Courtaud

Young Justice

---

Talon listened as best as he could while Cybergirl explained herself. The alarms were blaring inside of his own head, and he could hear Mirage and Zatara blasting away an escape route. As Cybergirl scanned through the digital files on the computer screen, Talon looked up to check on his two magical teammates. Zatara's purple flames were dancing along the walls, burning their way through. The former member of the court of owls was briefly stricken by the sight of them. The mission had quickly descended into a fervor, but Talon hadn't ever seen what it essentially was a private indoor fireworks show. Mirage's contributions at that point were just as impressive and snapped Talon out of his reverie. The Atlantean's magics were an a completely different wavelength than Zatara's - the destructive nature of whatever was emitting from within Mirage's staff were not to be trifled with.

Talon was continously surprised by his teammates, as each of the people he's gotten to know carried themselves almost the opposite of how their powers worked. Metamorph's confidence withheld a wild, untamed style of fighting, Hex's quiet and sociable nature was a counterweight to his necrotic and dark abilities. Mirage was an interesting case. Although Talon had only brief moments with her separate from the rest of the team, she had a friendly personality, what some would describe as bookish, polite, considerate. Despite her quite literal "Fish out of water" existence, she seemed uncomplicated by her situation. Her quick-thinking during the training exercise to save Talon demonstrated a cool head, and it was a large contributing factor to Talon wanting her on his squad. And seeing how powerful she can be under pressure was a glimpse at the potential she had to be a powerful hero. Seeing these two working side by side like this, especially after their less than stellar first day together, was a testament to their strengths as teammates. Talon was glad he got to see it firsthand.

With the two magical beings abilities, the foundation of the wall was weakening enough for Talon's equipment to be really effective. He pulled three sticky Nightwing snapmine's from his belt and called out to the others to retract their torches. He could feel the heat of their strength on his skin, felt the hair raise on what little exposed skin he had. He tossed one of the snaps to Zatara and pointed to an exposed beam. The magic boy would get the message to place it, and after a few blinking light up flashes, the three mines ruptured, igniting and blowing a larger hole for the 4 of them to make their escape.

"Cybergirl, there's no time now. Whatever you've gotten so far will have to be enough." Talon called out to his cybernetic teammate. Assuming his team was behind him, Talon rushed through the smoke and debris of the next room, one with a window overlooking the yard of the base. It wasn't going to be long before the noise from everything happening all at once would attract guards to where they were, and Talon wanted to leave without any fighting. Talon threw one of the modified batarangs that he was given by Nightwing to replace the sharp knives on his person, and the window exploded with a crash. Talon leapt out of the now open window, and using a maneuver he'd seen Dick use across the rooftops in Bludhaven. He fired off his grapnel gun as he arched back, firing upwards at the rooftops. He retracted the device with ease, flying up on the line until he was atop the roof. He started to cross the rooftop and open up comms when he realized he hadn't confirmed the others were truly with him.

In comparison to the old days, the escape from any particular situation or mission was in the hands of the individual. It was an expectation that each person would be able to take care of themselves. But the team here was a far-cry from that. On a team like this, you had to think of the others. The ultimate goal being to work together to support each other - at least according to Nightwing. The mission was more easily handled and successfully at that, when the team worked cohesively. When they communicated and supported each other. This first mission out in the field had worked well, but whatever variable caused the alarm to go off put things a bit more at risk. Were they scrambling? Did the others feel put ill at odds? Talon felt a creeping anxiety - although he most assuredly didn't know that's what it was. Complicated feelings like this were handled incorrectly by someone with Talon's lack of emotional intelligience and expression. More often than not, complicated feelings just manifested as anger, or irritation. Luckily, at this moment Talon was distracted enough to not have to worry about it. Remembering his friends, he pulled a cable from within his equipment and left it hanging down towards the window - he was sure that the others probably wouldn't require something so basic, but didn't want to leave them without the option to climb upwards.

"Rain, we're on the rooftop. What's Squad B's current status? Do you have eyes on Metamorph?"

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

@sassy1085

Totally!

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

1.With Ten Ton being a psuedo-founding member, he'd play into the story as an NPC to start before moving elsewhere via plot machinations.

Kevin could more easily lift out of the story and go mostly unmentioned until another time if he decides to join.

