Post by redsycorax on Sept 9, 2023 3:50:42 GMT
The Justice Alliance of America is the leading group of metahumans on Earth-500. On that world, events diverge, sometimes markedly, from what one might expect on more quotidian Earths. For example, take the dual personalities named "Rose" and "Thorn"...
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METROPOLIS:
In her law practice offices, Lilah Thorne suddenly felt an ominous sense of disorientation and dizziness. From bitter experience, she knew what was about to happen. It was too much to hope that even after all these years, her alter personality "The Rose" would have left her alone and would have fragmented into discreet sensory cues and disjointed memories in the back of her mind. She opened her drawer to access her integralase, the drug that suppressed the emergence of her larcenous dissociated alternate self, but it was no good. As the room went out of focus, The Rose took her chance and took over Lilah's body, throwing the hated prescription drugs out of the window. She sneered at the brunette hair and tailored business suit of her adversarial, altruistic and virtuous dominant alter, and smiled to herself as she accessed the hidden code sequence that held her own blonde wig and distinctive uniform. The Rose was back in town and she intended to strut her stuff- especially at the First Metro Bank.
However, unknown to the Rose, her bodily metamorphosis had not gone unobserved. That was one useful facet of their dual personalities that both of them used against each other- their respective memories and personalities were specific to themselves, despite the fact that Lilah Thorne and her predatory, evil alternate personality shared a body. It meant that Lilah could take preventative measures and precautions to frustrate and limit the activities that The Rose perpetrated whenever she did 'get out' of pharmaceutical captivity. This time, the gap between her last appearance and current unwanted visitation had lasted five years. Rose picked up her memoriser plug and caught up on the events of the last five years. Then, dressed in her habitual red evening dress and ruby necklace, she took the elevator down to the ground floor, past startled and suddenly smitten male observers.
JUSTICE ALLIANCE SEABASE:
Lightning Girl knelt on Hawkboy's hospital bed:
"Hope Merokee didn't give you too hard a time, Bella. You only laid into Shulamith because you were defending me."
"That's not the point, Kator. I momentarily lost control after she hurt you. If it wasn't for Terry's help, I might have killed or severely injured her."
"Bella, you use your powers responsibly and in a disciplined manner. So does Willie. Both of you are assets to the Alliance and we can always depend on either of you. Never forget that. So, what did the Old Shaman have to say?"
"He thought much the same as you did. Shulamith Grundy is a chemoborg revenant. She's not a mainstream human being and her specific body was assembled through experimental biochemical means. She was and is superhumanly strong and powerful and a danger to other sapient beings. She had to be stopped. Added to which, her bodily assembly was unstable to begin with. I should have been more careful, but Merokee thought my actions were justified. I wish I wholly believed that myself."
"There's nothing wrong with team work or with the fact that we love one another. Sure, you can be a hot head at times, but that's part of the charm about you." As the two of them kissed, the Justice Alliance alarm klaxon rang out:
"I don't think I've seen it flash that shade before, Kator."
"Ah. That means it's women only. Have a good time, Bella. And remember, don't be too hard on yourself. You're a responsible, respected team mate."
As Lightning Girl entered the main control centre, she saw Wonder Woman, Quonjurea, Robin and Three Face already assembled there:
"So, why is it just us distaff members of the Alliance this time, Diana?"
"Technically, we could have asked Rai, Jose and Terry to assist us as well, but they're off on another priority case. This specific contingency arose before you became an Alliance member, Bella, so you wouldn't have known about Lilah Thorne and her troublesome alter ego, The Rose."
Robin nodded: "Unlike Evelyn here, who has complete control over her three alternate selves, and interknowledge between them, Lilah Thorne has a problem with her co-corporeal personality. Lilah is a public defender, a fine voice for justice and protector of the weak and innocent. Unfortunately, her community and most of her family were destroyed by a hideous chemical accident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island. As sometimes happens, the severe trauma caused her personality to fragment into two components. In Lilah's case, however, there was a complication."
