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gardens-light · 1 year ago

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On The Run

After discovering Optimus Prime in your family barn, normality seemed to briefly throw itself out of the window.

The leader of the Autobots couldn't be anymore in your debt. For as you spend every waking moment putting him back together- repairing and replacing parts of him to the best of your skill.

Admittedly, he almost gave up on humanity. As time seemed to prove itself that they would always look after their own, and protect what's theirs- no matter the cost. Betrayal unleashed it's ugly face to him multiple times, slapping him with the reality that Earth may not be safe for him and his Autobots anymore.

Yet here you stand before him. A warm smile with an aura of glittering hope, burning away his darkness of doubt. It was as though the Universe itself spoke through you, giving Optimus a warmth he thought was forgotten long ago. But he cannot help wander... how far could his trust in you really go...?

Content: Mild coarse language. Events takes place in Transformers- Age of Extinction. (Minor spoilers.) Mention of weaponry. Reader insert.

Word count- 2,800k

Sparkmate Series: Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 (End)

"Don't move like that."

Your hands pressed against Optimus' chest plate as you stood upon the scaffolding.

"The welds are still fresh. Transforming back into your truck form could ruin them- it would be like undoing stitches on a wound."

His Spark burst like small firecrackers as your delicate fingers brushed across his chassis. Jolts of electricity rush through his wires, as your touch run up towards his neck. Heat swept through his metal plates, as you reached up towards his cheek.

"You still need to heal, Big Guy. You of all people should know these things takes time..."

Optimus' optics snapped open. Your touch still lingering upon his chest plate like a ghostly inferred sensation. The memory of the previous hours of the day, playing on repeat within his processors. The haze of sleepiness soon rubbed off, his surroundings becoming faminular again.

His optics scanned the barn, the nocturnal wildlife outside disturbed the still night air. Your small whimpers of your voice caught his attention, Optimus' spark gave a warming glow as he looked down at you.

Engine grease staining your hands, as you curled up upon an old couch. Sleeping peacefully on your side, resting your head in the crook of your elbow.

Optimus' servo touched his lower abdomen, his digits feeling a fresh weld stretching up his side. A gentle sigh left him.

She must of pulled another all nighter.

Grabbing a blanket with his free servo, Optimus carefully draped it along your body. Allowing the tip of his index finger to trace your curves.

His Spark hummed, filling his chest with gentle warmth. Optimus quickly pulled away from you, placing his servo over his Spark.

No. Closing his optics, a heavy sigh left his mouth. Shaking his helm before the thought could permanently fixed itself to his processors. Nothing like that exists. It's just a romanticide idea...

---

"Y/N!" Tessa's voice shouted from the porch.

Stopping mid-weld upon Optimus' side. Gently tapping on the metal sheet, signaling for the Autobot to hold it in place while you pulled down your goggles around your neck.

"I don't like the tone of her voice..." you looked up at Optimus. He saw the worry shining in your eyes. "Hold that tightly, it's only half welded. Hide in there."

His optics followed your pointed finger, "go underneath the floorboards. It might be cramped for you, but it keep you be safe. Don't come out till I say."

Quickly leaving the barn and closing the door behind you. Swallowing down your nerves, as the sight of multiple black cars parked all across the gravel driveway and front lawn. Followed by your dad's truck.

"Oh no..."

A helicopter hovered a few meters away from the house. Disturbing the still air. As soon as the black vehicles parked, multiple heavy armoured individuals got out and scouted the farm.

A man wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses approached you, as your dad came to your side.

"Sweetie..?"

"I donno, Dad-"

"Mr Cade Yeager, my name is James Savoy. I'm a federal agent." Savoy took a look around the property. "My men and I are trying to track down an abandoned truck."

You watched one of the men walk past Tessa. Her eyes staring something in her hands, her fingers playing with the object. You saw her adjusting her breath to a calm rhythm, before looking up in your direction.

"It's a nice spread you've got here." Your attention turned back to Savoy. "Too bad she's up for sale."

"Thanks, and she's not." Cade boldly spoke. "And do you mean that truck?" he pointed to an vintage ute covered in rust, the grass and flowers started to reclaim it for many years now.

"Afraid not... y'know Mr Yeager. We received a call from someone whom is concerned about this truck. That wasn't you?"

You briefly glanced daggers to Tessa's direction. She quickly shook her head rapidly, using her index finger to draw a cross over her heart.

"The only thing I'm concerned about is you being on my property without permission."

Savoy scoffed at your dad's words.

"You know, there's a rule about people messing with people from Texas-"

"And we don't know what truck you're talking about."

Savoy took a step towards you, taking off his sunglasses allowing his narrowed stare to burn into your eyes. "The kind that cost American lives!... Ma'am..."

Savoy studied your firm expression before turning back to his men, "search the property!"

"What? What you mean 'search the property'? You don't have a warrant!" Cade protested.

Savoy glared at him, stepping into Cade's personal space. "My face is my warrant"

You swallowed nervously, trying to keep steady shallow breaths as you watched the men move throughout the farm. Roaming into the house and approaching the barn. Voices scratched over their radios, as the buzz of drones flew above.

Cade turned and looked at you, "what is going on Y/N?-"

"I don't know, Dad..."

His brown eyes studied you, "you sure?... I'm happy to vouch for you but I need to know what it is."

You hesitated before speaking, " I. Don't. Know..."

---

"The fuck is all this junk?"

"A hoarder's yard. That's what."

Optimus looked up at the floorboards, hearing voices and footsteps of the agents entering the barn. Trying to lower himself further down in the cramped floor space, his face wincing in pain as the half welded sheet dug into his thighs. Automatically covering it up with his servo.

"Clear!"

A groan escaped from an agent's lips. His footsteps retreating back to the barn doors, "there's no signs. We've got nothing."

Optimus rested his helm against the dirt wall.

"Sir! We have a live armed missile in the trash!"

The Autobot's wide optics quickly glanced up back up.

Oh no... Y/N!!

---

"Shit..." you hissed under your breath. Feeling Cade's questioning daggers immediately turning your way.

"I-I thought it was a dud." You lowly admitted. Hands clenched into fists.

Savoy's glaze switched between you and Cade.

"Look! Okay, yes. Yes, I found a truck. All right!" you admitted.

Tessa kept shaking her head. Cade leaned towards you, muttering your name.

"I towed it back for the parts, and left it here on the driveway last night. This morning it was gone." You gazed at Savoy. "When? Where? I don't know- I swear to God. That's as much as I know about him!"

You tried to approach Tessa. Eyes staring at the ground, Cade's voice shouted questions at you as he followed. But Savoy grabbed your arm.

"Ma'am-"

"What?-"

"You just said 'him'." Savoy smiled as your terrified expression told him everything. "Take them down!"

Your heart jumped into your throat. Fear running up your spine, as the agents forcefully grabbed Cade and Tessa, throwing them down against the grass.

"They don't know about the truck!" you protested. "I know! I know about it! Please, let them go!"

Savoy grabbed your jaw, forcefully making you look at him. "What kind of woman betrays her flesh-and-blood brethren, for some alien metal?"

"He's more human than you ever be!"

He groaned, wiping your spit away from his face. Savoy's fist made contact with your face, two agents restrained you by the arms holding you up. As Savoy grabbed your jaw again.

Clicking his fingers, the agents restraining Cade and Tessa pulled out their weapons. Clocking the gun and removing the safety.

"You'd kill my family?!-"

"If I have to. You've got ten seconds to tell me where the truck is."

Cade fought against the agent whom knelt against his back. "Don't you fucking dare touch my daughters! Hurt them and I'll kill you!"

Tears ran down Tessa's face as she yelled out for you and Cade. The sound of a gunshot made you flinch.

"Next one will go through your father's head." Savoy warned. "Now, the truck-"

"I've told you everything I know!" you protested. "He was here, and now he's gone! That's all I swear!"

---

"I'm telling you the truth!" your voice cried. Hearing the pain in your tone made Optimus' Spark weep. "He's not here! I swear! He's not here!"

"Tell your men to back off! Don't you dare fucking shoot my daughters!"

"Y/N! Y/N! Please!"

The cries from you and your family wurld around Optimus' head. Hearing Savoy countdown from ten, as he continued yelling his demands at you.

Optimus withdraw his cannon from his back plates. Clocking it, allowing the weapon to light up and wurl. Allowing his face guard to untuck from his faceplate and cover his mouth.

Let's roll!

Erupting from underground, Optimus opened fire at his enemies. Blowing them out of the way, and reducing the barn to splinters.

"Here I am!" his machical voice roared, standing at his full height. Allowing all to see him.

His Spark pulsating fast as his optics laid on you. Rage filled him as he changed the output of his cannon, firing non-lethal EMP's in your direction.

"Stay away from her!"

You knelt to the ground, using your arms to shield you from the blast as the agents flew away from you. Tessa and Cade quickly rushed to your side.

"What the fuck is going on?" Cade yelled over the comotion.

"Run Y/N!" you looked up at Optimus as his cannon returned to deadly rounds. "They're going to kill you! Get out of here!"

Heeding the Autobot's warning, grabbing your sister and dad by their hands. Running towards the wheatfield on the left of the farm. Two missiles came from above. Turning your once family home into nothing but rubble.

Without warning the sound of a car engine roared in the air, quickly stopping at the bottom of the wheatfield. As a white Hatchback raced down the hill, and came skidding to a halt before the three of you.

The passenger door flew open. "Hurry! Get in the car!" the male driver yelled.

"Daddy! Y/N! Get in the car!" Tessa shouted. Shoving your dad into the front passenger seat, and trying to pull you into the back with her.

"What about Optimus? We can't just leave him!-"

"Stop protesting, Y/N! And get in the car!"

"Perimeter! Optimus moving your way!" Savoy yelled into the receiver of his radio.

Optimus looked ahead. Breathing a little easier, once his scanners assured him you were at a safe distance. Seeing the Hatchback race down the road, a low groan escaped Optimus' mouth as he crouched down. Forcing his metal plates to shift, loud churning noises rumbled throughout his mechanical body, as he transformed back into a truck.

You and Tessa clung onto the roll cage for dear life, as the hatchback raced down the open fields.

"What's happening, baby? Who are these guys?" the male driver asked Tessa, looking at her reflection through the rearview mirror.

"It's the truck!" she yelled over the engine. "They want my sister's truck!-"

"Truck?! What truck?!" Cade looked at you over his shoulder. He turned to Tess, "who are 'they'?" his attention fell back onto the male driver. "Who are you? And who the hell are you calling, 'baby?'-"

Tessa and the driver paused.

"I know you heard me!-"

"He's Tessa's boyfriend!" you cried out.

Cade's eyes widened, "what?-"

"His name is Shane! I saw him leaving Tessa's room in his underwear!"

"What?!-"

Tessa punched your arm, "well Y/N brought home a Transformer!"

You punched her back. "If you're going to tell a secret. At least get it right! Optimus was already in the barn!"

"At least I tried to keep your secret!-"

"If we survive this. You two girls have a lot of explaining to do!" Cade shouted.

You and Tessa slouched back in the rear seats.

Shane bit his lip, hesitating for a moment before speaking. "Mr Yeager, this was not how I wanted us to meet ok?-"

"Introduction later!" Cade yelled. "Just shut up and drive the car!"