2. Slice of life situations can be included by those who wish, as they'll ultimately contribute heavily to character and plot progression in even just developmental ways.

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

I wanted to have that done on Saturday but then a cold knocked me on my ass. Only today have I had enough energy to sit down and write anything. Apologies.

@pugbutter

Hope you're feeling better, mate. Glad to see you back

Young Justice

I am of the mind to invite new players over additional characters from current players. We have a pretty consistent remaining team for sure, but we invite two characters being held up if someone has to step away for a bit, and could grow to be more work/tiring.

Whereas a new player can come with new enthusiasm and can re-energize a group.

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

Sounds good! Take your time. Your writing style is unique and I’d imagine takes a lot out of you. It’s important to take breaks, otherwise we risk burning ourselves out!

Young Justice

---

That was enough for Talon. Rain's confirmation that Nymph was handled brought a wave of relief, and Talon could feel the tension spill off of him. His concern had caused internal conflict that Talon himself was not comfortable with nor able to really comprehend and handle. His desire to complete the mission at all costs was engrained deeply in his being. This wasn't something he was unaware of, he knew it could potentially lead him to difficult decisions and could cause a rift between the team and himself. But this mission seemed like one of lower stakes, and he was confident it wasn't going to come into play. The fact that it had nearly happened already was frustrating, but luckily it seemed to have passed. Talon was almost glad enough not to have picked up on Rain ordering him and his team to rendezvous and leave. Barking orders and not even being the leader of the squad. Talon gritted his teeth. He hadn't had to recover any of HIS squad, those who infiltrated the building itself were completing the mission effectively without any sort of issue.

"You listen to me you Jock, everything here is going fi-" and then the alarms started blaring all around them.

Talon looked around at the others, who looked just as shocked and surprised that the situation had so quickly turned riskier. Something was wrong - they hadn't been noticed, had they? And if they hadn't, then that would mean there was some other problem going on in the factory. What could that be, if so?

And there was all of the data that the group was able to find. Grasping at straws, and quickly, Talon turned his attention to Cybergirl.

"Cybergirl - your abilities. Do you have any way to sync up with these systems? Can you download any of the information we found? As much as we can get our hands on." Switching over to Mirage and Zatara, he was counting on their skills as well. Everyone would have a part to play.

"Mirage, Zatara - lead the way on clearing us a path out of here, now. I'll stay here with Cybergirl. We'll meet you both up there with the others. Tell Rain when you see him that we'll be on comms."

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

Terrific post, Zoey.

In fact, everyone who's entered the game has posted really terrific stuff. Wild how everyone is so fleshed out so early.

Young Justice

---

With a flourish, Zatara had effortlessly created duplicates of the guards that lay in the next room. Having someone with Zatara's abilities was undoubtedly comingin handy - he was capable of a great many things provided his insecurities didn't get in the way. This was of course, an unfair look at Zatara, as the same could be said for each and every member of the team - Talon included. There was no one among them who was flawless, who could do things without nearly second guessing themselves or tripping over their own feet. Gold Rush came close, but Talon was mature enough to know that if he did have anxieties and struggles, he was likely just better at hiding them than the others.

Talon looked deadpan into Zatara's face when the young boy asked if his plan including killing the guards. If it was a joke, he wasn't sure how to react to those kind of things yet. So instead, he moved along silently behind Mirage. The Atlantean likely dwarfed Talon's own strength, but Talon's discipline was likely the sharpest among Squad A's. As he slipped in to the next room, Talon motioned for Mirage to action, and as she grappled with one guard, performing a reverse chokehold he likely would have difficulty escaping from, Talon moved onto his own target.

Talon leaped toward the other guard just as he noticed Mirage's attack. As the guard lifted his weapon, Talon was upon him. Using his speed, the former member of the Court of Owls wrapped his legs around the man's neck before using his own shifting momentum against him. He was thrown hard against the wall and landed in a crumpled pile, and approached the various items in the room. As they all began searching for any piece of information that would assist in the completion of their mission, it was Cybergirl who first reported finding a disturbing piece of information - plans for use of a prototype bioweapon, and a list of potential targets.

Talon was about to pass the information along to the others, before Zatara found something of his own. A Kobra Venom supply was here at the base.

The others looked to Talon, waiting on his cue.

