How did I ever get by before teleporters and suborbital flights? I wondered, watching the Japanese Archipelago gradually get bigger beneath us. The journey from the Mt. Justice to the other side of the planet had only taken Moya about 2 hours, and a good chunk of that was leaving and reentering the atmosphere at subsonic speed. I'm pretty sure that the Team's use of the bioship was making the League pick up the pace on their own Javelin transport, considering how useful it was for situations like this.
The League's presence in Japan was surprisingly minimal, compared to other UN member nations. Sure, most nations had their own national superheroes or had meta-peacekeeping forces, but the League still ended up helping out with major threats or disasters. However, Japan was a little reluctant to rely on the League's help. As such, the only Zeta Tube in Japan was in Tokyo, and since our target was in Kyoto, it was faster and more practical to use Moya to fly the Team across the ocean.
Hmm, I wonder if I should look into having the League make Zeta Tubes big enough to fit Moya.
"How is it we have never been to Japan before?" Kid Flash openly asked to Moya's command deck. "Flash stops by every now and then, and he's super popular with the people." A grin crossed his face. "Wonder if that works for any speedster that shows up."
"No time to sightsee, KF." Robin quipped. "We're supposed to be doing this one on the down low. Or do you want to have to explain Batman why some tourists have photos of you?"
Kid Flash grumbled, but he let it go. I looked at him sidelong. "We have Zeta Tubes. Nothing's stopping you from visiting on your free time as a civilian. I mean, aside from the time difference."
"Eh, Flash told me that the Zeta Tubes were 'for missions only'." He replied. "So I don't think- wait have you been using it for touristing?!"
"...No?"
Somehow he didn't believe my perfectly innocent response, folding his arms and sulking. "Ah man, being in high school sucks."
Miss Martian looked over at him. "Aw, don't worry. Maybe we could take Moya some other time."
"That'd be way better than flying commercial, that's for sure." Artemis remarked, leaning back in her seat. "Though I will have to dock points for having no in-flight refreshments."
"Hey, I will not have you besmirching the reputation of Moya-Airlines." I paused before I stroked Moya's wall. "It's ok. She didn't mean it."
A trill was my response.
In short order we were flying over the city of Kyoto. It was a great sight to be sure, though the last few months of being a superhero had spoiled me a little. The modern downtown area was alight with the night time glow of a major city, though it was relatively small in comparison to others I had visited. The real appeal of the city, of course, was the 'traditional' section of the city in the northwest, made with old fashioned Japanese architecture and tight winding streets. Kyoto was a massive cultural center for the nation, and put it's heritage on proud display.
The bioship came to a stop at the edge of older section of the city in the northwest, the city fading into mountainous forest further north of us. I could see a few large temples dotting the forested area before disappearing into wilderness. And directly beneath us about a hundred feet down was our first lead: a traditional hot spring inn.
Because of course it was.
"Here's to hoping Batman's info was right," I said, scanning the immediate area. Given that it was well past midnight, there were very few people on the streets. And it looked like the inn was, if not closed exactly, not taking in any more guests at this time of night. According to Batman, the proprietor of the inn worked as a medium for the occult side of the city. Zatara said his magic had tracked the Burjeria artifacts to this city before he suddenly found himself blocked. If someone in the city was working against him, then it stood to reason that the local medium could at least point us in the direction.
Assuming Batman's contacts were accurate. Beyond that, we were going in blind.
"Should be simple enough. Just pop into their room and ask some questions." Robin said.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea." I countered. "Ignoring the problems of trying to sneak into a magic practitioner's house, using the Batman approach is inherently hostile. If we want to get information out of them, we should be more direct."
Artemis leaned back in her seat. "What, just walk up to the door and knock?"
"...Sure. We're not dealing with a criminal here." Probably. All I got was a name from Batman, and a quick net search, and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Of course if this person was involved with the magic side of things, I doubt any misdeeds would show on mundane databases. "The question is who does the approach. Showing up with all nine of us is a bit much."
"Then I think it should be the two of us." Starfire said. "The public is aware of our tendency to 'travel.' It won't be too suspicious if people know we're here." She paused and looked to Aqualad. "You are our magic expert. If you think you would be helpful in this conversation..."
Aqualad consider this for a moment before shaking his head. "I have very little practical experience outside of Atlantian magic. Machina would likely be as knowledgeable as I am in this case, so I don't see a reason to reveal my presence."
The rest of the team agreed with this assessment, so Starfire and I waited until no one on street level was looking our way before dropping down to the Fox's Tails Inn's yard (again, of course it was). There was a short wall around the property, so no one could see us as we walked around the front deck, finding a smaller side door to approach. It felt a little awkward to stay in my armor for just a conversation, but it was as much my uniform as anything else.
