Juno frowned when Belle leaned back in her seat. Damn that Adam, escalating the situation. Juno decided to ignore Litheal and Ricki for the moment, this situation was far more serious. It would simply not do for them to all get fragged before they even had their first mission. It would definitely kill any chance of Juno getting out of this hellhole. The heroine froze when she heard Jaymi's voice in her head. Using her limited mental training she did her best to block him out from further incursions and gritted her teeth. It unnerved her that someone could look into her mind like that. To pierce into all her secrets and feelings. Juno decided she had to be careful around Jaymi. Juno smiled at Belle and a small hardlight puppy manifested in her lap, yipping happily. It was a yorkshire terrier much like the one she had as girl. Instead of brown and black fur, it had white light but Juno had constructed the field to have a similar texture to the real thing. The dog placed it's paws on Belle's chest and licked at her face with a bright tongue with the warmth of a sunbeam. She hoped the girl liked the gesture. Juno wondered why she was so concerned about her, it was simply unlike her. Juno flashed white as she rose from her seat and floated above the floor of the cruiser. Juno kept her voice restrained but authoritative, "That's enough Adam. You're supposed to be a professional. Keep this up and you'll cause a catastrophic malfunction. I've had enough of this alpha male posturing. Fenrir is team leader not you, so suck it up and be a big boy without having to resort to threats." Juno glanced at Fenrir, "Jaymi's right, we have to be calm and we have a job to do. We won't make it five minutes if we don't get it together. So please, let's try and put whatever personal BS we might have behind us and focus in on the job."

Fenrir’s eyes widened in surprise at Adam’s words. It took a few seconds for him to fully process what had happened. Had Warpath really just threatened to kill him? The professional solider, trained to always be in control, had shown less restraint than he, the savage and uncontrollable beast!?! A red mist descended once more but this time he stopped trying to control his fury, instead allowing it its head. The Wolf within knew the only course now was for physical confrontation, to show this foolish challenger his place in the social hierarchy, which was firmly below Fenrir's own. The call of the wild demanded violence. He stalked after Warpath, increasing his pace to catch up. His fingers began to lengthen, nails growing and hardening into vicious looking claws, mouth distorting as his teeth becoming fangs. There was no growling or snarling now, mere silence as he prepared himself for the kill. Guys. Lets just calm down and relax please. We have somewhere to be. . . The voice of Poltergeist, ephemeral as a half-remembered dream, sounded in Magnus’s head. The words echoed though his mind, reminding of who he was and what he was doing. He stopped in his tracks, ashamed at what he had nearly done, at the fact that after all these years the monster inside him still had such a powerful grip. Not that Adam was blameless, but Fenrir was supposed to be the leader, and should have done more to diffuse the episode. At least Poltergeist was already livening up to the expectations held for him Good work Jaymi... Thank you. . Fenrir wasn’t sure if Jaymi was still in his head, but he hoped the telekinetic would understand how grateful he was for his intervention. Juno was playing peacemaker now too. At least she had a level head. She admonished both Warpath and Fenrir, and while he felt his back go up at her words he accepted what she said as wisdom. There was a job, and if they couldn’t even get on the plane without incident then what hope had they on the field. He nodded to Twilight, a seed of respect for her taking root as he boarded the cruiser, making his way to the pilot seat. Molotov, Madcap and Blink had arrived by that stage, the cruiser taking off shortly after everyone had seated. The Hub’s water facing false wall folded into itself, allowing the cruiser to hover through, Fenrir flicking on the active camouflage, enabled by Martian stealth technology, protecting the craft from any prying eyes. He skimmed the water for a hundred meters before engaging the main jets, the carrier building speed and altitude steadily until he had broken the skyline. It was almost five hundred miles from Bludhaven to Metropolis, but at the speed the carrier was travelling the Outsiders would be there in less than ten minutes. Fenrir engaged the autopilot before addressing his team. “Roughly fifteen minutes ago the Royal Flush Gang was spotted in Metropolis.” He didn’t bother explaining the Flush gang, their members, or their MO. Each member of the Outsiders had been given extensive files on all the foes they’d be likely to face, the RFG amongst them, with strict instructions to study the information in preparation for this event. The only person who hadn’t received the files was Belle, and she wasn’t going to need them. “Their target is Lex Luthor.” Again, he didn’t explain who Luthor was, figuring that if they didn’t know that then they probably shouldn’t be here. “Our mission is to intercept and apprehend the RFG, while protecting Luthor.” He turned in his seat to face Molotov, knowing of the pyrokinetic’s history with the Metropolian. “I repeat, we must protect Luthor, despite our feelings on the man himself.” “Luthor was last seen in his penthouse atop Lextower, while the RFG was spotted entering the sewer line a block away from Lextower. They will be starting from the bottom and working their way up, disabling security on their way. We will enter from Lextower’s landing pad and move to meet them before they reach Lex.” “Any questions?”

Tamashi simply sat calmly and took another sip from his flask. He felt any further involvement by him would only escalate things further. He observed as the other team members entered the craft. Litheal himself didn't particularly interest Tamashi but it was interesting he also carried a magic sword. Apparently he felt the need name it. Tamashi had never thought of his sword as much more than a tool but it did have enough history to warrant a name. "What to name it?" Tamashi considered. Tamashi considered this for a good few moments going through various potential names in his head. It was a good distraction he felt. Then he heard the psychic in his head. How the hell was he supposed to keep secrets from a psychic? Perhaps earning his favor would be of benefit. Tamashi spoke to Jaymi. "Hey Psychic. I don't mind the messages but do me a favor and stay out of my thoughts. Do this and perhaps later we have a little fun." Tamashi proceeded to seductively wink at Jaymi.