"Batman and the League gave us orders. This is a recon mission. Knowing there is Kobra Venom below changes nothing. We have our strict orders, and we are going to follow them."

He looked to see what the others thought of this.

While he waited for their feedback, he joined the comms.

"Squad B - we've located potential targets, as well as some disturbing information regarding a bioweapon. How would extraction go at this point?"

Static came in on the line before suddenly - and surprisingly - Rain's voice came through the other end.

And Nymph was down.

Talon looked up at the others, unable to hide the concern on his face. What was the story? Did the situation change? Things were going so well. The mission was going to become a success, his team had gotten what they were looking for, and the League would undoubtedly be impressed with their abilities up to this point. But now Talon was faced with something he was trying to prepare himself for. The completion of the mission could be compromised. Was he willing to allow that to happen? Not ever in his development, but now? And that it was Nymph of all people. Hopefully things weren't that bad - not yet.

"Rain what is happening? What's wrong with Nymph??" Talon snapped into the comms, knowing his question would based more in personal concern than in the missions goals.

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

After Ikue had finished bringing everyone up to speed about the situation, including the reason for gathering the gang together, Minato let the others speak among themselves. He had found that the best way to get the others to speak up about how they felt personally about any given situation was when he spoke last. The dedication he got from some of the gang members themselves might often lead to them outright agreeing with whatever direction he himself would pitch if he spoke first. He was grateful for that, but he knew the value in letting others speak up first. He wouldn't be the kind of leader that would bulldoze over anyone else in his gang if he could help it.

The eclectic group of delinquents were all sharing among themselves what they thought would be the best way to handle said situation. The others were all bringing up good points, and he felt a sort of pride in that each member brought their own concerns and suggestions to the table. Yonaka, unsurprisingly, was one of the first to pitch in an idea - that being using the youngest member, Mai, as a sort of bait to whoever was primarily behind these attacks. Ana shared a feeling that Minato himself agreed with - that being that he was uncertain of putting someone so new to the group at risk so early on.

But the young fireball Mai was quick to speak up for herself. It was her fiery personality that was already beginning to stand out among the group. It seemed she had much she wanted to prove to the others. It seemed very likely that she would be given that chance soon enough, whether she wished to or not.

"The important thing is this - Sarayashiki has a boogeyman that even the Student Council is trying to keep from us. If the attacks continue this way, I think it stands to reason that Mai will be targeted sooner rather than later - especially if she's traced back to someone like Yonaka." Minato approached the youngest and newest recruit, squatting down at her eye level as he spoke.

"It won't be long before they take a swing at you. Think you can take one?" He smiled at her with his eyes closed. Before waiting for her response, he turned to the others.

"We aren't yet ready to make a play at the Diamonds. Sarayashiki is our turf, and if there is someone else putting the boots to the other students there, we put the boots to them. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for all of us. I'll need each of you to play a part." Minato returned to his place in front of them all, addressing them like his soldiers, like his friends. He felt his command of them swell, and met each of them in their eyes as he spoke his instructions to each and every one individually.

"Mai. We don't leave any of our own hanging. Yonaka is going to shadow you in between classes and after school. If you do get in a scrap, she's someone you can always trust in a fight. If you're already in somewhat of the same circles, it may not be much of a warning to whoever is behind all of this. The two of you will go and talk to some of the other kids who've already been attacked. See what you can gleam out of them. With Yonaka there she may just be able to inspire them to loosen their lips a little." Minato knew from witnessing it firsthand that Yonaka could be persuasive - boys would quiver in her presence, not just because of her looks - but because of the violence in her eyes. It helped that she already had some level of fondness for Mai. She'd be safe if it came to it.

"Ikue. Still there? Tomorrow there's a Student Body Club Meeting. Representative's from each club in Sarayashiki are going to be there. I want you to make sure we're...represented. Sign up Akina, Ten-Ton and Myself for whatever club that has zero current members. By Sarayashiki rules, we only need 3 members for a club to exist. Get us approved. They won't remove us from the meeting if we're official. Ten-ton and I are persona non-grata - but Akina, you'll give us legitimacy." Minato could feel his plan surging, his confidence growing with each instruction. His punks were all incredibly capable.

"Yuya. Ana. I need the two of you on something different. Stick around for a moment. Everyone else...go home. Get some sleep. It's a school night after all..."