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The last twenty-four hours have been a blur for Kamala Khan, also known now as Ms. Marvel!, she still can not get over how cool that is. Not quite as cool as getting Captain America to tell her Abu and Ammi that she was away for three days on important business with the Avengers, though! And she met Bucky - with the good hair and steel arm. And Scarlett. Who imparted some knowledge on her.
'People don't know about how you were made yet. And they don't need to know. It's best kept a secret.'
Of course this triggered the guilt complex in Kamala who immediately went to the warehouse that she was 'hatched' in to make sure there was no signs of her cocoon or the like. The warehouse itself was until yesterday a storage for miscellaneous rations and clothing from World War II and had long since been abandoned. Now it's partially collapsed, thanks to a 30 foot tall ninteen year old breaking it.
The fence was also crushed by a dog the size of a mini-bus, but none of that was mentioned in the reports, just a little notice in the paper that a former government facility suffered a collapse, and that it was being investigated. Of course, some of the local lowlifes are going on about explosions and giants and all sorts of weirdness.
Stephanie Brown has yet to make much of a name for herself. Most of her work is done quietly in Queens, tipping off police to crimes that haven't happened yet, stopping the occasional mugging, generally making herself a nuisance to the criminal element near her home. She's got good reason for sticking close to home — the biggest creeps she knows live there.
And today she heard one of her father's buddies — a no-account who calls himself 'Creeping Jesus', and she's truly not sure whether that's some attempt at a supervillain name or just a descriptor — mention events at a warehouse not so far from the city. Jersey City, to be specific. And how a crushed fence and collapsed roof make it ripe for potential exploration and exploitation. After dear old Dad and his friends were suitably drunk and Mommy Dearest dreaming the dreams of the narcotically enhanced, Steph put on her costume and made her way to Jersey — primarily by riding on the tops of buses.
She leaps down from the latest bus not far from the warehouse and picks her way through the shadows. Most people would have a hard time seeing her, clad as she is in dark violet. She almost blends in, and she's good at avoiding making noise. She wants to see what there is for CJ to steal before he can get his hands on it — in case there's something truly dangerous to be found.
Unfortunately weirdness tended to draw curiousity and investigation. Sometimes that ment tourists or even cops would show up…but tonight it's a different sort of detective. Wrapped in her suit, the 'fairer' of the bat family swept down from above, allowing her grapnel to draw her in a dizzying swing before she releases the 'catch' and plummets in free-fall, only to extend the 'wings' of her cape and sweep into a gliding landing without any real sound. Similar thoughts of potential dangers to be removed had sparked her action tonight, but so far she'd thought it not enough to call all hands on deck. Instead she'd check things out from there and make her own assessment.
Barbara is silent as she lowers herself towards the edge of the destruction with gymnastic ease, peering into the dark for signs of others lurking in the wearhouse.
Meanwhile, amidst the wreckage of the warehouse where the cocoon was held stands a rather nondescript figure. Karnak is there, tidying up the remnants of the fragmented cocoon so the Terrigenesis cannot be tracked. The green-clad monk glances over at Lockjaw, "Remind me again, why I am doing this?"
The giant dog tilts his head at Karnak, then barks cheerfully, neither of them noticing all the people approaching from the shadows just yet. Or rather, they aren't acting like they notice…
Having made her own way in, Kamala is looking around at the rather - large mess - she made and she frowns, blushing a little. Of course, she's dressed in the new costume - the modified burkini turned into Captain Marvel tribute - but with no wind in the warehouse ruins, there's no dramatic flapping of the red scarf. "Lockjaw!" she squees as she runs up to give the huge dog a big squeeze and scritches. "What are you doing here?!" she asks, and then notices Karnak and ducks her head.
"Not exactly what I had in mind for y'know.. urban renewal." she murmurs quietly as she rubs the back of her head to comfort herself and blushes. "I was just coming back to clean up the mess I made, because I was told that having none of the stuff I came out of would be.. bad if found by the wrong people." she admits.
The she adds, "Exactly what did happen to me? I mean, I broke the crystal and suddenly I'm covered in goo and can do this!" She expands one of her hands making it as large as a punching bag for a moment before shrinking it.