Leaning against the hind wall of the VTOL, Johnny watched the commotion between Warpath and Fenrir, it was clear they both wanted to assert how powerful they were, classic 'alpha male' mentality, Molotov felt no need to prove himself to his fellow team-mates, as long as he got the job done he couldn't care less what the others thought of him. When Juno nodded at him Johnny raised a single eyebrow before returning the nod with a condescending smile, upon Juno confronting him about his cigarettes the one placed in his mouth went up in flames before turning completely to ash. "How stupid of me, smoking near our child soldier could be bad for her health. Cigarettes are dangerous for children but sending them to fight 'super villains' that's fine." Johnny then turned away from Juno indicating that she wasn't going to get any more conversation out of him. Johnny didn't care about Juno's family name, she was just another delusional cape. Hearing Jaymi's voice in his head Johnny scoffed, the man says nothing to anyone and the first thing he says isn't even face to face. Apparently the display of who could be more of a paternal figure to Belle had come to a close and things were going to start moving. As Fenrir began to brief the team on the mission, Johnny was on board right until he heard who they were defending. "Luthor! You expect us to defend that corrupt power-hungry wretch? After all he's done?" Johnny's fists clenched and his sickly eyes seemed to become lively. Lex Luthor was responsible for everything that had gone wrong in Johnny's life, he'd sooner melt him into slag than save the man's life.

Adam had to close his eyes and calm his mind with meditation. As the Germanics and Celts of ancient times, he had temporarily given into his rage and that wasn't an effective way of getting what you wanted done. He heard Jaymi voice in his head telling them to calm down and Adam felt uncomfortable having a voice that wasn't his own in his head. When Adam heard Juno make the alpha male comment, he snorted. please like women don't do aggressive things he thought to himself, but didn't say anything so that there wasn't more conflict. He sat calmly and waited for the vehicle to take off. When Fenrir informed them about the royal flush gang, he quickly got his mind thinking and remembering what he had read about the Royal Flush Gang. They were one of the minor adversaries of the Justice League which was probably why they were being sent in to deal with them. "If I remember correctly, the Royal Flush Gang use mostly gadgets when they fight and Ace is a robot. I would say that out of all of them Jack and Ace may be the most dangerous, Ace has super strength and Jack has the ability to morph his body into a type of alien metal and can make dangerous weapons with it, if we split them up then they should be not too difficult to handle, like Julius Caesar we need to divide and conquer, I propose that we break up into pairs and try to separate a Gang member from from group to handle them. If they are entering from the bottom of Luthor penthouse then we should enter from the top and meet them somewhere in between the building, that will also give us a chance to get some information on Luthor" Adam said to them. When he heard Johnny's outbursts, he rolled his eyes, great they had one of those heroes, more undisciplined emotional metahumans. "We have a job to do and regardless of what any of us think of Luthor, we have an obligation to fight against crime and help people even if they are your enemy, the law is against the Royal Flush Gang and not Luthor" Adam said to Molotov trying to get the hero to understand their position.

Tamashi was rather annoyed at the idea of protecting Luthor. Still he knew that speaking up about it wouldn't change anything. Luthor was on a short list of people Tamashi meant to kill given the chance. Luthor very much reminded the demon of his old masters. Corrupt and greedy. Tamashi decided to keep his mouth shut on the issue but if Luthor presented himself to Tamashi he was as good as dead. Given the info he had Tamashi wasn't even sure he disagreed with the current Royal Flush Gang. They killed evil people. There was a common goal. Of course to avoid straining relations with his new team Blood Walker would do what had to be done. Tamashi spoke up. "So do we have plan or are we going improvise. If we could perhaps capture one of the members of RFG I could put on their cloths and take their shape. Then I could lead them to the rest of you who would be waiting in ambush."

