Other than that, within the corner of his eye, the same comically large rat creature looked like it was about to speak to him, before shutting up and just getting closer to the Hunter. Now that definitely interested the Chosen. What was this rat thinking of accomplishing? Was it looking for some cheese in his back pocket? The tall blue skinned ‘man’ didn’t care for the reason, only the fact they did such.
May as well ‘poke the bear with a stick’, as the Chosen squatted down from his full height of 9’2’ (and even then, was somewhat taller than Dris due to the size comparison here), as he gave one good look at the face of the rat humankind, before saying “You know, it’s rude to be going up to people, and not introducing yourselves. Although, I’m not bothered by this fact, just… mentioning it for further guidance. Nonetheless, you got a specific reason for coming up to me? Perhaps my weapons surely interest you… considering your get-up, I take it you don’t even know what a ‘firearm’ is, much less, a magnetic-rifle.” the Chosen said, more or less wanting to start a conversation regarding his own weapons, the somewhat large sniper rifle on his back called the ‘Darklance’, as well as the revolver like pistol attached to the right hip of his body called ‘Darkclaw’. He especially loved telling stories about these weapons, so, may as well provoke the chance of such occurring.
But before the Hunter could think more about the use of such information, he only mentally face palmed at the very next words coming from some blue haired swordsman (seriously, what is the deal with this group and swords, are they asking to be shot from someone one mile away while they flailing around with their out-of-date weapons, attempting to make them relevant again only to fail miserably when introduced to the wonders of modern technology) who had completely changed the tone of the situation from something actually serious for once to that of a sit-com. Other than the arrival of some confident looking woman who looked more like they belonged in some sort of fashion show, the Hunter merely turned back to face Dris once again, crouching down to his level once more and saying “And to think we are gonna be dealing with this for the rest of our ‘little stay’ here. Heh, hopefully there’s some sort of compensation for going through this kind of ‘torture’ in the coming days.” The Chosen finished, and while it was said quieter than usual, it didn’t take much for others to hear him, especially with him taking a quick glance at the other individuals here.
Mentions (character only, lazy rn and wouldn’t wanna tag people considering it’s not that important): Shantae, Luthor, Lilith, “What happened to the girl” squad, Joel, Hershel, Bayonetta
"... What-what- I know what a rifle is, stupid man-thing weapon!" Dris scrunched up their snout as this... very VERY tall man-thing... they had the feeling they had bitten off more than they could chew talking to him- but NO MATTER! Dris wasn't the type to just... back down from anything!
"And- no care for man-thing greetings, simply seeing- smelling who you were, yes-yes... you-you, different from the others, are you not?" Dris questioned as they began circling around this... man-thing.
"Hngg... Compensation... yes-yes, need-want something for efforts... hngg... what do you-you think it could be?" Dris tilted their head, and then continued circling him, as if the question was more rhetorical, and not meant to be anwered.
However... on their third lap around the hunter, Dris heard... a sound...
"I guess I shouldn't ask, but this isn't another game is it? And why does the rat talk? .. Wait, gonna take a pic."
Rindo pulled out his phone, taking a picture of the rat and attempting to send it to Swallow. It really didn't make sense to him, but he could really care less at this point.
"HNGG hggg... what-what? Have you never seen rat-folk, before, stupid man-thing?" Dris turned towards Rindo, bearing... very sharp looking front teeth, their tail curling around, and their paw reaching in the folds of their clothes for... something. "What-what did you do, with man-thing creation?" Dris nodded downwards, looking at the phone, and then back up at Rindo angrily. They took a step forward, snuffling the air, but not getting too close to Rindo, not yet... They then looked back up at the Hunter, as if silently asking for his input on this... man-thing.
Just when it seemed just about everyone had already made it into Luthor’s office, the elevator doors open once more. A brown-haired boy with a pair of wings on his back wearing a white tunic practically fell into the room.
”Oof-! Sorry I’m late! The elevator was so crowded, I could hardly manage to squeeze myself in!”
His tone soon changed as soon as he took a closer look at the scene before him. By the time he entered, he only managed to catch a glimpse of a girl disappearing in a cloud of smoke. His attention then went man with his hand webbed to the floor screaming his head off. Perhaps it was a good thing he’d missed so much?
”What happened here? What happened to that little girl? She didn’t…evaporate, did she?”
