trans_9 | Phase 4 - The Mastermind Behind it All?

Lex looked over at Bart (well, actually at Wags, who ~~had the pb of~~ looked just like the Bart from his world) and raised an eyebrow. Interesting that the kid could turn into some kind of a wolf-beast. Interesting indeed.

He then sat down, and turned his attention Mai. At her question, he simply smirked, then leaned back in his seat.

"No," was his answer to her, plain and simple. "You can all continue to stumble along blindly if you want. I won't stop you.

"I'm a patient man. I've waited months for you to finally find your way here; I can wait several more for the next group to come looking for your corpses."

Kelly stood off to one side, away from the Chief, and close to a few members of her former ragtag band. They'd managed to work as a team before. And she knew their capabilities now. If it came down to a fight, they'd be able to coordinate better this way. Watching the young man from behind her visor, she placidly checked the sensor array she'd attached to her wrist.

It wasn't much help, but she could tell that at least most of Stacy's functions were back up and running. Good. Watching the others react to the man, she raised a bemused eyebrow behind her visor. Lex Luthor, huh? Well, if he had a plan, she'd listen for the moment. She wasn't overly concerned about food. But she made a mental note to stock up on some before they moved. And perhaps swap some weapons or ammo for medical supplies.

He notices the suit, and...well, he believes him. Or at least thinks it's best if they go along with it, but everything they've found out so far leads him to believe it's bigger than just him, as bad a villain as he is.

Sorry, Lex, Jaime knows in the grand scheme, that you're a small fish in a big sea.

"No, you can't wait for the next group. Because they're in danger, and we're in danger. We've healed up--we have to keep moving."

His fault, the first part. His fault, but he adjusts. That's what he does.

Now, how does he play this? He could just lay down the law--but like hell, that'll work. So he uses what he's got--the crew will still listen to him over Lex where needed, but there is something he needs from him.

"I was the one in charge, but... if you're anything like the Luthor from our world, you're smarter than I am, and you obviously were smart enough to get this far by yourself."

The funny thing is, for all Jaime isn't a liar or deceptive, his voice pretty much rings with honestly all the time, and it's something he knows he can use.

"If you know the best way to proceed, to take back the bridge, we'll follow through on it. Much as I really, really don't trust you, the Lex Luthor I know works with others if it benefits him."

He might mean that completely honestly. He might not.

Jean, scan him. Is he telling the truth about not being the one behind this?

Jean's stayed pretty quiet, though she is staring quite intently at you Lex Luthor!!!

Her gaze doesn't even flicker from Lex when she hears Jaime's thoughts. On it.

Her gaze becomes more intense and she slowly steps forward and focuses solely on Lex Luther. He's being truthful she telepathically tells Jaime. Though he's thinking we're mostly idiots, but despite that he really thinks he can work with us.

If there's one thing Lex knows ho to do, its negotiate. So it strikes him as something a surprise when their would be leader rolled over so quickly.

He didn't look like he lost confidence in himself, despite having half his face shot off, and its not as if the crowd was urging him to do so.

This kid might be trying to play him. Because, honest sounding or not, Lex does not trust you unless he knows your life inside and out. And he has never heard of a Blue Beetle. Not to mention he finds a teenager being in charge as rather absurd.

So, whatever the real leader of the group might have been planning, Lex decided to cut them off at the knees. And no better way to do that than to start undermining everyone's confidence at whoever used to be in charge.

"I'm a businessman," he stated truthfully. He was a ruthless businessman, and had aims to get to the White House one day, but he was a far cry from being some would be planet conquering megalomaniac. "And I'd be out of business if I didn't know how to make deals that benefited both me and the other party."

He could drag this out longer, but he did want to get off this ship.

