Things Boil Over [Beetle]

[Superman]

Players: Superman and Blue Beetle
Location(s): New Mexico (guest appearance from Gotham City!)
Plot Summary: Superman aims to shut down an organization bent on destroying metahumans and aliens; previously encountered in A Day In Metropolis

Superman stood with a frown etched into his features, the glow of the screen before him cast over his face as his eyes raced across the screen. One arm lay folded over the S on his chest while the other arm was propped on top of it with his hand absentmindedly stroking his strong chin. "So this is what you've found?" He questioned Dick Grayson, the man seated at the computer before him with his cowl pulled off of his face.

About a week and a half ago Superman and Batman had encountered a group of terrorists who sought to attack and strike fear into Metropolis. The group identified Superman as a sort of dictator. They were the first examples Superman had bore direct witness to as far as those who were opposed to New Krypton's existence. The artificially powered beings he fought did not stop there in their prejudice; they were completely against all others who had natural powers - metahumans and aliens alike. That didn't sit to well with Superman, and needless to say those evil doers were quickly defeated.

After defeating them Superman confiscated the gloves that apparently gave them the power over Fire and Earth, and he made a request to Batman to reverse engineer and discover where the technology had come from. In the back of his mind Superman had been suspicious of his long time foe Lex Luthor, he hadn't heard from the man in quite a while, but as the Man of Steel now stood before the information Batman had discovered he was not so sure.

Before Dick could say anything to him Superman unfolded his arms and took a step back. "Thanks, Dick, I'll handle things from here." He nodded to the man and quickly flew through the Batcave exist. Not even a full sixty minutes later Superman was flying high over New Mexico, the place of origin of those gloves.

[Blue Beetle]

Jaime was doing a much needed patrol around the skies of New Mexico. What the Scarab was reading, it didn't seem right to just leave it all be. With some additional research by Jaime and the Scarab, there was an odd connection to weird circumstances as well as meta-humans being targeted for just being metas... This all was a situation that sounded all too familiar to Jaime having dealt with the Posse and La Dama's iron fist at El Paso's meta and magical community. He was no stranger to that type of reign.

His mind went to memories of awkwardness as well as discomfort, but it was a good reminder of what he may be dealing with here. He wasn't exactly a meta as his powers came from alien technology welded to his spine and not his body itself. That was fine and dandy, but not many knew that. Many think he was even born like this with dormant powers. That's okay, he figures, but it also made him quite the target for those who dislike powers beyond that of a human.

Sure, Jaime could see where these people are coming from, but to act out of order and speak hate. It was irritating as well as worrisome. Hovering low and keeping his yellow dimmed eyes peeled, Jaime kept a look out for the supposed odd situation here. Soon enough a well aimed rock was tossed his way and hit the armor at his shoulder. "Ack! Whoa!" His flight was shifted and he felt his form wobble but his wings remained still as his eyes looked for what threw it. Landing to a near by ledge, Jaime saw a group of people, all carrying signs and such expressing their dislike of metas. Sighing, Beetle acknowledged the situation. "Great..." He could see another rock being at the ready to be tossed.

"Sheesh. Whoever threw that first one had a good arm.." Beetle mumbled quickly and flew up off the rooftop to avoid anymore conflict. They were civilians after all... Though, it seemed pretty obvious they were being influenced by something...

!))% )@& Jaime heard the Scarab's warning and quickly looked behind him. A man flying with a very familiar blue and red attire on caught his eyes. Squinting more closely, he noticed just who this flying man was. "Oh, hey Superman!" Jaime greeted trying to hold back any sort of excitement or un-official emotions.

Did he really greet Superman with a 'hey'??

[Superman]

Protesters and picketers. Superman hadn't anticipated that but he supposed this compound he was going to shut down would have gathered as many followers as they possibly could. To see the number of people out and about expressing their hatred toward superpowered beings was heartbreaking to the Man of Steel. Of course he knew hate existed among people; people disliked one another for small things such as the color of skin or religious views, but now Superman felt himself much more affected. The Kryptonian believed in acceptance and he thought that the world was learning and growing to be more tolerant and accepting, but this just proved to him how wrong he was.

