and hot cocoa."

Lady Arcana gently shook her head in response to this, not feeling like eating or drinking anything. Not that she needed to in this form, but she had still sometimes engaged in it for pleasure when she wasn’t feeling so...well, like this. “No thank you. I’m fine with waiting.”

She had probably already waited too long, in truth, consumed by her own guilt and self-pity.

Just moments after the call to the offices, an elevator chime went off to the side of the lobby and Raymond stepped out amid a small gathering of accountants. Seemed he had previously been in the middle of yet another financial meeting, which explained why he was only too happy to dismiss them and make his way over to the reception desk. "Lady Arcana, good to see you. Wonderful job over in Arabia." A quick glance to the side and he looked over the agenda for the day on the desk.

"Lexa, I'll need you to cancel… All of those. Especially the meeting with General Stewart. Would not do well for him to wander in unannounced. Now, Lady Arcana, if you'll come with me, we can speak privately in my office." He gestured towards the elevators, one of which went directly to the executive floor and was where he was heading at the moment.

Lady Arcana had waited in silence, almost stalk still the whole time. Her eyes were aimed at the pristine marble flooring, whereas before she would’ve likely been glancing all about the no doubt impressive interior. She just didn’t have it in her to be amazed right now.

When Mr. Luneburg called out her name, her head jerked up to meet his gaze. ”Oh, hello Mr. Luneburg. I’m...sorry for not making an appointment or anything.”

She knew that, hide it though she might try, her voice undoubtedly sounded drained right now. Not at all the way she had when they last saw each other in Arabia. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too notable, though, since she wasn’t here for pity. She needed help.

Raymond had of course noticed the shift in character. It was rather hard not to after having spoken with her before and observed her actions up close. Yet from all reports, she had a rather traumatic event in her home city, and it seemed to have left an impression upon her. For that, he allowed a few moments of silence to pass in the elevator as it slowly made its way up to the executive floors. At least, it seemed slower for the tense atmosphere within, when it was actually making fairly quick time due to the magnetic rails that guided it up the building.

"When I was younger, I also wore the lightning bolt on my chest." Finally, he broke the silence, not moving his eyes from the view of the building passing in front of them. "I was perhaps not quite as gifted as I am now, and definitely not as wise, but I had a fire in my heart that would not listen to anyone but those who told me what I wished to hear. It eventually led to me losing the power, but in retrospect it was for the best. The wizard knew who I would become if I stayed my course. In order for me to find my way back to my path, it had to happen."

Raymond turned ever so slightly, a serious look on his face as he looked down at the woman. "Have you lost your way, Lady Arcana? I understand it may seem like it after that last encounter in Hub City, but do you still hold to your principles?"

Lady Arcana had remained silent as they rode the elevator up. It was an impressive sight, she had to admit. She could see the true scope and grandeur out the window as they ascended, something that would’ve probably left her gaping like a moron on any other day. But her somber, half-responsive state was immediately shattered by those words that broke the silence between them.

”...What?” Her head snapped up to the businessman, eyes wide. ”You...you were give these powers by that old Wizard too? B-but..how? When he gave them to me he…”

She trailed off, his final words bringing back the sobriety that had consumed her ever since her last confrontation with Wilhelm. Once again looking away from him, she reached a hand up to rub at her arm. ”I...yes. I still do, even if maybe I can’t live up to them right now.”

She looked back up at him. ”But that’s why I’m here! I...I want to be better. To….to not ever let anyone down the way I did there.”

He had assumed as much, both in the reason for coming to his offices, and that the Wizard had not mentioned her predecessors. Vagueness was the old wizard's speciality it seemed. "The powers I have now have been slowly cultivated over my life, but it was only after I lost the ones given to me by the Wizard that I had need to." Of course, he left quite a bit out in regards to specifics, but those were things that were rather irrelevant to the discussion at hand. She had very nearly beaten the old nazi to death, and regardless of whether or not it was needed, it had gone against her principles to do so, at least what he had thought of them.

"Even though the old Wizard is no longer present to observe and guide, even strip away the powers of the unworthy, that does not mean the consequences are any less. I saw a few of the cellphone videos of your actions, and while you did cross a line that day, it's clear that you still at least know where your path is." The chime of the elevator let them know that it had stopped, the action of the machine smooth to the point where it hadn't even been felt.

