[ AI ] Why did it have to be Jersey?

[embiggest]

Kamala had barely gotten used to the whole 'superhero' thing before the so-called Crisis had happened and left her to try and police up Jersey City without any of the helpful, occasional visits from the big names across the river. IT had been weird. And hard. But it had mostly been the Inventor and his stupid robots and some street stuff. Muggers and people snatching handbags from innocent old ladies. Then, of course, things had to go and get really weird.

Jersey City had been picked as (naturally) the best spot for a new place they called STAR Labs. Kamala wasn't sure what exactly they did in there. What did did know is that it was a real pain in her butt. When before there had been few, if any super-villains making life annoying in Jersey now it seemed like they were popping up every week to try and break into the place and it seemed like things were left to her when it came to dealing with them. Things were already hard enough being a junior in high school and trying to avoid letting her parents in on the whole 'secret identity' thing, so having even more super-villain nonsense to deal with really wasn't what she needed right now.

And yet here she was, swinging giant fists at some annoying jerk calling himself Hydro-Man who was pretty much turning into a puddle every time Kamala took a swing.

"Could you maybe just, I dunno, stop doing that so I can clobber you?" She interjected between swings of giant fists. "I kind of have a history test to be studying for right now, so if we could just wrap this up soon-ish, that'd be great."

Comments

[beetlebutt]

Jaime'd been one of the few currently in the tower when they got the call because he'd been there doing his superhero homework someplace quiet instead of back home. Back home was very much not quiet due to two families being crammed into the same home. Said superhero homework involved having to memorize a whole list of terrorist/supervillain organizations. So boring. Apparently Hydro-Man was attacking STAR labs in Jersey City and some street level hero was handling it but Hydro-Man was potentially powerful, if very, very stupid, so they wanted to make sure whoever it was didn't flounder. (Kind of literally, since the guy could drown people.) Rather than having him go in with another hero (their usual standard practice now) they let him go in solo since it was so close by. "Uh huh. So. Hydrokinesis. Can turn himself into - and control - water. Yeah, I can handle this." A pause, as he listened to his comm. "Yes, it'll be fine." Another pause. "Look, he's basically Typhoon, without the weather control. And hopefully without the pantslessness. I've fought villains like this before." Another pause. "Mr. Pym, you do realize I used to solo it before the Merge, right? Like, all the time. And I still do for stuff that's local to the southwest. I know you guys are trying to help me level up and all, and you're all like, super set in how you want me trained now, and that you've got all these plans and stuff, but you're kind of back-seat superheroing. Yes, okay, thank you. I'll call if I need help." Work work work. When had this turned into so much work? Ugh. Now they were even micromanaging him. Not surprising, though, when Cap had started out wanting the younger heroes just on as reserve to start with. It'd taken a lot of the heroes from Jaime's world to argue him down from that. He saw the superhero down below, a girl with stretchy powers not having much luck punching the guy. Just as Hydro-Man started to reform again, Jaime aimed and fired an ion cannon at him from above, swooping in. Ms Marvel was greeted to the sight of that bugsuit guy that was on the TV all the time swooping down to join the fray. "Hey, look, whatever it is you're doing here - with no pants, why do you water guys never seem to have pants? - can we get this over with super fast? Because I have to study."

[embiggest]

Oh. Oh. This was one of the new guys, right? Blue Bug or whatever. She'd been following the new heroes as best she could the last year, but when you got into hero-ing yourself it didn't leave as much time to read (or write) fanfiction, really. But she did her best to keep up, anyway.

"Oh! Hey, wow! Didn't expect to see you here--I thought you were like, in Texas!" She did her best to banter as she took another swing at Hydro-Man, not accomplishing much besides getting herself a bit wet. UGH!

"Oh, come on."

[beetlebutt]

"Yeah, I'm a little bit of everywhere now." The Southwest. The CF. The rest of the country. Sometimes even international. He was all over the place anymore. That didn't mean he should be all over the place for this fight, though. Okay, so water guy. Water guy. Focus. "Scarab, you thinking what I'm -" The scarab chittered. "And it won't kill him?" More chittering. Right, okay, he saw a bunch of ways this could go down. The power lines were one, stealing a fire extinguisher from inside that shop over there and mixing it in the water to make him sick was another, the construction site not far off and the bags of concrete? Also definitely promising. The scarab also had the capacity to flash freeze him, but even without the scarab, there were multiple things anyone could use here. Anyone including her. All the bystanders had pretty much run off so there was no reason this couldn't turn into a lesson on the go... "Hey, new girl! Or, uh, 'new-to-me-because-I-haven't-seen-you-before' girl," Jaime said, pointing a gun at the villain that vibrated with sonics. It wouldn't hold him forever, but the vibrations would keep him from being able to do anything coherent with his molecules for a minute or so. "Listen, you can't punch water. He wants to keep it physical. So don't fight his fight - stop and think. What stops water? What reacts with water or is conducted by water? What can be mixed in with water or done to water? Look around him; you've got multiple options here. Fight with your brain, not just with your fists."

