Mag… or rather… Ponder listened to the plan with some apprehension. She snapped her fingers and Carl came to her side. Bruce began to address his squad, she supposed she should converse with her own.

She edged over to her assigned team. She winced inwardly, tensions and tempers were still high even among them.

There was discussion about clothing, Mag had no idea if she looked out of place or not. There must have been some advantage to being in a Titan costume. Perhaps, if a fight were ever out in the open, it would behoove the civilians to know that Titans were at work. If they were mistaken for humans, and other humans tried to intervene, someone innocent might be hurt. It was the only explanation she could think of. Or so they would be easy for their teachers to find if they ever got in trouble.

Ponder thought back to her crime investigation classes. Then addressed her team quietly, trying to block out the noise and static created by the other team. “So do… you all know what she looks like? Do we know what kind of tattoos she has? Or anything else about how they manifest?” Ponder wondered if she would be able to sense them with her powers, but more likely than not they would be as invisible to her as paintings on a wall. She was clearly at a disadvantage against Ink, she would have to rely on Carl and her teammates a great deal.

She would wait for them to answer, then ask the next most important question. “I’ve never been to this city before. Which one of you has?”

Nathan gave a little laugh when Jack said "Thank God, I won't have to deal with having to watch my back for betrayal." Raising his voice above the chatter, Nathan said "Ease it Jackie boy, ain't no one gonna stab you in the back here. Well, maybe Cora would but she's on our team." Relaxing back in his seat, Nathan gazed over his team. Linn and him where good, she taught him how to calm down a bit and he taught her how to fight... a little. Cora was a bit abrasive, but he respected her individuality. Plus she had a point about sticking out like a sore thumb. Next was Press, him and Nathan didn't really interact much if at all during training. However the guy was smart and did have some impressive toys. Finally Bruce, again not much interaction but Nathan liked the guy. He was cool in Nathans book.

Listening in on the plan, Nathan decided to put his two cents in, "Unfortunately, I can't do much besides look scary and punch people. Any time you need that done I'm your man." While he didn't want it to be true, Nathan wasn't the brightest bulb in the store. His skills were pointed more for chasing, punching, and intimidation rather than putting together the pieces of some grand puzzle. However he was resigned to that role and embraced it, why not fit the stereotype for "the big scary guy"? Either way, Nathan knew he would come in handy one way or another. Lots of heavy stuff in cities like these. Sitting at attention, Nathan began to listen to the rest of whatever plan that was in the works.

After her encounter with Jack, Linn agreed that her arguing and pressing did not help with anything and backed down and chose to remain quiet for a little while to settle her temper. She only spoke to thank Nathan for offering her a sip from his water bottle, remembering how thirsty she was. Hydration did help a little with her abilities but without actual water to manipulate she would have to pull it out of thin air and that exhausted her no matter how much practice she put into it.

She tilted the bottle back all the way and took several greedy gulps before handing it back with an apologetic smile on her face. Before that she also put some on her hands and rubbed it on her neck allowing it to immediately calm her. As she tuned back into the conversation, rather strategy meeting the rest of the group was having.

New York City. Her father had grown up in the Bronx and his family originally from Flushing a neighborhood presiding in Queens. She had lived in the Bronx and been to Queens many times, for that was where her father’s gym was originally founded but, her family moved to Chicago when her father decided to expand his business there and she hadn’t been to New York since she was 13, so she decided not to mention it too much.

She was fine working with Nathan, Press and Bruce were two people completely their own but Linn had no beef with them. Cora and Linn never really spoke but maybe their common for Jack could strike up some sort of communication between the two. Although she disagreed with her statement of gaudy costumes, Linn felt hers was quite simple; black tank combined with dark green cargo pants and combat boots. Only thing very distinctive would be her father’s old black bandanna which pulled back her bangs from her face and the little tool belt around her waist, which contained her hunting knife, and water canteen that conveniently can hold 2 gallons of water within a highly pressurized and lightweight steel round case that felt like nothing to her and could be open with her abilities.

Drawing the attention of Bruce and Press, she pointed to her canteen, “I can hop across rooftops with jets of water, but I am less conspicuously dressed than others and I know Queens a little so I’d be fine on the streets as well. I’m good wherever you need me really.” She turned to Nathan and looked him up and down, he was right with his armor and bulky stature rooftops were not an option for him, the streets would be a challenge too. “Nathan you’re not just a big scary guy but how do you want to get around?” She glanced back at Press and Bruce for a little input as well.

