270/Mind Over Matter

Mind Over Matter
Date of Scene:	04 May 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Flash, Crusader, Dragonfly (Arazello)

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Batman has posed:
Babylon village: a relatively small township whose motto is 'You'll know when you leave.'

It's a quiet place generally beloved by its residents. Many residents know the names of many others, and they stop to chat in the streets.

Today is no different for them: it's sunny, it's warm, and traffic is relatively light.

However, there are problems--just not problems any citizen notices.

A satellite mapping service reports errors with the town's topography, but it's impossible to verify with eyewitnesses. Anyone within twenty miles says it's not there.

The problem? According to the satellite's images, there's an absolutely gargantuan creature looming over the village like a dome or umbrella. It resembles nothing so much as a purple starfish with a giant scarlet eye in its center.

However, no one in town seems to see it. "They're trying to make fun of the town," some say. "Looking to play a prank on the small-timers."

Sensing a potential problem, New York's governor has reached out to the one group who might help:

The Justice League!

Flash has posed:
Central City is about a thousand miles give or take from New York give or take, but after hearing the report on the news while working in his lab, Barry is off in a dash. The fastest man alive quickly becomes a streak of red and yellow as he changes into his costume on the way.

"Flash here." he says into the communicator within his cowl, "I'm on my way to Babylon Village. I should be within range in a few minutes, baring any slowdowns in populated areas. I'll do a reconnaissance circle once I get there."

Batman has posed:
"Flash," Batman says through the comm system in his Batwing as he soars through the air toward Babylon. "Can you perform an impromptu census of the town as part of your recon? We need to know exactly how many people are at risk here."

He punches a sequence of buttons and keys near his control stick. "The available evidence suggests that there's some sort of influence the creature can exert over the citizens. Mind control, pheremonal influence, invisibility to the human eye--any is possible right now. We should be prepared for them all. /Should/."

The Batwing's thrusters roar.

"Two minutes out. Should be in visual contact momentarily." Batman adjusts a pair of goggles over his eyes.

Crusader has posed:
A massive starfish like creature..... over Babylon? This isn't the kind of news you hear everday...it far worse. It's the news you hear when something very very bad is about to go down.

With so many reports comming in from various satalite sources, it was impossible not to catch wind of this. And indeed Crusader has and (for once) actually flies towards the the town

The starfish was easy enough to spot from miles out. Why people couldn't see it Crusader couldn't understand, time to investigate closer!

However once he gets within a bit closer than 20 miles to it.... things begin to change. He blinks as...the starfish seems to dissappear.. and reappear almost as if the creature was fading in and out of existance to him. Crsuader wasn't completly biological...nor completly technological, lieing somewhere between the two.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Dragonfly is up in the air and incommunicado. This is why the appearance of a huge starfish over a town comes as such a surprise as she rockets through the air at spy plane speeds.
    "What the f...!?"
    She stops to eye the apparition, letting the sonic boom she left in her wake (eventually) roll over her before plummetting to the ground.
    Outside of the area covered by the creature she pulls a very sudden stop, landing in a crouch, both feet and one hand touching the ground gently.
    "Aced it!" she crows to herself, thinking she's alone. "A perfect three point landing! Booyah!"

Flash has posed:
"Acknowledged, Batman. I will try and get a headcount." replies the Flash to his JL companion.

The Scarlet Speedster taps into the Speed Force a little more, willing himself to go faster, the streak of red and yellow becoming less visible save for the wake it leaves behind. "30 seconds out."

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    The enormous creature is viewed with suspicion from outside the town's boundaries for a while: Dragonfly scanning first the creature to see what it's doing, then scanning the town for any hint of people in direct, immediate danger.
    "What are you, Mr. Starfish?" she wonders aloud, "And what are you doing?"
    She lifts her form up into the air and slowly advances on the town, looking carefully for signs of danger.

Batman has posed:
The massive starfish creature's central red eye slowly blinks, moving about in search of ... something. The Dragonfly is not yet noticed.

