Elseworlds: Cupid's Banquet Hall

The decor and atmosphere of this 50' x 100' room could possibly be deemed
'romantic' by some. Candlelight glows from brass wall sconces, flickering
a glow that reaches up even to the hand-painted vaulted ceiling. Plush red
velvet drapes the corners, matching the thick pile of the carpet. The
sweet smell of roses waft from where the fragile flowers nest in vases on
either side of a fully loaded buffet table on the left. There is only 1
entry, that which you just used.
        Romantic? Eh, maybe if you're Hugh Heffner. It's the details that
count, and from the very first one cannot help notice the walls are
mirrored. There aren't any chairs. Just chaise lounges and large cushions.
The food on the buffet table is an array of finger foods: figs, oysters on
the half shell, strawberries dipped in chololate, caviar...even passion
fruit. And that fresco on the ceiling? Satyrs and nymphs. Doing what
satyrs and nymphs do. By far the most outrageous tribute to tackiness
however, is a large marble fountain, rimmed with velvet seat cushions,
lined with gold--in the dead center of the room. It contains chilled
champagne from the look and smell of it. All in all it wouldn't be so bad,
if it weren't for the 10' tall statue of a naked cupid. Youthful, but not
cherubic. If you squint he rather looks like an extremely fit Leonardo
DiCaprio, standing proud with a quiver of golden arrows and a golden bow
drawn. And that's not the only thing about this statue that's at
attention. Yep--that's where the bubbly is fountaining from. The mental
image alone might be enough to turn a guest off from the champage. The
faint of heart might wish to look away. But if you're thirsty, the
champagne glasses are at his feet.

Players:
Jack Knight
Hippolyta
Booster Gold
Huntress
Blue Devil
The Flash
Green Lantern
Cassie
Sandy Hawkins
Lobo
Black Canary
Zatanna

Lobo reaches down and picks up his fallen cigar. He takes a few puffs "No
no babe. It's just the bike was giving me trouble and the Main Man is
getting a bit thirsty." Cigar smoke quickly fills the air around Lobo. He
thinks oO (Dinah... oh.. yeah... hehe... that one.) Oo

Distracted momentarily by the display with the blonde.. Good grief, that
isn't? No, it /couldn't/ be.. Could it? Zatanna's gaze flickers
momentarily towards Dinah and Lobo, brows furrowing down.. Of course.. you
have to admit, Wally's completely devoted, no? Zatanna's smile widens, as
she stops Wally short a moment, one hand reaching outwards to clasp onto
his arm, doing a terribly obvious public display of affection.. Well, the
room /is/ designed for such displays right?! With that, her arms draw
around Wally's shoulders, and a kiss that could knock fishnet stockings
off, is given. *SMACK* With that, as her hat drops to the ground, she
allows him to go, kneeling down to collect the tophat, turning her gaze
once again upon Dinah and Lobo. Some things are so disheartening.

Huntress sighs at Blue Devil's words, but the look on her face is not one
of sympathy, but rather disgust. With Lobo or Black Canary though, one
would be hardpressed to tell. "Bad is one way of putting it. What
self-respecting woman would put herself through that," she musses, shaking
her head slowly. She turns toward the statue, half pondering champagne,
but considering the source as it was, not very hard. But then that dark
gaze slides over to the famous magician and what would seem to be true
love. "At least no everyone seems be suffering from brain damage."

Hippolyta runs a shakey hand through her hair in a frustrated gesture.
"What kind of person do you think I am Booster" she sighs. "Do you
honestly think I could let them kill you in cold blood. You hurt me, you
hurt me deeply, I cannot deny that, but your little jab is nothing more
than a pinprick on the tapestry of my pain. You think I am cold and
heartless? You think I never cared for you? Well Booster, if you'd stopped
to thnik about it, I mean really think about it. You's see the truth in
front of your face."

Booster Gold turns seeing the hapy couples and then he drops his head.
"Polly, I I can't imagine a world without, a world without your arms and
your smile. ?I was wrong. I know." Booster is impetious, he reaches and
touches your arm, holding it there. "I want a second chance."

The Flash was once known for his footwork. Well, he has *none* of it now.
As Zatanna releases him form her sudden embrace he... well, he staggers,
going completely weak in the knees. Wait, the room, when did it start
spinning? Zatanna is blessed with yet another one of those goofy little
looks that Wally aways gets after such a feat, his mind numbed for a long
moment. "Ch-chamapne, right," he suddenly remembers, and now the wobbly
quest can begin. You'd think he was already drunk.

"-No-, Jack," comes the irritated voice of Sandy Hawkins from behind his
gas mask as he and Jack Knight enter the room. Finally, he tears the thing
off in frustration and gestures expansively. "This is -not- the damn
dinner party. Look at this." He looks surly - but when does he not? The
man's in costume, gun vest and all, and he sure doesn't look like he was
ready for -anything- social tonight. "Remind me again why I listen to
you."

Hippolyta frowns and grabs Booster's arm and forces it down to his side,
she seems to be seething with anger, but she doesn't remove her hands from
his arms, in fact she pulls him in a little closer to her. "How dare you,
you think you have the right to touch me after what you did? You think you
have the right to love me? How dare you do this to me how dare you make me
love you back.." she sputters and looks shocked, she desperately want to
take back what she just said, but there is no escape and she is not the
kind to retreat. For a moment her mouth drops open and she gasps for words
like a fish out of water choaking on air, then, still holding Booster
tight, she brings her lips to his in a swift and decisie move, and draws
him into a long passionate kiss, fueled by years of crackling tension and
frustrated emotions.

"But." Comes a rather /young/ voice from the door. "PLEASE!?" The sound
raises in pitch, and indeed, noice, followed by a frustrated. "Oh come on!
Its not like you have anyone /else/ around! And and.. you.. uhm. You
haven't signed my new Green Lantern shirt! Or.. or.. Or the last five
pages of my autograph book! PLEASE Can I come with you??" Wonder Girl, to
her team mates, pausing still, not quite entering into the room itself,
turns her bright goggle covered blue eyes towards The Green Lantern, as a
heaving sigh is given, and a flutter of eyelashes offered behind those
glasses.