Warpath and Bloodwalker ventured their own plans, both favoring stealth and subtlety over brute force. Good. It showed that they were, in this at least, thinkers. "Singling them out one by one is ideal, though they may not present us the chance. King is a tactician, and so far the gang has worked as a unit, unlikely to venture too far from one another. If we can split the herd then we will take our chance, if not we will be forced to overwhelm them with numbers." He left it unsaid that he didn't want to split his own force, at least not until he had a better understanding of how they would work together on the field. Fenrir was ready for Johnny's outburst. He would have been more surprised if Molotov hadn't said anything. Unsurprisingly Warpath took the opposing argument, standing with the law. Those two were politically, emotionally and mentally diametrically opposed. Though at this stage it seemed that most on the team were opposed to Warpath in some way or another. "I don't like it any more than you, but the mission is the mission. Deal with it, or stay on the VTOL." Johnny staying on the carrier was starting to look like the safer option if his reaction was any indicator, the burning in his green eyes giving even Fenrir pause for thought. If it came down to it he might be forced to stop the pyrokinetic from doing something stupid. However, Johnny claimed to be wanting to do 'the right thing' now, so if his desire was strong enough then he should be able to overcome his thirst for Luthor's blood himself. And if not? If his desire to change was too brittle for the task, or if Fenrir was unable to stop him? Well, just like the Wolfman had thought earlier, would the world really be worse off for losing Lex Luthor? He doubted it. "If it comes down to battle I want Stalwart and Warpath to handle Ace. Keep him on his toes and from protecting his allies. Blink, you take Ten. You're the only one that can hope to keep up with her. Molotov and Bloodwalker, handle Jack. Pour on the heat, and hope he'll melt. Poltergeist and Madcap, deal with Queen. Her Sceptre's illusions could disrupt our flow, but with your psychic abilities you should see through her." He also doubted that Queen's illusions would work on someone with Madcap's fractured psyche, but was unsure how the former terrorist would take that if he said it aloud. "Thorn and Twilight, you are both on support. If any of the others look like they need help then supply it to them. Your primary role though is to protect Luthor." He glanced at Molotov before adding "Against anyone." "I'll take King. As soon as he is down then the rest should crumble." Like a house of cards, he could almost hear Hellfire say. He missed his brother's terrible sense of humor at moments like these. The carrier was now jetting across the Metropolis skyline, beginning the approach to Lextower. Fenrir hit a few keys, taking control from the autopilot. He began decelerating whilst dropping altitude. He made a few passes of the tower before going in for a landing, as he wasn't sure what kind of anti-air defenses Lex would have in place. Hawkman had assured him that the carrier was virtually undetectable to modern targeting technologys, but when Luthor was involved you could never be too sure. Despite his fears they made an unopposed, if rather bumpy, landing. He groaned quietly at that painful reminder of how badly he needed to get someone else to take over the piloting. He told the team to disembark, all save Belle, who gestured towards the cock pit. He sat her down in his pilots chair and pointed to a button upon the control panel. "This button. Press it if we do not return. It will take you directly to Carter Hall. He is my friend, and will take care of you." He backed away quickly before the girl could realize the import of his words, jumping down the exit ramp and locking the access port behind him. The betrayal of her trust stung at him, but it was preferable by far to what may happen if they brought her with them. Some of the Outsiders imagined Belle was to be some child soldier, that she would be their tiny terror on the front lines. It amazed him that they believed he would allow such a thing, that he would endanger her in such a way after the way such an upbringing had ruined his own life. Yes, he kept her close so he could protect her, but he could hardly do that on a battlefield. And even if she could hold her own, which she more than likely could, he still wouldn't let her do it. Maybe when she was older, and better able to make the decision for herself. For now she would just have to listen to him. Best not to dwell on it, he thought, and hope she manages to forgive him later. Instead he led the team on, headed for the roof entrance. "Those doors are liable to be locked. Warpath, hack them open. Failing that Twilight can prise. . . " He trailed off as he realized that something was missing. He hadn't noticed it at first, probably because it was one of those things that annoyed him so much about city life, but it was the distinct lack of the slight hum that electricity makes as it traveled the wires and connections all around him. A sinking feeling in his gut told him that this mission was going sour already. Increasing his pace he reached the doors, which opened with a slight push. "They've cut the power somehow." he grunted to the Outsiders. How they managed to do that to Luthor's self sustaining network was quite a wonder, though he had neither the time or intellect to figure out how they managed it. He'd leave that sort of technical pondering to Twilight. Within the building he could make out a dull pounding, like a distant hammer striking metal, and behind that the sound of muted voices, coming from the direction of Luthor's living area. That sinking feeling fell through the floor. "They already got to him!" he growled, stalking down the halls. His light steps made hardly any noise at all, though he couldn't say the same for all his comrades. As he got closer he began being able to discern what was actually being said. "You might as well drop the shield, Luthor. Ace might not be as strong as the big blue boyscout, but he'll burst your bubble all the same, given time. And we have got a metric ton load of time. Ain't no one coming to help you." The speaker sounded gruff, like he might be a smoker. King? "Yes, about that. I imagine you've cut the power to this level, isolated the alarms perhaps. Put the security feeds on a loop. The whats don't concern me as much as the hows. How did you get in here, I designed the security systems myself." This second voice was far smoother, like honey over velvet, but held an air of command and confidence. Someone used to getting his questions answered. Luthor, had to be. "Check on all accounts there. And as to the hows, well that wasn't that hard, Lex my boy. Superman's been busting into this place for near on twenty years. Every time he does you have to redecorate, and you can't repair everything yourself. You might not make mistakes, but regular folk do. Someone left a chink in your armor. I exploited it. Fenrir had reached the double doors to the room where King and Lex were talking, the pounding, which was obviously Ace trying to break some shield of Luthor's, much louder here. The Wolfman waited for his team to arrive, readying for the attack. "Oh, and whoever's out there might as well go ahead and come in. I did set motion sensors, after all." Called King. Fenrir cursed his stupidity, but walked in all the same, the Outsiders fanning out behind him. The scene playing out before them was taking place in Lex's office. The room was colossal in size, modern minimalist in design. White, leather furniture and glass table tops were in abundance. A conference table with several chairs lay to the left, while a series of modern art sculptures that resembled melting obsidian pyramids where to the right, just beside Lex's cabinet of trophy's, his nobel piece prize proud amongst them. Behind a massive white desk stood Luthor, dressed in a casual shirt and slacks. The air around him shimmered slightly, like he was standing atop an air vent, which was obviously caused by the forcefield he had in play. The Royal Flush gang were spread out around him, better to cut him off if he tried to escape. Behind them all the back wall was no more than a wide window which afforded a spectacular view of the Metropolis skyline. "Fenrir. . . Twilight. . . Warpath." Muttered King as they entered, glancing at the rest of the heroes, no doubt wondering what brought them all together. He didn't waste much time wondering though, before returning to the task at hand. "I'd ask what you're all doing here, but I think that would be a waste of everyone's time." "You need to stand down, and we wont hurt you." Said Fenrir. Jack grinned at that, while Ace took a menacing step forwards. Fenrir ignored them, dismissing them as stooges, instead keeping his attention on their leader. King showed very little emotion, even accounting for his mask. "Hurt us?" he finally replied, ". . . What, like this!" With a casual smoothness that belied the speed behind it the King of Spades raised his rifle and fired a burst of rounds in Fenrir's direction. Though ready for a fight Fenrir was unprepared by just how casually King started. The bullets struck him in the head, making thunderous ping noises as they struck his Nth metal helmet. The Wolfman was punched from his feet without a sound, the rest of the Royal Flush Gang surging into the attack before Fenrir had even hit the ground. Ace picked up the desk in front of him and hurled it at Warpath, Twilight and Blink, who had clumped together, the android then charging Stalwart. Queen took a backwards step as she pointed her Sceptre, a thick mist materializing around the Outsiders, the woman herself fading from sight. Jack began laughing maniacally as he sped towards Thorn, his arms morphed into axe blades and ready to chop into the tree like hero. King strafed left, firing his rifle at Poltergeist and Bloodwalker. Ten was last to move, her expression conflicted, but after a moment of indecision she began speeding towards Madcap. She obviously meant to ram her target into unconsciousness. Molotov was momentarily left unmolested, no one and no thing between him and Luthor. "My hero's." Luthor snarked as the battle unfolded in front of him.

