18215/Injustice For All: The Hunt Resumes

Injustice For All: The Hunt Resumes
Date of Scene:	18 June 2024
Location:	The Savage Lands
Synopsis:	The Justice League's scouting mission to the Savage Land finds what it is looking for -- after a few false starts -- and the Injustice League's latest base of operations is revealed.
Cast of Characters:	Barry Allen, Belinda Gutierrez, Monet St. Croix, Oliver Queen, Ted Kord, M'gann M'orzz, Diana Prince, Kyle Rayner
Tinyplot:	Injustice For All

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Barry Allen has posed:
After the Injustice League's assault on the Watchtower both failed to reveal the identity of the mole in their midst and did not cripple the Justice League, the criminal collective went to ground once more. Perhaps plotting their next move against their like-named nemesis. Perhaps content to simply conduct their business out of the spotlight, doing what they seem to do so well.

Plotting. Planning. Laying the ground work for even more trouble.

While the League and their allies have not had the greatest luck in tracking down their rivals during this sort of time period before, there is also no desire to wait and see what they do next. The Injustice League may have had it's fair of setbacks, but it remains too dangerous to leave to its own devices for long.

But looking isn't always finding. Until they get something of a break.

And when it comes, it comes from the most unlikely place imaginable.

It is an abandonned Russian communications satellite in the end that tips their hand. One only months away from plummetting into the atmosphere and burning up. One that suddenly goes active again. From there and with the advantage of the global network monitored from the Watchtower it is only a matter of time before their position is pin-pointed.

In Antarctica.

And not just anywhere in that frozen wasteland. But in the very heart of it. Which, is not frozen at all.

Which is why the League and their allies find themselves swooping over those stark, barren icecaps and glaciers, cresting a ridge on mountains that drop away into stark cliffs. And an incredibly lush, primeval jungle.

Tall trees tower above the ground, heavy fronds offering some measure of shade to the creatures -- mighty and otherwise -- that pass beneath that canopy in every shade of green imaginable. Rivers snake here and there, carving their way through bedrock, through canyons, through open grass plains with their long, straying stalks as tall as a person, that rustle and sway like a liquid field of gold under the winds that hold nary a trace of arctic chill.

And somewhere, amongst all that greenery, amongst life that was supposed to have died out sixty-five million years ago, the Injustice League has found somewhere to hide.

For a change, Barry Allen -- The Flash -- is not speeding his way to the scene ahead of everyone else. Oh, he could probably make it. But crossing oceans, running across ice shelfs, and speeding his way down cliff-faces might be do-able.

But they are venturing inton one of the few places left on Earth that is not completely known, not copletely mapped out -- at least not to the level of most of the planet. The fix they have on the Legion of Doom's base is... tenuous at best, pointing the way to the denses, darkest part of that jungle below before it opens up again near a high peaked mountain.

He'll probably be playing scout soon enough. But for the moment he just keeps his eyes on the scanner directly in front of him. "ETA, two minutes. I hope everyone packed the giant insect repllent," he says wryly.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Primal. Powerful. Precious.

There are few words that describe the Savage Land, and none of them truly perfect to describe the ancient place. Yet as the lupine huntress Silverdane breathes deep, she exhales with a silent, lusty shiver of joy. Somewhere different, somewhere wonderful, somewhere /new/--!

"...Dios," the wolf-woman whispers, trembling with excitement, pleasure, gazing out through one of the windows at the slash of green in the heart of a world of white. She sighs, exhaling dreamily. "We must get samples. And those evildoers, they...." From delight to determination like a whiplash. "They must not be here any longer than necessary!"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
It's the Savage Land. It has to be the Savage Land. Monet has long since come to loathe this area. The ancient alien supercomputers that shut off powers, the twisted creatures within it, the weeks spent isolated there.. She's come to long, long since loathe here. But she has extensive first hand experience in it, at least which makes a somewhat advantageous thing to it. She goes to take a breath while going on to her own reflections.

She's working over on a grid while the group deploys and gestures to areas. "These are.. Facilities that were known to be operational in the last two years of the.. Entity that has taken partial control of the area." The HIgh Evolutionary, or however he is called. "Mos tof them have gone inert but the Injustice Guild may have reactivated some of them. There are quite dangerous things present. Technology far beyond what is known to even the Shi'Ar." If tehy even know waht Celestials are, and reflections of what they represent - which is hard to gauge.

"If these facilities have been taken over they are /extremely/ dangerous." She goes to point to ones known to the X-Men and others that had to deal with them.

Oliver Queen has posed:
"Giant insects? No one said anything about giant insects," Oliver says from his place in the Watchtower dropship as it sinks towards that lush canopy below.

He is mostly just bluster. It is just another way to deal with an unusual situation. Hours ago he was fighting drug dealers in Hell's Kitchen. Now he's dropping into the middle of some jungle plucked out of time itself it feels, an impossible landscape in the middle of another impossible landscape.

But this one has dinosaurs in it.

So he twists in his seat and waves an accusing finger in Barry's direction. "So help me, if some giant insect lays eggs in me I'm holding you personally responsible," he blusters.

