^^ Tempest Spirit ^^

— Erin —

I opened my eyes slowly, and hummed at the ebony skin under my face. "Tha's new..." I mumbled sleepily.

The woman wiggled a little, as I was apparently whispering against her thighs, and then opened her eyes, looking down at me. "Hmm? Ah, bonjour... Tu te rappelles ce qui s'est passé hier soir?" She smiled sexily, and then raised an eyebrow at my clueless look. "You spoke ze Francois Very well last night... are you still asleep, dear one?"

"Mm... who are you? You're very pretty... but I don't remember anything after the fourth bottle of wine in that restaurant... now I really wish I did." I looked where my face was currently positioned, and then hummed, wiggling up the bed, laying next to her. "Though, if I allowed you to sleep near me, Sofia or Vera must've been here... Ah, there they are." I smiled at the other side of the California king bed, where Vera was acting as pillow to Sofia and Terran.

The African/French woman smiled. "Oui, you were quite ze handful... Je suis Olivia, and you are Erin, Oui?" She asked, smoothing my hair back.

"Yes, I am. I assume this is your home?" I glanced up at the room, and smiled at the collection of records and albums from various English and American rock bands, though I only recognized a few of them. The music of this Dimension was woefully inadequate, I'd learned.

"It is." She nodded, and laid back down, cuddling up to me for some more sleep.

I looked up, and paused as I saw the sunlight coming through the curtains; it was midday sunlight, or late afternoon sunlight at best. I groaned softly, and rubbed my face. "Great, my deadline is almost up... Sofia, I blame you... -not you, Olivia, you seem innocent in this distraction from my duties. Well, sort of innocent." I grinned mischievously as she raised an eyebrow at me.

Sofia raised her head a bit. "Hmm?" She muttered a few incomprehensible syllables and then fell back asleep.

"Don't worry, she's a friend. Do you need a ride back to zhe restaurant to fetch your vehicle?" Olivia yawned, reaching for a pair of glasses.

"No, don't worry, I'm fully equipped to handle my own transportation." I chuckled and gripped the silver belt buckle that was lying on the ground next to the bed, and my dress from last night flowed onto my body, like a second skin made of shadows.

"Oh! Well that is Intéressant..." she chuckled.

I smirked at her, then stepped off the bed, into my shoes. "Honey, you just don't know... take care of them, but don't worry, they can get home on their own."

She raised an eyebrow slowly. "I sense this will be interesting, but how is still a mystery..."

"Oh don't worry about that." I shrugged, and opened a portal to the lab. "I'll call you, dear? Give Sofia your number." I blew her a kiss, walking through casually.

"Oh! I will! <Sofia, you didn't tell me your lover was a sorceress! I would have asked her to do that thing you do, with the electric fingers?>" She murmured off to the side as the portal closed, and my brain woke up enough to translate the French properly.

"Alright, Helix, you let me sleep WAAAAY longer than I should have, so what's the status of... the... why is Batman in my Lab?" I frowned.

"Nomad-"

"MY SECRET LAB?!?" I barked, glaring at Helix.

"There are extenuating circumstances." He assured me swiftly.

I took a deep breath. "I see... well, what are those circumstances?" I asked tensely, sitting at my desk and accepting the cup of coffee one of Helix's holograms handed me.

"Well, what had happened was-" Helix began making an excuse, and Nightwing cut him off, appearing from behind the other desk.

"Your friend here released the thing inside the tablet and now we've got a problem." He said simply.

"How many people are inside my secret lab, Helix? And why are they touching my things?" I gripped the coffee cup tightly, but it didn't break, to my surprise.

"I called them here, and it's just Batman, Orphan, and Nightwing... and Zatanna and Giovanni." He cleared his throat uncomfortably at the volcanic glare I sent his way.

"And there was no better, less secret, place to gather them?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"None that had access to all the cameras on earth. The watchtower technically does, but I'm not able to summon people there; we're not members of the justice league, after all, just allies." He shrugged helplessly.

"Mm. And the touching my things?" I frowned at Nightwing.

"He needed to establish a direct connection?" Helix shrugged slowly. 'He can't touch anything I don't want him to, direct connection, root access, admin passwords, none of it would help him.'

"Fine. Where are Zatanna and Giovanni? And where's the little Super-Ninja? No lurking, if you're going to be in my secret lair, don't be creepy about it." I sighed, and sipped the lukewarm coffee, before screwing up my face at it. "And get me some new coffee, Helix? I'll need it to deal with these bozos."

He nodded and another cup was placed into my hand, as Zatanna and Giovanni came around a large floating glass sphere that showed the globe in perfect detail. "I'm currently extrapolating every single public camera access into a perfect 3D rendition of the earth, though mostly the cities. The satellites give me a view of the outer areas, but it's grainy." Helix gestured at the globe, and a piece zoomed in, showing a ranch in the middle of nowhere with enough detail to tell how many chickens they had.

I raised an eyebrow slowly, and he sighed. "I know, it's terrible quality, I'm attempting to upgrade them now, but there's only so much I can do. Anyway, the issue... here's the good news! I successfully depowered the tablet, and it's safely back in the museum!" He grinned.

