//------------------------------// // Sneaking Around // Story: Searching for Six Ponies (And Discord if I Feel Like It) // by Coltsguy //------------------------------// I thought about the unique predicament I was in as I watched the group run past me. I was technically an intruder in what I assumed was the Watchtower. Or perhaps it was the Hall of Justice? Either way, I was an intruder in a den of superheroes. This was very confusing. At least I wasn't in a den of supervillains. They would just kill me as soon as they found me. Superheroes would take the time to figure out who I was and whether or not I was a threat. Oh crap! Some of these heroes probably have psychic powers! What if they read my mind? I could inadvertently give them an existential crisis and they could go nuts! Of course, something like this may have happened before and I could be over-thinking things. That's my problem in a nutshell. Everything I know is a half-assed conglomeration of facts. What I needed right then was to figure out what fiction this was. I may have been in a DC universe, but I didn't know which one exactly. Crossovers with DC are commonplace and knowing where I was could take a great deal of investigation. Investigating would take time. Time was a very valuable commodity I had little of. If I could have, I would have simply teleported around to figure things out. The problem with that is I haven't been able to use two spells at once other than when I used chaos magic. Basically, if I wanted to teleport around, I would have to remove my invisibility spell to do it. That wasn't to say that self-sustaining spells could be used and then I could use another spell. I couldn't channel energy into the two spells at the same time. In essence, it just came down to mobility versus stealth. Wait. Not necessarily. I can teleport to places I've seen or places that I can see. I may not be able to see the main bridge of the Watchtower, but if this is the one that I actually do know then I can remember the bridge and teleport there without worrying about it. If by the slim margin that I'm right, I can say something and disappear while making it seem that I teleported away. Still, why am I acting this paranoid anyway? These are superheroes not gang bangers or something along those lines. Seriously, why shouldn't I just reveal myself and surrender? Argh! I was just thinking in circles! For the time being, I decided to just continue on my way until I saw something familiar and not just someone. Unless I saw someone that I knew I could surrender to peacefully. I kept up the pace going up the stairs. I ran up another twenty flights before I came across a path that didn't seem like the others coming out of the stairs. It still looked like there was another ten or so levels, but I decided that a difference in appearance was as good a break as any to try out. After walking for a bit longer, I stumbled upon a different room. Actually, it was a hangar. Well, the Javelin hangar to be precise. After taking a quick look around for occupants, I walked up to one of the ships and took a close look all around it. It was pretty damn cool. The swept-forward wing design, smooth alloy that was cool to the touch, the dual engines that were perfectly integrated into the hull, everything about it was awesome. "This is the coolest plane, slash, spaceship I've ever seen." "It is quite an impressive piece of technology, I'll agree," said a flat voice right behind me. I was about to whirl around to see who said that, but I composed myself in a manner that even I was unaware that I could act in. Instead, I continued the conversation as if nothing was bothering me. "You know, if you can see me, then you are either a psychic or can see through magic. If you're a psychic though, I would appreciate that you didn't go through my mind please." "I haven't done so as of yet. Are you here in a peaceful manner then?" "I am. I'm just looking for a friend of mine. In the past, however, whenever I pop in I'm usually within a certain distance from who I'm looking for. This time is a bit different. Instead, I believe I'm inside the Watchtower. Am I correct?" "That is correct." I turned around to see who I was talking to. I was quite surprised to see that it was J'onn J'onzz a.k.a the Martian Manhunter looking straight at me. He wasn't even with anyone as far as I could tell. He was just by himself with me. Staring at him made me think how silly it was to keep up my invisibility so I dropped my spell and continued to chat with him which, I'll admit, seemed way too calm for the situation I was in. "I'm sorry I just popped into the place like I did. It's completely random where I end up to start with. I'm Seth," I said and extended my hand out. He looked at my hand and then back up at my face. "I am J'onn J'onzz," he said without shaking my hand. I pulled my hand back and instead started scratching the back of my neck nervously. "Iiiii'm guessing that you don't really trust me yet, do you?" "That is correct." "You've probably also told everybody else where I am too, haven't you?" "That is also correct." Man, that flat tone of his was a little annoying. "Well, I guess when they show up I can surrender peacefully. Say, who else is around? I've seen quite a few people and surprisingly not any of the personnel around and yet the only two I've even recognized are you and Green Arrow." He narrowed his eyes at me. "So you already know who I am?" "Well, yeah," I said in a confused voice. "I know who you are. I just gave you my name since you didn't know who I was. Though, I might need some additional information to figure out exactly where I am. I'm kind of a multiverse jumper." It was a good idea. They do know about multiverses here after all. "So, you are not from this universe then?" "Of course not. There's no Justice League in my universe so I know that I'm not in mine. Heck, there aren't even any meta-humans in my universe. Heck, I only have my powers from going to a different one." Wow, now I just seem to be really chatty. I wonder if this is his doing? I wouldn't necessarily put it past him. Then again, I might just be really comfortable around him since he's a superhero. That would make sense too. Luckily, I was saved from any further chatter by the sound of an opening door. I looked slightly to my right to see two more superheroes rush in. It was too bad that I didn't recognize either of them. Well, that wasn't completely true. I did kind of recognize the cowboy guy from one of the episodes I'd seen. I think it was the same guy I had seen earlier too, but I hadn't put two and two together. Oh, and that guy without a face was probably that detective guy with the conspiracy theories. Why was my enhanced memory so damn finicky? Luckily for me, J'onn held up a hand to stop them from coming after me. "I suppose that they are here to take me to a cell or something, right?" "Again, you are correct." "You know, your vocabulary doesn't seem that diverse. Perhaps you should think about expanding it. Just something to think about. I'll go to my cell peacefully now. Before I go though, could you help search for my friend while I'm in there? She looks like this." I held my hand out and was about to cast an illusion, but I realized that I didn't know which of the two was here. "Oh wait, which of the two is here? Let me check," I mused out loud. I pulled the coin out from my shirt and took a look at it. Rainbow Dash's symbol was the one that was lit up. "There we go. This is who I'm looking for." I once again held out my hand and this time I cast a perfect life-sized illusion of Rainbow Dash. "Her name is Rainbow Dash. She's a bit cocky and brash, but she's pretty nice and is very loyal to her friends." I looked up to see them not so happy about me using magic like I was doing. Well, the two in back weren't. I couldn't really get a read on J'onn. The guy was completely impassive. "I'm still cooperating," I said as I threw my hands into the air. "I'd just like someone to be searching for her while I'm stuck in a cell for whatever reason." "We will assist you in your search provided that you telling the truth. There are some questions we would like to ask you first." "I suppose that I can oblige you guys with some answers. There are a few things that I don't think I can tell you, but I doubt that they will come up anyway." Ugh, why did I say that? Now I sound untrustworthy. Idiot! "Go ahead and take him to a holding cell." I dropped the illusion and walked over to the other two. The cowboy stayed in front of me while the other guy, some blonde dude with sunglasses who was wearing mostly blue with a five-pointed red star on his chest, stayed behind me. The only thing that I could think about was that I really hoped that I wouldn't be interrogated by Batman. That seemed scary enough just thinking about it. Of course, thinking like that probably almost guaranteed it. I was probably not going to have a good stay here.