The language barrier was also something to consider. Superboy knew it, and by extension both Miss Martian and Starifre knew it too. I was a bit of an odd case, as I had adapted the translator I had taken from League storage and adapted it to more… integrated use. I couldn't say that I had downloaded the language into my mind, rather that I got the audio equivalent of looking at a picture of a vase and seeing two faces at the same time.
Hoping it would be good enough, I reached the door and raised my hand to knock. It was the dead of night, but I hoped that-
The door suddenly opened. I blinked and looked down to see an elderly Japanese woman staring up at me with a scowl. She wore a traditional obi, and her iron grey hair was done up in a bun. The pictures I had of her weren't the most recent, but I could tell this was the owner of the inn, Miya Matsumoto. She eyed myself and Starfire with a critical eye, before giving a 'harrumph'. "I had an omen that I would be visited by something foreign, but this is a bit much."
Needless to say, I was not ready for this."Err..."
"Well? Get on with it. It's an ungodly time of night for this. Or are you waiting for old age to finish me first?"
"Please, we are not here to hurt you." Starfire insisted. "We're looking for information, and we were told that someone here could help. It is a matter of great importance."
The only motion the woman made was the rising of an eyebrow. "I get told that a lot, though I suppose it usually comes from young people pining over their latest infatuation. What do you want?"
I regained my composure. "Have you ever heard of the Brujeria?"
The old woman was still for a long moment before she turned. "Come inside. We should talk somewhere more hospitable than a porch." She walked back into the building, and we followed her. As I crossed over the threshold of the door, since I was looking for it, I swore I felt the phantom tingle of magic pass over me. A threshold? I wasn't sure if that was a real thing, but it was worth keeping in mind that an old magic user probably had some protections on their home.
The hallway we moved through seemed to be a service hallway, so we only had to walk a short ways before we arrived at a small sitting area. At the table in the center there were three more old women, who looked at us with various degrees of wariness. All were in similar traditional garb of various colors, two were shades of green while one was in blue. I assume that this was effectively a coven of some sort, but I didn't know enough about Japanese magical tradition to say for certain.
"Ah!" Before anyone could speak, the woman in the blue obi yelped in surprise, her eyes widening as she looked and pointed at me.
"Saika..." Miya looked between me and the woman. "Do you know this man?"
"Machina!" the now named Saika babbled excitedly. "He's a superhero from America! My grandson loves him!" She thrust out her fist and proceeded to say, in bad english, "Crossu Counta!"
Everyone in the room blankly stared at her, until as one they all turned to look at me. I coughed into my hand. "Well, it seems I have a reputation to proceed me. Yes, I'm Machina, and this is Starfire. We need your help." I paused. "And I'm grateful that you're all awake at this hour to receive us."
Miya hummed before bowing a little. "Well, I am Matsumoto Miya, welcome to the Fox's Tails inn. This is Saika, and these are Ruri and Akane." The two women in green bowed their heads. Miya moved to the table and reached for a teapot, pouring out two cups of tea. "We all have been sleepless of late. Bad dreams, and such. Nothing specific, vague portents of darkness and a possible doom. My last dream told of ones coming to meet the darkness." She finish pouring and then held a cup out to each of us. "It seemed prudent to be awake for them."
Starfire and I took the cups and bowed, her giving a formal 'Thank you very much' as well. The women at the table were surprised by her manners, and seemed to warm up to her a little. For myself I took a sip, not wanting to reject the woman's hospitality, before I said "So, will you help us?"
"Perhaps. You are too young to have known the Brujeria personally," Miya remarked, the other women stiffening at the mention of the name. "The fact that you use the name so casually tells me so as well… have they returned?"
I shook my head. "No, not so far as I am aware. We've been tasked by someone who fought them in the past, tracking down artifacts that they corrupted. According to him, some of them have found their way into the city."
Some of the tension bleed out of Miya's body, but she gave me a critical look. "And he sent you, rather than come here himself? I would think that someone who encountered them personally would want to see this through."
"He said that his magic to track them was being blocked. It's likely that whoever is trafficking these artifacts is aware of his attempts. That combined with how he wasn't familiar with this country compelled him to reach out for… other means of investigation."
Miya considered this for a moment. "I… suppose there are merits to being an outside agent. Well, If anyone in this city is dealing with magic they shouldn't, it would be the Takashima family. Old and wretched, but tenacious. They have been part of Kyoto's underbelly for generation. "
Starfire frowned. "They sound like a crime family."
She gave a short bark of a laugh. "That's one way to put it. I cannot say I am particularly familiar, I try to keep my distance. Always just small and slippery enough to avoid attention from a bigger fish. One of their few good qualities, really."