Stephanie hears Karnak's words faintly, Lockjaw's bark far more clearly, and then Kamala's squeal of delight on seeing the dog. This is not a gang of sneaky thieves, she rapidly concludes — not thieves at all, in fact. Thieves do not bring dogs on their escapades. She remains concealed — or she assumes she's concealed, at least for the moment — but draws herself up into a position to observe the others. She would guess they weren't dangerous… up until she actually sees them, and realizes they have a giant freaking bulldog. With a tuning fork on its head. So, you know, dangerous is definitely on the table.
Yep, all that talking makes it pretty clear that this isn't somewhere lurking with master thieves. Slowly lowering herself into the shadows properly, Barbara touches down and retracts her rope with a practiced flick of her wrist. Now? She's got a better point of view…right in time to spot Kamela's sudden 'putty-hand' trick and a HUGE bulldog sitting right in the middle of the room. Yep, this certainly was going to make the 'weird' list. A frown visible beneath her cowl, the Batgirl remains in hiding for the moment, creeping closer as she tries to work out -what- exactly this odd mix is doing here. Reaching into her belt, she draws out a small device, clicking a button to start the audio-recording.
Karnak tilts her head slightly, "Well, the assistance would be welcome." She frowns a little, eyes narrowing as she starts looking at the shadows, as if trying to see something lurking there. "I thought it best to clean up the evidence, just to make sure that no one gets any ideas." Her voice is decidedly grim, though it does seem a bit lighter as she talks to Kamala, "To put it simpler, you unlocked your genetic potential, which apparently has given you those abilities."
"My genetic potential? Is that what it did?" Kamala frowns a little and looks crossed. "You guys just dropped me in the Avengers' Mansion." she starts to complain. "But that gave me the chance to meet Captain Marvel. So.. I'm mad but I'm not!" she responds before she's moving to clean up the mess as well. "At least the cocoon wasn't huge either, you know?"
She starts to pick up fragments of dark blue to put in the bag. "Is this how you were born?" comes the next question. "Or is that something I shouldn't be asking. Was Lockjaw a normal bulldog before becoming a giant teleporting bulldog? And.. do you think if a guy has a steel hand, he feels it when he holds a girl's hand? That last one is for a story I'm writing."
Stephanie is rapidly coming to the conclusion that whatever happened here, it's not something that she needs to be concerned about. For one thing, if these people are friendly with the Avengers, ol' Creeping Jesus doesn't have a chance in hell of stealing anything important from around here. Her -dad- isn't stupid enough to mess with the Avengers.
More's the pity.
Still, she feels obligated at least to get herself a -little- more information. She pulls herself the rest of the way over the broken wall and strides toward the pair, not trying to hide her footsteps now, but possibly still difficult to see in the shadows. It's nighttime, after all. "Sorry. I hate to interrupt. But just so I'm clear on things, you all work with the Avengers? So if, say, some scuzzy little wannabe supervillain with no powers at all tried to ransack this place for valuables, it would pretty much mean a one-way ticket to Sing Sing?"
It…was probably a good thing that Barbara had come her alone, otherwise she'd likely be rather embarassed having to admit that she didn't notice Stephanie lingering nearby. Still lurking in the shadows, she shifts slowly till her silhouette is visible in the faded light, obscuring her form and features just enough when she speaks up. "I'm fairly sure the Avengers don't have a giant bulldog on their roster. That seems like it'd be rather noticable." Her voice was firm, clearly intended to try and match the quiet intimidation of her mentor as much as feminine tones could while she speaks. "What exactly happened here?"
Karnak looks at Kamala, "It was decided that was the safest place, since the city would not be appropriate and taking you home would have caused a greater panic, so…" She pauses, then smiles faintly, "I have no special powers, save my training. I have never undergone this, nor do I have a desire to do so. Lockjaw was normal before the change, and I… do not know, honestly."
Then she looks over at Stephanie, arching a brow, "While I am not a member of the Avengers, I am affiliated with those that are. And I daresay that any 'supervillain' that tried to ransack this place would not be conscious long enough to regret it."