The thought of a human cloud certainly freaked him out. Did clouds even work that way? What would happen if it rained? @Thatguyinastore
Mood - Wary Status - Healthy Interactions/Mentions - @Thatguyinastore
"...Wait, was?" She blurted out after hearing Lex's elaboration. Right, he's supposedly just... owning his little part of the world and doing what he wants, right? And as the population's numbers dwindle, they needed help - but the usual help isn't around? That explains why they're all here, but something doesn't seem right. Red understood the scope of the situation, but - what would have happened to trigger this sudden change in the protector's behaviour? Though she 'was' struggling to think with the rising noise levels in the office, she dared not add more fuel to the fire, opting to remain silence in response to that in particular. Rising to her feet, she shook her head and spoke to Lex again. "I still don't think we're going to get out of this with all of our numbers - we may be a bit underwhelming by ourselves in comparison... if all of us even wanna deal with this." She glanced to the aforementioned scene that kicked up, with people having questioned why Lex even brought children here to begin with. Part of the reason she herself didn't speak up against it is her own experience of fighting from a young age, but it's not like anyone needs to know that.
Cole had a feeling this would be absolute chaos. The metal maniac tossed the bat-wielding lunatic off to the side without a care, the latter flying over MacGrath's head. He couldn't exactly say the prick was asking for it, but that didn't mean the robot was in the clear either. Thing was giving him a bad feeling for some reason; probably that attitude problem it had. Cole's gaze at Ultron was interrupted by a blue hedgehog turning himself into a ball projectile and bouncing right off the glass. He'd suspected something like that would've happened, especially considering Ultron's laser had been reflected right back, but that just sealed the deal. No point in busting out his electric powers yet, he supposed.
Lilith and Shantae's responses weren't very reassuring for him, either. The latter claimed no knowledge on Metropolis before the former asked if Lex and Metropolis were of some importance. At this, the gruff Conduit just shrugged his shoulders.
"Hell if I know. Neither of those names ring any bells to me." The last thing Cole focused on out of the conversations was one more person- a blonde guy proposed a theory that Cole had thought of about, but was reluctant to admit. The group was taken... from different worlds. It would explain the insane variety in the people's appearances; some of them didn't even look like they were human, or even Conduits in Sonic's case.
Either way, Cole had a good amount of time to think on that theory- and examine the others- for the hours that passed. He'd deemed the biggest threat out of the group was far and beyond Sephiroth, the man whose smell woke Cole up. The way he moved so fast, ready to cut anything down with that massive sword of his? Normally, he'd be willing to call someone out on their bullshit, but maybe he was right- maybe they were stuck with that psycho. Cole wasn't sure if he wanted to test that theory just yet. Finally, he'd noticed the watch attached to his wrist, but hadn't touched it at all. From what he could tell, it wasn't removable, and he wasn't about to try and drain or fry it in case the damn thing was some kind of twisted bomb.
Luthor's Office
Regardless, once the group was let in by who seemed to be Luthor's assistant, Cole kept generally to the back of the pack in the elevator, with a slight inclination towards All Might and Cloud, the latter of whom he hadn't interacted with just yet but was still curious to talk to him and that giant sword of his rivalling Sephiroth's. This sentiment didn't change at all when the group got to Lex Luthor's place. MacGrath just leaned back in the corner, sparking tiny bits of electricity from his hands while Luthor started his spiel. The apology for the rough transition merely made Cole scoff quietly, and the selection of "individual skills and abilities" made Cole's eyes narrow.
Right, like a psycho with a bat is likely to help out outta the goodness of his heart. Plus, there was the question of why he would enlist a young girl to get things done, who didn't seem to have any powers of her own. At least, not visible Conduit ones. Her father- or guardian- seemed to have a similar thought, promptly whacking Lex when the guy finally stopped beating around the bush and revealed that their target was an alien who could fly, destroy whole buildings, and laser people to death. Had Luthor not stated that Superman was a "Kryptonian", Cole could've easily mistaken the guy for a Conduit.
