GHOST PROTOCOL {JLU/DP}

• ABOVE •

Jazz's heart couldn't help but pound in her chest as Batman related the numbers, told her the statistics.

"I've--" She swallowed the boulder in her throat. "I've never seen anything like it... It's nothing like anything we prepared for..." Disbelieving horror was seeped deep in her tone.

Kal stepped forward to where she had moved to in her mortified wonder. "Jazz-- do you have any clue what could've caused these explosions?"

Jazz hesitated before shaking her head, her confusion too clear to be falsified. "No. I've never seen anything like it. Maybe... Maybe if Danny was here, but..." She shook her head, waving away the tears and lump forming.

"Who's Danny?" Batman demanded.

Jazz grit her teeth, snapping, "None of your concern."

"Actually, it is," He snaps back, "considering that it could potentially hurt the planet. Who's Danny?"

"It doesn't matter!" Jazz snaps.

"You said he could help, who is Danny?"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER, HE'S DEAD!" Jazz roared, tears starting to stream down. She swallowed a sob. "He died six months ago. I... He got crushed by a building." She snapped weakly, uncaring of the other Leaguers in the room. "If he was still around I would've already called him in, I'm not an idiot." With that said, she collapsed into a chair, staring at the ground, tears beginning to drip to the ground. Jazz sniffed before wiping her eyes, thinking hard. Her voice went strong, taking back the dignity it lost with her outburst. "The local hero died, but the local hero, Danny, myself and some others he worked with designed protocols for situations like this where something of this magnitude happened and he was dead. I would need to see the chemical makeup of the cloud, but based on color and particle dispersion it's made of Ecto-plasm." Jazz sniffed again, wiping her eyes again, too, as she got up and walked over to the computer and began typing. "That means that a Ghost Portal most likely exploded or something of the sort. Based on those specifications, protocol states they go to HQ and activate Quarantine. They're probably already working their way down there. Once that shield goes up, no one will be able to get in or out."

"Why would you design something like that?" Kal asked incredulously.

Batman's eyes narrowed. "To contain damage."

"To contain everyone," Jazz corrects, glancing back for a half second before back at the keyboard and screen. "Last time there was a high exposure to Ectoplasm people started to exhibit powers. There was a risk and we decided not to take it." Jazz said shortly. "Communications will be cut off as soon as the shield completely descends, so I need to..." It was then that she trailed off, absorbed in code, typing and deleting until a chat box popped up.

T, r u there?

im here

No, have u gotten 2 HQ

No

Danis here

That good or bad?

idk

Establish an emergency line w/ this system.

K

Jazz took in a deep, calming breath before releasing it and turning to the heroes, hearet pounding. "I've given us an in for situation updates, and we might be able to Zeta-beam in, but I can't guarantee us an out. They won't lie to me as I'm on their level, but they will lie to you. Don't contact them as me. They will figure it out and if they believe lines to be compromised they will start lying. Even to me." Jazz said with sharp determination, scanning her cold eyes over the crowd. "I have my brother's research on file and will upload it to your watches by tonight. If you thought that Alien Invasions were bad, you've seen nothing yet."