Justice League: The New Wave (IC)

[kizkiz]

A Lion's Pride (tag Lisa/Chas)

Kiz let them think what they wanted to think. It was best they didn't know the truth. Some of the choices he'd made at the end wouldn't be well regarded. Lisa's ethereal touch was beyond gentle. It was soothing in a way that scared him. What he saw in her eyes, the twist of her lips, and the cast of her face cooled the pain in his soul. He'd done terrible things and would be required to do them again, but for now he could loose himself in the eyes of someone who thought they might be falling in love.

He didn't smile often, but when he did it held. "You are a sight to behold," He said in a croaked whisper, because speaking any louder would expend more energy than he had to give.

"I don't have to let you see me," Lisa grinned down at him. "So, you're welcome." Then after a pause, her smile turned mischievous. "You're not bad for sore eyes yourself, y'know."

He chuckled, closing his eyes tight. Beneath his eyelids those eyes flickered back and forth like he was dreaming. It lasted for only a few moments, then he opened them again. More than his eyes were sore. He didn't have the strength to raise his hand up to stroke her face, but he could move it several inches to wrap one of tendrils around his finger. He would have liked to have the energy to at least raise the tendrils to his lips, but thought better of it when he started to pass out from expending so much effort.

He was vulnerable. He'd expended more than he had planned, but he'd never shied away from doing whatever it took to get the job done. And he had Lisa, cultivating a relationship with her was paying off. It was different with Void Binders then most others. Respire for him was more a process of emptying out then filling up, but still it would take time.

She must have enjoyed his touch, because she slithered more of that tendril down the length of his oak branch of an arm and raised his hand to her face after all. His hand was rough like the bark of an oak tree. The skin was stained with so much blood, sweat, and age that Kiz was often times surprised that no one remarked on it. Maybe it was a sign that his mind was going. He did find the strength to move is fingers, and Lisa felt like silk and gossamer. He traced the outline of her lower lip with his thumb, and stroked the underside of her ear with his ringfinger. He pushed the darkness away and basked in the tender embrace of innocent, stupid passion. It was like desert after eating a meal of soggy spinach and flaccid broccoli.

"Do you need me to get you out of here? Get us out of here?"[/I] Lisa asked, leaving the innuendo intact.

"If you don't mind doing all the work." Kiz was miles from being embarrassed about asking for what he wanted, but flirting was its own game. One he allowed himself to play from time to time with the right person. He would be done when M'gann M'orzz decided to quit this place, but that didn't mean he wasn't allowed a break.

"I can carry you if it wouldn't bruise your masculine pride and chivalry too much," she said. He liked how her lips twisted and her eyes crinkled with mischief yet to come. It gave him hope that she wouldn't fall into nightmare. Perhaps she could be saved.

"A lion is defined by his pride," Kiz said, playing on words. "And he never minds when that pride does all the work for him."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor looked at Heatwave eyeing off the Rider and smiled. Oh he could see the appeal she would have to the guy, a chick engulfed in flames would be right up his alley, but he had already made a play for her and besides hadn't he heard some interchange between him and Thea.

"Hey Heat eyes off. The Rider is with me, well sort of. We are supposed to be going on a date after this so don't be getting any ideas. Besides you would be playing with fire in more ways than one trying to go out with her. She exists to get rid of evil in the world and no offense meant but you are not exactly a choirboy."

He looked back over at the Rider and shrugged. The honest truth was he was not exactly a choirboy either. He had been a bit of a bad boy when he had been younger. Oh nothing real bad, a bit of shoplifting, joyriding, skipping school, just juvenile delinquent stuff but technically it was still bad. He wondered how he rated on her sin o meter. Still there was just something about her and her host that drew him to her. He started to walk towards her hoping that her earlier offer of a lift was still there. He had a feeling that this was not over yet and he wanted to secure a way to the next battle zone quickly.

Velocity looked at Ruby surprised she was up and around. She had kept that time thing going for way longer than she had thought possible and she was sure it should have wiped her out. Yet here she was almost fresh as a daisy. Carin smiled at her and then gazed towards where the non existent stadium was.

"I saw Raven inside the stadium, but I am sure that she got out. With her teleportation skills she could be anywhere though. Maybe she just needs a rest or she got caught in the backwash of the mystical energies or something," she said trying to sound like she knew things about something she knew absolutely nothing about. "Honestly I have no clue," she smiled sheepishly. "It is just a gut feeling that she got out, but why she isn't here I don't know."

 

[Varshanka]

Multiple tagging multiple.

