Apples on Teacher's Desk

[slayers_desire]

Now with Orbital Watchtower in place, up and running for the Justice League of America -- the former ground location is now used for other things. It is a haven for super-powered people who need a place to find themselves. It doesn't matter if their powers were inherited, or developed because of meteorite powers, or other incidents -- everyone is welcome.

There is also classroom space for those who want to learn to control their powers, located a couple floors up. It is one of these classrooms that Dark Oak is currently teaching meditation to those who need a calm mind to control their abilities.

There is nice peaceful music playing in the background. And no interruptions...

Until, there is a bang at the door, and sounds of voices in the hallway. It seems that someone has taken advantage of the 'open door policy' to try and bring some havoc to the peaceful situation.

Dark Oak gestures to her group of people to stay calm, and close to the floor. She stands up and approaches the door to find out exactly what is going on (of course with a telepathic shield around her). There is a small group of armed masked men roaming the halls now... and their yells are upsetting and confusing those that came here trying to escape such scenarios.

Comments

[smallvillians]

There are eight men, all dressed in black, with no identifying marks or logos on their clothes or bodies. They're carrying guns, and as they move down the halls, they roll canisters ahead of them. The canisters billow with red smoke, a kind of tear gas that drives youngsters to seek shelter as it seeps under doors and into the rooms.

[slayers_desire]

Dark Oak frowns. One of the canisters reaches her destination, but the tear gas is unable to affect her with the telepathic shield around her. She quickly places another shield at the door of her classroom -- ensuring those youngsters are kept safe for now. But there are a lot more classrooms -- and she can only go so far before her shields go down without her immediate concentration.

Any JLA members in the area of Watchtower Prime? We have an attack on the classroom level She projects out. Not wanting the men to hear her warning. Right now she just stares down at them, standing in the middle of red smoke... in her green outfit... she would definitely stand out.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Superman is not in Metropolis at the moment, but he hears the message, and pays close attention to what's going on. An attack?

Martian Manhunter hears the call too, out on a case in the city. I can be there in minutes. Do you want police backup?

The masked men shout as they see Dark Oak, and two of them aim their weapons at her. There's an argument between them, some wanting to shoot her, others thinking that might be a bad move.

[slayers_desire]

Yes. They are armed. They are throwing tear gas... it is red... She notes the color because she finds that strange.

Police backup would be good. It would remind these people that this is trespassing if we arrest them properly

She holds up an arm, lifting one of the guns out of the hands of one of the masked men who wanted to shoot her. Her goal is to give them a reason not to shoot.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

On my way, Superman replies. He makes his excuses quickly, glad that most people understand when he's called away to an emergency.

The police are alerted, J'onn reports. They'll be there soon.

The intruder grabs at the floating gun, trying to get it back. The shouting escalates.

One of the teenage metahumans from another classroom stumbles out, holding a cloth over her nose and mouth. The men's attention turn to her, and her eyes widen, throwing up her free hand in a reflexive move, ready to blast them with energy from her palm.

[slayers_desire]

"Hold your fire!" Dark Oak tells the student, not wanting this to escalate any further than it already has. If necessary -- she can project a telepathic shield to prevent the energy blast from hitting the masked men.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

The student hesitates, but the men do not. One of them fires at her out of reflex.

Already approaching the building, Superman pours on the speed, and seemingly appears in between the bullet and the girl. The red smoke swirls violently around the room from the speed of his arrival, temporarily hiding everyone from sight of each other.

[slayers_desire]

Dark Oak was just about to put up a psychic shield, when a blur of blue-and-red appears between the bullet and the girl. She might lose sight of him in the violent swirl of red smoke, but that is where psychic impressions come in handy.

Dark Oak takes advantage of the confusion, slipping into shadow mode to disappear completely from sight. She moves quickly to attack herself to the shadow of one of the masked men -- coming up out of shadow mode, and knocking him unconscious.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Superman is unaffected by the tear gas's more obvious effects, but there is a shift inside of him as he breathes it in, and he's suddenly very angry at the men who have dared to invade the sanctuary that he and the rest of the JLA have built. What right do they have to do this?

His eyes glow red for a moment, which shines through the smoke, and some of the men open fire at him again. The others notice the loss of one of their number and turn to defend whatever's attacking them from behind.

[slayers_desire]

Dark Oak is not worried about the bullets heading towards Superman -- she is also confident that he will protect the student.

She can't see the red glow in his eyes, because of the smoky fog. But she does get some emotional feedback from his anger.

But she can't put too much thought into it -- when a few of the men turn around to defend themselves. "Surrender... Right now." Her voice is dark and determined.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Not gonna happen," one of the men snarls, and throws down another cylinder. This one looks slightly different, and the men turn away from it, closing their eyes.