"You'll all be getting to the bridge the way you should have come here, by taking the hub." He's looking just a touch smugly at you, Jaime. "The group of pirates at the helm shut it down and sealed off parts of it, but didn't add much security beyond that. It still has miles of maintainence tunnels and emergency ladders, though, and if you had cracked the hub, you could've walked, climbed, and crawled to anywhere on the ship with minimal risk of getting caught. You could've avoided HAL entirely, and not cost yourselves an arm and a le-- well, an arm."

He'll let you all think about that part for a moment. And you're free to look at the replay of yourselves fighting HAL as you think. Funny at how the volume on that seems to have gotten just a little louder...

"Taking down the pirates is going to be the issue, since they still have you outnumbered by about..." He did a quick head count and then did a little math after that "...fifteen to one, give or take."

By now Katara had caught up with the rest of them, but she had been listening quietly in the back, observing, watching what transpired between Jaime, this Lex guy, and the rest of the group. There was quite a lot to take in.

For instance, that replay of their fight. She couldn't imagine why anyone would want to just sit and watch all of them fight, lose limbs and possibly people, and then have the nerve to try and tell them that they had fought the wrong way. As far as she was concerned, Jaime had done everything that he could to help the crew and keep them safe, and she refused to hear anything remotely close to Jaime being at fault for the things that happened.

"If you'd told us that to begin with, this could have been avoided," Katara said, glaring. "If Jaime follows you because he thinks its a better plan, I'll listen to him. Don't expect to get much cooperation from us just by being smug. AS far as I'm concerned, you were just watching."

"...We would've had to build a platform to work from. We were already running out of time, and it looked like it had the same security, so I didn't--I didn't look into it as much..."

He holds a hand up to his mouth.

How upset he is is genuine. It's palpable. His reaction is genuine. That blow Luthor wanted to make? It did work.

He failed. He failed them all.

Jean, I'm going to look really upset. This is...partly because I am really upset.

He is.

But I need you to hook us all up telepathically. Minus His Baldness here.

The anger is real, too.

"You could have told us! Why didn't you tell us?! There are people that could be dying back there!"

Jean's jaw sets and it's taking just about everything she has to not knock Lex Luther right through a wall.

OK, Jaime, but I don't know how long I'll be able to keep us all linked.

She moves her gaze from Lex and closes her eyes, concentrating on everyone else in the groups BUT him. It's not as easy as it sounds but a few moments later she's hearing everyone's thoughts and surprise surprise EVERYONE, you hear each other's thoughts as well.

Static is not a happy man. He thought his best friend was dead, only to have him come back to life. Another guy, just a normal guyt he should have been protecting, has lost an arm. Another good friend, or would-be friend who views Static as more than a little crazy (like just about everyone else he used to know), has gone from being supremely powerful to naught but a mockery in front of a version of his worst enemy.

Static is very much not in a good place. But he's still trying. And as Jaime becomes visibly upset, it's his turn to step forward and put a hand on his best friends shoulder. He's there for you, man. It's what bros are for; even if his bloodlust and tormented memories are rising like bile.

"Luthor, Shut up. Stop playing games, man. Either you're here to help us, or you're just as evil as the Luthor I know. And if you're as bad as the Luthor where we're from, I could do your world a BIG favor right now." Electricity crackles off Static as he says his threat, but only a little. "People are dying, and it's on Your hands as much, if not more, than anyone else's."

Mai blinks, taken aback by her sudden ability to hear everyone elses' thoughts. She eyes Luthor, face set back into her usual impassive and bored expression. Her thoughts are a bit more troubled. Everyone who's listening in can probably pick up that she's thinking they should just ditch Luthor and figure it out on their own - she doesn't like him. He reminds her of Azula in the worst way possible

Jaime looks just about as upset as he honestly is.

His thoughts are something he works past that, the feelings of failure.

Everyone, we're going to argue with him. Briefly. We don't have time for more than briefly, but it's what he expects.

It's what he wants to do, so if that's his natural inclination, it's best to go with it.