"What would they want with such dangerous artifact?" I asked. "Are they trying to use them to move up in the world?"
"I don't think so," Miya said after some consideration. "Like I said, the Takashima like to pretend that they're big players, but they are just dabblers in the end. This includes magic. To my knowledge they have never produced a single decent practitioner. They probably couldn't even use these artifacts, though I wouldn't take that risk."
I looked over at Starfire, but she was having a side conversation with the other women. She seemed to have won them over quite quickly, seeing as how they were already treating her like a favored granddaughter. I looked back at Miya. "If so, that would mean that they would be holding them for someone else."
"In which case, I cannot help you." She replied. "The Takashima do have international connections. They could be selling to anyone."
"Well, I guess there isn't any time to waste then." I drained the rest of my cup and nodded to her. "Thank you for your hospitality. We may be back if this does not pan out, but you have been very helpful."
"Wait!" We turned to see Saika holding a hand out to me. "Before you go..." She reached down into a bag next to her chair, rustling around for a moment. She then pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.
"Could I have an autograph for my grandson?"
Once we had a name to work with, Robin and I got to work. A cursory search on the net for the Takashima family did not reveal much, just detailing a short family history leading back several decades. So, I got to work digging deeper into the local digital landscape to see what dirt I could turn up. Robin proved to have the experience to know what to look for and where to look, and between the two of us we got a clear picture of the people we were looking at.
To put it simply, the Takashima were low level scum. Not the worst criminals that crime had to offer, but they had their fingers in a lot of elicit pies. Drugs, racketeering, prostitution. Couldn't find any evidence of human trafficking in regards to that last one, so silver lining. More than any of that though, they seemed to fill the niche of criminal middle man. They worked to move things around and make connections between parties.
Current mission aside, I took some time to compile all this information into a dossier. All the evidence had been obtained by… less than legal means, so I would take the Batman approach and discreetly hand it off to the police. Then they could make their own parallel investigation in the right areas.
...Man, when you put it like that, it really makes the whole vigilante investigator thing seem really unethical.
Anyway, a few hits on the dark web showed that the family was hosting some kind of event at a hotel they owned in the downtown area. More than that, it was happening in a few hours. You would think that criminal would meet at night, but I guess these ones thought the best time would be during brunch.
That led us to the Kikai hotel. Built in the 80s with a matching aesthetic, it wasn't terribly difficult to us to sneak into. Robin, Miss Martian and myself snuck in via different means, splitting up to cover more ground. Robin went in through the roof entrance, while Miss Martian phased into the top floor. As for myself, the age of the building meant that for once, the air vents were a viable entry point.
It was a little tight, which made it slower going than I would have liked, but soon enough I had wormed my way down to the lower floors. Looking out of air vents as I moved, I watched as people milled about the hotel. I did notice that there were several distinct characters moving with purpose though. "I see several men in very expensive suits moving through the mezzanine. I think they might be related to what we're looking for."
"So? It's a hotel, there's bound to be few of those." Robin replied over comms.
"Yes, but I doubt normal business men would have both ankle holsters and talismans around their belts." The men moved with purpose, and I could tell from their posture that they were on the lookout for trouble
Starfire cut it. "Follow them, see if they lead you anywhere."
Doing so was a little tricky, seeing as how I had to take my eyes off them to crawl to another vent opening, but I managed to spot them moving towards a ballroom entrance, which had nondescript men standing guard next to it. A few moments later I found my way to a grate that gave me a good look inside.
The ballroom was arranged with tables spread out across the open space. People were still filtering in, but they were congregating in small groups, and I noticed several odd features about them. For some it was small bits of jewelry or held objects that didn't fit with modern sensibilities. Others were dressed strangely, one group appeared to be monks, of all things. And others were clearly foreign, coming from the West or elsewhere. A disparate group, if I ever saw one.
At the far end of the room there stage with a podium on it. On it was a man in a slightly less fine suit stood at a podium, whispering something to a young woman in a fetching outfit. The woman nodded and walked off stage, and the man turned to his audience. "The Takashima welcomes you all. If you will take your places, we will begin soon. It is our hope that you will enjoy the fine items we have to offer."
In the vent, I nodded to myself "Team, we're looking at an auction. I guess the Takashima decided to make a profit of the artifacts rather than keep them."
"That should mean the goods are here, right?" Kid Flash commed. "We just need to grab them and get out."
"I'd recommend doing so discreetly, and not just because covert is our general M.O." In theory. "If I had to guess, this ballroom is probably full of wizards. And I doubt they'd be happy with us taking away their toys."
Robin hummed. "These sorts of auctions go for 2 or 3 hours at most. That should be enough time to find where they're storing the merchandise and get out before their new owners come to collect. Though we'll have avoid people coming and going to present the items."
