Young Justice: Outsiders (IC)

[The Jeffinator]

Young Justice: Outsiders
Issue #1
--- ARRIVAL ---​

Emerald Gardens Resort
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Friday, May 27th, 2016 20:15 EDT

The night was young, the sky was clear, and the air was a bit warmer than usual. Traffic was exceptionally busy around the Emerald Gardens, the parking lot full of party guests' vehicles. They were there to celebrate the Justice League's tenth anniversary, from random fans to Hollywood celebrities to politicians and corporate executives. The estimated guest count was so high that the League had rented the Emerald Gardens Grand Ball Room, which was an enormous area with a second floor balcony looking over the first floor and a large stage at one end. There were many round tables placed around the room with several chairs at each, elaborate and colorful decorations adorning the walls, and a podium and PA system up on the stage.

Guests were already pouring into the ball room, which opened into a smaller, adjoining room that had multiple buffet tables along two walls and a bar in the corner. A second connecting room was used as a security center where the League could monitor the area surrounding the hotel in case someone decided to crash the party. The hotel manager had given Batman temporary access to the cameras around the property, and he spent more time viewing the monitors set up in the security room than he did mingling with party guests. He was not, however, willing to let Nightwing do the same.

“Go on,” urged Batman. “Go have fun.”

Nightwing raised an eyebrow. “Not exactly something I ever expected to hear you say.”

“It's not often we have the chance to portray ourselves in this light,” explained Bruce.

“You mean to suit up for reasons other than busting skulls?”

“Exactly.” Batman grinned slightly. “People expect me to be anti-social at these types of gathering. I'm not sure they would take me seriously anymore if I was laughing and joking with them.”

“Maybe I feel the same way about me,” Dick added.

“The stone-cold detective is my thing,” Bruce said with a wink. “Now quit trying to copy me and go enjoy the party.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved his hand in defeat and turned to leave the security room. After walking around the ball room a bit, Dick decided to grab a plate of food from the buffet and sat at one of the tables on the far end of the room. He had shared quick greetings with some of the people he recognized, but ultimately sat alone.

As he ate his food, Nightwing surveyed the room and noticed that Lex Luthor and New Jersey Senator Harvey Dent had arrived at the party. Both were relatively well-liked by the public – Luthor had helped pioneer better corporate standards for labor, healthcare, and philanthropy, and Dent had served many years as a District Attorney in Gotham City before running for the U.S. Senate. He was expected to seek the Presidency in the upcoming elections, and there was even talk of him choosing Luthor as his running mate.

Dick's pondering was brought to an abrupt stop as he suddenly heard frantic chatter through his ear-piece followed by Batman trying to calm down whoever was panicking. There was a mention of monsters coming out of a semi truck, and a second later Dick heard a thundering boom followed by the sound of shattering glass and wood. He ran towards one of the doors to the ball room and looked out to see a gaping hole through the outside wall in the lobby of the hotel, and standing there looking at the terrified desk clerk was what appeared to be a younger Superman in a white body suit.

This Superboy looked angry and was about to strike the clerk when Nightwing flung a wingblade at him. A moment later, the boy was lunging at Dick with incredible speed, and then rammed into him, sending him flying across the room and into a group of people. Then chaos ensued as hordes of gray-skinned, red-eyed monsters of varying sizes poured into the room and began attacking anyone in sight.

Shit! thought Dick as he climbed out from the group of people and pulled himself to his feet. There must be dozens of them! Unbeknownst to him, Psimon was sitting in the semi truck outside controlling the monsters and the Superboy though a psychic connection.

 

[Sean Renaud]

Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, known to most as Ben 10, tugged uncomfortably at his tie but managed to force himself to smile as he entered the Emerald Gardens ball room. He'd grown a lot as a man and a hero over his decade or so of what he called 'Hero Time' but some things never really changed. He hated formal affairs from top to bottom. It wasn't just the fact that the black silk 'noose' Grandpa Max had tied around his neck was cutting off his air. It was the fact that he had to keep his elbows off the table, that he had to ask someone to pass the salt rather than reaching for it, that he needed to to introduce himself to people as if they hadn't seen him on the evening news. In short it was the entire frustrating affair. Despite an informal invitation he wouldn't even have come if Grandpa Max hadn't insisted that it would be rude for him not to go.

On the bright side with the Justice League on the scene Ben wasn't completely swamped by photographers. He was pretty sure nobody even noticed him picking at his tie.

Ben made as short a circuit around the room as he could manage without being blatantly rude before finding his way to a pillar and and nursing a drink he was still too young to legally obtain. Not that anybody questioned him and the truth was he hadn't picked it up because he liked the taste or even the buzz. Having something in hand limited his ability to shake hands and a mouthful of champagne was an equally valid excuse for not talking to people.

