THE BOOKS OF MAGIC [modplot]

[letsgolegion]

Who| Everyone who signed up
What| The Books of Magic Plot
Where| All over the DC Universe
When| The same time as "Out With the Old"
Warnings/Notes| N/A

Their mission had brought them to Sorceror's World, which led to their first lead -- a strange artifact that, if completed, would allow them to find how the Spectre had been imprisoned the first time. After the golden device had been activated and revealed this, they all suddenly found themselves teleported in teams of two to new locations.

Strange, weird, and magical new locations.

Comments

[captainbuzzkill]

He's getting toys. He's getting the best kind of toys. Way cooler than anything he could get from a toy store.

That doesn't mean that he's giving Ray back his PKE meter, though. Pretending that there's nothing suspicious about it at all, he shoves it into the little satchel he brought instead of handing it back. (He brought said satchel in case any artifacts need to be shoved somewhere, and he picked one that looks just like the satchel Jake Explosion, archaeologist-scientist-adventurer, had in the Jake Explosion series).

"There's something...weird about this place," he says in a hushed voice. "I mean, aside from the obvious ancient Greek theme going on, what's up with that?"

Oh.

"Where are the guys?" He rubs his chin. "Not that an island that's entirely filled with ladies is a bad thing necessarily."

He flushes a little when he actually notices that they're, ahem, properly dressed for the climate.

"I mean, a bunch of ladies can have their own island if they want," he says, his voice cracking slightly. "That's -- that's totally cool."

[gonebyebye]

Ray raises an eyebrow at Dipper's actions, but ignores it for now. He doesn't need hos PKE meter right now, and he can always get it back later.

What's more important is his realization of where they are.

"Wait. Greco-Roman architecture, no men, and heavily-armed women. We're on an island of Amazons."

Ray mentally questions the artifacts judgment in sending two men here of all places, but quickly comes up with a plan.

"Use your ring to hover, quick," he says, doing so himself. "If I remember my mythology correctly," and Ray usually did, "one of their ancient laws is that no man may set foot here. This'll at least give us a loophole."

[captainbuzzkill]

Dipper starts hovering.

"Somehow I don't think this is going to work."

They have swords and stuff. A technicality isn't the same thing as a shield.

"Maybe we should sneak around until we find what we're looking for."

[gonebyebye]

Ray shakes his head. "Not a great idea. We don't know where this thing is. We'll have to search each building one by one, including the palace. And we'll get caught long before we ever get that far."

Also, it was impolite, although Ray recognizes politeness isn't always the most convincing argument for getting people to do things.

"When that happens, they'll assume we're most likely thieves, if not worse. Honesty's our best policy here. We should go through the front and tell them why we're here. Worst case scenario? I'll turn us both intangible and we'll run like hell."

[captainbuzzkill]

"Good point. Let's just float around until we find someone, do a classic 'take us to your leader,' and hope they don't try to take us prisoner."

Sounds logical enough.

[letsgolegion]

After committing to showing themselves to the Amazons, they get noticed quickly enough. A cavalcade of female guards comes running up, training their swords and spears on them.

"Halt!" the leader calls out. "You are trespassing upon our island. Men aren't allowed to set foot here."

[gonebyebye]

'Called it,' Ray thinks to himself, before wiggling an obviously floating foot over in guards direction.

"Technically we're not actually setting foot. Which I'm aware is mostly just following the letter of the law instead of the actual spirit, but it was kind of the only option we had," he explains, hoping that the sheer silliness of their workaround is enough to keep them from doing anything hasty.

"I'm Dr. Ray Stantz, Ghostbuster, and this is Dipper Pines, Captain Mystery. We're with the Legion of Superheroes. We ended up here unintentionally as part of a mission, and if we could be allowed to meet with your Queen, or their duly designated representative, we'll be out of your hair as soon as we can."

[captainbuzzkill]

"Without touching the ground the entire time, if that's what it takes."

See? They're trying to be very helpful about not breaking the law.

[legionnpcs]

The guard just rolls her eyes.

"They always think they're so clever when they can fly." Still, there's protocol to this. "Superheroes, you say? Come along. We'll take you to our queen, and she'll decide whether or not we're to aid you, and the consequences of your presence."

The group of guards starts to lead them towards a grand palace in the center of the city, brandishing their weapons threateningly.

One thing is abundantly clear as they walk: this is a place of learning. The women that look up and watch them pass are often looking up from books. In some of the public spaces, lessons are being taught, and while it's clear that many of them involve combat, others seem to be lessons in first aid -- with modern 31st century supplies and equipment the Amazons somehow got their hands on.

One of the guards runs ahead, and is already there in the throne room when they arrive, talking quietly with the queen.

The queen i an older woman, in a white toga and a golden crown. Her hair is as black as ink and her blue eyes are sharper than the edge of a knife. Even despite having a face that's lined with wrinkles, she's still undeniably beautiful.

She puts down the tablet device she was working on, and raises an eyebrow at them.

