[IC] Young Justice Renegades: A Team Worth Dying For

[Lord Wraith]

	PLACEHOLDER	C H A R I T Y C H A R L E S T O N C H A R I T Y C H A R L E S T O N ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Before Cece had a chance to truly get her bearings, the wall beside her exploded. A massive arm filled her field of vision as her feet left the ground and she found herself moving through the air before colliding with the wall on the opposite side of the room. The nanites in her body reacted predictably, reinforcing her back upon impact and distributed the force across her body to minimize its effect.

A sensation that Charity hadn't felt since before the accident buzzed in the back of her head.

Pain.

Normally that would slow someone down, normally that would be a deterrent. But as Cece stood up again, she had to admit she felt a rush of adrenaline, for the first time in almost three years, she felt alive.

And the was invigorating.

Looking to Conor and then Julian, Cece ensured both men were okay before she rushed into the fray. Dandelion had used his canine form to restrain the grotesquely large man, meaning Cece had a fairly clean shot. Covering the length of the room faster than one could blink, the young woman's enhanced body reacted quickly, launching her into the air. A sharp knee collided with the ballistics mask, shattering it and breaking the nose underneath. With trained agility, Charity continued her momentum, and somersaulted over the man's head, tucking her knees in for a roll before landing behind their assailant. Lashing out with a sharp kick, Cece made contact with the back of the knee situated below Dandy's jaws, dropping the criminal to a more manageable height.

Moving quickly while they were holding the advantage, Charity wrapped her bionic arm around the man's bulging neck and began to squeeze as hard as she could. Looking to the rest of her teammates for help, Cece called out to the collective group as she and Dandy restrained the monster of a man.

"Any time now, party people!"

---

[Natty]

Gabi felt her innards twist and turn as the magical energies of Julian and Conor’s machine sucked her down through the ground. She stumbled forward once she finally found herself on solid ground again, steadying herself against a wall as she took in the new materialised world around her. They certainly were not in Conor’s lab anymore.

The group found themselves in the centre of what appeared to be the precinct’s bull pen. What would normally be a hub of activity for Seattle’s police force, was now a derelict ruin, with desks and chairs tossed asunder, and paperwork scattered everywhere. The room was surprisingly barren of life, save for themselves, with the officers and any other personnel having begun to barricade themselves into side offices. It certainly wasn’t quiet though, with a mixture of sirens and gun fire raining down around them all.

The most surprising feature of the room was the overturned police car that currently lay as its centrepiece. Thankfully, it seemed that no one had been inside it during its flight here, as Gabi discovered with a quick glance inside.

Ignoring the confused shouts of the officers that sat hidden behind the room’s various doorways, Gabi stepped cautiously towards the far wall, which was now mostly a pile of rubble and broken shards of glass. Clearly this was where the car had come from. She moved slowly, keeping low as she tried to peak down onto the street below. She only caught a glance before the gunfire rang in her direction, causing her to dart backwards into safety. It was enough though, as she had easily spotted her target. Truth be told it wasn’t tough to miss the muscular behemoth.

A plan in mind, she turned back towards the group of fellow heroes behind her.

“Someone take out the gunmen” She instructed, taking charge as she readied her grip on her axe. “I’ve got the big guy.”

Turning back towards the hole, she took a deep breath as she focussed on the droplets of rain falling from the sky above. Pushing herself upwards, Wonder Girl charged forwards. She sprung up from the floor and out into the Seattle air, axe raised above her head as she soured down towards to the drugged-up madman.

[psych0pomp]

---

LOCATION : BANK OF THE WEST INTERACTIONS : THE BANK GROUP TIME : MY PHONE IS IN MY POCKET

---

“Turn right at the next intersection, and you’ve reached your destination,” the GPS on Hana’s phone robotically eked out. She lowered it from her ear, not being able to hear much at the velocity she was traveling. It went back into her pocket, which existed underneath the energy suit that covered her. She whipped around the corner, hovering for a moment to take in her surroundings. She didn’t want to be surprised, because looking like a chump on their first official mission wasn’t on her to-do list. While Hana wasn’t in this to look good, she didn’t want to have a stick rammed up her ass and be roasted over a low roiling campfire—much like Booster Gold, who they were to save. She ran a tongue over her teeth at that thought. Maybe she should ask for his lawyer’s number after she saved his ass.

The sound of a gun firing broke Hana from her thoughts. She'd understood that the intruders had been armed with… well arms. Someone had a gun, too? Wait. Had Julian and the team arrived before her and already started? Shit! Well this was embarrassing. Hana rocketed down toward the ground, slapped her hand against the surface, and used it to pivot, launching into the bank. The turnstile doors spun faster than was probably allowed by the building code. She eyed the hole that was artificially created by one of the Renegades. Money was on… literally anyone but Eilidh. Unless her lack of vision was due to her eyes being fucking lasers. So, Hana flew towards the hole—and into a shit show.

Julian was clinging to a suitcase and was quite a bit away from the lone, muscled brute that was menacing the rest of the group. She eyed the Luthor. ”Hey, hot stuff, you okay?” Then there was a dog. Wait, they had a dog? She knew they had a dinosaur. It was then the dog went for the robber’s crotch and took a meaty bite out of that soft, soft area.
[HOSTILE ALIEN PRESENCE DETECTED.] The ring announced to her.
”Yeah, that’s Dandy.”
[BUT IT DOES NOT SEEM LIKE A NOMINAL ACTION.]
”No, that’s Dandy, my teammate.”
[CORRECTION LOGGED.]