Evelyn Dent nodded: "Yeah, true. Lilah isn't a metahuman, but The Rose is. Moreover, she's envious and jealous of her counterpart for having achieved what she has. She has lorelei epigenes which activate whenever the Rose emerges. They enable the Rose to trigger seductive pheromones that impair the cognitive functioning of straight male and lesbian law enforcement and security personnel. It has no effect on straight women or gay men, so this is why the Alliance treats cases like hers as gender specific."
Robin held up a hand: "And remember, under US law, anything Rose does is not legally applicable to Lilah. She's a distinct, malicious personality and has memories and motivations of her own. I've got integralase, the chemical compound that's used to suppress criminal or antisocial alters."
Evelyn nodded: "I'm okay with this. I accept that sometimes, alters can have diametrically opposed moral compasses to each other. The Rose may be a ruthless, manipulative hater, but Lilah's a good and compassionate being. She hates what the Rose is and what she does and tries to conscientiously ensure that she doesn't break boundaries through her use of the medication. Which is voluntary anyway, and she takes it consensually. Our objective is to intervene and stop the Rose's depredations. While I wish Tanaka was here, we can't risk the straight guys within our team on this mission. She's too dangerous to them. Kal's immune obviously, as is Kator, given they're both aliens, but with Kator laid up after that clash with Shulamith Grundy and Kal on paternity leave in Argo City with Kara, we're the business on this specific mission."
Lightning Girl raised an eyebrow: "Phew. Phytokinesis as well? This Rose looks like a prickly customer."
"Okay, time to teleport down to Metropolis and make sure we bring back the decent side of Lilah Thorne..."
METROPOLIS:
As the Rose sashayed away from the First Metro Bank, with the unwitting subservience and connivance of the male staff there, and having incapacitated the women there beforehand, she caught sight of familiar shadows and silhouettes above her: "Oh, damn! And there are no boys there. Never mind. Let's see how you can handle hostile vegetation, ladies..."
Hawkgirl had her mace out and made short work of the grasping, rapacious branches heading for them, as Robin unleashed a salvo of Robinrangs at the intruders. Quonjurea frowned:
"I feel like a spare wheel. Ideally, with Lilah's consent, I'd be able to excise the Rose from her body. Unfortunately, whenever maguses have tried that beforehand, it results in the death of both the deviant alter and the benevolent, executive self. And I cannot and won't do that to Lilah. That would not be within the ambit of whitewicca and she is not 'acceptable collateral damage' as far as I'm concerned. I can stop the Rose from harming the others and I will."
Lightning Girl nodded:
"Yeah, exactly. I'm on bypasser protection duty so any debris from the battle ahead won't injure those in adjacent buildings or the street below." She accelerated away to the perimeter of the conflict as Quonjurea, Robin and Hawkgirl took preventative action against the encroaching hostile wildgrowth that the Rose had unleashed. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and Three Face had found their way to the rooftop where the Rose was trying to elude apprehension:
"Diana! She's over the rise!"
"Be careful, Evelyn. She has no compulsion against injuring others to achieve her objective and we don't want her seriously injured."
Three Face nodded: "Yeah, exactly. The mere fact that the Rose isn't able to kill her opponents means that Lilah's in there somewhere, fighting to get back out and it's imperative she not be caught in the crossfire, literally."
"I'm just grateful we have someone with your particular life experiences and self-discipline, Evelyn. You're a real asset to us in this situation."
Three-Face smiled: "Thanks, Diana. Time for us to take the battle to blondie..." Her body armour deflected sharpened thorns and twigs as the Rose came into clear sight:
"Traitor!"
"Oh, save it, Rosie! All three of us in here won't let you play pity party over being multiple, because we've been there ourselves and that's no excuse for harming others. You make us sick!"
"Ah well. I never was one for identity politics anyhow, Three-Face. What's the matter, the heavy hitters busy elsewhere?"