"That is /so/ like you. Blaming everything on me again." Jack storms into
the room right after Sandy, an equally frustrated and irritated look on
his mug. "Next I suppose that you'll bring up the fact that Icicle got
away the last time we faced him. For the last time, It Wasn't My Fault."
The young Starman looks as if he, too, were ready for action...but somehow
there's no action to be seen nearby. He looks around, annoyed and
confused.

Taking the opportunity as Huntress turns slightly away, the Blue Devil
bends over a little, slipping his arms around the lithe woman's waist from
behind. Sure, it's an example of the PDA that he knows Huntress usually
doesn't go for, but it seems Zatanna has the right idea. This /is/ the
venue for such gestures, tacky decor or not. "Present company included, I
hope," Blue Devil replies to his companion with a smile. A little bit of
sappiness creeps into his own voice as he says the words, his head leaning
down to almost whisper them to Huntress.

Booster Gold kisses Hippolyta softly and long. Holding her close. The
kiss, which lasts so long--perhaps an instant to Hippolyta is like and
eternity to Booster. He lets his hands stay there, held by the woman he
loves.

"Did *I* bring it up? No, no, that was -you- I distinctly heard mention
the Icicle. Could it be you've got a guilty conscience?" Sandy whirls to
face Jack, crossing his arms and glaring daggers. "I don't -have- you
blame you for anything. You do a great job of it yourself. I--" Suddenly
the young Golden Ager's aware of the other occupants of the room, and he
stares wordlessly. "I...-sheesh-."

Green Lantern is there, sitting by himself at a table, enjoyin a drink,
and wondering where the architect is for the purposes of draggiong him out
in the street and beating him senseless. Ah, Valnetine's Day, he thinks, a
time for romance, for p assion, for his "number-one fan" to make an
appearance, for... whoa, hold up. "Number-one...? It's then that he sees
Casssie ogling him. "Oh, boy," He thinks. "This is going to be less than
comfortable..."

Lobo gives Dinah a little tap tap on the rump. "Listen darlin' why don't
you find the Main Man something to munch on. Then we can talk about
things, eh?" He gives the Black Canary a wink, as he continues to puff on
his cigar.

With a subdued hurt look, Dinah Lance mutters "I'll get you your drink.
Not that you appreciate everything I do for you. I swear, sometimes
I'm...I'm just ready to go find myself another boyfriend!" She pins a
defiant look on Lobo. It doesn't matter what his reaction will be. She's
obsessed, and playing a fantasy in her mind. "Fine then." She whirls on
her heel and stalks to the fountain, reaching for a champagne glass. Those
close to the fountain may note a discrepency: Canary smells clean, well
groomed, and is wearing perfume. Her appearance is still ratty however.

Hippolyta keeps a tight grip on Booster, digging her fingers into his
arms, as if he will melt and flow away if she doesn't hold him together,
tentaviely she brings her lips awat from his and delicately runs her nose
along his face as she pulls her head away. She looks him in the eyes,
confusion rages there, where once anger reigned supreme, and round the
edges a softness creeps in, and spreads to the rest of her face. To those
that have not known her long, it is an unfamiliar expression and the years
seem to drop from her face as her muscles shift into long forgotten
places. She is smiling as she opens her mouth to speak, it is a smile, she
has not smiled in a long tim, completely untouched by malice, anger or
pain, it is soft and sweet and sings of caged emotions finely set free.

Jack Knight also blinks a few times, and glances around, a little ashamed
at having aired their dirty laundry in public like this, and so loudly. He
moves a little closer to Sand, trying to look happy. See, being who they
are, they have a reputation to live up to. Cultural icons for an often
maligned culture. An example of the way things could be. They have a
responsibility to be happy, or at least appear that way. Jack puts his arm
around Sand and kisses his ear. "Snookums. We'll talk later." A cheesy
wide grin suddenly spreads across his face.

All occupants in the room hear the distinct sound of a bolt or lock
clicking into place at that moment, the door shutting with Cassie on the
inside. Should anyone TRY the door, they will find it locked. A mysterious
laughter echoes in the room.

Lobo grins and thinks oO (That is one crazy chick. Why did we go out? Oh
yeah.. har har. She was easy.)Oo He raises an eyebrow at the unusual new
sounds.

And what is this? The Huntress' expression seems to relent slightly from
its usual look of dispassion and her lips seem to curl into a barely
perceptible but soft smile. Indeed, its not the usual displays of public
affections she goes for, but she let's her own hands slide over the ones
at her waist, turning her head toward the whisper, "Apparently not every
woman is quite as lucky as -- " She turns her head around abruptly,
frowning toward the door and looking up and around the room, tensing in
her current position before dark eyes frown.

Hippolyta is lost in Booster's eyes, but the luagh echoing through the
room brings her back to reality with a shuddring thud, the softness flees
her face in an instant and is replaced by the all to familiar collage or
anger and pain. "I know that laugh" she growls with a voice sharp as
steel.

A wink and a smile is offered towards Wally, before Zatanna stands up
right again. With a quick pounce of black curls, the hat is once again
resting on her head, set at that roguish angle. While Wally moves off to
collect their drinks, her gaze shifts to the other couples around, the
tall blue skinned devil, his vigilante companion, the legendary Queen of
the Amazons, and .. the famous Booster Gold, towards the entrance, to
others are present, names that slip her mind, considering she's been out
of the hero, Justice League for quite some time now. A deep breath is
taken in, enjoying the scent of the fresh roses, before being let out
slowly. Her gaze dances towards Dinah, brows once more furrowing down, not
necessarily due to the Black Canary's appearance but that strange.. bit of
laughter?

Less than comfortable? Try down right embarrasing, as the teen Amazon
wannabe, without the curves to back it up mind you, happily scoots into
the room, now that the door has closed behind her, oblivious to the
laughter, hey it's an adult party they're weird enough as is. A flashing
smile, then pen and autograph book is shoved towards Kyle's waiting hands,
as the teeny bopper flutters eyelashes and repeats what she said before.
"Hi!" Of course, she berates herself for that, real cool Cass.. Setting
her shoulders, she tries again, this time hoping her voice doesn't squeek.
"Page two fourty seven, three twenty nine, thirty seven, eighteen, four
ninety two, and five hundred and one aren't signed yet. Will you please?
And personalize them?" *Eyelash flutter* *Teenager pout* *siiiiiiiiiiigh*
and Wonder Girl just ignores the rest of those around.

