Paladora, you are remanded into the custody of the JLA

[soonerjr]

“Zatanna???? She makes the paper again?” Paladora thought, “Two bit magician. You can package them up pretty, but that’s all she’ll ever be.” She walked across the room and set the Gotham Gazette down on the table. “Seriously, her only claim to fame is being rescued by the League, and mind wiping their enemies.” Hmmm….she thought, “Have to admit the mind wiping stuff actually buys her points.” She went over to the cabinets, picked up the JD Single Barrel and poured herself a glass. She took off her pistols, hung them on the chair, and then picked up the JLA communicator.

Looking at it she thought “Dang that judge’s kid!” She knew what she really should be saying is, “dang her for not realizing it was a judge’s kid”. How could she have known when she made him from a rooster to a hen in one fluid motion pulling the trigger that he was a judge’s kid? She even used her magic to “heal” it, but did that matter “Nooo”. Did it matter that the girl he was chasing was screaming “help”? “Noooo, he’s daddy little angel.” She came to Gotham at the request of certain individuals, which did pay nicely for her services, to track down a mystical being that was preying on women. She came across little “junior” in those duties. It probably didn’t help that she kept smirking when she told the jury about the little incident, and she still could not believe that the courts in Gotham would let his father preside! Her lawyer, and one of the best, advised her here in Gotham the courts get bought, and any appeals would basically end up in the sewer most likely with Killer Croc using it for toiletry.

As she set the drink down, she slides into her chair by the fire. Picked out one of her business cards from her pocket, her ancestor’s Knight’s piece on it and the words “have gun will travel” printed above and below the piece, on the back of the card one word: “Paladora”. First time in her life has she ever put a black mark on the family business. Now it comes to this, and those words as the gable hit the bench. “Guilty as charged, and you are hereby remanded into the custody of the JLA for an indeterminate amount of time, and so help me God, I hope you get Batman as your mentor!”

She now sits, looking at the communicator wondering?

Superman? No way, he hates weapons, and as far as she knows, nobody knew about the “magical” side of her heritage. Don’t remember which ancestor it was, but there was definitely a “medicine woman” in there someplace. It was handy though, and she must confess she did use it to her advantage, just never publicized it. After all she wasn’t completely cold blooded; if she made a mistake the magic did help her “correct” it.

Batman? Now that would be nice, but he’d never approve of some of the measures she’s taken in the past and will continue if it is needed again. Plus he was all hung up on the “secret ID” thing, and no way was she going to wear a mask. When people hired Paladora, they wanted her, not some clown in a mask.

Wonder Woman? Wouldn’t be too bad, Paladora heard she once snapped a guy’s neck to prevent him from doing further harm. Amazons though? Having to put up with them all day long? What did they know about a good BBQ Brisket?

The silence was broken by a little chirp from the communicator in her right hand; she stared at it waiting for the news. Wonder Woman’s voice broke through the chirping, “Paladora, see Oracle for a quick mission, then we need you to hop over to Gotham’s China Town to figure out what’s happened to Zatanna. We’ll save the pleasantries for later. Wonder Woman out.”

“Zatanna??? Go figure, the League has to go save that two bit amateur once again”, and this time Paladora would have to do it. Paladora got out of the chair, muttered a few words ending with her gun holster magically appeared on her body. She thumbed a switch on the communicator, and stated “Paladora, here, understood. On my way.” As she headed down the hallway, she thought, “I wonder if I can collect a fee for these two missions?”

[soonerjr]

She could feel it; along with every ache and pain that was shooting through her body, something was not right. She knew something was wrong, and who wouldn’t. When she awoke, she noticed a nurse running out of the room mentioning something about her being awake. Pal didn’t pay much attention to it, as she looked around she could tell she was in the Watchtower’s infirmary, and this time it was she that was in the bed.

She muttered an incantation. “That should do it she said to herself”, as she tried to get up. Pain once again shot through her body, and she lay down. Why didn’t the incantation work? It always has before. She muttered it again, and still no change in her condition. She saw her holster on the chair by the door; she muttered another incantation and the guns didn’t move.

“Grandmother, what is wrong!” she was saying to herself as people started coming through the door. She recognized the men as they entered. Dr. Midnite and Mr. Terrific led the bunch, followed by Dr. Fate and Ray Palmer.

“This can’t be good”, she thought to herself, and let out a groan when she saw both Diana and Batman walk through the door behind them. Mr. Terrific and Ray went to read some panels, as Dr. Fate conversed with Diana and Batman.

“How are you feeling?” she heard Dr. Midnite say, “what is the last thing you remember?”