"Nope, Rosie. Just distracting us so that someone can get close enough to...Now!"
Freed of their encumberance as the Rose's attention was diverted to combat more specific enemies, Hawkgirl had manoveured Robin down to the rooftop, with the ampoules of integralase already loaded into a hypodermic syringe. As the Rose fought off an aerial attack from Hawkgirl, Robin saw her chance and injected the anti-dissociative drug into the exposed arm of the villain. The Rose swayed and cursed and then fell to the ground unconscious. Around her, the animated vegetation ceased to be a problem. Quonjurea cast a magical barrier around the event and Lightning Girl caught up the loose cash and returned it to the First Metro Bank. Wonder Woman took the prone and detransitioning Rose into her arms and headed toward the offices of the legal practice where Lilah worked.
THORNE ASSOCIATES:
Lilah opened her eyes and saw herself in the mirror. Groggily, she got to her feet as Robin handed her a glass of chilled water, which she gratefully accepted. She noticed the Justice Alliance members in her office and sighed: "She got out again, didn't she? Damn it! She didn't kill or severely injure anyone?"
"No, sister. She used her lorelei genes to mesmerise the male guards and tellers at the First Metro Bank and she was making away with the money she stole when we caught up with her. We managed to fend off the Rose's hostile vegetative assaults and protect pedestrians and those in adjacent offices from collateral damage. You can rest easy. No-one was harmed this time."
Lilah threw off the wig and divested herself of the lurid scarlet evening gown:
"I'm sorry she wasted your time. Honestly, I thought I was rid of her this time. It's been five years since the Rose last emerged. I hoped the Integralase had finally caused her to dissolve into incoherence. Looks like I was wrong. I'll pay for anything she damaged-"
Robin shook her head: "No, Lilah, that's all taken care of. We managed to recover all of the loot and return it to the bank. And as you know, the Rose is a completely distinct alter from yourself. She doesn't share your memories, continuity of thought, experiences or motivation. You are not legally liable or personally responsible for her actions."
"But I should be. What if she does cross the line at some point in the future? I'd be willing to sacrifice myself in that instance."
"Lilah, no. Don't give up. As you said, it was five years this time. I know it must be a disappointment, still having the Rose existing within your body, but you've taken all reasonable and conscientious steps to prevent her re-emergence. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the Integralase wore off this time before you could obtain a new dose. It doesn't change the fact that as usual, you're repulsed by her actions and do everything possible to halt her." Hawkgirl exclaimed.
"And as the Alliance's own resident multiple, I know what you're going through. It took me years to get my three selves into some sort of collaborative order. But those days are behind me and we're a coherent, permeable household of alters now."
Impulsively, Lilah hugged Evelyn: "Oh, Evie. Thanks for existing. Thanks for being there to talk to. Thanks for knowing what it's like to have to go through the ordeals we do. Thank you for giving me hope and inspiration that I can beat this."
"That's because you can and do, Lill. I know it's tough. I wish that we had the widespread multiple social movements that exist on some other alternate Earths. But sadly, we're not at that stage yet, and we have to make do with these chemical walls in your case to shield everyone from your alter. You've got guts, amiga. You work tirelessly for the poor and vulnerable and you're not to blame that some infant trauma caused that predatory interloper to exist within you."
"I wish I was rid of her, once and for all."
"Perhaps one day she will dissipate into nothing. Perhaps you might develop another alter to protect others from her malignant effects. It's okay, Lill. You're a decent person. And you do have the strength to resist her, remember that."
"Yeah. Betty Banner and the Incredible Skank..." Lilah managed a weak laugh.
"We have to go now. Coffee next Wednesday?" Three-Face asked her gently.
"Absolutely. Thank you, all of you." And Quonjurea teleported them up to the Alliance satellite.
One thing was troubling Hawkgirl: "Hey, where's Mysta?"