Unable to keep a scowl - or even a straight face - at the kiss in the ear
and the 'snookums', Sandy exhales a long breath ending in a laugh. He
leans into Jack, reaching up to lightly squeeze the hand embracing him,
and turns to quickly return the kiss. "Dammit," he says quietly, "ruin a
good surl, will you?" His grin is more wry than cheesy, but it's equally
abrupt. "What the hell's going on with these people?"

Reaching out for the table to steady himself, Wally looks up and around at
the laughter, likely guessing it's the large crass man that was with the
tras-... hey, the woman that's right there with him at the drink table.
Wally waves to Dinah a little, still holding that goofy look on his face.
"Nice catch. Your's I mean. Ah, for big men. Not that I'm into men, well,
not like that. Well, I'm with...." He's just putting his foot in his
mouth, so he zips it. He grabs his two glasses and inclines his head to
the most attractive woman in the room, Zatanna. "Her. Excuse me, miss."
With that he turns to head back to the Maid of magic.

Booster Gold takes Polly's hand and squeezes it. He turns, still realing
from the kiss.

Hippolyta let's go off Booster and looks around the room, frantically
searching for the source of the laughter and secretly fearing that she
knows who is responsible. She is suddenly aware of the occupants of the
room, having been entranced with Booster since he arrived. Her face fight
a war between surprise and anger as she sees some of the couples.

Moments later, the statue seems to come to life, the marble neck turning
eerily as the animated face looks down at Zatanna. "You've been eying me
all night. Like what you see better than what you have?" Mischeif dances
in the cold jeweled eyes. The statue's head then levels. "My esteemed
guests, in honor of this phenominon you call 'Valentines Day', I have
decided to pair you with your chosen soul-mate. Take a good look at that
person. In less than two hours you'll be bound to them for all
eternity--and my marriages don't end in divorce."

The statue then leers at Hippolyta. "I picked a special treat for you."

Though he loosens his embrace slightly at the shutting door and
disembodied laughter, the Blue Devil still keeps his arms around Huntress,
his lown mouth creasing downwards in a frown at the developments. "I'm
guessing that's not the DJ for tonight," he states quietly, glancing
around slightly himself. The frescoes on the ceiling and the questionable
fountain were bad enough... But now this. Still - everything in the room
/looks/ the same yet. "Don't tell me," he adds, still mostly whispering to
his date, "You've got a bad feeling about this, right?"

Green Lantern sighs. Well, he can't blame the mini-Amazon for having an
interest. Still, Kyle's a bit unaccoustomed to the whole celebrity aspect
of the hero biz. Never theless, though wary of the looks Cassie's giving
him, he withdraws the pen from the book and starts filling in the empty
spaces. "Heh, sure, no problem..." Maybe that'll calm her down a little...
then the laughter begins, and GL's sheepish grin turns to cold concern.
"What in the...?"

Shrugging, Jack seems to pay the other couples little mind. "Yeah, like I
could stop you from surling if I tried. I just think that maybe the other
masks and tights set doesn't really need to see us yell at each other. I
dunno." He smiles warmly at his childhood sweetheart, and gives the other
man a little kiss. Finally, he looks around. "Well, you know Dinah's
always had a thing for chauvanists..." Jack's ruminations are ruined by
the laugh, and a sudden wave of creepiness inside the room. "You
know...I'm thinking maybe something's not right here either..."

Booster Gold turns and looks at Hippolyta and then back across the room.
he turns to Dinah. "Di, i know you and Ahem, Lobo are having a swell--uh
time, but I think we need to talk about this statue.."

Booster Gold turns back and looks at Polly for a moment and then well
thinks about the mportant thing right now... He moves to actually check
the door...

Hippolyta growls and the blood rises to her face, painting it a deep red.
She pushes Booster aside with a flippant sweep of her arms and stalks
across to the statue, flexing her hands into angry little fists.

The frown on the Huntress' face deepens into something that is entirely
absolute. She lifts her right arm slightly, her other one remaining at her
waist lightly, almost protectively over the Devil's. She takes a step back
at the statue coming to life,"That's one way of putting it," she says to
the man's half whisper still. Though she arches a slight brow even as a
Co2 dart is already readied automatically. What in the world is going
on.... But as the...is that the Amazon Queen...walks over, she arches an
eyebrow. "Be ready," she says to her companion. "This could turn ugly."

Booster Gold says "Dinah! I need you level headed..."

Hippolyta nods to the Huntress "It has already turned ugly, and I mean to
pluck the wings from this excuse for a god here." she moves her feet into
a ready stance and reaches for the statue, planning in wrenching it from
it's perch.

Black Canary gives Booster a dazed expression, and backs away, her
attention turning dimly to the exchange between the statue and the
Amazonian.

Hey, there are some here that don't really mind things as they are, thank
you very much, however, they simply can /not/ abide being .. /paired/??
Paired!? What the hell does /that/ mean. Zatanna's flashing sapphire eyes
narrow in on the statue, what can she say to such a thing? Hell, it was
quite fascinating. With a flare for the dramatics, which, really is what
she's known for, Zatanna Zatara sets her chin, words echoing out. "State
what you mean, and who are you, I have little time for such poor displays
of theatrics." Being an actress, she does know about these things, no
matter that she /might/ be over doing it herself. *Ahem* Zee? Never.

"No, you're right, again," says Sandy quietly, frowning, watching the
shenanigans - and then the mobile statue. His mouth opens and shuts once
without anything coming out, then he reaches up and scratches his nose,
puzzled. "Hey! Don't pee champagne on the rug, David!" he finally calls,
cupping his hands around his mouth and addressing the statue.

Booster Gold blinks at Dinah. "Who are you and what have you done with
Dinah, She's more level headed than I am.."