"Straightforward then," Starfire remarked. "Machina, Robin, Miss Martian, continue searching the building, try to find the storage room." A sigh. "Would that we could find out who these criminals are and do something about them, but we don't know enough about them and their capabilities to bring them down discreetly."
"Even if they were all just minor practitioners, things would get very messy." I agreed. "Robin, they should be storing the items nearby, right?"
"Way ahead of you. I just got back stage and I found an inventory list." What? How the hell did he get there so fast- no, it's Robin, don't bother asking. "It doesn't give me the room, but there aren't any goods back here yet, and I got the crate number of what we're looking for: 47-12. It's probably on this floor. MM, head down here and help."
"Got it."
I moved off from my view of the ballroom to find a spot I could exit the vents. I hadn't been able to find and detailed blueprints of the hotel online, but after a little bit of searching it became clear that not every room had ventilation. And I doubted that any room they would pick for a makeshift vault would have one.
I found my exit in a nearby hallway, carefully slipping out the moment it was empty. Resealing the vent cover, I activated my optical cloak and crawled along the ceiling. Wasn't sure if this was the best way to sneak around, but I didn't know what to do against possibly magical security. This would have to do for-
I pulled up short once I rounded a corner, spying something that was definitely not right. "Guys, we have a problem. I'm pretty sure I just found the store room... because I just found a pair of armed guards unconscious in front of an open door." The short hallway was empty, save for the two aforementioned men. Their pistols had clattered to the floor, and the men were… twitching. Some kind of drug, maybe?
Artemis mirrored what I was feeling. "Ugh, can't one of these damn missions be simple?"
I carefully moved into the open door, still sticking to the ceiling. The room was relatively small and dimly lit, but it was also full of boxes and items. A sword rack, a collection of vases, suit of Shogun armor. I also heard the sound of rustling towards the back, so I moved deeper in to get a better look. As I maneuvered around a particularly large stack of boxes, I spotted a dark figure hunched over and open crate, but before I could get closer, it paused before turning to look directly at me. Balls. Stealth algorithm still needs work, apparently.
The man was dressed in a black coat with red trim, buttoned up in the front and a hood thrown up. His face was obscured by golden mask, resembling a theatrical comedy mask. In spite of how it was made of metal, an over exaggerated eyebrow rose when he looked up at me.
"Well. You're new." Curiously, he said this in English.
I looked between him and the box he was rifling through. Sure enough, the label on the side marked it as the one we were looking for. I debated remaining silent and pretending I wasn't there, but given the way he was staring at me I figured that it was a lost cause. So, with a little voice modulation, I asked "I'm guessing we're here for the same reason?"
"To get a sneak peek at the goods? Quite." The man drew himself up straight. He tilted his head side as he regarded me. Or at least the vague shimmer I was at them moment. "I wonder… how much has gone off course because of you?"
"...what?"
"Never mind." He spread his hands to the side."Tell you what, I'm only here for some specific items. I take those, you can have everything else. Deal?"
I then felt… something. Since the inn I had been running a variant of Thaumaturgy Operation Interface, something more general to help pick up on magic around me. It had not been that useful thus far but now it was picking up some magic concentrated on me. Moreover, my nanites chittered like some telepathy was afoot.
Mind magic? I wondered. "Two things. One, not if the things you want are in this crate. And two, I'm reluctant to take you at word when you just tried to do something to my mind."
"Figures that wouldn't work on you," The man's tone was light, but I saw his posture tensed slightly. "Alright how about this-"
He flicked his wrist and there was a blinding flash of light along with a loud crack, and the man made a break for the door. The mini-flashbang didn't have much of an effect on me though, and I suspected that he might pull a runner. I jumped off the ceiling and landed between the man and the door, grabbing him and hoisting him up as my form bulked up.
As the man squirmed in my arms, I said "Talk. Tell me who you are and what you want those artifacts for." Part of me just wanted to knock him out right there, but I didn't want to be taken off guard by anything else. If he tried to be obtuse I wouldn't hesitate to put him under though, I didn't have time for that. In the meantime, I scared him for any tech he was carrying. Other than a few flashbangs though, the only thing of interest was a cheap cell phone.
The man stopped fighting to let out a small chuckle. "I can't say everything, but I'll let you know that I'm the Psycho Pirate. And since it's clear I'm not winning this particular game..."
The corners of the mask's mouth curved further upwards."Let's flip the board!"
His mask flashed in brilliant white light, and for an instant the sensation of absolute fear seeped into every part of my being. As quick as it came however, it faded, and when I came to my senses I was still holding the man in my hands.
My nanites slowly settled back to normal as I tried to understand what just happened. "What-"
That's when I heard the screaming.