Bruce thought for a second, "Yeah, you're a big guy. We don't... really have any information. So I think our first move should be getting some of that. Find a bad neighborhood, find a street thug, find out what they know. If she's got gang ties, we can track her through that, right? So... Monsoon, Vulcan and the Pup can take to the streets and start shaking people down. Engineer and I are a bit more conspicuous. We'll stay up on the roofs like Lamorak says. Maybe we'll see Ink while we're fucking around up there."

Cora snarled at Jack and turned away. I would stab you in the back for kicks. I'm not a crazed murderer. she thought, quietly adjusting in her seat. She'd opened her eyes after Linn intervened, and was now attempting to cooly glare at Jack. At the mention of her clothes, she flashed him an obscene sign and folded her arms. She had no interest in talking to him any longer. He seemed like the type to start fights -so was she, but at least she knew how to pick them- so silence would be a better tool than anger. I'm waiting for the day someone gives the order to stab you in the back...

"You wouldn't want to be in civvies because then whoever hates Sanctum comes after you, your family, whoever you've got. You're good with what you have. I'm good not playing dress up." whether or not Bruce and PRess caught it was left up to them, as they started talking about GPS things. Cora never tried to stay up to date on technology unless it could be used against her, so she'd rather not sound like a fool for asking what a beta was. She was fairly certain it was a type of fish last she'd heard...

Then Maga... er... Ponder -Cora barely understood the nickname thing, but she tried- asked again about the tattoos and how they manifested. "Well, there's usually a heart with the word Mom on it for tough guys, but otherwise, we could be dealing with anything from watercolor splats to twin snakes. Sleeves and sleeves of tattoos, if I'm right." Cora silently told herself that she would be, "but I've never been to Queens. So knowing the criminal mind, I'll need to travel carefully, as they won't be too identifiable."

She was surprised when Nathan stood up for her against Jack. Now I owe him. Dammit. "I'll stay with Linn, if she's going down for sure. No need to separate if I have someone to help me. Besides, staying together will probably help her conserve water or whatever."

Jack smiled when Cora snarled at, I know you want start bullshit girl, but you don't want to get cut off from the organization he thought to himself. When she flipped him off, Jack responded with a sign of the cross use two fingers which is used to repel vampires and other unholy things and grinned back. He was basically sending out the message that if she wanted to fight then he would gladly do it when they weren't on a mission.

"So if we're all done with our plans, are we ready to go do our duty?" he asked Ambrose. He was curious how he, Ambrose, Azrael, and Magara would work together. As long as there wasn't any hindrances on the mission, he would work fine with the others. As long as no one acted like an asshole to him then they wouldn't have to worry about his temper.

"I know exactly where to go. You know for um thugs or whatever. At least the place to go five years ago. But these neighborhoods tend to never really change." Linn pulled out her own GPS device and started narrowing down what street they needed to go too, having Nathan would really help because they wouldn't tolerate Press or Bruce and not take any women seriously. Glancing up when Cora was speaking she fought the urge to laugh, she had always thought what Cora said or did was funny, not in a mean way but in a humorous way, "Yes i'd imagine she'd have tattoos all over her body so that would be very distinctive." Turning to Cora she smiled slightly, "Um..ya maybe you being with me will help me conserve water but i'm happy your coming with me anyway."

She handed her GPS to Bruce pointing at one street, "This was the place to be. Hookers, drug dealers, fight clubs, maybe even a few high end Mafia's you name it they would be hanging there. Oh and they don't react well to 'tourists' or anyone not from New York so whoever can do the best Jersey accent should talk."

Nathan sat at attention at the mentioning of fight clubs. Not his proudest moments, but Nathan did learn how to fight how he does in these types of clubs. Flashes of broken teeth and money flooded into Nathans mind, it was a dirty business but very lucrative. In Alaska Nathan earned himself quite the name in these fights, one cocky or desperate bastard and Nathan just dukeing it out for a wad of cash. Nathan never really liked it, but homeless was homeless and Nathan didn't like dumpster dinners all that much. Giving a sigh, Nathan pulled the mask off his face and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I can check out the fight clubs, I've got experience in that department." It wasn't desirable, but if it meant some clue towards getting the mission done than Nathan would do it. Slumping his head back against the wall of the plane, Nathan continued "These things are usually run by two people. The banker and ring man. The banker deals with all the valuables like money, jewelry, and secrets. The ring man would keep tabs on fighters. I can get to both if I can get on their good sides." Taking his water bottle, Nathan took another swig and wished that it was a shot of kidney courage. The fights always brought out the worst in him and Nathan didn't want to head down that road again.