Lobo takes another puff from his cigar "Yo... ahh... what's your name?
Dinah. The hell with those feebs. Where's my drink?!"

"COOL!" Errr, no it /isn't/ so cool Cassie, he's like /ancient/. Of
course, Wonder Girl simply settles a bit more in the chair and casts her
gaze towards the cherub turned devil, (no offence BD) creature. With a
twist of her lips from one side to the other, the only teeny bopper in the
group simply settles back, curling one leg up under her, the other is left
to bump against the side of the chase. "Uhm, sorry, right, thanks
Lantern." *flutter eyelash* *siiiiiigh* And once again, the Green Lantern
groupie smiles winningly at the, erm, Green Lantern. Of course, at Sandy's
comment, the teenager bursts into a fit of giggles.

Whoah... all eternity? Red eyes opening wide, the Blue Devil gapes
slightly at the now animate statue, his pointed ears taking in the message
the stone being has to say. Not that being paired with Huntress until the
end of time would be such a terrible thing, but.. Hey, they only just
moved in together. What if they never even resolve whether to decorate in
blacks or blues? "Well, so much for an evening out w/o worrying about our
jobs," he answers his vigilante date quietly. The arm currently not under
Huntresses reaches behind him to grab the shaft of his trident, which has
been slung across the expanse of his back.

Wandering back to Zatanna, Wally west meanders before the statue as it
moves, looking perplexed, but missing it's words, but not as everyone
turns to look at it, with him in the way. Gulp. He darts forward, to
Zatanna to hand her her chamagne, so that he can slip an arm around her
wasit. "Hon, what's wrong?" Oh, he knows she's not happy, and he looks to
where she does. Oh, that... ah, that's not right. But standing there with
Zatanna, well, if this isn't right, Wally doesn't seem to care. Feels just
fine to him.

The statue immediately goes inanimate as Hippolyta reaches for it, and
indeed if she uses enough strength she can wrench it and the fountain
apart. But a disembodied voice floats in from above and says "Just relax
and enjoy it. Of course, I did give you a way to stop it, but I really
doubt you'll find it. You may now resume your highly entertaining but
trivial exchanges."

Squinting a little, as Sand shouts nearly in his ear, Jack sighs. "God, I
love your euphemisms." Blinking a few times and staring all misty eyed at
Sand, Jack powers up the Cosmic Rod. "It's Godbusting time." Taking a few
steps toward the statue himself, Jack stops. "Or...is it? I mean...I'm
happy right?" He seems to be talking to himself more than anyone else.
Doubt seems to creep up on him quickly.

Green Lantern looks, just freakin' LOOKS at the statue. "Paired with a
soulmate for eternity?" Who could he mean... then his eyes turn to Cassie.
He sheepishly smiles again at the teenager's glowing expression. "Hey, um,
Wonder Girl? Would you mind waiting here just a sec...?" He pats Cass on
the shoulder then lifts up into the air, scanning the interior of the room
with his ring, looking for any signs of their mysterious host.

Hippolyta rips the statue from its mooring and smashes it into the
fountain with all her strength. With a scowl she looks into the air around
her, looking for a point to fix her rage on "Eros, you foul excuse for a
god, you stp this perverse charade right now, or I swear I will hunt you
down and pluck every feather from your back. By Hera if you dare tamper
with my emotions I will rip the heart from your body and feed it to
Cerberus."

Huntress shakes her head slightly as she frowns even further. Eternity. No
matter what may or may not be going on in her relationship, there's no way
in hell this woman is getting forced into something she doesn't consent
too. "No washed out talking statue is dictating my wedding date," she
frowns and glances around again to the person who seems to most have a
clue. "All right, Queenie, what's the deal with the winged control freak?"

Eros gives Hippolyta the most insulting response she could get: none.
There is dead silence. The statue lays in pieces in the pooling fountain,
bow and arrows cast on the floor.

Booster Gold walks toward the doors and taps his wrist Blaster, setting it
on the highest setting and fires at the locks...

Lobo looks over to Hippolyta, he is either oblivious of everything, or
simply doesn't care "Listen Wonder Babe, why don't you chill out. Care for
a smoke?" He looks around offering cigars "Anyone?"

Zzzzhakow!

Booster Gold turns toward Lobo for a moment. "don't call her Babe."

"I." Begins the mistress of magic herself, as her gaze settles and remains
on Wally. "I." She continues, unsure what to make of this, though her
stride slips past Wally, to draw towards the Queen of the Amazons herself,
side stepping any bits of plaster or statue that comes flying out from
Hippolyta's display of strength and anger. With a clearing of her throat,
Zatanna does her best to gain the Queen's attention. "Excuse me, your
majesty." Her voice wavers momentarily, paired? All eternity? Paired? What
does /that/ mean? Did they have a choice? Is this some strange God like
intervention? Or just a horrid joke to bring doubt. "Might I have.. a
word? Please?"

With a quick, "Oh sure, no problem, I'll just be right here! You know,
waiting here! I wont go anywhere! I'll be here! Just so you know!" And
with that, Cassie remains seated, plucking up her autograph book to view
the inside with delight. Notably, every single page is filled with
Lantern's signature, but that doesn't stop her from turning every page and
reviewing each signature with abstract fascination. *Swoooooon* *flip
page* *Siiiiiiigh* *flip page* *eyelash flutter*

Hippolyta scowls at Lobo and turns away from him to look at the huntress,
in another time and another place she would turn on Lobo but her rage is
frimly focussed on Eros right now. She turns to the Huntress and says
"Eros is like all the gods, petty and manipulative, but he is one of the
worst for he tugs on the heart strings and plays them like a harp, for me
he is nothing more than a puppeteer that is sorely in need of a lesson on
respect."

The Flash looks over the flute at his lips sipping, nodding of course to
Zatanna as she slips away to deal with... whatever this is. That's what
she does. Him? He just helps. So, Wally hangs back, sips at his champagne
some more, looking around to everyone, wondering why they are over
reacting?

Sand Hawkins chews on his lip, watching Jack charge forward, and hanging
back. He brings his arms up to rest loosely akimbo, frowning, then follows
when he sees his soulmate pause. As soon as there's that doubt, there,
see? He comes up behind him and briefly runs a hand through the other
man's hair. "I don't know...are you? It doesn't look like the god or
whatever's in there anymore, anyway..."

