With a startled cry (not a bleat), the satyr jumped and staggered back, his music completely disrupted in the surprise of Manhunter's sudden transformation.

The thought of healing him to restore his human form did cross Malkos' mind, but freeing the prepared spell from the lute string it was tied to would only be a waste of a magical resource. And perhaps annoy the powerful being.

"The plan that has been prepared is that the rest of you will meet her--" and The Batman pointed at Lady Katherine Pryde-- "here, at this spot-- preferably tomorrow morning. Each of you will-- as you have done just now-- look and dress inconspicuously. Save for you--" This was addressed to Malkos. "I must admit, you surprised me, appearing as a satyr. The plan was that there would be a large carriage or covered wagon to hide your... natural form."

He resumed speaking: "The plan was to pretend that Lady Katherine would be travelling to the Invisible College as an applicant-- traditionally, all new students apply at the original campus. Three of you would pose as her perfectly-normal bodyguards, with Malkos in the carriage or wagon-- and with you, Diana, posing as her chaperone. You would arrive at the school, be given a few books, and then you would return here, to Southside, and go to the campus here-- if anyone asks, you can say that you were accepted, that you will start attending in a few weeks, and that you wanted to see the campus you'd actually be attending before going home. The trip to the college should take slightly less than four hours, and the trip back the same..."

"Would tomorrow morning be too soon? And Malkos, would you want a large carriage, or a covered wagon, or... not?"

In reply to The Batman (msg # 34):

The Batman did not seem to want to speak to anyone personally. In fact, it sounded like he was about to vanish again. Johan had to get his question in before that happened. The Batman of Gotham needed to know the...risks when it came to Johan.

"Look...wait, I..." He paused and looked around at all the others. They seem to be more trusting of Johan than Johan was of them. They needed to know the risks.

"I...I can have problems with keeping my nose to the ground, right? Once the horse manure hits the side of the stable, I can't predict what will happen. I don't...I can't trust it. You said you knew that. And you still want me to help them?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Mon 15 June 2020.

The Batman leaps casually from the tree-- landing without a sound-- and walks over to Johan. "I do. I, for one, am not worried about you. Do I understand that it can be dangerous to be around you? Yes. I've known others who felt that way about themselves, and they had reasons for feeling that way, but they were good men. If the plan goes perfectly, there shouldn't be anything that will put you in a difficult position. But I wanted you to be a part of this because I don't expect the plan to go perfectly. If that moment-- or moments-- happen, then what I ask of you is to direct your might outward, toward those that deserve it, instead of indiscriminately. I have access to sources of information you would find very surprising, but even with what I know, I'm trusting you with this."

In reply to The Batman (msg # 36):

Johan looked at the man in the mask, and then looked away. He unconsciously grabbed the ring he wore around his neck and under his shirt. "Yeah...yeah ok. I want this to help people...for a change."

He wondered if the man knew a way to get rid of it. However, everyone Johan talked to about that very thing had told him the same answer. A very grim and final one.

Once you give up your soul, you dont ever get it back.

"I'm not so sure of the plan Batsy. No offense to the kid here, but she's just a kid. Is she really gonna have us as retainers or servants and the Woman of Wonders as a chaperone? I mean yeah, it's only long enough to fool a few guards and such, but I'm just not sure it'll work." Standing where he was at, Spider-Man looked over at the young girl, she did look like a noble from her stance and bearing anyway. But would that be enough to convince people about what they were trying to pull off? Spider-Man just didn't know and that's what was making him nervous.

In reply to Spider-Man (msg # 38):

Johan blinked a few times and looked over at Spider Man. "Aren't...you just a kid? You...you are like younger than I was before i joined the 7th legion. Like the youthful idiot I was, I would add.

At least you are an actual hero who helps people, rather than joining in on one of the Kingdoms stupid, pointless holy wars. And as an actual noble, she could sit this whole thing out and not be effected what so ever!"

Johan shook his head, sounding like a much older man than he appeared. "You both should be out there working for your futures and having fun. Not potentially dying on some cause nobody even knows about over some old book!"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:08, Tue 16 June 2020.