From the floor, a diminutive voice replied: "Now that's a long story..."
"Rei?"
THE END [2.50 PM, SEPTEMBER 10, 2023]
+++
METROPOLIS:
In her law practice offices, Lilah Thorne suddenly felt an ominous sense of disorientation and dizziness. From bitter experience, she knew what was about to happen. It was too much to hope that even after all these years, her alter personality "The Rose" would have left her alone and would have fragmented into discreet sensory cues and disjointed memories in the back of her mind. She opened her drawer to access her integralase, the drug that suppressed the emergence of her larcenous dissociated alternate self, but it was no good. As the room went out of focus, The Rose took her chance and took over Lilah's body, throwing the hated prescription drugs out of the window. She sneered at the brunette hair and tailored business suit of her adversarial, altruistic and virtuous dominant alter, and smiled to herself as she accessed the hidden code sequence that held her own blonde wig and distinctive uniform. The Rose was back in town and she intended to strut her stuff- especially at the First Metro Bank.
However, unknown to the Rose, her bodily metamorphosis had not gone unobserved. That was one useful facet of their dual personalities that both of them used against each other- their respective memories and personalities were specific to themselves, despite the fact that Lilah Thorne and her predatory, evil alternate personality shared a body. It meant that Lilah could take preventative measures and precautions to frustrate and limit the activities that The Rose perpetrated whenever she did 'get out' of pharmaceutical captivity. This time, the gap between her last appearance and current unwanted visitation had lasted five years. Rose picked up her memoriser plug and caught up on the events of the last five years. Then, dressed in her habitual red evening dress and ruby necklace, she took the elevator down to the ground floor, past startled and suddenly smitten male observers.
JUSTICE ALLIANCE SEABASE:
Lightning Girl knelt on Hawkboy's hospital bed:
"Hope Merokee didn't give you too hard a time, Bella. You only laid into Shulamith because you were defending me."
"That's not the point, Kator. I momentarily lost control after she hurt you. If it wasn't for Terry's help, I might have killed or severely injured her."
"Bella, you use your powers responsibly and in a disciplined manner. So does Willie. Both of you are assets to the Alliance and we can always depend on either of you. Never forget that. So, what did the Old Shaman have to say?"
"He thought much the same as you did. Shulamith Grundy is a chemoborg revenant. She's not a mainstream human being and her specific body was assembled through experimental biochemical means. She was and is superhumanly strong and powerful and a danger to other sapient beings. She had to be stopped. Added to which, her bodily assembly was unstable to begin with. I should have been more careful, but Merokee thought my actions were justified. I wish I wholly believed that myself."
"There's nothing wrong with team work or with the fact that we love one another. Sure, you can be a hot head at times, but that's part of the charm about you." As the two of them kissed, the Justice Alliance alarm klaxon rang out:
"I don't think I've seen it flash that shade before, Kator."
"Ah. That means it's women only. Have a good time, Bella. And remember, don't be too hard on yourself. You're a responsible, respected team mate."
As Lightning Girl entered the main control centre, she saw Wonder Woman, Quonjurea, Robin and Three Face already assembled there:
"So, why is it just us distaff members of the Alliance this time, Diana?"
"Technically, we could have asked Rai, Jose and Terry to assist us as well, but they're off on another priority case. This specific contingency arose before you became an Alliance member, Bella, so you wouldn't have known about Lilah Thorne and her troublesome alter ego, The Rose."
Robin nodded: "Unlike Evelyn here, who has complete control over her three alternate selves, and interknowledge between them, Lilah Thorne has a problem with her co-corporeal personality. Lilah is a public defender, a fine voice for justice and protector of the weak and innocent. Unfortunately, her community and most of her family were destroyed by a hideous chemical accident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island. As sometimes happens, the severe trauma caused her personality to fragment into two components. In Lilah's case, however, there was a complication."