Just have to wait for the official ceremony and then find an-

The rest of Ben's thoughts were lost as several windows were blown into the lobby. Oh thank God. Ben very nearly said aloud as the attack began. He was a lot more comfortable in the middle of brawl than he was at these kinds of events! He was smiling as he ran in towards the screaming voices and and. . .were those roars?

Ben quickly looked around the lobby and his smile faded. There were a lot of whatever those thing were and-

Again his thoughts were cut short as a teen in white spandex rammed Nightwing and sent him flying like something out of Sumo Slammers.

"It's HERO TIME!" Ben cried quickly dialing the Omnitrix and slapping it. He was engulfed in a bright green light for a second and replaced with.

Echo Echo!

The barely three foot tall alien quickly multiplied into a dozen individuals screeching their sonic waves at the beasts. In the meanwhile the original worked to start guiding the civilians out of the room and to safety. That was one of Grandpa's rules, the safety of civilians came first.

He just hoped he didn't time out too soon.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

.....

 

[GypsyGirl84]

.....

 

[Lily_Wight]

Barbara got into crime fighting for the adventure, and to help people. She never dreamed it would get her into this kind of party. Barbara would have preferred to attend in a gown, but her Batgirl costume was as good as her invitation. She did her best to keep from smiling like a moron while she rubbed elbows with other heroes and well-to-do civilians.

People treated her with respect, even if they didn't know who she was exactly. It must have been the bat across her breast, because it didn't look like everyone was getting the same treatment.

Barbara made her rounds: hitting the hors d'oeuvres, the dance floor, mingling, hors d'oeuvres, dance floor, generally enjoying herself, when she heard it. That old familiar sound of trouble: glass shattering, people screaming.

Batgirl leapt onto a table to avoid the crush of people and surveyed the scene.
She saw Nightwing take a hit, but he got up, so she waited a second longer, opting to formulate a plan if she could.

A group of little white creatures was herding the civilians away, and other heroes were engaging the attackers. The young superman seemed like the big problem here.

The only thing to do was try and keep it distracted until someone in it's league arrived to help.

Batgirl left from table to table, clearing the civilians and launching a volley of smoke bombs, explosives, and bladed batarangs at the enraged super-impostor. She anticipated a swift response, landing and bounding backwards, but it's reaction was too quick.

The super punch, added to her own backward momentum sent her hurting into the ceiling on the far side of the room. Her body made a small crater in the plaster, and she fell to the floor amid the debris.

 

[Sean Renaud]

William "Star" Lee had rented a tuxedo for the event. He'd received his invitation in person from Ben 10. The Ben 10. Sure they'd worked together that one time when the circus came to town and started turning people into zombies but Star really hadn't done anything important. Certainly not enough to warrant an invite from someone like Ben. Surely there had to have been dozens if not hundreds of people from all across the galaxy he could could have invited to this!

It felt nice to dress up. It was almost like a costume. William didn't even own a tie of his own let along a nice suit and jacket like the one he was wearing now. It might as well be Halloween, just instead of dressing up like Black Lightning he was dressed up as a rich man. There were police for security but none of them questioned him as he walked by, not even a wayward glance. That was fairly unusual but certainly more than welcome.

William felt his breath catch in his chest when he first stepped into the Ballroom. It was like something out of a movie for him. Nothing in his short life had prepared him for anything remotely like this. He had no idea what most of the foods were being offered to him but he took something from every platter that passed him.

He made his way around the room searching for Ben to thank him and had just spotted him. . .after walking past him at least three times. The nineteen year old literally looked like a different person with his normally unkempt hair slicked back and his casual jeans and sports jacket replaced with a suit and tie. William had just opened his mouth when a thunderous crash summoned Ben and several other heroes out of the room.

"Really? Someone is stupid enough to attack Superman and his amazing friends?!" Micheal said in honest disbelief. Any criminal with half a brain would be highjacking a bank on the far side of the planet while all the heroes were present and accounted for.

Or at least nuke them from orbit. It was the only way to be sure after all.

Micheal removed his tie and started trotting towards the carnage for the moment planning to stay out of the way. They were all here. Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. Green Lanterns. The Flash. Ben 10. There really wasn't much he could accomplish other than getting in the way.

 

[Nubian_Legend]

It was hard to think things couldn't get anymore sketchy for the selectively assembled group at the Emerald Gardens Embassy with the sudden inside demolitions, and sightings of what looked like a busload of freaky alien genotypes, and then a rampaging super-teen to top - all occurring virtually at the same time, then came even more aftershocks and the sound of reinforced footsteps above, dozens upon dozens, numbering possibly in the hundreds, then came storm troopers, making their presence known to the invitational gathering.