Cece went into action, moving with an unprecedented speed, vaulting over the robber, bringing him to his knees, and then sliding her arm around his neck and holding tight. All these things happened in rapid succession, and Hana had barely a moment to think—and unfortunately, the ring required a cognitive connection.

”I’m sure you boys know how to beat the meat…head.” Hana said to Conor and Red. Her ring glowed and green cords shot out—much like a fluorescent steel cable. They wrapped tightly around the robber’s wrists attempting to bind them together and hold them tight. Honestly, no one here was capable of taking out the big guy’s guns except for her. The rest seemed absolutely fine to keep getting hit. So, maybe they could step up and do some hitting themselves. She dug her heels into the air and pulled tight against the cable. It was not really needed. The tension created by the green construct was enough, but it was the thought that count.

“Eelster! You got a read on anyone else? I’m sure they know we’re here. Guns’ll do that.” She paused. It was then that Hana had a realization—was she being tactical? Goddamnit. “Fucking John, and his constant fucking lessons… good thing he can’t see me now. I don’t want any of those bullshit ‘I told you so’s.”

[Hillan]

As Hana emerged on the scene, securing the restrained thug, whom was roaring in pain and anger as he was losing blood and was starting to feel the pain. Julian noticed that the man was losing about half a percent of muscle mass per 10 seconds. Whatever it was that gave him his massive size was running out. He crawled onto his feet to respond to Hana's comment and congratulate her on a good save.

"Nice one Green Lanter-" The leader of this ragtag group of heroes uttered before the flooring under Hana crumbled, only for a massively oversized fist to grab the Intergalactic peace keeper's foot and pulling her down through the floor, into the vault under it, throwing her onto the marble floor 10 meters under where she had previously been standing. "HANA!" He shouted, climbing to his feet heading over to the man restrained, and put his gloved hand onto his forehead. A blast of electricity surged through the thug, not affecting his allies holding onto him. Julian's leather glove began smoking as the thug's eyes fell close after a loud yelling and convulsing as caused by the massive amount of electricity he just faced. Julian peeled the now burning glove from his hand, as the man was knocked well and truly unconscious by the tasing.

"You can let go. The trackers you got for the teleporter insulates you to electricity from my gloves. But they're single use. I need a more eco-friendly alternative next time. Burns like a bitch, too." The Luthor said his hand in the air blowing cold air on it. He was still dizzy from the hit. But he was curius as to how this thug lost his size so quickly, as he was now half as muscular as he had been when he attacked them.

[spicykvnt]

The telepath was already at work, her head tilted upwards as she placed her trust in the team to keep the robbers from her back. Her vision was flashes of light, but she could make out the feel of the bank, with a sideways tilt she stared off in the direction of Booster Gold. She had found him faster than she had expected. He was in a great deal of pain, and lost between breaths - in and out of consciousness over and over.

"Booster Gold -- wake up, and stay quiet. Concentrate on my voice, listen to my voice.

Eilidh visualised her words reaching him, floating to him like paper planes on a light breeze - even if the scene was anything but. A paper plane would erupt into flames here - but she had to maintain absolute focus, even in the eye of the storm. So she did. She did not move.

"Booster Gold, we're here to save you but I need you to wake up-"

"Still more," she called out to Hana in her actual voice. There was a strain in her voice as she moved through each of them, reading the emotions of the room. The anger, the determination, the pain, the fear. "I've got Booster!"

[Theyra]

Seattle
Police Precinct
Varo Yelkian

It certainly felt weird being teleported by the power of magitech. Varo felt off and dizzy for a moment and stumbled forward only to catch himself. Shaking his head to focus and took a moment to adjust before getting a look around. Julian's and Conor's magitech worked to his amazement. He was inside of the police station. Along with the others and they too were off-balance like he was. He should ask Conor more how it works but, later, time to save people and deal with these thieves.

Taking a good look around at the remains of the precinct’s bull pen. Tossed desks, chairs, and paper littered the room. That and the overturned police car that was in the middle of the room. No bodies, so that was a plus, and the sound of shouting humans made it that there were still some police alive. Who knows right now how many are hurt or worse right now. The constant sound of sirens going off did not hide the sounds of gunfire. So there has to be someone fighting the thieves right now, or else what could these thieves be shooting at. Time was of the essence, and as Varo was about to move and try to locate the thieves.

Varo saw that Gabriella was already ahead of him. Looking through a hole in the wall, and was met with a volley of gunfire when he poked her head out. She turned to the group and said about someone to go after the gunman while she went after the big guy. "I got that," and Varo turned to face the others. "Let's see get to work" With that, Varo moved forward toward the hole in the wall. Stacking against it, and took a looked out. It did not take long before Varo spotted the gunman. The gunman sent a volley of gunfire towards Varo.

Knowing where the gunman is, Varo summoned blue stellar energy that formed around his hands and sent a quick volley at the gunman, taking the time to step back. Summoning a shield of stellar energy covered his front, and ran and jumped out of the window to close the distance with the gunman. Now to see how he fares against some enhanced humans.