Two black cars appeared in Shane's rearview mirror. Putting the accelerator closer to the ground, the Hatchback raced through the neighboring paddocks.

"I'm going to try and lose them in the cornfield!" Shane spoke over the roaring engine, as he took a sharp right turn. Driving down a dirt road, kicking up dust and dirt behind him.

A scream left your mouth, as your wide-eyed gaze saw one of the black cars quickly emerging from the tall corn. "Watch out!-"

"Brace for impact!"

Heeding Shane's warning, you and Tessa grabbed hold of the handles above the passenger door. Reaching out for one another, as the car t-boned into the side of Shane.

Screams filled the car, as everyone tried to shield their eyes from the rain of glass. Forcing the Hatchback off the dirt track and into the tall field, Shane kept surprising control of the car. The vehicle swerved in and out of trees.

The speed chase continued onto the main road. Shane weaved in and out of oncoming traffic, effortlessly changing lanes and avoiding pedestrians. Other drivers bleeped their horns and flashed their headlights.

Tessa scrunched up her face, as the sound of crashing cars piled up behind as Shane drove through red lights. And sped through traffic.

Your heart beat hard against your ribcage. Anxiety and adrenaline raced through your veins. Closing your eyes and placing a hand over your stomach as Shane drifted around a corner.

"Great! Now they're firing at us!" Tessa said as bullets ricocheted off the Hatchback.

You and her quickly braced yourselves against the driver and front passenger seat.

"Man! I don't know how I'm driving so good!" Shane exclaimed with a smile. "It's like, today I've gone to a whole other level-"

"Road! Focus!" Cade shouted.

"Shane! Look out!" he drifted around another corner as Tessa's warning came to him.

Your stomach turned into a sickening knot, "I honestly don't know how long I can hold myself together-"

"Y/N! If you throw up on my jeans. I will never forgive you!"

You looked up at Tessa, giving her questioning eyes. "That's your concern right now?!-"

"Hang on!" Shane momentarily stopped the car. Skidding to the side, before putting his foot down on the pedal again and crashing through an empty cafe.

Exiting through the back alley and down an old, forgotten road.

"Lose them through the factory, Shane!"

"You got it, Babe!"

Racing around the empty car park of an abandoned factory. Swerving around corners and driving through large gaps in the building.

"I thought you knew how to drive this thing!" you shouted, as it appeared nothing Shane did was working in losing the tail chasers.

Optimus' Spark raced through his wires, as he drifted and turned through the factory. His scanners having a hard time keeping track of the little Hatchback. Metal plates shifted and groaned as he unleashed his full height, jumping from roof to roof of the factory in an attempt to keep up with you.

You quickly looked out the back window, as Optimus' voice called out for you. Your eyes widening as he rolled in the way of the black cars, causing them to slam into him and setting alight upon collision.

"Take them upstairs!" Tessa pointed from the backseat.

"We're gonna lose them on the fifth floor!" Shane agreed.

The knot in your stomach tightened as the Hatchback entered a multi-story car park. Your skin turned pale, bracing yourself against the back of your dad's seat, as the car drifted around corners and moved up the levels.

"Do that thing, Shane!"

"You know it-"

"What? What thing?" your panicky tone questioned.

"What we're about to do is gonna be kinda scary." Somehow Shane's tone didn't sound much of a warning, as he failed to hide the excitement in his tone.

Pressing the accelerator fully against the floor, Shane looked at Tessa through the rearview mirror. "Ready, Babe?"

"Got it" she said, leaning as far forward as she could. Grabbing onto the handbrake.

"Three. Two. One.. Pull!"

At Shane's command, Tessa pulled the handbrake as hard as she could. Causing the car to sharply stop, then turn right and continue racing towards a ramp that hung out of a window.

"No! No! No!" Cade cried.

The pit of your stomach lifted during the brief seconds of weightlessness. Until it dropped hard once gravity pulled you back down. A high pitch scream left your mouth, hands clutching into the back of Cade's seat, ripping the fabric. As you closed your eyes tightly.

By some miracle the Hatchback roughly landed on a ramp upon the ground. The two black cars behind you wasn't so lucky.

"You two girls are so grounded!" Cade shouted, as Shane drifted around one more corner.

Churning and clunking noises begun to erupt from the engine. The car finally came to an abrupt halt, as Shane slammed on the breaks.

Smoke begun to leak out of the hood.

"Shit! We gotta go!"

Shane and Cade quickly got out of the Hatchback. Optimus blared his horn, rolling up a few feet behind.

"Optimus!" you shouted as Cade helped you get out of the car.

The four of you ran towards the rusty truck. Quickly dodging the rain of bullets from above. Once safely inside, the Autobot sped out of the car park and raced towards the entrance to the highway.

#x reader #transformers x reader #optimus x reader #optimus prime #autobot x reader #optimus prime x reader #transformers fanfiction #transformers bayverse #optimus prime bayverse #optimus prime x you #fanfic writing #bayverse transformers #fanfiction #gardens light

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bonebrokebuddy · 9 months ago

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@kodedgeekthings eyo you mentioned wanting a dpxdc prompt for Howard, Batman’s mechanic!

Harold misses fixing toys for kids and in his off hours has taken up the habit of answering questions on forums about machining, electrical, engineering, mechanics, and mechanical design that are often frequented by students.

One day, he comes across a request by a college student who is trying to assemble his own car out of scrap he bought from a local wrecking yard.

Ghostly_Boy states that he has previous experience in machining and can make replacements for broken or too-damaged parts if need be, but he doesn’t know where to start and what specific requirements he needs to reach to ensure it’s street legal.

Harold willing to help, he answers a few of Ghostly Boy’s clarifying questions:

- Great questions!

It’s good to note that if you’re not careful, fixing or making your own car from parts can be a moneysink and can cost you more than a brand new vehicle. - That being said, your first major step to ensuring you can drive the car is to get the title of the body/frame of the car you plan to build. It’ll have the VIN on a plate welded to the frame usually near the lower edge of the windshield wipers on the drivers side. It’s how the DMV identifies vehicles for licensing.

- Generally, you’ll at first get a “wreck out” title that shows the vehicle is listed as a total loss, but if you can assemble the parts for the car with that frame, the DMV can check if it’s properly running and road worthy & license for you to use it on public roads if you’ve done the proper paperwork.

- Once that is done, it’s largely a case of getting the right parts and assembling them. Depending on how much you have to repair, you could be taking on a task that could give a challenge to even a seasoned mechanic. There may be additional paperwork depending on what exactly you need to repair, like the breaks, lights, steering, etc.

- If you want to build the car entirely from scratch, chassis and all, that’s an entirely different story with a much more complicated list of requirements to make it street legal, so getting a frame from a junkyard is a great first step!

- Make sure to keep all bills of sale, junkyard receipts, invoices and manufacturers’ certificates on any major parts you used in building the vehicle to prove its road worthy to the DMV when it’s complete!

Harold doesn’t always answer first but over time he’s found the adventures of this kid amusing and keeps up with it.

Ghostly_Boy keeps the forum updated with his progress:

The kid spontaneously deciding to scrap the wiring system and make his own in a span of 3 days, leaving experienced mechanics on the forum practically screaming at the kid for his updates showing him using random wires he salvaged and pigtailing them together to get the length of wire he needed.

Mixing not only multiple types of wires but ones that didn’t have the protection needed for auto use. DIY-ing his own relay and fuses he didn’t have and connecting the wrong grounds and switches. And planning on leaving the wires unwrapped and loose.

Leaving Ghost to promptly redo the wiring, correctly this time, within 78 hours.

Making a repair of a massive rusted hole on the passenger side by the bumper and the front tire via cutting 1/2in past the rust, grinding it pretty and clean, tac & seam welding the vintage aluminum housing material of a toaster to cover the hole to the response of Harold and many others in the forum just going “… I guess that would work?”

Harold and many others telling the kid that this “ectoplasm” material wasn’t cleared through the EPA’s Clear Air Act and could be illegal to drive with it as it’s fuel source unless he got the emissions tested & the center of gravity of the car adjusted to have the center of gravity a gas car has, it wouldn’t pass Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Nor would the previously untested on material make it easy or quick to get an Emissions testing certificate. Best to just stick with gas.

Removing what he thought was a “skid plate” that turned out to be another rusted out section on the frame on the bottom of his car and repairing it with steel he salvaged from an old medical table he had laying around. (To the multiple slightly confused commenters asking how Ghost had a spare medical table, he replied, “eh, my folks visit every so often and they’ve been giving me things they’re clearing out of the house so they can move closer to my older sister. I just so happened to get the ye olde medical table. They’re an odd couple of folks but that’s why I love them.”)

People just crying at the kid to go to rockauto.com and just buy the damn parts he needs for his car. (A good resource btw)

The kid kept cutting corners to save cash but through the badgering of Harold and many others that he actually would have to spend money to make this car be safe to drive in, he finally got it completed.

Ghost’s post of him leaving DMV waving the updated title to the car in its envelope in the air, titled, “THE DMV FINALLY SAID IT WASN’T A FIRE HAZARD! ONLY TOOK 2 YEARS! THANKS EVERYONE!” Got the most amount of responses he’d ever had with congratulations from lurkers and previous commenters.

Over the course of those two years, Danny learned how to draw his own wiring diagrams, properly solder and weld, and learning to actually plan out his projects so he got it right at least the fifth time instead of the 20th. Not bad for a kid that went straight from graduating high school with a 1.5GPA to construction jobs.

But after finally getting the car approved, Ghostly_Boy returns to the forum with a new problem. Lamenting that his parents keep coming over and “modifying” his car to no longer make it street legal.

At this point, about half of the answers to the submission think it’s either a joke project taken very, very seriously with a good chunk of money behind it, or a kid with parents that have narrowly avoided falling completely down the mad scientist rogue rabbit hole.

After all, what sort of parent would think that the DMV would approve to “anti-ghost missiles” being attached to the outer body of the car? Either way, the submissions always had video attached showing a demonstration, proving that Ghost wasn’t just completely yanking their chain. And a good amount of money would have to be sunken in to not only pay for the fines Ghostly continued to get from the additions to his car, but to actually manufacture and make a unique working product for each plea for help request.

Harold is not only taking notes on some of these defense measures but also decides to bring up the boy to Alfred. Intrigued, they together keep an eye on Ghostly_Boy. Bruce may be their employer, but they can handle a case or two on their own.

- I wanted Danny to try to make smth for himself now that he doesn’t have access to his parent’s lab anymore but he also doesn’t have access to ectoplasm so he’s fairly unfamiliar how to wire things Not for ectoplasmic standards.

Also I wanted to make a prompt where Danny had a good relationship with his parents & went into a fairly realistic job after high school with his fairly bad GPA so he’s saving up for a technical school via construction jobs as he doesn’t like the idea of working fast food for understandable reasons.

#dpxdc #bones writes #i have about 3 dozen ideas for dpxdc ideas to do with Howard #I’m going to be a manufacturing engineer.#i got so many ideas for this dude teaching one of the batkids or a visitor to the batcave about how cad programs work #& why he’s using x material for its purpose #instead of y material #like this dude could just be any of my automation profs

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the-scarecrow-of-aus · 1 year ago

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Chapter 3 is finally out.

