2012-10-21 The Wardens Unmasked

It is a nice Sunday afternoon and probably most of the members of the Justice League had plans. Alas, crime never waits for the Monday! An emergency meeting has been requested by Firestorm and the Martian Manhunter, which some might remember were investigating the Wardens and the events around the terrorist strike that causes the death of senator Castroneves’ family. When the others arrive, Firestorm is already in the meeting room. But that is normal, he basically lives in the Justice Hall.

J'onn does not, but he *was* one of the two that called the meeting. Not that everyone will be able to be there. Superman is putting out literal fires out west, some of the others are busy too. The green-skinned Martian makes his way into the room, a serious expression on his face as he moves to sit down. Kyle's late. Artists often are. He takes the rooftop access instead of the front doors, waving in through the sealed skyline access. The Green Lantern's emerald contrail winkles out in a scattering of dust as he swoops through the rafters and lands with a hopskip in the meeting hall, holding his gauntleted white hands up. "Sorry I'm late," he apologizes, running a hand across his brow over his green domino mask. "I was giving a lecture midtown on gallery design. What'd I miss?" he asks, looking around.

Taz didn't have plans beyond training at the Hall which he already did today. He arrives shortly after Kyle, walking into the room since he can't fly. He gives Kyle a curious look before heading to take a seat. "I hope we didn't miss anythin'."

Firestorm takes his seat on the table, which is just at the other side of J'onn J'onzz’ place. “Hello, seems we are all the people that could come so quickly. I got word from Colossus and Fathom, they are busy.” And the others seem unreachable, which is not unusual given their responsibilities and abilities. “But I... we believe that the information we have is too important to wait. Apparently the Wardens aren’t who they claimed to be. I have evidence some of their members were terrorists involved in the attack to the White House past August as well as the assassination of metas – mutants in this case, in the past years. Also, some of their earlier appearances seem falsified.”

Martian Manhunter nods. "Indeed. It appears that the memories of those who witnessed the attack on the Furtherance Mission House were edited by a telepath. A reasonably skilled one, but not first tier. And..." A pause. "The reason this meeting is so urgent is because Marla Castroneves and her children may still be alive. The *real* memories show them being removed by teleportation immediately prior to the crash." Oh. Now *that* is interesting. J'onn has, indeed, been busy.

"Assuming the information's reliable, we're going to need to start getting some information on who the Wardens actually are," Kyle points out, holding an elbow in one hand and tapping his chin with his fingertips. "Their numbers, abilities, and so on. If they can do that kind of mind-manipulation, it's not impossible they've got more mojo than we had thought. I'd hate to walk into a big fat hairy ambush."

Taz nods a little as Firestorm begins, not too concerned about the others not being around. He knows everyone's got lives outside the league and that they'll probably come if they're really needed. Leaning back, he cracks his neck and listens. He's visible surprised by what Firestorm and Martian Manhunter reveal. "Bloody hell. I thought they were just rookies that needed trainin'," he mutters. "Seems like they have a lot of mojo as it is."

“Well, there are plenty of information about the Warden’s members,” starts Firestorm. But then he frowns, “but yeah, it might be incorrect. What I found out is this: They vanished after the attack on Mission House. All their supposed appearances before the Mole Man attack in Metropolis are probably fake, and that there might have been some impressive hacking involved at implanting those false reports.” And telepathic manipulation, given what the Manhunter is revealing! “And two of them,” he types some commands in the computer, bringing in holograms of two super-criminals, “are actually, most likely, the super-criminals Riptide and Vertigo. Terrorists and murderers.”

"Also...they attacked an anti-registration rally in New York. I believe the Titan, Mend, was present for that...it might be worth having somebody talk to her." By virtue of being *trained*, she's likely a better witness. "Whatever these people want..." J'onn lets his shoulders fall. "We need to find them and deal with them. And with the realization that they may have hostages."

"If we're facing psychic attack, we should probably keep word about this to a minimum," Kyle says, folding his arms across his chest. "J'onn and I can keep a lid on our thinkin' pots, but I don't know how the rest of you are set for psychic defense. The more that people know about /who/ we're looking for and /why/, we run a higher risk of these... terrorists getting wind of it and rabbiting." When did /Kyle/ turn into the tactical thinker?

"Riptide and Vertigo?" Taz hasn't gotten to them in his reading about bad guys. "What can those two do?" he asks, looking the holograms over. "I don't have anything specific for blocking mind powers," he admits. Kyle makes him blink though. "Someone else might have already blown the cover on this. I wasn't paying too much attention but I overheard one of our soldier boys talking earlier about reading the Wardens were fakes on the computer," sharp ears pick up on things he doesn't always mean too. "I could go talk to that Titan kiddo if you want."