“Trying to get out of this bed, doc.” She heard the words escape her mouth, then regretted it, since she had learned the hard way that both Bats and Diana didn’t appreciate her sarcasm.

She struggled, to think backwards before she saw the nurse leaving. It was slowly coming back to her, the contract, the demons, and the kids.

“Take your time,” the words just flowed out of Dr. Midnite, “it’ll come back to you”.

“I remember being hired because of what appeared to be a demon outbreak.” She said slowly and quietly. “Pay was nice, and since I got sentenced to the League, the old bank account did feel some pinch."

“I arrived at the hospital, and it was mass panic. Medics being killed and demons just having fun mowing them down. “ Paladora was relating her foggy memories to the doctors. “I hit the first demon flying low and fast. My shots struck on target, killing them, as I muttered an incantation to protect the medic. I was a few yards away, when I felt the force of the first demon exploding hurl me off my flight path”.

As she said that, she noticed Dr. Fate was explaining something to Bats and Diana.

“The fight went on for what seemed like hours, and I was getting low on ammunition and stamina for uttering incantations. Thankfully I saw some others show up and start taking the load off of me fighting them all.” Paladora momentarily stopped as she tried to move slightly on the bed trying to get to some water.

As she reached for the water, she could see Mr. Terrific’s spheres circling the bed as he and Ray was pouring over some data outputs.

Then she remembered. The jerk showing up, screaming about how he was there to save us “babes”, and would be glad to take us home tonight after the fights.

“A jerk showed up, not caring about the civilians. Killing demons left and right. He didn’t care about the demonic blasts that killed those around him. Then I saw them! A little girl and boy huddled in terror beside a broken slab! A demon was on top of the slab being pounded by the jerk.” Paladora could feel her temper rising, why I didn’t just shoot the jerk by accident she thought. She took a few minutes to calm down. Diana was saying something to her about needing to calm down.

“I was the closest. I dove for the kids right as the demon was defeated. I was tired, very little stamina left. I uttered an incantation for an ice shield, since that was all I could muster as I held the kids in my arms, back toward the demon. I could feel the heat coming through the shield and the force of the blast knocking me down into the ground as the shield collapsed. And the next thing I know is I’m here. So what did I miss? What happened to the kids?” Paladora asked rapidly.

Diana was the first to speak “I’ll answer that”.

Diana continued, “The blast hit you hard, slammed you in to the ground. Ice shards went everywhere. You managed to push the kids out of the way as you were slammed downward.”

Paladora let out a sigh of relief, she may have a cold heart, but she drew the line with kids. Hurt a kid, contract or not she would get you.

“Two Justice Girls were in the bunch of heroes you were mentioning,” she heard Diana say. “One scooped up the kids and the other got you out of there.”

“Darn lucky too if you ask me” she heard Ray mention.

“Now Ray, let’s not jump ahead of ourselves,” Dr. Midnite mentioned. “Pal when we got you up here, your body was in fits. We couldn’t keep a stable reading on you for days. That’s why I asked Fate, Terrific and Ray to join me up here, and we finally came up with a conclusion. Etrigan and Phantom Stranger were also here for a few days going of the data to provide additional inputs on the conclusion.”

“Sooo…” she asked Dr. Midnite as he took some seconds to let what he had just said sink in.

“The conclusion is that something happened at that precise moment of time with the demon exploding, your incantation and the ice structure. The nearest thing we can state for sure is that your ‘magical’ powers are gone, but replaced with the ability to manipulate colder temperatures. That all those factors hitting at once transformed the meta gene in you.” Dr. Midnite spoke the words as plainly as he could but it still felt like a kick to the gut to Paladora.

The silence in the room was thicker than molasses, and it was Diana that broke the silence. “Sister, you have fought bravely, and you will still be mentored by me in the League, but I have asked Batman to train you in your new powers over the next few days. He’s had plenty of experience with ‘cold’ items, and I think the Flash is going to look in on you also.”

As that was sinking in, Bat’s voice broke her thoughts, “I’ll see you in two days, unless Midnite clears you sooner. Don’t be late, we don’t need another dead hero out there.” With that said he turned and walked away.

Dr. Midnite asked if she had any other questions, and her response was “no, not now”. He then turned and ordered the others out of the room, as he left he stated to her “get some rest, I’ll check on you later.”

As he left, she laid there thinking what new challenges would bring, but she knew the family name will be upheld even with this change that’s come her way.

[Bizowerr Girl]

Very nicely written! So much to comment on, really. Neat to have her view on the world we play in. These were very fun to read, Sooner!