As the Batwing flies toward the town from the south, there's a deafening groan as one of the creature's limbs dislodges itself from the ground. It upends a residential block as it lifts into the air and swats the craft from the sky.

"One minute out. Running scans now and--" Batman says before his words are cut off by the sounds of the collision.

The aircraft careens through the air in one direction, while Batman slowly drifts down with the air of a parachute in another direction.

On the streets below, the citizens are calm and friendly. Incredibly friendly. There is a moment of disturbance, though, as the houses are destroyed by the creature's movement.

FEAR

The emotion--pure, raw emotion--blasts through the affected residents like a momentary shock.

FEAR PAIN DEFENSE

The emotional jolts continue, rapid-fire, in bursts.

FEAR PAIN DEFENSE FEAR LOVE PAIN FEAR DEFENSE

Crusader has posed:
Crusader was about to make a landing onto the ground, having had noticed Dragonfly...that is untill one of those arms uproots themselves and smacks a aircraft out of the air

And suddenly he is bombarded with... emotions. He feels the fear and pain, the love and the pain. The sudden surge of emotions catches him off guard as they seem to blink on and off for him as if he should and should not be receiving these signals.

He regains ahold of himself though and manvuers his way to Batman, and offer the parachuting hero a hand "Guessing you want to get grounded as soon as possible." flying is generally faster than parachuting after all!

Flash has posed:
4 seconds out, The Flash slows down to a speed that renders him more visible again. The almost invisible blur once again becoming a streak of red and yellow.

3 seconds out, The Flash lays eyes on the giant starfish above the town, "Look at the size of that thing..."

2 seconds out, Flash sees the incoming Batwing's collision with the hurled asphalt and notices the parachute. "Batman? Come in, do you require assistance?"

1 second out, The Flash slows more, entering into the city proper at a speed that won't cause property damage from 'jet wash'. He runs through the city, taking the headcount as requested. "Batman, I count..."

The sentence is cut off as a smaller starfish creature drops from a hidden perch as Barry turns a corner.

The Flash stops abruptly, in order to avoid running into the creature....when the second one drops from above onto his face.

Batman has posed:
As the emotions flood his brain, Batman grimaces. When someone suddenly approaches, the dark knight's instinct is to respond according to those overpowering feelings.

"Get /away/ from me!" he screams, throwing a batarang directly at Bjorn's face. Then, he releases his parachute and glides downward--at a much higher speed than the parachute allowed--by extending his cape out to either side and making it semi-rigid.

"Flash...graaargh..." Batman hisses through gritted teeth. "Activate...acoustic defense...protocol." He quickly taps the side of his cowl, and incredibly loud, dissonant music begins playing in his ears.

Meanwhile, tiny starfish drop onto various citizens from underneath the massive creature looming over town. Its upraised limb swings about, swatting at those 'gnats' flying about it. Even more tiny starfish are cast out into the air from its underside with every movement.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    "Oh no you don't!" Dragonfly says, swatting one of the starfish flying her way, smacking it with enough force to send a car flying a block. "Na... I wasn't born yesterday!"
    She ducks and weaves and bobs her way deeper in, heading to where the building was knocked over to see if assistance is needed, landing next to a person partially buried under some rubble.
    "You alright?" she asks, as she lifts a section of reinforced concrete wall up. "Can you get out on your own or do you need someone to pull you?"

Crusader has posed:
This is....the second time Crusader has been Bataranged by the Batman. Needless to say, from such a close range, Crusader certainly get that Batrange stuck in his helm and paniks zooming and flying everywhere startled thanks to the emotions he was feeling.

And suddenly he is slapped down into the ground creating a crator thanks to the STarface swatting at them. He is tempoarily buried beneath rubble, but none the less shuffles and climbs out with relative ease. Least the smack down knocked some sense into him!

On the ground he saw the flurry of smaller starfish comming from underneath the much larger one. Whatever they were, he knew it wasn't good and projects quickly dodges out of the way. "By the cosmos, did this.... thing... really have to come here!?"