Then he huffs, blowing out a breath and slams himself back into his seat, making a show of going through his pack, making sure his quiver is just so as he keeps his head studiously down. "None of you had beter be smiling. Not one of you."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord was silent flying over the massive peaks, surrounding the Savage Land. "Taken over alien super computers. Joy. Did anyone else ever read Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness? Or the conspiracies concerning Operation High Jump... sorry. I was hanging around the Question. This jungle makes sense, hard to get a signal through all this."

Ted hands Ollie a can of bug spray.

Barry Allen has posed:
Finding a place to land anywhere near where the signal is originating from is not the easiest thing in the world. Huge branches overlap with one another and from the air it is almost a sea of green, nearly unbroken for miles in any direction. Their normal electronic scanning devices don't seem to work quite as well here -- some sort of interference -- though when they get close enough at least the reception is strong enough to pierce through whatever field is generating the interference.

Seated behind the controls of the Watchtower dropcraft, Barry navigates the vehicle with a hand more confident then he might actuallu feel. He normally prefers just to pilot himself, but he is the most experienced hand at this particular craft -- if not piloting in general.

Don't worry. It mostly flies itself. Exept for, you know, the landing. That part coming right up.

Finding a gap in that leafy canopy, the Flash guides the ship downward, plunging past branches almost as wide, as thick as the ship itself. Strange creatures woosh by in the blink of an eye and in moments the ship gently touches down on the ground with a soft hiss.

One that is echoes as Barry lets out his own, slow breath. "See? No problem. I told you I could fly this thing," he says, that smile maybe just a little relieved as it curves on his features.

Then, moving towards the hatch, he opens the door.

The rush of air that fills the cabin is warm and humid, almost unpleasantly sticky and little puddles dot the ground beyond the confines of the dropship, no doubt left over from the earlier microburst rains that seem to roll through the jungles on at least a daily basis.

The air is also filled with the scent of all sorts of unfamiliar flowers, a musk that just wouldn't be present in even the oldest growth forests back home and Barry takes a step outside into a world seemingly shrouded in twilight, the light from above filtering through layers of heavy green fronds that dim it considerably.

"Everyone set? Our job is to find the location of the base. With luck, no one has noticed that we're here yet."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Silverdane giggles suspiciously, but keeps her lips firmly set to a thin line as Flash guides the vessel towards touchdown.

Which does nothing for the tail fanning a mile-a-minute behind her.

Emerging from the craft, Silverdane maintains the presence of mind to emerge before she stops, pauses, breathes, listens. Deep scents, thrumming through her senses. Wild sounds, from a world impossible to rhyme and reason. A tiny world full of its own extravagant energy.

"Viva. Tan viva! Everything is all so... alive!" Silverdane quivers with glee-- shaking off her delight with a rush of breath, exhaling heavily. "Los Tierra Salvajes, the Savage Lands. It is an alien world, extraterrestre, on Earth! I..."

She can't help it. Tail-fanning, even in front of those who rate so supremely highly to her. Hugging herself with overwhelming joy. "It is terrible. Dangerous. Heart-breaking. And breathtaking. Beautiful!" She glances to Flash, chuffing as she noods in quick assent. "Estoy lista!" she exclaims, flexing her hands together. "I am ready. Let us end their evil doings here!"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would give a stiff nod to Barry, "HOpefully. The jungle interferes heavily with sensors, as do the things which maintain it's existence. The animals are chaotic enough that they should constantly break any technological security measures and serve as a screen." The joy of extended life experience in the place. As the group goes to deploy, Monet goes to hover up in the air, closing her eyes to remember locations. She goes to telepathically funnel to the others <<There is a village approximately fifty kilometers away that should be firendly if a rally point is needed>> Location given, breath taken, memories of being gutted by a velociraptor buried before they could come to the forefront.

"Don't get too spread out, it's too easy for us to get separated here."

Oliver Queen has posed:
It's not that Ollie doesn't trust Barry or anything of that sort. But he might be gripping the arm rests of his seat a little more tightly when they drop beneath that canopy of leaves and begin to plunge downward towards the ground -- somewhere -- beneath them. And maybe wishing someone else was piloting.

It would probably be him of course -- if he had bothered to complete the required simulator time and gotten in enough practical hours test piloting the ship. But each reminder to do that was blown off.

Sim time? Pffft, he's too busy out there helping actual people in the real world. Take off you nerd.

Then they are on the ground, safe and most unjostled and the Green Arrow unfastens himself from his seat, hefting his pack and starting towards that same ramp leading out into the jungle environs.

"And keep your eyes peeed for any giant, egg-laying insects that might be out there," Ollie grumbles, squinting through the gloom and pulling out one of the electronic devices that would have been distributed to all of them. "The signal is pretty weak. But it seems to be coming from that direction," he says, gesturing through the trees to the north.

Which is about the time that a small pack of lizard-like creatures go scampering through the underfoot. Like lizards, but clearly not. Dinosaurs.

They really aren't in Metropolis anymore.

Barry Allen has posed:
Could Barry survey much of this place fairly quickly?

Possibly. While they are fortunate enough to have Monet along who has actually been here before, this is new and unfamiliar ground. And the Injustice League has had weeks to prepare whatever surprises they wanted to, if not longer. Couple that with how hard it is to punch a signal for help through, how difficult it might be to find someone in distress -- even given some of the Leaguers' pwoers?