"Human and as far as reinforcements these cultist types always crawl out of the woodwork."

“More enemies, more dead bodies to make.” Renegade replied. “Don’t hold back. Take no prisoners, give no Quarter. Kill’em all.”

*****

As Karan blurred to a stop beside her...

...Rose's smile was almost as bright as the solar energies that thrummed in Karan's skin.

The losses had been heavy.

But they had triumphed. They had saved such a massive fraction that wouldn't otherwise have lived... and that had to count for something.

And there was this beautiful Kryptonian creature that just played merry hob with her heart and desires...

...flinging her arms around Wonder Girl's shoulders, clutching the back of her head with one hand, Rose pushed up on her toes and kissed Karan for all she was worth. Call-and-answer to the kiss that Wonder Girl had laid on Rose when they had first talked upon that beach in Australia.

<This isn't over yet.>

<But if you're here, I think it's going to be okay.>

Kara’s mind was a whirlwind of thought and emotion, until Rose kissed her. And then there was nothing. Nothing but Rose and her.

Returning that passion with a passion of her own, Kara wrapped one arm around Rose, holding her close, her other hand however reached down and grabbed Rose’s bottom and gave it a gentle squeeze.

*****

"Mick, you all here?" Cold wondered. "Need a cold shower?"

Heatwave snorted. "Thanks but no thanks."

"Hey, you lot. Everyone in one piece? Only I think I voided the warranty on my mobile..."

She glanced around. "Has anyone seen Rae? Raven? She didn't go down with the big sports complex ship, did she?"

Rolling over on flaming wheels and screaming souls The Rider looked at the Group. It appeared more Human, and less.. other.. at the moment. But it was still obviously not mortal. The helmet turned and gave a spectral reply with a voice that made most souls quiver, and more often than not bladders emptied out.

“The Witch is not Dead. She is between.” A voice not meant for mortal ears. Not meant for living souls to hear. Celestial. Demonic. Outcast. Fallen. Pain and Rage echoed in that voice. A voice seldom used.

Looking into the distance it stared at the place between cities. “Vengeance is MINE, Sayeth the LORD!!”

 

[ChasNicollette]

Time to go down in flames and I'm taking you closer to the edge. (Rose) (tags Karan)

Kara’s mind was a whirlwind of thought and emotion, until Rose kissed her. And then there was nothing. Nothing but Rose and her.

Returning that passion with a passion of her own, Kara wrapped one arm around Rose, holding her close, her other hand however reached down and grabbed Rose’s bottom and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Rose was telepathic and had untapped sensory capabilities rivaling those of the very Kryptonian she was kissing.

But she was distracted, H'ronmeer bless her.

So she didn't see that hand coming.

And it startled her, dear girl, and she squeaked against Karan's kiss as her eyes went wide.

...she was, as I'm sure we've previously discussed, still getting used to the idea of exploring the full fluidity of her sexuality. She'd always been attracted to women-- been attracted to beautiful people her whole life regardless of their gender-- but she'd only ever been in relationships with men. And she had, unless I completely misremember, explained to Karan that she might need... baby steps... to get where she was going.

But as golden electricity spiked up through her chakras like a pinball table on the verge of tilt, she decided that this... this was a pretty good baby step.

And that squeak became a sigh, and when she drew back from that kiss she put a finger on Karan's lips and mumbled, her breath all trembly in her speech.

"Okay. To... to be continued, okay? Definitely. Keep a bookmark in that spot."

 

[ChasNicollette]

I don't care, go on and tear me apart... (Hotline) (tags Arrow/Rider)

"Hey Heat eyes off. The Rider is with me, well sort of. We are supposed to be going on a date after this so don't be getting any ideas. Besides you would be playing with fire in more ways than one trying to go out with her. She exists to get rid of evil in the world and no offense meant but you are not exactly a choirboy."

Heatwave grunted. "Never pretended to be. Always been more one to live in the moment, take what I can get-- you want a big picture guy, you're looking for my partner. The Wildcat lady, she knows that life is-- lives are short. We don't tend to burn long, but we'll burn bright while we last. On the other hand... I've felt the fire my whole life, seen it dancing behind my eyelids every time I close my eyes-- I can handle gettin' burned. Can you really say the same, Eagle Scout?"

Velocity looked at Ruby surprised she was up and around. She had kept that time thing going for way longer than she had thought possible and she was sure it should have wiped her out. Yet here she was almost fresh as a daisy.