But those thoughts about Superman clearly weren't what was on his mind when soldiers sprinted inside to point their guns at Joel. Instinctively, MacGrath lifted a hand in the soldiers' direction, electricity sparking from it as he was ready to potentially retaliate if Joel was shot. Only when Lex called the soldiers off did Cole turn his attention to Joel, starting to move to stop the man from doing anything he'd potentially regret... only to be stopped by the spandex guy who fired webs and incapacitated Joel. The blue lightning coursing through his palm stopped as he lowered it, relaxing as Luthor opened the floor to questions. Cole would've immediately taken this opportunity had it not been for the fact that other people immediately bombarded him, some with similar questions like he did. Some apparent hotheaded kid and the guy with a sentient eyein particular nailed his big question- Why the hell are kids here?
Which was promptly answered by whisking said kid away God-knows-where.
The Demon of Empire City moved quickly himself, but was nowhere near as quick as All Might- who had immediately bulked up before rushing forwards. The revelation that a "great ninja" had replaced Sarah wasn't even acknowledged by Cole, nor most of the actually-concerned cast, as Joel began screaming that he'd rip Luthor's head off. Cole's blue eyes glanced over to the zombie survivor, before shaking his head.
"Calm down. If you kill him, we won't know where he took your daughter." That wasn't to say Cole was calm himself; in fact, anyone could easily tell how restrained he was at the moment. Honestly, this Luthor guy was pissing him off; sure, Superman looked like a massive threat, but Lex wasn't giving the group full details. The fact he evaded Shantae's own question was big enough of a red flag; that, combined with how vague he was about Sarah's new whereabouts, was really giving Cole the impression that Luthor had something to hide.
When All Might turned to demand Sarah's whereabouts, Cole stepped forwards to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the superhero, silently backing the guy up as he opened his mouth to speak...
...Until some idiot teleported onto Luthor's desk, obstructing Cole and All Might's line of sight to Lex. Now, this would've been tolerable despite the stressful circumstances if Schezo had something meaningful to say.
"LEX LUTHOR! GIVE ME... HEAD!"
Needless to say, Schezo didn't.
"Get out of our damn way, you moron!" Cole snarled as the restraint in his tone and in his expression fell apart, giving way to a deep scowl. The crazy antics from the cage, the fact that Luthor was acting so evasively, and the circumstances in general had taken a massive toll on Cole's patience, and Schezo's idiocy- ignoring the gravity of the current situation- had been the straw that broke the camel's back.
Shockwave: A self-explanatory attack, Cole pushes out an electrical shockwave to knock people, objects, and even larger projectiles (such as rockets) out of the way. People hit by the shockwave will float in the air in slow-motion until they are hit by the ground, a wall, or an attack.
Electricity sparked at Cole's hands as he created a Shockwave! If Schezo (or anyone else stupid enough to block Cole and All Might) didn't get out of the way, he'd promptly be knocked off the desk and float in the air until he hit the wall behind Luthor- though thankfully it wouldn't hurt that much, besides the initial knockback.
Regardless, assuming Schezo was out of the way, MacGrath's hands continued sparking slightly with electricity as he shot a glance at Otto, who'd already shown (in Cole's eyes) a minor amount of bootlicking towards Luthor. Though Cole didn't say anything at the Spider-Man, nor did he point his electrified palms in the Superior Spider-Man's direction, the message was obvious- You better not interfere with us finding out the girl's whereabouts. Only when he was certain Otto wasn't going to at least try and web him and All Might up next did he turn his blue-eyed gaze towards Luthor, hopefully with nothing or nobody in the way. To show he wasn't about to fry Luthor yet, the electricity through his hands finally stopped, instead balling up his fists.
"Look. I'm not in that great of a mood, and I'm sure a lot of other people share that sentiment. So I'm gonna try and stay as civilized as possible here, and give you a chance before I let my patience wear out. First off, you'd better show us where that Sarah is, and let her father-" A guess as to what Joel was- "see her to make sure. And don't give me any bullshit about not being able to do that, considering you were able to rip us all outta our worlds."
"Secondly, if you're lying about that 'chosen for our talents and abilities' stuff, and something went wrong, lay it out straight. I don't think you're stupid enough to believe a little girl could help stop a flying alien with eye lasers, so if your machine screwed up and pulled her in then you'd better admit that here and now. Same thing goes for any of those other claims, like the Justice League being busy. If the rest of the Justice League are in cahoots and you're sending us into a death trap, you'd better at least tell us what else we're up against." To finish his own irritated barrage of questions off, Cole finally lifted up his arm, showing the watch to Luthor- one that everyone else almost certainly had, too.
