New York: Bryant Park

        Bryant Park is the largest privately maintained park in New York
City. Located in a picturesque area behind the New York Public Library on
42nd Street and the Avenue of the Americas, Bryant Park is home to
numerous public activites like the JVC Jazz Festival, HBO's Movies in the
Park and many other free cultural events. The park is located next to a
few private schools, that offer an education for the teenagers of
Manhattan.
        The park itself has just recently been renovated, it contains
several famous statues including the venerable statues of Goethe and
Stein. One of the more beautiful parks in the city, the flowers, trees,
bushes, and plants make a picturesque view, no matter what season it is.

Booster Gold smiles, his ivory-perfect teetch catching the iar. he zooms
across the skyline. "HHHHHEEEEEEEEEERE I Come to save the Day!!!!" He
lands, dusts his hands off and smiles. "Booster Gold here."

Sand rolls his eyes at Booster's dramatic entrance, casually lighting a
cigarette. As soon as it's lit, he pockets his Zippo and looks up,
squinting. His gas mask is hanging from a strap around his neck, and his
hair's sticking up in all directions. Looks like he just woke up, and
isn't getting any more pleased with circumstances.

Among the jungle that now springs forth from where Central Park once
stood, many things walk about. Creatures and beasts both common, and very
uncommon to this time and place. Amid this paradox slinks a predator of a
unique nature...the Amazon known as Artemis. Her normally demonic armor
has been replaced by a outfit consisting of dark green bands that encircle
her like the vines that permiate the park. Her skin has been covered with
dark inks of green and black, blending her in to the jungle as if a living
part of it.

New York City is alive with police activity at the moment. People are
clearing out of Bryant Park, there have been reports that the ground has
been shaking for some reason. Not to mention the odd trees and large grass
that has sprouted up all over the place. Central Park has been recently
closed down after the reports of a tiger on the loose. The police have now
begun to do the same with Bryant Park.

A drunk homeless person exits the park. He passes by Sand and Booster Gold
and says "The squirls! Watch out for the squirls man!" He runs away in a
panic "The squirls!" He continue to yells.

Booster Gold lifts an eyebrow. "Sure man, yeah um squirls." . o O
(Squirling away the Hooch is more like it.)

A soft rustle of leaves is all that marks the presence of the emerald
skinned Jennie-Lynn, as she snaps pictures from within her safe perch atop
a high tree. With her bag filled with supplies and lunch and her natural
camoflauge, it was a simple matter to plan this little adventure. The
perfect opportunity to snap some once-in-a-lifetime photographs that'll
look great in her portfolio. The police obviously have things under
control, no need for her to rile things up, she reasons to herself. She
can take good enough care of herself, as long as the innocent people are
all out.

The farther one walks into the park the higher the grass. Those in the
trees may notice various bugs crawling around them. You'd think they were
ants, but then they're a lot bigger than your tiny black ant in the back
yard.

The click of the shutter of the camera perks Artemis' ear. She scans the
trees and spies the motion of the green-skinned photographer. She
frowns..another person getting themselves in danger. Like a shadow she
slinks up the back of the tree and creeps down next to Jenny with the
silence of a butterfly. "We do not need yet another person getting
themselves in danger here. You should leave the park now..." She speaks,
her voice that low husky tone.

Nearly jumping out of her skin, so to speak, at the voice behind her,
Jenny almost instinctively lashes out, but she knows better than to act
rashly like Todd might. Fumbling with her camera, she turns her head
slightly to gaze at the Amazon as best she can. "Whoa, hold on. I'm not
some average Jane Doe, I can take care of myself," She states calmly,
before returning her attention back to taking pictures. Holding it up to
her eye, she adjusts several of the manual settings as she searches for
something interesting to grab on film, "I never thought anyone would
actually mistake me for a regular person, but then I guess everyone needs
to be humbled once in a while. My name is Jade, part-time hero and
photographer. I'm just indulging in the less glamorous half of life right
now."