[DocTachyon]

This time, Hayden would do it. For sure. During her travels with Captain Marvel she’d experienced a few means of teleportation -- Zeta tubes, Shazam mumbo jumbo, and a smattering of other magical means of movement. But, still, she had never seen it, the moment of transposition. The interiors of the Zeta tubes were always too bright for her to watch as they transported; and the lion’s share of the other means would apparently melt a mere mortal’s brain into clam chowder upon simple observation.

It was one of the things on Hayden’s bucket list, the one she started with scratches on the floor of her former cage, and one that only swelled as her experiences broadened. A list of perfect places and staggering sights -- to see the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, to visit Dinosaur Island, to witness the very moment of instant transport. What would it look like? Conor and Julian’s device smacked of opportunity, to see it before her very eyes… Eyes that were starting to itch.

She kept them open, regardless, as Julian rattled off the teleporter specs and how many teraflops or whozit-whatsits it had. The squad lineup passed her by as she focused on keeping her eyelids peeled back, demanding her saurid eyes didn’t miss the magical moment of transition. There’d be time to see who she was deployed with at the bank, certainly.

Her eyes begged for relief. A quick blink to quell the budding tears in her eyes… Maybe she could chance it, just one. Julian had a way of going on, and on, and on…

Hayden closed her eyes and opened them somewhere else.

“Damnit.” Dino-Man squeezed his gloved fists. Another chance to see something otherworldly, gone. And Julian had sent the fossilized crime-fighter to the Precinct, away from the real action. Dino-Man made a mental note to turn all of Julian’s tools into a deluge of diminutive dromiceiomimus and make him chase them around the penthouse. But that would have to wait. There were hostages to save, and he could tell the other team was already getting into action.

The impressions from his network of paper dinosaurs were already washing over him, the scent of adrenaline and the faintest copper tang of blood -- the enemy’s, Hayden hoped.

“Someone take out the gunmen”, Gabi said, cracking Hayden’s focus, “I’ve got the big guy.”

“I can handle a few peashooters, leave ‘em to me! I got this!” Hayden yelled. Hopefully the others would go help Gabi and leave him to his own devices, except for Roy, perhaps. A colorful distraction that wasn’t half bad on the eyes couldn’t hurt…

Besides, Gabi might need the backup. Since he didn’t have the ability, Dino-Man didn’t quite understand it himself, but the scaling on superstrength was weird. Red was one of the biggest, toughest guys Hayden had ever met, but Gabi could probably punt him like a football -- and who’s to say this goon couldn’t do the same to her? Gabi was a tough cookie, but the prospect of seeing that cookie crumble set her stomach into further dis-ease.

Hayden approached a pair of desks on the bullpen floor of tanned and rusted metal. Whether they were fused together at production or from years of wear and heat was anyone’s guess, but right now they were exactly what he needed.

Dino-Man placed his palms on the metal and concentrated. Something big and brawny, as muscular as Red but as durable as Johnny’s armor. Something that could eat lead and keep going ahead. The dinosaur’s form began to coalesce as sweat beaded beneath Hayden’s mask.

The desks groaned as they twisted and changed, metal scrunching itself into an armored plate with dull, bony spikes protruding around the sides. The surface of the plate lurched forward, defining a snout and a face as the remaining metal folded itself into a chest cavity.

And there it was, a full metal triceratops. Hayden’s hair was damp in his mask, pressed tight against his skull. He ignored the beads of sweat beginning to leak down his face and out the suit’s orifices as he mounted the steel saurid. The triceratops let out an acknowledging bleat as Hayden sidled closer to its head. By sitting far enough ahead, and crouching just a little, he could protect his whole body from the bullets behind the shield of the dino.

“Dial 1-800-DINO-MAN if you need more backup!” he shouted after Gabi. He dug his heels into the triceratops’ sides, “c’mon, boy, we have some fools to foil!”

[Roman]

A lot of things happened within the first 180 seconds of the so called 'Alpha squad' landing at the bank, the most principle of which was Vincent quickly scurrying off to a corner to vomit into a miraculously un-demolished potted plant. Whatever Frankenstein-esque concoction of Julian's future-tech and Conor's bastard runes the pair had come up with had felt like it had teleported Vincent, left his stomach behind, and then suddenly caught up with itself and transplanted it back in, only upside-down and back-to-front. He heaved the last of his lunch in the now-soiled topsoil, and cursed Julian's experiments while resolving to walk back to the base after the night was done.

The second thing that happened was farcical comedy of errors that wrapped up near the entire team; Vincent lifted his head just in time to watch a man the size of a gorilla who'd just eaten another gorilla burst through the wall and slammed into Charity and Conor. The pair went flying and then all of sudden Jules had drawn a pistol and was unloading rounds into the beast's back - Vincent was taken aback by their erstwhile leader's readiness to dispense lethal violence, and felt within him an odd sense of near-relief when he witnessed the bullets merely dent the brute's skin, like his muscles were weaved of Kevlar. The response was far more effective: briefcase or not, Vincent could feel the blow Julian took as he was tossed backwards. Dandy got involved, and then Charity was suddenly on her feet and around their foe's neck with surprising speed and resilience.

And then Hana turned up, and all semblance of confidence with the situation at hand was ripped through the floor with her.