The double doors swung open immediately and the heavily armored infantry filed into the main hall. Were they the good guys here to rescue civilians and do battle with the alien menace? It has hard to tell at least at first. In movies it always seemed that way. Perhaps a special division of the military that dealt with situations like these?

All doubts were put to rest when the soldiers formed a flank surrounding the guests without so much as opposing the alien intruders, they aimed their guns toward the crowd of unsuspecting civilians, they seemed to form a barrier obstructing all exits. It seemed everyone in the perimeter was made a hostage. It was obvious the troops were there to keep the crowd contained. The men would not take action without orders it seemed.

And then a single soldier marched into periphery, the impressive detail of his armor indicated a high rank as opposed to the rank-in-file who composed the room, his helmet resembled an ocean divers or something out of a science fiction feature. An implacable looking commander standing in between both forces. As he turned to survey the room in that metallic egg-shaped helm of his, there seemed to be someone among the captive audience who lured attention from the helmet commander. Arthur Hall, the former mayor and police chief of New York and a likely dark horse in the Presidential race. He approached the older gentlemen.

"Arthur Hall?" The commander inquired.

The man replied "Yes-"

And as soon as the man could muster an answer, he was thrust clean by a shank of unknown origins.

"Nothing personal" Manta replied cooly. The man fell limp into the arms of his wife Dolores who'd been nearby.

Manta resumed taking his place in the center once again. "Now all of you lovely socialites gathered here in this fine venue. You are all but subjects under the supreme application of my authority. I will decide who lives and who dies in this space. If there is anyone here who wishes to defy me, let them try. They will only find despair. The best any of you can do to improve your personal life expectancy is to stay put and stay out of my way. Understood?" His firm tone projecting resolutely to the crowd of concerned captives.

 

[GuyRP]

Thirty minutes earlier...

Tara Reid. She was a B-list movie star from a very rich family. Rick Romanov had a bit of a lust crushon her since she had appeared on the TV show 'Scrubs.' He wasn't interested in dating her, per se, but she had starred in more than a few of his fantasies. And she was standing thirty feet away.

Rick was at a Justice League party. It might be the Justice League party, he wasn't sure if this was the first one or if it was a regular thing, but nonetheless he was here. Rick worked at STAR labs researching and cataloguing xenotechnology. The Justice League used him as a consultant quite often, so much so that he had a couple Leaguers phone numbers saved in his phone. Which was the reason he got the invite.

That he was also the superhero known as the Scarlet Scarab or the Red Beetle, had nothing to do with it. To the best of his knowledge, the only person in the world who knew his secret identity was a mercenary named Plastique, and she could only identify his face, she didn't know his name. The Scarlet Scarab wasn't a big time hero like Superman or Aquaman. He was a powerhouse, but Rick was less of a crime fighter, more of a scientist. He'd been on a few adventures and was taking martial arts classes now that he got an alien symbiote attached to his back, but he still wasn't good at tracking down criminals and doing all the leg work that Batman was famous for.

Famous may be the wrong word. He wasn't sure Batman had ever been photographed, and some people still claim he's just an urban legend from Gotham. Rick knew the Justice League, worked with them, got to hear them joke around. He'd met Batman, and inside the League he had a fearsome reputation as being the most vigilant, most serious, most committed crime fighter.

Tonight though, Rick was just here to have a good time. And he was trying to screw up the courage to go talk to Tara Reid.

You want to breed with this female? That was the scarab talking. He spoke directly to Rick's brain via their shared nervous system.

Ideally, yes. Rick replied via thought. He'd gotten the scarab almost two years ago and usually he could respond to it without talking out loud. Usually. If you could be quiet while I'm talking to her, that would be great.

Sigh. Meat. You should be focusing on become a great warrior, a champion for your people.

Everyone needs a night off. And don't tell me the Reach don't relax, I've got thousands of hours of their version of TV on record at the lab.

I am no longer part of the Reach. Now I am part of you Frederick Romanov. Go play your little penis and vagina games. I will remain silent.

I don't, it's not little, I, you are so stupid sometimes.

True to his word the scarab stayed silent. That was gratifying and frustrating.

Rick took a moment to compose himself and then walked over to Tara Reid. He knew he looked good in his well-fitted tuxedo. A dirty blond with clear blue eyes who stood at five foot, ten inches tall, he wasn't short, though he was much shorter than most of the physical specimens here. It's hard for a relatively normal guy to compete with superheroes. He was skinny, or lean, with a runner's build. Rick did a great deal more cardio than anything else, able to run for hours on end. His stamina was exceptional. Of course, that didn't make him look impressive against, say anyone on the Justice League.