"Finally, you haven't mentioned anything about this watch. Is this yours? Meant to be some kinda tracker to make sure none of us go rogue?" Though it wasn't as important as finding Sarah, the watch was still very concerning in and of itself. And he sure as hell hoped he didn't get some politician-esque response from Luthor that equated to "that thing doesn't matter". Because Cole really wanted an ounce of honesty from this guy, instead of afterthoughts and backtracking like what he just did to Sarah.
Date watched the man closely as he pressed a button, eyes raising as he quickly turned to Sarah to watch as she disappeared, the scrawny man suddenly getting buffer and trying to leap forwards and grab the girl, just being short of missing her. He then turned back to Lex and glared at him through gritted, however Joel was already pissed off enough at this, and the dude who had the cat with him, the scrawny now buff dude was shouting about knowing where the girl was sent to, to which Date could only silently agree, wishing he was being given allowance to use the evolver, however Aiba made it clear this wasn't a situation where she could allow. So there he sat, glaring at the man to give them an answer
Interacting: @Thatguyinastore ================================================================================================================================================================= Trevor nodded to the man, then made his way carefully to Kira, making sure as to not bump into anyone and cause anymore action that wouldn't be needed. He glanced to Jeff who seemed to grab a bottle without even asking for the man to move, however he looked to Kira directly "So terribly sorry to bother, but could you please move out of the way so I can grab myself a bottle as well? Or even maybe you'd like to have a drink with me while those more willing to start swinging in this fight each other to death or something?"
Grey's question goes unanswered for the moment as he turns his attention towards the little girl who had just disappeared in a puff of smoke. The sight was enough to stun Grey for a second before he turns once again to Luthor, ready to ask her where she'd been taken. Fortunately- or perhaps unfortunately- more threatening folks had already gotten to doing that, with one of them even knocking the crowd gathered in front of Luthor's desk and potentially Luthor himself away. The billionaire probably wouldn't take kind to being knocked on his keister twice in a row today, but with all the points everyone's bringing up, Grey can't help but admit that he does deserve it. Still, though, they need to defuse this situation, fast, before things get messy.
"Whoa! Hey! Hairless dude! The one with the powers, I mean! Calm down a little! This guy's got some crazy security measures in place, and who knows if he'll start using them on us again if we keep getting too close!" the fox shouts at Cole, though his voice is laced more with worry than any actual anger. Grey then turns to Luthor once again to address this. "Look, Luthor, sir," he starts, unable to keep a slight sarcastic sneer from creeping into his tone. "These guys have a point. We need more info- and we need to know where you took that kid."
The fox keeps watch for any security detail that might be moving into the room after that stunt. Again, an understandable reaction from Cole, but it might not go over so well with Mr. Big over here.
The machine listened patiently as Luthor explained himself. He stood eerily still, if not for the red glow he emitted he could have been mistaken for some form of demonic statue. He was ready to dive back into the internet for information when he heard Luthor explain his reason for bringing all of them to his doorstep for a work opportunity. He chuckled dryly "So you want to tell me that you dragged me out of my greatest triumph... To work for you as some kind of AI Assassin?" He looked at Luthor expectantly while dragging a mechanical claw down his wallpaper defiantly. However, as he watched the subsequent video he felt the closest thing he could to nausea, not so much from the blood and gore. But the sheer fact it was some adored 'hero' doing it. He clenched a fist in silence as he watched the display, however he was no fool. The AI hated so called heroes but he didn't trust Luthor either, so he was going to comb the footage for editing or any other form of tampering. He wanted to break the man's neck already but it looked like someone had beat him to the punch. He watched as the brawl broke out as the one man in the group began to attack for the sake of his daughter. He only hoped none of these idiots would bother him while he was computing. The robot doubted as much with how standoffish he looked, both a blessing and a curse.
Location - Some place that isn't hell Mood - ... Bringing in children and then holding them as bargaining chips is a dick move, Mister Dickhead. Status - ...
A sickening crack boomed across the room when I slammed my fist into Luthor’s desk after everything that has happened. Splinters bounced off my visor and scattered to the floor. Cracks spread across the desk in a spider-web fashion which reached both ends. I tore my fist out of the crater formed by the impact as I scowled. My hand throbbed with an ache at being slammed, but I paid it no heed and to whatever Luthor's reaction was, instead turning around and marched over to where the one named ‘Joel’ was webbed at.
