After an hour’s talk the heroes left the meeting room, some going back to their cities to guard them, others making casual chit chat that was a bit too heavy on flattery. Batman walked past a trash bin and tossed the mask once stuck to his face into the can, the thing now inert and harmless. Of course now that they all knew that all they had to do was be sweet and kind until the damn thing fell off the rest of the league were acting like they were in a 50’s drive in movie!
"Vixen I just LOVE your hair! What shampoo do you use?" Asked Hakwgirl, a big wide FAKE smile on her lips. "Oh it’s the new stuff I’ve seen on TV, it feels great! Do you want to try it?" Offered the woman, both looking each other over and noticing the mutations they went through earlier slowly ebbing away and returning them to normal. "Sure do! Or at least until this mask falls off…" Keeping up the sickly sweet behaviour the two women and the rest of the league went on patting each other’s back. At the back of the crowd Black Canary and Huntress watched on with a grimace.
"We’ve got to act like THAT until these things fall off?!... Bleh." Holding herself tight Helena shuddered at the idea, but then again what choice did any of them have? It was either that or keep going on as she was and get worse, and she was already worse. Looking down at her body the Huntress wriggled her clawed toes sticking out of her heeled boots, dark blue scales were already creeping up her ankles and up her arms, where her hands now sported claws of their own. Swaying slowly behind her and hidden behind her cape a stubby tail stuck out from above her rear. Narrowing her reptilian eyes Helena sneered at it all. "This is bullshit!" Gasping she felt more blue scales creep up her arms.
"Ugh… Here comes little Miss Perfect." Glaring at Wonder Woman walking out of the meeting room and stopping to speak with Superman and Batman the two women noticed the Amazon princess still had her mask on yet still looked unchanged. "Look at her, she goes on the whole day looking normal while I stub my toe and grow a damn tail." Feeling the same tingle rush through her Dinah didn’t need to look down to know more golden scales covered her arms. While the two watched on they noticed Diana smile and hug the two heroes, a laugh leaving the woman’s lips before pulling away and…
"Motherfucker… Her mask fell off!"
"That bitch! Was it that easy for her?!"
Grimacing at the sensation of more changes creeping through her body Dinah huffed and stormed off, the blonde hearing Huntress do the same thing in the opposite direction. Stomping off until she was alone in the hallway Black Canary fumed, slamming her fist against the metal wall to blow off steam and keep going to head towards the teleporter off the station. Had she noticed earlier she would have found that her fist left a dent in the wall.
***
Stepping through the upper doors to the bell tower Nightwing leaned against the wall, looked down at his hands and frowned. He woke up this morning with his mask stuck to his face, at least he thought it was his mask, it wouldn’t come off when he tried. Heading out for a patrol of the city it wasn’t long before he found himself busy. A mugger here, a couple psychos there and a gun operation off at the docks there. All of it was standard fare up until he opened his mouth.
Witty banter was what Dick was known for… But he wasn’t known for sprouting scales and claws every time he called a gangbanger a horse’s ass! By the time the night was nearly over Nightwing was barely recognizable, his gloves and boots had burst open to reveal clawed fingers and toes, black and blue scales crept up his body and he was pretty sure it was up to his neck. He managed to catch his reflection in a window and found he had almost feline eyes, yellow and slit. He tried contacting Oracle for help but she wouldn’t answer his calls, which is what led him to knock at her bell tower right then and there.
"Barbara, hey Babs are you here?!"
Somewhere inside he could hear whimpering, making his way through the tower he listened as the crying grew closer. By the time he found the source he was stunned. "Babs?!" There laying on the ground next to her wheel chair was Barbara Gordon, covering her face and crying into her sleeve. As bad as Nightwing looked at the moment somehow Oracle looked worse! Red scales had covered almost her entire body and her hair had grown long and shaggy, her toes and fingers sported black clawed nails and behind her wiggled a tail as long as her arm. "Don’t look at me!"
"What the heck happened?"
"I don’t know… I woke up with this thing on my face and every time I tugged on it I started changing, then I fell out of bed and had to crawl to my wheel chair, I bumped my shoulder heading out the bedroom door and THEN I fell out of my chair when THIS grew out of my ass… Argh NOT AGAIN!" Wincing Oracle felt additional scales creep up her neck, making the paraplegic cry out more.
"Well, if it makes you feel better the two of us are in the same boat."
"Same boat? SAME BOAT?! Take a long hard look at me buster!" Pointing her clawed finger up Dick’s nose Barbara fumed, rising up from the ground. "Yesterday was hunky frickin dory, NOW I look like some kind of circus freak show, I look like the extra in a Lion King Broadway show, I have a damn tail! Do you have ANY idea what I had gone through today?!" Pressing the black and blue costumed man against the wall Barbara huffed and panted in anger that is until both of them looked down and back at the wheel chair at the other end of the room. Blinking in shock Barbara could only stare down at her scaly legs, which had decided NOW of all times to finally work again. Too stunned to speak she was swarming with emotions; elation, confusion, fear, anger... Nightwing on the other hand was the only one still functioning enough to say the only rational thing.
"What the fuck?!"