"What are you talking about? I'm plenty nervous. The trick is just being able to hide it really well. That put aside, though, wearing a high-tech suit of armor helps as well."

The knowledge that it was sensible to be nervous was somewhat comforting, but did nothing for her nerves. It would help to have a protective shell of some sort, Stitches felt a bit exposed in just a leotard. She glanced at the little vial of crimson, there was barely enough here for a small shield let alone a suit of armour, she'd have to rely on her own blood. A pint felt like too little for what they were about to do, capturing an ex-Titan was bound to be no easy task. It dawned on Stitches how little trusted or cared for any members of this Justice League, we simply didn't get on. Each one of those super-powered meat puppets was 10 pints of blood, it would be a shame if one of them were to expire on the job.

10 Pints...

Press excused himself and valiantly tried to deflate the raging dick fight which Stitches thought was the right thing to try, but ultimately a pointless waste of his energy and only going to add more fuel to the fire. Stitches barely noticed Press' success, that conversation had quickly turned from "I'm more badass than you" to actual strategy and a plan slowly got pulled together. By the sounds of it, one small group would investigate from the ground, infiltrating dodgy establishments and looking for the target. It would be likely they'd initiate the fighting also hopefully causing Ink to escape the the rooftops where a larger stealthy roof top team could ambush/pursuit Ink when she inevitably flees the ground team.

"I can check out the fight clubs, I've got experience in that department."

The mention of "Fight Clubs" brought Stitches back to reality, if there was going to be a source of extra blood somewhere it would be there and as long as Ink wasn't in the first we visited Stitches might not have to drain one or two of her work associates.

"I'll come with you Nathan, err..Vulcan, sounds like the rooftop team is filling up anyway," Stitches hastily interjected before adding, "We'll take good care of Horus."

Ambrose didn't like the idea of the teams splitting into thinner cells given that this was their first mission, but he decided to put stock on his teammate's decisions. He was more than happy to agree to Stitches request as that way Vulcan (Nathan) wouldn't be going alone. "That sounds good, she's more likely to stick to rooftops so we'll stick to scoping her out from up there, as she'd be out in the open. Meanwhile the ground team will try and discover her base of operations or any allies that she might have, something that could lead us to her if we can find her out in the open. If the teams up top find her first, we'll try and run her to the ground...in the literal sense. That way the ground team can get ahead of her."

After Ambrose finished a familiar voice in the form of Vita could be heard over the comm system within the back of the aircraft.

---

"The criminal network known as the Underground, takes large advantage of an abandoned subway station. It's been re-outfitted into a bar and fight club known as 'The Pit', sending coordinates now. Be warned a large portion of known attendants are titans or heavily armed." Vita's simulated voice held a hint of ominous concern. " Might I suggest, for convenience, that the ground team be codenamed 'Cobra'. The team that Ambrose leads with assistance from Horus will serve as the scout and distraction team, 'Owl' would be appropriate. Lastly, Bruce's team will seek to close in on Ink from the roofs, "Hawk" would work best. These are just suggestions of course.

---

With that, Vita went silent once again, and Ambrose took her advice into consideration. "Thanks Vita," he said before focusing on the rest of the group, as he stood, the aircraft now clearly "docked". "Alright everyone, I think we have our plan, we should be ready to move."

Press brought Horus face-to-face, then held his arm back out to Ambrose. "There, you are now registered as 'co-owner' to Horus, so he'll do what you say," Press said. "Oh, and I should give you this," as Press accessed his storage cube and pulled out a small remote-like object. "Let's see if this still works," Press muttered as he pushed the red button with a "home" icon. Horus' head snapped toward the remote, but did no further action. Press then pressed a small button on the side, and a small rod extended from the top. The rod then split in two, revealing a small screen, about the size of a typical touchscreen phone. On the screen was a live video feed of Press holding the remote. "Seems fine to me," he muttered as he pushed the side button again and the screen compacted itself back into the remote. "This remote," Press said. "Is to either have Horus return back to the remote or to see exactly exactly what Horus is seeing," handing over the remote and Horus to Ambrose. "I would prefer that they both come back in one piece," Press said.

