l1ttle_billy | Causeway Parking Lot, Wednesday Night

	The Causeway. Or rather, the parking lot at the end of the causeway. That was where he'd asked people to meet him. In the meantime, Billy was pacing nervously, glancing at his watch every few seconds. He hoped Tommy was okay.
	Adam was there in a matter of minutes. As if he'd stay behind and not help his roommate. Yeah, right.
	"Hey, glad you could make it." Billy smirked. It would have been kinda silly if Adam hadn't been there. Seeing as how he was the one who had convinced Billy to take other people along in the first place.
	"Like I'd let you leave without me," Adam smiled, chuckling. "Still waiting for a few people?"
	"Yep. You're the first so far. Forgive me if I pace, I'm getting nervous just waiting."
	"It's okay, I get it," Adam nodded. And really, he did. He recalled a couple of times when he'd ended up pacing like that, because of something that had happened back home.
	"Do you have everything you need?" Billy had his gun, sword and throwing stars all ready to go.
	"I do, yes," Adam nodded. He had a staff with him and his other abilities, that was good for him.
	At this point Cassandra arrived. She moved the way she usually did: quietly. A small bag was slung over her shoulder. She waved in greeting.
	Hey, thanks for coming." Billy smiled. Maybe it was the way he'd been brought up but he always felt better about a mission if there was a bad ass Asian girl along.
	"Of course," she answered. And she meant it. "How many of us?"
	"Let's see, you, Adam, Tori, John, Liz, and Anenome. Plus an old friend who'll meet us halfway there."
	Cassandra considered, then nodded. "Okay." Then, "Should I change now or will there be time later?"
	"Probably better to do it now." Billy decided. "We might not have time once we get there."
	With a nod of understanding she started peeling her shirt off. Modesty wasn't really something she thought about most of the time.
	Billy turned away slightly. As if he'd kept looking in that direction, his body language might make her uncomfortable.
	It was a fairly practiced set of movements, so it wasn't long before she had the suit on. She kept the mask down for the moment.
	Billy turned back, and nodded approvingly. "Nice. The bat emblem's a nice touch." She looked very good in it but he hoped he wasn't broadcasting that too much.
	She shrugged a bit, "Tradition."

	"Hey, Billy," John said, arriving. He clanked a bit. And looked suspiciously bulky.
	"You sound well armed."
	"I've got two arms, Billy, and will admit that they're surprisingly well, for that," he said with a smirk.
	"Good enough for me. Thanks for coming Man."
	"So what's the plan? I brought a few extra toys to share in case some people needed 'em."
	"I don't know what the situation will be when we get there, so, I don't know. Also there's someone we have to meet up with on the way."
	"Someone else? Who is it?"
	"An old friend of mine. And of Storm Shadow's."
	"Storm Shadow? Please tell me that's a person and not a weather phenomenon."
	"Heh. Yeah it's a person. That's even his real name, translated into English.
	"Okay. So what's the game plan after we pick up Translucent Tornado?" he asked dryly. "What the hell's going on, Billy?"
	"We go in, find Storm Shadow, my friend uses some kind of ninja wooj to break him permanently out of my father's control, and get out. Hopefully without running into too many bad guys. But that doesn't usually work out for me."

	It didn't take very long at all before Liz was ready and she was at the causeway.
	"Liz," Billy smiled. "Glad you could make it."
	Liz nodded, "I'm glad to be able to help," she said.
	"I'm hoping we'll get there before the bad guys do, but just in case, it's nice to have a posse."
	Liz nodded, "that's understandable,"
	"And it's a plus that it's a posse that likely no one in my world knows anything about."
	"That's always a good thing," Liz agreed.
	John waved at Liz.
	Liz smiled and waved back.
	John, very maturely, stuck his tongue out at her. Briefly.
	Liz grinned, "hi John," she said.
	"Hey," he said. "Good to see you. Wish the circumstances were better. School?" he asked with a head tilt.
	Liz nodded, "same here, yeah the circumstances could have been better," she agreed.
	"You ready to kick ass and take names?" he asked, a smile dancing on his SeriousFace.
	"I'm ready as I'll ever be," Liz said with a small smile.
	"Good to hear," he said. Aww, Liz! He missed her.

	Anemone had only lingered at the dorms long enough to find a panduppy-sitter for Gulliver before grabbing her bag and running for the Causeway. "Hey! Did I miss anything?"
	"Not yet." Billy smiled. "We're just waiting on one more person. But she's coming from California so I'm cutting her some slack."
	"California! That's, like, the other side of the world." Anemone's eyes widened as she gestured dramatically. She clearly still didn't have a great grasp on geography. "Wow."
	"Well the country at any rate." Billy smirked. "But she assures me she'll make it."
	"Great! And then, we'll bash some skulls together!" she said cheerfully, clearly not bothered by the idea. "It'll be fun."
	"I hope you won't think less of me if I hope that we don't run into many bad guys."
	"We can always start a bar fight on the way home!" she joked. "Kidding. The fewer the better, since I'm not exactly used to fighting like this. I'm usually taller, for one, not to mention better armed."
	Billy blinked. "Taller? You shrank?"
	"Kind of?" Anemone shrugged, looking rather sheepish. "I used to drive a robot. A very big robot. If I didn't like someone who wasn't in an LFO, I just stepped on them. It made dealing with unruly crowds pretty easy."
	"Oh." Billy nodded, only slightly disconcerted. He was good friends with terrorists and arms dealers after all. "Gotcha."
	There may have been a nudging in a so totally innocent fashion by a John Connor-type person.
	"John, go away. I'm talking to Billy," she said, waving him off absently. Then it kicked in, and she whirled around to look at him. "What are you doing here? Please tell me you aren't skipping work just to get in a fight."
	"Vacation days. I'm getting paid for this," he said with a grim smile. "No hugs for me?" he asked, throwing his arms out, his body looking oddly bulky.
	"No hugs because you probably have a grenade in there," she said suspiciously, reaching out to poke tentatively at his coat. "No, more like a dozen grenades."
	"That's never stopped you before," he said. He reached out to poke her back. "Carrying that many's just dangerous. Would I do such a thing?" he asked, almost innocently. He kept scanning the area.
	"Yes, you would." She stepped closer to hug him, dropping her bag on the ground. "Especially if you thought you needed them all."
	He hugged her like a huggy thing. "I'm trying to pack light," he said. "But still be able to share with the rest of the class." Foreheadkiss?

	And look! She did make it, in record time, too. Tori was dressed in her ninja uniform from the Academy and ready for action. "Hey."
	"Holy cow you really did make it. Portalocity does good work."
	"Told you I would," Tori nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes, it does." And the ninja streak didn't hurt.
	Billy clapped his hands together. "Alright! We're all here folks so let's get going." Behold the rental van of destiny.
	"Would it be mean of me to call shotgun?" Tori smirked. She was joking. No really.
	"Nope. Just beware the blitz."

Billy had waited until everyone was there so he could explain this only once.

"Okay, so my father, as some of you know is insane. And not in a fun way. He's the head of the largest, most dangerous terrorist organization in my world, and he's not above using mind control to recruit his inner circle." He touched his head unconsciously. "My old sensei was one of his victims and he needs mine, and another friends help in getting free. We're going to New Jersey to do that. I called you guys because, well back up is always nice. Especially unexpected back up. Everyone ready? Cool."

[Preplayed with the ubiquitous