Johan was creating such a spectacle of himself that Jhonen had gone as unnoticed as if he had remained invisible. A rare smile crossed his lips.

"They are not so young as that," he said to Johan, while looking at Peter and Katherine. Young, yes. Too young to be heroes? No. "Calm yourself. I can help you still your mind, if you wish."

“I was younger than Peter or the Lady when I wielded my sword for the first time.” Diana glanced at Jhonen, then turned to Johan. “Man’s World also teaches that women are unfit as warriors and leaders.” Her lopsided half-smile betrayed the chronic frustration that Diana felt about the biases of the world beyond Themyscira’a  shores.

“Bat Man chose us according to the strengths, skills, and cunning that we all possess.  Neither of them would even be here if he thought them unable to fulfill this mission.”

In reply to The Batman (msg # 34):

The satyr's expression grew pensive, the strings of his barbat stilled with one palm for the moment.

"It would probably be for the best," Malkos' own voice said through the satyr's lips. "I am not a subtle being, and should I need to summon, I cannot do so while sharing Matthias' flesh. I would need to dismiss him back home to Westchester 'ere I could call another, leaving my true self revealed."

Diana's words about the world of men and the biases of mortal belief struck a chord in the demon's heart. She certainly had a potent point there.

In reply to The Manhunter (msg # 40):

"Still my mind? What does that mean?" He takes a step back from the green man. "I'm fine...well, not fine, but I dont think you breaking into my skull and fiddling around will fix anything, thanks anyways."

Diana speaks, and he raises his hands and nods. "Look, you wont hear me defending the status quo. If I had just listened to my own wi..." he cuts himself off as a fresh dose of pain entered his memories.

"Nevermind." He said darkly. "Look, all I am saying about our near silent noble lady over there is that she could sit this one out and never take any risks. But to her credit, she is, and she's here. I was just complaining...uselessly I am sure...that kids should not be in wars."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:23, Tue 16 June 2020.

"Whoa there pal, I didn't mean to touch a nerve. Give peace a chance, hey? I realize I may have spoken out of school about our Lady over there, but I was just trying to protect her. No offense meant to anyone. Honestly." Spider-Man held his hands up to shoulder level, palms facing outward to show that he had meant no harm to anyone.

"Blaze, you don't know what this young woman is capable of. She's... untested, it's true, but I have the same faith in her as I have in you. She might be the most important part of the plan."

"So. Can anyone give me a reason why the plan needs to be changed in any way? Because I'm not going to exclude anyone because of the danger, because each of you is more dangerous than you look. That's a very large part of the point of my asking each of you to be here."

Katherine wasn't comfortable with the others speaking about her. She gave a look at Batman, raising her eyebrows. The teen took in a smooth breath.

"I'm all for your plan, sir" she stated to the caped hero. "The difficult part will be getting away without my father knowing. He's quite protective of me."

Another breath.

"But I will manage."

The satyr shook his head no. The only potential issues that either of him were thinking of pertained to the magi of the college or the possible protections of the book itself, not to the logistics outlined.

Johan seems to have issues, but says nothing. He just keeps looking from Spider Man to Lady Pryde. All while squeezing the hidden ring worn around his neck and under his shirt.

However, his thoughts are very very 'loud'...especially to those with the power to 'hear' it. The Manhunter almost has an image forced on him, as if Johan was shouting it directly into the hero's mind.

He sees Johan, being held down by several thuggish men, one of them about to stab him in the back and through his stomach. Johan is struggling, and clearly screaming not at his potential death, but at two burning bodies being thrown onto a pyre.

They clearly have been brutalized before being burned, but its unclear if they where dead or alive while tossed on the fire. All this happens even as the fire burns the nearby farm and farmhouse.

It was then the Manhunter felt another presence in Johan's mind. One that is clearly inhuman, yet firmly lodged within Johan as if it belonged here.