He takes a moment to get his barreing having landed a bit aways from Batman and Dragonfly and didn't even know Flash was here yet. Crusader makes his way towards... and slides to a stop as he sees that a bunch of the citizens have Starfish attached to them "....that is not good"

Flash has posed:
The touch of the starfish like creature causes The Flash to react, by moving his hand up towards his face in an attempt to grab the creature...but even as fast as he is, his hands never make it.

The Flash remains still for a moment before he rushes off in a dash, faster than he would usually run in a populated area.

The blur of motion rushes through the streets, gaining speed...going faster and faster until *BOOM*.

The sonic boom hits, shattering glass from cars and storefront windows, the wake left behind causing the air to ripple.

The scarlet speedster turns another corner, and rushes straight for Dragonfly...fist cocked and ready to deliver a blow at speed.

Batman has posed:
"Flash!" Batman calls through his comm, although his own ears are being bombarded with loud, heavy music. "Flash!"

He runs through the streets, dodging the starfish raining down on him by cartwheeling, leaping, and slapping them away from his head.

"This is the Batman on an open frequency!" he shouts, tweaking something on his belt. "If you can hear this, you're still able to fight! I need you to avoid the starfish--and anyone who has them!"

He leaps toward a wall, kicking off of it to flip over a middle-aged woman with a starfish on her face. Batman tears it off of her before she can react, and then he throws the creature into an open trash container.

"And if you see the Flash..." he adds, "this is very important. He may be compromised. I need you to listen and be ready!"

Batman barks into his comm: "I need you to be faster than the fastest man alive."

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Dragonfly, oblivious to the Flash's arrival (his arrival preceeding the noise of it), helps the person out from under the concrete, then safely lowers it before turning away, dusting off her hands, with a smug smile of satisfaction. This is what superheroing is about, right? She sort of sees the red blur coming at her. She notes the trail of destruction lagging behind it. Only her many ... weeks ... of experience as a hero has her prepared. With the deft adroitness of a circus clown she intercepts the Flash's incoming fist with her face.
    The impact is deafening.
    Her sunglasses go flying, exposing her compound eyes to the sight of anybody looking on. Her head snaps back and she flies backward at approximately half the impact speed, give or take, sailing ballistically into a brick wall. A brick wall which gives way under the impact leaving a slightly-larger-than-Dragonfly-shaped hole as she crashes through and into the other side.

Crusader has posed:
Crusader picks up on the frequency despite not having a communictors. The handy part of 'hearing' tech. And he is even able to transmit back "This is Crusader, reading you loud and clear. Be Faster than the fastest man alive. Tall order, Guess we do not have a choice. Any idea how to fight back?"

The Crusader...is faced to a wall of Citizens. All with starfaces. He visibly seems to dissappear becomming a distortion of the enviroment and lifts slightly into the air. He goes around ripping off STarfaces from several people.... who quickly begint to run

Some make it to cover, but with the starface still falling, some are retaken over. This wasn't good.

Flash has posed:
The Flash doesn't stop.

Moving forward from the impact with little to no slow down, the compromised crimson crusader continues forward towards his next target as he leaves Dragonfly in his wake.

He rounds another corner, the hive mind mentality of the starfish giving him eyes on targets before he lays his physical eyes on them.

Lightning crackles around his body as he charges up, heading straight for the most dangerous of his foes. Straight for the Dark Knight.

Batman has posed:
The Batman continues his parkour-like route through town. "Fight back? It wants to control your thoughts and feelings!" he shouts over the music in his ears. "Brute force and sensory distraction will help with the minions. For the mama..."

He looks up at the colossal starfish casting a shadow over pretty much the entire township. "We need something that can reach escape velocity. And uproot a mountain."

Batman frowns, pausing for a moment. "Where are you, Cl--" He cuts his words short as he slides to evade another falling starfish.

"If anyone listening can strap gas station tanks to that thing as makeshift boosters, we might have a chance!"

Just then, the caped crusader catches a hint of red, and he drops to the ground as quickly as he can--along with a handful of ball bearings that scatter across the sidewalk and street.