No, sticking together seems like an excellent idea.

While he might have gotten them here, he is prepared to follow the lead of the others at this point. And for good cause. Monet at least has some experience here. Silverdane almost certainly has a better sense perception then any of the rest of them. And Oliver, despite all his grumbling, almost surely has the most experience in environments like this and what it takes to survive.

But that doesn't mean he will resist poking the bear. Just a little. "Look at how positive our wolf-friend is," he says lightly to the blonde billionaire. "Why can't you be that positive," he asks slyly.

Then they are moving out, perhaps not as stealthy as they could be. At least in Barry's case. The heavy vegetation makes things a little trickier then expected, roots and unusually thick vines seeming to grab at one's feet -- not literally, though Barry might not bet against that possibility. Just enough to make things... difficult.

At least the trees aren't clustered all that close -- far too massive for that -- though those sprawling roots seem to weave all through the underbrush, adding one more obstruction.

The first mile or so is smooth enough, but as the near another wider, clearer area in the jungle up ahead, things seem to go still. And peeking through the grasses and moss and the various ferns that sprout like wild, a trio of baby stegasaurus chitter in a mock battle, those heavy, armored tails batting at one another.

But if there are babies nearby, it begs the question: Where's Mommy?

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
"Cannot be as positive," Silverdane adds in comment to Flash's remark, at pause as her senses drink in the air, attuning to the wild mysteries, the scents and strangeness of the Savage Lands. "He has no tail. Thus, cannot be as positive as me." She hums innocently, a melody singing in her throat. "It is handicap, yes. But he is very good shot still!"

She glances as ide to Arrow, dropping a teasing wink before she moves on.

A single plane ride and already picking up Flash's mischief.

Brushes, branches, vines-- her focus reorients as she instinctively leads through the undergrowth, guided by M's knowledge and Arrow's experience. And at that most terrible sight....

"It is true of baby dinosaurs," the wolfwoman remarks, "But does this count as 'Eeee!' cute, or 'Awww!' encantador, adorable?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
At the very least the Stegosauruses aren't blasting lasers from thier tails this time. Monet St. Croix goes to try and quickly scan the minds of the hatchilings. Maybe she'll get something from them but likelier she won't. It was extremely difficult to pick up things from the dinosaurs last time, and children always thing differently from more mature ones. So she could very well get nothing from them. Monet goes to hover upwards in the air several meters - not quite up to the first level of the tree canopy, but hopefully out of the way of anything over on the ground. If anything were up here it would be the body of something rather huge - so something that hopefully couldn't be missed. And most of the big dinosaurs tended to be vegetarians and wouldn't be hostile so long as they weren't treated aggressively.

Monet doesn't try telepathically sweeping about - there would be far too many things in the area to try and get beyond line of sight. As the wolfwoman speaks, Monet shakes her head, "Best to avoid direct interation with anything present. Same as you would in any wild. Treat the natives with respect and be cautious. This si their territory and they would be upset at it being violated." Plus, the only types of humanoids they'd have encountered would be the Savage Land Tribes, which hunted them after all.

Oliver Queen has posed:
While he might complain, Ollie doesn't mind taking point under the circumstances. There are certainly some similarities between this particular experience and his time on Lian Yu.

Sure, the trees are a whole heck of a lot bigger here. And there were not nearly so many -- or any -- dinosaurs back there either.

But otherwise, sure, definitely the same experience.

At least he has food this time, and a way out of here should the need arise. Though the further they get away from the dropship, the more tenuous that lifeline feels. Though at least they have Barry and Silverdane to keep things light.

"I would totally rock a tail too," the Green Arrow comments without looking back, progressing steadily but with surprising stealth despite the dense undergrowth. And then they come to that clearing. And the the trio of, admittedly adorable, dino babies. While it might be an adorable scene, Ollie only spares a moment to take it in before nodding to the others. "We'll go around," he murmurs, starting to do just that.

Barry Allen has posed:
While their mission might be a fairly serious one, it is hard not to let Silverdane's obvious enthusiasm for the entire experience influence one at least a little.

Even Oliver, apparently, is not entirely immune and as they stumble on those dino babies up ahead, Barry too flashes a brief grin. "I think it could be both," he says, regretting the fact that he doesn't have his phone with him to snap a couple of pictures. But given that cell service is, well, probably non-existant in these parts it did seem a little unnecessary to bring it along.

Maybe next time.

So far they have been fortuante. The Savage Land is filled with all sorts of strange things and while natural dinosaurs might proliferate here, there is also no shortage of strange, twisted creations and mutations as well. Dealing with a few baby dinos seems easy compared to flying rapotrs or ones shooting lasers.

So at Oliver's urging, Barry starts to circle around that clearing, occasionally still glancing over to take in the rough-housing of the little stegasauruses, their little bellows still echoing through the nearby jungle despite their size.

Given how wet it is within the jungle, it should be nearly impossible for any dry branches to be found anywhere. But somehow Barry does manage to find one, foot coming down and snapping it beneath his boot. Even with the clumsy fight-play and those baby-bellows, that audible crack seems to ring out through the surrounding woods.

