DasBroot

Well, he is until he's fired.

For the late Adam West.
 
 

Exactly.  Nothing will change unless there's a violation so blatant the the justice system has no choice but to prosecute - and I don't see that happening.  A few of his staff might have to fall on their sword (might - the FBI's credibility is pretty low in the court of public opinion right now) but I don't think any of this will reach the oval office. 

They can't, but it won't matter. Anything Comey says (and anything Trump tweets in reply) will only serve to enrage those who already dislike Trump, and will only cause his supporters to dig in even deeper. Status quo, Clarice.

Rush - The Spirit of Radio

I thought the season finale was decent. Until the last 5 minutes, which were just painful to watch. As much as I enjoyed this show when it first started, honestly I can't remember the last time I got excited looking forward to next week's episode. Ditto for Arrow. (Legends I never enjoyed in the first place...) Supergirl is the only CW show I'm really enjoying at this point, so I think I'm going to have a couple free hours a week next year.

The ending is a blur, but hopefully still satisfies... thanks for your patience and making it this far.
 
 
A lot of the rest was clean-up, in more ways than one. We had to make sure the city had public sightings of us as a team again.
 
Who puts out the call to all the supervillains that the heroes are elsewhere in large number, I really don't know, but I wish they'd cut it the hell out. While Slime, Viewpoint and Pogo were okay, they had more a more than an average number of encounters. Viewpoint claimed he'd been attacked by a group of super-villainesses who called themselves the 'fangrlz' and barely escaped with his life.  
 
Pogo, on the other hand, ran into a fellow who was looking for me.
 
"This guy says the oceans aren't big enough for the two of you, and you stole his shtick, He didn't have much time in town, had to be somewhere, but he says he'll be back in a few months to teach you a lesson."
 
 
"I stole his what?" I blinked.
 
"His theme, I never heard of him but apparently, he breathes water, he's super strong like you, and your name was way too similar." Pogo said in a rush, "He said 'tell the punk to get training, for soon he will be tested by the Sea's true strong man! Soon he will face the one, the only- Moray!'"
 
"Oh, sweet mother of God," I muttered, "It's not even the same word!" But despite my grumbling, I didn't doubt her. The Super world has villains and heroes aplenty, but it's a wide spectrum between them, and sometimes what you end up with are just jackasses looking for excuses to fight with someone and prove themselves the toughest. It was akin to the stories you heard about gunslingers in the old west. Get a reputation, and someone must test it.
 
I suppose I should have been flattered, but, pardon the pun, I really had bigger fish to fry. The Moray moron would have to wait. There was so many more important things. Like my hair cut, it was getting kind of shaggy.
 
 
"The chicks would have liked it longer," Aaron observed when I came into the apartment sporting the trim.
 
"I'm a Southern boy, guys with a mullet now a days get put through hell, guys with a southern accent and a mullet get it double," I informed him.
 
 
"You need to go hipster, tell them it's a French cut, the 'moo lay'" He suggested.
 
"I'm dating a very intelligent girl," I explained to him, "She's not going to buy that," I smiled and got my best outfit out of the closet.
 
The date that night was fantastic. I mean it, I treated Ariana to a real date at a real restaurant. The prices were more than I expected, but let me tell you when she came to her door when I knocked, it was worth it. She looked like she stepped off a fashion magazine. The heels she wore put extra swish in the miss, and I was not blind to that.
 
"Wow," I said before I could reach for the more poetic adjectives.
 
 
"You like?" She asked though the delight in her eyes told me she already knew the answer, she just wanted me to put a bit more praise for the effort she'd gone through.
 
Which was more than fair, "You always look beautiful," I told her honestly, "But wow if you didn't' just jump right over spectacular." 
 
 
I opened the car door for her and admired the way she slid on in so gracefully I think I could have made a happy living just being her chauffeur. The car was the team's, of course, and she knew that, but it wasn't like folks had the plate (We changed that anyway) and it had just gotten a new paint job. As long as I resisted the urge to send it flying above the traffic, we were just another couple on the way to a nice dinner.
 
And it was nice, damn nice. We flirted and talked and there were no villain attacks, no world threats, not so much as a fire that needed putting out. Of course, it couldn't last forever.
 
I had agreed to a patrol that night.
 
 
Of course, I didn't realize that my plans were about to be altered. I had just changed into my costume at the base and was readying to head out when Dr. Vernon called out, "Eel, I could use your help tonight? As she was dressed in her civvies and not her power armor, I was surprised.
 
 
"Certainly, Doctor, do I need to change back?"
 
 
"No, it'll be on the base and I want you in costume. I have a guest, an old friend who I can't trust, so having one of us in costume nearby and one of us out may throw him off," She answered with a smile.
 
"Why would you have a friend you can't trust?" the concept was alien to me.
 
"They can be extremely useful, for one," She shrugged, "Maybe a better term would be the devil I respect, come on."
 
The devil she respected turned out to be a black man in his late middle ages with graying hair and a suit that fit nicely enough but wasn't up to current fashions.
 
"Please, James, have a seat," She gestured to the table and asked, "Would you like some tea?"
 
"Got coffee?" He asked.
 
She nodded, then said, "Eel, would you?"
 
"No problem, ma'am," I said and got her them each a drink, her tea, him coffee.
 
"This is Eel, one of our newer members," She introduced me.
 
"Yeah," James gave me a vaguely sour look, "I've heard of him. A lot lately."
 
"This is James Elroy," She told me, "He's with government intelligence."
 
"You'll pardon me if I don't say it's a pleasure," He grumbled in his coffee.
 
"You don't see my hand stretching out either, so fine," I said.
 
"Knew you two would hit it off right away," She sipped her tea, "You wanted to see me, James?"
 
"Vivian, you know darn well why I came here," He said, "You memory wiped Eagle Eye's agents, and you have amplification belts. I'd kind of like to have both restored?"
 