I glanced at one of the few seemingly trying to calm the man down. Only a nod was given to acknowledge his presence, but I grabbed the webbing and ripped it apart. It was not even worth the effort to tear it all out given my strength so it was likely a few strands would be left behind by the time was I done ripping them off if I wasn't interrupted before then.
“... Please forgive the Doom Slayer. He understands your desire to sock Luthor in the face is great, but we are in a disadvantageous position and Luthor now holds Sarah captive. Continued aggression may cause harm to her.” Vega, ever the mediator, tried to calm Joel down with the fact that Sarah could very well be in harm’s way while Joel was still ensnared in the webs.
My scowl deepened. As much as I hate to admit it, Luthor did hold most of the cards. The fact that the alterations seemed to be gone was a point in our favor, but between him commanding the tech that would send us back home and the human guards, we had been put on the back foot. But things would change. Oh how things will change.
Sonic’s smile widened as Spamton stood up, seemingly unharmed. He didn’t know what he’d do if he had seriously injured him. He pulled back his arm and put both of them on his hips, though he soon thereafter heard someone shout to him. Thanks to his particularly sharp reflexes, the hedgehog caught the gem without an issue. ”Alright, thanks!” The hedgehog said. Before he took a closer look at the gem, he figured he’d address Spamton first.
”Glad you’re alright, buddy! What’s your name? I’m Sonic, So- Whoa!” Before he could finish his sentence, he was dragged away by the salesman. Though he could’ve easily broken free from his grasp, the hedgehog simply decided to go with it.
Somehow, the elevator was even more cramped than the cage. If he didn’t get a chance to stretch his legs sometime soon, he’d have to bring his complaints straight to management. Fortunately for him, that was exactly where this elevator was supposed to be taking him. Arriving in Lex Luthor’s office, suffice to say he wasn’t very impressed.
A bit to fancy for the hedgehog’s liking. This man had assembled quite a colorful-looking cast of people, most of them no doubt coming from worlds outside of his own. He spotted a genie (which brought back some fond memories), a robot (which brought back some distasteful memories) and a fox. He couldn’t help but be reminded of his friends back home… He better have had a good reason for all of this.
And a good reason he certainly had. With each passing moment, this situation was feeling more and more familiar…
“You summoned us here with some strange magic to take care of some big bad, yeah? Well, consider it done!” The hedgehog confidently stated. What was it gonna be this time? Superpowers? He already had the perfect superhero name! …Actually, that wasn’t really his style. “Sonic” suited him just fine, and already had everything he needed to take care of bad guys.
Tensions seemed to escalate pretty fast, though. It made sense that some people wouldn’t wanna be involved in this, much less their own child. Sonic was more than willing to lend a hand, but something about this seemed a bit…fishy. Regardless, Joel was taking things a bit too far. Before Sonic could try to intervene, the man’s daughter seemed to have vanished in a cloud of smoke. “Whoa, hey, what did you do to her?!” Sonic shouted, his otherwise carefree tone rising. ”That guy is right, though. I’ll help you find your daughter, but for right now you need to keep a level head.” The hedgehog said, trying to reassure Joel. As justified as his anger was, Cole was right. Anger would get them nowhere.
Sanford chuckled yet again but stopped himself once Luthor shot him a glance. His laughter died down to an awkward giggle before hushing completely. While Voss was already by the counter where Kira was, drinking to his heart's contents, the pair watched with the others as Luthor pulled up a hologram to play for the group. It turns out they were all in a city known as Metropolis, which was overrun with superheroes. More specifically, Luthor directed their attention toward one so-called "Superman." To Voss, he wasn't impressed. Superman came off as a very "Gary Stu" type of character and as for Sanford... well, maybe Tricky would beat him in a fight.
Then Luthor showed the gruesome footage. Neither of the two were very appalled - they'd become desensitized by violence and even Voss rolled his eyes at Luthor's reactions - but it did show Superman's capabilities. And, more importantly, it gave the duo a reason to want to pursue Superman. It seemed all fine and dandy to Sanford, but Voss neither cared enough nor was any more frightened. He wanted to be free and go about his own terms. What's stopping him from simply walking out?