When he approached Tara Reid he smiled and offered his hand. "Hi, I'm Rick."

She looked him up and down, unable or unwilling to keep the disdain off her face. She didn't take his hand. "Tara."

Not the response he was hoping for, Rick dropped his hand. "So, uh, how do you like the party?"

She didn't quite sigh, but Tara made it very clear she wasn't interested in talking to him. "It's a party. I go to hundreds of these galas and benefits every year." She shrugged. "At least this one has superheroes."

It was clear she was much more interested in superheroes than him. Rick considered telling her that he was the Scarlet Scarab.

No you will not Frederick Romanov. You have made it very clear to me that your identity must remain secret.

Rick nodded, more as a response to the scarab than to Tara's comment. "I don't know. Superheroes are just people. I mean, without the powers they're just like you and me."

Tara snorted. "Are you kidding me? Superheroes are bigger than rock stars, movie stars, everything. Being a superhero is like, the coolest thing ever. Do you have any idea how many women want to sleep with Superman? All of them."

Rick was a bit taken aback by that statement. It took him a moment to come up with a response. "I never thought of it that way."

She turned to him and looked him in the eye. "Be honest Rich. If you could bang Wonder Woman, wouldn't you?"

It was Rick's turn to snort. "No thank you. She has yelled at me so many times I want nothing to do with her."

Tara let out a laugh. "You know Wonder Woman?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah, I consult for the Justice League."

Tara shook her head. "I'll give you credit Rich, that is the best line I've heard in a long time."

"It's not a line. I'm an expert in xenotechnology."

"You're what? Thirteen?" Tara's voice was getting louder.

"I'm nineteen."

"So you're what, a freshman in college trying to pass yourself off as an expert in Xena's technology? She was a warrior princess, her technology was a horse."

Rick was pissed now. He was about to fire back when someone in blue with a red cape landed gently in front of him. Rick turned to come face to face with a red 'S' on a yellow field. Tara's jaw had dropped and she was staring like a fangirl.

Superman shook RIck's hand with a smile. "Glad you could make it tonight Rick, it's always a pleasure to see you."

Rick nodded, calming down. "Thanks. I don't get to see you guys too often when the fate of the world isn't hanging in the balance."

Superman laughed. His voice was deep and resonant. "Speaking of, you did a great job last week and I just wanted to let you know, if you ever need the Justice League for anything, well, we all owe you quite a debt."

Rick blinked. Did Superman mean that or did Rick really have the Man of Steel as his wingman tonight? Probably the former, Superman was a great guy, but it wasn't hurting Rick any that he decided to swing by now. "I'll tell you what, keep saving the world and we'll call it even."

Superman chuckled. "Can do. Enjoy the party." He turned to Tara and nodded. "Miss."

And then he was gone, back into the air. Superman didn't push through crowds, he didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone, so he went over them.

Rick let Tara stare after the Metropolis Marvel for a moment and then said. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just a college student with a great line. I don't really consult for the Justice League. I made the whole thing up just to get into your pants."

And that's why Rick was outside of the building, making out with a B-list movie star when monsters crashed through the wall. They were behind some shrubbery and Tara was taking her top off when all hell broke loose. Tara ran off, holding her blouse over her boobs, and once she was far enough away Rick summoned the scarab and the armor formed around him.

The Scarlet Scarab flew right over the van Psimon was in, unaware that the psychic was there. He came up behind the monsters and readied his sonics. The Scarab wanted to go directly to energy blasts and kill the things, but Rick insisted on disabling harmonics. They were tuned to distablize the inner ear, and he was firing wide angle shots with both hands at the monsters from the rear, hoping that would drop a few.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

.....

 

[Remec]

Beast Boy

I hope this is suitably fashionably late, Gar Logan thought to himself as he soared through the open air en route to the fanciest of fancy party's he'd ever managed to land an invitation to. It had been a while since he'd really felt up to coming out and partaking of this particular benefit of both being a superhero and being the adopted son of what had to be one of the last remnants of old fashioned Hollywood glamour.

The bright green albatross has been good for riding the upper air currents, but now that the party's location was clear below him, Gar shifted in to an osprey and dove rapidly towards the ground, breaking out of the dive easily into the form of a hummingbird and zipping here and there about the outside of the venue.

A broad smile crossed Gar's currently avian face as he noticed a couple making out. Boobies was his first reaction, but it was quickly followed by Oh, Tara Reid...Queen of the Wardrobe Malfunction...whoa! What the...