This is not for you. The Manhunter heard a voice that sounded like ba combination of crackling flames and an animal growl. Then he could feel soemthing attempting to push his awareness out of Johan's mind.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:21, Wed 17 June 2020.

"H'ronmeer's ghost," the Manhunter said quietly. He was visibly shaken, though none but Johan would know why. And even then, he didn't know all. The plague that had taken Jhonen's own wife and daughters, and the flames...!

By H'ronmeer, the FLAMES!

"We should talk."

In reply to The Manhunter (msg # 49):

"I...I dont need my mind...'stilled'...whatever that is." Johan repeats himself, clearly not understanding what just happened. He felt...soemthing involving the Manhunter...but had no language or experience  to explain such an event. Hell, he might have imagined the whole thing. It seemed impossible...but the impossible was becoming a rather everyday event in Johan's mind.

"Wait...what do you mean?" He asked the green man. Now thinking he may not have imagined what just happened.

"I have the ability to enter your mind and help you find the calm center," Jhonen explained. It was basically a directed meditation technique, but he could save those details for later.

He could also force calmness on another's mind, but those details didn't need to be shared at all.

"I lost my own family to the flames," he continued. He could still hear the screams. "You and I are not so dissimilar, it seems."

In reply to The Manhunter (msg # 51):

Johan's went pale with the horrified look on his face. "You...you saw it?" He whispered, trying to make sure the others would not hear him.

As the Manhunter explained, Johan shook his head. "No...no...that's not right. Well, they did...I...look, did you see it in there!? You have to stay away from...from my head! That's where it sleeps...until...until...someone calls it forth!"

Johan sounded frightened, but managed to keep his voice down while he engaged in panicked blabbering. He seemed more scared of 'it' then the fact the Manhunter could read his thoughts.

“My own mother banned me from The Contest to represent Paradise Island as the Champion of the Amazons.” Diana sighed wistfully. “I defied my  mother and won the Contest.” She met Katherine’s eyes with the bittersweet understanding of a daughter who defied her parent. “Even though we are taught to submit to our mothers and fathers, doing the right thing sometimes requires defying even our loved ones.”

The Amazon settled beside the Bat Man. “Circumstances may necessitate some deviation from your plan, but it stands for now. Everyone knows that a Lady of Man’s World never travels without a chaperone. I will need a special garment for this task, but it is one that I can fulfill .” Diana’s smile broadened into a wide grin. “Enough second-guessing and travails! We have our party for this mission, and will undertake it with no further handwringing or dissembling!”
This message was last edited by the player at 02:56, Wed 17 June 2020.

Ears twitched. Someone was speaking of flame, or fire? And someone was terrified.

The satyr looked towards the sounds. He couldn't make out Johan's words very well, but the pallor, even in the dark of night, and shaking were not missed. Even in someone elses' flesh, Malkos tasted a hint of the echoes of suffering in the air.

But it was not for him to dine upon. These people were allies he needed to work with. Fey fingers moved on the neck of his birbat, the other hand ready to strum lower down.

The two-in-one mentally spoke to each other briefly in the satyr's head, and came to a decision; Matthias would be the one who would ask. "What ails you, Johan? Art thou in need of healing?"

"Now just hold your horses there Woman of Wonders. Unless my memory is already starting to fail me, Old Batsy said we'd start this up tomorrow morning. Not right here this very second. So then, we should go our separate ways and hunker down for the night, come back on the morrow to do this. At least that's the way I see it. Anyone agree or disagree?" Having said his piece, Spider-Man looked at the others, in turn, to see how they felt about his suggestion of concluding their little gathering and coming back tomorrow morning. He, himself thought it was a pretty good suggestion.

"Then if there are no other questions nor issues, I shall let you go your own separate ways."

The Batman walks back over to the trunk of the tree, and waits under it, in case anyone feels the need to speak to him further tonight.

"I'm...fine." He replied to the Satyr, sounding anything but fine. When both Spiderman and Batman agree with meeting up in the morning, Blaze nods. "Good idea. I am heading to the nearest bar. Anyone is welcome to join me." He shakes his head and prepares to head off.