[Frederick, Maryland] OUTATIME (Open)

Somewhere amongst the steady flow of ghouls, princesses, and superheroes a certain youthful pair were winding down their night with some trick-or-treating of their own. It was a lovely evening for Jun Batgirl and Anwir Spider-Man, an excellent end to an unexpected adventure, she got to ride a train underground! But, was it actually an end? No, fate had something else in mind. High above a brilliant light, far too bright for most to look at, deigned to turn night to day for several moments, before dimming into a pale blue aurora of radiation bathing the ionosphere.

That was... concerning... Particularly for Batgirl, as she had no need to shield her eyes and could see the radiant display in its entirety, including the trail of light arcing towards earth masked by the initial flash. If whatever that was hit somewhere populated... Batgirl would look to Spider-Man, concern easily read through her half-mask cowl alongside something else, a need to go help. A pastel yellow glove reaches out palm up, an offering to come with, would he take it?

In under three seconds their world would shift. A circle of pale yellow light beneath foot, a ring of whirling gold at the edge. The ring would raise before closing above them and dissipating entirely. With it the city around them would disappear, replaced by sparse clouding and city lights below. High in the night sky, several thousand feet above the sidewalk they were just standing upon, shielded from the elements by a thin aura of warm white light. They would not stay long, she knew he would not be able to breathe well up here, just long enough to spot a small explosion in the distance well away from any city lights.

Another golden ring at the edge of their platform, another rapid shift of scenery below. A line of embers and shattered trees marred the mountainside, dimly lit by the fading radiation above. Thankfully they weren’t in a drought, the odds of a fire starting and spreading were fairly low. ”Let me know if you see anything odd.” Batgirl would say, a concerned tone filtering through the light surrounding them. The platform they were standing upon would dissipate, though Spider-Man would still feel as if he was standing upon it, and they would begin their descent over the forest following the broken trees.

They’d pass a few demolished cabins on the way, abandoned, or at least empty, thankfully. She’d swoop down close to any burning debris, suffocating it with solid light before continuing along the trail. It wouldn’t be long before they reached the impact crater, about the time the glow above completely faded, and she’d set them down on the side, glow finally fading and releasing Spider-Man from her grip. With her now free hand she’d two-finger point into the crater, a ball of light forming at the tip of her fingers then projecting sunlight forward more potent than a world class spotlight, a cone of illumination a bright as high noon.

It was... empty? Wait... ”Is that blood?” She’d query mostly to herself, pointing her light along a darkened trail of reddened damp earth climbing out of the crater while jogging along the edge towards where it crests the rim; the sheer brightness of her ‘spotlight’ providing plenty of back glow for her companion to see where he was stepping. Yep, that was blood, but what’s this? ”Hand prints?” At the edge, someone about her size climbed their way out, and there was a trail of blood dripping into the forest towards the light of the nearest town.

”This way.” Batgirl would say, turning to make sure Spider-Man was ready and willing to follow along before leading them through the forest. With a steady pace it wouldn’t take too long for them to spot a road in the distance, headlights of a passing car filtering through the trees, and with it she’d dim down her ‘spotlight’ to a flashlight. No need attracting unnecessary attention, but, how would she make sure her companion could see his footing behind her?

A lanturn! A jack-o-lantern to be specific. In her other hand was a simple plastic bucket the shape of a pumpkin, half-filled with various sweets, now alight with a dull orange glow emanating from within. That wouldn’t attract too much suspicion, surely. At the road, the blood trail was thinning? Running low on blood? Healing? It began following the road towards town, so so did they. Hopefully whatever it was was friendly. If not, hopefully they found it before anything bad could happen. Maybe it would see her ‘flashlight’ beam approaching from behind? The trail was pretty fresh, but who knows how quick it was moving.

"That is quite the powerful voice you have there, young man", came a stern voice from a short distance up the path.

Stepping towards them from among the trees was an old man powerfully built and with broad shoulders, though shorter than the average of men and now stooped with age, leaning on a thick, rough-cut staff. He had a tall, pointed hat; the hat was wide-brimmed with a pointed conical crown, and it was blue; he wore a long grey cloak. It was of a silver-grey hue, though tarnished by wear; he wore a silver scarf over which a white beard hung below his waist and immense black boots.



As he approached, the old man pulled deeply on the pipe before sending a plume of smoke into the air.

"I believe the person you seek is just a short distance up this road, a little disoriented, but you should still hurry along to catch up." The old wizard peered at them both from below the wide brim of his hat. "My old bones won't be able to run, so I will catch up with you strapping heroes over there."