Black Canary returns Booster's stare, a dark brow slanting down in
confusion. "Please, just let me be. I'm happy with him, and happy with the
way things are turning out." Though her mouth turns down as she turns and
hands Lobo the glass she was able to get before the fountain was
shattered. "Here sweetie. I'm scared. What will we do--after we're
married? Can we leave now?"

Booster Gold blinks "Dinah, when did you ever need a man to be happy. You
break men's Bones..." He walks slowly toward Hippolyta and takes her hand.
"Baby, the doors are locked, there's ome kind of heavy magic on them,:'


Ra's Al Ghul has arrived.


Hippolyta looks over to Zatanna. "I don't know what he has planned
Zatanna, I can only interpret his words as they seem. I do know that the
gods are fond of games and Eros more than most of them. I fear we are
being used as pieces in a most perverted game of love. They did it to me
once and I will not allow them to do it again." She glances at Booster and
for a moment her resolves seems to shrink, but hastily she ressurects her
shild of anger and surveys the room. "We have got to get out of here, we
have to fight this."

Lobo takes a moment to blow smoke in Booster's face. Taking the glass he
begins to drink, but most of it spit out when Dinah says the 'M' word.
"Whoah whoah listen babe I like you and all, but yaz gots to slow down."

For the moment, the Blue Devil resigns himself to inaction. Like many of
the others present, he's trying to get a firm handle on just what took
place, and what this being... Eros? is trying to do. His trident is
brought to his side, though his other arm still losely wraps around
Huntress, as his attention is diverted to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
"So, what, this is just some power trip he's on?" he then asks, to no one
in particular. "Well, I've given the boot to demons before, I'm certainly
not afraid of any gods. What's the deal on taking him down?" Apparently,
Devil is of the 'I might be happy, but I like my freedom of choice more'
camp, rather than just going with the flow of the forced coupling.

Jack Knight says "So, why are all these people freaking out? Don't they
want to be happy?" Jack looks pointedly at Hippolyta and Booster. "...And
if they do manage to stop whatever's going on...what happens to the rest
of us?" Jack swivels the Cosmic Rod toward Booster in particular. "Maybe
this is something worth fighting to keep, right?""

Lobo gives Canary a wink "Why don't we just find a quiet place around here
away from these feebs, eh?"

Hello. Magic user at four o'clock, the one in fishnets. Yoohoo. Mistress
of Magic here, at your service. She's got black hair and a top hat, can be
seen by a good looking red-head. With a clearing of her throat, Zatanna
takes in what Hippolyta had to say, never having much experience with
Gods, though she did have that stunt as a God like being. (Though she
carefully desires to forget that particular piece of history, it was bad
enough that she has bad luck with men in her life, Adam being one in
particular during that stint..) Her head nods once, brows furrowing down.
"Your majesty, he mentioned a way out..? Do you know what he means?"

Green Lantern continues scanning the interior of the room, all the while
listening to Hippolyta's rundown of all things Eros. Then as he sees the
argument start flying, he descends a little. "Hey, hold up, wait a second!
This guy's screwing with your minds, bending your heads and hearts however
he sees fit... you're actually cool with that..? Are you?"

The Flash is there, over Zatanna's shoulder, holding out a.... business
card, to Hippolyta. A business card for Zatanna of course. *sip*

Hippolyta frowns at Jack and moves to stand between him and his path to
Booster. "Listen, accept this if you want, but I will be no-ones puppett,
I wish that this could be genuine, but it is not, it is a game and I don't
want to play. I don't know how we can get out of this, but the gods always
leave a way and Eros himseld has offered it to us, we just need to work
together to find out what it is."

Indeed Canary is happiest of all with this situation. No complaints here.
The future Mrs. Dinah Laurel Windrow Lance Lobo giggles, snuggling closer
to the really rather repulsive Czarnian, and says "Shh! Pay attention, you
bad boy. We can do that on the honeymoon."

Booster Gold squeezes Hippolyta's hand. "I know My darling." He touches
her cheek, "I couldn;t live if you were not happy and nobody deserves to
be forced into a judgement." Booster turns. "Listen, I know we all have
strong feelings, but we must put those aside. Someone else is tellign you
how you can lvoe and when, and that is not what love is about. so I need
your help to handle this. We ned to get out of ehre and if after that you
still wish to lvoe, then that's as it should be, so are we together?"

"Manipulating us...?" The detective seems to take this in slowly after the
Queen's discourse. Surely, that must just be the bonded forever thing. Her
gaze becomes as hard as granite as she looks to the queen once more. "What
do you mean you 'wish' this could be genuine? Of course its genuine,
obviously whoever this is just thinks he can make something permanant he
has no right to touch. So we just find whatever clues he has left for us
and we take him down." She looks to her mechanical 'crossbow' and smiles
slightly. "Permanantly."

*Flip Page* *Wipe away a bit of drool* *flip page* *siiiigh* Wonder Girl
remains seated, turning her gaze momentarily towards the 'dults, before
closing the book to push it into the pocket of her jacket, for safe
keeping naturally. Both legs curl themselves up underneath the teen
superheroine, as her elbows rest on knees, head in hands, gaze lifting
upwards to watch and remain on the Green Lantern. *Swoon* *ahem*. /She/
certainly doesn't mind being paired with /him/ for all eternity! Hello!
Nononono, that would be /bad/, right? Ah well. Cassie just waits,
listening to everyone reason things out, all the while gazing around the
tacky decor. "You know. Romance is just dead." It just, you know, fits,
not that she's talking to anyone in particular mind you, or knows what
that means.

Lobo gives Canary a squeeze "Look at those feebs there babe. Can you
imagine that? Put all of them together and they probably couldn't figure
out how to screw in a light bulb. Har har." He motions to the various
heroes in the room trying to find a way out.