[embiggest]

Duh. Use your brain, Kamala. Though to be fair to her, her usual enemies were like, very punchable giant robots and that kind of thing.

"Ms. Marvel!" She calls up to Jaime when he doesn't use her name right away. Identity is important in the superhero world, right? Better make sure it's gotten right. But time for proper introductions later. Right now, she needs to focus on stopping this guy and the blue guy in the bug suit is giving some good advice. Dodging a spray of water from the villain, she bounds across the street, legs stretching out to get her where she's going faster as she heads towards the construction site.

[beetlebutt]

Wow, she was, like, way too excitable. ...He kinda liked it. Enthusiasm hadn't exactly been easy for him to muster up for this superhero thing in a little while now but just because it was that way for him didn't mean he didn't like seeing other people not-hating it. Okay, now to keep this guy busy. "Hey, I know this totally isn't going to work but why are all you villains breaking into STAR labs?" he demanded of the villain, as he reformed into a liquidy, yet humanish form. He dove out of the way of the wave, darting through the air on translucent wings, occasionally firing down to disrupt the watery form Hydro-Man had made. "You're all stealing random stuff. Why? What's it for? Who sent you?" A pause. "Also, what do you water villains have against pants?"

[holyevilbatman]

"Get down here so I can swat you, bug! I'd never betray my employer!" Hydro-Man said, as he shot jets of water up in Jaime's direction. "Did you really think I'd actually tell you who sent me?"

[beetlebutt]

"Not really, but asking you that bought her some time."

Her as in the heroine that was about to clean his clock. That her.

[embiggest]

"BAM! Oh man I sound like Emeril..." The onomatopoeia accompanied the several open bags of concrete that Kamala was hefting in Hydro-Man's direction, scattering the across his rather aqueous body.

"That oughta slow you down. I think."

[holyevilbatman]

"What?" The concrete started to mix in and he churned the waters inside himself - that were himself - mixing it even more. "Nooo!"

The concrete started to solidify and sink to the ground in the shape of a man as the excess water flowed away.

"You rotten kids!"

[beetlebutt]

He laughed when she bammed him, in a way that suggested he hadn't had a good laugh yet today. There really was nothing quite like creating your own sound effects while superheroing. "Yeah, yeah, and our meddling dog, too, right? Whatever, you weird pantsless little man." Seriously. What was with that? His upper body had clothes but his lower body was just water - now settling into concrete - with no pants. Why were there never any pants with these people? Jaime held out his arm and it shifted into a gun that squirted a strange gel all over the guy to help contain him, a layer over the concrete mass. He buzzed the appropriate authorities on his comm, turning to face Ms. Marvel with a 'hold on I have to do a thing ugh so inconvenient' expression on his face. "This is Blue Beetle - which one? I don't know, Blue Beetle Esquire? The third one. Yeah. The one with the robot suit. Of the Defenders. I need a villain picked up on Bayview avenue in front of the Jersey City STAR labs. Hydro-Man. He's immobilized with concrete and a waterproof gel. Yeah. Yeah. No. You'd have to ask the lab people there, didn't ask what was stolen yet - or what he attempted to steal. ETA? Okay, good. Beetle out." He changed channels. "Blue Beetle reporting in. Hydro-Man's incapacitated. Everything's fine." A pause. "Yes, Dr. Pym. No, Dr. Pym." He made a 'gab gab gab gesture with his hand at Kamala, sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes.' "Street-level hero, goes by Ms. Marvel. I thought we had one of those? A marvel?" A pause. "Oh, so she's Captain Marvel. But I thought we already had a Captain Marvel, the dude one." A pause. "Wait, so we have two Captain Marvels?" He added quickly, defensively, "Yes, I paid attention to the lesson about the team roster. Mostly." When he hadn't been dozing off. He looked Kamala over. "Polymorph? Kinda a Stretch Armstrong Ms. Fantastic type? We have her on the roster? No? Okay, Dr. Pym, I'll talk to her. Beetle out." He pointed at her. "Hey you. You willing to meet me in a few minutes on a convenient rooftop near here? Got something to ask you but I have to make sure this guy gets picked up by the authorities first."