Vincent stared at the hole in the floor as Julian got to feet and incapacitated the first thug; Vincent recoiled slightly at the man's yells and the distinct smell of smoke and burnt flesh, mixing in his nasal cavity with the faint odour of his own puke drifting up from the plant beside him. Pale and still unsteady on his feet, he stood straight and walked over to Jules as Charity and Muttley untangled themselves from the brute's limp form. Vincent risked poking the man's ribs with his foot, and was quietly satisfied when a low groan escaped his mouth.

"Any more experiments lined up for the outing, Jules? Lucky this guy still has eyeballs after that zap." He kicked the discarded pistol, sending it skittering across the marble floor and clattering off the wall. "And I didn't realise you ran the Red Hood Fan Club." Vincent's voiced became firm and critical, so far removed from his usual flippancy that even Vincent was surprised. "Tone it down. I'm only comfortable being a petty criminal."

[Hound55]

Red took the strange stone with curiousity and looked at it, inspecting the strange etchings as he walked across the floorand found his surroundings completely changed in the background.

He looked up and found himself in a different inside place. Oaks and varnished pine, with muted browns and red furnishings. It wasn't the first time he could remember suddenly becoming aware of his own consciousness, he'd just stepped fresh out of his tube a week or so ago, but he wondered how the rest would be taking it.

Conor seemed unperturbed, which wasn't unusual. He seemed to make it his business to be prepared and unflappable. He was marking up the... bank? Red assumed this was a bank, he'd never been in one before. But if Julian and Conor both collaborated on a device, he assumed it would probably work.

Cece seemed more taken by her environment. Or surprised by the experience of teleportation.

...and that was even before the giant arm crashed through the wall and snatched at her.

Red's brow dropped into a scowl, until he saw Cece respond in violent kind. It appeared she had the means to defend herself from such an affront; which confused Morrow somewhat. He wasn't entirely sure of the extent or source of Cece's abilities as a relative newcomer to the group, she also often seemed somewhat guarded when other's would broach the subject - but nonetheless was extremely proud of her own intent in being a superhero.

As he watched the two foes grapple he tried to ascertain the levels of force being applied. Both seemed to be stronger, although the bank robber's own strength seemed to be waning. Steadily, in fact. And his size seemed to be decreasing, aligned with the criminal's own metabolic rate.

Suddenly Hana burst onto the scene and restrained the robber in a fashion previously unthinkable, before just as quickly being removed from the field by his allies below. The confusion allowing Julian the opportunity to incapacitate the one whom they had caught.

Red had seen enough. He broke his silence which immediately caught everyone's attention and took point with a series of short statements.

"We need somewhere to put them. Cece, we need the vault fixed." Before turning to Julian. "And since I doubt they'll be willing walk in the door, get him ready." He referred to Vincent.

"You saw what I saw, yes? Whatever's powering them is temporary. Intertwined with their metabolic rate."

And with that he lifted a knee and dropped through the floor.

The four remaining brutes had surrounded Hana. She's done her best to raise a green bubble shield, but her concentration was waning, and the four were pounding away at it in a way which Hana would probably describe in a way which would make him blush, if he properly understood the double entendre, and if she weren't already preoccupied.

Or maybe he'd just missed her already saying it.

"If you men want a decent sized object for pounding, maybe you should try me..."

From upstairs a solitary voice cried out "For God's sake Red, just say 'Pick on someone your own size!'"

[Natty]

All the brute could do was throw his arms over his face as the teenage girl fell upon him, the sharp blade of Wonder Girl’s axe plunging into the invigorated muscle of his arm. It tore through the man’s flesh, before becoming wedged in place. Gabi found herself dangling a few feet off the air, her hands still gripped on the handle above her.

The scream the brute let out in retaliation was a combination of pain and pure rage. He swung his arm out wildly, sending Gabi flying as her hands slipped from the handle of her trusty weapon. She tore along the street, tearing up pieces of concrete as she tumbled into the side of a parked policed cruiser. She groaned in pain as she fell forwards onto her hands and knees. Seconds into the fight and she was already battered and bruised.

She was grateful at the very least that she had the wearing on her side today. She lifted her arm, catching a drop of rain on one of the newly made cuts on near her elbow. She immediately found herself feeling better as the cuts began to close up. It would still take some time for her to fully heal, but it was a start. She was definitely in need of all the help she could get at this point.

She glanced back towards the center of the street, where she watched the hulk of a man clutching his wounds. Wincing in pain, the behemoth pulled her blade from his wound, as if simply removing a thorn, before tossing it carelessly onto the ground.

The brute stepped towards her, flexing his biceps as he moved to crack his knuckles together. Gabi gritted her teeth. This was going to be tougher than she expected.

Wonder Girl lunged forwards once more, seconds before the brute did himself, narrowly avoiding the swing of his fist as she darted around him. She punched outwards at his side as she did so; short quick jabs just like Kevin had taught her back in the team’s gym. It was effective, with the attack causing him to lose his balance slightly. He swung again, with Gabi simply repeating the same maneuver. A quick dodge with a couple more jabs, the last of which colliding with the man’s jaw.

She was simply making him angrier though, with whatever power that was giving him strength also amplifying his rage. Gabi hoped that the anger would make him slopy, however as she tried to duck and weave for the third time in a row, she realized that she should not have been so foolish.