Evelyn Dent nodded: "Yeah, true. Lilah isn't a metahuman, but The Rose is. Moreover, she's envious and jealous of her counterpart for having achieved what she has. She has lorelei epigenes which activate whenever the Rose emerges. They enable the Rose to trigger seductive pheromones that impair the cognitive functioning of straight male and lesbian law enforcement and security personnel. It has no effect on straight women or gay men, so this is why the Alliance treats cases like hers as gender specific."
Robin held up a hand: "And remember, under US law, anything Rose does is not legally applicable to Lilah. She's a distinct, malicious personality and has memories and motivations of her own. I've got integralase, the chemical compound that's used to suppress criminal or antisocial alters."
Evelyn nodded: "I'm okay with this. I accept that sometimes, alters can have diametrically opposed moral compasses to each other. The Rose may be a ruthless, manipulative hater, but Lilah's a good and compassionate being. She hates what the Rose is and what she does and tries to conscientiously ensure that she doesn't break boundaries through her use of the medication. Which is voluntary anyway, and she takes it consensually. Our objective is to intervene and stop the Rose's depredations. While I wish Tanaka was here, we can't risk the straight guys within our team on this mission. She's too dangerous to them. Kal's immune obviously, as is Kator, given they're both aliens, but with Kator laid up after that clash with Shulamith Grundy and Kal on paternity leave in Argo City with Kara, we're the business on this specific mission."
Lightning Girl raised an eyebrow: "Phew. Phytokinesis as well? This Rose looks like a prickly customer."
"Okay, time to teleport down to Metropolis and make sure we bring back the decent side of Lilah Thorne..."
METROPOLIS:
As the Rose sashayed away from the First Metro Bank, with the unwitting subservience and connivance of the male staff there, and having incapacitated the women there beforehand, she caught sight of familiar shadows and silhouettes above her: "Oh, damn! And there are no boys there. Never mind. Let's see how you can handle hostile vegetation, ladies..."
Hawkgirl had her mace out and made short work of the grasping, rapacious branches heading for them, as Robin unleashed a salvo of Robinrangs at the intruders. Quonjurea frowned:
"I feel like a spare wheel. Ideally, with Lilah's consent, I'd be able to excise the Rose from her body. Unfortunately, whenever maguses have tried that beforehand, it results in the death of both the deviant alter and the benevolent, executive self. And I cannot and won't do that to Lilah. That would not be within the ambit of whitewicca and she is not 'acceptable collateral damage' as far as I'm concerned. I can stop the Rose from harming the others and I will."
Lightning Girl nodded:
"Yeah, exactly. I'm on bypasser protection duty so any debris from the battle ahead won't injure those in adjacent buildings or the street below." She accelerated away to the perimeter of the conflict as Quonjurea, Robin and Hawkgirl took preventative action against the encroaching hostile wildgrowth that the Rose had unleashed. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and Three Face had found their way to the rooftop where the Rose was trying to elude apprehension:
"Diana! She's over the rise!"
"Be careful, Evelyn. She has no compulsion against injuring others to achieve her objective and we don't want her seriously injured."
Three Face nodded: "Yeah, exactly. The mere fact that the Rose isn't able to kill her opponents means that Lilah's in there somewhere, fighting to get back out and it's imperative she not be caught in the crossfire, literally."
"I'm just grateful we have someone with your particular life experiences and self-discipline, Evelyn. You're a real asset to us in this situation."
Three-Face smiled: "Thanks, Diana. Time for us to take the battle to blondie..." Her body armour deflected sharpened thorns and twigs as the Rose came into clear sight:
"Traitor!"
"Oh, save it, Rosie! All three of us in here won't let you play pity party over being multiple, because we've been there ourselves and that's no excuse for harming others. You make us sick!"
"Ah well. I never was one for identity politics anyhow, Three-Face. What's the matter, the heavy hitters busy elsewhere?"
"Nope, Rosie. Just distracting us so that someone can get close enough to...Now!"