[embiggest]

Kamala was buy feeling pretty good about taking down water-dude when the Blue Beetle(okay, now she remembered his name) started gabbing to... somebody. She waited, arms crossed a little impatiently. Had to at least say 'thank you' before she ran off to take care of you know, normal life stuff. Like homework. That's kind of important, even with the world going crazy. Half-listening to him, she barely caught part of the conversation. Waaait. Doctor Pym? Like, Ant-Man? Suddenly things seemed a little more interesting. She rocked forward on the soles of her feet.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, I guess? Can we try and make it quick though, I have this calculus test tomorrow I really have to study for." She jerks a thumb over her shoulder.

"I'll just. Go up there. And wait. Yeah. See you soon."

[beetlebutt]

HAMMER was usually pretty fast in their response, so it wasn't long before Jaime took to the air, eventually landing next to Ms. Marvel in a rush of fluttering translucent wings. "Uh. Hi." He had never tried to recruit someone before. He had no idea what he was doing. But then he had an idea and the corner of his mouth twitched a nearly imperceptible twitch that didn't make it to a full smile before he threw back his shoulders slightly, trying to look all serious and dramatic. "Ms. Marvel," he said in a movie star serious voice, "my name is Blue Beetle and I come to you with a message of utmost importance. I'm here to talk to you about the Defenders Initiative." He paused for just a beat, then grinned. "I totally made that up, there's no such thing as the Defenders initiative. I just wanted to do an action movie thing. There's always the serious guy that's all 'Come with me if you want to live.'" He struck a slight pose as he said it, jutting out his chin in a movie star way. "Or, like, telling the Matt Damon type about the secret spy organization they want him to join." He sat down on some kind of boxy fan thing on the roof. "I do have to talk to you about the Defenders, though."

[embiggest]

"Uh, hey. Thanks for the help." Kamala gave a goofy little grin behind her domino mask. Wings. This guy had wings and that was totally awesome.

Kamala cocked an eyebrow as the other kid (he totally sounded like he was her age--maybe a little older) tried to sound serious and super-important. Mentally, she was preparing herself to tell him she wasn't really interested but then that whole facade dropped and that really adorable grin came out, even behind his weird bi-mechanical-whatever-it-was that he was wearing. A hand rested against her hip for a moment.

"I dunno if they'd want someone like me in their secret club anyway. It's always a Matt Damon type, right?" A laugh, then she tilts her head towards him, frowning.

"They're the guys over in Manhattan, right? I see them on TV. And people are already writing fic about the new ones. Hawkeye and that Green Arrow guy are really popular--probably the bow thing. I think you're even in a couple..."

[beetlebutt]

"I am totally unsurprised and I would hazard a guess I'm probably relentlessly shipped with Kid Devil. I mean we have pet nicknames for each other and everything." A pause. "Also probably with the younger Iron Man from HAMMER's Avengers. Because also with the pet nicknames. Plus I bet they have like a starcrossed lovers thing since we're from enemy teams - and wow, I am putting too much thought to this." And yet, he was utterly unphased. He knew how those fanfictions worked. They were harmless. "But as far as the secret club thing goes, you are invited. The Defenders want to try to have a unified front on the superhero thing since not many are back yet and we want to make sure the street-level heroes out there have backup. Even the people that don't want to join, we're inviting for training in their free time, and sharing of intel, and trying to give them comms so we can all cooperate more easily. And so people can call for help if they get into trouble."

[embiggest]

He knew about fanfiction. This guy was okay as far as Kamala was concerned. She shrugged as he went, on, scratching under her chin for a moment. She glanced out towards Manhattan, then back over the massive cityscape that sprawled out to the south.

"Like, I appreciate it and all but I barely have enough time to keep on top of school and keep my mom from finding out that I'm out, you know, hero-ing and stuff. Going over to Manhattan to train with guys wouldn't work out too well. I totally appreciate the offer, though."