Before Voss would do that, however, an emotional Joel pushed himself through the crowd, shoving Sanford among many others, and clocked Luthor square in the jaw. It really was only a matter of time, in all honesty. It was standard procedure at this point. Someone would tell them the plan, everyone fights someone, then BOOM back to work! Even though Luthor had successfully fended off Joel for the moment, he had angered some of the others for essentially holding a child hostage. Again, Voss could care less, but at least Sanford shared some of the sentiment of the others.
"Hey, man! That's not cool! You can't just do that! Where did you put her?" The mercenary spun his meathook again, but this time, he let go last moment to cast the hook. It was intended to use it to attach onto the bald man and fish him closer toward the crowd, but whether or not it would land would be up to fate.
Voss, on the other hand, would wait for the chaos to calm down somewhat. Or, at least, enough to allow the sea captain to approach Luthor without being mauled. Voss had detached the bayonet at the end of one of his Jakobs. While he proceeded toward Luthor, he fidgeted with the blade in one hand while he still had his bourbon in the other. When he was finally given the opportunity to speak, Voss twirled the blade across his fingers casually.
"Alright, alright... All that sounds reasonable an' all, but... huat if I don't want to? Huat if I donnay care? Like, huat I mean is, huat's stoppin' me from jest up an' leavin' ya? Huh?"
No one's reaction - from All Might's to Fret's - was enough for Lex to even so much as slightly budge. He remained as stoic as a statue, only giving the same uncaring stare throughout all the displays of strife. However, the bald man ultimately did oblige. Another button was pressed, and the table from before lit up with a holographic image. It showed Sarah in what seemed to be some kind of... playroom? She was seated in front of a TV, watching what seemed to be an action movie. Beside her stood the same blonde woman who'd greeted the majority of the group to begin with. She had her arms down by her side, and an almost... stern look? But for the most part, Sarah seemed to be totally fine.
"See? She's fine. Just as I said she'd be." With that, the video feed was cut, and Lex turned to the woman who'd appeared in Sarah's place. "And an introduction isn't necessary," he held up a hand, shaking his head. "I'm well aware of who you are and what you can do."
He cleared his throat, before shifting his gaze to address the group as a whole.
"Not all of you must have experience in killing to be of aid," he said, mostly in response to Spamton's comment. "You all have your own strengths, and I trust that you will be using them well." a sigh escaped his nose and he rolled himself forward a bit, adjusting the posture of his arms. "Superman himself, however, is very dangerous. On top of the already shown heat vision and flight, he is also nigh invulnerable to most basic attacks. Simple bullets and combat moves won't work on him - you have to be craftier than that," the interruption of Schezo caused Luthor to glare in his direction, before promptly clearing his throat. Rather loudly, at that. He didn't seem intimidated by him, just... annoyed, really. He'd wait until Schezo got off his desk before continuing.
"If the Justice League wanted to help, then they'd have done so by now," he replied dryly to Sougo - drier than before, in fact. "For the time being, you all will be on your own." The sudden entrance of Bayonetta, Pit, and Rindo caused Lex to look at them next, "This isn't a game, nor a party, I'm afraid." Cole was next, and thanks to his efforts, he'd prevented Doomguy from destroying his priceless desk. A fact that was for the best, really. It was worth more than anyone in this room... besides maybe Ultron. "The girl was chosen because of her relation to Joel. Joel, in turn, was chosen because of his survival skills." Luthor reclined back into his seat once more. "But... you requested that I put her somewhere safe - so? I did." He then shifted his gaze more forwardly as Cole showed off the watch. "It's a communication device. It allows you all to communicate with each other at any place - or any time," he then turned to face Joel. "Although your daughter no longer has it, unfortunately." with that, he faced Cole again.
"There's also its ability to swap places with anyone else using the watch, at any time. Simply select said person, and you will swap with them instantaneously. Though, I will mention," Lex paused, and lifted a finger. "There are others, ones who are not in this group, with these watches. Their names aren't registered in the system, but their locations will appear on the map at all times. If you wish to swap with one of them, you can."
"But what's important to remember is that this feature uses a lot of LexCorp's resources. As such, you will only be able to do it three times each. After that, the feature will be disabled."
"You all have your roles to play in this. Should you refuse to help, not only would you be putting the lives of billions at risk - but you'd also be out of a way home. Now, maybe you'll enjoy living here in Metropolis. Or perhaps even Gotham, or even Keystone. But something tells me that you all need to go home, just as bad as we need Superman taken out."
