16th April
13:57 GMT -5
"My God." Doctor Stone shakes his head, stunned at the destruction unleashed in the loading dock. Or possibly stunned by the injuries we just inflicted. Probably best that I not tell him that this sort of outcome is about par for the course when we fight people in our weight class and they won't surrender. All of the former Demons are bound by magic suppression chains and look thoroughly the worse for wear.
Only two attacked the loading dock, but when they bought their tickets in the superpower lottery Hell smiled on them. One was left basically humanoid with a head about three times as tall as it should be and split down the middle. Between the two halves was a black void from which it could fire highly resilient chains burning with hellfire. Richard was dangerously close to getting dragged in at one point before Zatanna worked out how to disrupt the portal. The other resembled a sort of Wurm/Millipede combination, with the added bonus that its partially intangible nature let it both fly and destructively phase through solid objects.
Richard sidles up to me as Zatanna finishes the physical components of the truth compulsion ritual. "So what'd we call them?"
I point to the ones Wallace, Artemis and I fought, generating small constructs of their transformed states.
"Oni, Juggernaut and Tar-Covered Corpse. Do you want to name yours?
"
Canis decided that it was best to make the portal disruption permanent and darn near stove in their first opponent's head. His Demon form was tough and not all of the injuries they suffer translated back onto their Human forms but the left cheek and jaw are comprehensively shattered. That will take a great deal of surgical effort to stick back together. For the moment, he'll have to make do with Richard and the lab's medic's effort to create a sort of frame around the left side of his face.
And yet, somehow, I couldn't quite muster the desire to fix it myself.
The former Wurmipede is still unconscious from the feedback generated by the interaction between its aura and Raquel's kinetic belt. Raquel was a bit out of it herself, but
her I
could help.
"Do you think 'Centipede' is too obvious?"
"I think it's
taken.
"
He thinks for a moment, then smirks. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that guy."
"How can you laugh about this?" Doctor Stone gestures at the wreck of the transport lorry. "That creature destroyed the samples! The Atlanteans will never trust us with a second batch, if they can even find one."
"Doctor Stone, the Bio Ship is fast, but it's not
that fast. The samples won't get here for another four hours.
"
"You-! You knew we were going to be attacked?"
"Knew, no. But the obvious time to attack was the moment the samples arrived. Wasn't expecting..
this.
" None of the scientists or workers were injured during the attack, having all lived in Gotham long enough to know to get the heck out of the way when things start getting weird. Or maybe they just weren't targeted. The ones who entered via reception certainly
could have killed the receptionist if they'd wanted.
"Thought it was best to spring the attack during the dress rehearsal rather than the real event.
"
Doctor Stone nods. "I.. suppose. What exactly did they do to themselves?"
"Not sure. Hopefully, we'll know in a few minutes.
"
"Orange Lantern." Beton Brute pads forwards as Canis hails me with his right hand. "Do you have pencil and paper?"
"Yes… May I ask why you want them?
"
He nods, smiling. "The sight of that creature moving through the air has inspired me. Since the fighting is -for the moment- concluded-."
I take an art pad and a selection of pencils out of subspace and float them over to him.
"Knock yourself out.
"
"Thank you."
"
Okay." Zatanna stands up and takes a step back. "That should do it. Orange Lantern?"
I nod.
"Robin, if you wouldn't mind?
"
"Sure. Never interrogated a Demon before."
The two of us walk over to the woman who was briefly the Tar-Covered Corpse. Mary Dey, a college drop out whose previous criminal history amounted to a few parking tickets. Juggernaut had a slightly more jaded past, but the rest had similarly clean records. My physical scans showed no particular anomalies and I couldn't see any unusual financial activity when I had the ring take a look at their accounts. Bit of a puzzler, really.
"Zatanna?
"
"I dnib uoy ot kaeps eht hturt, eht elohw hturt dna gnihton tub eht hturt."
The circle around our subject gleams slightly and there's a faint distortion in the air.
"Poetic. Well then, let's start with the obvious stuff. Would you please confirm your name for the record?
"
"Fuck you." Her eyes glaze slightly. "Mary Dey." Her eyes return to normal, then widen slightly. "The fuck was that?"
"Encouragement. It won't let you lie or dissemble.
"
"You shit sucking-."
"What caused your transformation?
"
"Juice." Another flicker. "Hell Juice. I dunno what the stuff is really called."
"Robin?
"
He makes a small frown. "Never heard of it. What other names does it have?"
"Ah… Devil Jizz, Dee Em En… I don't know any others."
"DMN?
Demon? Who came up with
that?"
"Maybe it stands for something? Demonic… Metamorphosis… Narcotic?
" Um.
"Nectar?
"
Artemis makes a face. "And who'd take something called 'Devil Jizz'?"
"These five, apparently. Who is your supplier?
"
"I never met him. And when I spoke on the phone he used one of those voice altering things."
"Why did you attack this place?
"
"It was
jghrh." She visibly strains against the spell. "My chance… To get
big. I knew whoever it was had something good going on. I wanted a piece of it. We all got sent stronger Juice so we'd be able to do the job. We got told, wait for the delivery, then make sure it got destroyed."
"Destroyed. Not captured. Curious. Is this the first time you've transformed?
"
"No, but it's the first time I've gone that far or become
that.. thing. Usually I pick something.. prettier."
"Ever met an actual Demon?
"
"No. But I figured, that's what I'd look like if I
was a Demon."
"Have you had any other significant contact with the arcane?
"
"No. Least, I don't think so."
"Can you provide us with the names of other users and locations where you people congregate?
"
"Y
rrrrrr… Yes."
"Ah, Oh El?" Wallace raises his right eyebrow. "I don't think this stuff is actually illegal. I mean, it
should be, but…" He shrugs.
"As a narcotic? No. But I think I could convince a judge that they should count as 'baleful or sorcerous weapons', and there's a decent penalty for using those. Robin, find out everything she knows. I'll get in contact with the Gotham police.
"