The cylinder explodes with a loud bang and flash of light, not causing damage but enough to disorient the unprotected. Even Superman is taken off-guard by it, halting his advance as he blinks away the bright afterimages, his ears ringing from the sound.

[slayers_desire]

Dark Oak doesn't have enough time to protect her eyes either. So she is disoriented too... especially since the brightness is hard on her vampiric sight.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Over the ringing in his ears, Superman thinks he hears sirens of approaching police cars. But he spares little attention for that, trying to clear his sight enough to take out the intruders.

Two of the men grab their fallen comrade and begin to drag him out, while the others cover their escape, holding the heroes in their crosshairs.

[slayers_desire]

Dark Oak switches her senses... not depending on her eyesight or hearing anymore... and more on her psychic senses.

She goes into shadow mode again, following them by her psychic senses to follow the emotions of the masked men.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

The men back towards the stairwell, well-coordinated and practiced, though slightly unfamiliar with the layout of the tower. Two of them throw down more tear gas grenades, blocking off side hallways with the smoke. They can't see the moving shadow through the smoke blanketing the floor and walls as it follows them.

Outside, three police cars pull up, along with Detective John Jones' unmarked car.

Superman clears his sight enough to pursue, following the men out towards the stairs. "Stay here," he commands the student.

"I want to help," she starts to protest, coughing on the gas.

"Stay here," he repeats firmly.

[slayers_desire]

Dark Oak is following the masked men, as best as she can through the shadows. At least the tear gas grenades can't not affect her in shadow form, especially since she is relying on following their emotional state -- which is clear and loud to her right now.

They are in the east stairwell. They have tear gas and some sort of blinding explosive She projects out to Detective Jones so he could prepare his men.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Should we wait for them to leave the building, or meet them halfway? J'onn asks.

Superman isn't going to wait for the police. He stalks out into the smoke-filled hallway, eyes glowing red through the haze.

[slayers_desire]

This time... seeing those glowing red eyes through the haze... Dark Oak knows something is wrong.

Superman isn't going to wait for them to leave the building. You better send your men up, J'onn. Something is wrong

[kalel_ofkrypton]

The cops draw their guns and approach the building. "Shouldn't we wait for the Justice League?" one of them asks another.

"They're here to help us, not replace us," one of the other cops says. "They protect ours, now we protect theirs."

In his human disguise, J'onn can't say anything to thank them, but it heartens him to hear, given their history of conflict with the Metropolis PD. The news from Dark Oak is concerning, though. We're coming in now.

The intruders locate the stairwell, and throw more gas grenades down the steps, filling it with smoke to mask their descent. The unconscious attacker groans as he's dragged down the steps, his fellows more concerned with getting them all out alive rather than making sure he's comfortable.

Superman homes in on the sound, and his eyes glow again, this time with the fire of heat vision.

[slayers_desire]

The lack of care for their injured comrade bothers Dark April greatly. And she comes up under the unconscious attacker specifically, in his shadow, to psychically lift him off the stairs just enough so he doesn't get more hurt.

Which is good time when she sees the fire of the heat vision —— since she can cover the injured man with a psychic shield so he is not totally vulnerable to the attack.

Clark? She projects into his mind.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

He sweeps the opening of the stairwell, and though the walls are reinforced with fire-resistant material, it scorches badly. The men aren't so fire-proof, and a few of them don't get out of the way quickly enough to avoid their masks catching fire. One of them tears his mask off in a panic, and immediately starts coughing on the tear gas.

They have no right, Superman answers, radiating anger across the bond. We have been attacked too many times for no reason. There are kids here!

[slayers_desire]

Dark Oak gives the men a psychic push out of the stairwell -- even if that means they have to leave behind the one she has shielded. She knows it will be better for the police to handle them at this point.

I know they have no right. But we can't resort to violence! The kids are counting on us to show a maturity and level-headness that they all desperately seek

[kalel_ofkrypton]

They started this.

At the bottom of the stairs, the police can hear the commotion going on a few floors above them. Guns ready, they start to climb, careful around each twist of the staircase, in case they're being targeted from above.

[slayers_desire]

And we can be the better person. Just hold back... and then we can deal with this together. Later, when the kids aren't waiting and wondering.

Dark Oak comes out of shadow form now. Sort of standing between Superman and where the masked men where pushed further down the stairs. She takes advantage of their disorientation to lift all their guns into the air...

"Give yourselves up to the police. Nicely."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

One of them considers it, but before he can act on it, another one turns on his fellows. "We'd rather die," he says. "Let us go or you're going to have a hard time explaining this to the news."

Superman is slightly surprised by that development. He hadn't expected these intruders to be so committed to whatever cause they think they have.