He dropped to the ground as a cheetah, and quickly crossed the distance between where he was and the invading forces. Ms Reid was out of his thoughts almost as fast as he was past her rushing body. He couldn't make out what the things were, at first, but he could definitely tell they were causing problems and attacking.

So Gar attacked back.

He made his way swiftly into the crowd of invaders just outside of the building--actually becoming a swift and flying overhead of some costumed heroes he saw working the crowd and getting the civilians out of danger's way. Once he found a suitable open area, Gar became a rhino and started separating grey things from people in his own way--running them over and trampling them or slinging them off to the side with his horn.

I wonder if anyone has taken charge yet? Gar thought as he began looking around for anyone he'd worked with before, either by himself or, more likely, with the late Doom Patrol.

 

[The Jeffinator]

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER...

Driving down the road towards the Emerald Gardens Resort was a large semi truck filled with dozens of genomorphs in the back. In the cabin sat a short hooded man and a masked driver.

“We're almost there,” Psimon said to the driver, slipping back the sleeve of his black trenchcoat and pressing his watch. A holographic screen and keyboard popped up and he began typing in numbers to make a call. “Manta, are you in position? Good. Did anyone spot you? Excellent. Doctor Ivo's stealth tech is quite remarkable, isn't it? Even in a well-lit hallway, an army can march in and no one even notices as long as they are quiet and don't bump into anyone.”

Psimon looked up through the windshield and then returned his attention to Manta. “We're nearly there. Remain in position until the genomorphs have sufficiently trashed the party, then move in to stabilize the situation. Don't jump the gun too soon, though,” he added with a cackle, “I want my monsters to paint the room red first.”

A disgusted sigh, and then Manta disconnected the call. Psimon shrugged and began activating the layers of telepathic programming he had installed on Superboy and the genomorphs, including the command to cease all activity upon the Manta soldiers entering the room. Once they came to a stop, Superboy opened the sliding door of the truck and charged into the hotel, followed by the hordes of monsters.

“Go, my pets!” Psimon screamed happily into their minds from his seat. “Sever limb from limb and rip flesh from bone! Bath yourselves in the blood of your enemies! Hahahahahaha!”

NOW

The genomorphs ran into the ball room and began sending bodies flying, bones cracking, skulls smashing. The heroes struggled to save as many people as possible; the Flash and Kid Flash were running party guests outside, Green Lantern was erecting barriers between the monsters and their targets, and Superman was grappling with Superboy. Nightwing was trying his best to take down the smaller creatures, and on the other side of the room, Wonder Woman and Aquaman were fighting off a rhino-sized beast.

Suddenly, the sound of stomping filled the room, and a heavily-armored group of soldiers marched through the doors. The genomorphs fell still at the sight of them, and soon Black Manta spoke to the crowd. As soon as he had completed his speech, an angry growl came from the side.

“Manta! What is the meaning of this?!” demanded Aquaman as he approached his arch-nemesis.

Meanwhile, out in the truck, Psimon was fuming as he realized his partner had acted prematurely. Through the eyes and ears of the genomorphs, he witnessed Manta's speech, and it then became clear that the sea lord desired minimal casualties. This infuriated the dark psychic a great deal, who felt robbed of the pleasure he had sought.

A moment later, Psimon stormed into the ball room, walking towards the soldiers. “Manta!!!” he screamed in a rage. “I don't care what my queen thinks of you – you shall die for this treachery!” He slid back his hood to reveal a scarred and partially burnt face, leering at his new enemy with seething hate.

The dark psychic then extended both his hands out in front of him and released a wave of psionic energy that crashed into Manta, Aquaman, and several of the soldiers, knocking them back. He then unleashed torrents of lightning from his fingertips at the traitor, while commanding the genomorphs to attack the soldiers as well as the heroes and party guests.

 

[Sean Renaud]

The Echo Echos simply weren't proving to be quite up to the task of fighting off and army of . . .goblins? No too big. Orcs? Probably not too skinny. Trolls? Well he couldn't tell if they were regenerating or not but trolls seemed to be fitting. Echo Echo vs a troll generally ended with a thoroughly annoyed troll and an unconscious alien. Sure he could overwhelm them with sheer numbers until they exceeded their maximum kill limit but that was taxing physically and mentally. Each time an Echo was killed it dematerialized and the real Ben was instantly slammed with all it's experiences in the interim. By Ben's count he'd been slain thirteen times. Four by decapitation. Three by crushing, two by being bitten in half. Two by repeated blunt force trauma and one, one had been swallowed by one of the really big trolls. He'd been conscious long enough to feel the acid burning.