(Hopefully writers block stops using my head like the log truck in final destination treats the people in the car behind it)

Chapter 3: difficult meeting's

Summary:

Jazz has had a rough time, the justice league are having a rough meeting

Notes:

*shaking myself by the collar* that's it, no more tinkering. post the darn chapter you anxious fool!

sorry about the delay, writers block. At least I got time to plan and plot out the rest of the storyline.

here's the chapter that was meant to go out late august.

Enjoy!

Gotham -the night of the Kansas storm.

In a small apartment in the narrows near crime alley a young woman sat on her bed thumbing a golden amulet with one hand, in the other she gripped a thin folder, a strange hunger in her eyes.

Her gaze snapped to the front door as voices could be heard approaching and she tucked the amulet into her jacket warily, she relaxed as she heard her room mate come in, talking over her shoulder at the neighbour "ha! Jokes on you, I'm into that shit!" She closed the door laughing and turned around freezing at seeing her room-mate sitting unmoving in the dark. "Oh shi... ancients jazz! you look terrible, you eaten lately?"

The thought of eating twisted her stomach for some reason, She shook her head and turned to the clock "he said not to eat until after the league received the files, that the meeting would be more effective if I was a 'little' off..." ember frowned before replying "that sounds creepy, *sigh* I'm sure the old man had a reason but still..." she trailed off before heading over to her room, tossing a book bag in and grabbing her guitar case "well... I have a gig at noonans Bar tonight, Baytor finally got back to me about work there. should help us for when the iceberg lounge is closed for 'urgent' repairs, You sure you don't want a feed before you go?" Jazz shook her head "I need the meeting to go right, I'll do whatever it takes to fix things".

Both their eyes glanced over at a metal thermos sat on top of the fridge, repurposed electrical wires spliced it into the fridges power supply, the outer shell of the thermos and its circuits cut open and cannibalised.

Looking through the mess of wires and circuits down to its inner layer, you could see it generating a low amount of blued mist, constantly emmited out of the shell only to be pulled back into the thermos opening as if there was a draught, in its stead it emitted a low red light from the mouth of the thermos, as if there was something else within.

Ember, eyes closed for a moment shivered, opening her eyes again and rubbing her arms like she was cold, she murmured "guess its gonna be sad songs tonight" before drawing her attention away and headed back out the front door "alright, I want you to call me if anything happens tonight, OK? No arguments!" She called not waiting for an answer as the door closed behind her.

Jazz continued to sit in the dark patiently watching the clock, she didn't get bored nowadays and that was marginally useful if a little annoying at times. She would prefer to be back home in amity with Danny though, not that that could happen anymore.

finally after time in the dark apartment the clock hit 6:15, unfolding herself from the bed she got up giving the thermos a lingering glance before leaving the apartment, it was time.

Jazz left her apartment and hailed a cab, keeping a weathered eye out for tell-tale signs of a trap, the last thing she needed was to be delayed by joker gas or fear toxin, heck even the Riddler grabbing hostages for some convoluted bomb scenario.

The trip through the dark city of Gotham didn't take long, the city was abnormally quiet tonight, minimal traffic. 'probably Gotham itself is trying to keep things quiet' jazz thought, giving silent thanks to the old spirit of the city who was willing to give her refuge.

All the rogues were supposedly in Arkham right now or laying low, as she travelled she could see the shadow of capes flick around roof corners as the vigilantes started their patrols across the rooftops guarding the city.

The taxi left the city proper climbing up to where Wayne manor resided, as the taxi driver pulled up to the gate possibly hoping to get into the manor grounds and look around jazz stopped them, thanking them for the ride and paying the fare.

As she waited for the taxi to leave disappearing down the road, she stared up at the manor then back down the path, nervously approaching the gates

"OK jazz, you got this. Just like we practiced".

Alfred pennyworth having bid all his charges good luck as they went out into the night, had just finished cleaning up after dinner and was preparing to settle down when there was a clear sharp knock at the front door, he frowned.

There had been no alert from the front gate and no sensors had gone off (nor his own personal alarms strangely).

For a moment He assumed it was Ms Cassandra forgetting something or possibly master Damien sneaking back with another stray cat he didn't want his father to find out about, but he highly doubted that, Damien would always use the back door and Ms Cassandra wouldn't need to knock.

After pinging the bat clan that something was up he answered the door, one hand holding his shotgun behind the door as it unlocked and opened.

A tall young woman with white streaked red hair, strange burns and cuts around the corners of her mouth and the look of a predator stood slightly back at the entry, hands clasped in front of her politely holding a document folder.

She smiled politely as well, not showing teeth and introduced herself. "Hello, it's Mr Pennyworth correct? My name was Jasmine Fenton, I apologise for disturbing you unscheduled but I have an urgent delivery to 'Agent A and the Batman for the Justice League', it concerns their current meeting".

She somehow spoke the names in a way the words didn't travel beyond him, he didn't know how but Alfred was certain the sound disappeared quickly without any sort of echo after it reached his ears.

Alfred, ever the consummate butler not to mention a senior member of the bat family was observant enough to see the signs of stress and nervousness hidden on her face, he smiled and opened the door wider "it will take a moment to arrange things, would you like to come inside and have a cup of tea while you wait?"

Jazz smiled slightly more, lips parting enough to show sharp teeth slotted together, her canines and the teeth next to them much longer then a normal humans.

"only if you would like me to, I'm just here to deliver the files. I can wait outside for confirmation or leave if you prefer, my contact information is in the folder if need be".

Alfred noted the teeth but chose to look at her with heartfelt concern "nonsense my dear, please come in. Perhaps I can make you something to eat, you do look hungry".

She looked sad as he invited her in and murmured "thank you, but tea is fine, I highly doubt you could feed me what I need".

---

The watchtower -primary meeting room, night of the Kansas storm.

It had been a week from hell for most members, everybody not doing intelligence gathering was dealing with hard nosed politicians refusing to admit any wrong doing or shady government officers who were urgently trying to destroy any evidence that they were connected to said wrong doing, sometimes it was the same people.

Attempted tracking of the two spirits who escaped the facility was vexing, originally all sightings pointed to them heading directly towards a small town in Illinois, but the moment league members got close to the town their comms completely shut off and the spirits disappeared from all media and view, this was later tracked back to another GIW facility based in the area that blacked out all outside communications within the town as part of a legal sociological experiment they had 'volunteered' for.

More investigations would have to be done on that as well.

With no way to track them physically or electronically, the league chose to switch to more magical means of tracking. More duties falling on the few JLD members there were, raven was the one currently on duty. She had last reported there was interference for the tracking of the spirits but hadn't checked back in yet.

Examination of data recovered from the facility had been just as difficult, all secure information seemed only viewable on the hardware from the building, of which very few hardware pieces survived the destruction intact. Watchtower technicians were carefully piecing together the functioning pieces into working computers.

The computer parts themselves while definitely low tech had what Constantine called ectoplasm ('heavily filtered, concentrated and refined Lazarus water' he grudgingly accepted as a description) mixed and bonded into their construction. Unfortunately attempts to recreate the pieces using the leagues limited supply of Lazarus water failed to work, simply frying the circuit boards.

As such any attempt to view it on normal or league technology resulted in either the data being unreadable or (unfortunately for the Batcomputer) tore the machine apart trying to comprehend it. Now even cyborg was wary to examine the data.

[Entry: green lantern-06, Constantine John, wonderwoman-01, superman-01, zatanna-01, flash 02, Question 00, Martian manhunter-01, green arrow-01, Dr Fate 02, captain marvel-01.

Zatanna spoke to the tower A.I "computer, please note Deadman also in attendance" the computer beeped in confirmation with her casting a spell quickly to let them communicate with Boston.

Batman studied the reports as league members involved in the case, both dark and light filed in. "How goes the containment of the facility, there are disturbing reports coming in from people near the site".

Constantine lit a cigarette glaring right back at anyone who tried to stop him. "Bad, but securely contained. I reached out to some of my more 'questionable' contacts for additional resources to help strengthen the barrier but until we find out what exactly did it and how to reverse it, all I can do is speculate on what's happening in there and how to stop it".

Green arrow spoke up "couldn't we ask those agents? What about the survivors from the lab, has there been any update?"

Constantine shook his head "I wouldn't trust a word that came out of that agency's mouths if I were you, that being said the agent that attacked the lanterns is the only lucky one, he must have been on a doughnut run or something when it happened. Either he knows nothing or is too devoted to his cause, he won't speak to us... it's that or he's just plain crazy now, but who am I to judge".

"Usually the first, since you often call me crazy" said the flash cheerily getting a glare from Constantine in return.

"Your entire family can break the sound barrier wearing sand shoes and have a habit of screwing with time, of course I think you're crazy. But for the agent, He's basically enthralled, the perfect employee".

"Care to elaborate?" Asked captain marvel

"Sure, From the medical observation it looks like he had already been systematically driven insane by something, then he latched onto his organisations beliefs to try and keep himself alive, 'probably didn't even question the surgical procedures they did to themselves...' uh, basically doubling down to anchor himself. Otherwise he probably would have had enough self control to avoid recklessly attacking the lanterns".

Batman spoke "what about those still in medical. is there any way to question them?"

Constantine looked weary at this, taking a last drag of his cigarette and stubbing it out. Breathing out the cloud of smoke he finally answered "there's no coming back for them. Their bodies might heal, those that are capable, but they won't truly live anymore"

"Oh dear, Why, what happened to them?" Asked Wonder-woman wondering what was troubling Constantine so badly.

"Mass Soul disruption" said Constantine itching for another cigarette. The answer made Wonder-woman, Zatanna, Doctor fate and even Deadman floating in the room visibly flinch.

"from what I could divine, after months of torture the agents must have broke open their captives core's and abused them. A ghost core is basically their heart, soul and mind. One of the spirits probably decided they had nothing left to lose anymore and let loose. those that were in the room got what was coming to them, for everybody outside, consider their deaths a mercy"

"What is soul disruption exactly?" Asked superman raising a hand, he and most of the non magic leaguers looked confused.

Zatanna uncomfortably gave the answer "soul disruption is a general term to explain damage to or loss of a soul" Zatanna paused and looked to where Boston floated, concern and worry plain on his face "stories say that a person without a soul is bound to become evil, but most of the time they just end up as figurative zombies, maybe over a long time period they could slowly recover. they can still perform tasks but no spark of life, empathy or creativity anymore, they're just on autopilot doing what they're told".

Lantern Simon baz spoke up "could I assume this 'Soul disruption' that caused the explosion is related to the green flames we saw on first arrival? Because I was unable to track any specific damage in the collapsed building short of the hole melted into the roof"

Constantine nodded "yes and no, the original explosion was the only attack that actually happened. In a tight underground space it reverberated around destroying anything it hit until it found a weak point and was funnelled up the elevator shaft, now concentrated, the wall of resonate sound melted through anything close by and shattering anything solid in its way. It forced itself out of the building, dispersing into the atmosphere with all the lab ectoplasm stores and debris which caught fire. more like a volcano erupting, unfortunately normal volcanic explosions don't make screaming skull shaped clouds".