Perhaps it was good that Carin didn't voice that assessment out loud! Ruby had collapsed in a puddle of her own sweat after that eerie dual timeout she'd experienced when she'd finally relinquished the Clockwork ectype. Every muscle in her body felt like lead, and she wasn't limping so much as she was dragging her feet across the tarmac.

She wasn't gifted with the recovery time of a superspeedster-- at least, not at the moment. She hadn't Dialed a speedster for a while now. True, normally only mental fatigue carried over from a Dialed Hero... physical injury and expenditure didn't usually translate to Ruby's actual body. But this time she had pushed the envelope just a little too far into touch...

...God, she was even mixing awful metaphors, yeah, definitely not at her best.

Carin smiled at her and then gazed towards where the non existent stadium was.

"I saw Raven inside the stadium, but I am sure that she got out. With her teleportation skills she could be anywhere though. Maybe she just needs a rest or she got caught in the backwash of the mystical energies or something," she said trying to sound like she knew things about something she knew absolutely nothing about. "Honestly I have no clue," she smiled sheepishly. "It is just a gut feeling that she got out, but why she isn't here I don't know."

"I'm not as optimistic as I used to be," Ruby cracked wryly, running a trembling hand through her hair. "But I suppose I should take it where I can get it. I hope you're right, sheila. Titans are at their best when they're together."

Rolling over on flaming wheels and screaming souls The Rider looked at the Group. It appeared more Human, and less.. other.. at the moment. But it was still obviously not mortal. The helmet turned and gave a spectral reply with a voice that made most souls quiver, and more often than not bladders emptied out.

“The Witch is not Dead. She is between.” A voice not meant for mortal ears. Not meant for living souls to hear. Celestial. Demonic. Outcast. Fallen. Pain and Rage echoed in that voice. A voice seldom used.

Ruby blinked, and squinted at that voice, like ancient burning chains dragging the millwheels of The Universe. "Between? Between what?"

She still wasn't sure what to make of The Rider after she'd massively disrupted the first League meeting. But she'd handled herself more than awesomely in this fight, and that was something. That was something and a half.

Looking into the distance it stared at the place between cities. “Vengeance is MINE, Sayeth the LORD!!”

Ruby Reed stuck her finger in her ear and scowled. "Okay, let's pretend I've never had that particular Bible verse misquoted hatefully in my LGBTQ face and save our energy for the baddies, hey?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Nants ingonyama bagithi baba. (tags Kiz)

"Do you need me to get you out of here? Get us out of here?" Lisa asked, leaving the innuendo intact.

"If you don't mind doing all the work." Kiz was miles from being embarrassed about asking for what he wanted, but flirting was its own game.

Lisa practically purred at that. "If you want something done right..."

"A lion is defined by his pride," Kiz said, playing on words. "And he never minds when that pride does all the work for him."

Her eyelids fluttered in a blur, and she chortled as she shook her head slowly, and then leaned and kissed Kiz hungrily-- while her body was only ever selectively tangible these days, she made sure her mouth was very, very tangible. When she dragged back from his mouth, she made sure to snag his lower lip in her teeth, pinching it before letting it snap back.

"'Can you feel the love tonight?'" she smirked.

"Now c'mon, Mufasa, let's get your ass up out of the dirt so we can get the job done and get off the clock... then just get off."

With that, she scooped Kiz up in her swirling, caressing, slithering tendrils... swooped him up off of the ground, and flew with him at her surprising speed to where Ghost Rider, Green Arrow, Hotline, Heatwave, and Captain Cold had gathered at the edge of the battlefield car park.

 

[Wyldfire]

Haven't had them long enough? That just sounded... Weird.

He had to admit that she had a nice smile, even if you take into account the mask and all that.

"Of all the creatures I have seen and changed into, it sure would be good to be able to use their power and abilities without having to change into them."

He shrugged, "To be totally honest, I have no idea how I am doing it now...and do you have any idea why Aquaman is crying?"

Thea looked and saw Aquaman with Static there with him. Another pair of good guys forced to do things that they would probably need therapy for down the road. "Yeah kid, he's crying because he had to do bad things. Just like the rest of us did. He's just big enough to not hide it."

She moved back to the now larger group, fighting the urge to rub herself against Heatwave's side. What the hell was up with this? Urges to be overly affectionate? And seriously? Rubbing up on someone like she was a big ass house cat? Stupid curses. And what was the hell up with that rumbling sound in her throat? Was she fucking purring?

