I was watching a ghost hunter show where the ‘ghost’ could only use the machine to say pre-recorded words. And I had an idea. We know that technology can’t always work with ectoplasm. So what if ghost speak couldn’t be heard over the phone? And to call for help, the Amity Parkers had to get creative to get ahold of the Justice League when the GIW declares all out war on all the ghosts and liminal in town.
“Hello, you have reached the Justice League emergency hotline. What is the nature of your emergency?”
“Hello, hello. Emergency, hello. Justice League.” A distorted male voice answered back.
“Yes, I can hear you. Can you hear me? what is the nature of your emergency?” Green Lantern asked again.
“I can hear you, emergency. Hello Justice League. Hello emergency.”
“Do you need help? Can you hear me?”
“Help. Help. Can you hear me? Help.” The voice distorted again to something like static.
“Prank calls aren’t funny kid. This is an emergency line.” With an exasperated sigh, Green Lantern hung up.
“What was that about?”
“It’s just a prank call. Some kid using a voice mod thing.”
“Really? That’s annoying.”
“I know. But it’s not that unusual. Kids don’t have anything better to do during the summer.”
“I guess. What are you doing on hotline duty? You’re not scheduled for refresher training for another few months, right?”
“Food fight in the cafeteria. Batman added everyone involved to additional monitor or dispatch duty twice a week for the next month.”
“Yikes. Hate to be you. Who else got caught?”
“Flash, Plasticman, Vigilante, and Shining Knight.”
Zatanna raised an eyebrow. “Can’t imagine Sir Justin getting involved in a food fight.”
Hal shrugged with a good-humored smirk, “Vig took a salad bowl to the head, Sir Justin jumped in to cover his retreat. Right in time for Bats to break up the fun.”
Zatanna giggled, “Poor Sir Justin.”
“Poor Sir Justin?” Hal Jorden gasped dramatically, “What about me? I was just an innocent bystander.”
“I’m sure you were.”
“What are you doing here anyway?”
“Unlike you. I’m just here for one shift for refresher dispatch training.”
“Good for you. Well, have at it. The active-duty roster is on the big screen with who's suited up and available.”
Zatanna looked up at the large monitor with pinging dots in various locations around the world. “Alright. A bit better than the old system of scrolling for available heroes and asking where they are.”
“Yeah, Cyborg linked everyone’s com into the system so we can tell who is where, when their com is active.”
“Sounds good. Alright, Let’s do this.” Zatanna put headset on and clicked ‘available operator’ on the screen. Immediately her phone rang. “Hello, this is the Justice League Emergency Hotline. What is the nature of your emergency?”
“Emergency. Hello, Justice League. Emergency.” A female voice came through her headset. The connection was very poor. Interference and static came through.
“Can you hear me? This is the Justice League emergency Hotline. Do you need help?” Zatanna looked over at Hal. He was fiddling with his headset cord. He looked up at her and she gestured her head to the screen. It was the same number as his prank call.
“Hear me? Help. Justice League. Emergency Help.” The feminine voice sounded vaguely familiar. Zatanna ignored it to confront the prankster.
“Kid, this isn’t a joke. This is a serious line for actual emergencies. You can’t keep calling. I’m going to hang up now. Please don’t call back.”
“Isn’t a Joke. This isn’t a Joke. Please don’t. Hang up now. Actual Emergencies. Keep calling. Hotline. Justice League. Help. For actual emergencies.” The static under the female voice sharpened. Zatanna paused. Her finger was just hovering over the button to end the call when something stopped her. The tone of voice was sharp. Irritated. Also, strangely familiar. After a second it dawned on her. Hal was still looking at her, so she waved him over to listen into the call. Once he was listening with his own muted headset, she asked “Are you…? Are you repeating what I’m saying?”
“Repeating. Help. Isn’t a Joke. What I’m saying. Emergency. Help. Hello. Help. Emergency.”
Zatanna finally recognized the voice. “Is that my voice? Are you repeating with my voice?”
“Repeating. Voice. You. Emergency. Help. Isn’t a Joke. Help. Justice League. Don’t. Hang Up.”
“You’re using my voice to talk back to me? My words. And…You can only repeat what you hear… is that right?” Zatanna shared a glance with a horrified Hal. Him, just realizing he had hung up on an actual emergency. Not a kid playing a joke.
Zatanna’s own voice echoed staticky in her ear. “Right. Right. Can repeat. Only. Talk back. Using voice. Help. Emergency help.”
“Are you in danger?” She looked over at Hal who was typing on his own computer to trace the call origin. He looked back at her and shook his head. Weirdly, they can’t find where the signal is coming from.
