milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Sometimes, even when you have all the resources available in the world, the need stretches those resources just a little but more than there is for them to go. Such it is when defending the entire world from an alien invasion. Even when you have the entire world's population of superheroes at your disposal, sometimes you still end up with a shortage of people for all the jobs at hand.

Hal thinks it was his idea. Dinah thinks she's humouring him by letting him think that.

Anyway, the door to the bar opens with a flash of green light, through which the noise of battle can just be heard, and into the bar step Green Lantern and Black Canary, fully costumed and in full hero mode.

"Attention Milliways," Canary says loudly. "We need volunteers for a save-the-world mission and we need them now!"

[Plot locked for participants, sorry! Open to notice.]

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Charlie's ears perk up. His heart races just a bit. The world needs heroes. The JLA needs heroes.

But he knows that he cannot be one of them anymore. That time is past.

Still, he comes over to Dinah and GL, curious as ever.

"Charlie," Dinah says, brightly when she sees him come over. "Feel like fighting a lot of aliens?"

"Would that I could. But there's one rule about the Bar no one talks about. I can't go home. Can't go back to our timeline now it's done with me." He never did fight any aliens on his world. The one time he did in another timeline, it was not so pleasant. But he wonders what it would be like to help out now anyway.

Dinah is both sad for Charlie, but frustrated for herself at this news.

"That's too bad, I'm sorry.

"Do you know GL?" Might as well do introductions.

"Charlie, is it?" Hal puts out a hand to shake. "So you're from--" he glances at Dinah "--our world?"

A close look at Hal's face, and Charlie is reminded that the man he met was from later. "I was. It's a bit of a story, and not one you would have time for.

"But it's an honor to meet you." He shakes Hal's hand, and figures he might as well act like Green Lantern expects everyone to act.

Hal thinks it actually is, but he doesn't say so. He has learned something from his time with teammates.

"Glad to meet you back. Somebody who can't go but wants to," Hal nods. "That still counts for something."

"It does," Dinah agrees. "Keep the bar open for us, Charlie. You can congratulate us when we're through it."

And hey, Charlie being here means that yes, they do get through it.

"Can I ask who is it this time?" He has a few suspicions, since alien invasions weren't that common.

He's trying to remember what he was doing then. In costume? Nope. More likely off someplace with his assistant. He didn't take things too seriously. Even alien invasions.

"They're called the Appellaxians. An alien race from....," Hal cocks his head in mild surprise. "...I don't actually know which Sector."

"But they've been building up to an invasion, and now it's on. We've got a serious fight on our hands."

From how Hal says it, he wouldn't have it any other way.

Dinah shoots him a sideways look and smirks back to Charlie.

"I think I told you about these guys, Charlie. It's been building a while."

Charlie suppresses a smile, since he was like Hal at that age. Fight first, ask questions later. Though not much later.

"Yes. I remember." He remembers the chaos, and the resounding victory for the new kids on the block. "And it's everywhere now. And even with the JSA back, it won't be enough."

"It will," Hal replies firmly. "We're not losing our planet."

"Not now, not ever."

"Thanks, Charlie," Dinah says, a smirk fixed to her face by Hal's bravery. "Keep a candle brning for us, OK?"

"That sounds so much better than grubbing about in the Capitol basements," Ellen says, looking up. "What's going on?"

"Alien invasion," Canary says, shortly because she's already pretty tired. "Giant bodies of various materials that can turn humans into like-shaped slaves. We need people to drive them back."

....

......

"Let me go get my power armor," Ellen says shortly. "I'll be back as soon as I can get into the whole suit."

"You know what materials?"

X did not exactly sneak up on anyone, but the apparent need for speed, as it were, meant that she was not paying much attention to trying to make noise.

"Fire, wood, diamond, birds, mercury, stone," Dinah says, reeling them off after countless hours fighting them. "You'll only have to deal with diamond and birds, if our intel is right on the city."

X nods, just once.

"I can do that."

She pauses then, flicking a glance from Hal to Dinah. That's where her gaze holds.

"I am allowed to kill them?"

It will change which tactics she uses, that is all. And it is only fair to ask.

"No," Hal replies. "Take them down however you have to, but killing is out."

"They might have our backs to a wall, but we're going to do this right."

"Stay alive first priority," Canary adds, giving her implicit endorsement to 'well, if you have to.' "We have a containment facility, we're aiming for that.

"Green Lantern, this is X-23. Healing factor, indestructable claws, speed and a skilled fighter. She's a friend of mine."

:D?

There's a clanking on the stairs; Ellen's been getting into the power armor as fast as she could. It's more complicated than one might think.

Okay, looking at that suit, maybe not more complicated than that.

"I think I'm ready," she announces, her voice muffled by the helmet's filters. "Did I hear right? Should I leave my plasma rifle here?"

Hal nods to Ellen and X, impressed. "Glad to have you both."

"Depends on what settings it has. These things can take a lot of damage before they're knocked out."

"... settings?" Ellen says blankly. "It... gets five shots to one microfusion power cell, that's all I know. I haven't even figured out what makes some of the targets disintegrate into piles of goo and some not."

Max heard the announcement, of course, but he had to finish his drink before he was going to volunteer.

And then the follow-up drink.

But then he wandered over, his attention most certainly on the female requester-of-assistance. "Are you going to be wearing that?" he asked, giving her a very unsubtle once over. And then a twice-over.

That's Max for 'sure, I'll give you a hand'.

Of course then his eyes travel across the other two women gathered, and his grin widens noticeably.

Even when he recognizes one of them as X.

If it gets him fighting: "Keep it sheathed until we're on the battlefield, hot shot."

The problem of the non-lethal weaponry is a different matter. "Let me check with the bar. I bet we could get something that'll keep them restrained."

X gives Max a dubious look.

"I do not think he should unsheathe it there, either. It is not a very effective weapon."

Max smirks and sloooooowly quirks an eyebrow at X.

"I think it might surprise you."

"OK, well while you guys decide whether you want to work that out on the aliens or each other, I'm going to see about getting non letahl weaponry."

Dinah shrugs helplessly at Hal and departs for the bar, where she proceeds to have an argument with a napkin.

"Hey!" Max objects. "I haven't killed anyone with it!"

Yet.

".... I'll go put the rifle upstairs."

Seems like the safest course of action.

Meanwhile, and after much deliberation, Black Canary is returning while carrying two large firearm-like devices, either one of which is too big for a woman of her stature.

"I figured you might need one as well," to Max, "as I don't know your powerset."

Take it, take it!

To Hal: "I split it on both our tabs and we're still short. I hope our mysterious funder will accept receipts from the End of the Universe."

"He better. The Guardians of the Universe don't cut checks. Not that I know anyway."

"I'll take one of those," Ellen says, and reaches for the ... whatever it is. "This is the trigger, right?"

Dinah uses her new free hand to untuck a napkin from her scoop neck. There's a diagram drawn on it and the following helpful instructions:

point this end at the bad guys --->
<--- pull this trigger.

"Yes," she says "that's the trigger. Could you take this, Mr...?"

Max, that's to you.

Max blinks. "I think I'll just grab something from my room." You know, something he's comfortable with.

"And Max." He grins.

Oh, well, at least she can put this back.

"Great. We'll be waiting for you, Max."

"You might want to take the extra time to prepare yourself."

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