He freezes there, looking around, seeking out any sign that they might have been overheard. It doesn't seem to disturb the battlin' babies at least and for a moment the Scarlet Speedster can almost believe that they have come through this, none the worse for wear.

*Tromp*

The sound of a heavy footstep nearby is followed by another. Then another. The pace of those footfalls increases, quickly accompanyed by the sound of a sapling being utterly ripped from the ground by a heavy swipe.

And then, emerging from the brush just to the side of them comes a pair of very surly looking, very adult looking stegasauruses.

Coming straight for them.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
She was right! But the others at least had listened to her, so it's not like they were ignoring her. Decisions, decisions.. Oliver was the one most in danger but he also had more wilderness experience than the rest of them put together, Silverdane was fast enough to handle herself, and Barry was even /faster/ enough to handle herself. Now Monet was regretfully thinking of one thing she didn't know.

Were Stegosaurs herd animals? If so, if one frustrated mother of a clutch came back would it mean there wree more of them? And if one group of irritated dinosaurs came in their direction, would it mean quite a few more would? The only thing in their benefit here was that a rampaging horde of dinosaurs charging in every direction was the norm, so probably wouldn't set off the security alerts of the Injustice League's base. Monet goes to fly higher up into the air, trying to get an idea if there were more dinosaurs coming in their direction.

Or perhaps the self-proclaimed King of the Savage Land, Lord Plunder. Which was a -really- strange name to have for a non-supervillain.

<<Does anyone require assistance?>> Even she wasn't sure she could go toe to scale with a stegosaurus. So best to stay out of reach!

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
"Totally rock it," Silverdane agrees, positively cheerful as she contributes, adores, revelling in the mission and the environment as much as she may. Yet cheerful enjoyment ends with that *crack* underfoot; Silverdane freezes, ears swivelling, sharpening with a grimace as she frowns. Did anything hear, come to investigate, regard--?

And as the dinosaurs emerge, lumbering like living freight trains--

"Dios," she whispers, eyes widening in momentary pause. Momentary-- she lopes forward, looping towards Flash's halted side. << Si, >> comes the thought back to Monet's psychic network. Tingly on the brain! << Senor Flash, stay calm. Do not make large moves, disturbing moves. Do not be threatening. >> Loping over, standing up, she rumbles softly-- the better to get the stegosaur parents' attention. Move slowly, carefully, circle *away* from the stilled Flash.

"Hola, estegosaurios, look at me, great and toothy and meat-eatey me. Threaten me, make me go away from pequeno preciosos playing there, watch me move away, watch me..."

Oliver Queen has posed:
It's not that Ollie doesn't think the dino horse-play isn't particularly adorable, it's more that he understands just how dangerous the situation is.

This isn't their world. And no matter how cute the pair of lizard-bird things frolicking in the brush might be, they could turn dangerous in a heartbeat. Or, you know, their parents could make an appearance and ruin everyone's day.

When Barry steps on that branch and finds possibly the only dry one in the entire Savage Land, Ollie shoots a glare back over his shoulder at the man. But he doesn't say anything else, not wanting to do anything more that might call attention to them. And besides, they're friends. It's not like the Flash hasn't been there plenty of times on these missions to pull his bacon out of the fire.

Like the others, he holds his breath for a moment, waiting to see if maybe they have gotten lucky. Then comes that ominous thump.

So no, of course they haven't.

Prepared to scatter, to try and distract the much larger beasts emerging from the underbrush, their werewolf friend offers a different alternative and after flicking a glance her way, Ollie finally gives a slight nod, edging off towards the side and the nearest of those towering trees slowly, hand inching upwards towards his quiver to be ready to draw and nock an arrow in one smooth motion.

Barry Allen has posed:
So this is a good news, bad news sort of situation.

Well into the depths of the Savage Land now, at least an hour away from the Justice League dropship that they arrived in, the first wave of the scouting team that responded to the possible, even likely presence of the Injustice League in this nearly unspoiled piece of primordial jungle has started to make good progress in honing in on that faint signal that they caught being transmitted by a supposedly abandonned and decommisioned Russian satellite in geo-synchronous orbit above Antarctica.

The bad news?

Barry has managed to accidentally step on a dried branch while trying to stealthily circle around a clearing where baby stegasauruses are play-fighting with one another.

The really bad news?

That has brought them the attention of a pair of not-so-baby-like stegasauruses -- presumably the parents -- who have emerged from the undergrowth and promptly started to charge towards the group leaving Monet to take to the air out of reach and Ollie to start scrambling up the nearest tree to gain a little high ground.

Back to a little good news.

Fortunately for them all, stegasauruses are not believed to be herd animals. Barry at least knows that much. They were thought to have travelled in small groups at most so they will likely not be facing down dozens of them. That's something.

Unless the scientists are all wrong of course. It was tens of millions of years ago. Which would kinda be their luck.

Barry at least can speed off, though the heavy undergrowth spread throughout the jungle does make him keep it down to a more reasonable speed. He peels out of the way as one of those two stegasuruses charges at him and Silverdane who unfortunately takes the brunt of it and is knocked flying into the underbrush./

The other thunders it's way towards the tree that Ollie has taken shelter in, a bellowing roar coming from it. Then it swings that powerful, spiked tail at the thick trunk of the tree, making the whole thing shake as a big hunk of it is absolutely shreaded by the spikes on the end of that tail, making it teeter precariously.