Firestorm winces as Kyle speaks, “I have been using federal resources to do my investigation, and writing reports, I need to ask them to classify those and make the whole deal top secret or something.” Or maybe it is already know they were fakes? Well, there were a lot of theories going in the Nets. Almost as many as there are about the JLA itself. “Riptide has some kind of superspeed, Vertigo... causes vertigo, maybe messes with the senses of her victims, not sure.”

Martian Manhunter nods. "I might be able to determine more if I had been present for one of the attacks. As I have not been...and I can only speculate as to their motives." A pause. "*I* will deal with their telepath. But you are right...and I am not sure whether it is wise to contact Senator Castroneves at this point or not." To tell him his family might be alive...but kept as hostages by people like this. "But then...he is an adult. I am not sure we have the right to keep the truth from him."

"Truth is one thing, J'onn. But all we have is rumor and hope. If we tell him his family is alive, and they're not..." he gestures. "It'd break him. I say we keep this to ourselves- don't show our cards until we're ready to move. When we move-" he brings his fist across and slaps it into his palm. "We do it fast, and then lay it out on the line."

"Huh. That's Vertigo...thought she was a guy," Taz murmurs. He heard about a supervilain that caused vertigo before but that it had been a man in a cape. Shaking it off, he settles back in his chair. "Yeah, we probably shouldn't let him know just yet. But we could keep a closer eye on him. Make sure nobody's trying for blackmail or ransom."

Firestorm types some more commands in the computer, brining up images of the Wardens Lady Daze and Wiz Whirl. Then comparing them with Vertigo and Riptide. The computer finds numerous matching traits. Holograms of other Warden members are also brought in, filling the center of the table. Bullhead, Tarragon and Stockpile, the other known Wardens, do not seem to have obvious counterparts. "Personally, I'd hate to keep something like that from him. He has the right to know about this investigation. And if he is being blackmailed, we need to know, maybe he can lead us to the terrorists."

"I suspect he may be. Otherwise, there would be no reason to *abduct* his family and merely fake their deaths, as opposed to just killing them. This would imply that his change of heart on registration is...entirely feigned. However, it would also imply that he already knows what we would tell him. Of course, there is one way to be sure, but I hesitate." Reading the minds of witnesses, with their consent, and removing the telepathic tampering...that's one thing, and quite within J'onn's ethics, but...

"What I know about telepathy could fill a thimble," Kyle points out. "But, I can lay the smackdown as we need it. So I say we find their operations center, get a plan of attack, and smash 'em hard." He looks around the room. "You guys on board with this plan?"

"Any chance that robot's some guy in a suit like that Iron Man fellow then," Taz suggestes, gesturing at Stockpile's hologram. "If we do tell him, we should probably bring him somewhere that wouldn't be watched by whoever's blackmailing him if that's what's happening," he says. "If ya find a scent for me to follow I can help find 'em but otherwise..." he shrugs. He's not sure how he can help.

“If he is being blackmailed and there are telepaths involved, he might be willing but unable to tell anyone in fear it would be immediately discovered,” counters Firestorm. “Wouldn’t you at least check if it is the case, Manhunter?” He looks at Kyle and smiles, “well, the trick is finding them first.”

"I will be able to check that. However, although I do not believe this telepath is first tier, without having met them, I can not be sure of our relative strengths." That's honest from the Martian. "One possibility, although the safety of it is uncertain with the other telepath, would be for me to impersonate a member of the 'Wardens' and attempt to get information that way."

"If you can do it without putting yourself at risk, J'onn, I think you should," Kyle tells the Manhunter. "We need more intel and there's no real way to do that without sending someone in. Do we know anyone we could bring in to help cover you on that? Any good infiltrators? I don't know how to go about sneaking up. I'm more on the smashy/bashy side of the house."

"If you're gonna infiltrate the Wardens, wouldn't we have to get our hands on one of them to make sure they don't show up and blow your cover?" Taz asks, a little warry of that plan. "Only sneaking I can manage involves less urban settings or digging underground."

“We don’t know how to find them,” reminds Firestorm. “Hmm, maybe you could impersonate Castroneves if he is in contact with the terrorists and agrees with the plan?” He asks the Martian.

"That would be a lot easier," the Martian notes. "And might well be a good start. But yes, finding them would be the challenge, along with distracting or restraining the one I was impersonating. That IS the hard part." He seems to be breezing right past infiltration experts.

