trans_9 | Phase 4 - The Mastermind Behind it All?

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?"

Mentally, a dozen Bene Gesserit rolled their blue-within-blue eyes at this. She was unafraid to broadcast her contempt this time.

But outwardly she approached the man behind the first row (the brave ones, the ones in charge led the way). And in her most persuasive sounding voice (but not Voice): "We don't have a choice. We trust him or we die."

This man can play the plans within plans game better than ninety five percent of you. That much is already apparent and from your expressions, he's already done it to several of you. We should find out if we need him alive to get into any more areas, or if his death would trigger a dangerous reaction. If not, we should kill him immediately. My probe and our telepaths can take care of the rest.

Slobo could tell when telepathy was happening. He couldn't hear it, due to interference from his own messed up brain, but it gave him a migraine and sounded like immense static.

"Funny, seein' as how Lexy here ain't to be trusted, you shmucks are havin' a lot of secret conversations the rest of us may not be able ta hear. That says bad planning, no recon, and bein' just as untrustworthy ta me." He walked to the bar and poured himself a drink. "I'm on yer team, an no one asked me how these happy psycho-conversations applied ta me or my kind. So how about ya share what ya have ta say with the rest of the class, like Bart did?" With that, he took a healthy swig of scotch, poured another, and began pouring a bit of the cheaper alcohol on the burns from the tentacles that currently marked his arms.

"What? Slobo!" Bart scowled and zipped after him. "Ithoughtyouwere supposed to be our friend, at least a little!" he hissed quietly. "Don't go blurting out my secret ID in front of super villains!"

Sheeana, we don't need to kill Lex Luther. What exactly would that accomplish for us? Even in telepathy, Jean sounds like she's chiding, which she is.

Her gaze quickly moves to Slobo and her eyes narrow. "You know, you're talking when you should really just be quiet," she mutters as she telekinetically shatters the glass in his hand - causing the whiskey splatter everywhere. Be lucky it was the glass and not actually you Slobo.

Mai looks rather glum about trusting him - then again, she looks rather glum and bored with just about everything, so it doesn't particularly mean anything. She heaves a sigh, sending a short, rather terse mental message to the rest of the team.

I'll follow the plan, but I don't have to like it. He reminds me of Azula and if he's anything like her, he's already got a backup plan.

Aloud, she just grimaces, "I guess we don't really have a choice, do we?"

You're probably right, Tim thinks, in agreement with Mai. Still--as sneaky and evil as he might be, as long as he thinks he can use us, he'll work with us. And having that kind of smart on our side isn't a bad thing. He still remembers the sort-of-help he got from Luthor when Kon was sick.

And I definitely agree with the part where we should cut and run when things start getting questionable. Because it's Luthor, and it's almost certain that they will.

...And Tim's probably going to have to kill Slobo later. There was a reason they weren't talking out loud.

Edited 2009-11-04 18:03 (UTC)

Agreed. As long as Dr. Grey is able to verify his statements, we would be wise to acquire as much information as possible before proceeding. Forewarned is forearmed. Billy's thoughts are speeding past in a slightly slurred voice, as if he's afraid of Luthor's reaction to Slobo's revelation.

"Evading traps set by an artificial intelligence are one thing. Defeating an army of pirates is another." He's not sure if the uncertainty creeping into his voice is a good addition to the 'frightened sheep' act or a tool to be used against him later---possibly both. Nothing in the world undermines Billy's confidence more than being outclassed in intelligence by an enemy in a bad situation, and that's likely to be seeping through the mental link.

"We've dealt with pirates before." Okay, so Zuko and his Fire Nation soldiers had kind of helped, but no reason to let Luthor know that. Or anyone else.

Wait. Oh yeah. Mental connection. SOkka mentally kicked himself before continuing.

"But if we haven't got a choice, we haven't got a choice..."

I agree with Mai. This guy reminds me of Azula, even if I didn't have much to do with her...she was a total psychopath. And a brilliant planner. She out maneuvered me. And I had a good plan!

He's like Vlad. And there was definite fear and wariness with that thought from Dani.

But if he's like that...then as long as we're useful, he won't be against us. She didn't know how most people worked, but she definitely got a good grasp on how the villain manipulator who was GOOD at it worked.

Katara had already said her piece to the rest of them, there was no need to go on about it anymore. The look she gives Slobo isn't one anyone can actually pinpoint, although Sokka would have definitely understood the rage that was passing through the girl. It had little to do with him talking about the telepathy: truthfully, it hardly mattered if Luthor knew, he still couldn't hear them. What had mattered was Slobo laughing at what they'd gone through, and idly taking a drink as though it was just another walk in the park. She didn't care where anyone had come from, or indestructible they were: some of them had been in true mortal peril. It had been nothing to congratulate anyone about. She was reminded painfully of Zuko's betrayal the first time, when she'd let her guard down and Aang had almost died.

Sometimes it was really hard to trust anyone, since their intentions always seemed to be diverted somewhere else.

