We the Jury: The Summons

[juryextras]

It did not make this choice lightly or easily. Would it work? Not the procedure itself; of that there was no question of malfunction. But the results ... it could not predict the results. Hence the need for the procedure. It could speculate, extrapolate, and to a certain extent it could guess, but it had its limits. Those limits were tightening, year by year.

Time was inexorably slipping away. It must not wait any longer. The request is submitted. The results are awaited.

Across the universe it knew, and others it did not, the summons goes out.

Comments

[chicagocop]

"All I'm saying," says Murphy through gritted teeth, "is that you could've warned me it was going to smell like that."

[chicagowizard]

"Seriously, Murph?" I looked at her, incredulous, the desperately-needed and deliciously cold can of Coke burning a hole in my hand. "I just pushed back a Big Bad Force Thing From The Dawn of Time and you're annoyed because I didn't tell you it probably had eggs for breakfast for a week?"

[last_call]

Melaka was on a run, and it was glorious. Since all that business with Harth, and then those women from the past, she hadn't had much time for anything except slaying, and reading the Watcher's Diaries.

So taking an actual job, making a delivery, was a rush of joy. Or perhaps that was the feeling her legs gave her as she leapt off another rooftop, landing in a flawless roll, and coming to her feet to find...something.

What the?

[juryextras]

A small disc of white light is floating at Melaka's eye level. It begins to orbit her, as if performing an examination.

[laughingmage]

John was in his usual booth, at his usual pub, with his usual third beer, at his usual 2pm.

Things had been slow lately, and by all the demons in Hell, he was going to enjoy it.

[juryextras]

A small dot of white light seems very interested in his beer.

[oracle_watching]

"Mary." Babs' voice is soft but steady, and her gaze never wavers from the swirling blue and white vortex that has opened in her kitchen. "Get behind me. Now."

"But Mama, I want to--" starts her daughter.

"Mary. Don--"

Three syllables into her full name, and Mary Grayson is crouched behind her mother's wheelchair, realizing that this is not a good time to indulge her curiosity. This is serious.

Barbara Gordon Grayson--Batgirl--Oracle--glares at the mysterious, silent intruder. "Back off," she growls, sounding rather like her father, or perhaps her mentor.

[juryextras]

The disc pauses momentarily in its rotation, hovering tentatively in front of the dishwasher.

Then it drifts just a tiny bit closer.

[not_that_ray]

The perp's eyes meet his. Recognition crosses his face. A split second later, he bolts.

"We're made!" Ray throws open the car door and hits the ground running. "Chicago PD!"

Pursuit takes him to the opening of a dark alleyway. He skids to a stop and takes a peek.

[juryextras]

The disc of light that greets him momentarily blinds him.

[bulletbatman]

Hearing the crunch of a violent criminal's ribcage as he swatted him away wasn't as satisfying as Batman wanted it to be.

It never is. Perhaps that's because he always has to hold back in order to keep from killing these people. These killers. The kind of killer that wouldn't think twice about killing people like Thomas and Martha Wayne... benevolent souls who took in a space alien baby and raised him as their own son Bruce.

If only he could cut loose. If only he could let go. Maybe he would feel better. But how he feels isn't as important as the job he's taken upon himself. Flying over Gotham City, he looks for more crime to fight. Crime he needs to fight. If only he could get used to how this "super vision" of his really works...

[juryextras]

A small disc of light floats toward him.

[reedrichards]

There's a giant lava monster shaking the Baxter Building, and Reed Richards is stretching his entire body around the home of the Fantastic Four to support it where it's been damaged.

"Now, Johnny!"

With that, Reed's brother in law, who happens to be a living flame conduit who can fly, swoops in and activates a backpack Reed had rigged up which would allow Johnny Storm to have greater control of his heat manipulation abilities. Handy to deal with lava monsters, as it translates to rudimentary mind control. Thankfully, it worked as intended.

Once the creature is safely returned to the undersea volcano from which it spawned, and the Future Foundation kids have repaired the structural damage, Reed can finally start to retract his body back towards its natural shape. He's grateful that the cosmic ray accident happened when he was a relatively strapping young buck, and thus his 'natural shape' will always be the body of a much younger man. Sue seems to appreciate that.