This time he was waiting for her. As she ducked under one of his arms, the brute made a grab with the other, firmly grasping her arm. Yanking her towards him, he swung one more, his fist hitting Gabi like a ton of bricks as she shot down into the concrete below his feet.

Letting out a short chuckle, he flexed his muscles once more as he moved to finish the job.

[Sep]

BANK OF THE WEST

The thug came crashing through the wall, and Conor threw up his shield as he was thrown back into the nearby wall. The wall spun and he heard a ringing in his ears. As he stood up seeing 'Dandy' dealing with the thug, and CeCe punching off his mask revealing a surprisingly youthful face beneath. As Hana was dragged through the floor and Red jumped down muttering some terrible one liner Conor jumped down after them, on his way down he tapped a sequence into his leg, a blue flowing energy billowing from him as he landed on his legs and went straight into a run, he crossed his arms across his chest and slapped both his shoulders. The same energy that was flowing through his legs now flowed through his arms. He jumped in the air as he approached his foe, slamming his fist down onto him with a satisfying crack. Landing on the ground he was disheartened to see that, while the mans mask had been knocked loose he too looked around about the same age as the team. Not only that, he was smiling.

It was never good when you punched someone, you looked at them then after spitting out a tooth they smiled at you.

Chuckling the thug stood up again, grabbing some form of patch from his pocket and slapping it onto his arm. Convulsing slightly, his clothes started to bulge and tear in places as he gained even more muscle mass.

This wasn't going to be nearly as easy as he thought it was.

[Hillan]

Virdeus

---

Julian was checked into reality by Vincent's comments about his acts of violence - It chocked Julian so much so that he failed to note how interesting it was that the only one of them who could essentially teleport was the one with the upset stomach. Julian had, without hesitated pulled the trigger to incapacitate the thug. Sure, he hadn't gone for center of mass or the head. But guns can kill, the human body is fragile. One wrong calculation and he would have fried this - upon looking on his face - kid's brain. The roided out robber he had just caused permanent nerve damage as if he had been struck with a lighting bolt was as old as Julian's teammates.

It didn't sit right with him. And he couldn't quite figure out what part about him that took this job so carelessly. He had always just moved people like pieces on a board. Even before when he was forced to violence - in self-defense. It had been a last resort. Now he pulled the gun like nothing. An alarming though reached his brain as his hand that wasn't covered in highly electrical leather went over to his other hand and felt the outline of the ring on his other hand through the glove.

Maybe it wasn't his powers that made him dangerous. Julian feared his thoughts were too loud, and he didn't care to share what he felt with Eilidh. He put his mental guard up, if only for his own sake. The team would fall apart if he lost his mind in his own insecurity.

He was hunched over the incapacitated thug, Red spouted ideas at him and Julian agreed, in part. Red was smart. And perceptive. But he lacked context. They didn't know what the vault was like, and they didn't know if Charity could do anything to the vault. Not to mention they still weren't sure what made these guys so strong, or why their strength left so quickly. Not to mention that Vincent had just spilled his guts - and was pissed and the man could barely handle his powers after a session of guided meditation. Something about it made Julian smirk.

"Red Hood uses titanium-tipped hollow points. I fired subsonic standard rounds." Julian's retort rang into the air, sure to only piss Vincent more off, but Julian didn't have time to justify his morality to Vincent, or himself. He had to turn that off. Red came to aid Hana as she was getting attacked by the remaining robbers and Conor followed shortly after, not exchanging any words at all. Julian looked up at Cece and Dandelion.

"Go." He told them, getting out his phone he began running a toxicology check-up on the knocked out thug, one of his bullet wounds oozed blood Julian could use for a sample. He turned to the Hustler still up here with him. His phone was running the tests, there was nothing Julian could do right now. But he knew Vincent had to help, anyway he could. Keeping Vincent calm had lead to mediocre results at best. Maybe a less delicate touch would be needed.

"You wanna be pissed? Throw a punch at me, Vinny. Or get down there and show everyone that you're not a fuck-up street urchin who I have to nanny."

[Dead Cruiser]

Others joined the fray soon after Dandelion, who did their best to lock their teeth into the meaty thigh of their muscle-bound assailant. The man was quickly restrained, and then with the distinct sizzle of burning meat, electrocuted by one of Julian's devices. After a few moments of hesitation, Dandelion wrenched their teeth free of the man's hamstring, licking the blood from their chops. There was something strange about this human's blood, they were sure of it. There was some kind of unusual hormone present, that much was sure, and its sweet flavor gave Dandelion reason to believe that it was organic, but artificial. What drew them to that conclusion not even Dandelion knew, but they didn't have time to analyze it now, as Hana was sucked down through the floor by an unseen enemy.

Their skin's tightly-wound nerves caused Dandy to literally jump at the sudden noise and destruction, and their ears perked as Julian got into yet another verbal tussle with Vincent. Once more Dandelion felt their skin's pack instincts bubble up, and before they realized it they had inserted themselves into the space between the two arguing men, ears and hackles raised defensively. Something like a high growl or a low whine rumbled from their throat, but before the altercation continued or Dandy found themselves involved in it, Julian ordered them to join the others on the floor below. Dandy took half a step away, flashed another odd-eyed glance Vincent's way, and bounded off to the stairs to rejoin the others.