A chill went through me as I realized exactly what Mind's Eye had done for Lady Obsidian as a favor. Of course, it made sense. Valorous, at least, had weeks to learn anything and everything Arctic Fox was willing to tell him about us. Surely though he would have passed on at least her secret identity by now? What good would a memory wipe do?
 
"I don't have a telepath on my team to help you, sorry," Dr. Vernon formed her fingers into a steeple and cast a glance over them at him,  "I'm sure the government has a few that can do the job though."
 
"At incredible cost and hassle," He grumbled, "And the belts?"
 
"Right here," She slid a bag over.
 
"They've been torn apart," He said with annoyance.
 
"Well, somehow they got around the waists of a group of violent burglars and when some our team defended themselves, they got a bit torn up," She replied dryly, "Not bad designs by the way. I was impressed your R&D found a way around the Genetic Maximum by tailoring for partials."
 
"You have our amplification tech," He scowled, "Damnit, Vivian. You're mad because Eagle Eye tried to steal your tech, but you've got no problem with stealing ours?"
 
"To the victor," she raised a brow, "Don't act all wounded, James. Your people broke into my house…"
 
"That was not my idea and I tried to stop them," He protested.
 
"You didn't try hard enough," She scowled and continued, "Now I believe you when say you tried to stop this, because you have common sense. I don't suppose you're going to tell me exactly whose idea it was?"
 
"You know damn well I won't put the finger on anyone, I have sympathy with you, but I also know who I work for. Besides, I suspect you have ideas anyway," Mr. Elroy countered, "There's new blood siding with some of the old and me stuck in the middle. Trying to help you."
 
"Your help blinded one of my friends," I said, my jaw grinding.
 
"I see he takes after you in taking this whole operation personally," James noted to Vivian.
 
"That's because he doesn't buy your 'standing on that wall' crap any more than we do, James. We're on the wall too, even if we are volunteers for it; and finding folks we thought were on our side pushing us off it to rifle our pockets puts us in an understandably bad mood. Yes, I have amplification tech, and not only do I have it, I'm improving it. It still only works on partials, but that's okay. There are a lot of good people half way to being to super-heroes anyway. I'm just giving them a chance if a superhero I trust sponsors them."
 
"You're sharing it!" His eyes flew open wide, "Jesus Christ!"
 
I admit, I was caught off guard too. I mean, I knew Ariana was a shoo in, but I didn't know Lady Obsidian was planning on handing it nationwide to other teams. Hell, maybe she was going global.
 
Dr. Vernon bathed in her 'friend's' panic like it was warm sunlight, and smiled, "I'm very particular. But yes, the genie is out of the bottle. It was going to be anyway, eventually one of your agents would have gotten taken by some villain, and it would out there the next week. I am hoping a controlled release will give us the edge we need against the bad guys."
 
"You know the others will play hard ball," He said, "They'll threaten to expose your team for this, one by one."
 
"I know," She said, "That telepath I don't have on my team?" She reminded, "What do you think she sorted through before blocking memories?"
 
I carefully kept my expression blank as I realized she'd changed the gender of the telepath. Would James see through it? I don’t know.
 
"You didn't," He frowned, "Vivian, those memories are classified. You could be endangering our agents' lives if you let that out."
 
"And some of our people have children. This is one box that hasn't been opened, James. I called you here to turn your junk back over, and beg you to do what you can to keep what you have in your computers and files secret. I'm not as idealistic as I used to be, all I know is these people are the only family I have left, and the people who should be thanking them are threatening them. So yes, I trust other superheroes and myself to decide which partials get elevated more than I trust the government. I trust that we need dirt on Eagle Eye to keep our dirt from being leaked, and I am trusting, that if nothing else, enlightened self-interest will keep us from escalating this. Talk to them, make them listen, or it will get so much worse before it gets better."
 
There was everything in her tone; a promise, a threat, a plea.
 
With a grimace, and a grunt, he took the bag, "I'll see what I can do. If nothing else, this fiasco has cost them some status. And I'm not blind to the fact what you've told me gives me a heads up on covering my own ass from the fall out. Don't expect me to thank you for that too much."
 
"You're welcome anyway," She crossed her fingers, "Do you need an escort out?"
 
"No. I know the way, and I'm sure Mabel is watching me anyway," the government man gave a wave to the air at the last, rose and walked down the hall way. After a few minutes Mabel said.
 
"He's gone, Doctor."
 
"And did you hack his phone?"
 
"The encryption was hard to get through, but the amplifier in your purse helped."
 
"Excellent, I want a back door into their files to erase what they have of us."
 
 
I stared at her, "Why did you have me witness that?" I finally asked. "Mabel's got your back, and I suspect you've got at least one other device in your purse that makes a taser look like a child's toy," she smiled at that weakly, "So why?"
 
"I wanted you to see, and to judge for yourself how far I've gone," She said kindly, "I have friends, Eel. Good friends. I'd like to think you're becoming one, but you've also got an annoying north pointing moral compass. I want to keep you in the loop in this because I know, when you think I've gone too far, you'll tell me. The others?  They… might not. Hell, some might cheer me on."
 
"You want me to be your cricket of conscience?" I tapped my chest in surprise, "You're Lady Obsidian, you've been the conscience of the superhero community for decades."
 
"Even the pope has a confessor, young man, and I don't claim to any form of infallibility," She told him, "You up for it?"
 
"Some of what you said scared me," I admitted, "And I think you're taking an awful big gamble with a lot of people. I think some of those things better be bluffs because if you carry them through you'll hate yourself. I think I liked it better when I did think it was all simple white hats versus black hats."
 
"Oh? A black hat thang is it?" She raised a brow.
 
I guess a horrified look crossed my features for a moment and I didn't know what to say.
 
She laughed, "Lord, Caleb. Ariana is right. You are so easy."
 
"Thanks," I said dryly.
 
"Was that no?"
 
"No, it's not a no," I said, "I'm a superhero, and we don't run from the hard choices. We can't afford to."
 