Holding his cigarette between his teeth, grimacing, Sandy draws his gasgun
and wirepoon, and loads several cartridges into the former. Taking one
last drag, he flicks the (biodegradable!) Lucky Strike to the ground and
stamps it out, then pulls his gas mask up over his face. Fully ready, he
begins advancing into the brush. Momentarily, he pauses and looks over his
shoulder, saying in an eerily hollow voice, "Booster...try to be less of a
target, will you?"

Booster Gold turns and grimaces toward Sand. "Look, I don't tell you how
to smash heads. So don't think you can tell me."

Booster Gold taps his wriest controls amping the power and following
behind Sand/

The ground begins to shake. It feels like a mild earthquake.

Artemis growls a bit to Jade as she watches Booster and Sandy tromp about
like sore thumbs, "You need to be more cautious and less flippant about
this. There are things in this jungle that will kill you faster than you
can blink..." As the tremble hits she stradies herself against the
tree...and then looks around, "We need to get out of here."

Sand smirks behind his mask, shaking his head very briefly. "Fine," he
says under his breath, "see if I care if you're the one that gets eaten by
tigers." At the slight earthquake, he pauses, closing his eyes.
Wordlessly, now, he continues - he, at least, knows how to be reasonably
stealthy. Heaven forfend he should be as good as a Jungle Queen like
Artemis; at least he's not bellowing like Mighty Mouse. Further up, and
further in.

Robin rides into the park on the borrowed Nightcycle. The tremor takes him
by surprise. As the bike wobbles off course he sommeraults off , grabbing
the crook of Goethe's elbow. He vaults onto Stein's shoulders, to perch
there as his cape drapes over the statue. The motorcycle careens into a
cement planter in a pile of crumpled steel.

Booster Gold turns toward Sand. "Look, I went up against Doomsday, okay?"

Booster Gold says "we fight crime different ways."

The shaking stops for a few minutes. But then starts up again, this time
it is longer and much more violet. The grass sways as well as it looks
like something is moving through it.

Booster Gold turns his head slowly. "Does that sound like what I think it
sounds like?"

Sand isn't even paying attention to Booster anymore - at this new
development, he backs up against a tree and freezes, watching the ground
silently. No, really, he's good at that. If you're the guy that wears the
bright yellow shirt, you learn very well how to shut up and stay still.

Lowering the camera from her eye as she ground shakes, Jenny keeps her
balance easily enough and manages not to topple off of her rather high
perch. "I know you must have only my best interests in mind, but really
I'm ok. I've tackled lame villains before, a few oversized animals aren't
going to bother me." Her sentence is quickly interupted by the second more
violent series of tremors, which requires a bit more effort on her part to
keep from falling. Giving up on the process entirely, she just forms a
large, flat, floating green square within the tree, seperated from any
contact with the ground so that it remains steady. Transferring herself
and all of her belongings to the newly formed makeshift platform, she sits
down once more and begins readjusting her lenses, "You've obviously an
expert on this kind of thing, so I'd probably only hold you back anyway.
Go and do your thing, trust me I'll be fine."

Booster Gold turns his head and seeing Sand gone flies up into the air.

The amazon isn't about to let whatever that is catch her in a vulnerable
position. She grabs Jenny's arm and jumps from the tree, "Move! Now!" She
barks as she dives from the branch into a cluster of tall grass at the
base of the tree.

Booster Gold taps his goggles. He looks at the area where the noise is
coming from. "Magnify.."

The ground continues to shake, and it looks like something is moving
through the tall grass towards the gathered heroes. Nothing can be seen
from the air, since it is towards sunset and the light is becoming less
and less. But it is clear that there is a lot of /somethings/ moving
towards the heroes.

Artemis suddenly notices her arms as she lands, more to the point what is
covering them...ants...hundreds of ants have begun to swarm over her. She
snarls and begins brushing them away as they start to bite at her. "Jade!"
She calls out, "Ant swarm! Go for the lake! NOW!"