Tamashi thought to himself "Improvise it is." as Fenrir hit the ground. He pulled his sword from the hilt. As King opened fire on him he sliced the air in front of him creating a portal to hell for the bullets to enter through. Tamashi considered for a second the severity of the situation especially considering their leader was out of commission. Blood Walker decided his human form would not be sufficient for this fight. Tamashi quickly crated another portal and entered it and closed it. He remained in hell only for a moment. Once inside the portal he removed his ring changing himself into his demonic form. His jacket and shirt tore as wings sprouted from his back. Once changed he gripped his sword firmly in both hands cutting a new portal open to bring him back where he was. He charged out of the portal flying at full speed. He hoped he was fast enough for King not to notice him reentering the human plane. He flew above King towards the ceiling and then with his sword firmly in hand dropped as quickly as possible swinging towards the villain. He hoped he could slice King in two ending the fight quickly.

The cruiser ride seemed way too short to Belle. She hadn't really been paying attention to the briefing that Fenrir was giving the team, as she was occupied petting the dog that Juno had appearified into the young girls lap. She had, however, paused to smile at Poltergeist. She found his whole putting his voice in your head thing really really cool. Once the cruiser landed Belle sat in her seat, patiently waiting for Fenrir to tell her what she would be doing. She watched as each team went off to do the task they were assigned, smiling and waving to each group as they departed. And once only herself and Fenrir remained on the cruiser Belle jumped out of her seat, ready for action. She walked behind Fenrir with a smile on her face, into the cockpit of the plane. Would the two of them be flying the plane? She nodded vigorously at his instructions, their meaning not yet kicking in. "You got it Fenrir! I'll wait here...and...wait." Realization kicked in fast. She was being left behind. To baby sit the cruiser. She paused a moment, hearing the door of the cruiser open and then close behind Fenrir. Belle ran as quickly as she could, trying to follow behind him, but alas the doors were locked. "Wait! Fenrir! You can't leave me behind! We are supposed to be a team! Fenrir!" Belle called desperately through the door, pounding her fists against the metal.

As Fenrir went over the mission statement, Ricki began preparing herself for the upcoming battle. "Stupid Royal Flush Gang," she muttered under her breath. "Stealing my gimmick. Copyright infringe 's all it is." Ricki's mind had been rewired years ago causing her to completely forget that the RFG had in fact been around long before she herself had adopted her own costume identity. "I'll kill 'em. Kill and then I'll sue 'em." Unzipping her duffle bag she peered inside at all wonderful toys. Caring the entire bag into battle wouldn't do this time. Instead she opted for taking only a few weapons with her. The jacket she wore had hidden pockets which would allow the young to carry plenty of toys with her without wearing her down. One deadly weapon had been strapped into the jacket long before she had left her room. It's current weight informed her that it was fully loaded. The explosive balls and bobble heads in her bag were out of the question for she could find herself in tight quarters with her allies. Maybe next time she could blow stuff up. The cute and fluffy teddy bears would have to stay behind for similar reasons. Ricki grabbed a few of her playing cards and sheathed them inside her left sleeve. These were not your normal playing cards. Instead of paper these cards were made of metal, the edges razor sharp. Next, she pulled a set of chattering teeth from the duffle and sheathed them within her right sleeve. The teeth were somewhat larger than her own hand. Also made of a metal, when this chattering toy latched on to a person it was akin to being bit by a large canine. Finally, Ricki removed a joy buzzer and slid it over her left middle finger. The buzzer had two charges with the punch that equaled a common stun gun. She then unzipped the bag back up before placing it on the floor by her feet. "Poltergeist and Madcap," said the team leadr, "deal with Queen." Ricki smiled. She hoped to take the Queen on one on one. It wasn't due to any brier history. The vigilante just didn't particularly like villain's snooty look. "Her Scepter's illusions could disrupt our flow, but with your psychic abilities you should see through her." As the jet landed she quickly zipped up the front of her bodysuit and pulled her mask down over her face. With both hands grasping her punchline, Ricki tapped her feet on the floor with giddiness. "Oooo... time to play!" She followed the team, skipping along behind her leader. The power being out and the noise ahead only added to her excitement. Inside the vast office Lex Luthor stood alone against all five members of the Royal Flush Gang. Madcap smirked, admiring the power and the ego that radiated from Luthor. Then, the banter started. Madcap hated banter. When it was time to fight, it was time to fight. Questions and silly one liners were to be held for afterwards. That is, if there was anyone left alive. The self-proclaimed literally fired the first shot. Fenrir went down with a thud. Madcap kept her eyes on her intended target, giggling as the Queen activated her scepter engulfing the room in a thick mist. The Ace and Jack went after of Outsiders, while the King continued to shoot. Ten was left by herself seeming unsure of what action to take. The Queen thought she had made herself a ghost. But, it was all a trick. It's had to fool a trickster though, especially one whose perception of reality had previously and permanently been altered by all sorts of unknown chemicals and drugs years ago. Finally, Ten decided on a target. But, her hesitation left Madcap with plenty enough time to act. Reaching into her sleeve pulling out her playing cards. Running forward just as the youngest member of the RGF took her first step, the vigilante flicked her wrist sending the razor-sharp cards through the air like ninja throwing stars not at Ten who would most likely speed past them, but at her Queen.