Things, as they say, are not looking so great. It would sure be a helpful time to get a few reinforcements...

Monet St. Croix has posed:
According to paleontological legend, in the days of yore the stegosaurus' primary weapon was named in honor of the late Thag Simmons, whom documented firsthand proof of it's dangers in close range combat. Now, every victim of it has since known the name of the weapon of their doom.

Monet goes to swear. <<We're wasting all of our time here!>> Even if they haven't set off an alert, having to brawl their way through monsters will exhaust them, draw more attention, and then have them slammed by supervillains coming to point and laugh at them.

<<M'Gann, can you shut down everything in the area?>> Brute force it is, they have to do this quickly. Monet is going to charge over towards the nearest big Stegosaurus, moving to try and grapple it over by the tail to move to flip it away to give the rest of the group some cover. At the very least if they run into Circe or Morgan Le Faye here they can have some sort of dignified end to themselves- not being smashed in by a giant clawed foot, bitten in half, or thanks to recent strangeness roasted by a fire breathing T-Rex made by the High Evolutionary.

Oliver Queen has posed:
It seemed like a pretty good plan in Oliver's mind.

While he might not know the capabilities of every dinosaur like Barry - nerd alert - it doesn't take a genius to take a look at the stegasaruses and determine that they are not the kind of creature that are going to be doing any climbing of trees. So scampering up into the higher branches seemed like a winning strategy.

Seemed is the operative word though.

Even as he edges his way out onto one of those branches overhead, the Green Arrow has a pretty good view of the stegasaurus as it simply rears back with that tail and slams it into the thick trunk of the tree below. And the whole thing just shakes beneath him wildly.

That he did not expect.

As the whole thing starts to pitch forward precariously, Ollie clings a little harder to his perch. Even if he wanted to there's no way that he can grab and fire his bow while also clinging to that branch. One way or another he's in trouble. "Little help here!" he calls out before a second swipe of that tail practically cracks that tree trunk in two.

And with that, the tree begins to plummet down, right along with that branch and Ollie as he desperately leaps free.

Given the choice of having the entire tree land on him or taking his chance with the dinos, he's gonna take the dinos.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
Coming in through the jungle, M'gann reaches out to telekinetically provide Ollie with a platform he can leap to to avoid the ground and seek a better refuge. She maintains her invisibility and intangibility to not draw notice of the other dinosaurs, gliding through trees themslves on her approach.

<<I can try, but everyone will need to vacate the area or any suggestion that I pass to them will not overcome their instinct to protect their young. They are not sufficiently advanced enough for higher reasoning. I would suggest everyone leave the area and I will attempt to convey feelings of safety and calm to them.>>

Reaching the clearing, she looks at the scene and starts trying to send waves of calming thoughts towards the stegosaurus family, trying to soothe them into halting the attack long enough for the team to get away from the area. She can't remove their scent, but hopefully if everyone gets out of the clearing, the stego's will calm down long enough to either move on, or for the team to continue their journey.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana had been to the Savage Lands, many times at this point. Much like her closest relatives have cheekily said to her, 'Diana, you know everyone, everywhere.' In the case of the Savage Lands? Well, she did have friends here too. The Themyscirans themselves had a small army stationed beside the castle at the heart of the Savage Lands landscape, and many of the dwelling tribes within the fringes of the jungles had good relations with the Amazons subsequently since those days in the past two years.

Currently, Diana was not here to reunite with old new friends, she was here to get a bit of retribution for what the InJustice League had done to them on the Watchtower, let alone everything leading up to that.

Having arrived on her Invisible Jet, the morphing disc technology had vanished again in to the sky, leaving Diana with the others, a shield on her back, a javelin resting beneath that, and her sword criss-crossed behind her back hanging in a horizontal fashion from her leather harness.

"An old Russian satellite provided us with this information?" She asked, her eyes looking to the others, as she seemed a /bit/ unsure of that source.

"This place made a lot of headlines in the past few years... I suppose it only makes sense that it caught the eyes of some of the nefarious Injustice members. But still... we just freed this land from the grips of a great menace, I hate to think that the twisted minds of the InJustice League, might wish to breathe new life in to trouble for this beautiful land, and its many good peoples..."

Diana's words over the comms are likely mostly missed, with the situation already a bit hectic by Dinosaur intervention. The Princess glides down out of the sky, landing with a classic super hero pose upon the dirt, and jungle undergrowth. She has a great care for the people of the Savage Lands, but the dangerous animals are a bit more prone to her wrath, should they become an issue, which they seem to like to do.

Diana leaps in to the air, lunging toward one of the rushing beasts. She lands upon its neck, wrapping her arms and legs around it to position herself in a steady riding fashion. Diana has a connection with natural beasts, and through it she begins to speak words in to the Dinosaur's ear, urging it to trust her, believe in her, and obey her.

Is it that simple for the Princess of Themyscira to tame a dinosaur mount? Perhaps? She has weird talents afterall.

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Contrary to Diana, this is Kyle's first time. He looks to Diana, "Is this place is as bad as the sotries say?" he asks. For some reason, trouble on New Krypton didn't bother him despite the immediate threat.