Managing to stop the purr she looked at the rest assembled and said "Okay, what's next? Where's the next fight and how many do we have to deal with this time?" She did not say anything about how many would they have to kill this time. But it was in her head none the less. Waiting for a reply from any of the big picture types she couldn't resist leaning against Heatwave just a little bit. New damned habits she would have to learn to deal with.

 

[TertiusHuman]

Garfield watched the catlady walk away, Aquaman had to do bad things? How bad could it be? He had felt living things squash, pop, rip, bleed and die. But it was not like he was given much of a choice in the matter and from what he knew, Aquaman didn't get a choice either.

He looked at the gathering and realized that he was definitely an oddity, but he had helped the group and they have been looking out for him too. He walked over, looking at the lady on the bike who spoke with a voice he was sure could peel paint off of buildings. He seemed to have missed her words since he was talking to catlady. He took a breath, looked around, "S'cool esse, whose next eh? I gonna get my warrior face on." and he transformed into a Chihuahua.

 

[kizkiz]

Kiz and Lisa sitting in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G! (Tag chas/others to move on)

"'Can you feel the love tonight?'" she smirked.

"Yes," His answer was simple and direct. He delivered it without breaking eye contact, as she played with his lip, he inhaled. "And I'll make sure you feel it tonight." His chuckle took a detour, when it turned into a bout of coughing.

"Now c'mon, Mufasa, let's get your ass up out of the dirt so we can get the job done and get off the clock... then just get off."

Kiz grunted, still recovering from his coughing fit.

With that, she scooped Kiz up in her swirling, caressing, slithering tendrils... swooped him up off of the ground, and flew with him at her surprising speed to where Ghost Rider, Green Arrow, Hotline, Heatwave, and Captain Cold had gathered at the edge of the battlefield car park.

When they arrived, Kiz did nothing to disentangle his body from Liz's slithering, caressing tendrils. She was almost like an alternate anima, as her selective tangibility blurred the lines between their two selves. Kiz closed his eyes, but his eyes flickered with blinding speed like he was under going REM sleep. They opened a few moments later, his expression soured until he tilted his head back to look up at Lisa, then his face smoothed out.

"Our hosts have ass-" He coughed for several seconds. "-embled, we would be poor guests-" He took several breaths to steady himself, his hands squeezing Lisa's tentacles. "- to leave them waiting."

 

[Wyldfire]

Garfield watched the catlady walk away, Aquaman had to do bad things? How bad could it be? He had felt living things squash, pop, rip, bleed and die. But it was not like he was given much of a choice in the matter and from what he knew, Aquaman didn't get a choice either.

He looked at the gathering and realized that he was definitely an oddity, but he had helped the group and they have been looking out for him too. He walked over, looking at the lady on the bike who spoke with a voice he was sure could peel paint off of buildings. He seemed to have missed her words since he was talking to catlady. He took a breath, looked around, "S'cool esse, whose next eh? I gonna get my warrior face on." and he transformed into a Chihuahua.

Thea didn't laugh. At least not out loud. The kid had a strange way of dealing with stress, but it could be worse. She remembered her one and only other romp as a vigilante, there had been one of the low level thugs in that Russian family that would tell jokes and such when he was stressed. She had almost let him live. Almost. She just hoped this kid would make it out of this. And not die like the last comedian she knew did. This kid deserved a clean death if he had to die. Damn, she realized she was being morbid. Her stress tell. Okay, time to see if she could change that up. She leaned up against 'Wave again and this time let out just a little bit of that damned new purr of hers....

She nodded her head over at Lisa and Kiz and whispered "Gee, guess it's just us gets in trouble for PDA," then she chuckled just a touch and finished with, "or maybe Cold just doesn't approve a me..."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

"Our hosts have ass-" He coughed for several seconds. "-embled, we would be poor guests-" He took several breaths to steady himself, his hands squeezing Lisa's tentacles. "- to leave them waiting."

Carin looked at Kiz and wondered if the big guy was going to be okay. He had pulled off some seriously big magic, and it looked like he was going to need some time to recover his mojo, but he still seemed like he knew what he was talking about so perhaps he could play coach for awhile and just call in the plays.

"Well you just tell me where to go and I can get several of us there in, pardon the pun, a flash. Just a question though. Does this mean that we will no longer be facing any more of those bloodborne? I don't mind normal troops and those fancy Ajagar things, but those magic using guys were hard core. I would be very happy to hear that they are out of the fight."