“Danger. Emergency. Help Justice League. Help. In danger”
“I understand. I’m going to ask you where you are. Do you understand?” Zatanna was going to have to narrow this down. She pulled up a world map onto her screen.
“Understand. Help. Emergency.” The static in the voice softened slightly. Like relief.
“OK, we need to know where you are. What continent are you on? Asia? Africa? Australia? Europe? North America? South America?”
“North America. Help. Emergency.”
Zatanna clicked on the screen to enlarge the North American Continent. “OK, you’re in North America. Are you in Canada or America?”
“America. Help.”
Another click of the mouse to focus on the USA. “OK are you in the North, Northeast, Southeast, West, Southwest, or Midwest?”
“Midwest. Midwest. Help emergency. Help. America. Midwest.”
“OK I’m going to ask your state now. Do you know it?” Zatanna clicked on the Midwest region of the map to enlarge it more. Hal was standing up now. Anticipation making his body glow faintly green. He was texting something on his phone, but Zatanna ignored it to focus on her own echoing voice on the other end of the line.
“Know it. know it.” Her voice repeated back, “Ask.”
“Are you in North Dakota? Are you in Minnesota? Are you in South Dakota? Are you in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan-“
The voice interrupted her. “Illinois. Illinois, Midwest America, Illinois. Help. Emergency. Justice League Help.”
“Do you know where in Illinois you are?”
“Yes, yes. Where Illinois. Emergency. Ask.”
Zatanna enlarged the map of the state infront of her. The closest hero was in Detroit Michigan and they didn’t’ have any abilities to help them get to Illinois quickly. She gestured to Hal to look at the screen. He nodded his understanding. “Do you know where in the state you are? what region or what county?
“County. Know. County.”
“OK I’m going to name a few counties. Tell me yes or no if you are there, okay?”
“Yes, yes. Tell me.”
Zatanna listed off the counties on the map. Her tongue slightly tangling over the midwestern words. “OK, Joe Durres, Steffensen, Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Lake, Cook, Dupage, Kane, Dekalb, Ogle, Carroll, Whiteside, Lee-“
The voice interrupted again. “ Lake. County.”
“OK you’re in Lake County. is that right?” Zatanna clicked over the county and enlarged the map.
“Right. Right, help. Emergency. In Lake County.”
“OK I’m going to name off some cities in Lake County. Are you in a city? yes or no”
“City no. name cities. Yes.”
Zatanna paused for a second. “Do you mean you are not in a city, but you can name the closest one to you? yes or no?”
“Yes. Name. Closet one. Name. Closest. City. Emergency.”
“Okay. I understand. Are you in Gurney? are you in Libertyville, Grayslake, round lake, or round lake beach? Are you in Lake Forest, Zion, Vernon Hills, Highland Park, or north Chicago-“
The voice cut her off again. “Park.”
“Are you in Highland Park?”
“No. Park. In Park. Park. Park. Park. Emergency. In Park.” The tone of the voice did’t change but the words came faster, almost overlapping over themselves.
“OK calm down. Let me understand. Are you in a park or in a place called park?”
“In a place called Park. Help emergency. In place called park.”
Zatanna scanned the list of Illinois cities called ‘Park’ in the county. “OK are you in Round Lake Park or Beach Park, Deerfield Park, Park City, or Deer Park.”
“No. Place called Park. No city. place called park.”
“So you’re in a place called Park but it’s not a city is that right?”
“ Right. Place call park. Emergency. not city. Help.”
“OK, let's go down the list. Brook Park, Mill Park, Park Barrington, River Park, Park Township, VernonPark Hills, West Keegan Park, West Deerfield Park, Amity Park, Wheeling Park-“
“Amity. Amity Park. Emergency in Amity Park. Emergency in Amity Park. emergency help help emergency.”
“OK you're an Amity Park. Is that right?”
“Right. Right. In Amity Park”
Zatanna nodded to Hal who was still texting on his phone. He nodded back to her.
“OK, I know where you are now. Now we need to know what kind of emergency is it a natural disaster? is it a villain? is it an alien?”
“Villain. Emergency. villain villain villain.” The words came fast. Static was almost overwhelming.
“OK, calm down. I'm right here. Does the villain have powers or not.”
“Villian have. No. Powers. I'm here. Powers. Help. Natural- powers. Help. I'm. kind of. Natural. Help. Powers. We. Need help. OK?”
Zatanna paused. The sentences didn’t make sense. The villain did not have powers? But the caller said “I’m. Kind of. Natural.” She shared a look to Hal. Hal typed on his computer and a message appeared on her screen.