Members that had been within earshot of the blast winced as they remembered the horrid sound

Constantine had finished the cigarette too fast, he definitely needed another but he held off, no sense in antagonising the bat with his habit. "Yeah… from what was recorded and reported, it sounds like a cry or scream, not an explosive blast".

Zatanna froze "scream? from a spirit... like a wail?... as in 'banshee?'... Oh gods damn it!" Hearing her curse and cover her mouth had the rest of the league concerned, Zatanna just stared blankly ahead, deep in thought without responding.

Boston gently poked her trying to snap her out of it "uh, maybe an explanation for those who don't know what a screaming lady has to do with this?"

Sighing Constantine grabbed the second cigarette, lighting up. "Ok, cliff notes on Banshee's.

-Creature's of myth from the olden days back home.

-they have an important job, which is they wail when a person is going to die.

Dramatic? Sometimes, Prophetic? Usually, supernatural? definitely.

-they do it for a very important reason though, it helps souls cross over without lingering, basically a reminder message to pack your bags and turn off the stove".

He shrugged at the assembled leaguers, some still looked confused "look, Without it the entire UK would have been overrun by the undead a millennia ago".

"Isn't England already full of ghosts and undead now anyway? I assume that's the reason we pack Nth metal weapons anytime we go over there" the flash asked, gaining an annoyed look from half the members present, including Constantine, "blame Charlemagne" He dryly replied.

"The species themselves emigrated from this plane along with a few other species like the yeti's when humanity went into their holy war's phase, mostly to avoid eradication. Smart thinking in my opinion, but that's not the issue.

A Banshee by themself isn't strong enough to do this damage, when they left earth, they all had to work together just to pass through the veil. Mostly they're human offspring of something vaguely referred to in historical records as half spirits.

So with the mounting evidence: it's dangerously possible that the GIW agents caught a progenitor of the banshee's... which would be really bad".

Mythology lesson apparently done, Batman gave Constantine a gesture to get him back on track.

"The major issue is, they did something so horrible to a creature related to a banshee, a creature who normally only warns of death.

With the use of a full strength wail, this spirit basically ruptured the fabric of reality in that area when it blasted their souls out, shredded them like a pressure washer on seafoam. The bodies in medical, they're empty vessels".

There was a priority comm beep from Batman and he excused himself to answer it quietly, Zatanna seemed to stir, while still looking deep in thought she spoke quietly "we need to prepare for what comes now".

"Prepare for what?" Asked wonderwoman.

"Prepare for whatever comes looking for the spirit that cried out and hope it's friendly not hostile".

Constantine considering a third cigarette went paler if possible "oh crap, I missed that part. Oh no, ohnonono crap! that's gonna cause problems".

Batman came back to the meeting and perhaps hoping to avoid witty remarks from the flash or arguments among the league members asked the question brewing: "what's the likely scenario, what will happen?"

Again Zatanna spoke "the creature would have left a tear in reality at the site. worse case, something notices the tear and tries to get into our world through it, knowing our enemies probably something infernal and therefore a Hellmouth may form".

Constantine, Boston and captain marvel groaned in different levels of stress "blast it, I'm definitely gonna need more resources, hey bats reckon you can stomach the bile to ask Lex for assistance? Nobody likes having a Hellmouth in their backyard"

"no, nope, I don't do hellmouths. They're uncomfortable to be near and eat at my soul"

"I can probably get some more help from the rock of eternity if needed?..."

The members broke out in various discussions like this till batman interrupted them "this meeting will need to be suspended for the moment, new information has just been brought to my attention down in Gotham and I need to personally verify it, we will pick back up in half an hour in conference room 3".

Green arrow called to batman as he got up to leave the meeting room "what kind of information?"

"An unknown woman appeared unexpectedly at Wayne manor with hard copy files pertaining to this meeting. Constantine, the first page was a letter to you, you're with me".

"Like bloody-hell I do! Most letters addressed to me are either letters of debt or the magical equivalent of letter-bombs, sometimes both. I'm not going near it!" Batman nodded not stopping, instead tapping a button on his gauntlet "the letter mentioned that".

The meeting rooms projector displayed a scanned shot of a slim stack of papers. The first page was a letter directed to Constantine:

John Constantine,

Two matters of urgent importance:

1. please come verify the authenticity of these documents or I will call in 'my' favours to Satan, Beelzebub and azrael regarding your 'shared' contracts.

2. Please summon me using the enclosed sigil for convenience, meeting room 3 will suffice. I have a matter to discuss with the league regarding the topic of your current meeting and to notify you all of destabilising incidents in the realms related.

(Batman, please be advised that Constantine will not trust this letter expecting a trap, show him a photo of this page to get him moving)

Don't keep me waiting John, you know I can't leave the realms easily 'without' consequence.

Yours in time

Clockwork (formerly Kronos)

Ghost of time

"Oh... bollocks... rutting, friggin bollocks, there's the blasted problems we were worried about" swore Constantine stalking out of the room after batman.

Boston took one look at the letter and shuddered "OK, I changed my mind. The Hellmouth it is, no way am I staying here if he's showing up"

Green arrow didn't get the chance to work with Boston often, the few times he did was through the proxy of possession so he sat and observed Boston's expression, trying to decide if it was fear or disgust... what he saw instead was envy and concern... whoever this clockwork guy was, Boston was worried about been seen by him.

The various JL members talked amongst themselves while they waited, hopefully batman wouldn't hold things up by interrogating the woman...

"Who's Charlemagne?" Captain marvel asked Zatanna quietly.

---

Wayne manor

Batman and Constantine zeta'd to the Batcave, immediately taking the main lift up to the manor. Constantine looked confused "uh, bats? We not taking the scenic route through to the front door?"

Batman gritted his teeth as he answered "there was an additional note attached to the letter, it was addressed to 'Bruce Wayne' and Alfred, in mine and Alfred's private security cypher, it was a warning that there was a security leak in the watchtowers systems and how to find it. Oracle is currently investigating, as for the woman, she seems aware and the note identified her as this 'clockworks' granddaughter, I need you to verify who she actually is"

"Verify if she's the grandchild of the mad titan? Are you kidding me, how am i supposed to do that? We already have Diana, and I doubt any of those Olympians could keep it together long enough to create another demigod! Can't you just look her up or did the Batcomputer explode again?"

Batman growled in answer, exiting the elevator into the manor heading straight for the kitchen. Constantine slowly grinned and held in a laugh as he followed "oh, so that's why were taking the direct path, going out the backdoor takes us past the computer! So it blew up again huh?" Batman glared at him "Yes, the same way it blew up when we tried to examine the GIW data. I need to know why it reacted to her like that".

Alfred was in the kitchen talking politely with Ms jasmine, she seemed insistent for him not to call her a Fenton. Apparently there was a huge falling out and jasmine was in the process of legally changing her name, a task that seemed to be more difficult then normal.

"So we get back to amity, i find out what they did to my siblings, enter the local justice department and I reach the front desk only to find those asshole agents waiting for me there like they own the place, they tried to charge me as an escaped fugitive and shoot at me again so I broke their noses and slipped back out of Illinois before they could hunt me down. Then I went off grid, planting a trail leading to my aunts place and made my way to Gotham with my friends"

"That seems rather dangerous, will your aunt be OK?"

"Oh yeah, it was her idea. After star city aunt Alicia completely disowned Maddie, she knew it wasn't safe in that house and had been trying to get Maddie to stop and think, but... after what happened to Danny and then me... Maddie's on her own, there's no chance for her anymore".

"No I mean will your aunt be OK from those agents?" Jazz snorted "oh yeah no, she'll be fine! Aunt Alicia said if we are going to come, go through Danny's space camp trail. Everywhere else will be a kill box".

"I see... well, next time you talk to her tell her I said good hunting"

Jazz was interrupted from further talk by the dark knight and a shabby blonde man in a overcoat walking into the kitchen "oh, hello Mr Batman sir. I'd say It's nice to meet you but honestly I hoped to never meet you outside of a university lecture, in fact I was honestly expecting a robin to come get the files... aaand you are that occult guy from a few years back who tried to make my parents stop their research. Mr... continuoustein?" Jazz cocked her head in thought.

"Constantine, and your name lass?"

"Oh I'm just Jazz now, formerly Fenton"

Constantine froze and stared blankly at her "you're little jasmine? 'Jazzy-pants? From amity park's Jack and Madelyn Fenton?"

"I hate that name but Yes, why are you so confused?"

"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you of all people to be here, weren't you a strict non-believer and studying to be a psychologist?"

Jazz stared at him hard "I was yes, then Danny had his accident and I had to face the reality of the situation, 'no matter how much I protested'" she added "As for my plans, I was still planning to be a psychologist up until a month ago, I found out Danny had been taken by the GIW and my parents took leave of their sanity since they literally sold him to them, they also tried to take me as well, and... well I'm sure the news coverage on that was kept quiet. Anyway, here's the file's 'boobytrap' free for you to examine, my job of courier is now complete!".

Batman silently took in everything she said, a simple glance showed a tired college student, if he looked closer however, things were off like an uncanny valley effect.

Alfred had mentioned her teeth but he hadn't mentioned the angular lines to her face, it was definitely a normal human skull when she turned her head but if you looked directly at her the lines of her face blurred... made it look...off, elongated even. her blue eyes also seemed off, backlit like they glowed, she looked hungry. if you looked at her perfectly normal hands from the corner of your eye they looked a lot sharper while wrapped around the tea cup, like she had hardened claws for nails.

'Not human, or not completely human' batman thought, summarised from what he could see 'definitely signs of being a predator of some sort. Priority is the information though, the threat is secondary'. He decided reigning himself back in before speaking "Jasmine, I'm sorry but i need to ask you a few urgent questions".

"Sure, Jazz is fine but go for it, I can answer a few before I have to leave, although I'm pretty certain clockwork can answer better then me".

"Who is clockwork to you, how can i trust him or you? I ask because from what I was told the infinite realms should hold a sizable grudge against the living."

Jazz stared at him smiling gently as she listed on her fingers: "he's mine and my siblings adoptive grandfather, he doesn't lie but he does like to turn things into lessons to entertain himself and to my knowledge the only ones he has a grudge against is a Doctor fate for some past incident during WWII and time travellers including the flash family for making his job more annoying. As for the realms, excluding me... most just want to be left alone or pursue their obsessions. We police the more dangerous ones like pariah, Anything else?"

He watched her for any flicker of emotion, any sign she was lying... nothing. "Do you know where the leak is or who I am?"

She didn't even blink before replying "page three of the files, they're getting in through cyborg via his star labs uplink, an update installed a blind spot they took advantage of to install spyware marked as necessary firmware. We've added a patch note to allow him to view the GIW files you have, as well as stop computers exploding around ectoplasm. As for you? you are batman, that's all I need to know outside of a psychology examination... unless you want to discuss the theories that 'the butts match' or Wayne industries does a lot more then just help 'fund' the justice league?"

With no answer given Jazz finished her tea and got up, "this has been interesting but I definitely need to head out now, things to do, late for dinner, need to feed. Thanks for the tea Mr pennyworth."