Finally, the man the press call Mr. Fantastic is standing on the sidewalk, looking up at the building he'd just kept standing with the strength of his flesh. It's worth taking some time to marvel at what his life is now. What the world is now, compared to what it was before the Fantastic Four existed.

He would really have liked to study that lava monster a bit more...

[everlovinthing]

"I never like it when I gotta sit out a fight, but that thing woulda melted me, yer right."

Reed's best friend since college, one Benjamin J. Grimm, who happens to be the favorite nephew of his Aunt Petunia, has lit up a cigar. It smells bad. Cigars do.

"Maybe."

[kryptonsfinest]

The Daily Planet is busy this morning. Clark Kent is actually in the office.

"That's 'esophagus' with a 'ph.'"

Correcting Lois Lane's spelling. Did he actually hear her punch the wrong keys when writing? That's not a super power, is it?

Anyway, he's drafting a story about life in the Suicide Slums, a nickname for the Hobb's Bay neighborhood he can hardly stomach existing in Metropolis, but which describes the area too accurately. So he's attempting to find a way to reach new readers and inspire them to care about a problem they ignore.

A day in the life.

[juryextras]

A small disc of light interrupts his day. It hovers just above his desk.

[poolofdead]

Wade Wilson is at home. On the toilet, clearing himself out after a binge night at Taco Bell, aka Toxic Hell in the morning. It's not often you can walk into a restaurant and order two of everything, but by gum, he did it.

"Distract me from my searing bowel pain, Juggs Magazine!"

[juryextras]

A different type of distraction appears before him. A disc of light hovers up over the top of his magazine.

[swornprotector]

The moonlight is particularly beautiful tonight.

If only Goliath could spare the time to simply admire it. Instead, he is deep in thought as to how to deal with the Xanatos situation. Trust is not a world one should ever associate with the man, but it may be the clan's only recourse in the face of the threat of Macbeth.

He does not like this.

[juryextras]

Another source of light materializes to his right. It's a small dot growing into a radiant disc.

[saw_bones]

"No go, Senator," Director Bones of the DEO sighs into his telephone. "You sign off on this or your history of backchannel deals with Disgraced Former President Luthor becomes public knowledge. Yes, I know, I'm a bastard, but believe me, you'll thank me when Batman goes too far and I can put him in Gittmo as a domestic terrorist."

[juryextras]

A small disc of white light circles his head, stopping near the telephone.

[theyliedtous]

Lonnie is taking his dog for a walk through a relatively abandoned construction site. Yap scampers ahead, eagerly seeking out new smells to roll in, while the young man occasionally known as Anarky pauses to practice some of the finer points of tagging on a concrete wall.

[juryextras]

A light shines over his shoulder, casting extra illumination on his handiwork.

[scienceho]

A man wearing a white suit, sporting a fedora and a surgical mask is for some reason speaking at a press conference.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted self-aggrandizing piles of clothing and hair products of the media, I am presenting to you this highly functional eyesore called, unimaginatively, the Space Elevator. Yes, it's a massive crapheap, but it's highly functional and can supply the international space station without wasting astronaut lives in rickety old space shuttles and the massive amounts of fossil fuels it takes for one of them to achieve orbit."

"Why did we create this? I just explained it to you, but it's also a giant, obnoxious showy thing the mutant community can point to as a reason for you all to stop being racists all the time. Yes, we have our ridiculous ego-driven clashes where we show off our powers to the detriment of our surroundings, but I direct you towards Exhibit A - The Avengers - as illustrating that particular foible as one of the many things we have in common with humanity. Yes, I think you are all short-sighted panic-monkeys for requiring such an ostentatious peacock display to soothe your knock-kneed paranoia that maybe, someday, you will have to relinquish your death grip on being the center of all civilization."

Before he can go on, a man in a blue spandex jumpsuit and a yellow visor with a cool red slit in it puts a hand on his shoulder and ends his time at the podium.

[juryextras]

A tiny disc of light follows them.

