CHPT 8: The Watcher in The Bar

By the time John and Kara took their seats inside the old and decrepit bar, they had more than enough reasons to drink themselves into a state of impenetrable drunkenness. The world had changed. The Justice League was no more-- now known only as the government owned Justice Force of America. And with their government connections, the world-- or at least Nekropolis, had gained access to alien tech to empower their martial might. If only something similar had happened before..... before John was made into a Red Lantern because of the rage the gods and their selfish battle awakened in him.

Speaking of Lanterns. The worlds symbol of hope had become one of intimidation and fear. Beware the Great Fears. Superman was one of the Great Fears, a steaming yellow beacon of power watching over the skies, while his partner, Vengeance did the same at ground level. He wondered why he never heard anything until now, his Lanterns had their fair share of run ins with the yellows during their spacial tear through the sectors and galaxies beyond.

He also wondered why he wasn't drunk after nearly two dozen shots. Even the growing number of people and bartender preparing their drinks began looking at them sideways after a while.

Naturally. He should've known. Drunk wasn't a destination available to a Kryptonian Mutate and a Human-Alien Symbiotic Hybrid.

It seemed Kara knew as well as she sighed from beside him and set down her shot before even drinking it.

"Not even a light buzz." She growled while running a hand through her shoulder length blonde hair.

"It's a bloody curse, I tell you." John replied before taking her shot and drinking it down in one sip. Even the sting on the way down had faded. "Fuck me..." He cursed.

"Erhm..... there's no way you guys actually want any more right? You're approaching like deadly levels of alcohol intake. I could get in trouble." The older female bartender said. Her auburn hair smelled of cigarette's and lavender shampoo with an undertone of sweat. Sweat, which was also visible underneath her arms and and through her rolled up button up and apron. They'd worked her hard in their attempts to reach the heavenly domain of intoxication.

"No, ma'am. We'll take a water, actually." John replied.

"Well, that's a surprise." One of the men seated at the table to their right murmured. His buddies huddled around him chuckled while glancing over at John and Kara.

"It's not a problem though." He added, "If the brit's run out of money, I can supply you that..... and much more, love." He said, mocking John's accent at the end.

John looked over at the man and his buddies. The traditional bar-loving pack of old brutes. It was almost cliche. They wore debris littered jeans and thermal shirts beneath leather jackets that smelled like the world at large. Their hair was long and greasy, beards unkempt and reeking of alcohol and morning breath. Slobs, in short.

John chuckled as he looked from them to Kara.

"You're gonna leave this to me, aren't you?" Kara whispered without looking from the tv broadcasting the news above them.

"Oh but of course... love." John replied, mocking the men that once mocked him.

"Two waters." The bartender mumbled as she slid them over to them.

John picked up his glass as he eyed the men, "Cheers."

The men put up phony smiles and half empty drinks in reply before continuing to try and woo Kara. In those moments he wondered if she'd ever been woo'd in her life. Was that part of Kryptonian DNA? The most he'd seen her do was blush.

"So, Englishmen, what brings you and your lady friend here?" A croaky and matured voice said from his left, interrupting his thoughts along the way.

John turned to face the old man hunched over the table in a long green coat and baseball cap. His silver hair flowed out from beneath like strands of ice. A cigarette balanced in between his tensed and chapped lips.

"We're here on business, sir." John replied curtly before taking another sip of water.

*[Scanning possible threat level..... *ShZZZSSSHZ* threat level, unrecognizable. Matured Human Male has a multitude of underlying and apparent health issues that makes him a non-combative threat. Requesting tissue sample to search for Meta Gene.]*

"Relax you damn psycho." John replied in mind.

The old man nodded with a raised eyebrow, "Hmm..... business in the good ole' Nekropolis. That's either good money, or great problems..." When he finished speaking, he took a long drag of his cigarette, causing the end to glow like John's Power Rings.

He chuckled at the man's words despite their lacking humor, "Indeed."

"Well, I wanna say welcome. But I think you and I both know this place isn't very welcoming." The old man mumbled while ashing his cigarette.

John shrugged, "Eh. It seems just fine to me, mate."

"Yea? You look like you've seen some battles so that's fair. But I'll tell you, Englishmen. The battles here are unlike anything you've seen."

John looked over to find the old man looking straight at him. The skin around his stubble and wrinkled lined face was tight, his eyes expressive and intense. Then, as if nothing he happened, he turned back to his drink and looked at it as if it were the most interesting thing in the world...

"Noted." John muttered.