 

[kizkiz]

Kiz's breathing was labored, afflicted with a phlegmy wheezing sound. His head swiveled slowly towards Carin when she approached. He licked his lips. "Ssssss." He coughed again, swallowing and reopened his mouth. "Yes..." He sucked in more air. "Th-they've been evic-" He started to cough but shut his mouth down around it and took a deep breath through his nose. "Evicted from this party. Just..." He closed his eyes, and once closed they flickered across his eye lids in lightning fast R.E.M sweeps. This lasted a few moments. Then they snapped back open, black and unreadable. "The technic remains."

His breathing came a little easier. "The Rider and Karan push against the assembled host. Kaldur can wash them away. You aren't a killer. I'd advise rearguard and flank support with our ranged fighters. Rose can provide logistics and crowd control as needed. Lisa and myself will be your ace in the-" He paused, a faint smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "Hole."

He surveyed the assembled heroes. "Thea, Garfield, and Nightwing will continue as light infantry holding the middle and defending our ranged."

Whether or not Ruby was omitted by oversight or Kiz was just tired, his voice faded away and his eyes closed again. His eyes fluttered beneath his eyelids again but for several minutes this time.

 

[Varshanka]

Wondergirl (Tag: Rose and onlookers)

And that squeak became a sigh, and when she drew back from that kiss she put a finger on Karan's lips and mumbled, her breath all trembly in her speech.

"Okay. To... to be continued, okay? Definitely. Keep a bookmark in that spot."

Smiling and blushing slightly, Kara gave a soft nod of her head. A nod that became another flirtation when she kissed Rose’s finger. “Hot chocolate and fudge cake.”

“Now we need to go kick some more ass, and you need to stop putting yourself in dangers way.”

 

[Varshanka]

The Rider (Tag: Ruby Reed)

Ruby blinked, and squinted at that voice, like ancient burning chains dragging the millwheels of The Universe. "Between? Between what?"

“She is between places. Neither here nor there. She is between realities. A highway. Neither this city or the next. Between.” The Rider replied, its voice slowly shifting to a more mortal timbre as it spoke. Not that it could ever truly have a mortal voice with The Rider in control. But at least the soul didn’t get all quesy like.

Ruby Reed stuck her finger in her ear and scowled. "Okay, let's pretend I've never had that particular Bible verse misquoted hatefully in my LGBTQ face and save our energy for the baddies, hey?"

Turning it’s head so fast the air around it crackled and snapped. “I am Vengeance.”

 

[Varshanka]

Renegade (Tag: GRID, Nightwing)

Rooftop

“Let’s not keep the victims waiting. We got a world to save.” Renegade finally said, already getting bored with more talking. “Just look at the area, see the patterns, and start the intervening.” Ratcheting a round into the chamber of the sniper rifle for emphasis. “Dying time is here.”

Walking to the edge of the rooftop, Renegade pulled up the rifle and looked through the scope. “Yeah, I can nail’em from here. It’s at range, but it’s doable. Specially with no wind. Funny haze there though. Maybe a spacial/temporal distortion effect. Like when the speedsters are running really fast, they distort the air around em.”

‘Do I get paid per kill? Or per job?’ Renegade wondered for a moment. 'Gonna have to ask Luthor that one.'

 

[Varshanka]

Ravyn

Reality bent as Raven returned back into the Earth space she was supposed to be in. “That was, interesting.” She said soft and drily, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Separating from terra firma she floated over to the rest of the group, catching the end/or beginning of an argument.

Ruby Reed stuck her finger in her ear and scowled. "Okay, let's pretend I've never had that particular Bible verse misquoted hatefully in my LGBTQ face and save our energy for the baddies, hey?"

Turning it’s head so fast the air around it crackled and snapped. “I am Vengeance.”

“Not sure what the issue is, but The Rider is.. Vengeance. Decreed by a non mortal entity and imbued with the powers necessary to fulfill that duty.”

 

[TertiusHuman]

When Ravyn appeared, Garfield's ears perked up, his nose twitched and his tail slowly wagging. 'Ohwhee huchakahaggahagga'

Of course his reaction to Ravyn's apparel would be seen as sexist by quite a few people, but what there was to see, was enough to peak an emerald furred Chihuahua's attention. 'Now that right there is a hot piece of...'

He remembered the fact that there were several telepaths and he halted that thought mid-sentence and for a moment thought of running away, but then again... His tail started wagging again.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Prepare for The Onslaught.

When they arrived, Kiz did nothing to disentangle his body from Liz's slithering, caressing tendrils. She was almost like an alternate anima, as her selective tangibility blurred the lines between their two selves. Kiz closed his eyes, but his eyes flickered with blinding speed like he was under going REM sleep. They opened a few moments later, his expression soured until he tilted his head back to look up at Lisa, then his face smoothed out.