The stairs, once again, proved more difficult for this skin than attacking a mutated human. Jumping down the hole Hana had been dragged through, as the others did, was essentially impossible for them in this skin, and so they half tiptoed, half fell down the steps. Once they found their footing on the lower floor, they bounded after the remaining foes who were tussling with Dandy's teammates, barking and snarling and slavering all the while.

One of the thugs seemed to catch notice of Dandelion, evidenced by the overheard exclaimation, "What the- They brought a big fuckin' dog!"

Just as Dandy's leg muscles were tensing to leap and pounce on the chest of one of the bank robbers, a steel-toed boot whipped out directly at them. They had too much momentum to dodge the attack quickly enough, and the enemy attack caught them directly in the side of the head. While the others that had so far been assaulted by these superhuman robbers had shields and enhanced durability and things such as that, Dandy was afforded no such protections from the raw power of their attackers' strikes, as they were at that time nothing more than an overgrown dog. The side of Dandelion's head that met the robber's boot caved in at once, in a messy spray of blood, chips of bone, and cerebral fluid. The follow-through of the kick sent Dandy's limp body sliding across the polished bank floor, leaving a wide trail of bright red blood in its wake, until it impacted hard against the adjacent wall with a resounding crunch.

This clearly isn't working, Dandy thought with the half of a dog-brain they still had. The dog skin's splayed limbs jerked and spasmed a couple of times as Dandelion asserted direct control over the skin's muscular structure. Then the seemingly dead dog rose back to its feet, not pushing itself up as a dog would, but by sort of rolling onto its feet. The motion resembled a limp marionette regaining life and animation as its puppeteer picked up its strings. Sounds like the hiss of pressurized air leaking issued from the dog, still with half a skull and a sagging, destroyed back. Its muscles bulged and flexed in strange ways, like it had a colony of huge worms or eels living under its skin, writhing madly. There were more sounds then, the sickening crack of breaking bone, and the hiss became louder, picking up the timbre of the dog's throaty growl, making a noise like a duck call from Hell. Time to try something different, Dandy thought with their entire self.

One of the other assailants, not the one with Dandy's blood crawling up his pantleg, caught sight of the scene unfolding in the bank's far corner, and shared his observation with his allies, "Hey, uh, I don't think that's a fuckin' dog."

[Sep]

POLICE PRECINCT

Things at the precinct were chaotic, like everyone else Kevin experienced some mild discomfort at being teleported, and by mild it was stomach-churning. Steading himself as he landed in the bullpen, initially, he had moved towards the back of the building and was moving to deal with the muscle guy that was causing chaos back there. That's when he heard a shout coming from the front of the building. Running to that window he saw Varo dealing with the gunmen and a big muscle man bearing down on Gabi. Grabbing a pen off the floor he secreted chemicals upon it, throwing it down it struck the backoff him. It exploded throwing his mask off. He then ran down the stairs, wishing that he had the ability to jump out of a window safely. Once he was out the building the thug was still stumbling slightly trying to recompose himself.

Jumping into the air his flaming fist slammed into the faceoff the thug. What struck him that the individual looked young. "Why don't you pick on someone your own-" He was caught by the backhand that sent him spooling and tumbling.

[Roman]

One by one, the rest of the squad - bar Eilidh, who was somewhere outside, hopefully far out of reach of the bank thugs - descended to the lower level of the bank, whether by hole or stairs depending on bravado; even Dandelion, which slunk away from where it had been standing between Vincent and Julian. It gave Vincent a side-eyed look as it backed off and disappeared toward the stairs, and Vincent was almost impressed at the natural human subtlety of the leer.

He turned his attention back to Julian, who was biting back in a manner not un-characteristic of their exchanges.
"Don't pretend you've not found yourself a new pet, Luthor. Stop kidding yourself; you're not my nanny," Vincent retorted as he brushed past Julian, deliberately shoulder-bumping him as he went, to stand at the edge of the hole in the floor and look down to the basement below. He put a foot forward into the hole, and stepped down; he dropped an inch, maybe two, as his foot met the ground brought up to meet him. Vincent turned to look at Julian as he stepped down with his other leg and allowed the space to re-align itself around him. "You're my jailor."

And he was in the vault room. Small pleasures of super-human abilities; never having to give up the last word if you didn't want to. And Vincent oh-so-rarely wanted to.

He took a moment to take stock of the proceedings down here on the lower level. Then he swore.

Conor and Charity were busy with one; Red and Hana had become tangled in a fracas with a second. A third was staring in revulsion as the shattered skull of the dog that was Dandelion reshaped itself into something distinctly un-dog-shaped - and the fourth and final one was shaking tiny bits of Dandelion off his leg, distracted from the reconstituting hound; then he spotted Vincent, who awkwardly smiled and waved.

Next thing Vincent knew he was being charged at, and next thing after that was he wasn't being charged at at all, and instead the thug - with blood flowing steadily further and further up his pant leg, and Vincent realising he just had to play Toro and stall long enough for Dandelion to do whatever nasty alien thing it was planning to do - bullrushing headfirst into the very wall he'd just departed from. There were mixed groans of pain and confusion, and Vincent found himself smirking as the brute shook his head cartoonishly, dust falling gently from his hair and a sizeable dent left in the stone wall.

Okay. Maybe this could be fun. Vincent struck his best pose, and flapped an invisible cape.
"Come on, Bogo. I dare you to hit me!"

