Resolution (part 15)
- Location
- Hampden Park
13th September
11:45 GMT -5
Ah, looks like my complete lack of respect for privacy has paid off again. Ms Blaze might have been able to conceal the link between 'Angelica Blaze' and other public faces of the sort that a demonic magic user would find it easy to set up, but in a wave of ring-based forensic accountancy and CCTV checking I can see people who had been leaving traces of themselves suddenly stop at the moment her club was destroyed. Some I can account for as employees, but I suspect that some-.
"Orange Lantern." I open my eyes to be greeted by the sight of Kal-El floating a couple of metres in front of me. We're a couple of miles above Metropolis here, clouds obscuring us from the ground below. "Captain Sawyer told me you were looking into the attack on Blaze's nightclub. Anything I should know about?"
Hm. While I think I know which camp he fits into on the Nabu matter, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he'll have something useful to contribute. "Good morning, Kal-El. And that depends; are you wearing your ward?"
"Yes." He taps one of his belt pouches with his right hand. "That came in pretty handy when the attack happened."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"You think Satanus is behind it?"
"Almost certainly. I forget: do you have a go-to person for magic related things, or do you just fall back on your own abilities?"
"Not a lot of wizards in Metropolis. But, no, I don't."
I nod, then take a hologram generator out of subspace. "Did you mention the case to Captain Marvel?"
"Not that I remember."
"Exhibit one." I generate a hologram of the woman the police are looking for. "Angelica Blaze, surprisingly wealthy small business owner and Metropolis resident for at least eight years. Exhibit two-" A second image joins the first. "-Blaze, daughter of Jebediah of Canaan, aka the wizard Shazam, and a Succubus whose name I don't know. Given the demonic magic my Praexis Demons tasted on what's left of her club and the fact that Satanus is her brother, I believe that the two are one and the same person."
Kal-El considers the images for a moment. "Seems a bit much for sibling rivalry. Are you sure they're the same person?"
"Not completely. Ideally, I'd check an artefact that I knew for certain was infused with power by Blaze and compare the two. Unfortunately, my demonic magic contact has gone to ground, and the only person I know who knew Blaze socially is busy running a country. And confirming that won't help me track her down; finding Angelica Blaze is an end in itself."
He nods. "So what's your next step?"
"Data analysis suggests that she was using a number of aliases while in Metropolis. I was planning on checking whether any of them turned up anywhere else, but… Five different plane tickets, all seats occupied by women who vanished shortly after arriving at their destinations. Which probably means that none of them were her. So…" So I should have brought Doctor Balewa with me so he can track her. "I either need to search out every trace of demonic magic on the planet, or…" Huh. Well, I did need to see them anyway. "Or I get someone to summon a Succubus, bribe her to tell me who Blaze's mother is, summon her-."
"I don't think that summoning Demons is such a good idea."
"Okay, well, I only know of one Succubus who's out in the wild, and I sort of lost track of her after we turned her into a Love Elemental."
He smiles, ducking his head slightly. "You know, if you were anyone else, I'd say you were spinning a tale. How did you pull that one off?"
"The Star Sapphire. Then… We could just ask Jebediah. I'm sure he'd remember, but he might not want to talk to me about it."
"Or we could do both. Why don't you talk to Zatanna once she gets out of school while I talk to Shazam?"
I think for a moment. "Because Batman set me the task, and I'm not sure if using League resources invalidates the challenge or not."
Kal-El folds his arms across his 'S'. "This crime happened in my city. I think I'm allowed to investigate it."
"Okay, well… Good luck with Jebediah. I'll try tracking Chantinelle down myself, see if I can get it done before the end of school. I'd go with you, but I doubt being seen in my company would help you plead your case."
He nods. "That's probably true." He begins floating backwards, waving with his right hand as he goes. "Good luck!"