"Are you a metahuman?" Asked batman making her pause as she left the kitchen "hmm, tough question... short answer no, long answer maybe? I'm liminal like my brother, Mr Constantine can probably explain it to you more when he gets past his... apparent brain freeze" Jazz finger gunned past batman causing him to look around.

Constantine, waiting too long to ask his own questions had closed his eyes for a moment to rub at a forming headache of her previous answers, opening his eyes in confusion to batman staring at him, Batman looked back to see jazz had disappeared, the path to the front door was completely empty.

Jazz was gone.

"where did she go?" Batman asked Alfred knowing he hadn't taken his eyes off her. "She left sir, prior engagements and the like. Don't you have a meeting to get back to?"

Outside the Wayne manor The sound of a motorbike revving and driving off echoed into the night.

---

Jazz knew they would begin following her when she reached the streets, she also knew she shouldn't instigated batman by disappearing mysteriously, but her hunger was getting worse! if she stayed a moment longer she would literally dig through the floorboards to get at that faint whiff of what smelled almost like ectoplasm coming from underground... she shook her head and stopped her body from turning back around to hunt the smell, if it had been ectoplasm it would have permeated the air of Wayne manor, not travel up like a bad smell... 'it. Was. Not. Ectoplasm'. She thought hard as she dug her lengthening nails into her palm beds.

It was probably just an experiment or batman stuff, nothing relevant to her.

Jazz exited the manor to find Johnnie waiting out the front on his bike looking idly up at the mansion, he turned to her with a solemn look on his face, no smile, no jokes. she nodded to him and got on his bike, gripping him comfortably as he drove straight through the closed gates, taking her back through the winding upper society roads into Gotham proper.

She tapped him to get his attention and he pulled over to let her off a few blocks away from home, johnnie held her hand for balance as she got off and gave it a gentle squeeze before letting go, still not smiling. He seemed to be about to say something to her but clenched his jaw and looked away, a look of stressed concern or possibly anger flickered across his face before he shook it off and revved the engine.

he drove off without a word leaving her to walk the streets home.

Damn jazz was hungry.

---

The batfam were following their targets for the night, there was a suspected metahuman trafficker in Gotham and they were planning to hunt them down before they got a foothold.

The duress warning from Alfred however had made almost everyone try to race back to the mansion before he gave the all clear response.

Now with the city being so quiet and no leads on the traffickers they had idle time, as such they listened in on the woman named jazz's static filled conversation with Alfred in the kitchen (her words sounded like a old tape recorder message, an issue neither oracle or red robin were able to solve on their ends). She was polite and chatted about her life in a town called amity park, how proud she was of her brother for doing his best helping people around town despite their families reputation, the many peculiarities of her town with its fame for being the most haunted... then it got weirder. How Danny had to recruit the entire school to mount a rescue for all the brainwashed adults from a flying ghost ship, The time she almost got blown up by the school councillor who was feeding on the students negative emotions, her brothers creepy godfather who had him cloned resulting in a new little sister who she absolutely adored (once Danny actually thought to tell her she existed), her parents toxic obsession with the ghosts and how it had destroyed her and her siblings lives. "She's making this up, ghosts don't... aren't, capable of all that" grumbled Damien currently staked out on the manors roof, he wasn't risking Alfred being harmed because they dropped their guard.

"I'm glad you said that and not ghosts don't exist because I definitely recall your face when you first learnt about Boston and Greta!"

"That's not relevant nightwing, ghosts can rarely appear in the world let alone orchestrate physical attacks on groups of people, we have no record of these things happening, you would think someone would notify the justice league!"

Steph's giggling voice entered the channel "you know, since nobody was hurt the town probably kept it quiet to help with their most haunted town theme, that... or somebody stopped them reporting it, but that would be crazy-ridiculous and mean something larger".

Jazz's voice came through the com again, this time talking about her recent activities and they sounded even worse.

"So a few months ago I get ready to check out a few college's, waved goodbye to my parents, hugged my brother, the whole shebang. Off I go city to city checking out my preferred places, a few weeks in, hero stuff happens further up the train line and my friends and I get redirected to star city until the lines clear. A day or two in I get the odd feeling someone's stalking me, I stick to public areas and it fades... then the day the lines are clear and we're heading to the station the feelings back again and this time I see them, the freaking GIW are stalking me with their white suits and vans. My friends and I try to bail because we know, anytime they're near, there's gonna be collateral damage and friendly fire all blamed on ghosts. We almost make it before they act, blocking us in the public area and open fire".

Tim is typing away on his wrist computer looking more and more distressed till dick has to put a hand on his shoulder to draw him out "what is it RR?" Tim sends files to his siblings giving each of them chills when they read its contents. "We missed another GIW operation, it didn't turn up in our hunt because the officials who sent us the information were also our contacts with star labs in the city, we didn’t question the information, there's no record of a fire-fight but there is a record of a gas main explosion that caused quite a few casualties in star city a while ago..."

"Many casualties..." murmurs orphan staring at the list "can we confirm?"

Oracle chimed in "I found something while following a lead for 'B', a star labs I.D was used in an attempt to delete star city camera security footage which was flagged by green arrows security logs, the 'explosion' if you want to call it that was caught on a safe house security feed, and shows GIW agents shooting at people trying to cross into a train station. It's hard to be certain but it looks like 'Ms Fenton' was there... it also looks like someone took a shot meant for her!" Oracle enhanced some of the footage, a slightly staticky zoomed in clip showing an agent raise a heavy weapon and fire it at jazz, before it can hit, one of the people with jazz, a woman dived up in front of jazz and the were both blown off screen by the weapon blast.

The sound of B and Constantine entering the kitchen drew their attention, they listened to her answer B's questions when she started to leave. "Getting in position to tai..." Damien was getting up from his position on the roof ready to follow her but found himself frozen in place, unable to move the moment he locked eyes with a man on a motorbike in front of the manor. a man that hadn't been there a minute ago that was now staring directly at him on the roof, The man brought a finger up and wagged it at robin as if to chastise him.

"Robin, can you repeat, you cut out there. come in!" Spoke Grayson in his ear but he couldn't answer. Soon enough the Fenton woman exited straight through the manor door as if it wasn't there and walked up to the biker getting on. The man gave him one last glance before taking off and driving straight through the closed gates to the main road, the moment he left the property Damien could move again, he wasted no time in reporting in to the voices calling him.

"Ugh! Target left the property on a motorbike, driver is a male possibly mid to late 20's extremely pale with white hair, capable of inflicting full paralysis at a distance, may be sight based! Motorbike and riders went through closed gate as if it wasn't there, combined with appearing out of nowhere, may have matter shifting abilities similar to Martian manhunter!"

Unseen, Damien's shadow returned to its normal proportions as a patch of darkness before it flitted away after the motorbike, the woman Jazz had disappeared, gone in the darkness leaving them far behind.

---

A quick study of the documents and a quicker check-up of the annoyed but otherwise fine Damien was all Bruce could afford before they needed to return to the watchtower, folder and its documents in hand.

Exiting the zeta tube batman immediately contacted cyborg "cyborg, I'm sending you a file, immediately follow its instructions to remove a data breach to your systems, then head to the star labs branch in star city, bring the listed officials and workers in for questioning".

Conference room 3 was one of the older rooms, a sturdy work floor had been installed on top of the standard station floor for this room to allow repeated defacing of the surface without needing to constantly repair the space station section, Fortunately most magic rituals could be done with chalk these days.

Currently members of the JLD (minus Dr fate and Deadman who gave their apologies as not wanting to interact with Kronos) and a few supernatural aware JL members were surrounding a summoning circle drawn on the floor, there Constantine was grumbling under his breath while busy wrapping his hands around concoction soaked rags.

"Alright, here we go folks. Good news, clockwork is a neutral entity and is often quite reserved in his personality, that being said. Remember not to wisecrack the ancient entity of time... uh, that warnings mostly for me. So lets get this over with!" Constantine lit the rags on fire, filling the room with the smell of sulphur, clapped his hands together in prayer and began the summoning".

"venias ad me nunc aeternitatis exactor" the circle lit up before slowly turning down from a burning orange to a glowing green as he continued

"Ad te voco spiritum temporis ut det munus meum. Invoco te spiritus temporis ad dandum meum donum scientiae"

(*Come to me now driver of eternity. I call upon you the spirit of time to give my gift. I call upon you, the spirit of time, to give me the gift of knowledge.)

With barely a ripple, a being with red glowing eyes, one scarred and what looked like a grandfather clock jammed in its torso appeared floating in the circle glaring at Constantine"

"I gave you my summoning circle, yet you have the nerve to summon me like that Constantine? I'm not a damn demon. you didn't even use my name properly! if I hadn't wanted to talk to you I would have sent a hex down the line". The grizzled spirit stared at them unblinking, slowly shifting form between adult, child and elder as the sound of deep ticking echoed from him.

"I didn't think you'd really answer the summons for little old me without some kind of trouble waiting, besides, I don't speak Esperanto well, fortunately Latin works just fine".

Constantine tried to light a new cigarette but was stopped by batman nudging him to continue. "You said you had information for our case so I need to ask. I'm enquiring into two spirits we were tracking who escaped a holding facility last week" the ancient spirit glared at Constantine and replied in a mocking tone "a holding facility you say? I didn't know the justice league knew about such places capable of 'containing' spirits. Tell me John, do they just 'hold' spirits there, is that what they do?"

Constantine had the good sense to feel ashamed as Clockwork chewed him out "we didn't know they had gotten this bad, I had requested they be under more scrutiny bu-" "I don't care for excuses Constantine, the damage is done and still continues. Now! Ask what you wanted to ask so I can get back to dealing with some meddlesome intruders in my domain". "Uh right... the two spirits that escaped, they were wounded. We can't seem to track them anymore, I'd like their names so we can summon them and make sure they're alright and possible answer some questions".

If it was possible, the aura around the spirit became more dangerous.

"The spirits you are searching for no longer exist as they were" said the ancient ghost, anger clear on his face towards Constantine and the league members in the room. "Their cores begun final collapse and destabilisation this afternoon after being on the run from the humans agents called the Ghost investigative ward, those that hurt and hunted them. They didn't even get the comfort of their loved ones with them. The most we could do was shroud the area so they would not be recaptured in their final moments".

"Oh, I'm so sorry. What were their names?" Asked Zatanna "their human names? You might know them as Daniel Fenton of amity Park and his cloned half sister Danielle masters" The glare as he turned back to Constantine increased.

"Hang on! The Fenton boy? 'He was cloned?...' uh no wait, Why would he be a spirit? Aren't his parents working with the bloody GIW!" "Yes, yes they are". came the reply with a sense of finality to it.

Constantine's eyes went wide and his skin paled as he realised the implications of what jazz had said earlier, "Oh... oh no." "Oh yes" glared clockwork "my grandson Danny spent two years protecting Amity Park from both ghost attacks, his parents and the GIW without the league or outside help. He kept the human world safe from the ghosts and then had to switch to protecting the realms from the humans. Only to then get shot in the back by his parents, to have his body and core cut up piece by piece".

He watched them mutter and wince amongst themselves before continuing "it should interest you to note, His human allies and their families were also taken by the GIW and are being held by your government in rather unpleasant detainment facilities. If you would like to earn my favour I would suggest tracking them down and releasing some of them for starters".