The massive monster, meanwhile, moves slowly back and forth, and a second limb rips itself from the ground. Pieces of a school and schoolyard go flying. The limb extends up, up up--and then SLAMS back down on the ground, causing earthquake-like tremors to reverberate through the village.

On the positive side, dozens of citizens' face-starfish are thrown off by the impact, and they look dazedly at one another and their surroundings.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    "That. HURT!" Dragonfly stands up as she gets her bearings after the rude and sudden relocation. "Someone's gonna pay for that one!"
    She zooms out of the building and into the sky, compound eyes glinting in the light, irrationally angry as the emotional bombardment starts to take its toll on her. Spotting her red blur assassin, she roars off after him, unbounded by ground and thus able to open up, heedless of the Mach4 boom she's leaving in her wake.
    The boom that knocks more of the starfish from citizens even as it shatters windows and cracks walls.
    "Gotcha!" she crows as she reaches out just so, slowing down as winds now actively buffet her, grasping for the red blur to lift it into the air. "Sucker-punch me now, you father mucker!"

Crusader has posed:
"I got you covered on escape velocity.... uprooting a mountan not so much" Crusader says

With the new infomation garnered rom Batman, Crusader pools into a large flat pool. Than copies of him (attached to said pool) rise up. Each copy seems to appear and dissappear and even occasionly shout nonesnse. The pool doing this also move provinding both hearing and visual distraction to the Minions, confusing them on where to go and what to do.

Minion that get to close have the starfish ripped off their faces and the denizens freed. "Strap gas tanks to it? You got i..." and before he finishes his sentence, the sonic booms of Flash and Dragonfly hit him

He form becomes and reverts to it natural state before several Minions dogpile him. One can only hear him murmer. A few moment letter and theres a cascade of shouts as he has to force his way out of the pile.

He shakes himself off "AHem, you got it bats" and with that Crusader takes to the air and flies towards the nearest gas station "Think you can keep them busy long enough?" strapping gas to a starfish he can definintly do

Flash has posed:
The Flash is about to reach the Caped Crusader, it all happens in a fraction of a second. Barry Alan may be the fastest man alive, but Barry Alan is not in control. The host mind controlling him doesn't have the experience or where with all to understand the minute finesses of super speed. Which is why when the ball bearings fall from the Batman's fingers, the Flash doesn't hit the breaks, or even slow down.

Like a comedy of old, the Flash's feet slip on the ball bearings, causing the scarlet speedster to stumble...right into the grasp of the Dragonfly.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Dragonfly floats smugly in the air, arms akimbo, fists on hips, smirking at the speedster suspended in midair before her. Spotting a small starfish falling toward the just-noticed Batman she instinctively swats it. With The Flash, using him like a baseball bat to knock the starfish away.
    "Now what was that sucker punch for, big guy?" she asks, seething.
    

Batman has posed:
Spying the Crusader's actions out of the corner of his eye, Batman launches himself forward while the Flash fumbles with his spilled ball bearings.

"I'll do what I can here. It won't be pretty, but you fight the war with the weapons you have," Batman calls through the comm.

He races to the nearest vehicle capable of helping him with his plan: an ice cream truck. Batman slides across its shallow hood and hotwires it into action.

The well-known ice cream tune is replaced with bone-jarringly discordant metal cranked as loud as possible. Batman floors the gas pedal and begins zig-zagging through the streets of Babylon, causing citizen after citizen to resist the lure of Starro's children, and they frantically tear off the starfish themselves and those nearby.

Crusader has posed:
Crusader was not an elegant flyer and so enough he lands in the gas station. By now he had spotted Dragonfly holding the flash in the air. Oh boy, this can't be good.

Concentrate.

Crusader begins to jury rig various Gas Tanks from the station. He finds those that are are most filled and tears them from their housing, careful not to destroy the actual container.And stacks them onto a nearby truck. He gotten about for tanks...which was crushing the truck, but that fine

Unfortantly, the alien have gotten sight of him. Minions and Starfish from the sky begin comming. Crap. He forms a third arm that acts as a MegaPhone "Dragonfly, get that star off Flash head.... and give me some air cover here!" his voice booms out like thunder. He was already spotted, hiding is uselss.

