MISSION: GRAB THE EYEBALLTAUR

[initiates]

Date & Time: March 7th, 1994
Location: The MICA campus: Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Characters: Everyone
Summary: All transports are shipped back to 1994 to steal art from art students. Also, some of them arrive bodyswapped.

The Initiative has timed the incoming waves of Transports to the MICA campus for Freshmen Orientation, but even so, the flood of newcomers gets a few surprised glances. Looks like MICA's up for a major boom in attendance next year, wow. But do some of those freshman look a little old to you? …And do some of them seem to be freaking out a lot more than usual about being in Baltimore?

The cloaking devices, with holograms visible only to the natives, will be blending everyone in with the native 90s fashion senses, and all non-humans will find themselves getting much more tame curious glances than they might back on Exsilium, as they project a human appearance to natives around them. So at least there's that. Just try not to get arrested, hit by cars, or challenged to any break dance competitions as you grab and run off with bizarre works of art, alright? The weirder it looks, the more likely it probably is to be the power source the Initiative needs for the Transporter.

Oh, yeah, and sorry about the body-swap-around. Just deal with that as best you can, because the mission really must go on. Any harried and worried Initiative employee along on the mission that you might be able to find will just sputter a hasty not-really-explanative explanation and hurry away, trading frantic messages with the headquarters in Exsilium. They'll get this all sorted out by the time you get back, don't worry.

Comments

[controlledvariable]

[It's Superboy.

Something shifts in her posture, a defensive reaction that isn't because she does recognize the person, but rather that she does, and she remembers their last encounter. She remembers nothing but Superboy'd hand between her and a long drop.

But then he talks and she cocks her head to the side, because, yes, all the body swapping nonsense. So it isn't Conner, but it's someone who a) wanted her attention and b) likes to hang around on rooftops. Jason has left the city, which really only leaves one suspect.]

Dick?

[superwonder]

...Wow. How'd you guess?

[ He has to wonder for a minute if he'd tipped himself off somehow. Either that or she's a psychic. ]

[controlledvariable]

You're on a roof.

[And he was relatively well hidden on the roof, despite the wrong body, which was just another little clue to his identity.]

[superwonder]

...Right. [ It's something he'll file away to be taken out and re-examined later. He heaves a sigh and feels the big, solid shoulders slump. ]

So from the top, I'm minding my own business, and then I look down and all the sudden I'm not me anymore. Which mean Conner's probably stuck with the same deal, right? He's down there somewhere right now with my body stashed away. [ He's started to pace, fast restless steps. ]

If he takes the mask off before I can get to him I'm toast. Somehow I have to find him. And I-

[ He stops mid-pace, then turns back to look at Steph at last. ] Well, I didn't know who else to ask.

[controlledvariable]

He won't take it off. [It's the first thing she says once Dick is done, a simple reassurance, and she sounds confident in it, because she knows that if that is Superboy's body, he'll respect the mask. (She might not like him much, but Tim trusts him, and that goes a long way.)

She isn't sure how to feel about Dick feeling like he can talk to her, even if it is a case of there being no one better. So she's just going to move on to her primary concern:]

You're being careful, right? We don't need to add property damage to the art theft.

[What with the super strength, and the TTK, though she isn't aware the latter isn't a concern for this Conner's body.]

[superwonder]

How do you know that? I don't know even know the guy. [ It's an easier topic to focus on. Desperate situation or not, saying the words out loud is another reminder that he doesn't know Stephanie, either. Not really. ]

...I might've had an accident a little while ago. Over by one of the libraries.

[controlledvariable]

Because I do know him. [She'll have to find the actual Conner later, and work things out. She might not like him, but if he's from home, well. Later.]

Right. [They're going to have to be careful about that.] Was it the strength or the telekinesis? Or, uh, I think he has heat vision?

[She's never paid much attention.]

[superwonder]

I kinda stuck my fist through a wall. [ He rubs at the back of his neck, embarrassment creeping up underneath the unease.

But oh that little tidbit is something new. ]

Heat vision? He has heat vision?

[controlledvariable]

[She just looks at him for a moment, then shakes her head] It happens to the best of us.

[She's put her fist through more than a few walls, and she doesn't even have superstrength.]

He should. If he's who I think he is.

[Even if the face hadn't been familiar, the name, and the super strength has just confirmed her suspcions.]