[b] The Estate [/b] 

Fontana gave Wire a grudging nod, acknowledging his points while trying to hid his frustration at the newbie, "You're right of course. There's going to be dozens of different agendas here and the chances of somebody dying today are about 95%. We just have to make sure that Music and Marconi are not among them. That's why we needed Howard back. We'll be keeping him and the other metas we have in reserve. Music and Marconi will try to sell their points but everyone get ready for things to spill. You two and La Sombra will be in the room with me and our guys. We sent Witchfinder in advance to set up overwatch." 

The group was joined by other soldiers and hirelings loading weapons and preparing for the meet. They had lost quite a few men due to the assault on the Lab and Legion's abduction of the family but it seemed Marconi had continued to pull in more and more muscle. Marconi, Music, and La Sombra all arrived with their own entourage with Howard in tow. The mobsters and their hired guns went in the vehicles and drove off to the meeting point. 

Fontana drew a pistol, a custom Colt 45 with nickel plating and an ivory handle, and loaded it, "Here's the deal. We're meeting everyone in a warehouse that's been out of service for years. There's gonna be guys there from the gulf coast, along the border, the east coast, the northwest, basically every big player outside of California and New York. The syndicates in New York have a gang war and the Metropolitans to worry about while the Californians have the Golden Knights and Los Diablos, they didn't answer our calls. This is going to be the biggest meet in gangland history. With Music and Marconi joining ranks and the guys we bought, we got the biggest force but we'll still be outnumbered by guys who can kill us." 

"We've got Yakuza, Triads, Russian Mafia, Cartels, and every other kind of gang you can think of. Drug dealers, sex slavers, smugglers, arms dealers, we got 'em all because the League and Legion are putting the squeeze on them. Most of them will be small to mid-sized guys, especially after the past six months, and known threats are the Maine Family, the Haitians, Argus, and the Juarez Cartel. The Maines have that car-jumping freak Driveshaft with them and they could use her to get a surprise attack on us. They even hired some nutty meta called Bomber Man, powers self-explanatory."

"The Haitians hired that ice-breathing ugly Hailstorm from Miami and he can freeze your balls off like that, and a big-ass and strong-ass bruiser named Dozer. El Rey is coming himself and he brought that Luchador nut with him and the Panamanian. Rey and Tecnico are both hands-on guys but the Panamanian is a gunslinger with a fear aura. Argus is the head of a security company and they've got their fingers in all kinds of pies. Argus himself is one smart son of a bitch, he's a planner and he's got dirt on everyone going there. He's offering to sell secrets about Legion." 

"There's also a few superhuman groups. That geek bank robber Dungeon Master is showing up because Legion tried to muscle in on his action. This guy's got super-intelligenc or something and his plans haven't failed yet so he's one to look out for. He's also got a loony with a bow, a loony with a sword, a loony with magic powers, and a gay-ass elf. Mind those are just known threats. And there's four new guys, towelheads from Iran or something, and they set up shop a little bit before Legion started blowing out. Rumor has it they all have some kind of powers and a penchant for drinking blood like a bunch of camel-jockey vampires. Any one of those guys could have more metahumans or supernaturals we don't know about . Our own metas are staying in reserve in case anything blows out. We'll be the first to arrive so get set." 

The Outfit convoy arrived in front of a large abandoned warehouse in the industrial district. The soldiers, La Sombra, and the mercs got out and escorted Music and Marconi inside with Fontana leading Wire, Sixgun, and his own cadre of men inside. Somewhere unseen Witchfinder and other hired guns had set up shot and had their crosshairs covering the warehouse while Howard and a backup team lay in wait. 

Outfit men started taking positions outside the warehouse while the rest entered. Inside they found an extremely large conference table that ran almost the length of the entire warehouse. Music and Marconi took up two chairs at the head while Fontana stood over Marconi's shoulder with La Sombra next to Music. Sixgun and Wire were left to take their own positions and the Outfit men started lining the walls and climbed into the railings overhead. Soon enough their enemies and perhaps temporary allies arrived. 

Gang bosses of all shapes and sizes started streaming in with their armed entourages, all of them taking seats and trading barely restrained hostile glares with their neighbors. Yakuzas and Triads took seats next to each other as well as Cartels from all around the country, other Italian mafias, Russian mobsters, biker gangs, and more. All of them had quite a few armed men with them and the large warehouse already began to feel crowded. Then the big players showed up. 

Roman Maine with his clean-cut look and distinguished blonde features looked more like a fortune 500 CEO then a mobster. The men with guns bulging in their jackets gave him away however. His machine-possesing young adult daughter was not with him but a crazed looking shaggy-haired and shabbily dressed man was. Christian Donovan followed and drew a lot of stares. One reason was the giant eight-foot tall hulking mass striding next to her and another was the blue-skinned man with a mask attached to his face. The fact that Donovan was a young, slim, beautiful Haitian-American woman was the most surprising fact however. One of her men pulled out a seat for her and she sat with Dozer looming behind her and Hailstorm at her side.

Argus and a squad of professional looking contractors soon entered, the short Romanian didn't really look like a threat but his hard-bitten features suggested a history of violence. They were followed by the small party of the Dungeon Master. The fantastical get-up of the five bank robbers drew quite a few derisive snorts but they didn't seem to notice. Soon the four mysterious Iranians came in along with a cadre of hired thugs, all of the assembled gangsters stared at them and it didn't seem like they liked what they saw. With the exception of the sultry woman with her three companions, who drew only stares of lust. Finally, El Rey, El Tecnico, and the Panamanian arrived. El Tecnico wore his signature luchador mask while El Rey was dressed sharply and looked the picture of a handsome hispanic gentleman. The Panamanian was on Rey's heels, and everyone they passed took a few steps away from the assassin. None of them noticed Sixgun at all. 