He gestured to follow, opening the doors to the main conference room and settling into a chair towards the back. It was here where he had held most of his meetings, and also where he had observed New York City engulfed in flames of its own making.

"You can do away with your glamor, no one other than myself actively frequents this floor unless there are meetings."

Lady Arcana unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself while Mr. Luneburg discussed the consequences of her actions. She knew...knew that she had gone way too far back there. Knew that she had nearly beaten Wilhelm to death in her blind rage. She hadn’t even been thinking at that point, being barely more than a rabid animal. That...that wasn’t who she was. It wasn’t who she wanted to be.

”I don’t want to lose control again,” she answered him, affirming her earlier statement. ”And I don’t want anyone like Timothy to ever have to die because I wasn’t good enough.”

When he noted that she could do away with her “glamor”, she merely cocked her head to the side in confusion.

”...Glamor?”

Right, it was easy to forget that she didn't have nearly as much arcane knowledge as the name implied. He made a gesture about his face as he explained briefly. "The mask, the one which the powers imbue you with." Part of him wondered if she knew any other spells than the one he taught her, but he quickly silenced that small voice in the back of his head. She had come here specifically to speak with him and seek some form of guidance, so it would do to try and find some form of restraint. Taking a moment to gather himself internally, he tried again. "Apologies, with being around another user of the arcane, I often forget that terms have changed and that few have as much experience. The glamor is what the armor of the wizard was once called, though back then it was actual armor and not a mere costume. Well, I use the term quite lightly as it seemed your 'costume' was able to take quite the hit with that nuclear detonation in Arabia."

”O-oh! My transformation,” she finally understood his meaning, glancing down at herself.

Wait. He wanted her to drop it? To turn back into her human form? That would mean revealing her identity to him, though, something she’d kept a secret from everybody besides Clarissa thus far. I mean...she was here asking for his help, of course, but even still…

Then again, she was utterly nobody. That was probably the greatest benefit of her secret identity: that she was so utterly unimpressive as a person that nobody knew her. Even if she showed him her real face, he wouldn’t recognize her.

Besides, she was asking quite a lot of him here. Trust was important. Closing her eyes, she gently nodded. ”...Right. Okay.”

Drawing a breath, she spoke it. The Word. ”SHAZAM!”

As always, and as Mr. Luneburg likely anticipated, a bolt of the living lightning descended from the heavens above to strike her form. What he perhaps didn’t expect, however, was for the person behind the “glamor” to be some brat in discount ben clothing.

Staring up - even more so than before - at the towering man, Karen exhaled. ”Hi...I’m Karen…”

In truth, he was expecting maybe at least someone approaching the same age as her transformation displayed, but he was not entirely surprised. She had acted rather… Was immature really the correct word for it? If not, at least someone who was perhaps not quite an adult.

"Pleased to meet you Karen." He managed not to openly speak his mind this time, though this really did explain so much. "It's important to remember that no one is perfect, and that everyone makes mistakes. When you become Lady Arcana, all those people out there look up to you, and a good number strive to be just like you, but do you stop being who you are now when you say the word? I'm sure you had hopes and dreams that were a fair bit different before taking on the powers of the wizard."

"Here's the question though, and I know that perhaps the situations may be far different, but bear with me. If you as Karen made a mistake in school, assuming you're in public school, and it was a rather dire one, would you be holding it against yourself in the same manner as you are doing now? Should you?"

Karen’s eyes fell to the floor at his question. She probably looked like a pingpong table with how often they darted back and forth. ”I...if it caused somebody to be really hurt, or even to die, then yeah I would. I think anybody normal would feel awful if they let somebody die, right?”

She felt her heart clench at her last words. He wasn’t dead...not completely, right? He was still there, frozen in that horrible state. Right, that was the other reason she came here. She had failed to save two people - his parents - from Wilhelm. But that didn’t mean she had to fail to save their son.

Staring back up at him for what had to be like the fourth time or something, she pursed her lips. ”I...I know I can’t always be perfect. But if I make a mistake, if I mess up...then I want to learn how to fix it. I-I mean, magic can do anything, right?”

An equally good question, and one that he had been working on solving for what felt like his entire life. The arcane called to him, and with it he had spells that could make and unmake entire landscapes if he but had the power available. "It can do many things, and perhaps it very well could do anything." He said, giving the question a moment longer of thought as he began to pace the room. "With it, you could shape the earth and control the elements, or handle the most mundane of tasks."