- ”I wonder who they are and how badly injured,” - Whoever they are they must be extraordinarily durable to survive that crash, here’s hoping they were friendly too. Justice League perhaps? - ”I like your lantern, Batgirl. Good job on being less suspicious." - ”Thank you, Spider-Man.” Jun Batgirl would respond, saying ‘Spider-Man’ in a slightly exaggerated ‘play-acting’ tone, continuing their bit from earlier in the night. Though she looked back at him curiously as she noticed him digging through his candy sack with his mask up and a glove in his mouth.

- ”I can help light up the way a bit.” - With his phone? With the screen ligh- ”Oo!” Batgirl would exclaim softly in quiet fascination, cocking her head to the side to try and get a better look at the source of light suddenly spilling from the back of the thin device. - ”Think we should call out to them? Like this-” - ”I d-” - ”Hey! Person who’s bleeding, you okay, buddy? I’ve got candy and bandaids!” - Before she could voice her opinion on the matter Anwir Spider-Man belts out for the injured subject. What were bandaids?

- ”That is quite the powerful voice you have there young man,” - Batgirl would quickly shift her ‘flashlight’ beam in the direction of this new voice, shifting the edge of direct beam to below the neckline as a rather oddly dressed elderly man with a staff smoking a pipe came into sight from the trees off the road. A costume? Huh… something felt off about him, but she could not recognize it. Old? Older than he looked. Maybe it was just her nerves. - ”I believe the person you seek is just a short distance up this road, a little disoriented, but you should still hurry along to catch up. My old bones won’t be able to run, so I will catch up with you strapping heroes over there.” -

He must have seen them wander that way before the aurora effect faded, or perhaps by carlight. Nonetheless, it meant they were close. ”Thank you, sir.” Batgirl would bow her head slightly as she politely thanked this elderly bystander, he must have come from a house nearby? She’d look to ensure Spider-Man was ready to move on down the road before setting off at a moderately quick jog, not wanting to leave her companion behind.

”There!” Batgirl would point her light ahead. True to the old mans’ words, not terribly far down the road was a figure sitting against the pole of the first street light heading into whatever town this was. Just taking a moment to rest, or too weak to continue? With the light of the distant streetlight promising plenty of visibility, Batgirl turned off both her faux-flashlight beam and the magically lit pumpkin bucket as she made her approach. A woman(?), short hair, light skin, she looked human. Her attire, what wasn’t burned away, red, white and blue. A uniform? American? She was in pretty rough shape.

”Miss!” Batgirl would call out on the approach. ”Are you conscious? Can you speak?” She’d ask, tone concerned and hurried, as she circled around the front of the woman about ten feet away. She wanted to help, but she was still wary, and that conflict between desire to aid and caution was quite visible on what could be seen of her face; filtering through her dark east Asian eyes. She met Oracle in a similar situation, though she knew she could defend herself from a possible mugger or thief. A person that fell from space and survived was a different question entirely.

"Gandalf" calmly shifted his gaze between the two youngsters, giving a slight nod when Jun thanked him; he raised the bushy eyebrows as Anvir spoke about Balrogs. "I would be astonished if you ran into one here," he replied calmly. "But, during this most hallowed time of the year, who can say what is or isn't?"

He watched the young duo hurry along before calmly following them at a more measured pace. As such, he only arrived towards the tail end of Anvir, telling how they could help if the individual were injured. He curiously examined the woman; now, this was curious; she did not look like she belonged, and he did not mean that due to her lack of costume, most Halloweeners would not bat much of an eye if they saw her.



"I believe remaining here too long would be-- unwise," "Gandalf" said calmly, looking to the sky. "Others no doubt saw what we saw, so there will be no small amount of people here to check before long. Some, less than savoury."

- ”Thank you kindly for letting us pass, Gandalf. We shall not stray from the path. We shall dispatch any Balrogs along the way for you, sir.” - Gandalf? Did Anwir Spider-Man know this man? Perhaps it was what he was dressed as. What was a Balrog? - ”I would be astonished if you ran into one here. But, during this most hallowed time of the year, who can say what is or isn’t?” - That is... cryptic. Was the elder playing up his costume? For some reason Jun Batgirl felt there was more behind his words than simple acting.

–

While Batgirl remained a cautious distance away, Spider-Man crept in close before addressing the young woman. - ”Hey, you aight? Was a hell of alotta blood and fire back there. If ya’ll’re injured, we can help you out.” - Huh, that must be a Nashville accent? It wasn’t his Spider-Man tone, and it was different than his usual tone. Batgirl crept in a little closer as Spider-Man spoke, trying to get a better look at the woman’s wounds. She appeared out of it, at least until she jolted awake and pushed herself upright against the pole.