He's going to make me look like an idiot--and I am an idiot. I'm going to act like that's crushed me. Then we're going to act like the nice bald man is in charge, like we have no other choices to listen to him, even though we hate it.

Even though they do have a choice. Mai is right. They could just walk away and ignore him, after all, but-- But his mind. He doesn't seem to be from his world or seems to be younger, but this is Lex Luthor. And Luthor is a schemer. A genius. The Brainys are smart, but this is "always one step ahead of you" smart. Turning their back and ignoring this is not to their benefit, not when they could be using his mind.

We're going to listen to him as long as it makes sense to. The second it doesn't, we break off and do what we need to do. He's a villain back home, but he's a smart villain. Like the type that can out-tactic any one of us here. He's useful. But he also doesn't care a lick for any person here but himself. So, we're going to use him for what he knows about our enemy, and for his tactics. The problem is he's not Captain Cooperation. only way he'll help us is if he thinks he's bossing us around, that everything is on his terms so we'll give in with a fight and play to his ego to get him to do that. One thing he doesn't know is how well some of us know a version of him.

Chief's the one in charge, though. We look to him over Luthor. Always. We follow his instincts. I'll help with tactical. Jean will let us occasionally check in.

And we knock the idiot unconscious if he does anything stupid.

I volunteer for the knocking him unconscious part.

Sheeana is thoroughly unimpressed by Luthor's grandstanding. That thoroughly calm faux-gentlemanly act is one of the more pathetic she's seen. Still, she appears interested.

Kill him. My probe can extract everything he knows.

Understood Jaime, Katara said, looking a little put out. But if I might speak for the rest of the group: NO ONE think you're an idiot, You risked a lot for us today.

And that was one thing she agreed with Static on. She looked over at him and gave him an appreciative nod. She was glad to take Jaime's advice and NOT try to kill this Lex guy, since he was still a person.

That didn't stop her from glaring in his general direction though.

"I didn't tell you because I needed you to work out whatever petty squabbles were holding you all back," he looked at them. "If you couldn't get your heads out of your asses long enough to get here, you'd be worthless to me." It was a cold, harsh way to teach them a lesson, but it was one they needed to learn.

So, congrats again, people, your lives have proven to be of value in the eyes of Lex Luthor. Which is his very twisted way of saying that he genuinely won't try to get any of you killed. He doesn't like losing anything of value, after all.

"But now that you're finally here, let's not distract ourselves with more pointless fighting and get down to the business at hand. Shall we?"

Is there a Captain Cooperation somewhere? Wyn wondered fleetingly, before her attention snapped back to the matter at hand. Are we sure he isn't lying about the hub thing? she asks, idly spinning a miniaturized version of her particle-accelerator spell.

Luthor isn't in the lying business. Bruce cuts in, though where he's actually located right now is anybody's guess. He doesn't need to lie to close his hand around your throat. Metaphorically speaking.

He regards the boy with cool amusement. This Luthor was young. Very young. Not every card was stacked in his favour.

Slobo walked up to Luthor, getting into his face, ignoring the telepathic conversation.

"So you put us through hell, endangered our fraggin' lives, and made Pablo lose his arm over a TEST?" He exclaimed. At first, the excitement in his voice seemed like anger, but that illusion faded with the laughter that followed a moment later.

"That is SUCH a SICK BURN! That is AWESOME! And the most fun I've had since landin' on this heap." He turned to the others. "I like his style, I say we just stop talkin' and do the team-up."

Sometimes, people forget that Slobo is psychotic. Maybe moreso now than when he was with YJ.

Bart scowled a little and ran over to Slobo. "You're forgetting the part where he's evil. Even if he is president. Or is that how we know he's evil? I mean, politicians."

Slowing down inside his head is even harder. How long do we have to pretend to not work with him?

< He might not be lying, but he's not necessarily right. The Hub allows easy movement everywhere, yes, but to be DISCOVERED in the Hub while we were working if far, far riskier because then we could have ended up being sent anywhere. And if there's that many, if they're intelligent, they'd have someone checking the security semi-regularly. > Elfangor commented. He didn't like Luthor. He was trying to put them down, it seems.