"That was once a particular issue among some practitioners, in that once they found some degree of mastery they began to use it as a crutch for simple tasks. See, magic is a tool at its most basic. More than that, the arcane is every tool that could be needed." Raymond stepped over to the wall, pressing his palm against the wooden paneling and causing it to recess slightly. A hiss escaped the seams of the panels and they fell back with a gust of cool air tinted with magic. It was a simple space hidden between the wall of this room and the one beside it, yet with the proper application of magic it expanded into a larger area. Anyone who had traveled to the rock would know of such spaces immediately.

It was not the space itself that drew attention, but the large book which sat upon a pedestal in the center. "I have spent so many years collecting arcane knowledge, and even I do not have all the answers. This book contains everything I have learned since the fall of Akkad."

”Wah?!” Karen gasped, taking a step back when the wall collapsed into some sort of...magic dimension? That was all she could think to call it right now. It wasn’t her first time seeing something like that, but it still kind of surprised her when people did it without warning. ”Holy sauceballs, it’s just...there! All the other places like this that I’ve seen make you enter them before really showing you what’s inside.”

At most you’d get a little preview, but there it was...a huge book, larger than any she’d ever seen before. In truth, it didn’t even feel like there was any clear separation between the world she was standing in now, and the one that existed in that space surrounding the book. Maybe cause it was really small? It was pretty interesting, imagining a little micro universe just a dozen square feet across.

”Akkad? That sounds familiar, um…” Karen scratched the side of her head, trying to remember where she’d heard it. If she’d still been transformed, she could’ve recalled it instantly, but alas her own memory was anything but perfect. Wasn’t it related to ancient Egypt or something?

Wait…
”Hold on, isn’t that like a really ancient country or something? How old are you, Mr. Luneburg?” Karen couldn’t help but ask, feeling a bit overwhelmed by that revelation.

Responding to the presence of both mages, the book opened slowly, pages fluttering in a false wind and returning to the last place of reference. Cuneiform scrawled across the weathered parchment, sometimes in ordered blocks and tightly spaced. Elsewhere it looked as if it was scratched in a hurry, lightened strokes showing fast penmanship. Raymond's hand traced a few of the spells therein before nodding slowly. "I learned how to make this space from my short time as Wizard. One of a few things I thought may come in handy at a later time. I'm sure you've already found The Rock to be incredibly useful for when something is far too dangerous to leave in the mortal realm."

As he thought, she didn't have full access to her powers unless transformed, and the eidetic memory didn't transfer over. He bitterly cursed the public education system for not teaching ancient history at earlier grades, but that was a battle that no mortal being could win. "Old enough to have watched this world change from one where magic thrived, all the way to the age of industrialization. Or as some may say, far too long."

”That’s...pretty nuts, man,” Karen replied, staring at the book in awe. She knew magic could do some pretty wild things, but if he was that old...did that mean he had basically found a way to live forever? It had to be pretty amazing to witness all the changes the world had undergone in all that time, and yet...he’d also have experienced the deaths of everyone he had ever loved or cared for. Possibly hundreds of times by now.

She couldn’t imagine having to watch her dad, Clarissa, Zoey or any of the other friends she was starting to make just wither away and die while she remained young forever. But...but that was what was going to happen, wasn’t it? She was going to stay young, while they…

Taking a step forward, Karen reached out and gave Mr. Luneburg a quick and gentle hug. ”It had to be really hard, living so long. I’m sorry…”

Realising she was hugging a stranger again - it was a bad habit of hers, she quickly stepped back and scratched her head. ”Anyway...I guess you’re pretty much the number one magic guy in the world if you’ve been at it all that time, huh?”

For a moment he wasn't quite sure how to react to the hug, though he allowed it as it seemed already the girl's mood had improved significantly from when she walked through the front doors. "Few understand the burdens of immortality." He said at last, waving a hand across the pages of the book and causing them to turn rapidly.

As they fluttered to a stop, the words were no longer symbols on the parchment but instead actual english and dictating simplistic spells. "It has been my life's work to accumulate arcane knowledge, so I suppose that would make you correct in assuming as much. These spells are rather basic, and you should be able to cast them even in this form. Channel as you did before, though try and focus on the instructions of the spells. Also… Don't touch the book. It responds to auras, and will seek to provide what it thinks you desire most."