Speaking of battle. The room had grown colder.... even with the "slobs" growing closer as their lead man tried his best to chat up Kara. He was growing impatient after waiting so long for her to eventually get drunk-- as were his buddies who were just about surrounding her. The only reason they couldn't is because they wouldn't get closer to John. Lifeforms knew danger, they just got confused in the pursuit of arousal sometimes. One constant throughout all sectors, planets and species.

First mistake.

Suddenly Kara sighed as one of the men outright asked her how much she went for. The air around her took a dive and all the drinks containing fluids in her vicinity exploded as if they housed small fireworks.

Glass shattered loud enough the silence the partially full bar. The men approaching Kara were covered in glass, ice and frozen bits of alcohol. Even a few bottles behind the counter busted open.

"OH-- Shit!" The people lining the bartenders table and the area around it yelled in response.

The Power Ring on Kara's finger began to steam and glow as it rested in a fist on her knee beneath the table. She moved to stand only to find John's hand on her wrist. If things went any further there'd be no bar left. Only bloodied rubble. Not beneficial to the mission at large.

"We should go clean up." John told her before sending her off to the bathroom. She gave little more than a grumbling curse before walking off.

"The hell was that?" One of the men previously speaking to Kara mumbled.

The Bartender behind the desk exploded at them in reply, "That was a sign from a higher power telling you baboons to stop trying to penetrate everything with a pulse! Go sit the fuck down and wipe yourselves off!"

"Oh I don't think any of us are that desperate....I mean you don't see us coming to talk to you, right guys?" The leading man said with a wolfish sneer.

"Randall, shut the hell up and sit down or get out of my bar."

The intensity faded following her words. They must've weighed the prospect of cheap drinks against splitting their wallets at a more expensive bar uptown. Their decision was obvious. As was the rest of the people's shock.

Eyes radiated to the back of the bar where the Bartender worked to clean up the ice and glass shards as she questioned how such a thing could happen.

"Better not be any damn Meta's in here." She mumbled angrily.

John ignored her as she looked around the bar. He could feel eyes on him.

Not at the round tables occupied by all manner of men and women fresh of work and in need of a drink. Not at the front near the bordered off windows where businessmen spoke of deals they couldn't make in more respectable places.... definitely not hovering around the mens bathroom where men sold drugs with about as much stealth as an elephant on growth hormones. The eyes were coming from a place he wouldn't look because of all the activity elsewhere. Hidden in plain sight.

He looked around the bar a while longer before turning back to face the bartender.

"Sorry about your troubles, ma'am. Allow me to help."

The bartender waved him off, "No that's fine. You can go clean yourself off, maybe check on your lady friend while you're over there."

John nodded, "Of course."

As he turned to head to the bathroom, he found the eyes. Seated at a table behind the large group of men at his right. He was alone, and pretending he wasn't just staring by typing away at his phone. It would've been nothing, but it was the same man he'd seen back when he and Kara were at the Superman statue at the park.

They were being followed.

John headed for the bathroom, blowing past the dealers and doers to enter one of the cramped stalls inside.

He didn't bother sitting.

He brought his Power Rings up to his mouth, their glow rising with the sound of his voice.

"You bastards awake?"

Only silence, aside from the buzz of the bar on the outside.

KssSSHT....

"What do you want, human?" Atrocitus' voice rumbled from John's Rings.

"Find something for us to kill while you're out playing human with the blondie?" Bleez questioned, she sounded bored and disgusted... the usual.

"Or maybe someone for me to interrogate....?" Skallox added.

"Not quite, we're being followed. Stay at the ready, I'll give you more in the future."

"We are?" Kara spoke over the rings intercom.

"Yes. I'll fill you in shortl--"

His words were interrupted by the door into the bathroom opening. As it closed, he watched a pair of black booted feet stomp over to the urinal in front of his stall.

"Krow, give me eyes." He thought.

ZSSSHHHssshh!

*[Thermal vision activated.]*

John's eyes morphed into Alien Slits and his world transformed into that of oranges, pinks, purples and greens.

In front of him a man stood alone at the urinal. No taller than six feet and well built. He was young, but strong. The same buzzed military style haircut and hooded jacket.

"Who are you?" He wondered.

*[Scanning for accessible electronic devices and personal ID Cards...]"

Suddenly the frame of the man in front of him pulsed and vibrated as electrical rays and red shockwaves ran along the man's body. Scanning assumedly.

A final wave ran down his back before a object in his pocket was highlighted red.