"Wise words," She smiled and rose inviting me to walk with her.
 
"They should be," I reminded, "They were in your second book."
 
"Ha," she laughed, "Young man, I'm flattered, but you need to get to work focusing on your own story."
 
I walked with her, "Yeah, The Adventures of Fish Guy," I snorted with a chuckle, "That'll be a hit."
 
"Well," She patted my hand, "Maybe not. Probably best if it isn't. Keep you humble, but I would read it."
 
"Thanks, Dr. Vernon," I smiled.
 
"Now, about those college courses…."
 
Some battles, it seemed, were unrelenting.
 
(The End of the Book, but never the story)

Looking g at this I get a Ride of the Valkyries vibe. Anyone else?
 

 
Fan art attribution: BossLogic

Last week was on average 5 hours of sleep a day, and it addedup on me. Back in the saddle... and ALMOST finished...so sorry
 
 
"Can't we do anything to help him?"  I said worriedly as Mabel's waldo extended the light into the solid white eyes of Mayo one after the other.
 
The aquatic soldier was out of the pool and in the med bay with water pumping into his mouth and lungs thanks to a modified rebreather and a tank of good old H2O. His burns were also being tended but it was the eyes that worried me.
 
"Peace, Caleb," Mayo said, "We will learn what we learn when we learn it."
 
I think he was taking it more serenely than I was. He endured it all with immense patience.
 
Damn it, I want to be serene, and patient. In fact, I want to be serene and patient right now!
 
Okay, truth of the matter was it almost bothered me how at peace he was about it. Particularly when Mabel gave us the long digital face.
 
"I'm sorry, Mayo hun," Mabel said, "Barring some super science I don't have access to, your sight appears to be lost. It might over time return; there's just so much about your physiology we don't understand but at this point, the odds are less than one in a hundred."
 
I felt the urge to punch a wall.
 
"Ah well, if it must be it must be, I didn't enjoy being a soldier anyway," Mayo said after a time.
 
"How can you take that so calmly?" It slipped out of me, "You just gave up your sight for us."
 
"I did not give up my sight," He says, "It was taken, and it's not coming back it appears. Am I upset? Yes. Am I sorrowful? Yes. But while I should learn from the past, I cannot live there," A pause, "Are you okay? Your tone…"
 
"Am I okay?" I blinked at him, "Dude, you're the one who is blind."
 
"Yet I think you blame yourself," Blind as he was, Mayo couldn't exactly 'look' around but he did tilt his head to span the room and asked the others, "Do all of you superheroes always blame yourselves for every calamity to those that you know even when you cannot be there to affect it?"
 
"Pretty much, yeah," Tornado said right way.
 
"Oh, they do it all the time," Mabel said allowing exasperation to come through.
 
"Hazard of the trade, I suppose," Lady Obsidian conceded with a dignified head incline even though Mayo could not see it.
 
"Depends on how many drinks I've got in me," Pinprick chimed in.
 
"Even though that is clearly arrogant presumption on your part?"  Mayo said nonplussed.
 
"Pretty much, yeah," Tornado nodded.
 
"All the time," Mabel said with a sigh.
 
"Hazard of the trade," Lady Obsidian repeated but smiled a bit more.
 
"Oh, hell, I hit arrogance before the first shot is down," Pinprick chimed in.
 
I glowered at them, but apparently, I had used up all my intimidation points on the bad guys because they looked amused more than anything.
 
"Fine, you're annoyingly zen, I'm arrogantly presumptive," I groused, "But it doesn't change how I feel. Could you at least express that upset a bit more vocally for a second?"
 
He nodded then looked downward and began to intone, "Oh great goodly gods of the depth and current, why did you curse me with victory over a much mightier foe. Why did you subject me to survival and a possibly long and productive life despite my challenges when you knew it meant Caleb would lecture me? Why, Gods, why?"
 
"Is it wrong to punch out a blind guy?" I asked the room.
 
"Yes," Ariana said squeezing my shoulder and speaking for the first time.
 
"It's frowned on," Tornado agreed.
 
"Now Deaf guys are jerks, you can go to town on them all day," Pinprick said, then noticed the looks he got, "What? Have you seen American sign language? Racist as hell, and they get away with it."
 
We all kept staring at him. Even Mayo who somehow managed to line up right.
 
"Fine," Pinprick threw his hands up "But if you learn what they're signing behind your back you'll feel differently."
 
"Sorry, Mayo," I finally said, realizing I was being silly but admitting, "I just wish there was something I can do. I can't help Doctor Salem, she's in the Balance. And here you are, and I can't help you either."
 
"Arrogant presumption and bigotry against mysticism aside," a voice whispered just loud enough to be heard, "He's actually a rather fine young man. He really does care. Good pick, Vivian."
 
"Thank you," Lady Obsidian said and she did sound a bit pleased.
 
I turned to see Doctor Salem. She looked like hell, wobbly and weak. She had a cane and seemed to be positioning herself by use of it and sheer willpower. Her hand shivered as if cold. She might have looked crone like before, but now her age was more than a matter of appearance.
 
"Doctor, you're out of the Balance," I blurted the obvious.
 
"Most of me, yes," She said with a sigh, "I'll have to go back. Frequently now. I'm bound to the place currently. It will be slow work getting my own energies built back up so I leave again for any duration."
 
"I'm sorry," I said, "I pushed."
 
"Young man, if I didn't agree with you, it wouldn't have happened," She said curtly, "But, as a method of allaying your guilt however silly it is, and because I will need the help, rest assured I shall have numerous tasks for you."
 
"You've giving me your laundry list?" I said surprised.
 
"Among other things," She nodded, "I can't be out as much. The good news, of course, is that the Balance is the perfect place for teaching certain basics of the mystical to a promising student who might yet show arcane prowess."
 
"Whoa," I held up my hands, "I don't like mysticism. I am flattered but I…."
 