Loud squealing sounds begin to be heard along with the shaking... stamped
like shaking now.

Hawkman descends from the sky, his broad wings sweeping out to slow his
descent in intervals of approximately ten feet or so. And so, in his
faintly jerky climb downward, the winged warrior comes slowly into view,
evolving from a speck in the sky to a musclebound warrior, armed with an
assortment of weapons. He keenly surveys the area and, spotting Sand,
descends towards him. "You were an acquaintence of Carter Hall. Hh." He
glances about his eyes narrowing. "What's going on here, Hawkins? I was on
my way to London to investigate the mummy theft when my attention was...
diverted."

Robin suddenly stands up on the satatue. He points at the oncoming rush of
whatever it is, and emits a rapid series of shrill screams as he smacks
his head with his palms. He pulls out a sling, and loads it with a red
ball, ppulling it back to aim.

Sentinel streams in from behind sand his appearance slowly begging to be
made known. "What's? What's happening here?" his eyes travel around to the
various people around and blinks eyeing this being who looks so famillar
yet so much more. "My word."

Booster Gold zooms straight towards Robin. "Listen, I could conceivable up
the voltage on my blasters and try for a wide pattern dispersal? "

Yelping as she's grabbed and yanked out of her nicely positioned photo-op
of the on-coming 'somethings', Jenny protests loudly, "Whoa, hey!" As her
concentration is lost, the platform she formed earlier disappears from
within the tree. With only Artemis' brief words to guide her, she sighs
and leaps into the air, dragging Artemis with her, if she's able to carry
the weight of the Amazon and if she's permitted. So much for her once in a
lifetime portfolio pictures. Though she still carries her bag and camera
with her, she gets the distinct feeling they won't see much use tonite.
Upon reaching the lake, she releases Artemis, surrounds her delicate
equipment in an emerald forcefield, and dives in. "I hate getting wet in
my clothes," She states just before striking the surface of the water.

As the ants cover her, Artemis does not scream, she does not cry out. She
fights to kill or remove as many of them as she can. Even now blinded by
the swarm she managed to keep her wits. She struggles to brush them away
as Jade carries her over the lake and then drops her into the sanctuary of
the water. Hitting the surface, she dives deep and continues her effort.

A mosquito type bug, about the size of a persons hand lands near Booser,
and bites him.

The rumbling and shaking continues to become worse, and more loud. So do
the strange squealing sounds. The ground below Hawkman and Sentinal moves
up, then down as if something just dug under them. Then the line of eyes
becomes visible. The eyes must be a good 2 feet above the ground, meaning
each of these... things must be at least that tall, probably about the
size of a large dog. A quick estimate on the numbers might be around 50 or
more.

Hawkman grimaces as his feet finally connect with the ground. His body is
jarred by the quaking surface but he retains his balance thanks to his
wings. "I apologize for being... moody. I'm not myself these days." He
looks towards the oncoming mass and sneers. "I won't let a world die. Not
another one. I remember what the Hawkgod felt... what he saw... what he
heard when he destroyed Thanagar. This menace is a familiar one. It
threatens the ground beneath me. Hear me, Sentinel, I will not yield until
the last of my blood has been drained from my body." He pulls his mace
from his thigh harness. "Let demons bay and howl, I will tear their
beating hearts from their infernal flesh with my teeth before I will allow
them to threaten my native soil."

Booster Gold growls. "OW." He lifts his left blaster and blows the borwn
monstrosity into a fine pasty green goo. Then, his arm with too much sleep
venom in it shakes and falls onto the side of the statue where Robin is..

Scowling deeply behind his mask, Sandy answers Hawkman and Sentinel at
once, short and gruff, "It's a bad remake of the 1959 version of _Journey
to the Center of the Earth_. Please don't get me killed." When the
-really- weird stuff starts happening, he acks, holsters his gasgun, and
fires the 'poon straight up into the treetop. Okay, time to retract that
there line...