Sand once more steps up next to Jack, backing him up, drawing his wirepoon
and gasgun. He scowls at the queen of the Amazons, shaking his head. "How
can you say that? We've been in love since we...er, he...well, yeah, we -
were teenagers! How do we know -you're- not the one just screwing with
people's heads?" His voice raises from angry to loud and angry, "Just
because you don't get any, you can't stop everyone else! It doesn't work
that way!"

Hippolyta puts her hands on her hips and trys to look in control of
herself and the situation. But she keeps looking back towards Booster,
mentally chastising herself every time she does. If not for the pain she
and her people suffered at the hands of another god, then her resolve
would crumble in an instant, but she remembers the last time her emotions
were toyed with on this scale and she refuses to surrender to her desires,
real or not.

Booster Gold shakes his head. "No." Hippolyta. and I share too much
history to just make up, thouigh I wish we could.. And Dinah--at least the
Dinah I used to know would never let a MAN, _any man_ tell her what to
do!"


Ra's Al Ghul has left.


Black Canary looks at Booster while within the protection of Lobo's arms.
"He's not just any man. He's right about you all. If you hate this so
much, you'd find a way out. Maybe this IS a good thing. I don't mind, in
fact I'd be proud to be Dinah Laurel Windrow Lance Lobo."

Green Lantern just shkes his head. Reasoning appears to be a fruitless
endeavor in this case. He soars over to Cassie, who, her affection for the
Emerald Guardian notwithstanding, may be someone who can aid him. "Hety,
W.G., mind giving me a hnd in finding this putz or a way out of here?"

Hippolyta looks to Lobo. "What is love if it is not by your choice. I have
no wish to share my private dealing with all of you, but I will say this.
I wish by all the gods this was real,that Eros was indeed doing us a
favour and the love that i have shared with another could be pure" she
pauses as she glances at Booster, steels herself and continue "But it is
manipulation, the heart is a sacred thing and not for another to play
with, be it god or mortal, I tell you Eros has no right and you should not
stand for it."

Stepping back from the four, or five people arguing, which really isn't
getting anywhere, Zatanna moves about the room, clearing her throat once,
as her voice rings out softly, quietly. "Wally, look to the left, I'll go
right. I'm not sure if I'm looking for some /object/ or something
/magical/, but if there is anything out of the ordinary, bring it to my
attention." She's had enough of this, she's trapped in this room, thats
reason enough to find some way out. Moving so she does not disturb those
present, the Maid of Magic moves lightly through the room. /Something/ has
to stand out here, beyond simply tacky decor.

A certain sort of pride swells in Devil's face as his significant other
makes her lethal vow, his own fingers curling about his less-lethal, but
still fairly impressive rocket trident. "That's my girl," he states, using
his other arm to pull her closer for a brief moment in support. As the
arguments begin to raise, though, the Azure Avenger turns about, his
features darkening as the sides start to form. "No one's saying that the
feelings we have now aren't real," he announces. "The fact is, this.. god,
or whatever he is, wants to take control of us from this point on. How
happy will you really be, if you know that it's all because of a god's
whim? Shouldn't you have the right to make choices like that for
yourselves?"

Lobo grins and nods "You tell 'em babe. All a bunch of wash up sissies
anyways. That feeb probably just ain't getting enough from that old hag.
Har har."

Booster Gold nods. "Golly, so Di, if Lobo asks you to dress up in Leather
and call him Daddy are you going to?"

If Zatanna is sensitive to magic, there may have been another reason she
was drawn to teh fountain.

"Of course!" And with a big ol' smile, the young teen sweeps up and into
the air, as Wonder Girl moves in to fly next to the Green Lantern. "Where
shall I start? What shall I do?" Eager to please her hero, who really she
wishes beyond belief she was called like, The Wonder Lantern? Girl
Lantern? Green Wonder? Nonono, ah well, Cassie's just happy to please.

Jack steps up to Booster and Hippolyta with some concern on his face. "I'm
not interested in /solving this/. I've been with Sand since I was 18 years
old..who says that anyone has a right to change that? What if just because
you all are unhappy with your respective pairings, you ruin it for him and
I?" Anger seems to contort his face slightly...the subject of debate is
slowly becoming more and more heated for him. "I mean, worse things can
happen than being stuck with the person we love, right?" The Cosmis Rod
lowers slightly to point at those challenging his beliefs. Not that he
would ever fire it at a friend. Jack's far too level headed for that.

Booster Gold blinks and takes a glass of champagne. "I've got an
idea....Jack, Listen, the statue said none of his marriages ever end
happy. What if you and Sand grow unfond of one another, that means death.
is tthat the way it should be?"

Green Lantern can't help but grin at Cassie's enthusiasm. Spunky li'l
chick, she is. "Just give the entire place the onceover and if you see
anything that looks remotely.. RELATIVELY.. strange in this place, let me
know, OK?"

Booster Gold holds the champagne glass up and taps his goggles. "Spectral
analysis..."

"Zatanna, I..." Wally trails off as he stands there, looking to his
beloved before she moves away. Not sure if she hears him or not, well, he
has to say something. "Whatever happens, Zan, know that for once I *know*
that I'm happy, truly. Have brought happiness, and have found it...." But,
she's likely moved off to her task, and he... he knows what he was asked
to do. In truth? No, he doesn't want this t end, but his thoughts are of
Zatanna and if she truly wishes to be free of this, free of him... hed
give her that, because he wouldn't want her to suffer, in any way, at any
time. He nods his head and moves to begin his search.

Hippolyta nods at Booster's statement "I'm sorry Jack, but Eros is /not/
trying to do any of us a favour. Booster's right it will end badly if we
play it his way, he means to cause us pain, he already has for me, it
hurts that he placed happiness in my hands and snatched it away in the
instant he revealed himself to me. Don't think it will be any different
for any of you."

Booster Gold walks over toward the Bow and Arrows...."Hippolyta, can you
use these?"

Level-headed might be used to describe Jack, but certainly not the Golden
Boy: Sandy aims the wirepoon at Booster and clarifies in the voice used to
address a particularly stupid villain, "No, he said none of them egver end
in -divorce-. And I'll always love Jack. Don't pretend you know what's
going on - I saw you cosying up to that sapphist ice queen like she's the
best thing since sliced bread!"