Superman walks into the room, cape swirling behind him as he reads over a mission briefing. "Sorry for being late everyone. I think I'm to speed, but let me recap briefly if I may. Tell me if I'm missing anything. Two of the Wardens are actually the criminals Vertigo and Riptide, and we believe that some of Castroneves' people have been telepathically manipulated and that the senator's family might still be alive?" Superman walks towards his seat and settles lightly into it as he scans the room. "Please, continue with the brainstorming as well."

"I can lock one down if you give me a target," Kyle tells J'onn. "I'll be tied up for a while unless we have some kind of long-term metahuman jail. I can't keep a cage up while I'm sleeping," he points out. "But I can hold one up for a few hours, I think. Much beyond that's going to be pushing it."

Taz's ears flick towards the door long befoe Superman shows up and he looks over as the Man of Steel enters. He gets a nod before the feral-powered hero turns back to the discussion at hand. He's staying quiet for now, not sure how he could contribute just yet.

Firestorm seems happy to see Superman arriving, even if he is late. “Good to see you, chief. We found out some important info... actually very critical given the Manhunter has reasons to believe it is a hostage situation. We are tossing ideas. We need to find the terrorists and the hostages, and he only link we might have is Castroneves himself.”

"What people reported having seen during the terrorist attack and what happened have a disconnect. Somebody has been editing memories." J'onn frowns. "Somebody not first tier, but definitely competent. And it appears that Maria Castroneves and her children were snatched just before the crash. By a teleporter.

"So the thought here is that Castroneves is being maniluplated and his family is the leverage? Can we put a tail on Castronves, and monitor his actions? Maybe get J'onn close enough to see if Castronves knows anything?" Superman says, leaning forward to spitball a few ideas himself as he looks over the League members assembled in the room. "And we need to be tight-lipped about this, I think it goes without saying. We don't want the public learning a telepath might be manipulating a congressman."

"Superman," Kyle says, offering The Man of Steel an affable nod. "I pointed that out, too. We've really got two concerns- one, tipping our hand about their plans, and two, letting word leak out that we're looking for these Wardens. Either way, we run a risk of them rabbiting and disappearing with the hostages. Or killing them," he says, shrugging uncomfortably.

"We've got to talk to one of the Titans too get some information," Taz adds. "Since she was present at one of the attacks."

“Perhaps also investigating further the people that attacked the White House,” mentions Firestorm. “It was right before the League formed, but some agency must have been investigating. Homeland Security, maybe SHIELD?”

Martian Manhunter nods. "SHIELD might be good to inquire of," the Manhunter notes, glancing at Superman. "Do we have any strong contacts with them right now?" After all, Supes IS the team leader, and the most knowledgable about liaisons and the like.

"I think if we spread ourselves out to thin, we are only going to end up with more questions than answers. We need to put someone on Senator Castroneves, and we only have one person who could hide if they are using a telepath." Superman says, glancing at J'onn and nodding his head. "And Mend is the Titan in question? I can speak with her, but this would be a perfect opportunity for some of our newer members to have an excuse to go interact with the Titans. It may also be a good idea to find someone who excels in electronics communications and things of that nature to assist in monitoring the Senator. I'm thinking Nightwing, if there are no objections?" Superman nods his head to J'onn. "I can make some inquires at SHIELD, see if they know anything." "I'd like to conduct an aerial recon, Superman," Kyle tells the Man of Steel. "If you come with me, I think I can shield us both from casual view, at least passive scanning, and mask our thought signals. Worst case, if someone pings on us, you can fly us out of there fast."

Taz nods. "Guess that means I'm payin' the kiddos a visit," he says, smiling. "Sounds good to me. Want me to ask that Nightwing fella to do the monitoring while I'm there?"

"Nightwing is excellent at that kind of thing, from what I hear." J'onn smiles slightly. "At least we have made some progress. If we can prove that this was a setup by people seeking conflict between humans and metas...and in truth I can see no other motivation..."

Superman once more nods his head at J'onn. "I think I naturally tend to draw a lot of eyes Green Latern. We can do some aerial flyovers from high altitude, real causal like. Right now gentlemen, we need to worry about not tipping our hand, and finding where the Senator's family is, and then making sure we have people in place to protect the Senator. Put out your feelers, learn what you can, but play this very close to the vest. Agreed?"

"Agreed. Whenever you want to head that way, we can go," Kyle informs Superman, cracking his knuckles. "Shouldn't take us long if we head out into the seaboard and pop the sonic barrier. We can cruise them at fifty thousand feet and be over their compound before they know we were in the air."

Taz nods to Superman. "I'll make sure the Titans know to keep it tight-lipped too," he says. "Is there any chance anyone else if going to stumble on this info the same way you guys uncovered it? We wouldn't want someone else blowing the lid on this by poking around," he speaks to J'onn and Firestorm now.