"Oh no," Dr. Salem shook her head, "You as a student? By the three-fold goddess no," She shook her head, "I meant Mayo, of course."
 
"Me?" Mayo made a very surfacer like gesture, touching his hand to his chest as he inquired, "I am honored, and surprised. I know little of magic."
 
"Few do at the start," Dr. Salem shrugged, "But you have a wisdom, an insight that I believe would be good ground to plant the seeds in…or perhaps a better metaphor would be I think your waters hold many treasures you yourself have not yet discovered."
 
"I am, unworthy," He said, "And uncertain."
 
"Oh, drop the other part on him," I said to her.
 
"Other part?" He said, proving even the blind lift eyebrows. Which I suppose only makes sense, but you think about the oddest things in moments like your newly blind friend being offered a chance to become a witch's apprentice. Besides, I had a feeling she was about to bring up a point.
 
"Well, I'm not reading minds," Dr. Salem said, "But I suspect Eel is either wondering aloud if I can cure your blindness in the training… " she looked at me.
 
That wasn't it, I shook my head. Though I loved the idea that it might be so. Magic can do some weird stuff that science is still struggling with. Science is like the good student who shows his work in class while Mysticism is more like that kid who can BS his entire term paper without so much as citing a source and the little snot still gets a pat on the head from teacher.
 
"Or…" She continued, "He is considering that you have long wanted a way to help in the fight against mystic threats like the Eldest and his minions. I can teach you, with patience and time, to ward , to shield, and purify. You cannot defeat the Eldest, not directly, but I can help you hold him back and teach you to act as a guardian of the innocents below."
 
"I will be your pupil," Mayo said without hesitation.
 
"Called it," I said smugly.
 
"Of course, I do wonder about your taste in friends, they seem a bit smug," She informed Mayo.
 
"He amuses me from time to time," Mayo said with a bit of a smile, then added, "And thank you, Doctor Salem."
 
She stood, "It's every mystic's duty to take an apprentice at least once in their life," Her hand reached out and took his, "Ready?"
 
"As I shall ever be, I suppose," He  said earnestly then waved to us with his free hand, "Thank you for saving all of the ocean's peoples, all of you."
 
"See you around, Mayo," I told him. The others chimed in with their well wishes also.
 
Mayo then looked at Doctor Salem, "I am ready."
 
She gestured, and there was a swirling about them and they began to fade from view. I heard Mayo get another question out.
 
"Will I be able to see again?"
 
"With your eyes? No, without them? Colors you never knew existed…" And her voice became an echo and the echo faded.
 
 
The next generation of mystics looked to have some promising potential.

"Greater Love Hath No Man More Than This.  .  ."

Cosmo is worthy. Clark is jealous.

Some of you will be disappointed I suspect, but here's a bit more anyway . And no, it's not quite done.
 
As I fought the temptation to say, "I totally made out with your niece, dude" in my best beach brah accent, we moved on to find the incoming superheroes. Lady Obsidian had removed her helmet, though I could see a hair line crack in the faceplate. Given the woman's armor could generate forcefields that my best punches would have trouble getting through, I didn't want to think about what could tear through all that and still hurt the basic structure. Pinprick looks intact, but was in want of a shower looking like someone had let the dog drool all over their favorite action figure for an hour. Arctic Fox was, pardon the pun, as cool as ice as she was talking to Lady Obsidian filling her in. Honestly, I've seen people read off grocery lists with more emotion.
 
And they weren't alone, in addition to my remaining team mates, I saw three other figures.  Two of them were so close to each other that if you didn't know anything else about them, you could tell they were involved and happily so. Their costumes were alike, consisting of red and white. His had the Greek Psi symbol within an Eye shape logo (though it looked different from Viewpoint's) and hers had more white than red, with a logo up the side of an avian design. They didn't hold hands, but she seemed to have slipped close against him anytime he stopped moving. The third fellow was more off to the side, and he looked around with concern and frustration and his body language showed… was that disgust? His costume had a spiral like pattern spread throughout it, and he wore a full-face mask with glass lenses.
 
"Eel, I hear you've been busy," Lady Obsidian said sympathetically, her helmet cradled by her left arm, "Good work all, from what Mabel and Arctic Fox have told me."
 
"Yeah, well, you were right about Valorous," I said trying not to look at Fox as I said it, "Man, I can't believe the government would try this," I looked about at the wreckage still to be cleaned up, "Intruding into our homes, trying to steal tech like common crooks, and then having the nerve to say they're the good guys. Man, I cut them some slack, but right now, if I saw a government agent, especially some jackass in a cape, I would give him a piece of my mind. It's like a modern day 5th columnist movement."
 
I set my jaw.
 
Lady Obsidian sighed, "This is Hawkstrike and Mind's Eye. They decided to accompany us from the ocean to help us out when they heard our base was under assault," She gestured to the woman and man in the red and white outfits.
 
"Nice to meet you," Mind's Eye offered a hand and I shook it. He had a pretty good grip for a telepath.
 
"I've heard about you two," I said, "Nice work in Cape Benedict."
 
"Thank you," Hawkstrike smiled as I shook her hand. Hawkstrike was a martial artist, "It's not just us, Storm Child takes up the slack. He'd be here but our own town needed someone to stick around, and we figured, after the crisis here, we deserved a week in a nice hotel to celebrate."
 
"Two years Anniversary," Mind's Eye beamed at his wife. Hawkstrike smiled back adoringly. Just for a moment, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Arctic Fox stiffen as if she were bracing during a dental drill.
 
"Well, congratulations! I'm new here myself in Costa Sagrado or I'd suggest a classy place," I told them and turned to the third guy to take Fox's mind off the happy couple, "And you are?"
 
I offered my hand.
 
"This gentleman is the reason we were able to teleport back here so quickly," Lady Obsidian said, "This is Vortex…"
"Nice to meet you, Vortex," I smiled as he took my hand.
 
Lady Obsidian continued, "He's with the Star-Watch, a team of U.S. Government agents and superheroes."
 