[beetlebutt]

"Listen, I know from experience that...sometimes it's better to get good at what you do ahead of time. Because of the way things could go." He swung his legs slightly. "A few years back, before the Crisis, I kind of wound up falling head first into having to stop an alien invasion. I was the only one that could do it, because my scarab - the little sentient, incredibly sarcastic techno-organic bug that's currently hanging out near my spine - had been sent to Earth by the aliens to take up a host that'd conquer the planet. Except the scarab got messed up by magic and had free will so we eventually managed to work together on the hero thing. And that was a good thing because the aliens' technology was half-phased out of reality and that meant, because of the scarab, I was the only one that could see it to stop them." One dude against a whole species of aliens. "In the lead up to that I found out everything I could about the scarab, studied the notes of the last Blue Beetle, trained with this really gruff but slightly lovable and slightly crazy guy named Peacemaker. And in the end it was me against an alien ship of thousands of soldiers, without powers, and with no pants. If I hadn't done those things ahead of time then when the time came, I would've died and Earth might have died, too." He went on, "My point is, sometimes with this superhero thing, life punches you in the neck and leaves you as the only one standing up in the face of something very big and bad, and if you're not ready for it? It could mean bad things for you, or the world, or for the people you want to protect. So, if you find yourself with a free afternoon here and there, please at least consider it? I know you're probably pretty tough - a lot of the heroes working on their own right now are - but it's still really dangerous out there. And your parents will freak out a whole lot more if you get hurt or get captured or something."

[embiggest]

Kamala sat, legs crossed, and listened. Quite a story, but it seemed like everyone had one of those, right? It was they got into this whole thing. And Kamala was a little touched that he felt like sharing it with her would help. Especially because it did. Having to get used to powers and a new friend in your spine and all that... It was a lot!

"I know what you mean. Like, I got hit by this gas and find out I'm part alien and stuff. It's crazy." She swung her own feet out, dangling them off the edge of the roof with a quiet sigh, resting her chin in one hand.

"Stopped this bird guy from using mutant kids to power war machines. That was a blast. Got to meet Wolverine, which was pretty cool...." Kamala glanced upwards, then turned her gaze back to Blue Beetle.

"Yeah, I'll think about it. I just... My mom and dad worry a lot, especially since the world got a whole lot more crowded and things are weird. And they want me to focus on finishing high school and getting into a good college and all that stuff. And, like... I don't want to disappoint them, right? I want to be a good kid. But I have these powers now and I can use them to help people! And someone has to do it, right? So... Here I am."

[beetlebutt]

"I think we're superhero clones," Jaime jokingly declared. "Oh man, do I know that feeling." A pause. "All of those feelings." He paused and looked very reflective. "You should definitely make sure you keep focusing on that. On school. That is important. Trust me, you don't wanna be like me." He still kicked his feet lightly as he sat there. "I'm, like, sort of a base level of really powerful even if I'm still learning, so in terms of 'someone has to do it' there's a lot I can do. So I quit school to superhero full time since I get a stipend with the Defenders, which... I know is going to bite me in the butt later. I'm still amazed my mom didn't murder me." He was rambling wasn't he. She was kind of easy to ramble at. "What I mean is you're right to put that as a priority." He pointed at her the way a superhero might in a public service announcement. "Don't do drugs and stay in school. It's just if you ever have the time on the side..." It was good to be prepared for what superheroing tossed your way. He reached back to the backpack section of his armor. "In any case, here." He always carried an extra comm around. Just in case his suit ever went on the fritz in a fight so he couldn't use it to buzz people. He held it out to her.

[embiggest]

"If I tried to quite school, for any reason, they'd never find my body," Kamala replies with a laconic little smile. She understands, though. Kind of. He felt like he had to do something. She paused for a moment, almost as if she's not sure she wants to take the offered comm.

"This thing isn't gonna like, put a GPS tracker on my house or anything like that, right?"

[beetlebutt]

Jaime smiled as she said that. Funny how parents a million miles apart could be almost exactly the same. That was parents for you. "Nope. There is a GPS in it but you gotta activate it manually with the little distress call button for us to pick it up. Otherwise, it's just a communicator. If you ever need backup or a rescue, just activate the distress beacon or call us, okay? And that goes for things like maybe stumbling on something a little too big for one person, that it'd be better for a team to go into, or running something you can probably handle but maybe want another hero to go in with you for a good ol' fashioned superhero team up just to be safe." He shrugged. "Even if you don't come train with us we could maybe teach you some things on the job and bring the training to you." Like he'd done earlier. "You have a lot of potential and enthusiasm, and you definitely seem tough - which doesn't surprise me if you've been on your own." It was rough for the heroes that soloed it. "Buuut you're kind of where I was about two years ago: the flailing around like a newborn giraffe stage." He was grinning as he said it, his voice teasing but gentle. "I think it'll all click with you very fast but no reason we can't help it along so it's even faster."