A world that feels like a genuine piece of prehistoric pie, that's a little intimidating. And that's before he might be forced to put on a leopard skin loincloth.

Those pale green eyes take in everything. He focuses for a moment ot make sure that the ring's in working order. Different places can effect powers and everything else. Kyle's being extra cautious and making sure he doesn't need to make a makeshift spear somehow.

Kyle keeps his distance when Diana and a few others seem to be going toward the dino. However, he's just assessing his situation before going forward.

In the not too distant future he can maybe do a scan for life or anything like that. It's far-fetched, but it could work.

Barry Allen has posed:
And then the calvary arrives.

Look, they're the Justice League. Dealing with a few dinosaurs is not truly going to endanger them. But it is a whole lot easier once the initial scout team has a little backup. They're not quite so outnumbered.

In some ways that plummetting tree is the biggest threat as it topples down towards the brush underfoot -- fortuantely away from the clearing and the baby dinos within. Though anyone in it's path should have the time to move. Hopefully.

When Monet drops from the sky and suddenly seizes the stegasaurus that has sent Silverdane flying, that creature too lets out a bellowing roar and begins to try and flail that powerful, spiked tail about and the mutant might find it at least a little difficult to keep it under control. But if nothing else, she has at least bought the werewolf a little bit of time.

In the clearing, those roars attract the attention of the baby dinos who finally turn their attention over towards the nearby dsturbance. They begin to stamp and paw at the earth, mimicking their parents, not quite charging yet.

It would be adorable, you know, under other circumstances.

The dino that Diana lands on clearly doesn't know what is going on and it's first instinct is to buck -- as much as it can with that massive bulk. It certainly doesn't make for an easy ride, those spiny ridges jutting from it's back, still present even up it's neck though not nearly so impressive in size. For a moment it too flails about, angered and confused, that tail swinging about wildly, cutting a swatch of destruction to anything hit by it. But under the amazon's talented hand, it begins to calm, at least a little, though still rolling it's eyes given the proximity of the young in that clearing.

The calming thoughts sent by M'gann might also play a part in that, though her telepathic suggestion is likely a wise one. Their presence here has stirred things up. Only their absence is likely to smooth things back over, unless they want to do violence towards these creatures.

For Barry's part, he's all for clearing out of the area, again offering up his telepathic apologies for his part in creating this situation. << I've got Silverdane. I'll evacuate her back to the Dropship and be back as soon as I can, >> the Flash promises, zipping through that brush, pausing only to scoop up the werewolf, grunting a little at the exertion before zipping off through the jungle once more.

<< If you need a distraction, you can always toss Ollie at one of the dinosaurs. I'm sure he won't mind, >> he suggests as he disappears from view.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Well, M'Gann is right - if they want things to calm down, now they have to get out of the area. <<Very well, let's get going. I'll go on point>> With that, Monet is going to float her way up and over into the air then to act as a guide for the others - she has slightly enhanced senses, and M'Gann does not in quite the same way. This lets her act as a scout for the rest to feed along data that she's picking up (not that it may be much through the heavy undergrowth). But it's still a thing that lets herself feel just a little useful here as the group carries onwards. In the distance, there are the sights and sounds and smells of the Savage Land.

Sulfur. Brimstone. A monstrous T-Rex dozens of kilometers away stomping along and letting fire roast along the already violent magma, walking through the resulting flames as the King of the Thunder LIzards. Above in the sky, a pteranadon on rockets does lazy loops. On the ground, a Stegosaurus settles in with a bevvy of solar arrays on it's back while a giant brontosaurus gets in a shoving match with a Triceratops, legs replaced ith pistons on one, horns rpelaced iwth giant blades on the other. Everything in the far, far off distance is as it seems.

Oliver Queen has posed:
The fall isn't going to kill him.

It isn't going to be particularly pleasant, mind you, but it is probably not going to kill him. He's certainly suffered worse over the years and will almost surely do so again. But before he can hit the ground he feels M'gann's presence in his mind, calling out that warning, letting him know just where that telekinetic platform will be.

He braces himself, feels that solidness connect beneath his feet and leaps from it to the next one, and the next one, the invisible platorms underfoot leading him away from trouble as he gives his very best impression of a certain Italian plumber. Sadly he is lacking in fireball glowers or flying racoon costumes, but as he nears the ground he casts a backward glance to check on the progress of the others.

"Almost clear. Thanks for the assist MM," Ollie says, finally drawing his bow and backpeddling to keep tabs on the rest of the team.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana, upon the back of the mighty beast, keeps her hands gripped upon some of those spiney protrusions. She seems to have absolutely no trouble staying on the creature, as it calms to her presence upon him. She continues to speak at a low angle, making sure her words venture directly to his auditory sensory receptors, Diana's words like a magical soothing presence to the animal's earballs.

With the help of Miss Martian, the situation seems to be a bit more under control, though Diana does request further help from her mount, for it to communicate with its bretheren to further reinforce that the Justice League members are actually allies. Sometimes the Blessings of Artemis truly do have unyielding aid for the Amazon warrior.

When Diana has communicated with her new friend well enough, she straightens on its back, her hand going behind her own to draw out her gold and silver javelin. She wields it out to the side, as her right hand keeps her steady upon the Dino's back, her left holding the glinting weapon to her own side, and her eyes forward upon the landscape ahead of them.