[ibelieveinharveydent]

Harvey Dent is sitting on the couch in his office, drinking scotch and looking at the pile of files on his desk with dread.

It never stops.

[juryextras]

A light goes on in his office. It isn't from a lamp or some outside source. It floats at the end of the couch, looking at him as he looks at his files.

[shotyoudeadbang]

A man's head explodes on the street, causing screams and some panic.

The man was a piece of shit.

Which is why Deadshot can calmly take his gun apart and pack it away from a rooftop two blocks away.

[juryextras]

Midway through the process, a disc of light appears above him.

[stylishamerican]

Jeff Winger is sitting in the study room, waiting for the rest of the Save Greendale committee to arrive, fat-doggin' it while texting Gwynnifer, the girl who won't stop texting him three years after he told her he was done.

"She's streets behind," he thinks, before sighing aloud when that phrase reminds him of Pierce Hawthorne.

[juryextras]

A new arrival approaches. It isn't any member of the committee. It's a ball of white light, traveling slowly toward him.

[professorcorrigan]

It's late at BPRD headquaters and most of the agents are enjoying a rare night off to rest and recuperate from the last case. Kate, though, is still in her office, surrounded by paperwork, and books written in ancient languages.

She never really takes time off anymore.

[juryextras]

A disc of white light hovers near the books. Perhaps it's interested in the multitude of languages.

[jesse_quick]

A flick of a finger and the list of emails scrolls up.

Chin resting on one hand, Jesse sighs and pokes at a random unread email.

Another long conversation chain, more posturing by Sales, more blah blah blah and she just can't take anymore of this. It is just too much to take for a nice afternoon, and Jesse takes a moment to write herself a new To-Do list.

1) Mark all emails as Read
2) Close down the computer before anything else comes in
3) Sneak out before Kathy notices
3) I am Kathy's boss, I can leave whenever I like, so walk out of here like I own the place. Because I do.
4) Relax Read Get something to eat.

A nod of satisfaction, and Jesse's busily gathering her things and stuffing them into her bag - tablet, phone, some papers that she's planning on ignoring.

[juryextras]

A small dot of white light hovers over her desk, swaying briefly back and forth.

[spidersuperior]

"Spiderling #64, report."

"We've got a lock on the White Rabbit trying to rob a diner."

Sigh. "That woman is an imbecile. I trust your squad will be able to handle her, yes?"

"We will or we're fired, boss."

"You're quite astute, 64. I will expect your after-action report within the hour."

New York City has never been better protected than it is now. The Avengers are a danger magnet, and Parker was always so busy failing at his personal life that he never saw the bigger picture. With great power may come great responsibility, but the truly responsible know when to delegate and when to attend to matters personally.

That is what makes me the Superior Spider-Man.

*BRZZT*

Ah, that will be Anna Maria, likely inviting me to dinner. I'm even better at relationships than Parker ever was.

"Hello, Parker Industries... yes, I know, but it's still such a new concept that I enjoy answering the phone as such... the excitement of new possibilities and all... why, yes, I am famished and lasagna sounds perfect..."

[juryextras]

Midway through his conversation with Anna Maria, a small bright light appears before him.

[lesliethompkins]

It's late and Leslie is bringing her day to a close with a cup of tea. The Yorkshire Gold Alfred gave her is growing on her. She hasn't had a cup of coffee in eighteen hours. That's probably some sort of record.

[juryextras]

A pinpoint of bright white light hovers at eyelevel on the other side of her desk.

[flame_bird]

Landing the vault, she sticks her arms up in the air automatically, even though there is no one watching her. There hasn't been a judge watching in years but old habits die hard. It has been a long day and she's reaching the point where she should stop. Getting too tired just puts her in danger.

[juryextras]

A dot of light appears before her, bright and white.

[caldecottsugah]

Sitting on the roof of the Xavier Mansion (she'll think of it that way no matter what anyone else calls it) is something of a tradition for her when she needs to think. She can't fly up here anymore but that hasn't stopped her from doing it when she needs some fresh air.

[juryextras]

A small point of white light appears near her right shoulder.