Enter: Oracle

[newoutsiders]

Trouble at the docks again. Steph just phoned in. So much for Damian "settling things there once and for all." There was apparently an explosion. She can handle it, you tell yourself. You've got a lot more pressing things to worry about.

You take another sip of coffee as you trace some shelled bank accounts to Bialya. If you're right, there's a secret European war being funded by some major US corporations, and no one but 12 people on Earth even knows it's happening. You just need a little more-

You doze off for a quarter of a second before perking up. You've been awake for 50 hours now, and you haven't moved an inch. Since the Justice League took off and you took charge, things have been busier than they've ever been. But you can't stop. Everyone is counting on you.

Your main monitor blinks with the notification of an incoming video call. It's the League Watchtower.

Comments

[stephbrown]

Steph winces. "Yeah, well, about that. Green Arrow and I have been busy, and, uh, the former Misfit is back in action." She braces herself for the reaction.

[jlf_oracle]

"I know. Green Arrow called me hours ago from her phone."

[stephbrown]

Well, that's one thing off of Steph's shoulders. That's good. "Okay, well, glad you know. So, Green Arrow and I have been working the whole, uh, expanding person thing. I'm guessing he told you about that? Well, we tracked the whole operation down to Slaughter Swamp, where we found a guy calling himself Professor Barvo being help captive. Does that name ring a bell to you? Because I have to tell you, he wasn't happy when he realised I'd never heard of him."

[jlf_oracle]

"He sounds vaguely familiar. Give me a second." Babs runs a quick search; only two entries pop up. "Looks like he tried to set himself up as the arch-enemy of The Metal Men and learned the hard way that metal beats plastic in that particular iteration of rock-paper-scissors."

[stephbrown]

"I wish I had your resources," Steph complains, not for the first time. "He claims he's clean. Can you confirm that, or should we bring him in?"

[jlf_oracle]

Babs decides to be a grown up and skip pointing out that Steph could've had access to any resources she wanted if she'd called in earlier.

"There aren't any outstanding warrants for him since he got parole for the bank robberies," she replies, "but he might have just wised up and stopped being so obvious. It's probably worth bringing him in for a friendly chat."

[stephbrown]

"I'm all for friendly chats," Steph says. "We already had one of those, and Prof here let us in on some interesting intel. Apparently he's made a bunch of his responsometers for - get this - Grundy. Apparently he's holed up with some other captives in some sort of dome that was made to keep the League out. Bravo mentioned laser turrets."

[jlf_oracle]

"Huh. Then I guess you'll be happy to hear that Starfire is available for backup."

Starfire is a lot better equipped to handle laser blasts than either of the other two. And Grundy's strength really shouldn't be underestimated; they're going to have one hell of a fight on their hands.

"Just say the word and I'll call her in."

[stephbrown]

"The word," Steph says immediately."Please. And thank you. We're gonna need al the help we can get."

[jlf_oracle]

Babs puts her on hold for a minute while she confirms with Kory, and then checks back in.

"Starfire is on her way. I've patched her through to your comm."

[stephbrown]

"Great," Steph replies. "Anything else you think we should know? Tips on what to do or not do?"

[jlf_oracle]

"If you run into Solomon Grundy, keep him at a distance. Don't let him trick you into close-quarters fighting unless you'd really like a row of broken ribs; Batman found out the hard way what Grundy's bear hugs are like."

[stephbrown]

"Yikes," Steph mutters. "Okay. Got it. Let me know if anything else comes up. Otherwise, I'll keep you in the loop. BG out."