He tosses a few citizen back (as gently as can be helped) and begins tearing up pipping...and some electronics when he can help it. He had to rig something up after all

Flash has posed:
The Flash doesn't answer. Not with words anyway.

He answers with instinctive reaction.

It starts slowly, a slight tickle as his body, no his //molecules// start to vibrate. The vibration picks up speed, faster and faster and faster in an attempt to shake off the telekinetic hold.

The unexpected side effect of this is the starfish attached too his face phasing though his body, releasing him from the mind control.

"Woah!" the scarlet speedster exclaims, getting his bearings. "How'd I get here?" he utters as he struggles against the telekinetic hold.

Batman has posed:
The temporary Batmobile leans heavily as its driver tears sharply around several corners, and for a moment Batman's nearly verticle in the truck--just as the rhythm section of the band blasting through the truck's speakers pause. Then, the two airborne wheels slam back down on the pavement and the drums kick back in.

Batman's path takes him in a widening spiral out from the city center. "To anyone listening--we're getting help preparing for a launch! But we still need to unhook this thing from the ground. I'm going to sacrifice this truck to upset it...but there's still two other limbs that need coaxing."

After a moment's pause, Batman adds, "Ever burned a tick off with a lighter? It's time to be the flame, people!"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    "Wha...?" Crusader's familiar voice catches Dragonfly by surprise. Blinking as she processes what he said she looks over at the Flash, spotting the starfish on his head. The one that drops.
    "Got it!" she calls out, not that her voice could carry even a tenth the distance back.
    The starfish is eliminated with ruthless dispatch; thrown with incredible force against the ground. Still a little peeved she just drops The Flash, however, and accelerates in flight to Crusader, prepared to sweep the skies.
    This is not a good day for windows, but a great day for glaziers. What's the best way to disrupt a large number of small flying creatures? SONIC BOOM! Mach 4 overhead, then again, and again, hitting the area from several angles to disrupt the senses and flight of the starfish. The few that survive the disorientation and buffetting are easy pickings for a simple swatting.

Crusader has posed:
Crusader was still watching "You could have put him down Dragonfly" yes he was watching her drop Flash

Still with the Flash free of the aliens control, he Patches into Flash comm and and Batman comm "Flash is free of the alien. Flash... consideirng how fast you are, think you can detonate some tanks and get off in time?" It was important to know, else Crsuader might need a few extra things. "We are rigging this thing to get off this planet."

Batman would also be able to hear all this and can at least confirm some of this

With Dragonfly keeping the skies clear of the starfish face huggers, Crusader himself soars up carrying the gas tanks and pipes! Once up there, he rigs the tanks to the giant Starfish by stabbing the pipes into the being and bending the pipes around the tanks. He even went so far as to make rather sturdy makeshift nozzels on the tanks in order to direct the alien up once the gas is ignited

With that done Crusader flies away from the tanks, knowing he can mostly likely go back and make other adjustments as needed should the intial plan fail

Flash has posed:
"Woah!" exclaims the Flash again as he is dropped. HIs arms start to flail as he falls, but what at first seems spastic motions reveal themselves to be a deliberate action as vortexes of air emanate from the spinning extremities.

The vortexes slow the Scarlet Speedster's decent, his feet touching the ground lighter than if he had been wearing a parachute.

"Easily done." says The Flash, the charges of lightning that course around his body increasing in number and speed. "I'll give you a few seconds to clear out. When you give the word, expect reaction before the last syllable is uttered."

Flash takes up a runners stance, like he is at the gate and awaiting the staring pistol. "On your mark."

Batman has posed:
Batman rolls out of his ice cream truck as, its pedal stuck to the floor, it rockets toward one of the giant starfish limbs, exploding on impact. The limb recoils, flailing about wildly.

Looking toward the remaining two limbs, Batman says through the comm, "Starfish can regrow limbs. If it's easier to amputate--do it. Then, blow the tanks. Now--go!"