A green flash of energy is seen beneath the depths of the lake for a brief
moment, before Jenny emerges ant-free, though she'll have bites to contend
with later that will probably irritate her skin to no end. Brushing her
soaked hair out of her face, she spits a spray of water from her mouth
before taking in a few deep breaths of air. "C-c-c-cold," is all the
manages to say as she starts shivering from the near-freezing
temperatures. Slowly floating upwards until she's a few inches above the
surface, she crosses her arms protectively across her chest as she lights
her entire body in a dim magical emerald fire to warm herself, thinking
within her own mind as she does so . o O ( Ok, next time we skip the cold
water and just go straight to blasting the bugs off with a burst of
energy. )

Sentinel woahs his eyes in shock. "Well um how can we help you whoever you
are!"

Robin lets out a surprised 'hoop!' noise as Booster and the mosquito
tangle. As the 30th Century hero falls to the ground, Robin emits a high
pitched laughing sound. He fires the ball at a pair of eyes.

From the surface of the lake, a hand jets out of the water, latching on to
an overhanging branch with a steel grip. Then another as Artemis emerges
from the water like an Amazonian version of Apocalypse Now. She curls her
lips in a snarl and shrugs off the pain of the myraid of bites. Looking
out towards the others she draws out of the water and begins to make her
way back.

Three large doglike beasts dig their way from underground and jump out at
Sand. A dozen others are now visible from the grass, and charging forward
in a stamped like fashon. They look like large dogs. They're very hairy,
have long claws and teeth, and very bushy tails.

Hawkman growls a primal grunt and tosses his mace out at one of the hound
beasts. His keen warrior's instinct suggests it would be wise to keep a
maximum distance and, obviously, the mace in hand would serve that goal
ill except as a projectile, hence the reason that the glorious gladiator
tossed his weapon at one of the foul beasts.

The doglike animals continue to jump at Sand, who is now somewhat up in
the tree. They look hungry and find other ways to get him.

As the beasts spring towards Sandy, one...then two suddenly cry out and
call as the shafts of Artemis' arrows drive through their sides. From the
distance, the Amazon is on the move at top speed and firing as she goes.

Sand gets a solid hold on the tree, then immediately lets go. Y'know,
those ants are a real pain in the buttocks. He still grips the handle of
the wirepoon, but is now just sort of, well, dangling. Cursing like a
sailor, he pulls the gasgun with his free hand, and begins firing at the
beasts. It's not pellets - it's a thin stream of compressed gas that
spreads out to cover a reasonably wide (say five feet) area before
beginning to actually disperse.

The beasts that are attacked fall easily, but there are others to take
their place. The ground is very unstable now, as they burrow from below
and appear. A persons weight may have them fall into a hole.

The ground under it weakened, the statue falls. Robin rides it down, and
rolls to his feet. As he comes to a standing position, the youngster
removes his cape and twirls it matador style. "Iya! Iya dogie! Iya!"

Flying higher upwards until she's at least fifteen feet above the rather
unstable ground, Jenny surveys the situation a moment before a soft glow
of emerald energy surrounds her hands. "Oversized man-eating groundhogs,"
she states, pausing to let out a slight sigh of resignation. Raising her
arms up like weapons, she questions outloud to herself, "I wonder if Dad
ever had to deal with this." Taking careful aim, so as not to waste her
energy, she fires off a few shots of mixed magical Starheart and green
plasma energy, which blazes like outwards like an unholy fire from her
hands.

Hawkman flaps his mighty wings and lifts back into the air as the dirt
beneath him starts to sink.

A hail of arrows rain down upon the beasts as Artemis plants down and
begins to pick and drop her targets with a merciless accuracy and speed.