Staring forward at the book for a moment, Karen could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She hadn’t tried to use magic in her human form. Not since she had first gained her powers, and didn’t even realize how to transform. She still remembered what it felt like to channel, though. It had made a solid enough impression that even her normal memory could recall it pretty clearly.

“R-right. Make a little globe of arcane energy in my palm,” Karen read the description of the spell. That sounded simple enough. Harmless and easy. Pursing her lips tightly together, she curled her fingers around her left wrist and focused on it. Trying to draw the magic from inside her like she had when she was Lady Arcana, she ended up wincing her eyes shut as she struggled.

”Nnngh…!” She continued to fight to draw out some kind of magical power from inside her...but unlike before it just...wasn’t...happening…!

Pssshft!

Her eyes widened, briefly darting behind her. Cheeks growing red, she waved her hand in the air. ”Don’t sniff, please.”

Raymond observed passively, sensing the movement of magical energy in the world-space around them. It became almost immediately clear the problem, producing a quite predicted failure. She was trying to draw on the Rock, and not reaching for the much more available magic that pooled around them just below their feet. That must have been why the channeling didn't go as expected… His thoughts returned to the present along with a disapproving frown. A simple motion of the hand and he cast a spell to clear the world space back to its original state before opening, the book remaining unmoving even as gusts of chilled wind swirled around them.

"Don't think that's the intended result by far, though I think I understand your troubles. Firstly, you're trying to draw directly from the Rock it seems. Obviously, you won't be able to do so unless you wear the glamor, and even then you would just be wielding raw magic. There is an ocean of power beneath our feet, and even as human as you are now, if you reach out with your mind you should be able to sense it there."

Karen stared down at her feet where he gestured, feeling embarrassed that she thought she could wield magic like she could as Lady Arcana. Of course, that made sense. She wasn’t connected to the Rock of Eternity right now, so that wasn’t possible.

”Right, okay. Reach out…” She quietly repeated, closing her eyes. Focusing now instead on feeling the world around her, she initially saw only the blackness of her mind. Then, like a tiny spark, she saw it: a glimmer of light in the abyss. Furrowing her brow, she concentrated on that flicker of hope. Slowly but surely, it began to expand. What was once a spark began to stretch until it became a river, one connecting to other similar estuaries of light.

Her lips parting in amazement at this sight, she couldn’t help but genuinely smile for the first time since that day. ”I can see them!”

"Those are the leylines, what your presence as the Wizard has revitalized." In the world-space around them they flowed differently than just beyond the doorway they entered from, instead of streaming to connect with the ones back on Earth proper, they spiraled off into the abyss. There in the darkness far away was The Rock itself, sitting in the space between dimensions and feeding the magical conduits.

"The arcane flows along those lines very much like streams and rivers, connecting into literal oceans in some rare places, and it is quite appropriate that it does so. On my second point as to why you have difficulty utilizing your magic, both here and as Lady Arcana proper, is that you are trying to seize it and make it do what you want it to do."

He stooped down to the ground, resting on his heels and reaching down with a hand to draw up some raw magic from the leyline. It flowed very much like a liquid, dripping between his fingers and pooling on the floor before seeping back to rejoin the rest. "Magic is a very fluid substance when physical, and it wants to move and fill the voids even as you move it between your fingers. Treat it as you would shaping water. If you just try and force it to your will, then no matter how strong you are, it will run through your fingertips and thwart you at every turn."

"Instead, be careful and gently coax it to what you need. For most spells you don't need grand motions, and especially here you don't need to work with urgency. If it helps, you could even just try asking nicely. Sometimes it actually helps."

Karen only opened her eyes when he began to speak. Surprisingly, the laylines didn’t fade from sight right away, but rather slowly began to dim after her focus was broken. It took only a few moments of focusing again - but without closing her eyes - to regain sight of them, however. It looked...odd, seeing them flowing through the world as they were.

Listening closely to Raymond’s instructions, she once again adopted the posture she had before. Off-hand around dominant wrist, she didn’t strain this time. Rather, she drew in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. ”Right...Mr. Layline, please give me a little bit of power for a ball of arcane energy!”

Focusing on her open palm, albeit not forcefully so, she imagined small streams of arcane energy flowing from the river into the center of her hand. Nothing happened at first, but she didn’t rush it. Like Mr. Luneburg had said, she didn’t need to rush things. Continuing to draw measured breaths, she kept focusing on the image while whispering softly for the layline to give her a little power.