At first Adam was baffled a bit by Fenrir telling him and Stalwart that they would be handling, he had thought the wolfman would have wanted to take on the heavy hitter of the Royal Flush Gang, but then Adam remembered that Stalwart had superhuman strength as well and Adam was use to taking on super strong foes, he was ready just like how Batman was ready to take on Superman if the need arose. "Got it sir" he replied to Fenrir's orders and then looked towards Stalwart. "I hope you're ready for this mission partner, listen to my instructions and we should have no problem with Ace" Adam said to the tall hero. Even though he hadn't had too much experience in teamwork with a group of superhumans, he had read enough and worked with government agents on missions to understand the concept of teamwork. After Fenrir was done with giving them orders, Adam saw that he was leaving Belle behind, it looked like the wolfman didn't want the child to be in the field as a fighter. Adam understood Fenrir's reasoning, she was so young and this line of duty was dangerous. Adam hadn't been allowed into the field until he was nearly an adult. When they entered the building Adam could feel that the power was off by the fact that he couldn't feel the electricity flowing through the building. This was confirmed when Fenrir also claimed that the gang had cut off the power. Before Adam could make a suggestion, Fenrir moved on ahead when he said that they gang already got to Luther and Adam followed after the wolfman. They eventually came to a pair of doors and Adam's superhuman senses could hear voices coming from the room. He then facepalmed when he heard King tell them that they had kept the sensors on and knew they were behind the doors, they should have been more careful, but it was too late now. He followed behind Fenrir into the room and saw the Royal Flush Gang trying to break into some kind of force field that Luther had created. Adam heard King mention his hero name and he smiled, so he was known amongst the low class villains well that was a start. When the King of Spades shot at Fenrir, Adam went into action and created a double barrel-shotgun construct. He would have aimed and shot at King had Ace not taken a desk and thrown it at them. He was trained to make last second changes in maneuvers and flipped in the air over the projectile, he hoped that Blink and Twilight would be able to dodge as well as he had done. When he came out of the flip Adam fired off two high-powered shots of energy at the robot, and fired off several more when he gracefully landed on his feet. These shots were concussive and would pack a powerful punch, Adam hoped that it would cause some damage to the big robot. "If you're going act like that then I'll have to teach you a lesson in surrendering" he said to Ace with vast determination in his eyes.

Juno had her mind set. She did not like Johnny. But then again she didn't like Tamashi, Adam, Litheal... it might have been easier to list who she did like. The list summed up to Belle and everyone else was an unknown quantity at this point. But it wasn't looking good for Ricki and.... whatever Stalwart Defender's name was. Still Juno had to share Johnny's distaste for the mission. Luthor was no friend of theirs. But if he died, then organized crime across half of america would suddenly experience a power vacuum cue massive bloodshed in the streets. For better or worse, Luthor had to be kept alive. As the only force field projector, she was uniquely suited to the task. She began crafting scenarios where she would face any single member of RFG in combat. With her flight and energy projection she was on equal ground with most of them, the only problem was Ace. Juno doubted she could hold up a barrier against his strength for more than a few minutes. But then again this was a prime opportunity to test her powers. As they disembarked Juno flashed a smile at Belle. It would be best to keep the girl behind, she'd likely be more of a hindrance than an asset in a pitched firefight. They really needed some kind of home for metahuman children. Youngest Justice perhaps? Juno did not like how dark the tower was. Luthor's security was among the best in the world. Remote access to his grid was extremely unlikely, so there was likely a weakness on the inside. Either faulty equipment, lazy staff, or even a traitor. RFG must have accessed the tower much quicker than anticipated. Likely Ten sped ahead to in-tower generators and had a hand in the loss of power. Juno prepped for a fight, a barrier of white surrounding her. Juno listened carefully to the RFG and followed Fenrir inside. She took in the office and found herself suitably impressed. Only the best in Lexcorp. RFG must have dealt with internal security but somehow Lex looked as cocky as ever, likely something up his sleeve. Juno was a little pleased to be acknowledged by King but was considerably less pleased when Fenrir was shot in the head. Juno immediately cast a cover around Fenrir's prone form. His helmet had taken the rounds but a stray shot in a firefight while he was out would finish him. The barrier was weak on his end and he could push it out when he regained consciousness but on the exterior side it was enough to screen him from any wild fire. Juno then created a bubble around herself and blink, making the barrier less rigid so that the table wouldn't explode into splinters, instead the flexible barrier would hopefully just absorb the table's impact and slide it off. Adam was engaging Ace and Ricki seemed to be going after Queen while Tamashi went for King himself. Juno couldn't help them all without dangerously overextending herself. But Ten seemed to be a bit slow on the draw. She sped for Madcap and Juno let the bubble fall, in it's place she created a low sheet of light designed to trip Ten up. With her other hand she pointed in front of Thorn yelling, "No you don't!" A square wall appeared in front of Thorn, modulated to reflect blows from Jack's improvised weapons. That should give Thorn enough time to react. Juno couldn't plan everything ahead too far she had to take it step by step and trust in the team. Oh we are so dead.