Hm. Luck. Alright, not really sure what a Love Elemental looks like or if her copy of the wards tattooed on my skin would defeat my empathic vision, but I'll try most things once. I open up my empathic vision all the way and look out across the world. U-uh. Yeah, there's no way I'm going to be able to find her like this. If I can see her then I doubt that I'd be able to pick her out from more than a few miles away. I could try a few places at random just in case, but… No, hang on, she said that she was going to go and fix broken relationships. And she mentioned Danita Wright, the woman John was involved with. A relationship she ended by getting in bed with John shortly before Ms Wright arrived back in their home while John was asleep.
Ring, where does Danita Wright work now?
Danita Wright is currently employed by the Roche City Gazette.
Right. Marvellous. Present location..? Ah, nowhere near the Hawks or their residence, good. And transition.
13th September
10:48 GMT -6
I ignore the starts and gasps around me as I appear next to Ms Wright's desk. "Excuse me, Ms Wright?"
She keeps looking at her monitor for a moment. "Missus Daniels actually. What is-" She turns towards me. "-it Orange Lantern?"
"Yes. I'm trying to track down an acquaintance of mine, and I believe that she might have made contact with you. Bat wings, glowing violet, name of Chantinelle? You once walked in on her in bed with John Con-."
"Constantine." Her jaw tightens. "Yes, I know who you mean. She came to see me months ago, but I haven't seen her since. I thought she was some crazy woman. And.. that was years ago. Why, who was she?"
"She was a Succubus turned Love-Elemental. I'm trying to track her down. I don't suppose she told you where she was going, did she?"
"What? No." Missus Daniels shakes her head. "She.. told me she posed John just so I'd break up with him and that she was.. really sorry about it. Was that true?"
"Yes. They'd had a professional falling out and she was trying to alienate all of his friends. John's done a lot of dodgy things, but he didn't cheat on you." I consider that for a moment. "To the best of my knowledge."
"Oh." She frowns as she thinks about that. "I.. probably owe him an apology."
"I'd be happy to relay it to him just as soon as I see him. Excuse me."
Sigh. Indiana it is, then.
11:45 GMT -5
Ah, looks like my complete lack of respect for privacy has paid off again. Ms Blaze might have been able to conceal the link between 'Angelica Blaze' and other public faces of the sort that a demonic magic user would find it easy to set up, but in a wave of ring-based forensic accountancy and CCTV checking I can see people who had been leaving traces of themselves suddenly stop at the moment her club was destroyed. Some I can account for as employees, but I suspect that some-.
"Orange Lantern." I open my eyes to be greeted by the sight of Kal-El floating a couple of metres in front of me. We're a couple of miles above Metropolis here, clouds obscuring us from the ground below. "Captain Sawyer told me you were looking into the attack on Blaze's nightclub. Anything I should know about?"
Hm. While I think I know which camp he fits into on the Nabu matter, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he'll have something useful to contribute. "Good morning, Kal-El. And that depends; are you wearing your ward?"
"Yes." He taps one of his belt pouches with his right hand. "That came in pretty handy when the attack happened."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"You think Satanus is behind it?"
"Almost certainly. I forget: do you have a go-to person for magic related things, or do you just fall back on your own abilities?"
"Not a lot of wizards in Metropolis. But, no, I don't."
I nod, then take a hologram generator out of subspace. "Did you mention the case to Captain Marvel?"
"Not that I remember."
"Exhibit one." I generate a hologram of the woman the police are looking for. "Angelica Blaze, surprisingly wealthy small business owner and Metropolis resident for at least eight years. Exhibit two-" A second image joins the first. "-Blaze, daughter of Jebediah of Canaan, aka the wizard Shazam, and a Succubus whose name I don't know. Given the demonic magic my Praexis Demons tasted on what's left of her club and the fact that Satanus is her brother, I believe that the two are one and the same person."
Kal-El considers the images for a moment. "Seems a bit much for sibling rivalry. Are you sure they're the same person?"