"Our hosts have ass-" He coughed for several seconds. "-embled, we would be poor guests-" He took several breaths to steady himself, his hands squeezing Lisa's tentacles. "- to leave them waiting."

This was February 2016.

Stranger Things had not yet aired.

But for all the look on Lisa's face as Kiz hacked and coughed-- and had that eye-flicker been a micro-seizure? --it sure looked like she was expecting him to hack up some bit of interdimensional pathogenic detritus left behind in his throat when he was spelunking Upside Down somewhere.

The way he looked at her like she was some sort of... center... like she brought him some kind of peace and stability made her ghostly heart flutter in unexpected ways... but damn...

...would this guy even survive a gentle fucking?

Cold squinted at Kiz' comment about being guests.

"You guys are guests in this city," he drawled, then gestured to Rory and then to Lisa, then himself. "We're the hosts. Either way, Bello's right. Keepin' them waiting would just be bad form."

She nodded her head over at Lisa and Kiz and whispered "Gee, guess it's just us gets in trouble for PDA," then she chuckled just a touch and finished with, "or maybe Cold just doesn't approve a me..."

Mick laughed a low, rumbling laugh, running a burn-callused palm up Thea's side-- just thoughtful enough to not pet her in the wrong direction. "He does tend to thaw slow, now that you mention it."

Cold glanced at Thea then, and didn't... quite... smile tolerantly. "You're an unknown quantity, but you kick like a mule and you're scratching all the right eyes out, so you get a pass for now, provisional crew membership. But the time and place thing still holds true-- just as it held true for Mirror Master--"

Lisa rolled her eyes at that, as though acknowledging-- in begrudging retrospect-- that maybe her brother had been right about Mirror Master's not being boyfriend material, and that his I-told-you-so had been noted and logged.

"--I just don't actually expect my sister to listen to me when I tell her to watch her hands and keep her mind on the job, so I tend to waste my breath on it less," Cold finished.

"Well you just tell me where to go and I can get several of us there in, pardon the pun, a flash. Just a question though. Does this mean that we will no longer be facing any more of those bloodborne? I don't mind normal troops and those fancy Ajagar things, but those magic using guys were hard core. I would be very happy to hear that they are out of the fight."

Kiz's breathing was labored, afflicted with a phlegmy wheezing sound. His head swiveled slowly towards Carin when she approached. He licked his lips. "Ssssss." He coughed again, swallowing and reopened his mouth. "Yes..." He sucked in more air. "Th-they've been evic-" He started to cough but shut his mouth down around it and took a deep breath through his nose. "Evicted from this party. Just..." He closed his eyes, and once closed they flickered across his eye lids in lightning fast R.E.M sweeps. This lasted a few moments. Then they snapped back open, black and unreadable. "The technic remains."

Cold tilted his head, glanced at Lisa for confirmation, who shrugged with-- well, as much worry as you'd get out of a somewhat amoral amortal who suddenly found herself plunged into doing heroic deeds with heroic people whether she liked it or not.

His breathing came a little easier. "The Rider and Karan push against the assembled host. Kaldur can wash them away. You aren't a killer. I'd advise rearguard and flank support with our ranged fighters. Rose can provide logistics and crowd control as needed. Lisa and myself will be your ace in the-" He paused, a faint smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "Hole."

Despite everything, Lisa couldn't help but be momentarily reassured by that-- did he just make an innuendo? And she winked at him gleefully.

He surveyed the assembled heroes. "Thea, Garfield, and Nightwing will continue as light infantry holding the middle and defending our ranged."

Whether or not Ruby was omitted by oversight or Kiz was just tired, his voice faded away and his eyes closed again. His eyes fluttered beneath his eyelids again but for several minutes this time.

Ruby was run ragged and left raw enough by the emotions and exertions of the day that oh, you bet she noticed-- but she held her tongue rather than getting all grim and snarling-- because honestly, how could you plan ahead for someone like her? She would Dial her Dial, H-E-R-O, and she would get what she got, however random that was-- and she would fall into whatever role accordingly befit that Hero. (Provided she got one that was useful at all.)

Besides, where she came from you didn't pick fights with people who may or may not be manifesting Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome.

Aquaman came trudging up, The Champion's Trident across his shoulders.

"It is a good plan, Kiz, you have a keen mind for tactics. I suggest we move towards the goal-- whatever nuance we wish to debate for strategy, we can do so as we go."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Deadly Sins, Uninvited and Otherwise.