A sinking feeling, not unlike the cables of the elevator you're in going far too slack too completely without warning hit me, "You're a…"
 
"Modern Day 5th columnist for Uncle Sam," Vortex said shaking my hand in a bit too energetic an arm pump, "Any other complaints you'd like me to take back to the team?"
 
"I…" I turned red.
 
"Size ten right?" Pinprick looked up and smirked. Ariana covered her mouth, Tornado didn't bother to cover his. Arctic Fox actually chuckled softly, and Lady Obsidian gave me that look a deacon gives you when you fart in church.
 
Well, I had thought God was on my side, but as the Earth refused to swallow me and spare me further embarrassment, I began to have doubts again. I can be fickle like that.
 
"I apologize, I…"
 
He waved me off, "It's okay. Given what you've been through, I can't blame you for going full on Libertarian for a while.  Operation Eagle Eye is, well, kind of intense, though I didn't think they'd ever try this."
 
"You're not with Operation Eagle Eye? As a Super?" I raised a brow.
 
"Different agency collaborates with us, but even among the Eye there are regional divisions and more politicking than you might believe," Vortex answered, "It gets ugly sometimes. But there are folks who work without," A nod of respect to Lady Obsidian, "And some of us who try to keep it on the straight and narrow from within," his face couldn't be seen, but I could somehow tell he was frowning as he looked about, "This offends me no less than it offends you. Though for some different reasons."
 
After putting my foot in my mouth once, I decided not to debate the finer points.
 
Only then did I noticed Lady Obsidian speaking softly to Mind's Eye.
 
He nodded, and he and Arctic Fox went off.
 
"Thank you again, Vortex," Lady Obsidian said, "If you need to rest up…"
 
 
"No no, my continued presence here would just be …" He searched for the word, "a complication. Besides there are others in the sea I should probably offer a ride to." A swirling, well, vortex, swarmed about him as he waved and was gone.

Shouldn't that be in the sequel?

Was I the only one wishing we could end the season on a high note, for once? I mean, Team Flash really earned a moment of peace and happiness.

Without giving too much away   .  .  .
 
"Hey, Fastest Man Alive, why don't you take him to the Hospital?!"

OK. Schedule is crazy and I'm going about 5 hours of sleep when I feel like I want 12 each night this week sooo...I don't have it done yet. Still, better to get a part in and keep this going than to sputter out at the end entirely.
 
It would have been nice to end things on a kiss. But this is the real world, a world not of kisses and closing curtains but one of flying men, undersea civilizations, six-inch tall men cursed by fairy magic and iguana people.
 
And that means the wrap up is full of paperwork, consequences, and complexity.  Mind you, superheroes have some insane short cuts. Case in point, it seemed like no sooner had Ariana and I gotten all the prisoners sedated in the medbay when word came in from Mabel the New Samartans had returned! Tornado had gotten groggily to his feet (An advantage of his high speed metabolism was his processing some drugs faster I suppose, though he was still shocky) and woke up even more when he learned his niece had been fighting the bad guys.
 
"You went toe to toe with a Purifier XI AND Valorous?' Tornado's voice slurred a bit drunkenly but was improving.
 
"And did not end up sedated," She countered in a calm cool tone, preparing to make her case, "So before you lecture me on how dangerous this is and so on, I want you to know I did what I had to do to protect a place I care about too and if there were other options, I might have tried them but there were not so…"
 
He held out one hand to forestall her, "Hey, it's okay. I actually do get it. I was trying to tell you 'good job'."
 
"Oh," Ariana looked sheepish, "Well, I had help."
 
"I think I was the one who needed help," I said with a smile to her, "That killbot pert near took my head off…"
 
"Wait, say that again?" He said.
 
"'Pert near took my head off'?" I repeated sighing as his eyes lit up in delight at the expression, "It's a legitimate expression, and you have an accent too. You know that, right?"
 
"Maybe in your part of the country I would," He smirked, "But here my way is the normal way to talk and you're the one with the accent," picking on me seemed to revive him a little. I'm not sure that spoke kindly of him, "Say something else folksy!"
 
"I will arrange a coming to Jesus meeting that has nothing to do with mass if you don't lay off the way I speak?" I gave him my most saccharine smile.
 
"Guy nearly gets his head shaved off by a killbot and he gets all cranky," Tornado sighed as if he were the victim here. 

I didn't find the trailer for The Orville very funny. That's pretty much a guaranteed sign of success, as all the sitcoms I hate seem to be huge hits.

I have a mixed reaction to this one. On the one hand, the officer who was first on scene shouldn't have been fired. He correctly assessed the situation, and the facts bear him out. On the other hand, the ACLU author is clearly being unrealistic in not expecting the second officer to shoot after the victim started to raise a gun in his direction.

The final battle! Only the epilogue remains
 
After grabbing a backpack to throw the enhancers I'd collected in, I moved as quickly as I could through the dark of the mall. I doubted it would do me any good. Valorous had as much as mentioned he'd gotten into the secure area already and that would be beyond Mabel's control, even over the lighting. If I was very lucky, and I doubt I would be, Ariana would be safely on the other side of that entry way and not in danger. As soon as I considered it, I realized how unlikely that scenario was. Valorous hadn't denied my accusations of taking a hostage, and if Ariana wasn't down, she was fighting.
 
Why am I attracted to the stubborn ones?
 
You never appreciate just how big a mall is until you must run the course of it. I leaped over furniture and barriers, and weaved around columns in a full tilt run. Fortunately, the location of the entrance wasn't at the other end, so it wasn't like I had to go a full football field here.
 
The good news? The Entry way was still open. I could get in. The bad news? It was open, clearly Valorous was indeed already in. Worse news? He'd taken Ariana with him. That meant she was likely hurt, bound, and/or pissed.
 