'And we can replicate it, no big deal, the big deal was the power source, which was released, but we can replace it... with that Star we wanted.'

"The bad news is that you released some thing, yeah, get to the point, why haven't we caught the damn thing yet? I got out of a comfy bed occupied by a beautiful French woman named Olivia as well as my three lovers for this, and I'm already regretting it." I sighed again irritably. 'Can it be contained and used as the Battery we need?'

"Right, the thing is... it kind of already swatted Superman like a fly? And then it depowered Captain Marvel... so..." he shrugged helplessly.

"Wait, Wait... big red and the Thunderkin were both knocked out of the fight by this thing? What is it?!?" I laughed incredulously.

"You need to take this seriously. Your actions-" Batman growled.

"Three things, Batman; 1: you are in my home, and you do not growl at me, nor do you give orders. 2: had I not been the one to take it, this monster would have been sold to the highest bidder by the Royal Flush Gang, so go suck an egg!!! And 3: I'm taking this as seriously as it deserves, already, because I'm here, instead of sleeping in a bed with a harem of beautiful French and Russian Models, which is obviously where I would much rather be right now. Are we perfectly clear?" I raised an eyebrow at him imperiously.

Nightwing snorted, then cleared his throat when Batman glared at him. "I mean, she's not wrong, she did stop the Royal Flush Gang from stealing it in the first place, so this was probably inevitable. Better us release the Kraken than the bad guys, right?" He shrugged.

"Wait, Kraken? It's a Kraken?!?" I grinned.

"A dragon, actually, and one imbued with the Living Lightning... it appears to have once been the Familiar of Shazam, his first attempt at creating a living being capable of wielding the elemental force, sealed away because of its uncontrollability." Helix sighed.

"Living Lightning, as in the same stuff that gives Marvel his powers? Well that explains it, that stuff is like the Speed Force, but for Strength... like the 'Power Force,' one might say, a direct line to the Source, the same as the Tenth Metal, but without a medium. Dangerous, but devastatingly powerful when properly harnessed." I hummed. 'And a potent source of power, should we bottle it up. Can it break Nth Metal, if we make it a box? Or just have it absorbed into Little Sofia, as my familiar?'

"Whatever it's Powers are, it's currently over the Gulf of Mexico, causing some of the Tropical Storms to ramp up and spit out Living Lightning. Loss of life is estimated at unprecedented levels." Giovanni frowned.

"Mm... Helix?" I asked.

"Yes, your plan will work, but you'd have to get close... Danger Close." He shook his head.

"And is that an issue? Will this Living Lightning harm me?" I hummed.

"Most definitely, unless... unless it doesn't hit you at all!" He grinned and disappeared, then I heard the Synthesis Chamber powering up.

'Why were those off? Don't we have a contract with the UN to start filling, so we can deliver what we said we would all at once?'

'I have a few others, actually, one in every major city in the world, and they're collecting, cataloguing, and all that with the trash for those countries, -or they will be once the deal with the UN goes through fully. I just didn't want them to know they were doing anything, currently.' He chuckled.

A shadow opened in the center of the room, and he hopped out, holding a pair of Titanium-Tungsten bracers. "Tadah!!!"

"Uhm... yay!...?" I tilted my head, confused.

He sighed and clapped them around my forearms. "These will absorb the Living Lightning, and allow you to get close enough to touch it, and then you can send it back to the dimension whence it came rather easily, once it's depowered! It'll hopefully retain enough of it to give Captain Marvel back his abilities." He explained calmly as he tightened the clasps. 'And the rest will go to the Tenth Metal in your body, while Little Sofia will be waiting on the other side of the portal to eat the depowered Dragon thing and take both its abilities and form.'

I nodded and turned my dress into my armored outfit, letting the soles of the boots be changed into the same metal as the bracer, so I'd be grounded. "Wonderful, I'll get right on that. And you can go to your own clubhouse next time there's a crisis, mista' gwumpy-poo!!!" I booped batman's nose whilst speaking in baby-voice just to annoy him, and dropped through a shadow as he glared at me.

I fell through the sky, spreading my arms and legs and enjoying the wind whipping by me as I skydove towards a hurricane. "He's in the Eye of the hurricane, yeah?" I clarified.

'Yep, plotting you a course now... tilt right, 30 degrees?'

I tilted slowly, and winced when a bolt of lightning lanced through the air where I'd been. "Ah. He's aware of my presence, huh?"

'Mmmyep 30 degrees left!'

I rolled, instead, and pointed myself exactly towards the source of the Lightning as it barely missed me. I began falling much faster now, and I activated my little flight-suit version of my bike, accelerating and swinging around the next bolt without deviating from my course.

'Or just charge right at the damn thing, that's a great strategy, fuck my plan, that was stupid!' He grumbled bitterly.

"Cool it, Helix, I just thought of a different approach, is all. Flying gives me a better control of my trajectory; therefore less danger of getting zapped." I frowned and curled into a ball, rolling around the next strike, which I was surprised to see curl slightly, trying to catch me.