"You're not the first ones that thought floating was a clever way around the rules," she says, amused. Her gaze falls on their L insignias and a sudden smile curves the corners of her lips and her gaze goes distant, as if she's remembering something from a very long time ago. Her gaze fills with warmth. "You're with the Legion."

She raises a hand and the guards all lower their weapons.

"You may stay. For now." She adds, with amusement, "With your feet on the ground. Tell me what brings you to our island."

[gonebyebye]

Ray descends to the ground, and respectfully bows, before giving the queen a wry, self-deprecating smile.

"I'm sorry about that, your Highness. I figured I wasn't the first to think of it, but we were kind of out of options at the time. Our arrival here wasn't exactly planned." he says, his tone an exact match for his expression.

"My name is Dr. Ray Stantz, and my friend here is Dipper Pines. I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but recently the being known as the Spectre was released in order to drive off Galactus, otherwise known as the Devourer of Worlds. Kind of a worse threat, arguably. We've been looking for a way to contain him again, and the artifact that we were consulting teleported us here to retrieve a piece of the puzzle."

[captainbuzzkill]

"I mean, technically, if it's like 'no man can set foot on this island' I'm kind of more firmly a boy, anyway?"

He gestures to Ray.

"And I literally just met him today, but he seems like a 'young at heart' kinda guy."

He waves his hands slightly.

"If that counts for anything? But, y'know, we have to stop the Spectre because he's out of control. What Ray said."

[legionnpcs]

"The Spectre. I've heard word that he was free once more -- a dangerous thing. He was locked away by the magical heroes of the world over a thousand years ago because he refused to bond again with a human host. Without that tempering him, he ran out of control, threatening vengeance on whole countries, like he did against Vlatava."

The Queen stands and gestures for them to follow.

"I have the puzzle piece you speak of." Her tone is sly. "And the Legion is...familiar to me."

She leads them both through her palace, which contains a massive library, one that seems to go on forever. It's filled with every type of recording -- paper books, floppy disks, tablet computers, datacubes...

"You should consider yourselves lucky -- no man has set foot in this place since it was built. This the great library of Themiscyra; it's the heart of our island. Once, we kept to ourselves, never venturing out into the world, but once we started to have contact with Man's World, we dedicated ourselves to bringing enlightenment to the rest of mankind. For a thousand years, Amazons have been venturing out in secret, pretending to be normal human women, to act as agents of change to make the world better, spreading our philosophy and knowledge of the sciences. They've bring back knowledge from the outside to be added to our own, passed down to future Amazons."

[gonebyebye]

Ray, hauling his proton pack a little higher on his back, stares in unabashed awe at sheer amount of knowledge gathered in the library.

"...I think I may have just died and gone to Heaven." While Egon's idea of heaven is math, Ray's is books. Not entirely books, because Ray isn't the type to search for knowledge to the exclusion of all else. They do play a significant role, however.

"Or Hell," he adds, disappointment evident in his voice as he realizes he's not going to have much time to look around. "The ironic kind, not the fire and brimstone one, considering I'm most likely not getting the chance to come back here."

[captainbuzzkill]

Dipper is equally astonished at the library. He stares at it all with wide eyes.

"There wouldn't really be that much harm in letting us come back, right? Are men really that bad? Other than, y'know, being kind of aggro and all the historical warfare and --" A pause. "Actually, I just answered my own question. Never mind."

He adds, "But maaaybe we could get some kind of superhero exception?"

[legionnpcs]

"Perhaps. You wouldn't be the first male heroes I've allowed to come to our island," she says enigmatically. "You wouldn't be allowed to stay, but sometimes the rules are meant to be...bent a little for the common good. But it depends on the test."

She places a hand on a hand-shaped imprint on a massive carved door. It glows with light that seems both technological and mystical and intricate patterns of light play over the door. She leads them into a short hall. At the other end is another intricate door.

In the middle of the hall is a pedestal with a golden lasso on it.

"All of Themiscyra's treasures lie beyond that door. The puzzle piece is there. But I need to know that your intentions are what you say."

She picks up the lasso and holds it out for them to touch.

"This lasso is empowered by the fires of Hestia, and forces anyone that touches it to tell the absolute truth. I'll need each of you to place your hand on it and answer my questions before I let you have what you seek."

[gonebyebye]

Ray grabs hold of it with little hesitation. It's a mythical artifact powered by the gods, and minimal danger involved should he touch it. True, in certain situations something that forced people to tell the truth could be extremely dangerous, but Ray himself had very little to hide.

[captainbuzzkill]

Dipper raises an eyebrow but places his hand on the lasso, as requested.

[legionnpcs]

"Do you swear that you intend to use the puzzle piece for a noble purpose like you say? To imprison the Spectre once more?"

[gonebyebye]

"I swear to do everything in my power to capture him, with or without the puzzle piece," Ray says truthfully, unable to say a lie.

"Imprisoning dangerous spectral entities is my job. I'd have to have gone completely nuts to give this guy an exception."