The batman approached the circle and examined clockwork before speaking "what are their names? Do you know which facilities they are in or what they're being held for?" Clockwork seemed to contemplate something. A green sheet of parchment fell through the circle at their feet, a list of names, aliases and locations.

"You can start with Samantha Manson, she's currently booked illegally in Arkham under an alias, you should find her having tea with poison ivy since they have a lot in common. By the way, since her parents willingly helped lock her up in that 'tainted curse' of a place to avoid being incarcerated themselves, I would suggest helping her out with emancipation paperwork and bringing charges against the parents.

Next is tucker Foley, he's currently in the Cadmus lab in metropolis as a test subject, luckily he's smarter then them. You can give him a few more days before you collect him, he's having fun sabotaging their more shady work.

Last, You'll find Valerie grey residing in belle reve prison... most of the time. You will need to schedule time with Amanda Waller if you want to get her out".

Batman stared at the list "what are all these other names and locations?"

"The Foley's and the grey family are interred with students from Casper high, amity park. They're being held in detention cells throughout America" clockwork rolled his glowing eyes at that. "The students attempted to get in touch with authorities outside amity park and the GIW'S control, the agents found out about it and had them black bagged, or white bagged if you want to go by their theme, Now they're being held for breach of the anti-ecto acts. The rest of the locations are undocumented GIW facilities where captured ghosts and ecto contaminated subjects are experimented on. I would advise shutting them down soon or the GIW, if successful with their experimentation will gain enough strength to be a major problem for your entire reality".

Batman looked at the list and nodded, "it will be dealt with, how were these anti-ecto acts breached exactly?-"

[Entry: raven 02]

Their conversation was stopped by raven entering the meeting room and coming to a halt. "Oh, uh did I come at a bad time?" Clockwork shifting to a small child ghost, looked up at her and smiled "of course not Ms raven, in fact I was hoping to return something of yours, would you like it now or we can discuss later if you prefer?"

"What are you offering her?" Asked Constantine immediately suspicious, "memories" clockwork replied. Raven looked confused but nodded assuringly to Constantine "whose memories are they?" Clockwork pulled out a small clockwork gear printed in strange symbols on a glowing material and flicked it out of the circle like a coin to her. "I'd say yours, to remember in your own time" Clockwork turned back to batman shifting to an old ghost and continued explaining the anti-ecto acts and the loopholes they had used to get their way.

Diana glanced up at raven, still standing awkwardly by the door holding the cog unsure if she had been dismissed. "Raven, take a seat dear, has something happened?"

Raven sighed as she answered accepting an empty chair "I'm sorry, I was tracking the spirits down with superboy when that weird storm hit. tracking has completely failed and smallville was the last area I could locate the spirits. I've tried breaking through again but the storm is too strong, Not to mention strange reports began just before it appeared".

"Oh, what reports?"

"Public disturbance calls mostly, Magic sites across the globe that deal with spirits are reacting weirdly. shrines, graveyards even haunted houses". Diana caught clockworks grin at her and turned to look at him "what do you know about this?" She asked staring at him intently.

"Oh just the second reason for my visit, none of you would know this yet but the infinite realms is currently in a form of political turmoil" Constantine perked up "turmoil? What happened, did one of your more inane ghosts do something stupid like stealing Pandora's box again?"

"Close, due to the disappearance of phantom, who has being one of the more stabilising presences in the realms. some citizens of the realms (who may have had a hand in his disappearance) took it upon themselves to steal royal artefacts and dispense them to potential candidates for the throne, as such from tonight we are now locked into a war of succession"

"A war of succession... how? Pariah's been your king for well over a millennia!" Exclaimed Constantine. "exactly, pariah in his defeat was still wearing the crown while locked in the coffin of forever sleep. however during an incident two years ago he was temporarily freed by a greedy idiot. After a few days terrorising the realms, he was bested and re-sealed by phantom, this time without the crown. Since having been defeated in what was observed as single combat he lost the rite of control for both the crown of fire and the ring of rage. Both items at the time were stolen by Vlad masters and stored in his vault... they are gone now, and are in the hands of candidates to the throne".

Green arrows face scrunched like he'd eaten something sour, "Vlad masters? That rich, creepy mayor with a ton of shady businesses? How'd he get involved?" "The same way he got those businesses, he caused an issue then swept in taking what he wanted without the original owners being aware. You'll find files on him in those GIW computers you collected, fortunately he's not a candidate for the throne so I can sell the prat out without breaking the rules, by the way, I'd appreciate you hunting him down Constantine, he has many relics you might be interested in as payment".

"What makes a candidate? can we know who the candidates are?" Asked batman trying to bring them back on topic. "I cannot say the selection process was done by the Observants without permission of the ancients, those two relics are crafted in a way that I cannot detect or interact with them, a fail-safe pariah built into them to stop me ever trying to usurp him. They were stolen around the same time but I only discovered they were missing because another one of the stolen relics was guarded by the yeti's. That has itself brought up its own local problems. However, the earliest theft was shortly before phantom disappeared two months ago. all I can say is they are loose in this world and you will begin noticing their effects soon... or you may already have noticed these effects..." Constantine was getting irritated and really wanted another smoke " you're clear as mud clockwork, that doesn't really help things. Do us a favour and tell us what the items do to people, I mean, shouldn't they only affect ghosts?"

Clockwork grinned "how many times have you all died? Even for short periods of time because your heart stopped? Now, how many of you live in area's where there's a high amount of death energy permeating the city around them?" He looked to batman for this one with a raised eye. "The ring and crown influence those affected by death in different ways, fortunately you would need to be an actual denizen of the infinite realms to have full control of all the relics abilities".

Green arrow spoke up "so what can we expect from a non denizen who wields the relics?" A smile this time, "a good question green arrow. The crown will empower any undead that swears fealty to its wearer, the ring however will absorb the willpower from anybody targeted by it and give it to the wielder". Simon, content to just listen glanced up at clockwork who was looking at him intently as he said it.

Green arrow frowned, "so together they would allow you to both gain an obedient army and make them stronger?"

"Seems like it would be quite useful on a battlefield amongst the dead! Good thing they are currently separate".

Diana raised a hand to interrupt simply getting a smile from clockwork "we are not in class granddaughter, please go ahead" Diana hesitated at the title but pressed on "what are the requirements to become the new king? How will the succession war end, do you already know who will be victorious?" Clockwork looked sad and hesitant to answer "unfortunately the wielders for the relics are concealed from my sight and as for who the victor is I cannot say, all possible futures are laid out in front of me, futures where everything ebbs, futures where everything flows but without the present tense to follow the trails, I cannot see which is more likely to happen, all I can do is plan and prepare. For how it starts, claim the ring and crown and be acknowledged by the throne. As for how it ends, it ends when someone is foolish enough to stab the old king".

At the last part Diana saw his glowing eyes flicker to raven still holding the cog wheel "I... assume you have made your plans for the succession... should we be worried?" Clockwork chuckled loudly before answering in a bored manner "I am forbidden by ancient contracts that chain me to my domain, by their command and for the good of the realms. interfering in a war of succession is not permitted unless it risks temporal damage or destruction of the infinite realms". It sounded like he was reading off a contract he'd been forced to read countless times throughout eternity. "Are you really kronos? You are acting far too personable to be the mad titan" "No, I'm Clockwork. The ghost of time. If that doesn't answer your question ask me again next time we meet granddaughter, I will explain things better then, for now, be worried, or don't be worried. I'm sure you have many rogues and villains to confront to keep you busy, farewell".

Clockwork seemed to turn to leave before looking back "Oh and batman, the joker just escaped from Arkham, his cell has a joker gas bomb rigged to the cell door. Good luck!"

And with that he flickered out of view leaving them in the shadowed room.

---

It was only a few questions that had been asked, with much information being given in return. Batman had made his apologies as he stormed out of the room calling in the possible escape while the JLD members relocated back to the previous meeting room, there they were busy comparing notes on possible contenders for the throne and looking for signs of strange activity.

They needed to stay in the loop for this, while the infinite realms was definitely out of their jurisdiction, the threat of another pariah dark was enough of a threat to stay involved in the process.

Clark sighed as he looked over the footage of the spirits escape "if we could have just found them sooner, perhaps we could have saved them... or at least helped them pass comfortably" the Question, studiously looking through the green parchment of names and places, comparing them with old physical road maps replied comfortingly.

"Don't beat yourself up Kal-el, this entire situation came from a forgotten agency with no oversite, they've been keeping things off our radar, not to mention using their authority and the general public's disbelief in the supernatural... All we can do is prevent any further tragedies happening".

"Public disbelief? The public should know magic exists, including supernatural entities like ghosts!" "Yes but they're not like our ghosts are they. Deadman can only be seen by use of magic and could never interact with the physical world without possessing someone, Secret? while able to be visible she couldn't interact with the world for more then a few minutes at a time. These ghosts however are capable of feats of strength on par with you, powers that defy physics, rivalling masters of magic and superheros alike".

[Entry: cyborg 01]

They all looked up to cyborg entering the meeting room with an angry look on his face. "Oh what now?" Asked Constantine tiredly. "Three scientists. a visiting professor. 6 security guards with league clearance and the public rep for star labs are in custody, I guess the preference for white outfits should have been a sign to look out for. the security breach for the watchtower and the league in general has been closed" he gritted his teeth before continuing. "There has also been a break in at the holding facility where the GIW personnel were hospitalised. A GIW agent has been arrested but the patients are gone, nobody can find a trace of them". Simon perked up quickly looking into it "when did this happen? There's been no alert put out". "That's because none was issued, the agent rocked up to the facility with all the paperwork ordering their release, paperwork apparently signed off by us. the only reason he was caught was because I cleared the block preventing me from noticing them and ordered him arrested". Cyborgs voice became like acid "I've been running back through the watchtowers files, without the block I can now read all their data including the files from their computers, they've been tampering with us for years. Changing our logs, diverting emergency calls, even stealing equipment, research and funding!"

Diana rubbed her temples and sighed "so the government agency that has caused us so much trouble over a long time period, who has endangered this world with their recent actions just stole subjects of a priority investigation? We'll need to arrest them now, collate the data and we'll organise a priority meeting with the American government, this needs to be stopped. Any other information we should know?

Raven spoke up "I'm concerned with those GIW agents in the white vans, when we caught up with them they were tearing across Kansas after the spirits causing trouble, they destroyed a lot of peoples crops and fences. none of them seem to be magic users but somehow they can track the spirits long distance through some sort of scientific means. Fortunately it seems when the storm started they lost tracking the same time I did, unfortunately they then rounded on us accusing us of sabotaging their gear. Superboy was dealing with them and told me to head back to report, he didn't like the way they kept eyeing me and examining me with their gear".

Superman remembered the threat clockwork had mentioned and spoke looking at Constantine "-you may have already noticed it's effects-, Constantine you said the agent was driven insane previously right? He wouldn't have attacked the lanterns otherwise? Perhaps the GIW are involved in both issues. This is a new risk to watch out for, nobody approach or interact with those people by yourselves, always partner up, especially Dark members, they may decide magic is their contamination and I don't want to risk you guys getting captured by them. Send the warning out to all league members and any community's at risk. This meeting is now adjourned".