“I txted Flash. He can be there, but he needs to know what kind of situation he’s running into.” Zatanna read the message and nodded.
“OK. You need to give me more information. There are villains but they don’t have powers? Can you tell me what kind of natural powers you mean? Are they metagene powers? Are they magic? Are there weapons?”
“Magic. Weapons. Powers magic. I. powers. magic. Help. Can you help. Me?”
Zatanna felt a rush of fear. Magic powers. ‘Villains no powers. Weapons’ must mean that the villains don’t have any powers, but they have weapons that can affect the magic user who is calling. She looked over at Hal. He nodded. “Okay. I have magic too. I am going to Amity Park to help you. Can you tell me how many villains there are? Are there more than five or less than five?
“More than five. Villains. I have magic too. Villains. Weapons. more than we. I am going too. yes. Yes going. Help.”
So, the caller definitely needed magic backup. Zatanna gestured to Hal who began to send an all-notice message to any Magic using League hero. “Are the villains after your powers? is that right? the villains are attacking you for your powers?”
“Right. Right villains attacking for powers. Help emergency. More than me. Powers. Villains attacking. We need help. Amity park. Needs help.”
Zatanna froze. ‘We need help.’ More than me…powers. We need help. Oh god. “Is there more than one of you with magic? There’s a group of you with powers that the villains are attacking?” Zatanna asked. A group of magic users fighting villains? Maybe sending more magic users isn’t the best idea. They might need some heavy hitters for this.
“Group. with powers. Magic. Amity Park. Magic. Villains attacking. Disaster. Emergency help. Villains have. More than one of you. Of you. We. villains have. More than one. Of We.”
It took Zatanna only a second. By now she was standing up out of her chair. “Do The villains have hostages? With magic powers? How many?”
Hal had linked in the call with multiple coms. On the large monitor Zatanna could see multiple heroes dots shift slightly. All in the direction of Illinois. She was grateful to see Wonder Woman, Flash, and Captain Marvel all headed in that direction. “We’ve got hero’s coming your way. They will be there soon to help you and rescue the hostages.”
“Many hostages. Many magic in Amity Park. Weapons. Villains have. Weapons. We have. Magic. Villains have Hostages. Villains have. Soon. Powers. We need help. Heroes coming. Justice league. Help. Not villains. We not. Villains. Help we.”
Zatanna felt sick as she understood that message. ‘The villains have hostages and weapons. The caller and the others have powers. But then… villains have…soon…powers. Did that mean that the villains were taking powers away from whoever was calling? She paused at that last sentence. “You’re not the villains. what do you mean by that?
“We. Not. the Villains. Villains have hostages. Villains have weapons. Isn’t a joke. Isn’t. Isn’t Right. We. Not Villains. We Natural. We not weapons. We not villains. Help. Rescue hostages. Rescue. Me. Help Me. Help we have Powers. Help.”
“You’re not the villains, I know. You say you are natural. Do you mean that when the heroes get there, they might think you are the villains and get confused?” Zatanna knew that multiple heroes were silently listening to the call.
“We not the villains. Heroes might think. Powers. Are the. Weapons. We Amity Park. We need help. Justice league get here. Rescue Hostages.”
Hal messaged her again on her screen. Zatanna read off the message.
“We’ve alerted the Illinois National Guard as well. They’ll be there soon to help.”
“No. No. No. National Guard. No help. Villains. Guard villains. Help we. Help Amity Park.”
Zatanna looked confused. “What? No the national guard is coming there to help.”
“National Guard. The.Villains. They guard. The villains. No help. They’ll. Weapon. Amity Park. Powers. Justice League Rescue Amity Park. Help. Help. Help.” The static became so prevalent that Zatanna had to fight the impulse to rip the headset off. She tried to decipher the words.
“Okay. Okay we’ll help you. But we need to be able to find you. Are you in a house or a building? Can you get to a rooftop?”
“Building Rooftop. Heroes Find Me.”
“How can we find you? Can you wave a flag or give us a sign. Are you a woman or a man? What do you look like.”
There was a long pause. “I can. Wave. Kid. Kid. Woman. Kid woman.”
Zatanna wondered for a long moment where the word ‘kid’ came from before remembering when she first accused the caller of prank calling. She said ‘Kid, this isn’t a joke.’ The she felt bile flood her throat as she understood what they meant. “Are…are you a child?”
Zatanna’s own voice answered back. “Child. Kid. Woman child. Rooftop. Help Justice League. Find. Me. Help Hostages. Help. Amity Park.”