Marconi stood up and smiled while Music continued to set his mouth in a grim line. The Mob boss said, "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming. Now that you're all here. Let's talk business. Namely, going to war with Legion." They all settled in and what could prove to be the deadliest meeting in recent history commenced. 

[b] The Hall [/b] 

Outside the Hall, Bunyan and Brick seemed to calm down. The red laser sights over Supercell's chest disappeared as Brick chuckled, the sound echoing in Supercell's ears, "Damn man. Next time call ahead or something. With all that's going on we were ready to pound you into the concrete. That is if Bullseye and Specter didn't get you first." Somewhere high on the roof the League's signature Archer turned her attention away from Supercell while a man suddenly appeared behind the arrival and lowered a gun, "No contest guys. Guns beat arrows and fists. Even big fists like yours." 

A few security men came out the door and dragged the pyrokinetic to the holding cells where all the other escapees were being held. Specter nodded, "Good work. Registration is easy anyway. Easier because we need more bodies to throw at Legion hehe. Get in there and talk to Anima at the front-desk, she'll hook you up fast-track you. Everyone's mostly back from missions now so kick back. Get going, we have a door to watch." Specter suddenly vanished again. 

Inside the hall, Volt would find Apogee in the training room. She was punching away at a large bag filled with advanced impact gel designed for bruisers, Zenith-types, and others with super-stength to test the force of their hits. The carbon-fiber weave bag, a large heavy mass with an armored inner layer, filled with Savant's patented impact gel, and magically toughened by Destiny, began crumpling under Apogee's blows as she shouted out with every hit. She punched harder and harder until finally the most advanced and high-tech punching bag in the world went flying across the room. The few others in the gym tried not to notice and left Apogee to her own devices as she flew over to a pile of bags and put another one up. There were already four completely wrecked impact bags. 

Inside the conference room Zenith waved off the other attendees to leave them. He rubbed his temples and sighed, "Casimir, you may think your scare tactics are helping the situation but they aren't. Other heroes like Pariah and Reaver like to intimidate the criminal element but you take it too far. You enjoy doing it. And you flaunt every rule of engagement we have by always pursuing lethal courses. You are a representative of the League, one of the only pro-active Superhuman organizations in existence. And you're causing outsiders to perceive us in a way that damages our credibility." 

"These criminals don't know fear Casimir. Sure the low-level guys will start talking in whispers but the serious villains will never be intimidated by it. You're starting to scare the people we're supposed to protect with your brutality and one of these days you're going to take a step too far. Thomas has raised his concerns to me as well. He says there's talk among the Magus about bringing you in for questioning. We're keeping them at bay for now but you have to ratchet it down before someone gets hurt. Badly." 

Inside Styx's interrogation room the witch seemed to be almost comfortable as she sat chained to the table with a magical circle drawn around her to prevent her casting a spell. On the other side of the mirrored glass, Thomas stood and observed while a security team was ready seconds away. Styx smiled and leaned back in her chair as far as she could, "And what was that? I'm sure it was something important, but with all the excitement I quite forgot. Although I do remember it had something to do with you guaranteeing my safety from the Fellowship and Legion, before I say anything. I think a mutual pact on our power would do quite nicely." 

In the sorcery community, a pact on one's power was as sacred as it got. When a spellcaster swore their power to a pact, they invested their own magic into it. If broken, it would cause the mage to lose some of their own powers as well as letting the wider magical community know that they were an oathbreaker. It was a risky agreement but it was up to Sonja. After all necromancy and murder with magic were two of the most sacred Laws of Magic as laid down by the Fellowship

Vigilance didn't seem any happier to see her and you could almost feel the scowl under his mask. He grunted grudgingly, "Probably the best choice. We all knew Bishop back in New York and he's always been a big player, and besides that little girl Villa seemed to be one of his most trusted followers. Bishop is probably pretty high-up in Legion anyway." Bishop also known as Anthony Johnson, had been a small-time gangbanger beneath Pariah's notice until he got his powers. After that he had made quite a name for himself and amassed quite the criminal syndicate with his potent powerset. Pariah and company had clashed with him several times with little result and it had eventually taken bringing in Zenith to chase the villain off. 

Vigilance opened Villa's file, "Her name's Maria Rodriguez. Orphan from Los Angeles, parents were drug addicts. Mother died in an overdose and Dad died trying to rob a connivence store. She was on her own for god knows how long and eventually joined a small gang. Became known throughout the neighborhood for being a crack shot. When she got her powers it got even worse. Whole rival gangs were wiped out in short order before she wiped out her own gang and started a new one. They kept getting bigger and muscling in on more turf while she racked up a huge body count. Eventually they got overt enough for the cops and the Golden Knights to come in and wipe them out. Villa escaped and she's been off grid till now." 

"She's tough. A fighter, a survivor. The hard approach probably won't work on her and she showed a lot of devotion to Bishop. But we need whats in her head. We need to get her to flip and we need to do it now. If she falls the rest of them will follow shortly. And how much she follows Bishop, she's also always been out for number one. I say we exploit that somehow. Offer her a good deal. Of course, you've been with Pariah longer so I know you have your own thoughts." Vigilance kept his tone neutral but the insolence was very much present.