"Team Hawk!" Bruce held a hand up for a group high five, but nobody joined in. "Alright. Cora should go with Vulcan too. Clubs are dark, she'll be powerful there. And Monsoon, you should stick with either them or me and Engineer. We don't want to be in three separate groups. Probably stay with Vulcan actually. They'll need the backup, and me and Engineer can move a lot quicker without you. Uh, no offense," he felt oddly bad, but it was true.

"My hope," he turned to Ambrose to explain his plan. He didn't want him to think it was a poor one, "Is that if we mess with the nest, mama bird will come running. And then me and Engineer can head her off. I'm pretty damn sure I can catch up to her before she gets to The Pit, if she's heading that way."

"So are we now splitting into three teams?" Jack asked, starting to get a little confused. This seemed like it was going to be a disaster if they kept up with so many changes. When were they finally going to do something? or where they just going to talk forever. Then there was that electronic which apparently gave the teams names. Team Cobra? that sounded laughable and cliche to Jack. When the aircraft came to a stop, he unbuckled himself from his seat and took his shotgun off of his back to hold in his hands. He simply leaned against the seat and waited for them to be ready. Right now he wonder if he would even get to fry some scumbags on this mission and get into a real fight.

Magara listened patiently while the plan was further discussed between all three teams.

Owl She thought to herself. Her grandmother had always believed that Owls were very bad luck. Whenever night fell and they heard an Owls cry the old woman would pray for protection. She was certain that Vita did not have this association with the animal. The training A.I. likely considered the Owl’s keen eyesight, as her team’s purpose was to scout and keep an eye on the overall scenario.

The irony that she was associated with an animal known for its keen eyesight was not lost on her. Grandmother would also consider this bad luck.

She checked Carl’s harness. The dog yawned, and his ears folded back.

She would be on the rooftops with Ambrose, Jack, and Azrael. She would have follow Carl very closely indeed if she did not want to get hurt. The basic physical training she had endured the past month such as running, lifting, and stretching, would surely pay off now.

She was glad to be on the roof rather than in the fight-club. Such an environment would wreak havoc on her. She thought herself lucky to be on the roof and away from the busy club and street…

… but then the owl made her wonder. For a moment she thought she heard the sound a flapping wing, was this a ghostly omen from the evil bird? Or perhaps it was just Horus…

"I'll go with the fight club group. These New Yorkers have many tricks and sayings up their sleeves especially criminals we need to be able to blend in so we don't get our heads chopped off Capone style." Linn looked down at the GPS again picking out the fight club basement entrance location from what Vita sent to them. Looking to her group they were all dreads somewhat appropriate for the occasion but of course looks weren't everything. "Team Cobra huh? Hehe."

Now at the drop point Azrael and Ambrose stepped out, the rest of the team following suit. Atop a rather tall building, though certainly no skyscraper, stood the group. Though a few members sat the mission out, a good majority of them were here, ready for their first real taste of life as superheroes. Taking a deep breath Ambrose looked back to his teammates. "Alright, Cobra, find your way to the ground, from her you'll be working your way southeast to get to the Pit. Hawk, you'll cover their flank to the west. We'll fall back behind the too groups, which will allow us to scout any missed areas. Given that we're at the northern part of the borough, we should have eyes everywhere. Are we ready to move?"

Ambrose was a bit nervous, but overall confident that they could get the job done. He knew better than to underestimate a former Sanctum recruit though, and they didn't send almost the entire team here for no reason. Something was up with this girl, something that made her hard to catch. Even still, given their unique abilities personalities, and vulnerabilities Ambrose felt that the plan came together fairly well, and the determined look on his allies' faces only further reassured him.

Dividing into their squads, the team seemed ready to head out.

Stitches was not fond of the team name, but now wasn't the time to upset the poor robots feelings with her nasty, nasty opinions. Her team, on the other hand, she was fond of, all attention would be on mister muscles and the heavy lifting, as it were, by a surprisingly calm and level headed Cora who had finally met her match, attention whore wise, in the form of "Fire Stream". When shit went down these two could be depended on to open some wounds and keep the baddies off frail little Eve Claroff and Time-bomb Monsoon. Why Linnette had changed her mind about being on the rooftops she'd have to ask afterwards, assuming there was an afterwards. She was here now though and maybe a sudden deluge would be the perfect back up plan, should we need one.