He stands, looking skyward to witness the others' feats of heroism.

The giant starfish creature, meanwhile, begins to shake and undulate, as if aware that something undesirable is about to happen. It attempts to maneuver a limb underneath itself, but its length prohibits it, and instead the limb flattens part of a cemetery as the limb is dragged over the earth.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Dragonfly not being patched into comms can only judge by what she sees. Seeing the Batman knocking a limb free, she understands and, sweeping one last time to clear the path of small starfish, she accelerates toward one of the two remaining grounded limbs.
    "Ooh! I hope this is right!" she says to herself as she impacts the limb, fists first, penetrating into it and through it, coming out the otherside bathed in ichor.
    "Ew! That's disgusting!" she mutters, turning back to it it again. And again. Trying her best to dislodge or sever it.
    "I'm going to need a bath after this!"

Crusader has posed:
With Flash confirming that he going to ignite the tanks...Crusader knew they had to get this right. Batman got one limb... and Nacy the other, but there was still that last Limber.

Time to a Shock to it's system...saw style. Litterly!

Crusader races towards the final Limb, as he does so his body broades, lengthens and sharpens with serrated eges. He spins at rather tremendous speeds. Not nearly as fast as a speedster, but fast enough to hear the tell-tail soun of a saw... and this one had lightning arching off of it.

SLICE

Crusader digs into the Limb and slices it clean off sending the words "GO" out over the comms.

Flash has posed:
On the 'G' of the word "Go", the Flash takes off with an instantaneous sonic boom. To the naked eye, it seems that he just vanishes. One moment he is there, the next he is gone.

The reality is he starts running, his speed so fast that he circumvents the globe twice before the 'O' of the 'Go' has even fallen from Bjorn's lips. By the time the final sound of the 'O' ends the reverberation of the bones of the Dark Knights ear, The Flash has made it twice more around the Earth.

On the 5th circumference, he runs past the gas tanks, flinging the pent up static discharge at the gas tanks, igniting them.

On the sixth circumference, just as the shells of the gas tanks start to show cracks from the pending explosion, Barry sends his fist into the eye of the giant Starfish with a punch that carries enough mass and energy to launch the thing skyward at 7 miles per second.

Escape Velocity.

Batman has posed:
There's a sudden flash of light, and a roar that sounds less like exploding metal and starfish flesh than it does the crashing of an immense looming wave.

The gargantuan starfish is propelled skyward--and beyond--its giant shape slowly gaining distance from the space over the town. The sun begins to shine again where before had only been shadow. The citizens, still dazed and (somewhat) confused, attempt to figure out what's happened--especially since there are several enormous chunks of starfish/alien like tourist attractions on the outskirts of town.

For his part, Batman's radioing backup for transportation on a secure line. But to those who've been listening to the open frequency, he offers a few words: "You were amazing. Everything the town needed...heroes who faced a foe so alien it's barely comprehensible. I'm proud to work alongside you."

Crusader has posed:
Crusader crashes into the ground...as spinning that fast makes a brother extreamlly dizzy. It leaves a small crator when he does so. The flash, the bang of such force... it was alot of sensory infomation to take in... but he get through it

"We just did what needed to be done.... but thanks" Crusader says back over the comm in appretion. He looks at the town...yea they had their work cut out for them to fix this mess.

Though for now, he decides not to mention, that the foe wasn't that alien to him. Something are best left buried "Was good to work alongside you as well. All three of you"

Course Dragonfly didn't have a comm... he realizes again. Megaphone up "HEY DRAGONFLY. NICE JOB!!!" he let her knew batman thought so too latter....no need to shout that out though.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Dragonfly smacks her ear a couple of times as the sonic booms and explosions take her toll. She hears that Crusader said something but can't make it out. Swooping down to his location she lands, showing off her newfound three-point landing skill.
    "Did you see that!?" she exults. "I can do them flawlessly now!" Pause. "Oh, and we kicked ass too, I guess. Time to go help, though. What did you just say?"