The short aircraft ride was a source of relief for Thorn who had nearly jumped out of the cruiser before it left the base after overhearing Madcap's comments to Jaymi. He was still in disbelief that Warpath had essentially openly defied Fenrir and then here he was on the aircraft throwing out plans. The League had obviously put Fenrir in charge for one reason or another and it was not their place to doubt that. Fenrir would have a plan in store for them, he had years of experience after all. Looking over at the hardlight puppy that Juno had manifested for Belle, Thorn inwardly smiled, the act of actually producing a physical one upon his 'face' was more difficult and not something he usually concerned himself with. The lack of physical emotions made him seem distant at times, and Thorn truly resented that but he had come to terms with his lost humanity. Nodding his approval to Juno as she took her seat again, Thorn leaned back in his seat, vines extending from his back further tying him to the seat. The sudden outburst from the team's resident pyromaniac alerted Thorn's to his prescence. There was a part of the plantoid that agreed with Johnny but that wasn't the team's mission parameters. They were to protect Luthor at all costs no matter how much he deserved to meet his fate by a hanging tree. Nodding at the wolfman upon recieving his orders to act in a support role, Thorn noted that Belle hadn't been issued any orders which meant Fenrir had no intention of putting her in the field. This was a good decision, she could learn and spar with the team at home, but supervillains wouldn't show any restraint. Belle deserved to live long enough to enjoy her life, not to be used as a child soldier. Helping his teammates through the roof hatch as he extended his body down, Thorn shrunk down to a small size to conserve his nutrients while the group moved through the facility. The next few moments flew by as the next thing Thorn saw was Fenrir hit the floor. Barely having time to react as Jack came towards him, Thorn realized there was no way that his natural armor would stop the blades. Pumping his body full of spors, Thorn intented to take the Jack down with lungs full of toxic spores. The wall of hardlight caught Thorn off guard as Twilight came to his rescue. Nodding his thanks, Thorn ran towards Fenrir passing through Twilight's shield before scooping the wolfman up as he expanded his body to encompass the team's leader as he rushed towards Luthor. Left with only Molotov between himself and the criminal mastermind, Thorn couldn't risk his teammate using the chaos to his advantage to cover the murder of Lex Luthor. Releasing Fenrir from within his body, Thorn rapidly expanded his body to a towering size as he layered himself with plate after plate of bark like armor. "Cover us Molotov. Fenrir is injured."

Stalwart grins at the big hunk of metal charging at him. This should be fun, muscle versus muscle. He settles down, waiting for Ace to join a grapple. If he does, Josh would toss him to the side. If not, Joshua would charge at him in return. Should he be able to toss him to the side then he will attempt to pick him up again to throw him at Jack. Should he have to charge at Ace, he would rear a fist back and let out a roar as he aimed to knock off the android's head.

When Warpath responded to Johnny's outrage Johnny turned to face him clearly looking furious. "The law isn't the only source of morality in the world, the man's responsible for poverty across the country, how many lives do you think he's taken with his corruption?" Quickly realizing that the entire team were staring at him Johnny just leaned back against the wall lighting up another cigarette. "I won't kill the guy... today, but if they have him against the wall, I might be a second too late." With that Johnny left the matter, he knew he'd be back for Luthor whether it was with the Outsiders or without them he'd make sure the man faced the ruin he had brought upon so many families in the world. Gazing out of the windows at Metropolis Johnny whistled to himself, this was a big change to what he was used to, he'd spent most of his childhood in hub city and then moving to Bludhaven, Metropolis was a stark contrast to the dingy homes he was used to. Everything looked so grand and affluent, he wondered how much the wiring in one of these buildings cost. Landing on the Lexcorp building Johnny disembarked from the transport, here he was. The belly of the corporate beast. Entering the room Johnny's eyes immediately met Luthor's, there he was, the man that had orchestrated ever bad event in his life. Johnny's introspection was interrupted by the sound of gunshots, immediately Johnny's cigarette completely burnt away as his hands ignited. One by one his teammates were caught in combat until Johnny was left standing on the fringe of the battlefield. Noticing Thorn carrying Fenrir Johnny was caught in a dilemma, his eyes flicked between Luthor and Thorn. With the flick of a wrist Johnny could take revenge for all that had happened to him, but at the cost of his teammates. With a sigh and a pained expression Johnny waved a hand towards Luthor's display cabinet without turning to face it, a jet of flame whirled from his hand towards the noble piece prize the display case immediately turning to ash followed by the metal glowing hot red and melting, a reminder to Luthor of just how fortunate he was that Johnny was with the team and not part of the gang. Immediately afterwards Molotov dove next to the now hulking Thorn and the unconscious Fenrir, creating a protective ring of fire around them he awaited an attack from the gangs 'Jack'.