"Is everyone alright?" Diana asks, trying to sweep her vision toward the others, with a glance up toward where she'd seen their Lantern friend in Kyle last.

"Welcome to the Savage Lands." She tells Kyle, her voice either loud enough for him to hear if he is still close, or at least spoken over the team comms.

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Seeing that the ring's working, he breathes out and nods. "Well, my inner five year old would love this place," Kyle admits. Pale green eyes look about as M'Gann has the telepathy and empathy angle, Flash is being a scout, and so Kyle hangs back. He doesn't want to use the ring's energy just in case this place has effect on the ring.

Chiming on the com <Orders. I'm a stranger in a strange land.> Trying to avoid stepping on anyone else's toes or overlap a job covered, while keeping track of his own resources, Kyle's willing to be a chess piece. Every spot has an ever changing place on the board. So, he's looking for his best starting piece.

Also, he double checks to make sure the loin cloth isn't red. The last thing he wants is to be doomed.

Barry Allen has posed:
Between Miss Martian's mental efforts and Wonder Woman's own gifts in dealing with creatures of the wild, the chaotic, even frantic situation rather quickly begins to ease.

Released from Monet's grasp, the second of the stegasauruses begins to calm, growing steadily more passive as it's mate gives a much more quiet, yawning sound. It's own flailings grow passive, giving the Amazon Princess a much more stable perch and even the bleatings of the riled up dino cubs quiet once more as the little family of five turns curious gazes towards the intruders in their midst.

All's well that ends well, right?

Not exactly.

As Monet's efforts to forge ahead quickly show, the Savage Land is filled with all manner of threats. And not all the dinosaurs present in this wild and untamed stretch of primeval jungle are entirely natural it would seem. Disturbances tend to draw attenion, no matter how brief, particularly in a world as filled with oportunistic predators as this.

And while many of those threats might be in the distance for now, some of them can make awfully good time when they want to.

And at least one of them seems to want to.

Whether it is the noise that attracts it, the crashing vibrations rippling through the land when that heavy tree comes crashing down, or perhaps something in the wind, that huge T-Rex turns it's head towards them and while miles might still seperate them it begins to tromp off in their direction, slowly gaining speed as it moves beneath that canopy of leaves, snapping branches and trampling saplings underfoot.

Whatever has drawn it's attention to them, it seems to be rapidly honing in on them.

The handheld trackers distributed to each of them still give that faint beep that indicates the signal they have been following is still ahead, growing closer, though still oddly faint.

Oliver Queen has posed:
"Well that's certainly a sight," Ollie comments quietly, shaking his head.

It's too late to help him unfortunately, but still, watching as the dinosaurs calm down, go placid is pretty remarkable.. But before he has a whole lot of time to take it all in, a distant but steadily approaching roar sounds, echoing across the jungle. So much louder then those from the stegasauruses.

"That doesn't sound real good," he comments, glancing at the tracking device around his wrist. "Maybe we better get a move on."

Diana Prince has posed:
With the situation calming down a considerable measure, Diana does not retain the use of her Dino mount. She only even initiated it for the reason of bringing the rampage to a stop. As such, the Princess stands up on some of the large spikes coming off of its hide, and she leaps off to the creature's left side. Landing on boots, solidly on earth, the Amazon turns to regard the creature, who looks down toward her. He gives her a mournful farewell, as though he'd just lost a friend forever...

But the roar of that distant super predator seems to garner the once-mount's attention. He turns to rush off back toward the jungle's foliage embrace.

Diana, hearing Oliver's words, turns to look in the distance. her own tracker is glanced to on her harness where it is clipped against her stomach, before she looks up again toward the incoming T-Rex.

"Ion?" Diana asks. "Can you put a dome over the Tyrannosaur?" She requests, paying a second's glance toward the beast.

"I cannot imagine that it is specifically out for our demise ,but it best be caged for now." She states, as she grips her javelin at her side, ready to use it just in case... with her right hand hovering near her coiled-up lasso that hangs from her right hip.

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"On it," Kyle says to her firmly and there's no frills, no personal pinache. He just focuses on a dome, holding it above waiting for the t-rex to get a clittle closer so the focus can be a downward motion.

He doesn't want to act like a claw in a claw machine trackign down a moveable object.

"The big guy why everything's spooked?" he says remembering his own training. This is a first for him. Seeing an actual dinosaur, it's hard to be excited about space anymore because of the changes. Honestly, Spielberg got it both wrong and right. Howeverm what the man messed up on was really wrong.

Those movies can't really compare to the awesomeness of the real thing.

So, wehn the big beast gets close down will come the dome. Trying to put his will into it. Focusing it on encasing the thing and keeping it enclosed. The will of a Lantern against the strength of a T-Rex.

Barry Allen has posed:
Having some of the big guns along really makes quite the difference.

The stegasauruses are calmed and with Ion heading off to deal with the approaching Tyranosaurus Rex the scouting mission won't exactly have to worry about another headlong flight through the jungles again.

Kyle won't exactly have a difficult time tracking down the great beast as it stomps it's way through the jungle, the crack of snapping branches and the periodic roars that bellow out of it's gaping maw making it pretty easy to find.