Finally, in incremental strands, the energy began to coalesce into her hand. Swirling until it formed a shimmering orb, Karen’s lips stretched into a bright smile. ”Hey look, I did it-agh!”

The moment she stopped focusing, the ball exploded with an audible pop that left Karen painfully wringing her hand. Frowning slightly, her shoulders slumped. ”Okay, maybe I didn’t.

Once more he observed passively, unmoving as the arcane responded to her request and slowly formed into the spell. Of course it had dissipated, a little violently unfortunately, but at least there was credible progress. Being the Wizard afforded her more innate ability he figured, even if her human form was far from adept at handling magic.

"It doesn't matter quite as much if you fail to cast in the end, as long as you can understand how to properly cast. Even simple spells like these take time to master for the uninitiated. I would try for maybe something less… Volatile though. Perhaps the lamplight spell?" With a simple motion he drew in a wisp of magic from the leyline, spinning it around a finger until it resembled something very much like a ball of cotton candy. Nevermind that it was of a vibrant hue and glowed quite unnaturally.

With a flick of his wrist the puff of spun magic detached from his hand and began floating above the ground, gently bobbing up and down as it lit the area. "One of the most useful utility spells any wizard could know, it takes minimal magic and the spell-failure consequences are harmless. Go ahead."

Karen nodded gently at this, extending a single index finger into the air just like Mr. Luneburg had. Once again focusing on the laylines surrounding her, she made another quiet request for aid before imagining the same effect that her teacher had just displayed. Nothing major, just a little light on the tip of her finger. LIke before it took a few moments to accomplish, but she did eventually summon the wisp of light as he had.

She didn’t feel like she was ready to make it float around, though. It’d almost certainly dissipate if she did so.

”T-there, that’s right, isn’t it?” She stuttered slightly to Mr. Luneburg with only a slight flick of her eyes to him, struggling to maintain her focus on the light. She couldn’t repeat her mistake from before and let her mind wander too much.

"As before, you've got the idea of it down good enough. The lamplight spell is especially good for beginners in that the wording is not picky or exact, and the end result is quite open to interpretation. In magic those kinds of spells are the most ideal for the creative mage, and can be excellent ways to showcase ability." Almost to emphasize his point, he stood and dispelled the previous orb.

Drawing in another strand of magic, this time he counter-spun it with wider movements. It solidified much the same as it did before, but instead of looking very much like a floating cotton ball, this time the puff was like a ball of steel wool. Detaching it, he gave it a gentle spin and another light infusion of magic. Where before the lamplight was stationary to a point, this one began a slow rotation around its caster, lighting up the area.

"With just a little bit more added onto the spell, some slight variations, it has become something unique. You could even change the colors of the light if you wished. Go ahead and make another one, though try something different in casting."

Pursing her lips, Karen allowed her first wisp of light to dissipate. Once again focusing on the laylines at her feet, she gently requested more power from it. It wouldn’t be enough this time to simply create a light. She had to do something unique with it. Probably something different than what Mr. Luneburg had done, not that she felt like she could do that even if she tried.

Ah, there was a thought!

As the arcane energy was drawn from the layline and to the tip of her finger, Karen tilted it downward and began to slowly bob it up and down as if trying to shake a drop of liquid free. After a few moments of this, the wisp of light finally detached from her and hit the ground in a bounce! Like a little rubber ball, it a skipped along the floor until it smacked up against the wall, finally dissipating in a tiny flash.

”Wow, I just...imagined it being like a bouncy ball and… Karen trailed off, her eyes still staring at where it had vanished.

Raymond raised an eyebrow in surprise, not quite expecting that one. "Not bad actually. Instead of letting it float freely, you gave it a little bit of mass and set it free. I knew a man in the Yucatan years ago who used a very similar technique when exploring caves." Drawing in a little bit of the arcane, he copied the motions and produced a small orb of light as Karen did, though it was a bit more focused in intensity.

"It was before things like submersible flares, and so it was quite difficult to explore the deeper parts of the cave systems. Problem with the basic lamplight spell though, is that it is quite obviously lighter than air to a degree and floats. Makes it rather difficult to submerge, and the cave systems of Central America are rather… Moist. He had the idea that if he condensed the strands enough, they would form a solid orb that he could then drop into the caves and light his way."