Barring the private residence suites of some of my team mates, this would be the only room I hadn't had time to explore. That was a pain, no home field advantage here.  I moved through the open double sealed doors. Looks like he hadn't had to pry them open, but then he'd likely gotten everything he needed from Arctic Fox.  Copy of her eye's retina from a high-tech scanner disguised as a smart phone. Her voice, easily from all the calls. I didn't want to ask how he got her password, but no doubt he had more than one shot at it and all the time in the world to analyze it.
 
Thank god, he hadn't closed it behind him. I'm not sure I was authorized yet. I guess worry for Ariana and outrage made me sloppy. I just barreled in instead of trying stealth. Then again, it wasn't like he didn't know I was coming.
 
But either way, as soon as I came into view the son of a biscuit eater shot me with an obscenely huge energy rifle.  The green energy hit me in the side in a particle stream that had the whammy of a wrecking ball on steroids. I don't budge easy, but that one staggered me onto the ground.
 
Then I heard a second sound, a fizzle spark and curse.
"Only enough charge for one shot?" I said and rose. There was Valorous threw the chrome hued weapon to the side. My gaze fell nearby where Ariana was pulling hard down on her forearm. The line clear through the arm between wrist and elbow told it all. He might not have shattered her hand into a hundred pieces, but he, quite literally, broken her arm in two. Only constant pressure kept it as one.
 
"Are you…" I was going to say okay, which would have been a very stupid thing to say.
 
Ariana beat me to it, "I'll be fine, focus on the fight… and kick his ass!"
 
I smiled at her spirit and turned to Valorous. It was good she had refocused me, because he was already streaking towards me fist ready to hook me hard. I decided to hold my ground and trade blows. He hit me square in the jaw rocking my head back but not taking me off my feet, I brought an uppercut in his stomach and knocked him into the ceiling.
 
I'd like to imagine his grunt of pain was louder than mine.
 
The blow had been tremendous. It wasn't to the level of Mr. Brute, but it certainly was comparable to my own.  Add to that and his edge In maneuverability, and this could be a long hard slog. My eyes drifted to that bulky belt of his. If I could tear it off during the right, he'd lose his enhancement, and I'd win this easily.
 
Of course, the jackass just had to come with contingencies of his own. Reaching into the side pocket of his belt, he flung something down hard at me that looked like an oversized gumball. With the toss powered by his superstrength, it moved as quickly as a bullet as he said, "Hey, Fish Guy! Catch!"
 
You know, there was a time when I might have agreed to play by the rules of someone who was trying to kick my ass, when I'd let him set what was or wasn't manly even if it gave him an edge. But then I got of middle school and decided I'd really like to win one and go by my own rules.
 
There's an element of pragmatism tempering idealism in your growth into an adult.
 
Or as papa used to say, "If they tell you hitting them in the balls makes you gay, what they really mean is I don't want to sing soprano."
 
Suffice to say, I did not catch. I rolled to the side, barely escaping it striking me. It exploded into a five foot radius ball of fire and still caught me in its wake. The indirect heat still burned along my left side some. If it had hit me square on, I would have been in serious trouble.
 
"You think I didn't prepare for you?" He announced, "The only fully powered and healthy hero who might be here?" Valorous floated a good twenty feet over me, "I know you're vulnerable to fire. I know you don't have much in the way of range."
 
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ariana focusing, glistening, and I realized what she was doing. She was reversing her density, growing softer, more malleable, trying to force her arm back in piece by going softer rather than harder. Whatever held her together when she went spongey, I prayed it kept her from spilling out. She'd need time to line things up and fuse.
 
I needed to move the fight away from her. If she got caught in one of those fireball blasts I…then a thought occurred to me. I reached into the backpack behind me and pulled out one of the enhancer belts, "You know, for someone who talked trash about Lady Obsidian, you sure use a lot of tools. At least she made her own. You rely on this, don’t' you?"
 
His eyes narrowed, and he rolled another fire globe in his hand, "Why don't you put it on, maybe you'll actually have a chance."
 
"I already know it won't work for me," I answered, "Mabel, you assumed with her security and comms down, she wasn't much threat to you. Did you know there are rooms where she can detect your pulse rate? Now the medbay, that's a marvel. And she has two of your agents and one of my buddies there to compare, along with one of the enhancers. She warned me, even after she hacked them, that if I tried one the best it would do hurt some, the worst? Might lock up. Instead of enhancing my power it would trap me in it as if muscle bound. That's why the government uses partials…" I threw it to the side, where it slid across the floor keeping my eyes on Valorous, "instead of A-listers. Because it adds an extra inch to the puny, but it will never let you get better than average man length. Explains a lot about your attitude, tiny."
 
Okay, maybe there is a part of me that never got out of Middle school after all, but I needed his attention on me, and I needed to piss him off badly. Very badly.
 
"You smug mother@@@@er!" He lobbed the fire globe at me, harder, but sloppier than before!
 
Well mission accomplished.
 
Frankly this whole idea was dangerous for multiple reasons.  Chief among them, I am a water sign so fire bad. But also in a chamber full of devices arcane and scientific that were considered too dangerous for mankind! Some of it was labeled, but those labels brought little comfort. When you see a large hollow oval marked "Timegate: Paradox Buffer down do not use" you know, even if you didn't finish your bachelors, that it's probably a bad idea to set off explosives near it. Add to that a kill bot from some genetic purity organization that was shut down years ago, a pulsing hovering spindle in a glass container, and severed dead man's hand that appeared to be in a frozen state of decay on an altar with a warning in Latin, and I would rather have been fighting in a field of land mines.
 
 I dove behind the kill bot, figuring it, at least, could take the hit without exploding. Good choice, the flames washed over it like it was nothing and I barely felt a thing.
 
"Valorous," I tut-tutted, "Did you lose both your balls?"
 
Well, that did it, he flew around the kill bot with, I'll give him credit, amazing speed and hammered me with blows to my body that sounded almost thunderous! His rage seemed to give him extra strength, but the lack of precision meant he neither took the wind out of me, nor did it break anything.
 
Pain? Pain I can take.
 