Some of the people below took notice to him floating in the air with his cape resting gently down his back and they began pointing up at him. Just then Superman became aware of another's presence, the current Blue Beetle. Superman nodded to the teen and drifted over toward him. "Are these citizens causing any problems?" Their message was not one Superman particularly cared for but under the constitution they did have a right to be here. Superman doubted Blue Beetle knew what was here in New Mexico so he only wished to be thorough with the new hero, that being said he also began to think Beetle might be of assistance to him.

"I am unsure if the people down there know or not, but there is a hate group here not only against meta-humans and aliens but also committed to destroying them. I've come to shut this group down and make sure it never rears its ugly head again in my lifetime. Tell me, did you have any prior knowledge of any of this?"

[Blue Beetle]

Remaining well hovered, the sight of the very popular super hero caught his attention as well as the protesters. Looking down briefly, Jaime hid all excitement and looked back up to the Man of Steel."Hey."

Hey?

Did you really start off a conversation with Superman with the word hey??

Jaime quickly felt secondhand embarrassment but it was waved away when Superman asked if the protesters down below were causing him any trouble. Shaking his head, Jaime responded. "No, not really. They're just riled up. I'm trying to calm them down, but they don't want to listen to me.." Jaime shrugged and figured they had a reason to be mad.... Still, Jaime could have sworn he had saved some of them in previous matters.

Superman informed Beetle about the situation here within New Mexico. Supposedly there's a larger group. This larger group feels the same dislike for metas and aliens, but then actually seeks to destroy them.. "What?" Jaime questioned. Were they just regular people? How did they think they could take on any of the Justice League?? Any hero who has worked their hardest to help the world and it's people? Jaime was disgusted by this new-found information.

"This is news to me." Blue Beetle answered, looking down at the people then back to Superman. "How do you plan to stop them?" He added, curious as to what Superman had in mind. Though, for a brief moment, the option of destroying them and their operation phased in a thought but Jaime was quick to get that thought out of his head. There's no way Superman would do that...

Not a chance...

Right?

[Superman]

Superman nodded as Blue Beetle spoke, "Just as I thought. They have remained secretive but not long ago two of their members appeared in Metropolis and tried destroying the city just to flush me out. Apparently they feel this world has no room for aliens or meta-humans, hero or not. Though you fight crime in a high tech suit that suit is also alien and I doubt they'd give you a pass. I don't mean to unsettle you or create any feelings of uneasiness but this group is very real and very serious. How I intend to stop them is by dismantling their compound. Batman has back tracked their technology and the signal powering them to an underground facility in this location. I warn you, these are human beings but they have somehow developed technology that gives the user powers akin to a meta-humans. I know you had no idea about any of this but I'm going to need back up on this." Superman spoke as he looked directly into Blue Beetle's glowing eyes. He drifted to the left to avoid a cabbage that was thrown at him.

"Finding the facility will be the easy part." Superman said as he glanced down and used his xray vision to peer through the mounds of dirt to locate the hidden building. Luckily this group of anti-metahumans had not installed any lead. "It'll be the part where we storm in and try dealing with these hate mongers and their advanced technology that'll be the hard part. Destroying their equipment and completely wiping out their database should be a great start, making sure they are all imprisoned for conspiracy will be an even greater finish." In this moment Superman would be depending on Blue Beetle, he knew he needed a partner on this and it was just his luck that he happened upon a capable hero such as Beetle.

Though the people they now viewed as enemies were underground there was no doubt in Superman's mind that the group would know that two 'aliens' were floating right over their heads. Even with the group of their supporters there Superman knew he and Blue Beetle wouldn't have their moment of peace for much longer before the other side attacked. "We need to be ready."