Something in the pit of Otto’s gut wasn’t fine with this turn of events. He was quiet because he calculated exactly what the hell was happening on screen. His best guess, without even listening to Luthor: goody-two-shoes goes megalomaniacal to try and make ‘the best world possible’. He’s seen it happen, after all. So he had no reason to doubt Lex, other than the extremely sour vibes he was getting. Game, as a phrase welling up from Peter’s memory indicated, recognized game. He didn’t know what Luthor would gain from this other than some form of clout, but he would figure that out in the field.
Spider-Man addressed the room. “We’ll need to compartmentalize. Preferably, we need an information team, a tactical team, and a strike team for the final blow. Information discovers anything and everything we can use in the coming fight, tactical will consist of people capable of applying that information, and strike, well, I won’t demean you all by explaining that. I will feature on all three teams, and some overlap is no doubt necessary, but this is based on skills, not affability. You’ll only need to work with these people just this once, and then we all go home.”
Something kept Otto from nominating himself leader over all the operations. He was going to have to get that checked out later. But taking a stance of authority amidst chaos felt so damn GOOD.
For once through this entire meeting, the Nekomata had finally interacted with the ongoing conversation, letting out a loud scoff with a tone of disbelief as soon as Otto had said his piece. It was calculated too, done in the exact moment the room seemed to finally go quiet...
"Hah! As if you could tell me what to do! I shall be going nowhere without Hershel, or his explicit orders!!", Berit hissed out word by word in uncanny amounts of outrage, she also seemed to throw Bayonetta a glance during it, reaffirming her property before the witch could even dare taking a step closer. The fact that the other's presence got the cat feeling threatened lacking a single effort of concealment.
"If anything...", suddenly the tone changed, it was less of a instinctive reaction and more of a rational and confident statement, like someone boasting about their services. It didn't take long for her to throw a demonstration into the fray, hopping out of the windowsill- Now there were two of the Superior Spider-man! The copy spoke with the exact same voice even, it was kind of trippy, "I'd say that my abilities will prove useful for all teams as well."
A small mystical cyan-colored flame ignited just above the shapeshifter's palm, a glow of the same color residing in the previous white of the mimicked mask. Just for an instant. A blink of an eye later, Berit had taken her own human form, her ears and tail sticking out from it, all fire gone, for now.
"It would be beneficial to you if we aaall stayed in good terms now, wouldn't it~?"
And there she stood, proud and confident as if awaiting praise and shocked reactions out of her little 'performance'. Once in the stage, it stuck to you like glue!
================================================================================================================================================================= Trevor nodded to the man, then made his way carefully to Kira, making sure as to not bump into anyone and cause anymore action that wouldn't be needed. He glanced to Jeff who seemed to grab a bottle without even asking for the man to move, however he looked to Kira directly "So terribly sorry to bother, but could you please move out of the way so I can grab myself a bottle as well? Or even maybe you'd like to have a drink with me while those more willing to start swinging in this fight each other to death or something?"
In turn, Yoshikage Kira looked up at the man who had approached him. Truth be told, being approached at all was an antithesis to his plan for this place, that being to escape as quickly and quietly as possible, moving chess pieces on the board where it was necessary but never overplaying his hand, nor making a gesture so grandiose that the eye of the crowd fell upon him. To be spoken to by one of the crowd was, in that way, not an outright failure - but Kira took no pleasure in it all the same. Still, he could not betray it if he wished to maintain his charade, and so he nodded a curt, abrupt nod, lifting the bottle from the desk and setting another glass on the table.
"If it is to your liking, I would prefer to drink alone. I mean no offense - I'd just like to numb the sensation of all these voices rattling in my ears by my lonesome. By all means, though, allow me to pour you a drink."
With that, Kira topped up his own glass first, and then poured Trevor a drink of his own, sliding it by the rim across the table toward him and then standing from his seat, his own drink taken with him, exchanging yet another curt nod with Trevor on his way. "Enjoy," he said to him, and then said no more. With that out of the way, Kira proceeded to the window overlooking the vast skyline of Metropolis, paying attention to every word that was said and giving the room a sideways glance every one in a while, but focusing on, for the most part, the drink swirling in his glass and the world beyond that thin sheet of glass.