'The closer you get, the more control of the Lightning he'll have; you should probably let me map the Lightning.' Helix sighed.

"Probably, but where's the fun in that?" I laughed, and spread my arms, dropping them back to my side and propelling myself like a meteor at the now somewhat visible dragon, which spewed lightning from its mouth at me.

I blocked with the new bracers, and growled softly as the Lightning was absorbed into them, but still made my skin feel like it was touching a live wire. "Ooookay, yup, that's a rush!" I yelled, and ducked around the claws of the dragon, circling it. I spotted large crystals on its back, and hummed. "Is that a known crystal to us? And do I have enough energy for Marvel?"

'Not even close, I'm afraid. And the crystal is an unknown at the moment, but it's probably a silicone or sodium base. Argyrodite is a lesser probability, but a possibility nonetheless.'

I sighed and landed on the dragon's back, gripping the crystal as he thrashed around and swung his tail at me. "Well, take a sample, send it to the lab for analysis later. After that... Let's just take a moment to appreciate that I woke up less than five minutes ago? And I do not appreciate the level of disrespect after not only showing up, but for being my awesome self, and helping to save the day."

"We don't do the work for the thanks we get, Nomad. We do it for the good it will do." Batman spoke into the com's.

"See, and I understand that, but I wasn't talking about public fame or anything, I don't want to be worshipped, -outside of bed, of course; I'm nothing short of a goddess in the sack, and every partner I've ever had agrees,- I just expect some respect from the people around me, the Leaguers, who actually know how hard this job is. And so far, all I've gotten is a bunch of assholes who think they can tell me what to do, when they won't even vote me into their little club! Not that I want to be a member of the Justice League, I think that would be a bunch of nonsense, but I do want it to be clear that I protest you treating me like a lackey, instead of a fucking equal!" I frowned.

"And now is the best time to complain about that?"

"When else do I get to talk to you unless something bad is happening? Almost none of you come to my dinners, or Tea, and you don't like me going to your hideouts, so you know, now is the perfect time, in fact!!!" I snapped back at him.

'Also, she's absorbing the Lightning just by standing on the dragon's back... just saying. She has to stand there and do nothing, so she's yelling at you for being rude, because she has nothing better to do.' Helix explained.

"... I apologize if we've made you feel like the League doesn't appreciate the sacrifice you made, staying in this dimension despite your ability to return home." He hummed.

"Wait, she can go home? And she hasn't? Wait, don't you have family there? Friends?" Zatanna piped up in the background.

"Fate, no matter how annoying he is, was right. Going home would probably destabilize this entire dimension, and possibly kill everyone in it. So yeah, not going home sucks, but it beats destroying an entire dimension out of selfishness." I grumbled.

"I understand it is a massive self-sacrifice for the good of our universe... and as for your membership in the League, we decided almost two months ago that allowing you to operate outside of our main circle gives you freedoms that we do not have, and allows you to work as you wish; like your proposal to the United Nations. A Leaguer wouldn't be allowed to make that proposal." He explained.

"Yes, the Justice League Charter... I'm looking unto getting all that dismantled and re-drafted, on the premise that a Supervillain, Lex Luthor, designed it to debilitate the League." I hummed. "Now do I have enough charge? My hair is starting to smoke, here." I looked at the hand holding the crystal, where I couldn't feel it, but my flesh was burning and the healing itself at an ultra-speed pace. Were I not basically immortal, I'd be very dead already.

'For Marvel? Yes. To depower the beast? No. Little Sofia can work on him further once he's contained, but getting him into a portal will be difficult...'

"Understatement king! Helix!!!" I cheered sarcastically, and then opened a portal into the Analysis chamber, under the dragon, then another above him, and brought the two together slowly.

The dragon lashed out with his tail, but only managed to cut it off on the edge of the portal, and I snatched it with another portal, along with all the blood, so that none of its DNA ended up in the hurricane. I didn't want that trouble.

'Does it need to be entirely intact when Sofie eats it?' I sighed, getting a grodie idea.

'Uhm... alive would be good?'

"Sounds like permission to me..." I nodded, and the portal on its tail grew, then raced up to the base, widening to fit, then one went to each leg, then the wings, and now I was the only thing keeping it in the air, as all the portals slowly merged into one, and the pieces of the dragon except the head and body were ripped off, collected in a pile. Or puddle, really, once all the blood was there.

I dropped the body into the chamber, as it weakly spat lightning at me, and Sofie leapt to intercept, absorbing the blast. She approached the pile of limbs, her white hair puffed up and crackling with static, and I closed the portals so I didn't have to watch her eat the dragon.

"Alright! Now it's just a hurricane to deal with. What's this, a Cat 5? Nasty, but Floridians have dealt with worse... should I disrupt it, scatter it before it hits shore?" I hummed.

"If you can? Messing with nature is usually not a good idea, but this wasn't entirely natural, so use your judgment." Batman answered.

I grinned slowly. "Ooh, fun..."