And he was in arm's reach now.  I hit him with a hook shot right in the jaw, his face slammed into the backside of the killbot, and he wobbled for a moment, eyes glazed, and blood coming out of his mouth. I'm not a fan of blood, but damn if giving him a bloody lip wasn't gratifying.
 
"No more games," I said, "No more taunts," I promised, "I'm just going to take away what makes you special."  I latched onto the belt and got ready to pull.
 
I forgot a cardinal rule of fighting. Don't call your shots or announce your plans unless they really can't stop you.
 
"No!" He said, rising up to kick me in the face before my grip was solid. Even limited flight meant he could get a height advantage on me. What's more, he realized he'd been baited. That rush of panic at almost losing his belt cut through that foolish anger like a knife and brought him a moment of clarity.
 
And damn it, maybe even a bit of cleverness.
 
He turned to the kill bot and his eyes lit up, "Huh, the Mark XI Purifier! I read about these, go after whoever has the most genetic deviation." And he flipped a switch near its neck, "Betting that's you!"
 
The killbot in question was roughly nine feet tall, twice as wide as I was, and looked like the love child of Gort and Robbie the Robot… on steroids.
 
"Genetic deviations detected!" It announced, its eye slit glowing and then carving a wound in my leg with a laser that would sheared it off if I hadn't moved, "Purification protocols underway."
 
"Beautiful," Valorous smirked, "I had hoped to kick your ass myself, but you know, this will buy me the time I needed to retrieve my target," he turned to head towards the glass case with the prism.
 
Before he could really move, the robot's torso spun in a three sixty allowing it's arm to whip around and strike him with all the force of a runaway eighteen wheeler and knock him for quite a loop.
 
"Congratulations," I told him, "You just woke up a Eugenics bot on the hopes it might ignore you… never mind that if it kills me and you're gone, it's going to go on a rampage in the city after this with you as still on its kill list. You're not just a villain, you're a stupid one."
 
I had wanted to kick his ass myself, but obviously, ego had to give way to pragmatism.
 
I reached into my own belt and hurled something Valorous' way. It landed behind him with a shattering sound.
 
"And you think my aim is bad?" He snorted, "Enjoy your killbot, punk. I've got things to do."
 
"Like playing good women for chumps just so you can use them?" I sneered, and then weaved to the side as another laser beam from the Purifier robot fired, "Arctic Fox trusted you!"
 
"That was her mistake!" He said seeming to enjoy my troubles with the robot despite the shot it had given him, "Frankly, carnal benefits aside, she was in the end, just a means to get in here. It was professional, not personal."
 
I rolled between the killbot's legs, forcing it to punch down instead of firing. The floor was made of some damn durable stuff and it still showed a nasty crack where that thing's fist came down.
 
"Yeah? You do know I heard your rant earlier. How you were doing her a favor, how she'd be wiser after this…" I reminded.
 
"Well, we can't all be sentimental romantics, I leave that to dumb hicks like you and poor little ice princesses who just want to be loved," He snorted and started to fly towards his prize.
 
Only to have a burst of baseball sized hail come at him sideways like the fire from a heavy caliber machine gun. I guess he hadn't realized that the vial I'd thrown had materialized its target to bring me the team mate Dr. Salem had promised me.
 
I had considered bringing in Lady Obsidian, undeniably the most powerful of the team to my thinking, but hell hath no fury …. and besides, Arctic Fox had a right to this.
 
She had every damned right.
 
He looked up from the pile of ice debris he was half buried in, "Foxy?"
 
"Don't Foxy me!" the air around Arctic Fox's body was cracking with cold. The large chamber had dropped at least ten degrees all over despite the size of it, "You miserable, traitorous, son of …."
 
"It's a job!" He made another attempt to explain, even as he turned something on his belt, "And an important one. Help me out here, and you can join my team. You can help humanity."
 
"What would you know of humanity?" Arctic Fox seethed, "Besides, aren't I a little too sentimental for your line of work? Now that I can talk to Mabel again, she's playing me all your greatest hits. The speech you gave then wasn't any more flattering than what I just heard you tell Eel. Help humanity? Wouldn't you have to be capable of being humane to do that?"  Her emphasis on the question was accompanied by another ice blast.
 
While the two no longer lovebirds were talking, I had problems of my own. That problem being the Purifier XI. I spat into my gloves and dived for it, only to get shot along the shoulder before I could close with its face. I tried not to scream as it carved a chunk out of said shoulder.
 
It reared up another blast, only to have its head twisted to the side by two diamond dense hands that jerked it hard to the right! The blast carved a groove in the wall instead of me.
 
Ariana had just saved my ass.
 
"I see the belt works for you," I tried to sound nonchalant, but I'm pretty my relief at not having my head sheared off was evident.
 
"Yeah, thanks for throwing one my way" She announced, "it’s a fashion disaster, but you know what? I'll take it."
 
"Look out!" I warned her as it spun on her just like it had Valorous earlier! There was a glow about her and its metallic arm went clean through her leaving her utterly untouched.
 
"Damn!" I was impressed, "You're a quick learner!" though it occurred to me that fast shifting may not have been new to her. She'd still practiced with her power, she just had more oomph in her powers now. Kind of like how a light weight boxer still knows how to throw a punch even if a heavyweight has the edge in arm strength.  I shifted tactics, "Think you could spit in its eye for me?"
 
"Seriously?" She said surprised, but then spat once on its eyes area where the blaster would exit from as she solidified, "Why did I just do that?"
 
"Get back!" I told her and punched it to get attention, hard as I could. I was gratified that I dented the metal monster.
 
She did back up some then scowled, "You didn't answer my…"
 
The purifier's laser lit up and… well, the lens was coated in saliva and the weapon blew up inside of it's head!
 
"Mom used to have a crush on Val Kilmer," I said, "One thing I learned from an eighty's movie with him - Keep your optics clean."
 