*[ID Card recognized.... Name: Thomas Draven..... Age: 21..... Eye color: Brown..... Weight: 185lbs... Nationality: American..... Residence: Gotham City.]* Khaji-Krow buzzed off in his mind as a visible text of the same thing flooded his vision.

Another object illuminated in his pocket, recognizably a phone.

*[Encrypting personal electronic device.... firewall recognized-- property licensing belonging to Wayne-Tech. Firewall breached..... ZSShhshhhs-- SHIT!...thirty-five seconds until device shutdown is immenent.]* Khaji-Krown announced, sounding visibly agitated despite it's often robotic and insectoid tone.

"Text messages-- go to text messages!" John thought in a panic as the man-- Thomas, finished at the Urinal and approached the sink to wash his hands.

34....33.....

*[Text messaging app recognized.... app opened. Recent messages from a James Reynolds and Rachel Rogue.....]*

30....29...

"Open James Reynolds." John thought.

ZSShshshhh!...

*[James Reynolds message at 12:30 PM: Tim, please for the love of god..... Take a day off, hermano. We just got back to earth and you're already playing detective again. Let's chill for a bit... let's go see a movie bro! There's probably some babes there too..... human babes.... very human. Message over.]*

"Tim..... is that a nickname, or is Thomas Draven an alias?" John thought.

26....25

*[Next message from Thomas Draven at 1:15 PM: First of all, my name isn't Tim. It's Thomas..... second, there are no days off for people like us, our mission only gets harder from this point. And third..... you know I'm spoken for, man. Message over.]*

"Come on give me something..."

20...19...

*[Next message from James Reynolds at 1:45 PM: You're such a stiff, bro... does that just run in the family? Also.... NO DAYS OFF AT ALL? I might have to reconsider my life choices, amigo. If not a movie, then a drink or something with the gang. Rachel can be there that way... even if she scares the hell out of me. Message over.]*

"...Come on..."

14...13

*[Thomas Draven at 2:30 PM: Rachel is a good person... she just has skeletons in her closet, like the rest of us. I'm sure a group hangout could do the team some good.... when we have the time. Right now, we're busy and I'm chasing a possible lead. I've got a man and woman-- adult asking questions, drinking enough to kill an Elephant. They also showed an interest in Superman. They're new and.... strong. Don't send anyone, but if I don't come back to the base tonight begin your search in downtown Nekropolis at a Bar called The Meta-Buzz.]*

10...--

ZZSHHHss!

*[Second failsafe activated. Personal electronic device forcibly shut down. No secondary information accessible in the cloud.]*

"That's fine. I got my questions answered."

John pushed open the bathroom stall and headed towards the sink to wash his hands beside.... Tim.

Before he could reach, Tim turned around and bumped into him.

"OH--Jeez, my apologies. I'm so clumsy..... can't always hear the best with a deaf side." Tim said, faking embarrassment while motioning to his left ear where something akin to a hearing aid rested. John would bet money it wasn't that at all.

"No problem..." John replied.

Tim stood still for a moment as his expression changed. Then he nodded and pointed at John.

"....John?!"

"...."

"You don't remember me?"

The guy was good, "No...I don't."

"It's Thomas... you know from-- well, I guess you wouldn't since you don't remember me."

John smiled dryly, "....Yea."

Tim put out a hand, "It's good to see you man."

Tim was reaching for his hand housing the Power Rings. No can do. He held out the opposite hand.

"Mhm."

The two shook, but not before Tim "accidentally" grabbed his forearm before looking down to firmly shake his hand.

"Well, hopefully I'll see you around. I've got to go." Tim said before rushing out of the bathroom.

John watched him leave, no longer having to fake innocent confusion. His body became shrouded in red fiery energy. His Rage Aura hot enough to boil the water draining from the sink beside him. On his wrist, an electrical object burned and short circuited in response.

He looked down at his wrist, turning it over to find a partially melted blinking light stuck to the fabric of his red long sleeve shirt.

*[Wayne-Tech tracking device recognized. Currently out of service.]*

"Scheming little shit." John mumbled just as the stall at the end of the bathroom behind him opened.

"Wh....what the--"

"Fuck off." John said before aiming his ringed hand at the man behind him.

A massive energy construct in the shape of a fist flew across the distance between him and the man, punching him into the wall hard enough to leave him in an unconscious heap beneath the urinals.

He brought his rings to his mouth.

"Skallox, I've got somebody for you to play with."

His ring buzzed.

"hehehe.... I await your return, Rankorr."