[Theyra]

Seattle
Police Precinct
Varo Yelkian

Bullets bounced harmlessly off of his stellar shield as Varo made his way forward. Slowly inching forward under the gunfire despite the gunmen's best efforts. While Varo waited for the best opportunity to strike at the gunmen. It looked like the blast of stellar had barely missed the gunman he targets earlier, and as a result, that gunman poured more fire on the alien. Yet, his shield would still stand but, Varo needed to do something before his shield would eventually fade. So whenever a gunman would peek out to take a shot at him. Varo would simply respond in kind with a stellar blast. Sending it out as fast as he could to keep on the pressure.

Some of his blasts would connect with some of the gunmen. Causing them to get launched back briefly before landing, the ground knocked out. Varo counted about two gunmen left where he was, and he seemed to be quicker to get into cover than their now unconscious brethren. So Varo changed things up. Instead of waiting for him to peek out of cover, he was going to them. Running forward towards the nearest gunman, and would end up tackle the man out of his cover. Pinning him to the ground, and used a well-placed headbutt to knock the man out. Getting up and with his shield still standing, Varo made eye contact with the last gunman, and instead of shooting at Varo, he chose to run and make a break for it. He did not get far when Varo's Stellar blast reached him and knock him out.

After dispatching what seemed to be the last of the gunmen near him. Did Varo noticed the situation with his teammates. Just in time to see Gabriella on the ground and Kevin get slapped away. It seems like they needed help with this muscle-bound thug. So Varo with done with his previous task, Varo made his way towards the thug. All the while charging his magic, blue energy forming around his hands, and his shield started to shift along the edges. Once he was close enough, and Varo unleashed a blast of stellar energy by turning his shield into a weapon and lanched forward the thug. Catching him by surprise, and was pushed back and was clearly hurting. But, was still on his feet and turned his hateful gaze towards Varo. "And who are you suppose to be, freak?" The thug said with scorn as the two locked eyes.

Varo replied, "Just someone in the neighborhood that does not take kindly to thieves." This guy can certainly take a hit and will not go down easy. He thought as he started to charge more stellar energy as the thug started to make his way towards him. Let's see how if three people can take this muscle-bound thug down, or this is going to be a hard fight.

[spicykvnt]

Eilidh was still above, and yet she could feel every rattle of commotion that stirred below, in the bowels of the bank. The colours and flashes were appearing from within what she could tell as being a hole. Putting all of the clues together, all of the individual noises and sounds and shouts and she had a clear picture of what had happened. She stepped as carefully as she could to it's circumference, focusing her mind all the while as she got narrowly closer - whatever was happening with Booster Gold, was drowned out by the emotional fray boiling over.

There was something, she thought quickly, that she could try. It had worked only briefly, and only once.

She drew herself back to a wall, placing the flat of her hands against it -- pressing her back on the cold brick. With a breath, she set her unique sights on the scene downstairs. She could place the angry, raging energy of the thugs - all of them, but one in particular had a crack - a slip in stamina and Eilidh knew she could get in.

If earlier she had been flying gentle paper planes to Booster Gold, now she needed to be a swift and accurate dart. Fast, direct, and hard-hitting. Already she could feel the strain behind her eyes as she locked on, letting his energy creep into her, getting into his head from above as he swayed and moved.

"If you men want a decent sized object for pounding, maybe you should try me..." she heard Red say, spoken from below into her own ears as she settled within the hardy brute as he continued his attempts at Hana's shield.

The part of her that was there floated around in the thug like a wasp - and stung like one too. One good blast of energy that dropped him. Like cracking open a hornets nest of cacophonous sound.

"Night night hen," she said to him as he staggered and fell back, completely confused by the invasion to his thoughts. "Now's yer chance," she said to Hana - and to Hana alone.

Eilidh knew it wasn't going to last, she could already feel him dragging through it to get his way back to continue fighting. The pain behind her eyes increased until it smashed her upside her own head like a baseball bat. She dropped down onto her bottom, grateful for the wall. "Need tae practice that some more," she said allowed to herself with a groan. At least the path was now cleared for her to find Booster Gold again, who she could hear once more.

"Booster Gold, stay where y'are. We're coming for you."

And then she began her own careful and quiet descent of the staircase, heading towards the injured hero.

[Natty]

Just when she needed them most, Wonder Girl found the rest of the team coming to her aid. An explosion of fire erupted from the back of the brute's head just before he could swing, causing him to roar in pain once more as his mask was blown from his face. The source of the attack was quickly made clear as Kevin, the team's resident pyromaniac, ran forward from the building. He wasn't the only one either. From the right side, after having just taken care of the gunmen, emerged Gabi's new friend from the stars; Varo.

Despite their attempts, however, it would seem the might of the Renegades was not enough. As soon as he even got near to the superpowered thug, Kevin found himself plummeting into the pavement from a single swing of their arm. Varo's magical space energy seemed to be slightly more effective thankfully. The energy collided with the brute in a firework of light, pushing him back. However, it soon became clear that that was all it seemed to have done, with the thug simply shrugging off the attack before calmly walking towards his new target.

Even if the attacks hadn't proved too effective, at the very least they were a fine distraction. Temporarily free from the potential of the brute's fury, Gabi scrambled to her feet, sparing a moment to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow. She moved quickly, her eyes locked on the back of the brute as she darted towards her new target; the girl needed her axe back.