And then Barbara appears, and at her demands, Karnak returns that firm tone with one of her own, "What happened here, is not your concern. Suffice to say that the mess will be tended to."
Kamala is trying to imagine Lockjaw as a normal puppy not a giant teleporting doggo and gives the pup a scritch. "Wait, you don't.. oh. Well, it wasn't like I wanted this to happen." she responds. "I mean. Maybe. It's kind of neat. And really scary. I mean, I want to help!" There, she's able to find her confidence, just in time as two new voices sound out and Kamala stiffens and bristles as she turns around suddenly, bringing up her fists all defensievly. Oh Karnak, she's going to need so much work.
"Uh. What she said. But hello! No lowlifes here. Just us.. uhm. I'm Miss Marvel!" she finally offers brightly. She decided on a code name, ain't it cool! "There's no reason to be all hiding."
"Hiding is what I do. It's excellent for gaining information," the girl all in purple replies to Kamala, nodding her understanding to Karnak. "For the record, I know of a few thugs who might be making an attempt at stealing anything that might make them a few bucks here. Just so there are no surprises. One of them goes by 'Creeping Jesus'. He's an idiot." Her head swivels briefly toward Barbara, and she nods to the other woman — she doesn't know her, but they're coming from the same sort of place, it'd seem.
To Kamala then, she adds, "I'm calling myself Aubergine for now. I'm not sure it works, but it's good enough for the moment."
"Forgive me if I'm inclinded to disagree," Barbara speaks again, this time moving from the shadows to reveal herself. "This city has seen its fair…and unfair share of dangerous and strange things here. Talk of mutagens and abnormally sized animals hasn't always gone well for the locals." Batgirl does take note of the mentions of thugs and looters from Stephanie's words, but it's all a matter of priority, right? "Not to mention buildings ripped from the inside out. So I'll ask again; what happened here?"
Karnak looks at Batgirl, "You know very little of these matters, and that is best for you. Do not press your luck." She then regards the girl in purple, "Well, I don't believe there is anything here that is worth taking, save perhaps to a scientist. And that is being disposed of, promptly."
Rogue's words still echo in Kamala's head. They don't know how you were made. It could be bad if that information gets out. However, for a moment, Stephanie's announcement of her name draws a blink from the Pak-American. "Aubergine? Do you summon and control eggplants? Because that would be really neat! You could feed a lot of people with that ability!" The young woman offers a beaming smile to Stephanie, even as Karnak and Batgirl are kinda.. glaring at each other.
"It was an accident." But she's not going to offer more than that, because Karnak knows more about this all - even if it happened to Kamala.
"The color," 'Aubergine' replies with some clear dismay in her tone. "Not the vegetable. I'm not French." Nothing against the French, of course, perfectly nice people if, she understands, a bit prone to surrender in the face of adversity. "I just gather information, and tell people who might be interested. Since it seems you have an attachment to this place… you've been told." She takes a step back, glancing over her shoulder toward the road. It's going to take hours to get back to Queens at this time of night.
"Oh." Kamala says, clearly confused at why Stephanie would just call herself the color. "I mean, if you're going to do that, why not the Aubergine Avenger — well, that might confuse you for an Avenger.. uhm. Action Aubergine? Code Aubergine?" Clearly, Kamala wants to help Stephanie with her naming schema problems. But then it seems that Stephanie is retreating. "Thanks for the info! Hey, we should hang out sometime!"
Because Kamala doesn't have like any kind of social life and she always believed that superheroes hung out together off duty, because it's what she would do if she was a superhero, and now she is one!
Behind the dark purple mask that covers her face, Stephanie smiles. "I'm not precisely the avenging type," she says. "I like to think I'm a little more proactive than that. If you'll excuse me, though… my base of operations is in the city, and it's a bit of a hike from here." She gives Kamala a nod. "I'm sure we'll see each other around, Miss Marvel." A hand rises toward Karnak and Batgirl in turn, and then 'Aubergine' raises a hand back in the direction from which she came. A line flies from it, and pulls her up and away.