”Oh,” Karen replied with her mouth slightly agape. ”I was just thinking about bouncy balls.”

Though what he said did sound interesting. Anything she learned as Karen here, she could surely use as Lady Arcana. Use it a lot better, more than likely. She kind of understood why he had her transform back to her human form now. Because she couldn’t “cheat” by just drawing on the Rock of Eternity, she had to learn proper channeling technique.

”Is this how you trained in magic back when you were a kid?” Karen couldn’t help but ask, her mind drifting back to the fact that he was from a time far removed from her own. If she had learned such a thing even a few months prior, she would’ve still been shocked...but after seeing wizards, harpies, Atlanteans, magitech war suits and everything else that had happened to her since that fateful day last November, this stuff was starting to seem par for the course.

"If only." He said with a grim chuckle. It would have been all too easy if he had a guide for his journey, someone to show him the proper ways beyond simply giving him the very basics and setting him loose. Perhaps things would have been very different in such a scenario. "Unfortunately, I was already a man by the time I learned I had the potential. My youth had been spent, and little remained to me with such promises."

Memories came to him of his slow mastery over fire spells in particular, and the rather necessary need to learn restoration magics that swiftly followed. Trial and error was historically one of the best tutors, but not the kindest by a long shot. "I was given the basics and set loose more or less, and as I'm sure you can surmise, it was not an ideal start towards becoming a wizard of any calibre."

Karen’s shoulders sank slightly upon hearing about his rough start. It seemed like he had endured a lot even before he gained immortality. She honestly didn’t understand why the Wizard would have rejected him, though, he seemed like a really cool guy from where she was standing...and he knew a hell of a lot more about magic than she likely ever would.

”So even back then people could go a long time without ever knowing they had magic?” Karen replied, unable to suppress her curiosity about his era now that she was thinking about it. ”I guess I just expected there to be something, y’know? Like Hogwarts, eheh.”

Gods that probably sounded really stupid. She just figured that a magical school was a natural step, but maybe that was just how the modern world had conditioned her to think.

Raymond's hand rested on the book as he drew in a little more from the leylines beneath. Pulling away, the pages seemed to part from the binding, but it was actually copying itself onto new sheets woven from the air around them. "It was actually fairly common for people to go their entire lives without ever knowing they had the gift. What schools did exist back then, they were for the very privileged few, almost always the aristocratic elite or the priesthoods. The common man was thought to be beyond such gifts."

The pages in his hand glowed briefly as they parted from the book, words writing themselves as he watched and ensured the proper spells were written. They were rather simple affairs, easy to cast even when the leylines were shallow. "Here are some more practice and utility spells. They should help get you up to speed on the basics of casting, channeling and even the first portion of auramancy. With some practice a couple times a week, you should be able to achieve decent control over the arcane so that you could afford to cast these as Lady Arcana."

Karen eagerly accepted the pages when he offered them to her, staring down at the magically written words in amazement. Despite everything that had happened to her, it was simply impossible to not be excited at the fact that she was learning real magic at last! And not just as Lady Arcana, but as regular ol’ Karen Hernandez. There was no way she was going to restrict herself to just studying it twice a week though. She’d spend as much time buried in these things as she possibly could, and then come back once she felt that she had gained a solid grasp on them for even more!

”Thank you, Mr. Luneburg!” Karen smiled up at him in genuine gratitude. ”After everything that happened that day, I...this all means so much to me!”

Finally she felt like she was making some progress towards becoming a more competent Wizard! Or at least one that wasn’t a total and complete screw up. She knew Samantha wouldn’t approve, but now that she had the magic in hand, she didn’t need her approval anymore!

"You are quite welcome. Glad to be working with magic more closely again personally, and I've got you to thank for that. If I can be of some assistance ensuring that you come into your powers properly, then perhaps we'll have you as the wizard for some time yet." Regardless of how beneficial it would be to him and his cabal to have the Wizard looking favorably upon him, there was an undeniable satisfaction towards helping start one on their arcane journey. More than that, it was clear that his efforts had a marked effect on her mood, and as a father it was difficult to suppress a smile in response.

"I think for now we can return to the offices, as I think you've got a pretty good grasp on things for today."

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

@AlfhedilAbsolutely, completely canon.