Jaymi knew he would regret saying anything, or rather thinking it. Naturally, Fenrir thanked him for intervening which is one of the reasons he was on the team. The team leader needed someone to play Switzerland and mediator which made him feel awkward for the most part. It was something he would have to get used to. All the bickering amongst each other was not necessary when there were bigger things at hand to worry about. It was crazy when a verbally and physically abused victim had more sense than most of the others. He could feel eyeballs glare at him when others received his message. They didn't have to say a word. He knew they hated it, well most of them anyway. He turned to look at Ricki after she sat near him, only to immediately look away. Jaymi swallowed a huge gulp after hearing of her blowing planes up 'with her balls' while Tamashi had inferred something sexual for trade of not looking into his head. He didn't know whether to be scared of these comments, flattered, or feel sexually harassed. Although Jaymi just did what he did best. He gave them a long drawn out glare and looked away. He didn't want to encourage anything by responding. On the way to Metropolis, Poltergeist took the orders that were assigned by Fenrir. Him and Madcap were to deal with the Queen. It sounded simple enough if it wasn't for the fact he had to deal with her illusions to get to it. He had to admit his team leader gave him more credit than he deserved. This mission would really test his telepathic ability. Something just didn't seem right about this mission, however. He felt a huge not in his stomach like things were going to take a turn for the worst. After awhile, the team arrived at their destination on top of Lextower. Jaymi somewhat understood some of the other heroes when they were reluctant to save Lex, especially after everything he's done. However letting him get killed would spark a domino effect that would be disastrous for everyone. Poltergeist felt bad that they had to leave Belle behind, but he understood why. Despite her powerset, she was still a child. Exposing her to such danger would be careless. He exited the cruiser and followed his teammates into the tower, walking quietly to Lex's office. He could hear voices coming from the other end of the hall as did the rest of his team. Once they entered the office, they were face to face with the Royal Flush Gang. It didn't take long for King to open fire on the Outsiders, with the rest of his team following suit. Fenrir had hit the ground and worry immediately started to consume the telekinetic. Once he had seen that his other teammates were helping him out, he regained his focus. When bullets began to fly his way, Poltergeist levitated into the air to avoid any conflict on the ground. His first thought was to locate the Queen who had already went into hiding by creating a fake mist. He coated his skin of his body with telekinetic energy to keep himself from getting harmed while he had to do his main task. While his tactile TK was up, he began locating the Queen with his telepathic ability. He scanned every inch of the mist, trying to see if he could get into her head. Finally he heard the Queen going over different scenarios in her head, speaking really rapidly to herself. Looking down at the floor, he noticed Madcap had spotted her as well and immediately started throwing her cards at her. Following suit Poltergeist clenched his fist and shattered every piece of glass in the room at once. Before the glass could hit the floor, he made the pieces levitate upward which started spiraling around the young telekinetic like a cyclone. Raising his hand in front of him, he aimed the shards of glass towards the Queen and fired them like missiles towards her in perfect precision, hoping they would hit.

After fruitlessly pounding her fists against the door of the cruiser Belle ran out of steam. She settled for sitting on her ground, leaning against the door with a frown. Why had Fenrir left her behind? And why did he leave so suddenly? Surely she would have understood if Fenrir had told her that she was having the super important job of watching the cruiser. But he hadn't even said bye to her, or ruffled her hair. He just set her in the pilots seat and left. But then a horribly thought crossed her mind. What if Fenrir was mad at her? Maybe he was angry because she jumped on his back. He clearly hadn't seen her coming, maybe she had startled him so bad that he got angry. Or maybe it was because she got Adam angry at Fenrir. Or maybe it was because of that time last week when she hid a cockroach under his pillow. Regardless of the reason, Fenrir was mad at her. What if something horribly happened to him? It would be all her fault for getting him so angry. Oh if only she had followed behind him, he defiantly needed her protection. Belle, unable to stay still any longer, began to pace back and forth. She was having trouble understanding her own emotions at the moment, which wasn't all that uncommon. She was upset that Fenrir had left her behind after bringing her all the way to the mission site, and yet she felt guilty. As if something she had done had led up to this moment. But looming over every uncertain emotion was rage. Always the rage. Why had she been left behind? Did she not deserve to go with the rest of the team? Was she no more then a chore to baby sit? To be locked away in the cruiser until the adults were done with their work? The silence of the empty cruiser was soon filled with the sounds of snarls and growls. Something was replacing the gentle interior and exterior of the little girl. Dark fur sprouted out of her skin, her soft eyes turning menacing and yellow. Her teeth and nails began to extend, the later clicking along the floor of the cruiser.