- ”I uh... where is here?” - ”Here is... near DC.” Batgirl would answer in a calming tone, stumbling for a moment as she didn’t exactly know what town they were outside of. Less than 40 miles was near right? It looked like the woman’s right arm was broken, or out of socket perhaps. It was amazing she was alive at all. - ”Are you three a local team or something?” - ”We-” - ”I believe remaining here too long would be– unwise. Others no doubt saw what we saw, so there will be no small amount of people here to check before long. Some, less than savoury.” -

Gandalf(?) would unknowingly interrupt Batgirl as she started to fumble for an answer, but, his point was a good one, whoever he was. Maybe they could find somewhere secure until the Justice League showed up? No doubt they would be one of the groups scrambling to find out what happened. ”Not officially, but we are here to help.” Batgirl would answer the woman’s second question, trying to ease her confusion, before turning to address the elderly mage(?) that followed them. ”Do you know of anywhere close that would be safe?” She’d ask, presuming this man was from the area, then scan the road for oncoming traffic.

"Gandalf" nodded sagely as the two youngsters talked; he silently examined the strange woman, looking to "Batgirl" when she asked if he knew anywhere close. "There is a cottage, just a short distance through these trees; I believe it is normally used to store gardening tools and function as a resting place for the gardeners of the park." He motioned to where he came from as he spoke. "It should serve our needs for the moment."

He sensed odd energies around her, trace elements. His mastery over space made him sensitive to when things changed, and he could feel temporal energies.

That outfit was not in the best condition, but it was familiar.

Where had he seen it before? Or, that was the wrong question.

His wrinkled brow furrowed slightly as he took another drag on his pipe, sending a plume of smoke. "How curious," he muttered. "I believe, for the sake of the situation, the good question is not where, but when." He paused, letting his words sink in. "Young lady, what year is it?"

He could not know for sure, but he did have an eidetic memory; for better or worse, he remembered everything with almost perfect clarity. Sure, had he the mind of a mortal, he would have been cooked from the long existence he had been living, but as it was, he was not mortal.

- ”Ya, we ain’t officially a team, though I reckon we’re’ll in the same type of pools.” - It was definitely going to take Jun Batgirl some time to get used to that accent, she doubted ‘wherl’ was what he actually said, did he mean heroes by ‘type of pools’? - ”Gandalf has a point. We should get ready to get you out of here at least until you’re healed. If you need healing, we- can help with that.” - Batgirl would nod affirmingly when Anwir Spider-Man said they could help with that, assuming he was referring to the two of them as she was presently keeping watch up and down the street. No oncoming traffic yet, only some cross traffic a ways down.

- ”There is a cottage, just a short distance through these trees; I believe it is normally used to store gardening tools and function as a resting place for the gardeners of the park. It should serve our needs for the moment.” - Batgirl nodded understandingly as Gandalf(?) answered her, his response favoring her assumption he was a local. Still, she couldn’t quite shake the odd feeling she had when she looked at him. - ”Do you think you can walk?” - Batgirl’s gaze returned to the injured woman, she wanted to know the answer to Spider-Man’s question as well.

- ”Not very well, I think I might have pulled something when I got slammed against a wall before taking my little ride.” - Only pulled? Regardless they should help her to- wait, did she just fix her hair? How accustomed to this type of stuff was she? - ”How curious. I believe, for the sake of the situation, the good question is not where, but when.” - Huh? Batgirl would look back to Gandalf, a slightly confused look upon her face. - ”Young lady, what year is it?” - Was he checking for a brain injury? A fair enough concern considering the situation.

- ”The year?” - Batgirl turned back for the woman’s answer. She seemed to be mulling the question over, likely coming to a similar conclusion given the faint smile that grew on her face. - ”The year is 1985. The president is Ronald Reagan, he just got reelected into a 2nd term a few months ago.” - Oh boy, that’s not good. A look of concern grew across Batgirl’s face the moment this woman confidently said ‘1985’. She didn’t seem old enough to revert in memory from a head injury, could that explosion have displaced her temporally? - ”I do have to say, I’m a bit surprised you folks aren’t even a little bit star struck. I’m Meteor from the All-Stars.” - Meteor, kind of a fitting name considering. The All-Stars must have been a team from that era?

”I...” Batgirl would start, not quite sure how to approach the issue, pausing with a bit of surprise as this Meteor just casually popped her arm back into socket. Fairly accustomed, it seems. ”... suggest we hurry.” She’d finish, urgency in her voice as she moved to stand alongside Meteor. Maybe one of her companions would know how to address that? Directly confronting it may not be a wise course of action in her current state. ”Would you rather a human crutch or one of us carry you?” She’d offer Meteor, trying to get a better look at her injuries while she spoke.