Sand's arm is starting to complain, now, as it's been steadily holding his
full weight for a bit now. Then he's out of gas in his weapon, and he
can't reload with his teeth because, well, he has a gas mask on. He thinks
about the situation for a moment, watches the ground begin to sink, then
sighs and reholsters the gasgun. He grips the branch the wirepoon's
wrapped around, crushing several scores of giant ants (we like superhero
gloves, yes we do), undoes the line, shakes the ants off, and lets go.
Before he even touches the ground, he begins fighting the snarling
animals.

The beasts slowly begin to stop their wild stamped as their numbers begin
to dwindle. They go off in varous directions, or dig underground to avoid
contact. The dead or dying ones lay still.

The ground has stopped shaking, but in some parts it is very unstable
where the creatures have burrowed underground.

As the beasts begin to withdraw, Artemis moves through the aftermath. She
gathers what arrows she can save...as well as finishing of the dying
quickly. Looking about she snarls, "What in the name of the Gods is going
on here?"

Hawkman glances down and soars down to retrieve his mace. "This bodes
ill." He sneers, surveying the damage to the ground and then, looks to the
sky for guidance.

Sand scowls again, brushing himself off, getting the antgut off his
gloves. He holsters his 'poon, irritated, and pulls his gasmask down.
"Gee, Artemis," he says sarcastically, "I'm sure -someone- here has all
the answers. Why don't you keep asking until you find out who it is? How
about asking Hawkman over there? He seems to have the script." Even
surlier, amazingly, than when he started, he lights another cigarette and
eyes Robin. "And what the hell's with -you-, kid?"

Artemis mutters something in a foreign tongue at Sandy as he
comments...obviously not a pleasent something either. She examines a few
of the beasts, then looks about, making sure no civilians were about.

Robin puts his cape back on and looks at Sand quizically. "What the hell's
with you. Kid?"

Hawkman sighs at Hawkins' comment and shakes his head sagely.

Looking no worse for the wear, the young and pictureless Jenny releases
her equipment from its protective forcefield and begins adjusting the
camera properly once more, as she was doing earlier. Taking advantage of
this opportunity, she snaps a few good photos of the large animals as well
as a few discreet ones of whatever heroes she can manage to sneak into the
range of her lens.

It's a somewhat relaxed Emerald Guardian who soars over the buildings at
this moment, a visage of calmness as he makes his way back into the city
he calls home. Of course, his calm demeanor is easily (and predictably
thrown off at the sight in the park. His brow creases at the spectacle,
and he descends from the skyline to check things out.

Staring at the Boy Wonder, Sandy scratches his chin idly, frowning. He
lets his hand drop, then unconsciously brings it up again to take the
cigarette out and make talking easier. "So we're playin' copycat now, huh?
Say this: 'Robin is a weenie'." He also actually looks slightly concerned.

Booster Gold flies over towards the other hereoes. He wipes his forhead.
"uh, fellas, I'm not feeling to hot.."

"That's a first," mutters Sandy of Booster's comment. He continues
watching Robin, frowning, wondering what's making the kid act like, well,
a monkey.

Booster Gold narrows his eyes. "Look Sand, I know your a badass, stop
trying to prove it."

Booster Gold checks the lining in his new suit where the damned Mosquito
punctured him. He wraps his arm carefully...

Robin chuckles at Sand. "'M not a weenie. Came from Central Park. This "
he gestures around " happened there too. There were - " he furrows his
brow. "Big, um lizards."

Booster Gold blinks at Robin. "So it's not localized. Does Bats know about
this?"

Booster Gold rubs the sweat off his foreahead. "Aaagh! Ow that hurts.!" He
rubs his mouth and then looks puzzles. "Wha? Wisdome teeth? But, but i had
those removed?"

Robin snorts. "Of course he does. It was only all over the..the...you
know. The news."

Booster Gold nods still touching his gumline in pain. "Yeah the um, the
box thing, with the dials and stuff."