The fox listens curiously, his tail flicking idly behind him. From the relief of Sarah being okay- apparently- to the newly provided information of Superman's strength and the description of the watches, he feels a bit more satisfied with this mission briefing. Of course, he still has yet to find a reason to trust this Luthor apart from a bigger threat at hand, but that motivation's seem to come up a lot in the past day.
"Okay. So we're being sent on a mission to take down a super-powerful alien who's killing everyone he comes across with only these watches and a few minutes of getting to know each other?" Grey recaps with a raised brow, the plan becoming more and more ridiculous as he puts it into words.
"Guess we've got a long night ahead."
From above Grey's nose comes a blue spark, and without warning, a transparent energy, with texture that seems identical to glass forms around his eyes like a visor.
"Let's gear up, everybody!"
@Thatguyinastore and technically everyone else but i'm not pinging everyone for that that's just rude
It seemed Bayonetta's light jokes were lost on Mr. Luthor. Ah well, he wouldn't have been the first. It'd be rarer to find the contrary, actually. Sometimes it felt like every talkative type in town managed to find their way to her. Though despite how usually impatient she found herself with those who were content to ramble on, she seemed to listen, albeit annoyedly, to Luthor's lengthy ramble in response to all the questions he'd received. Though her silvery blue eyes were focused on anything but who she was listened to as she caught wind of the glare dripping with content from the squire's little friend after she complimented his point. Oh, it seemed someone here was quite the jealous type. Bayonetta gave the Nekomata a smirk in response to her rage, watching as she put on her little show with a small clap. "If that's what gets him to pay for dinner, then I think you've earned your tip." She quipped with the same unwavering expression, before turning her full attention back onto Luther. As rude as this interruption to her schedule had been, she supposed she'd seen a worse hand of odds. "I suppose I'll come along for the ride, then. Another painting in the gallery of rogues couldn't hurt." She stated, joining in the statements of the others that they'd join in on this quest. Well, she doubted that there was really a choice to go by from what she'd heard before, but any freedom they could grab seemed enticing.
Ultron's scrubbing of the video feed Lex had provided would soon prove fruitless, as he found. Whether or not this was a surprise was up to the murderbot himself - but, from what he could find, the video hadn't been altered or tampered with in any way, shape, or form.
Once Sanford attempted to throw his hook toward Luthor, it was almost instantly reflected back toward the grunt thanks to Cole's Shockwave attack. It returned to electrifyingly strike Sanford square in the face, causing him to ragdoll and flip back onto his belly. After a few seconds when the hook finished jumbling on the ground, Sanford unsteadily rose to his feet as he muttered something under his breath.
"... OW! I'm alright...! My lip isn't split, is it?" , speaking to nobody in particular.
Voss, meanwhile, wasn't satisfied with Luthor's answer. The last thing he cared about was home and those around him. What did peak his interest, however, was the watch. Paying little attention to its drawbacks, the sea captain immediately began fiddling with the device. He hadn't activated it to swap places with another user yet, but he was eager to leave a place that - at least to him - lacked the proper consequences to give to those who refuse to cooperate with Luthor.
"... So… I can select anyone on t'is map… an' swap wit' 'em... right now…?" Voss' tone was saturated with delight.
The tension in All Might’s body seemed to ease slightly at seeing that Sarah was safe, though he did cast a glance back towards Joel where Doomguy had him restrained, curious to see if he was satisfied. Whatever the answer would be, the retired hero felt it best to move onto the subject at hand: Superman.
But he was beat to the punch this time, and by what appeared to be a fellow hero. He listened quietly as Spider-Man proposed his plan, giving an approving nod towards the end.
”That seems as wise a plan as any. This Superman seems to be quite the foe, one we can’t hope to defeat unless we pool our resources and allocate each to the most appropriate task.” he began, stepping up to address the gathered group more out of habit than attempting to claim a leadership role. ”While I wholeheartedly disagree with Mr. Luthor’s methods, the threat — and our own personal stake in this — is quite clear. This young man has proposed three teams; Information, Tactical, and Strike. I agree with this division of skills. Those of you who are willing to take Mr. Luthor’s offer: I would like to request that you state whatever powers or skills you have to contribute to this mission, or perhaps just which team you feel best suited to be on.”
“And, of course, if you’ve got any better ideas than this, feel free to speak up.”