The league members quickly headed off to their tasks, there was a lot to be done.

---

In a GIW lab

Agent B hurried through the facility towards the high containment area, intent on ignoring the calls for help from the multitude of containment cells. In the far room was his new superior examining test results.

"Sir, the captured agents have been retrieved but agent A was apprehended by those ecto loving hero's! Permission to stage a rescue operation?"

The bald man with a pointed nose looked at the agent with disdain "why would I waste my time with that useless trash, if he got caught he got caught, bring those captured agents down to the containment labs, it's time for the 'live' trials!" He caressed a glass jar full of bright green ectoplasm and smiled. Agent B stared at his superior confused "sir, why would I bring the agents here, they need the medical wing so they can recover and get back at that damn ghos-" "-atututa" said the man shushing the agent "that's not needed, after all, the field reports indicate that the ghost in question is either destroyed or near complete ending, your wounded agents dealt it a killing blow in the lab before it's escape, you can be proud that they caused it to suffer immensely before fading. Well done, now bring them down here". The smile disappeared as the man repeated himself. "Agent B was about to object when the superior held up his hand with a green skull ring on it "I said bring them down here" the agent glowed slightly as something was drained away from him into the ring, he nodded and turned away to complete the task, the superior called to him jovially as he left "also once that's done begin recruitment to replace the fallen agents, we can't have the GIW looking too thin in numbers!" the door closed and the man added quietly "after all, a good scapegoat has to look healthy for people to buy it!"

---

Notes:

-that's all for this chapter, next ones back in smallville as Danni starts to find themself again.

-sorry if it got too wordy or is too close together, would you believe me if I said the last month has been me trying to figure out the last half of the JL meeting? I just couldn't put words down that stuck!

-might be a little confusing because I'm playing with time but ravens designation is because she's been reincarnated, the league would have to keep all biometrics of all people using titles in case they were temporally displaced.

-I'm keeping question ambiguous like a dread pirate Roberts because that is on character for question, so you can imagine them as Vic or Renee, it's up to you.

#dcxdp #dpxdc #best of both worlds #danny phantom #batman #long post #my writing

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allthecanadianpolitics · 2 years ago

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Canadian Pacific Railway is leading cleanup and track repairs following a freight train derailment and fire in Maine, officials said Sunday.

Three rail workers were treated and released from hospital after three locomotive engines and six train cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off the track on Saturday in Somerset County, officials said.

Canadian Pacific is leading cleanup, salvage and repair, working with state agencies and local fire and rescue, said Jim Britt of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Workers were removing derailed locomotives and rail cars, cleaning up crash debris and repairing the rail line. It was unclear how long the process would take.

Some hazardous materials were on the train, officials said, but first responders determined they were not at risk of leaking or catching fire. There was no threat to public safety, officials said. [...]

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #Canadian Pacific Railway #transportation #flora & fauna

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therandosfandos · 10 months ago

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Sum: Based off of the deleted scene from "The Six Million Dollar Mon"

After Roberto demonstrates on Bender, after it's all over, Fry is worried and needs to get his robot repaired, but it's so bad that he'll only allow his orange head meatbag to touch him and no one else

@frenderbender09 @euforimorily

With it all over, the human ran to Benders side. The robot looked terrible. His whole metal body skinned of the outer shell which revealed vulnerable wires, gears, parts and Benders endoskeleton. The robot was tossed on the ground. His arms and legs lankily dangling from their connected joints. Static came from his voice box which was sparking out electricity from the seams.

"F4y!?!!?...", Bender can't speak properly. Fry watches his robot boyfriend tried to move but only fell backwards. The redhead frowned, more concern falling over him.

Fry's heart ached at the sight of his lover in distress. Ignoring the pain in his own hands, he attempted to lift Bender from the ground. But the searing pain from the exposed wires and jagged edges made Bender's metallic body too hot to handle.

"Ouch! Hot, hot, hot!" Fry yelped, he could hear Bender hissing in glitchy pain too, the human wondered how he'd do this. Recoiling as he singed his hands. Bender had a sad look in his optics. Like he felt guilty for hurting his human. It wasn't Bender's fault. Fry shushes him. Determination flashed in his eyes as he took off his red jacket.

He could see panic in those yellow bulbs instantly. Like he was afraid of the red. The robot whimpered and backed up, letting out squeaks one would hear from a car radio when you're in a underwater tunnel. Fry hesitates, he doesn't do anything yet. "It's okay...it's just my jacket, buddy..", he assured the little bot. The robot hesitantly reaches out, wincing, until he felt it.

The soft fabric. Not metal. Cloth. Not the insane killer who hurt him.

Fry smiles gently and he started to hastily wrap it around Bender's battered form. "Oh baby...sorry I didn't interfere...", he mumbles. Bender can't speak back, so he only looks at the ground. He wanted to reassure his meaty boyfriend, to tell him that he couldn't interrupt what happened to him due to the other manbot being a crazed killer. He just nuzzled his visor into Frys jacket.

With newfound caution, Fry carefully lifted Bender, cradling him in his arms. Bender winced in pain, Fry nodded, determination replacing fear. "We'll get you fixed up, Bender. Just hang in there."

Bender shook his head. Then he carefully and weakly points at Fry. It's as if he was saying he only wanted the human to fix him. No one else.

Fry seems surprised, "Bender...I...thought you didn't trust me, you always think I'm gonna break you, baby...", and it was honestly rightful to think such a thing. Fry was clumsy and didn't know what he was doing. It didn't mean he wouldn't try his best though.

The journey through the desolate and dark laboratory was slow and arduous. Fry's steps were measured, each movement calculated to minimize the pain for his wounded companion. The jacket cocoon protected Bender from further harm, but the reality of the situation weighed heavily on Fry's shoulders. The professor and the crew weren't here anyways. It was all up to the redhead.

Bender's optics dimmed as he fought to stay conscious, the agony threatening to drag him into a mechanical abyss. His usual snarky remarks were replaced by ragged breaths and muffled whimpers. Fry, feeling the weight of his friend's suffering, pressed on with determination etched on his face. The human hated that his lover went through such a thing. His baby.

Once they reached a near workbench, Fry gently laid Bender on it. The metallic echoes of Bender's cries filled the room. Fry surveyed the damage, his heart sinking at the sight of his friend in such disrepair. Bender's voice box emitted distorted sounds, the once smooth voice now a cacophony of broken tones.

Fry fumbled through the toolbox, gathering tools he hoped would be sufficient for the impromptu repair job. The room was filled with tension as Fry delicately began his work. He could feel Bender's eyes on him, a mix of pain and trust lingering in the air. Bender knew Fry loved him. Fry wouldn't try to break him. He knew it. However, he still cracked one optic open to keep check on his meatbag. Just in case.

As Fry worked, Bender's sobs began to subside. The pain still lingered, but a newfound trust blossomed between man and machine. Bender watched Fry with a mix of vulnerability and gratitude. It wasn't just about physical repairs; it was about the emotional mending between the two robsexuals. Fry started with Benders voice box, carefully rewiring it so the bot could speak again. He cringed each time the bot made a screech. "I know, I know, it hurts waffle...but it'll make it all better...I promise...", Fry says gently.

He then went ahead and started to fix his lovers leg tubes and arms, straightening them back out so it all was equal length again. Fry kisses his metal boyfriends cheek and whispers praises, saying how well the bot was doing. It made Bender feel so much better when Fry called him great, amazing, a lot more.

The final step was to redo the outer casing of Bender. It would be hard. Fry hesitates then gets out spare scraps of metal and welding tools. Bender looks at Fry and tries his new voice box, "...it's okay, meatbag...you can do it... it'll hurt me, but just do it", he says. Fry winces. He doesn't want to hurt his robot but if Bender trusts him that much, he'd do it. "I love you, baby...", he states.

Fry then held Benders hand in his own, which the bending unit was grateful just for the nice psychical touch again. His boyfriend always knew how to keep him calm. "I love you too, asshole", Bender chuckled. The human giggles, at least the robots personality was in check. The welding process began and soon was complete. It hurt like a mother fucker, but everything was back in order. Benders systems ran it's usual checks, all normal. He then sat up cautiously. He could walk again. He goes up without a word and buries himself into the humans chest, "thanks idiot...", he muffles. Fry smiles gently, "anytime, baby...anything...I'd never leave my robot broken", he chuckles. Bender playfully gives a punch on the humans shoulder and wraps his mechanical arms around the orange haired man's body. "Hm..", a content hum came.

Fry picks his lover up and goes to sit on the couch in the hangout room, where they always chilled during work. He gets out a can of Slurm and beer from the mini fridge and turns on "The Scary Door". Nuzzling his head into Bender, the two had a quiet night without any more interruptions. Everything would be okay.

#futurama #bender #fry #frender

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wolfliving · 5 months ago

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Will the entire car brick?

(...)

Fisker vehicle owners’ questions are mostly practical. Fisker began shipping the Ocean, its electric SUV—priced to start at $41,000 and ranging up to $70,0000—last year. Immediately, the vehicles were found to have serious build quality shortcomings and software issues, including a less-than-responsive central touchscreen. (WIRED’s reviewer declined to rate the vehicle entirely, calling it “just not ready yet.”)

Owners reported that some of the most serious issues, including a difficult-to-use brake hold and Bluetooth connectivity problems, were ironed out through software updates. But owners sometimes complained that it was tricky to get their vehicles serviced or repaired, because there weren’t enough certified Fisker repairers and technicians. Fisker initially launched with a Tesla-like “direct to consumer” model that eschewed the traditional “middleman” dealerships often seen in the US. But in January, the company began to sign dealerships to a new Fisker network, citing ballooning costs associated with the direct model.

Even now, as the carcass of Fisker gets picked over, the EVs still have niggling problems—window cracks, dysfunctional key fobs, sudden connectivity blackouts—and will unquestionably need servicing and spare parts to keep them running into the future. Without Fisker, the company, to provide that, what are owners to do?

The FOA is still in the early stages of figuring it out. A small band of volunteers have worked around the clock to define the problems owners might face down the road—legal questions about their vehicle financing; issues with the car’s app; finding parts—and start solving them. These people have full-time jobs, too. De Bardi, for example, who lives in the UK and has headed up the European owners’ efforts, is also the CTO of a telecommunications firm....

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m1autorepair · 9 months ago

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mariacallous · 1 year ago

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This summer, a Vancouver car mechanic named Max got a perplexing ping on his phone: Betty White was in Ukraine and needed his help. This was surprising because she had died on a Canadian highway back in January.

When Max last saw Betty White, his nickname for his Tesla Model Y Performance, they were both in rough shape after getting sideswiped on the highway. Max’s rotator cuff was torn in several places. The small SUV had bounced off multiple concrete barriers at high speed and was bashed in on all four corners, its wheels ripped to pieces. Coolant appeared to be leaking into the battery chamber. From his own work on EVs in the garage, Max knew that Betty was done for. “No auto shop would put a repair person at risk with that kind of damage,” says Max, whose last name isn’t being used out of doxing concerns. A damaged EV battery can become dangerous due to the risk of shocks, fire, and toxic fumes. His insurer agreed, and Betty was written off and sent to a salvage yard.