[embiggest]

"Okay, manually activated distress call is good. Also, I can set it to vibrate or something, right? Because if this thing starts blaring theme music every time I get a call my secret identity isn't gonna be so secret anymore, okay?" Kamala smiled. Kind of a silly question, but some things you just have to know before you take communicators from dorky heroes in weird bug-suits. Even if they seem like pretty cool, nice people in general.

"I'll see what I can do about coming over and training, but with school and the whole... megacity thing and all this other stuff going on, it's definitely kind of lower on my list right now. Plus, like, I'm pretty sure I'm literally the only hero around here who actually gives a crap about Jersey City at this point." She laughed, shook her head.

"And if I'm a newborn giraffe I have got to be the most awkward baby giraffe there is. Just saying."

[beetlebutt]

"You can set it up however you need to. Like, you can download your usual ringtone if you want so it makes the same one as your phone." He added, "Don't worry, you're not the only one that cares. It's just...we can't be everywhere at once, you know? This way if Jersey City needs a little extra help you can call us and we'll know where to be." As for the baby giraffe thing, he couldn't help but give her a little smirk. "And I don't know about you being most awkward. Back when I first started out I wound up having to walk through the desert naked because I couldn't figure out how to make the suit not eat my pants. I think I broke some kind of world record for superhero awkwardness there. That's like the rookie superhero version of the walk of shame."

[embiggest]

Kamala nodded, turning the device over in her hands for a moment as Blue Beetle explained how it worked. There was a hint of a grin as Jaime mentioned his own first hero experience. A bit of a blush too. Naked boys. Great. Mom would be thrilled.

"Oh. Wow. I thought I had it bad walking around looking like Captain Marvel. The blonde.Not the guy in the red suit. I kinda felt naked in that old costume of hers, anyway..." She muttered, frowning for a moment.

"But. Yeah. Sounds like we all got our own embarrassing hero stories. I did get to meet Wolverine once, though, so that was cool."

[beetlebutt]

"He's the stabby mutant guy, right?" The one re-establishing that school in upstate New York for mutants. Jaime had met the guy a few times when he'd been in and out of Defenders tower. The Defenders and the X-Men had been having a lot of talks about the mainstream teams helping more with mutant issues, and with more mutants being on the Defenders, mostly at the urging of some of the A-side heroes like Superman, who found the meta/mutant distinction really freakin' arbitrary. Jaime agreed completely with its arbitary-ness. After all, Traci and the Posse had their aptitude for magic due to a weird little quirk of genetics and that appeared like mutant-ness to the general public but being a Homo Magi was a totally different thing. Yet, people got them confused all the time, so if it was that easy to mix up, why'd it even matter? "He reminded me of my mentor. Except Peacemaker is a lot more shooty and Wolverine is all stabby. But basically I'm convinced they're probably alternate universe twins or something."

[embiggest]

"Stabby mutant guy, yeah. That's... probably the funniest way I've heard someone refer to Wolverine, actually." She laughed, bright and cheery. Stabby mutant guy. She was going to have to remember that one for the future. As for arbitrary methods of distinction, well that was just how things were where she was from and Jaime was gonna have to get used to it! She kicked her feet again, grinned.

"I'd have to meet this guy to tell you for sure. Plus, I don't really know Wolverine super well. All we did was team up to fight some giant alligators in the sewer system." Yeah, just fighting genetical enhanced, mind-controlled alligators. No big deal, right?

[beetlebutt]

Mind controlled genetically enhanced alligators were pretty much all in a day's work for a superhero. "What is with supervillains and mind-controlled animals? One time I fought attack penguins that exploded on impact and they could fly -" He paused and held a hand to his ear. "Hang on." He turned to the side slightly as he listened to the call. "¿Bueno? What's up, Dr. Pym?" He listened. "What do you mean we have practice? Practice was supposed to be at six." A pause. "I thought the meeting was supposed to be at eight, why'd it get moved?" He glanced over at Kamala. "I'm kinda in the middle of -" He rolled his eyes skyward. "Batman's always late. He does it on purpose just so he can mysteriously appear in the middle of the meeting. He probably actually gets there early just to hide up in a dark corner like a jumping spider." A sigh. "Okay, okay, I'll be there in a few minutes." Bummer, he was kind of enjoying talking to new girl. "Sorry, I gotta go," he said, turning back to Kamala. He jerked his thumb in the direction of Old New York. "Superhero training stuff and a Council meeting. I'm the liaison Council member for the teen team." He dithered for a moment. "Sooo maybe I'll see you around? I mean. I'm a big fan of the occasional superhero team up." And he kind of wanted to maybe hang out sometime.