< You did nothing wrong, Mister Reyes. Things could have been much worse if we were discovered in the Hub. >

This time, Elfangor addressed Luthor. < Pointless fighting?? I was under the impression you enjoyed violence and aggression, so willing to watch it for your test. As well as when we had 'completed' it. > He's gesturing to the screens here. Hey, he's supposed to appear to be wary of the guy. He could do that.

This Luthor guy reminded Holly of an older, America version of Artemis. What a terrifying idea.

The fact that people could now hear Holly's thoughts worried her - Luthor reminded her of Artemis, and she'd come to the point that she'd trust Artemis's schemes, even when she wasn't privy to all the pieces. She actually wanted to agree to Luthor's plan right away, at least as far as it would help them. Way to be a good cop, Captain Short.

He's not lying. Jean thinks to the GTFO crew. I'll let you know the minute I sense any untruths coming from him. But do as Jaime says. His plan has gotten us this far. She glances over at Jaime and offers him a small but reassuring smile.

The Chief is annoyed. He doesn't like Luthor already. 'To hell with everyone else as long as I've got mine' is an attitude he cannot stand, coupled with a condescension that makes him bristle.

But there's no outward sign of his irritation, he just stands straight and silent as ever. And watches. He already has the room cased in his head, but has seen nothing that's an obvious threat. He's ended up with the group he fought the blades with, mostly. They've been his "unit" for a little bit now, it's instinct.

He doesn't trust Luthor as far as he can throw him. (Or at least as far as he could throw him if he weren't a heavily augmented SPARTAN-II super soldier.) And adding that to the reactions of the people that seem to know him, and he's not too happy with this arrangement. But he does see the sense in it. If Luthor's brains can give them an edge, they'll have to take it. While watching their backs.

He's a good person to ask to keep an ear to the ground for trouble, Spartans are naturally good at that.

Alright. His thoughts are decisive, clear, and steely calm. I can do that. We need this guy and what he has if we're going up against numbers like those. Not all of us are built for fifteen to one.

"How did you get here?" he asks Luthor. Spartans are very difficult to read, a combination of their full body armor and tendency not to emote much of anything. This is genuine curiosity, but it also helps fuel the suspicion they're trying to project. Which... isn't too hard, because it doesn't seem like many of them trust him.

The Chief is just mentally facepalming over Slobo.

Jack? What is Jack doing?

He's in an interesting position here. This guy Luthor, as near as he can tell, is a pretty awesome villain. Jack kind of wants to grow up to be something like Luthor, really. Rich, powerful, conniving... All Luthor's missing is awesome magical artifacts everywhere.

This guy is awesome.

Yes, he did just think that.

Jack busts out laughing, leaning on the monkey staff. "Dude, this is fantastic! You really planned all this stuff!"

He's grinning with admiration over here.

"Can I like, get your autograph or something?"

Lex smiled a bit at the crew and their mixed reactions to him. He was also more amused by them and how confused they seemed about everything. They all probably thought he was lying. But that was the beauty of him, he know the truth was far more harmful than any lie he could tell.

"You give me too much credit." Because, honestly? They all made their own decisions, Lex hadn't interfered at all. They did everything to themselves.

He turned his head to look at the Chief. All 7foot plus of him.

"If you want to know how I got onto the ship, the answer is 'the same way that you did', which I have yet to figure out." He already knows that they don't know, so he feels he lost nothing by admitting it. "If you're asking I made my way from the inside of a ball full of slime to here? As I told you, the hub. There's a junction outside that door and down the hall. Opposite the crew quarters."

He seemed content to be patient, though underneath his was starting to wither.

"No, should we keep playing twenty questions? Or do you want to know how you can take back this ship and live through it?"

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions

Re: Introductions