Hawkman quakes and clutches at his stomach with one hand. He growls softly
to himself.

Green Lantern lands on the park's gras and looks around at the odd, and
very large, creatures. "What in the freakin'...? you go away to visit
family and they start filming Caddyshack 3: The Gopher's Revenge." He
looks around at the assembled adventurrs. "Everybody okay?"

Booster Gold cracks a smile. "Ha, thats funny, ya know. ha..funny. um..
hey."'

Satisfied with her cache of photographs for now, Jenny stows her camera
away safely into her carrying bag, before floating down to one of the more
stable patches of ground. Spotting Green Lantern out of the corner of her
eye, she smiles and carefully steps over in his direction, relieved to see
a familiar face amidst all of this chaos. "Fancy meeting you here," She
states in greeting.

Sand eyes Booster. "And you think -I'm- trying to prove something," he
says quietly, shaking his head. He takes a glove off, running a hand
through his hair, getting it off his forehead. Hotter than normal, it
seems. Looking thoughtfully at Robin, he nods. "You're right, you're not a
weenie. You feelin' okay, though?"

Booster Gold says "No Sand, Just cut the attitude okay, I've proven myself
in battle.."

Robin nods at Sand. "Uh-huh. Better go back to Tower." He sniffs the air,
turning his head from side to side. "Give Darkstar an update."

Green Lantern grins at the approaching very cute person. "Hey, haven't
seen you in a while. I guess you got a first hand glimpse of all of this?
Someone feed these guys Miracle Gro or something?"

Booster Gold grabs a sample of blood and sticks in in is belt pouch.
"Better, take this for um, the Blue guy, um insect."

Booster Gold says "robin, tell Bats, I'll have my people be working on
this, so if he wants he knows where he can reach me..""

Sand bites his lip. "Right. The Tower. Mind if I give you a ride? Looks
like your bike's not in great shape." Now, granted, he hasn't spent all
that much time with Robin, but the kid hasn't ever casually dropped
articles before. "I'm heading that way anyway."

Booster Gold nods to Lantern too. "Um, same for Superman or J'onn if you
see him Lantern."

Hawkman glances up and drops his jaw momentarily. "Oh. Of course. I have
quarry to stalk in London." He grunts, "Hhhh." With a scowl he finally
says, "Excuse me." And with that, his wings thrust mightily, lifting him
into the air!

Robin blows Booster a raspberry. "Let your people tell Batman." He winks
at Sand. "Race you," he says with an abrupt attention span shift, and runs
off through the grass, making those chittering noises again.

Booster Gold smiles. "Punk."

Sand sighs. "Oh, lord," he mutters, sprinting after the kid. "And I'm not
a damned rotten egg!" he can be heard to yell as he disappears into the
brush.

Green Lantern raises one eyebrow behind his facemask. "Uh, yeah, sure,
will do, Booster." He looks around at it all. The groundhogs. Robin's od
behavior. Oh, this is gonna be an INTERESTING report to the JLA.

Booster Gold shakes his head. "Look, No foul feelins okay. I'm doing a DNa
test. This isn't about whosse better."

Booster Gold says "So if J'onn or Supes wants to confer, then I think the
planet would benefit. ""

Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Jenny nudges one of the oversized
groundhog corpses with her foot. "Your guess is as good as mine. I just
came here for the chance to snap some ultra exclusive photos. With these
in my portfolio, my chances for a real job will increase from 5% to 75%
easily," Conveniently omitting the part about the Amazon that got her
soaking wet and freezing cold, she runs her hand through her now dry hair
before adding, "I'm exhausted after all of that excitement. I'm going to
head back. You can stay here and help them figure out what's going on, if
you want, but I need my sleep." Resting her hand on Kyle's shoulder a
moment, she offers him a smile before heading out of the park on foot.

Green Lantern nods to Jenny as she makes her way out of the park. "Okay,
take care, Jen. See ya at the house."