Months after he had last seen the car, Max’s Tesla app was now telling him that Betty needed a software update. It showed the car with an extra 200 kilometers on the odometer, fully charged, and parked in Uman, a town in Ukraine’s Cherkasy Oblast, midway between Kyiv and the front line with Russia’s invasion force. Minutes after that first ping, the app showed the car in service mode, suggesting Betty was undergoing repairs. “I thought it must be a mistake,” Max says.

There was no mistake. WIRED tracked Betty down to a Ukrainian auto auction website, looking good as new, maybe even better, with newly tinted windows and rearview mirrors wrapped in black. Betty 2.0 was being sold by “Mikhailo,” who wrote that the car had suffered “a small blow” in Canada and been repaired with original Tesla parts. The price, $55,000, was roughly the same as a new Model Y Performance costs in the US.

Betty White’s intercontinental resurrection was impressive but not unusual. For a long time, cars written off in North America have found their way to Eastern European repair shops willing to take on damage that US and Canadian mechanics won’t touch. In 2021, the most recent data available, Ukraine was a top-three destination for used US passenger vehicles sent overseas, close behind Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates. And Ukraine’s wreck importers and repairers are particularly known for their ingenuity. Some have made fixing EVs written off across the Atlantic into a specialty, helping to drive a surge in the number of electric vehicles on the country’s roads, even as the war with Russia rages.

Though few automakers sell new EVs in Ukraine, the share of newly registered vehicles that are fully electric, 9 percent, is about the same as in the US and nearly double that of neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic. Most of Ukraine’s refurbished EVs come from North America, and many arrive with major damage.

There’s a ready supply of crashed North American EVs in part because electrics are becoming more common, and also because in recent years, relatively new EVs with low mileage have been written off at a higher rate than their gas-powered equivalents, according to data from insurers. US and Canadian repair shops and insurers see them as more dangerous and difficult to fix. Scrapyards find it hard to make money from their parts and instead ship them abroad.

Ivan Malakhovsky is not afraid to work on cases like Betty White. His five-year-old repair business in Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine, fixes about 100 Teslas a month, roughly a fifth of them from overseas, and employs a staff that varies between six to 10 people. He’s currently away from home, serving with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but he manages his workers, and sometimes makes software-mediated repairs, remotely. “We have problems in our lives and can fix them, whether a battery or a full-scale invasion,” says Malakhovsky. “Electric cars, electric car batteries—it’s no problem.”

An electric vehicle battery is made up of thousands of individual cells, which store and release energy. Sometimes, Malakhovsky says, he and his coworkers will break up large EV batteries damaged beyond repair and repurpose the cells to power electric scooters or even drones for the war effort. He says the vast majority of Teslas on Ukrainian roads were once involved in wrecks in North America.

The war has even boosted Ukraine’s EV resurrection business at times, by driving up gas prices and making electrics more attractive to drivers. Ukraine has a public charging network of some 11,000 chargers, according to Volodymyr Ivanov, the head of communications at Nissan Motor Ukraine—that’s more than the state of New York, and double the number in neighboring Poland. Since 2018, Ukraine’s government has removed most taxes and customs duties on used EV imports. In the US, electric vehicles tend to be expensive, and the average EV driver is still a high-income male homeowner. North American wrecks, Ukraine’s EV incentives, and its relatively low electricity prices have created a different picture. “There is a joke here that all poor people are driving electric cars, and all the rich people are driving petrol cars,” says Malakhovsky. “Tesla is a common-people, popular car because it’s very cheap in maintenance.”

That’s a relatively recent development, says Hans Eric Melin, head of Circular Energy Storage, a UK-based consultancy that tracks the international flows of used EVs and batteries. He began watching the Ukraine market in particular a few years ago, after he noticed more ads for Nissan Leafs on auction sites listed in Ukrainian than in English. At the time, the Leaf, a pioneer among EVs, was essentially the only one that had been around long enough to develop a healthy used market. Over time, Ukraine’s electric fleet grew to encompass the full range of EVs sold around the world, including Teslas, as more cars hit the roads and aged or got into crashes.

Melin had suspected Ukraine’s EV boom would end with the war. “I was completely wrong,” he says. By this summer, Ukraine’s EV fleet had doubled since July 2021, to 64,312, according to data compiled by the Automotive Market Research Institute, a Ukrainian research and advocacy group.

Roman Tyschenko, a 25-year-old IT worker who lives in Kyiv, decided last September that he was sick of his Jeep’s $400-a-month gas bill. Friends had purchased used, damaged electric cars on an online auction website called Copart, a US-based public auto reseller with 200 locations around the world. He logged on and spent $24,000 on a gray 2021 Tesla Model Y that had taken a solid blow to its passenger side in Dallas, Texas. Its bumper was almost fully detached; its hood was tented; some of its airbags had deployed.

That Texan Model Y was likely declared totaled by an insurer. From there, it probably moved to a salvage auction in the US, where licensed exporters, salvage shops, and repairers tried to figure out how much value they could squeeze out of the wreck. The winner, or perhaps the insurer itself, listed the car on Copart, which made it available to anyone around the world who wanted a smashed-up Tesla and was willing to pay for shipping.

If Tyschenko hadn’t brought the Texan Tesla to Ukraine himself, it had a good chance of being shipped there anyway by someone who professionally flips cars to countries like Ukraine. These exporters look for wrecks potentially worth more than their scrap value, but little enough that an expensive US repair and resale wouldn’t make sense. Some ship vehicles directly to Ukrainian repairers and pay for the fix, while others import damaged cars and relist them for sale to Ukrainian buyers who can figure it out for themselves.

It takes a damaged North American car between one and five months to reach a nearby port. Before the war, wrecked cars headed to Ukraine’s Port of Odessa on the Black Sea. Since Russia invaded in 2022, they come through Klaipėda in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, or Koper in Slovenia on the Adriatic, and are brought to Ukraine by truck. A shop like Malakhovsky’s can fix a Tesla in somewhere between one week and one year, depending on the damage.

Tyschenko arranged for his Model Y to be shipped to a local repair shop in Kyiv, where it arrived in February 2023, five months after he hit the Buy button online. The technician sent him videos of the EV’s ongoing revamp every few weeks, and Tyschenko stopped by to visit a handful of times. By May, he had paid the technician some $25,000 for his work and was driving the Model Y around Kyiv.

Two months later, the battery died and Tyschenko spent another $4,000 to replace it—a demonstration of the risks of electric vehicle rescues. Still, he’s happy with how things worked out, and now pays just $10 to $100 a month to refuel his car, depending on whether he charges at home or at public stations.

Finding parts to repair Teslas and other EVs can be a challenge. On Facebook and Telegram, groups like “Renault Zoe Club Ukraine” host thousands of EV owners who barter with each other for spare parts. Oleksandr Perepelitsa, a 25-year-old electric vehicle repairer in Kyiv, says that when he first began his work three years ago, he and his business partners would buy two wrecked Teslas from overseas to create a single working vehicle to sell to local Ukranians. “Even that was profitable for us,” he says. Now, business connections can send Tesla parts from the US or Europe, or repairers buy cheaper Chinese reproductions.

The success of Ukraine’s EV resurrection industry is the flip side of the failure of insurers and manufacturers in North America to figure out what to do when a shiny new EV becomes roadkill.

US insurers are more willing to write off vehicles of all kinds that in the past may have been fixed. New vehicle repairs have gotten more expensive, in part due to vehicles getting more complex and computerized, as well as a shortage of vehicle technicians. In the past decade, the damaged cars up for auction “are better and less damaged,” Copart CEO Jeff Liaw told investors on an earnings call this year.

Industry-wide data is hard to come by, but numerous sources suggest that EVs are more likely to be written off than gas-powered cars, and can be declared unfixable after even minor crashes. A Reuters analysis this year found that a “large portion” of damaged EVs sold for scrap were low-mileage, nearly-new vehicles. While one in 10 new cars sold in the US and Canada this year are forecasted to be electric, the infrastructure and expertise needed to assess and fix damaged EVs can be patchy. “In an ideal world, electric vehicles are as easy to repair as internal combustion engine vehicles,” says Mark Fry, research manager at Thatcham Research, which crunches auto market data for insurers and other clients. It recently found British EVs get written off at disproportionately high rates.

The main reason EV repairs are so tricky comes down to a lack of agreement on how to handle EV batteries after a crash. Worldwide, there is no industry standard for measuring battery health. Vehicle manufacturers sometimes refuse to sanction battery repairs because of liability concerns. “If you repair the battery, what's it going to be like after another two, three years and another 50,000 miles?” Fry says. It’s easier to let nearly new vehicles be declared dead than to find out.

The North American scrap industry is also somewhat leery of EVs, says Megan Slattery, a researcher at UC Davis who studies what happens to damaged EV batteries. Scrap businesses generally make money by taking cars apart to extract the most valuable widgets to resell. But dismantling a battery takes dedicated workers, equipment, and—most important of all—space, due to the fire risks of storing lithium-ion cells. Many mom-and-pop dismantlers don’t have any of that.

Plus, EVs tend to have simpler drivetrains, with more plastic and large, prefabricated body components that can’t be easily pulled apart. In some electric vehicles, the battery is built directly into the car’s structure, making it especially difficult to dismantle or repair. All of that means that exporters looking to sell to eager buyers abroad have less competition when bidding on totaled cars.

In the US, there’s increasing pressure to keep broken EVs from heading overseas. Regulators are concerned about safety, hoping to better track broken batteries through shipping channels as fears rise of fires sparked by used EVs, including on cargo ships. Another is to avoid dumping e-waste on countries without the means to recycle or repurpose, and instead keep the valuable minerals inside batteries local. Battery recycling startups have received vast amounts of private and public investment—both in Western Europe and the US, with funds from the Inflation Reduction Act—with a promise to help shore up raw material supply chains. But so far, they have received only a trickle of used batteries.

Policies that wind up choking off the export of EV wrecks would in some ways be a shame, Slattery says. More stringent European Union export rules for used cars and EV batteries in particular are one reason why the supply of Teslas to Eastern Europe is so dependent on North American wrecks. Without them, the electric revolution would be much less advanced in places like Ukraine, where US and Canadian write-offs have helped support the emergence of charger networks, trained repair specialists, and a wide familiarity and acceptance that electric propulsion is not just green but also practical.

In North America, there's a widespread belief that “people don't want electric vehicles and that it's just laws and regulations that push us to buy them,” says Melin, the used EV analyst. “There are other markets that want to have electrics.” It’s a testament to a system that is working, Melin adds, that used EVs end up in places like Ukraine, where new models are difficult to come by.

For Max in Vancouver, Betty White’s reappearance overseas did cause some headaches. The car was still logged into his Google, Netflix, and Spotify accounts, potentially allowing the new owners to access his personal data. When he asked Tesla support, he was advised to change his passwords, Max says. (Tesla did not respond to WIRED’s questions.)

But looking back on the crash, and now driving a new Model Y—named Black Betty—Max says his old car’s resurrection is the best possible outcome. “I’m happy to see that Betty White has lived to see another day,” he says.

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