"Not completely. Ideally, I'd check an artefact that I knew for certain was infused with power by Blaze and compare the two. Unfortunately, my demonic magic contact has gone to ground, and the only person I know who knew Blaze socially is busy running a country. And confirming that won't help me track her down; finding Angelica Blaze is an end in itself."
He nods. "So what's your next step?"
"Data analysis suggests that she was using a number of aliases while in Metropolis. I was planning on checking whether any of them turned up anywhere else, but… Five different plane tickets, all seats occupied by women who vanished shortly after arriving at their destinations. Which probably means that none of them were her. So…" So I should have brought Doctor Balewa with me so he can track her. "I either need to search out every trace of demonic magic on the planet, or…" Huh. Well, I did need to see them anyway. "Or I get someone to summon a Succubus, bribe her to tell me who Blaze's mother is, summon her-."
"I don't think that summoning Demons is such a good idea."
"Okay, well, I only know of one Succubus who's out in the wild, and I sort of lost track of her after we turned her into a Love Elemental."
He smiles, ducking his head slightly. "You know, if you were anyone else, I'd say you were spinning a tale. How did you pull that one off?"
"The Star Sapphire. Then… We could just ask Jebediah. I'm sure he'd remember, but he might not want to talk to me about it."
"Or we could do both. Why don't you talk to Zatanna once she gets out of school while I talk to Shazam?"
I think for a moment. "Because Batman set me the task, and I'm not sure if using League resources invalidates the challenge or not."
Kal-El folds his arms across his 'S'. "This crime happened in my city. I think I'm allowed to investigate it."
"Okay, well… Good luck with Jebediah. I'll try tracking Chantinelle down myself, see if I can get it done before the end of school. I'd go with you, but I doubt being seen in my company would help you plead your case."
He nods. "That's probably true." He begins floating backwards, waving with his right hand as he goes. "Good luck!"
Hm. Luck. Alright, not really sure what a Love Elemental looks like or if her copy of the wards tattooed on my skin would defeat my empathic vision, but I'll try most things once. I open up my empathic vision all the way and look out across the world. U-uh. Yeah, there's no way I'm going to be able to find her like this. If I can see her then I doubt that I'd be able to pick her out from more than a few miles away. I could try a few places at random just in case, but… No, hang on, she said that she was going to go and fix broken relationships. And she mentioned Danita Wright, the woman John was involved with. A relationship she ended by getting in bed with John shortly before Ms Wright arrived back in their home while John was asleep.
Ring, where does Danita Wright work now?
Danita Wright is currently employed by the Roche City Gazette.
Right. Marvellous. Present location..? Ah, nowhere near the Hawks or their residence, good. And transition.
13th September
10:48 GMT -6
I ignore the starts and gasps around me as I appear next to Ms Wright's desk. "Excuse me, Ms Wright?"
She keeps looking at her monitor for a moment. "Missus Daniels actually. What is-" She turns towards me. "-it Orange Lantern?"
"Yes. I'm trying to track down an acquaintance of mine, and I believe that she might have made contact with you. Bat wings, glowing violet, name of Chantinelle? You once walked in on her in bed with John Con-."
"Constantine." Her jaw tightens. "Yes, I know who you mean. She came to see me months ago, but I haven't seen her since. I thought she was some crazy woman. And.. that was years ago. Why, who was she?"
"She was a Succubus turned Love-Elemental. I'm trying to track her down. I don't suppose she told you where she was going, did she?"
"What? No." Missus Daniels shakes her head. "She.. told me she posed John just so I'd break up with him and that she was.. really sorry about it. Was that true?"
"Yes. They'd had a professional falling out and she was trying to alienate all of his friends. John's done a lot of dodgy things, but he didn't cheat on you." I consider that for a moment. "To the best of my knowledge."
"Oh." She frowns as she thinks about that. "I.. probably owe him an apology."
"I'd be happy to relay it to him just as soon as I see him. Excuse me."
Sigh. Indiana it is, then.
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