Despite it all Ben just kept churning out more until the pause caused by Black Manta let him catch his breath. There wasn't time to save whomever that had been that Manta had killed. Okay, who's on who's side? Ben thought. In the meanwhile he continued subtly shifting the civilians into a corral.

Then all hell broke loose. "Shit, shit shit." There was absolutely no way he even with the other heroes were going to be able to protect the civilians inside a choatic melee like this. Fortunately Ben had an idea, the beginnings of one anyway. "I have an-" One Echo said and the others all echoed in "-idea. On it!" It turns out that clones don't need to be psychic to read each other's minds. A few remained behind to provide cover to whomever they could but the bulk rushed towards the nearest wall. "Buy us some time!" They shouted to nobody in particular before focusing on the wall. The Emerald Gardens was a sturdy building, but it wasn't designed to withstand a dozen or so sonic screams focused on it. It would take less than a minute for them to blow a hole large enough for the civilians to start escaping. And then everybody could really cut loose.

 

[GuyRP]

There simply weren't alot of genomorphs lefft to back Psimon's play. The Scarlet Scarab had neutralized most of them with sonics when they went catatonic, and stapling them to the ground.

At first the fighting had been fierce. It took a few trys to find the right frequency to cause disorientation, but once he did the scarab stored the data and he could switch back and forth between frequencies. Of course, the genomorphs didn't let him just float there and fire sonics at him.

Two of the big ones, Rick called them stompers, had thrown a third stomper at him. Rick was knocked from the sky and summoning shields to block the blows as he figured out a counter. He took too long and now all three stompers and some of the monkey looking things were pounding on him.

Rick panicked and the Scarab took over, berating him. Five energy blasts and the genomorphs had scattered, the three stompers were badly burned, the two monkeys that got hit looked dead.

You are better than this Frederick Romanov. You must be champion of Earth, I cannot.

You killed them.

Yes. They would have killed you. I will not allow that.

Rick shook his head and rejoined the battle. Mostly he used his shield and sword to melee with the beasts. He transformed sword to sonic to stapler as needed, relying heavily on the shield to defend against the brutes. He'd had more than a few, but less than many, of the beasts restrained with staples when then suddenly stopped fighting.

When the beasts stopped fighting Rick didn't. He'd been knocked around and was the worse for it. One thing he'd learned in his short time heroing, was to restrain your enemies when they surrender. Then talk to them. That's what cops do. Handcuff, get them to the station and then talk to them.

He restrained them with staples and gave them a blast of sonic to keep them disoriented. He didn't know about Manta and what was happening inside. He was too busy to see a hooded man walk into the building.

Once all the genomorphs outside were suitably restrained, the Scarlet Scarab headed inside to continue his work.

 

[Remec]

Beast Boy

Having cleared a good sized space to work in, Gar proceeded to shift into a gorilla form. He was bigger than usual, like a bright Crayola green version of Congorilla or Grodd, and was happy to simply be putting the combat skills his friend Cliff had trained in in to good use a he smashed geomorphs of assorted sizes and types. Eventually, he noticed they had stopped putting up resistance and, in fact, a number of them actually ignored him to stare off into space or gaze blankly at the building.

"Okay, something in there needs looking into, eh?", Gar said to himself more than to the silent former adversaries he'd been pounding on. He switched into the form of a small tabby and headed through one of the openings into the building. As he wandered cautiously through the hallways and lobby, he came to the main doors of the central ballroom and caught sight of the tail end of Psimon's electrical discharge and how the geomorphs were back in action--laying into both partygoers as well as the force of soldier types that seemed to be at the beck and call of the man in the specialized scuba gear.

Uh oh, time to get some distance Gar thought as he dashed for a wall, sprang up as a kangaroo, hit the wall as a gecko and scurried along it almost to the ceiling, then launched himself as a flying squirrel into the air and sailed across the room. Where to go? Where to go? Hmm...is that an arm amid that drywall and plaster?

Gar dropped to the floor, back in gorilla form, and uncovered Batgirl from the stuff that had falled atop her from the ceiling. Man...Redhead in practically skintight supercostume...hope she's alright. "Miss? Miss? Um...female bat person? Batwoman? Batgirl? You okay?"

 

[Sean Renaud]

Star

Star had stood off to the side for almost a minute before realizing that this was not something the League was fully prepared to handle on their own. He could see just from his vantage point that Superman, Green Lantern and the Flash were doing their best to keep things under control. Nightwing, Batgirl and Ben 10 were at is as well along with a few people that he couldn't identify off the top of his head. They were failing. He wasn't sure how many people had been killed so far but it was definitely a few, it even seemed like a few 'masks' may have been put down.