Despite missing part of its head, the purifier fought on! It must have had other sensors, because it still had a general idea where we were.
 
"Okay, that's clever… you know, you might have a mind for science," She started to say.
 
"Oh god, not another back to college speech," I told her and caught the incoming arm of the Purifier XI
 
"Fine, it bothers me a bit yes, and Lady Obsidian said…"  Ariana wasn't just talking, she'd gone super dense again and begun to shred at the already exposed wires at the head level, tearing chunks out of it.
 
"I can imagine," I told her, "Why don't you go help Arctic Fox with Valodorous?"
 
She twisted her gaze and looked were Fox and Valorous were continuing their own fight, "Nu uh. She's got dibs."
 
"She say that?" I inquired.
 
Ariana scoffed as if men were the dumbest creatures on the planet, "She doesn't really have to. If some guy broke my heart on purpose like that, I'd make his life a living hell for years. I wouldn't let my uncle or any other guy in my family handle him because that would be too quick… too painless."
 
"Uh…" my eyes widened, and for one brief moment the robot was the second scariest thing in this kerfuffle.
 
Ariana saw my expression and dimpled, "Second date still on after this?"
 
"Yes, ma'am," I said very politely, and bent the robot's arm backwards warping it.
 
Meanwhile, I had some reason to worry for Arctic Fox. Valorous' raw power meant she couldn't contain him in ice, he just broke through the bonds, but there was more.
 
"You know sweetheart, I didn't' expect to fight you today, but I did have contingencies for that too," He said moving forward steadily, walking because if he flew the force of her cold and ice might yet blow him back, "My suit's lined with micro heaters. The material protects me from extreme cold. Now sit down, let me get my target before I have to hurt you."
 
Much of the ice encrusting his outfit was indeed melting in rivulets, like a defroster might clear your car window in winter. He had come prepared. The robot was almost done for, dibs or not, I got ready to jump in to help my team mate.
 
I shouldn't have bothered.
 
"Jerry," She said, her eyes narrowing, "You seem to be under the mistaken impression that no one I've ever fought before prepared for cold weather. You have thermal undies, oh no…whatever will I do?" She reached out and spread her hands. What I saw at first didn't look particularly impressive, a burst of mist, tiny snowflakes and crystals in a wide cloud about him? "Maybe, Jerry, I'll drop the air around you to Antarctic levels, or lower…. How's your breathing Jerry?"
 
Valorous aka Jerry, couldn't answer. His lungs had filled with air that, well, I don't know how cold it was but he couldn't breathe it safely. He clutched at his throat for a moment and tried to escape the cloud of cold but instead of flying fell to his knees.
 
Arctic Fox strode towards him and reached down, "Don't worry Jerry," her finger tips popped and cracked with sub-zero temperature, "I'm a hero. I don't kill. I'm just going to remove something you value." Her hands went to his waist.
 
"Uhm, Arctic Fox?" I said eyes wide.
 
"Relax, Rookie," She told me, and froze the belt solid until it was as brittle as glass, and then she punched it. It broke apart easily, "I've got this."
 
Another gesture with her freehand and the cold around his him faded allowing him to breathe again, though really, he coughed and kept coughing so I wasn't sure there might not be some real damage there.
 
She buried him up to his neck in ice, the defrosters or not, it was too much for his reduced strength to allow him to break out of anytime soon.
Then Arctic Fox slapped him hard across his already bloody mouth, "If you ever try this on another woman and I hear about it I'll take more than your toy belt."  She must have put some cold in her touch because the palm strike on his jaw looked border line frost bit.
 
"Eel," She said turning from him, "You got everything covered?"
 
The robot was broken in three different parts and had finally gone out, "Yeah," I said to her. I moved closer, "Are you …"
 
Ariana shook her head at me, and I shut up.
 
"Please, Rookie," Arctic Fox shook her hair like she was cleaning something out of it, but there was a little catch to her voice, "I'm a superheroine. I deal with petty little villains every day. It's …just another day. But you are the rookie, so I'm going to leave the clean up to you while I get word out to the rest of the team what's gone down. Got a complaint, tell Lady O." She strode off like a queen.
 
I mimed tipping my hat
 
"I'll talk to her later when it's right," Ariana assured me. She was rubbing at the arm that had been broken. It looked good to me, but I guess, molecular density powers or not, it was at the very least sore.
 
I gave her a grateful look, then glanced over to the still half encased half powered Valorous, "We need to make sure he's not going to cause trouble so…"
 
"Got it," She strode over and punched him across the jaw with her density amped up, knocking him out cold! I guess sore or not, her arm could handle that last duty.
 
"I was going to say 'We should inject him with a sedative from the medbay'," I held out my hands in a 'hey' gesture.
 
"Whoops," She said, "My bad."  She fluttered her lashes.
 
"Uh huh," I told her and moved towards her.
 
She dimpled, and I couldn't help it. I kissed her. At first it was like kissing a statue, but then she turned her power off and her lips because soft and warm and she was kissing back.
 
"Hey!" She pulled back a bit, "I was saving that for the third date."
 
"Superhero time" I told her, "We could die any day, so we've got to live while we can." A bit of a smile ended up on my face, "Besides, I like to end an adventure on at least one high note."
 
"You're pulling the gather ye rose buds while we may and 'I love happy endings' bit just to get me to make out with you?" She ran fingers along my chest and looked up at me with those gorgeous chocolate eyes.
 
"Yeah," I nodded honestly.
 
"Works," She tilted up her head and laid one helluva kiss on me.

No word that comes to mind.
 
However, Schlock Mercenary has a answer for you:

https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2004-03-20

We're going to disagree here, and I can tell we perceive the problem in different directions, along lines that are not even in the same plane. I must cordially close my part of the discussion.

"You don't really appreciate 'Friendship is Magic' until you've watched it in the original Klingon."

I was strangely unmoved because we've been here before.  First season his mom, second season  his dad, and how Iris.
 
I wonder what he's going to mess up in response this time.