When it sees that approaching streak of green growing nearer and nearer it does turn it's head and lets out another challenging roar, that huge mouth with those razor sharp teeth on full display.

As it opens that mouth, a glow seems to come from the depths of it's throat and an instant later a huge plume of fire shoots out, blasting out towards the Lantern -- only to be met by the green dome that suddenly encompases it, sealing it off.

That doesn't seem to have much impact on the great beast's disposition of course and it lets another firey burst of breath pour out, that burst of extreme heat still finding nothing but that emerald barrier, unable to penetrate it.

So that's the end of it, right?

Not quite. Still enrgaged, that altered T-Rex simply plows forward, lowering it's head and slamming into that glowing dome that traps it. Once, twice, and then a third time before it finally wobbles a little bit and turns those baleful eyes up towards the glowing figure about.

Meanwhile, a streak of red and gold whips through the nearby jungle as the Flash returns from his own little errand, coming to a screaching halt only a short distance away from Ollie and Diana. "Our passenger has been safely delivered to the dropship," he reports, glancing in the direction of Ion and that green glow. "And I'm guessing that the other distraction has been taken care of? Everyone ready to go and find the source of that signal? Maybe deal with the Injustice League once and for all?"

Oliver Queen has posed:
"You have no idea how ready," Oliver agrees, rather pointedly tapping the tracking device strapped around his wrist.

No, he's not impatient at all.

"There's still something a little strange about the signal, but if I'm reading this right - and I'm pretty sure I am - then whatever is tapping into that Russian satellite should only be about a click up ahead," he says with a thoughtful frown creasing a line across his features.

With the imminent danger of the T-Rex seemingly addressed thanks to Ion, and with Diana around to calm any other dinosaurs that they might encounter, things are definitely looking up. at least as far as the Emerald Archer is concerned.

"Let's get moving before any giant insects come along and try to lay eggs in us or something. Unless you have sway over them too?" he adds, shooting a sidelong glance Diana's way, lips curling upward just a bit.

Then he starts to tromp off into the jungle once more. "I've got point. Try not to step on any dry branches again Barry."

Oh yeah, he's not letting that one die anytime soon.

Diana Prince has posed:
The power of a Green Lantern ring was always an impressive sight to behold, and as Ion prepares the massive dome cage for the rampaging monster, Wonder Woman watches it burst through the tree line, just as it breathes a spout of fire at the dome itself.

She takes a step back, her armored boots slightly apart, as she prepares for action-- just in case.

But it is not needed, as the impressive power of the emerald dome that Kyle places over the beast, seems to functionally hold it. "Well done." Wonder Woman tells the Lantern, affording him another glance.

With Barry's return, Diana levels her chin, and nods a single time. She catches Oliver's question about the Insects, and with a smirk, she shrugs her bare shoulders. "Maybe. Been awhile since I tried to talk to bugs."

As the Arrow sets off, and Diana regards the flash again, Diana moves to keep pace with Oliver. "Try not to get lost in the jungle, Flash. You may never find your way out!" She calls out to him, her javelin extended to the side, swiping before her path to clear out jungle foliage in her way!

"Keep the beast contained as long as you can, Ion. Or come up with a creative way to make it stay there for the duration of our trip /away/ from it." She calls out over comms.

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle's officially putting this down on the bucket list. It's just something he never expecting it. So, he's putting it on and crossing it off the list. Hearing the way that head just "BOOMs!" against the construct does make that aforementioned inner five year old smile. "I both love and hate this!"

Kyle actually blushes, thankfully his mask covers most of that face. Being complimented by the Trinity? That's a big deal!

Kyle keeps the construct up and stays still. "I'll rope-a-dope it. When it wears out, I'll join you," he says and taps his ear. They can use the coms.

Barry Allen has posed:
With the T-Rex contained and Ion playing shephard on any dinos that might approach, the group can focus in on their real purpose here.

With Ollie in the lead, keeping an eye out for any other signs of trouble they make much quicker progress, even through the thick jungle. Brush rises up over their heads in places and dangling vines seem almost alive, seeking to entrap them, snare them.

As they get closer and closer to the seeming origin point of that signal and nothing but jungle seems to present up ahead it might get a little concerning. That all of this was some sort of trap, set up specifically to ensnare by the Injustice League.

But then the ground starts to give way beneath Oliver's feet and while Barry might have inadvertantly caused the problem with the stegasauruses, this time his speed lets him dart ahead, to grab hold of his old friend just in time before he pitches forward into the gaping chasm that opens up underfoot.

The sunlight filtering in through the canopy above has that greenish glow from the great leaves that spread out like a roof overhead. But it still illuminates the underground cavern below. Enough to make out that there, at the far end of it sits a structure that looks nearly identical to the one they discovered in Slaughter Swamp. A black, almost skull like dome perched there, looming ominously in the shadows.

Peering down into that pit, Barry lets out a quiet whistle. "I'd say we've found the Injustice League. And why the signal was so faint. They weren't in the Savage Land. They're under it."

Now they can muster their forces. Now they can see if anyone is actually home this time. Now, finally, they might have a chance to put an end to the Legion of Doom. Once and for all.