Hippolyta smiles at Booster and touches his arm gently for a brief moment
before taking the bow and arrows. "Yes I can, though I have not used them
in a while. I am glad you supprt me on this Booster, I don't want to hurt
you."

Huntress looks up to Blue Devil with an amused smirk. "I would think by
now you'd remember I am anything but a girl," she says with the barest
hints of amusement and double entendre to her blue skinned one, her hand
squeezing his lightly before she steps from his embrace as they certainly
seem of like mind on the matter. Is it a wonder the pair ended up
together. Now, just to decide on that decorating thing. "Fine," she says
to Jack and Sandy pair. "You two can do whatever the hell you want. But if
you're not going to help, then say out of our way." Apparently, she just
doesn't have the patient for this as she decides to start with the
formerly talking statue to search for clues. A logical beginning.

Booster Gold blinks and narrows his eyes looking at me. "Sanderson, You'd
shoot me in cold blood? Sand, What Greek God was ever good to a mortal. If
this is such a good pairing then why can't I leave or you leave. IS this
what a hero does?"

The debate between loves, and lives, chosen or not, continues on, and
though their heated arguments continue throughout the room, Zatanna simply
has no time to argue. It isn't about being manipulated one way or another,
or even if their souls are intertwined, whether they were destined to be
together, or if through corruption and twisted perversity of a God were
their emotions twisted. Happy or distraught, there will always be doubts.
Heels quietly move towards the bow and arrow, as her gaze flickers towards
Booster once, as she softly intones. "I have truly heard enough, ladies,
gentlemen. Hippolyta.. if you please, might I see the arrow and bow?" Her
voice holds the charming quality she uses on the stage, the gentle sound
of one that .. well, she hopes she knows what she's doing.

The bow and arrows are gold, and the heads quite sharp and lethal looking.

Hippolyta nods and Zatanna and smiles at her as she hands over the bow
"Certainly Zatanna."

"You got it, GL." Wonder Girl simply does as she's told, and with a zip of
power, (while tugging her wig a bit firmer down over her hair, and
attempting to stick out her chest more.. considering the number of curves
in this room..) she heads around the room, trying to find /something/ odd.

Okay, so Sand's temprament seems to be contagious to Jack. Usually, they
too are of like minds. He looks over at Sand, and then toward the exchange
going on. "Like hell." Firing the Cosmic Rod at the Bow and Arrows, he
tries to increase the field of gravity around them ten-fold, making them
far too heavy to use.

Hippolyta see's what Jack is trying to do and leaps forward, diving for
the bow and arrows and putting herself into the direct path of the beam
fired from the cosmic rod.

Huntress blinks at the blast aimed in the very direction she'd started off
toward. The statue. "Son of a -- " She dives and rolls by instinct, coming
up with her right arm raised and aimed in one fluid motion toward Jack.
She doesn't negoiate. A crossbolt is aimed toward Jack, but he's not one
of the bad guys, its aimed to disarm, two coming at once, blunt rounds, to
hopefully strike his fingers squarely.

Booster Gold says "Polly NO!"

A slightly wistful smile crosses over Blue Devil's features as he watches
the retreating form of Huntress move to the shattered remains of the
fountain, before he focuses his mind on the matter at hand. While he's got
some magic in him, he's hardly on scale with Zatanna, and he's certainly
no detective... so there isn't all that much for him to do right now, it
would seem. After a brief moment, he decides he may as well join in the
cursory sweep of the room, looking for anything that might provide the key
for getting out of here. It's not a moment into his search, though, that
Jack fires off his blast and Hippolyta drops to the ground. "Listen, you
two," he bellows out, pointing his trident towards Jack, "You say you're
heroes? Drop the selfish act, and stop to /think/ about what's going on
here!"

Lobo just shakes his head at the goings on. "I swear they look all look
like the three fragging stooges. What do you think Dinah baby? Shall the
main man show them how it's done?"

Hippolyta hits the ground like a rock, she grunts in pain and her face
controrts as the weight crushes down on her

Chewing on his lower lip, looking up from his far end of the room, Wally
sees that .... that Zatanna has found the solution. He complete confidence
in her, knowing that she has never been one to disappoint or fail an
audience, he knows that the show is about to come to an end. This is the
curtain call. Saved by the Queen of the Amazons, Wally looks overly
relieved that Zatanna has been saved, and yet, yet he wishes he could
havebeen the one to save her. To not go through this, what has to be done.
In silence, from the back of the room, a pair of green eyes watch the
master show-woman, her most attentive audience.

Booster Gold shooots across the room flight ring on. "NOOOO!!!" He zooms
and taps his wrist controls trying to use his forcefield to get it off of
her!

Green Lantern pauses from his search to gaze down at the trouble brewing
down below. He sighs, thinking that crowd control might very well be the
next prudent course of action. He heads downward, preparing to tell the
crow to break it up... Then he sees Hippolyta godown. "Okay, Jack, that's
enough...!!"

It's amazing what people will do when they believe themselves in love,
happy .. content. When they believe they have found the other part of
their soul, when their very essence is contained with that other person.
As the bow and arrows are given to Zatanna, from her asking for them, they
cross the air.. moved from one individual, to the next.. and with that, an
angry, hurt, star crossed lover shoots a beam of energy out. Anger swirls
in Zee's mind as she watches Hippolyta drop, the hit taking her, rather
thant he bow and arrows. She doesn't have time to react, or make a pretty
speach, she doesn't have time to do anything but spin on her high heels,
knocking one arrow in, then the next, one person, after the next. Almost
like a blaze of super speed, the arrows fly from the bow, *zzzzwing*
*zang*, each person, every person present.. even.. .. even Wally. "My God
Have Mercy On My Soul." No better words seem to apply at the last, tears
streaming down her cheeks.

Hippolyta writhes on the floor, her eyes bulge in her head and a groan of
pain escapes her lips, she tries to roll over, face red by the effort,
then her eyes roll back in her head and she lies very still.

Lobo gets hit with an arrow, and doesn't really change "Yo Di, baby looks
like they handled it..." He looks at her "What's say we take that break
now?"