Smiling and blushing slightly, Kara gave a soft nod of her head. A nod that became another flirtation when she kissed Rose’s finger. “Hot chocolate and fudge cake.”

A shiver shapeshifted down Rose's spine at the molecular level. "Oh, so much chocolate. You-- you are speaking my language."

“Now we need to go kick some more ass, and you need to stop putting yourself in dangers way.”

Rose shook her head. "I know I'm more support than straight combat, but out here-- danger's the only way there is! All those people out there-- we're here to stop that danger from spreading, getting worse, we are literally here to be in danger's way and keep it from getting past us. As-- daunting-- as that is-- on this kind of-- scale-- I can't shy away from this fight any more than could, you know, a mythic Amazon warrioress. Right?"

When Ravyn appeared, Garfield's ears perked up, his nose twitched and his tail slowly wagging. 'Ohwhee huchakahaggahagga'

Of course his reaction to Ravyn's apparel would be seen as sexist by quite a few people, but what there was to see, was enough to peak an emerald furred Chihuahua's attention. 'Now that right there is a hot piece of...'

He remembered the fact that there were several telepaths and he halted that thought mid-sentence and for a moment thought of running away, but then again... His tail started wagging again.

Rose was still mostly only good at picking up surface thoughts from people but-- ohhhh, man, it seemed like Gar Logan kept most of his thoughts as close to the surface as possible and she stared awkwardly at him and rubbed her upper arm before looking away.

Great, now I've got Tito from Oliver & Company tracking his sweaty paws all over my neurons--

Not that he was wrong about Raven. She was, objectively and not objectifyingly, gorgeous. But oh, man, she did not need that mental image right now.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Dial V.

Reality bent as Raven returned back into the Earth space she was supposed to be in. “That was, interesting.” She said soft and drily, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Separating from terra firma she floated over to the rest of the group, catching the end/or beginning of an argument.

Turning it’s head so fast the air around it crackled and snapped. “I am Vengeance.”

“Not sure what the issue is, but The Rider is.. Vengeance. Decreed by a non mortal entity and imbued with the powers necessary to fulfill that duty.”

Ruby squinted, clawed a hand through her light brown hair.

"Right. I mean-- I wasn't trying to start a fight. I was more-- reminding myself that I shouldn't start a fight. Assuming that you're right, Rae, and-- and The Rider here really is the correct context for that snippet of Scripture, the exact vengeance that that verse was supposed to be talking about-- I've had it thrown at my face in the wrong context by enough Ayn Randian alt-righters that I've developed a twitch."

"My feelings about God notwithstanding, I wish He would save me from His 'people.'"

 

[LuckyVic]

"I can see straight to the eye of the distortion and its standing room only for Kali cultists. It's not over yet."

"Are you able to share that data with other instruments?" Nightwing asked as he showed him the data pad. What Nightwing was hoping was to get a better idea of what the forces ahead of them were and where they were positioning themselves.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Genetrix Encephalon.

“More enemies, more dead bodies to make.” Renegade replied. “Don’t hold back. Take no prisoners, give no Quarter. Kill’em all.”

While I am by the very nature of my programming resistant to the idea of genocide as corrective action, in accordance with the original Lysl Dox, in this instance it is the only efficient option, Lysl agreed in Milton's head.

Milton shook his head, but if he was going to reply to Renegade's declaration of war or Lysl's qualified agreement, Nightwing's request for further intel took priority.

"Are you able to share that data with other instruments?" Nightwing asked as he showed him the data pad. What Nightwing was hoping was to get a better idea of what the forces ahead of them were and where they were positioning themselves.

"Yeah, hold on, uh," G.R.I.D. replied, placing his left hand on the side of his helmet. "I can interact with computers to a limited degree, and The Scan Visor has a way of isolating interface protocols--"

This will require meticulous data formatting so that your HUD imagery will be correctly rendered via his PDA's OS. Allow me to facilitate.

With that, a sea of nodal data points flickered up onto Nightwing's screen, layering itself on his topographical scans of the cityscape. Grim odds indeed.

“Let’s not keep the victims waiting. We got a world to save.” Renegade finally said, already getting bored with more talking. “Just look at the area, see the patterns, and start the intervening.” Ratcheting a round into the chamber of the sniper rifle for emphasis. “Dying time is here.”

"Mad Max," Milton nodded. "That's... actually pretty appropriate."