Plans rattled through her mind, although much of it was fruitless. It hard to account for stuff she'd only seen in movies and heard of on TV. The reality of this dive was bound to be something she'd never experienced, even in her glory days. She looked to her team, Nathan's stature was going to make him fit right in and Cora needn't to, she would vanish well before we aroused suspicion. Linn, Stitches imagined, must have been going similar motions but with the added problem that she looked too young and innocent to accompany a prize fighter and frankenstien's daughter into essentially hell on earth.

"Alright, Cobra, find your way to the ground, from her you'll be working your way southeast to get to the Pit. Hawk, you'll cover their flank to the west. We'll fall back behind the too groups, which will allow us to scout any missed areas. Given that we're at the northern part of the borough, we should have eyes everywhere. Are we ready to move?"

Stitches took a deep breath.

In.

Out.

"SIR, YES SIR!"

One step at a time. Lets get off this roof.

Cora tried to ignore Jack. She really did. It was just hard to ignore the 'warding evil' sign he made at her. She pursed her lips and grit her teeth, trying not to create a spike right through his black little heart. She also told herself that it would not be an improvement to the team if she did so. As much as she really really wanted to, it was not beneficial. Then Linn spoke, talking about how she knew where to find the thugs and the fight pit. Cora noticed how Linn seemed to be holding back a laugh. Cora was confused, she hadn't said anything funny, had she?

"Since most gangsters seem to be sexist, refer to me as a guy, it'll be easier. It's not like I'll be doing a Jersey accent, but I think I can scare up a few old connections." Cora said, adjusting her hoodie, which was baggy for this reason. She found it easier to talk to gang members when they thought they were dealing with a man and not a woman who bossed them around. She found it hard to keep them in line that way, and creating a wall of spikes would draw too much attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nathan sit at attention when the fights were mentioned. He talked with experience, and it made her wonder how much experience he had with fight clubs. The swig of the water bottle proved that. She'd learned people tended to try and hope for alcohol where there was none only when they wanted to forget something, and with the experience with fight clubs he'd shown, it was his past.

Then Stitches spoke. Cora had learned more about Stitches, and now she knew not to mess with the monster across from her. If Cora thought she commanded any fear, then Stitches brought out the fear far more efficiently. Cora was reminded of the serial killers that strode through the homeless camps -even though she didn't know it for sure until later- their cold, dead eyes. There was an air of... of... dread around her. Thankfully, Stitches and Vulcan would be going their way and Cora would be safe. Cora listened to the others, waiting for the order to get moving. She scanned the alleyways down below, trying to find ways down that wouldn't attract attention. She found three dark alley ways, all possibly loaded with muggers, but the one with the least shadows would certainly be out, as they would have less protection there. "I'm ready to go when you are, Linn."

This was really the beginning. New snow waiting for footprints, something else grandma used to say . Ponder clutched Carl between his collar and his fur as she stepped of the gangplank and onto the roof they had touched down upon.

There was no more planning, training, time or thought thought between the the mission and this moment. She had to face off against this American city, a tattoos villain, and herself. Would she turn out to be a Titan in her own right? or a burden. Who was she now?

“Follow Ambrose.” She whispered to Carl. It had been a small chore to teach the service-dog the name of every BAP, their teachers, and even VITA. Now Carl would have a direction, and not follow the wrong group.

It was quite windy at their elevation, a bit chill. The breeze tugged at her cloths. She heard the distant sound of cars below and late night city-walkers, music, life.

She would have to rely on Carl quite a bit, she was atop a building but did not know where it's edge was. She stepped off to the side, out of the way so the others could deploy as well. Then waited to see what direction Owl-squadron would take.

Ambrose lead the charge for the Owl group darting forward towards the pre-planned location. He had already theorized that his group would be the most probable to run into Ink, which he wanted. The overseers had been working more closely with Ambrose when it came to improving his tactical capabilities. Ambrose already worked well in groups given his past, and therefore seemed the most fit to become the de facto leader of the group. He didn't plan on letting his mentors down, and with that spark of courage a looked of determination splattered itself onto the young male's face.

Azrael was close behind him, and despite his blindfold, kept pace with the other male, without missing a beat. Though more than likely not leader material Azrael showed incredible prowess when it came to power management, he was quite naturally able to control his abilities, and this left everyone at Sanctum puzzled, including his own teammates. He was glad to be in a group with the teammates of Owl. Ambrose seemed pretty capable and Magara and Carl seemed like good company, and pretty reliable themselves. Azrael didn't know Jack that well, but despite his arguments with the other teammates he seemed a formidable ally to have. He trusted that they'd all be dependable.