After that he'd jumped into action doing his best to put down as many of of the alien monsters as he could but they were fast and tough. Worse they weren't human which meant much of his martial arts training was falling flat. They could bend that way to escape an armbar with without snapping bone. They did not have a pressure point in the shoulder that would drop them with pain. Eventually he settled on blunt force moving around the room.

Soon enough it became a problem of sheer exhaustion. he couldn't keep going at full tilt against this many foes forever and the only relief that came was when the monsters started attacking the soldiers making it possible to get out of the way for a few seconds at a time.

When Ben asked for a little time Star responded, not only out of respect but nobody else even seemed to have the beginings of a plan. His father had always told him that a bad plan today is better than a perfect plan tommorow so that's what he went with finally squaring off against one of the Giants. . .

 

[GypsyGirl84]

.....

 

[GypsyGirl84]

.....

 

[GypsyGirl84]

Lady Katherine

.....

 

[Lily_Wight]

Gar dropped to the floor, back in gorilla form, and uncovered Batgirl from the stuff that had falled atop her from the ceiling. Man...Redhead in practically skintight supercostume...hope she's alright. "Miss? Miss? Um...female bat person? Batwoman? Batgirl? You okay?"

"It's Batgirl, mister big green and beastly." She said, holding up a hand. The gorilla was surprisingly gentle when he helped her up, taking her little hand in his. "And I'm fine, thanks."

She took her hand back and patted the dust off her costume.

"I just got my bell rung a little." She said surveying the scene. She saw a group of those little white creatures using a sonic scream to try and blast an escape route though the wall. It was already starting to crumble, and she had just the thing to help finish the job.

"You mind giving me a hand?" She asked the Gorilla. "I need to get over there in a hurry."

"It would be my pleasure." He said scooping her up with his big hand under her rear.

"Let's try and limit the pleasure for now." She joked, as his muscular arm pulled back.

"Let her rip." She tapped his arm.

The giant ape's strong arm sent her arcing over the fray. The apex of the throw gave her a clear shot, and she threw her last two sticky bombs at the crumbling wall.

She landed behind the cluster of little screaming creatures as the bombs went off.

 

[Sean Renaud]

Oh thank god for Batgirl and Martian Manhunter? Beast Boy? There were too damn many green shape shifters that could or should have been present for Ben to know for sure who it was and at the moment it didn't even matter. The wall was gone. Ben, all eleven remaining Bens, gave a thumbs up to the brave heroes who'd bought him the uninterrupted time to destroy the wall. A pair of Echoes darted through the breach makings sure it was clear. It was clear, almost eerily so. Whatever was going on had also managed to stop traffic and clear pedestrians. He hadn't even motioned for the civilians to follow when they started pouring out more than a few of the Echoes were trampled unexpectantly. Back inside the ballroom the rest all vanished when the Omnitrix timed out with a loud power down sound the face turning red.

"Really? You know Omnitrix sometimes I hate you." Ben mumbled picking up what had once been part of a guard rail and wielding it like a bat. Even without the Omnitrix Ben wasn't nearly as helpless as many would believe. While Ben had his doubts Grandpa Max always said that Ben was the most naturally talented fighter he'd ever seen. He was also sloppy, overconfident, and too lazy to practice. It was more than enough to keep him from getting more than a few glancing blows knocking him around while other heroes started to wrap things up.

 

[The Jeffinator]

As Black Manta fell to the ground, Psimon continued to unleash torrents of lightning on him. At first his suit was insulating against the electricity, but then the increased heat caused part of the helmet's glass visor to crack, which allowed the current to flow in and through Manta's body, which began convulsing.

As a wicked grin spread across Psimon's face, Aquaman ran towards him and pushed the dark psychic back. He was about to turn his attention to torturing the King of Atlantis when suddenly he sensed something was flying at him. He leaned to the side just in time to avoid getting impaled through the neck by the sword, which instead went flying at Aquaman, who was standing right behind him. A moment after that, he felt a person with a significant magical aura coming at him, and turned just in time to see Lady Katherine bounding towards him.

Using her own kinetic energy against her, he pushed outward with a light wave of force while side-stepping, causing her to go tumbling after the sword into the Atlantean king. He then attempted to lift her up with telekinesis, and his eyes widened when he realized that he couldn't. He then looked at her for a moment as she regained her composure.

“Impressive,” he said with a smirk. “It appears you have some magnitude of magical protection. Let's test the limits of this, shall we?” Psimon's fingers crackled with energy once again and he sent a blast of lightning towards Lady K.