Freed of their encumberance as the Rose's attention was diverted to combat more specific enemies, Hawkgirl had manoveured Robin down to the rooftop, with the ampoules of integralase already loaded into a hypodermic syringe. As the Rose fought off an aerial attack from Hawkgirl, Robin saw her chance and injected the anti-dissociative drug into the exposed arm of the villain. The Rose swayed and cursed and then fell to the ground unconscious. Around her, the animated vegetation ceased to be a problem. Quonjurea cast a magical barrier around the event and Lightning Girl caught up the loose cash and returned it to the First Metro Bank. Wonder Woman took the prone and detransitioning Rose into her arms and headed toward the offices of the legal practice where Lilah worked.
THORNE ASSOCIATES:
Lilah opened her eyes and saw herself in the mirror. Groggily, she got to her feet as Robin handed her a glass of chilled water, which she gratefully accepted. She noticed the Justice Alliance members in her office and sighed: "She got out again, didn't she? Damn it! She didn't kill or severely injure anyone?"
"No, sister. She used her lorelei genes to mesmerise the male guards and tellers at the First Metro Bank and she was making away with the money she stole when we caught up with her. We managed to fend off the Rose's hostile vegetative assaults and protect pedestrians and those in adjacent offices from collateral damage. You can rest easy. No-one was harmed this time."
Lilah threw off the wig and divested herself of the lurid scarlet evening gown:
"I'm sorry she wasted your time. Honestly, I thought I was rid of her this time. It's been five years since the Rose last emerged. I hoped the Integralase had finally caused her to dissolve into incoherence. Looks like I was wrong. I'll pay for anything she damaged-"
Robin shook her head: "No, Lilah, that's all taken care of. We managed to recover all of the loot and return it to the bank. And as you know, the Rose is a completely distinct alter from yourself. She doesn't share your memories, continuity of thought, experiences or motivation. You are not legally liable or personally responsible for her actions."
"But I should be. What if she does cross the line at some point in the future? I'd be willing to sacrifice myself in that instance."
"Lilah, no. Don't give up. As you said, it was five years this time. I know it must be a disappointment, still having the Rose existing within your body, but you've taken all reasonable and conscientious steps to prevent her re-emergence. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the Integralase wore off this time before you could obtain a new dose. It doesn't change the fact that as usual, you're repulsed by her actions and do everything possible to halt her." Hawkgirl exclaimed.
"And as the Alliance's own resident multiple, I know what you're going through. It took me years to get my three selves into some sort of collaborative order. But those days are behind me and we're a coherent, permeable household of alters now."
Impulsively, Lilah hugged Evelyn: "Oh, Evie. Thanks for existing. Thanks for being there to talk to. Thanks for knowing what it's like to have to go through the ordeals we do. Thank you for giving me hope and inspiration that I can beat this."
"That's because you can and do, Lill. I know it's tough. I wish that we had the widespread multiple social movements that exist on some other alternate Earths. But sadly, we're not at that stage yet, and we have to make do with these chemical walls in your case to shield everyone from your alter. You've got guts, amiga. You work tirelessly for the poor and vulnerable and you're not to blame that some infant trauma caused that predatory interloper to exist within you."
"I wish I was rid of her, once and for all."
"Perhaps one day she will dissipate into nothing. Perhaps you might develop another alter to protect others from her malignant effects. It's okay, Lill. You're a decent person. And you do have the strength to resist her, remember that."
"Yeah. Betty Banner and the Incredible Skank..." Lilah managed a weak laugh.
"We have to go now. Coffee next Wednesday?" Three-Face asked her gently.
"Absolutely. Thank you, all of you." And Quonjurea teleported them up to the Alliance satellite.
One thing was troubling Hawkgirl: "Hey, where's Mysta?"
From the floor, a diminutive voice replied: "Now that's a long story..."
"Rei?"
THE END [2.50 PM, SEPTEMBER 10, 2023]