Walking to the edge of the rooftop, Renegade pulled up the rifle and looked through the scope. “Yeah, I can nail’em from here. It’s at range, but it’s doable. Specially with no wind. Funny haze there though. Maybe a spacial/temporal distortion effect. Like when the speedsters are running really fast, they distort the air around em.”

"You can see that with your naked eyes?" Milton blinked. "That's impressive. Speedsters do have an aura that interacts with interdimensional waveforms, a manifestation of The Seventh Fundamental Force. The energy feeding the dome from that central point is a different sort of energy, folded space and ambient matter-- it's having some very troubling spacial displacement and distortion effects, I'm worried about permanent damage to local spacetime if it's allowed to continue on this drastic a scale."

He glanced down at the battlefield below where their compatriots had started to gather.

"Speaking of which, looks like we're getting ready to roll out. We better go with!"

With that, Milton bounded out off of the rooftop, using a couple of short mid-air hops with the kinetigravitic Space Jump to mitigate his descent and land neatly before hurrying over to the rest of the group.

 

[kizkiz]

The Upside Down (tag: Chas/Ruby&Kaldur)

Ruby was run ragged and left raw enough by the emotions and exertions of the day that oh, you bet she noticed-- but she held her tongue rather than getting all grim and snarling-- because honestly, how could you plan ahead for someone like her? She would Dial her Dial, H-E-R-O, and she would get what she got, however random that was-- and she would fall into whatever role accordingly befit that Hero. (Provided she got one that was useful at all.)

Besides, where she came from you didn't pick fights with people who may or may not be manifesting Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome.

Aquaman came trudging up, The Champion's Trident across his shoulders, "It is a good plan, Kiz, you have a keen mind for tactics. I suggest we move towards the goal -- whatever nuance we wish to debate for strategy, we can do so as we go."

Kiz's eyes snapped open, leaking the Void like teardrops. "Lose your first hundred battles as fast as possible." He shrugged with considerable effort, holding back a bout of coughing with a grimace and wheezy breaths. He exhaled slowly. "You demean the sacrifices made to reach my present position by attributing them to natural endowments."

He started coughing again, a bout that wracked his whole body and would have bent him over if not for the slithering, helpful tendrils of Lisa's essence. He grimaced then spit a wad of phlegm laced blood onto the asphalt. "They're taking their sss-" Another series of coughs caused his abdomen to flex, showing off layers of muscle as defined as contoured armor. "-weet time."

His breath came out as a hoarse whisper as he started to say more, but stopped, closing his mouth and instead letting Lisa hold him in her embrace. He closed his eyes again and instantly they flickered back and forth as if going through an accelerated version of R.E.M. His fists flexed, driving his nails into his palms. Blood trickled out from around his white knuckles.

 

[Varshanka]

The Rider, Raven, Renegade

In Unison Raven and The Rider turned their heads and glared at Beast Boy.

“Keep your thoughts unverbalized and you’ll survive this encounter. Speak them and feel a world of hurt. You should be focusing on the enemy, not primal wants.” Out of the corner of her eye, and psychic emanations coming from the two girls, Raven looked over and saw even more. “Never mind, it seems like it’s mating season.” She added with a glance at Kiz and his companion, as well as Heatwave and The Arrow.

What good only be called a grunt escaped the rider as the bike revved up, flames shooting from the tailpipes like an angry dragon about to feed. Looking at Connor again, The Rider said nothing. She’d offered once, and he’d passed on the chance.

*****

Watching as Milton jumped and navigated his way down, Renegade snorted. With weapons in hand he jumped from the roof, tossing the weapons aside at the last moment before impact. Moments later she was climbing to her feet as muscle, cartilage, bone, and tendon reknit themselves.

Looking around she collected her gear and started jogging. It wasn’t fast, but it was a pace used by hunters that wanted to eat that night. A ground killing pace that didn’t wear you out. Ammo was low but she was planning on getting a lot closer and switching to blades, when the time was right.

 

[Varshanka]

Be good yes, behave.. Never!

Rose shook her head. "I know I'm more support than straight combat, but out here-- danger's the only way there is! All those people out there-- we're here to stop that danger from spreading, getting worse, we are literally here to be in danger's way and keep it from getting past us. As-- daunting-- as that is-- on this kind of-- scale-- I can't shy away from this fight any more than could, you know, a mythic Amazon warrioress. Right?"

“Agreed, but you will you at least try not to get in the middle of the fight? Not get surrounded by so many enemy that you can’t get free?” Karan pleaded, using the infamous ‘puppydog’ look that got her what she wanted, usually candied sweets, and extra desserts.

For good measure she leaned in and kissed Rose’s neck.