Despite Tamashi's speed a red, winged, sword-wielding demon isn't the sort of thing most people would easily miss, especially if it was flying directly towards them. King leapt back, narrowly dodging the hell-beast's blade. The two were mere feet from each other now. The leader of the Royal Flush Gang fired two shotgun blasts at near point blank range at Bloodwalker's center mass. Queen wasn't a combatant, that much was clear. She was woefully under-prepared and under-trained for this match up. She felt herself safe in the bosom of her mist illusion, no thoughts spared to aiding her team mates, all except for King. She was in the process of working a similar glamour on her leader, bending the light around him so he would become invisible and allow the two to escape while their allies sacrificed themselves as distractions, when Madcap's cards struck her. Three cards sunk into Queens forearm, accompanied by meaty squelches, the razor edges slicing through the skin and tendon with ease. Lizzie Monahue screeched like a wounded banshee, dropping her precious Sceptre, the one thing keeping her in this fight. Her mist evaporated near instantly. Luthor's desk, Ace's makeshift missile, flew into Twilight's barrier with the force of a speeding truck. The flexible bubble gave a dangerous amount of ground, the table coming perilously close to striking Twilight herself, but stopped inches short from her nose. The bubble sprang back to its original shape with a *ping*, ejecting the table safely away to drop with a heavy bang upon Luthor's black marble floor. Ace himself carried on his bull's charge despite Warpath's concussive rounds, refusing to alter his crash course with Stalwart Defender, though he did seem to slow down fraction after each consecutive hit. The android was a cannier opponent than Stalwart had figured, refusing the grapple, instead going in low under the Outsider's outstretched arms, at the last second. The android shoulder-barged into Stalwart's pelvic area, the hero's mass, good footing and positioning negating most of the forward momentum. Ace's immediately set to attempting to lift and throw Defender over his shoulders. Stalwart had to act fast, or he'd end up on his back. Jack's axe-hands rebounded from the barrier Twilight had set around Thorn with a thunk The liquid-metal man struck at the wall again and again, screaming profanities at the top of his lungs. Thorn's spores had very little effect, Jack's metallic nature meaning he required no oxygen to survive. Davey Magnus, seeing that Thorn had now joined Molotov, changed targets to the woman who had denied him his last victim. His body began to stretch beyond what was humanely possible, while his pink flesh, black clothes and dark brown beard all changed color to that of a dull iron grey. He kept elongating himself until he was well over twenty-five feet long. "You're gonna be my new squeeze, bitch!" He spat at Juno, before exploding into motion, coiling his long body around her like and constricting like a python around a wild pig. Meanwhile Ten ran straight into Twilight's other construct, the low wall meant to trip her. The speedster's momentum carried her straight through, the wall bursting into shards, but it was enough to unsteady and trip her. Ten wailed as she flew through the air, ploughing into Madcap who hadn't done enough to try and dodge the speedster in her effort to hit Queen. The two hit the floor in a heavy tangle of limbs. Poltergeist's shards of glass flew at Queen with a quaint whistling sound that belied their deadliness. Queen who had already shown she wasn't one who excelled upon a battle field. Queen who was already distracted by her wounds. She never stood a chance. The glass ripped into her like machine gun fire, tearing and shredding her until nothing remained but a wet red mess that vaguely resembled the person it once was. There was silence for a moment before what once may have been a hand lifted towards King, a pathetic mewling for help gargling from her once pretty face. It would be a miracle if she lived through the next ten minutes. Luthor, who had been watching his smoldering trophy case with a look of profound disappointment, turned at the crying to face Queen's mangled flesh. His eyes widened in shock for the merest of moments before he began to look at the Outsider's anew. His calculating green eyes concealed whatever thoughts lay behind them in that brilliant mind of his, but any who spotted that Luthor was really noticing them for the first time wouldn't fail to realize just how important this moment was. Fenrir began to rouse himself at that moment, slowly sitting up. His Nth metal helmet had negated the damage from King's high powered rifle fire, though the sheer force had near knocked him unconscious. "Urgh. . . " was all he managed to say before a section of Luthor's wall folded in on itself, revealing a secret entrance. From this entrance poured over a dozen of Luthor's personal security forces, known as Lex-Sec. They consisted of former police and military professionals, all highly trained and each armed with plasma rifles and shotguns of Lex's own design, weapons made for high threat situations. These armaments were complemented by high yield stun batons. The commotion from the fight must have alerted the Lex-sec that something was up, but the speed with which they had reacted seemed almost super-human. "Protect Mr Luthor!" ordered one voice, as plasma fire began to scream across the office, indiscriminate as to the targets. A vast majority seemed to be aimed at Thorn, perhaps because he was the most monstrous individual in attendance. Five Lex-Sec pared off from the rest and headed towards Luthor. "About time." Muttered their boss.

Stalwart doesn't even grimace at the hit to his hips, and increases his weight to a full two hundred tons, careful not to go overboard with the weight increase as his full weight might make him break the floor. He slams his fists into Ace's upper back, and he then grabs the android's shoulders. He them jumps, twisting in the air so that Ace would hit the ground back first. He puts his arms in front of his face to guard it against the impact. He then makes himself twice as heavy, aiming to take Ace a few floors down with him. "Going down!"

"Ha! I gotcha!" Madcap celebrated as the Queen squealed in agony when the would-be hero's razor cards sank into her forearm. As the Queen dropped her Sceptre she became visible to all others in the room and the mist she conjured dissipated. Madcap wanted that Sceptre, but had no time to go for it as the enemy speedster was rushing at her.

"Hehe-- Oomph!" she began laughing as the super speedster tripped over the hard light barrier generated by Twilight until Ten's flying body smacked into Madcap's own. Madcap's most favorite toy, her punchline, went flying as both young women went rolling, their arms and legs entangling. "Geth ut meph, yun cah!" Her voice muffled by the villain's weight. The eighteen year old vigilante did her best to squirm her way out from the tangled mess of limbs before Ten got enough of her wits about her to use her superspeed. Twisting her left hand too free it, Madcap attempted to slap her left hand against any part of Ten's body to activate her joy buzzer. With 150,000 volts and 4 milliamps the buzzer was as good as any stun gun.