"He can do what he wants," Katara said, her voice quiet. "We have a job to do anyway."

And, helpful as usual, Caden (who has habitually morphed human) is silent through the whole thing. His eyes are wide, his mind his blank, and he clings to Wyn's hand as though the solidity of the ground beneath his feet depends on it. Completely oblivious to it all, his gaze is fixed on what he can see of Jaime's back, his fuzzy, fuzzy thoughts occasionally murmuring "But he died" into his empty, empty head.

Inconvenient mental breakdown? Caden? Never.

"A psychic. Clever."

Lex was good at misdirection, and certainly had more than his fair share of secrets, but he generally wasn't an outright liar. And he was, offering them food, drink, rest, and a way to get off this ship... and they were plotting against him.

His eyes briefly settled on Conner. Apparently being a lying bastard wasn't something Clark learned from the Kents; it ran in the blood.

Typical. There was something deeper to that thought than just mere annoyance, though. Had they offended him?

"Try to be nice to some people, you know?" He handed Slobo another glass. "But if your little psychic is done violating my mind, she should know that everything I've told you is the truth.

"You're the only ones who have lied so far."

"Caden, you've got to focus." Wyn murmurs, squeezing Caden's hand reassuringly. When he doesn't react, still staring blankly forward as if she hadn't said anything at all, she sighs irritably-- and slaps him squarely in the face as hard as she can with her free hand.

"Caden. Panic later, focus now." Wyn isn't good with people freaking out even at the best of times. This is not the best of times.

Edited 2009-11-05 00:02 (UTC)

Cassie bit her tongue to keep from saying anything but one look on her face spoke volumes. She was pissed and odds were everyone could feel it through the link up. There weren't any coherent thoughts, more a string of half formed thoughts blurring together. There was just rage and disgust and worry for her friends.

Without complete control over her emotions, she lost control over her size, growing to about ten feet before she stopped it.

"And you sat back and would have watched us die. Don't try taking the high ground with us, it's not going to work." She said, making herself shrink back down to normal.

Deep breaths, deep breaths.

Kon's been quiet all this time, just listening as Jaime proposes to ally with Luthor, but fake ally, real ally--none of it matters. He's practically shaking with the suppressed urge to slam his shield into Lex's head. When he speaks, it's quiet, and practically simmering with some unuttered something.

"We know you. The Lex Luthor some of us know isn't exactly a trustworthy guy. People are trying to be pragmatic--that's something I think someone like you would understand. But I can't say I agree with the degree of that." Here he shoots Sheeana a glare.

As Lex hands Slobo the drink, he briefly eyes his old friend, looking...disappointed. Angry. It's not at the revelation of their telepathic convo stuff, no, because Kon thinks the entire conversation is stupid and he hadn't been liking the course of the conversation anyway--it's more the admiration Slobo expressed earlier.

You don't get to admire Lex Luthor and also be friends with Superboy, Slobo. He'll accept every shade of gray but that one. He needs to cut it out or he and Kon are going to have Problems. They're going to Talk later.

As for the rest, Batman knows Lex Luthor and his plotting well, and some of the others know him, but of anyone here, he's the one that's suffered the most at his hand, he's the one that understands the depths of his deceit and how roundabout his plans for power can be, how much he's willing to use other people.

...And how he's willing to go so far as to create them to be used.

It may be a different Lex Luthor, but it doesn't matter. Same sneer, same control streak. Same stupid bald head. Maybe if Superman were here, he'd defer, he'd follow his lead, but he's not.

"We're not being led by Lex Luthor," Kon says aloud to the others. "We're not pretending to be led by Lex Luthor." He eyes Jaime here.

"We're not killing him," he snarls as he eyes Sheeana here, "or telepathically taking anything from his mind that he's not willing to give. Even if we need it, that's wrong."

Heroes don't kill. They're not supposed to do those kinds of things. Not all the people here are heroes, but with this man--it'd prove every single thing that he's ever claimed about them right.

That's their cards laid out on the table for Lex to see. Kon doesn't like dishonesty, and it disgusts him that he actually agrees with Lex on this. disgusts him.

He steps forward.

"But fifteen to one odds don't look so good for you either, Luthor. Not if you're facing them alone. And as much as you want to think otherwise, we don't need you. Odds will be bad, but most of us have dealt with that before. You do need us, or else you would've taken the pirates at the bridge out yourself."

Now face to face, he says, "No control freak bullcrap. No more secrets on our side, either, no more telepathic conversations. But Chief's in charge. Either you work with us now, or you don't. If you don't, and you try to sabotage our chances for any reason, you stay handcuffed here until the fight's over, out of our way, and then get released after. If you stay out of our way, we leave you alone, and you get to hang around here hoping for the best. Those are your choices."

Black and white. Help or don't, stay out of the way or come with. They won't take anything that isn't given, but they won't grovel for scraps either. No more secrets, but also no control freak games.

"So what'll it be?"

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