Meanwhile, Superman was once again struggling to subdue his clone. He eventually got the boy down on the ground, and began punching him over and over again in the side of the head in rapid succession, creating a small crater in the floor but finally knocking him unconscious. He then noticed the new hole in the wall and helped evacuated the remaining civilians. Flash and Kid Flash began using the new hole as well to run party guests out. Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter were engaging the Manta soldiers, and Nightwing had teamed up with Batman to bring down one of the last rhino-sized genomorphs.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

.....

 

[Tight_n_ready]

“What about this?”

M’gann twirled in front of her Uncle. He sighed, “there’s still something wrong M’gann”

She glanced in the mirror and frowned.

“Oh…”

She concentrated for a moment, and her skin tone changed from it’s more natural green to a slightly less attention grabbing human colour.

“Better?”

He rubbed his brow, “yes…”

She spun again, and the dress shimmered for a moment, before changing shape, becoming a slightly old-fashioned party dress, but not so old-fashioned that it wouldn’t fit in. J’onn jumped on the chance to escape the purgatory he was currently in, he’d never thought that looking after a niece would have been such hard work. It had never been part of the plan of course, but then that seemed to come part and parcel with being a hero, the plan unravelling far too quickly, and far too uncontrollably.

“Time to go M’gann, we’re already late.”

His voice was stern, this time it brooked no argument, and M’gann knew it was time for them to leave now. She rubbed at the hem of her dress, “I guess this will have to do then.”

It didn’t take them long to get to the Emerald Gardens Resort, but as her Uncle had said, they were already late, and it seemed they had definitely missed the start of the party, people were running, screaming from the building.

“Uncle…”

“No M’gann! Stay here, it’s not safe.”

“But…”

But… her Uncle was already gone, slipping from the car and disappearing into the night sky before anyone could spot anything unusual, although there was far too much chaos for that as it was. M’gann sat there, uselessly. This is not what she wanted to be doing right now. Sat here while people were being hurt, she could hear the screams from here, and something else, something louder, more persistent, until suddenly the wall beside the car blew open and people came pouring out. She screamed as a brick came through the window, showering her with glass, and then her jaw firmed.

She was not going to sit here and wait, not while the Martian Manhunter was helping, not while other people were helping. There was a flash of green light, and suddenly there was a young man beside the wall, a metal bar in his hand which he was swinging, fighting the strange grey creatures. No, that was it.

M’gann slipped out of the opposite door of the car and vanished in a shimmer. She reappeared forty feet away, flying through the air and straight through the newly formed entrance to the ballroom like a thunderbolt.

A scene of carnage greeted her, apparently orchestrated by a cackling, scarred figure in the centre, waves of power were flowing from him, electricity, force, and psionic control warped around his form. The rest of the area was too chaotic, there was too much happening, and what looked like heroes getting involved, except for him. A young woman was charging towards him, and time after time was knocked aside and targeted with lightning.

It seemed the best place to start.

He was the centre of the chaos, was he co-ordinating it? She closed her eyes and focused on the chaos around her, the maelstrom of thoughts and emotions, tearing at her, each trying to draw her in, until she found the vicious singularity at the centre, a storm of thoughts so powerful it was warping the very air around it. She took the mental equivalent of a deep breath, and dived inside.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Psimon laughed as he toyed with the determined woman, brushing her aside again and again. She was immune to direct manipulation and seemed to have protections against the full force of his lighting, as well. Interesting... He thought, amused. He would have been content to play with her for hours, but then he sensed an immensely powerful psychic mind -- greater even perhaps than the Martian Manhunter -- scanning the room and homing in on him.

Now what do we have here? he asked as she attempted to breach his mental barriers. In light of this new adversary, Psimon had lost interest in Lady K, who was suddenly grabbed by Superboy as she made her next charge. The clone had been starting to wake up, and the dark psychic telepathically commanded him to focus on keeping the steadfast female warrior busy for a while. A moment later, the boy slammed her into one of the walls and aimed a punch for her head, which she just barely avoided, though his fist left a small crater in the wall behind her.

Ah... Such power... Psimon said to M'gann as she plunged into his mind. Yes, you are indeed an interesting one. I... I don't think I could push you out even if I tried. You outclass me completely in terms of brute strength. But you are young. And inexperienced... And foolish. So eager were you to penetrate my defenses, you failed to secure your own! I may not be able to banish you from my mind, but I can certainly make your stay here... unpleasant! He lashed out with the full force of his power, slipping through her barriers and flooding her with the sensation of searing flames. He overpowered her physical senses, tricking her mind into seeing fire and feeling the agonizing burn. To one who was unprepared for this experience, it would have felt like absolute hellfire.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

.....