"JACK!" yells Sandy, reacting immediately, catching at the other hero -
who just got fired at - hey, he was right next to Starman, see? and trying
to prevent harm from coming to him. Natch, he's too late, but it's the
thought that counts, right? His eyes are open wide with fear, and he looks
into Jack's...then gets hit by that there golden arrow.

As each arrow hits home, they bury deep--then dissolve. The veil of
illusion is TRULY ripped away at that point, and for some...as the
memories of the love they had ebb, excruciating pain. Within a day they
will forget. But heartache of lost love can be the most deadly.

*Snap!* The blunt projectiles from Helena make contact with Jack's fingers
as one of Eros's arrows pierce his soul. His hand can't help but let go os
fhte Cosmic Rod due to the impact. It clatters to the ground and shuts
off, stopping the beam which currently crushes Hippolyta. His heart
though...it's affected. Sad, but affected. He looks at Sand, the loss
apparent in his eyes. He can say nothing, as what was once inside him dies
slowly.

Green Lantern gets nailed by an arrow as he zooms down to stop Jack from
causing the Amazon queen. He spirals downward and lands hard on the floor,
his force aura protecting him from injury but does nothing for the dazed
post-impact stae he's in now.

Huntress blinks as she is struck, her eyes wide just as surely as had been
Adam and Eve's upon eatting the forbidden fruit and they gained knowledge.
But with that knowledge came a price and as her eyes move slowly toward
the Blue Devil, she blinks again and somehow, the allusion to being
banished from the garden, however an unlikely one this may be, seems to
strike home in her heart, where a dull ache now seems to replace what had
been there only a few moments ago.

Hippolyta dreams, as the darkness descends on her, her mind drifts to what
might have been and in her dreams she does what she never will do in the
waking world, she shed a tear.

Booster Gold turns toward the Flash...

But ah, not for Dinah Lance. "EWW YUCK! LOBO? I was in LOVE with LOBO? I
know my taste in men sucks, but LOBO?" She straightens her shoulders and
looks Lobo up and down. Her hand rests on her hip as she said, "Look, you
big smelly beer guzzling animal, I wouldn't touch you with my /neighbor's/
ten foot pole. You're lucky you got whatever action you did, but you'd
better keep your hands to yourself or I'll break them off." Obsession is
such a healthy thing to cast off. "Oh, and would it kill you to take a
breath mint? Or a shower? Freak."

Booster Gold smiles remembering the Dinah he's always known. "You forgot
me." He looks down at Polly one last time. "I need to be set straight."

Sand can't say anything either; whether the shock on his face is at the
impact, what he's lost, or the friendship he almost complicated
unbelievably. He takes in a sharp breath, and his eyes travel down from
his best friend's hurting eyes to his best friend's hurting hand. Letting
years of experience take over, the ex-sidekick forces everything but the
injury out of his head. "You think they're broken? ...your fingers, I
mean?"

Lobo winks at Dinah "Ahh you just say all the right things." He puts out
his cigar "Well babe, maybe next time. Now it's time for me to jet. Later
feebs." He moves towards the door and leaves (now hoping th door is
unlocked).

Booster Gold turns to the person firing Arrows and waits to be hit with
one..

So too, does one of the magical arrows find themselves piercing the heart
of the Blue Devil, and as the illusion-rending sensation passes over the
man, he stumbles back a step, blinking his eyes more than once. He had
been turned towards Huntress at the time, looking to her after hearing the
familiar whizz of her crossbow bolts, and now... the concern and love that
had been prevalent in his gaze, has been dimmed only to confusion and
emptiness. "My god.." he whispers, "What have we done...?" The nature of
the question is hard to tell. Is it astonishment at the events that
transpired, the histories that may have been true, while underneath the
fog of illusion? Or is it heart-felt regret at the loss of what had been a
true and promising love?

Booster, is indeed hit, just like all the others, no one is left out.
However, the final one to receive an arrow is herself, and though she
finds herself damned, before the memories fade, and what happiness /she/
had leaves.. Zatanna offers a quiet curse to the one that caused this.
"Eros. By all that I hold dear, by my father's /memory/, what you have
done tonight /will/ be avenged." Twirling the arrow around, the sound of
her words soft, quiet, so none other might hear.. but a God, the arrow is
soon embedded /deep/ into her heart, shoved in where a bow is unable to be
used on herself.

Booster Gold is knocked Backwards by the Arrow. a look of anguish hits
him. He smiles and drops his hand wiping the loan tear from Polly's cheek.
"We do what we've always done. Cheat Death for a chance at life. We've
been heroes. As we always will be, as we will be again and again and
again."

Well, considering she was just a fan girl anyway, as the arrow embeds into
Cassie, she finds herself idly wondering /why/ she had such a /crush/ on
this guy. He's like. Old. Eww. Twisted. Her index finger rubs the bridge
of her nose, where the goggles rest, an absent motion, as her eyes settle
in on those below. "Adults, feh." And with that, the teen Wonder Girl zips
out.

Booster Gold takes his goggles off and puts them in hippolyta's hand.
"We'll always have the beach."

Jack clutches his hand with the other, moving slightly away from Sand and
looking down at the Queen of the Amazons. "Yeah, it's broken." Saying
nothing more, he turns to leave the Banquet Hall. Trudging slowly out, he
seems to have forgotten the Cosmic Rod altogether.

Sand steels himself, shuts his eyes, and picks up the Starman's weapon. He 
carries it out silently, dignified.

And at the back of the room is an audience of one, sitting, and not
applauding. He remembers the live he has, the powers he possesses, they
are all his once more. The memories, the regrets, the little things that
made him, well, himself. And yet, Wally west feels as though he lost
something. A chance. A moment of time that he knows he can't time travel
to capture. Was it right of him? Was it even him? Frankly, he doesn't
worry about that. He just takes a moment to remember his time on stage,
sharing the spotlight that is now gone.

Green Lantern picks himself off the floor, rubbing the back of his neck.
He does this just in time to watch Cassie get hit with an arrow, a sign to
him that the adoration she felt for him is no longer. Just as well, he
thinks. Enveloping himself with his ring's power, he takes flight, up and
out of the room.