Flashes voice came over the com line. Muted from the call but clear in Zatanna’s other ear. “Oh my god. I’m here. It’s a war zone. There’s…We’re going to need back up. Medical units. There are tanks and fires everywhere. There’s been some kind of artillery shot at different buildings. It’s a war zone.”
There was a silent horrified moment as all the heroes listening absorbed the information. “I think I see our caller. It’s a little girl. Maybe eight or ten. White hair. She’s floating. She’s on the library roof with a giant phone. I think she sees me.”
In Zatanna’s other ear her own voice repeated. “Heroes find me. Rooftop. Help.”
“The man in red is called Flash. He’s there to help.”
“He’s there. Man In Red. Help. Flash. Find me.”
“I’m on my way too. Just stay with Flash and tell him what you need, okay sweetie?” Zatanna’s voice was infinitely softer now that she knew it was a child on the phone.
“Okay. Stay with Flash. Help. On. You. Way.”
The line shut off and Zatanna flinch at the sudden silence in her ear. She glanced over at Hal. “I’m going to Zeta down to Amity.”
“I’m right behind you. Flash said a war zone. I…I need to be there.”
Zatanna nodded at his guilty expression. “Right. Let’s hurry and get to Amity Park.”
Dani calling in after Danny has to go defend civilians and having to plea for help is heartbreaking, she has to hide while being out in the open. Poor baby!!! How many times did she have to hide while she was out there?! Was that why it got harder to hear her at times!!!
When Flash got there, he almost got run over by a tank.
He had to force himself to keep going, the situation reminding him of occupation zones on Apokalips and the absolute disregard by troops over the people they were gunning down left and right, people coming back as green or blue hued being just to get sprayed with the pollen of these red flowers the invaders kept in clear jars mounted on the side of armored trucks.
Flash made the mistake of breaking one. Watching in horror as a newly created blue being dissolved into ash, her sobs echoed in his head as Flash called Zatanna for backup.
He found the little girl who called him on the library roof, the girl screaming at the phone to hold on, that Danny's coming soon, please Technus, hold on... the girl hugged the phone when its, their lights went out, Flash picking her up as quickly as he could and running her out, past the lines of tanks and to the outskirts of the nearest town, bringing her to a local diner and almost crying with relief as the old couple that ran it brought her to a booth, reassured him that she would be safe, and told him to bring as many as he could.
They had heard of what was happening, and by the TV they switched off when they sat her down with a late lunch, all they could do was watch.
Flash dashed back and forth, pulling out civilians and trying to fill his teammates in as he went. He made it to the local high school, gasping as he realized that the townspeople had turned it into a fortress, huddling in the blast shelter beneath it.
He openly sobbed when the cafeteria lady handed her 6 month old daughter to him, whispering how she had brought her to work for her favorite kids to see her.
Both her and her baby's father worked at the school, and by the way Flash had to dodge punches and a bat in order to get to the family. They were loved by the school too.
He sped out of the school, grabbing Hal along the way and making him promise to protect the school. He made it back to the diner to find it full, a few Amity Parkers that were traveling that day gathered around the TV, listening at low volume while the diners' regulars passed around a first aid kit. A new mom took the baby, and Flash returned to Amity Park, the rest of the Justice League Dark arriving and taking orders from Zatanna as he broke through the line of the now ruined tanks yet again.
Zatanna and Hal were evacuating the school, Booster Gold fighting the invading forces with Constantine and Plastic man, a blue being dressed as a punk rocker weaving between them, blasting the soldiers dressed in white, ducking behind the nearest hero whenever the soldier's guns got too close.
A white armored van bobbed and weaved madly through the chaos, the couple inside and presumably their daughter cackling like mad while gunning down and running over soldiers.
Supergirl showed up, too, tasked with throwing the tanks of poisonous flowers into the sun, along with moving the broken tanks out of the way of major roads, preventing the soldiers from taking cover inside them.
When the fighting was somehow, unbelievably over, Constantine, Flash, and Booster Gold painstakingly search the town for survivors, evacuating them to the same diner, the Justice League's support staff and medic corp having set up in the diner parking lot and surrounding areas, Flash letting out a relieved, half sobbing laugh as he watched the little girl from before and the baby be reunited with their families. The armored van from earlier pulled down the street, swerving to avoid a tent, rushing to join the girl and her brother.
Flash watched in silence as Zatanna called the all clear for the forensic teams to enter, biting his lip as the refrigerated vans drove into Amity.
The death count was not as high as it could have been, but he knew Hal, Zatanna, and himself would have many sleepless nights ahead running through all the ways that number could have been, would have been, should have been, lower.