Scooping it off of the floor, Gabi twirling the weapon in her hands before moving once more.

Leaping forward through the rain, she collided heavily with the brutes back. He reared back immediately, yet once again she was too quick for him. Arms over his shoulder, she swung her axe around his neck into her other hand, pressing it against his neck as she secured her position. She pulled back hard, squeezing her weapon against his trachea, as her body moved from side to side to avoid his squirms.

Choking him out, she felt the brute topple down onto his knees, his hands now clawing at her desperately.

Managing a glance upwards at her teammates, she motioned for them to lay the finishing blow, as she pulled with all her might.

[King Kindred]

The Xtraordinary Lady X in:

A Stroll by the Precinct

Kalianne Wintergreen was once again lost in Seattle. She thought she had finally made some leeway in finding this tower that Luthor and his team were squatting in. But instead she found herself more confused and unaware of her surroundings than she was before. She really hated the states and Washington was for sure the top five worst so far. Admittedly she hadn't been to many states in the United States, let alone 5 but she was sure Washington was going to stay on the list. But in a way the dreary weather did remind her a bit of home. But home really wasn't home without the old man. She should call him after she gets settled in. "That is the last time I take directions from a Seattellite. How do you not know your own city?"

She sighed in annoyance before she heard the sound of gunfire, screams, and all kinds of chaotic panic near her vicinity. A thought came to her. She may not know how to find Edge Tower all she had to do was find where the assorted group of teenaged misfits were likely to show up. At the scene of an apparent crime. She'd find out more once she arrived. Hopefully she wouldn't be too late to hitch a lift back. She sped in the direction of the gunfire using all of her might to do so not worried about the effects it would have on her body and stamina. By the time she had made it three blocks down the road she had realized she left her luggage. Not that anything in there mattered. She had what she needed on her. Her main weapons were lined across her back, wrapped up nicely as to hide what they actually were and her knife was resting in the utility belt wrapped around her waist. The rest she'd replace once she went shopping or as she liked to call it scope out her new surroundings.

She skidded to a stop at the building across from the precinct and watched as everything unfolded. The police were underfire and there was a giant goon doing a lot of throwing. She moved closer to get a better view and pressed an X on her belt as she did so. Almost instantly her suit or "costume" formed around her plainclothes. Once she was close enough she activated the infrared vision in her helmet to peer inside. Fortunately there weren't any cold bodies. Just a bunch of cowering hot ones. That was good. No one was dead. Hopefully it stayed that way. She began formulating a plan of action when a sudden flare up of energy read through her mask as a group seemingly appeared out of thin air. Maybe Luthor and his team team had arrived. She decided instead to watch how things would play out first before acting herself. This would also be a test for them to see if this whole thing was really worth her time.

The first member of the team she had the pleasure of seeing was the wondrous Wonder Girl and what a sight she was. But Kali wasn't sure if she was more attracted to her or the way she wielded that axe. She was brave, strong and giving the Behemoth quite the fight and for a moment it seemed that she'd end it all on her own. But the beast of a man was determined not to go down so easily and turned the fight in his favor. Was this the moment or opening she was waiting for? She started to move but stopped when she heard an explosion and the fighting call of a flaming man. That flaming man had managed to blow the goon's mask off but was subsequently backhanded. Then some weird looking greyish dude exited to help. She couldn't tell if he was an alien or an elf so consigned to consider him a space elf for now. The space elf's attack gave the Axe Princess the time to recover and subdue her opponent. All she needed now was for someone to deliver one final blow while she held him in place. This was it. This was her moment.

Kali sprang into action dashing across the destructive battlefield using torn up concrete as footholds to add to her height and boost her momentum. She made one final leap into the air calculating her landing before she jumped to ensure she'd come straight down on the restricted thug with an electrified fist as she activated her glove's taser hoping the water from the rain would add to its effectiveness. "You've faced rain and fire. How about some lightning?"

[Sep]

BANK OF THE WEST

Conor spat blood as he was pushed back into the corner. Grabbing his hand around his wrist, his thumb and forefinger tapped two symbols on his radius and ulna bones. Blue sparkling energy built up in the palm of his hands, he pulled his hand back along his forearm and the energy built up. The goons eyes widened behind his mask, as Conor released his arm the energy shot out from his hand at the target. Burning a hole through his shirt, he was knocked back and down towards the grown. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another one of the patches. Dashing forward Conor slapped it out of his hand and along the ground, jumping back he brought his elbow on the skull of his opponent. His eyes rolled back and dazed over.

Conor tapped the sigils on his arms and legs, the blue energy dissipating as a wave of exhaustion hit him. He couldn't keep up this use of magic. Muscles weren't really meant to be pushed past their breaking point on this level. Reaching down he grabbed the goons' wrists, reaching into his bag with his other hand he grabbed a stone and placed it between the man's wrists. Tapping the rune on top of it, the stone appeared to duplicate creating a pair of handcuffs joined by the same glowing energy as most of Conors magic, binding the man's wrists together. Grabbing another stone he saw an opening, as one of the Goons was pushed back by the person who was fighting them, grabbing another stone he slid it along the floor, acting as a grenade as it went between his legs blue lighting arched up hitting the target. Weakning him for the final blow.

They were getting there, slowly and surely.