Thorn was the first to 'speak', a surprise to Fenrir as he had imagined one of the more loudly opinionated members would have run their mouth at the first oppurtunity. Not that the Wolfman minded, there was something about the tree-man that put his mind at ease, especially his whisper like voice that held a favorable comparison to a gentle breeze blowing through tree branches in Fenrir's opinion. Much more agreeable than the raspy, breathy, whiny vocalizations of the rest of the team.
"The training shall remain secret until the morn Thorn. The less time you have to prepare for this first session the better. I want to see how you all handle the unexpected." Answered Magnus, hoping to convey a firm yet fair attitude. Tomorrow would be his first chance to really see the team in action, and he wanted them all at their worst, all the better to see who had to improve on what.
Tamashi demanded his attention next, a pained strain to the demon's voice. His wounds were obviously bothering him, the limited amount of blood he had smuggled onto the base doing little to lessen their sting. Perhaps that would help curb his overconfidence in their next fight with a foe like King.
"No excuses Tamashi. Our enemies wont always wait for you to be at your best, and neither will I. You do not make the training you are off the team." The feral meta's iron tone brooked no argument. Fenrir had never been to school or worked like a normal person, he'd never had a sick line from a doctor, or a note that would excuse him from gym if he didn't feel up to it. In his mind you either gave something your all, or you'd better not even bother starting it. If Tamashi wanted to be an Outsider then his wounds wouldn't stop him. If he could breath then he could fight.
The Wolfman considered that answer an end to the conversation on how injured one had to be to get out of training, shifting his attention to Twilight.
Juno looked less severe out of costume, somehow softer, more human. It was a better look for her, her overbearing arrogance hidden behind a veneer of normalcy. He was almost tempted to think of her as pretty though her sharp mind was still working at full capacity, and Fenrir reminded himself to stay on his toes around her. She was as much a politician as a vigilante. She could school a fox on cunning.
"Hmm. I'll put you in contact with Hawkman. Together you can figure out how to upgrade the cruiser." He didn't feel the need to add how happy he was that someone was offering to take responsibility for that death trap away from him, though he supposed he should involve himself in the upgrade process. Carter would probably insist on it, decreeing that it wouldn't do for a former apprentice of Hawkman's to be so hesitant to fly.
She then went on to discuss varying their tactics, but Fenrir did little to commit himself to that line of inquiry as he felt that was ground better left covered during the training. He grunted a vague warning when she made her underhand attack against Marcus. Not that Quantum didn't deserve it, just that Fenrir wasn't willing to get into the petty squabbling yet again, and he believed it was just her attempt to sabotage one of her perceived rivals.
He did begin to take more notice when she mentioned Belle and her place in the team, though still offered little in the way of his own answers. He had already made up his mind on what to do with the girl. Still, he nodded slowly as if something Juno had said had hit a cord with him, if only to play the role Juno expected of him, that being a clueless beast impressed by her intelligence and insight.
Interestingly Warpath retrod much of the same ground that Juno herself had. It seemed the two were more similar than they probably realized. Although Adam's suggestion of having back up plans in place were useful, even if he insisted on hammering that point home with more examples of the famous authors he had read. Fenrir had probably read about ten books in his life, most of them forced upon him by Gabe or Carter. He didn't feel the need to inform the team of the enlightenment one could obtain by perusing the Catechism's of the Order of Paran Katar; Wisdom of the First Wingman, so why did Adam insist on telling them about all his favorite books and the life changing musings to be found within them.
"Sun Tzu seems very wise. We will implement his teachings." Responded the Wolfman testily, realizing just how ridiculous he sounded as he said it. Diplomacy came with great difficulty to Fenrir, and it was at moments like these that it was most evident.
Thorn spoke up again, also advocating the need for several more backup plans, claiming that he had planned for many outcomes in each of his heists when he was still a criminal.
"All that planning and Valentine still died." Fenrir pointed out, "We can plan and plan and plan, but we cannot account for everything. Too much planning and your liable to become constricted by all that forethought, choked by your own preparations. Training is better. Experience better yet. We know how each other works, we can be flexible enough to handle any threat. Better we have guidelines on how to act for any given situation. Nothing hard, nothing fast, everything flexible. Better to be able to bend with circumstance, otherwise we will break under it."
Thorn also brought up the subject of Belle, the Wolfman deciding then that maybe it was better to inform the team of his plans for her.
"Some of you may be wondering why I allow the child on the team. I will tell you so you better understand my choices. When I was her age I was taken from my family home by a group run by a woman named Gretta Tante, better known as Granny. This group's MO is to abduct meta children. They then brainwash, train and outfit them to become superpowered weapons that Granny can sell to the highest bidder. I became a pet project of Grannies, my unique condition meaning I proved difficult to control. With help I managed to escape, a fact that still stings Tante." He still remembered that night so clearly. He was still more Wolf than man then, trapped in the form of a monster. It was Little Red Riding Hood who first managed to burst from her cells, before hitting the release on the other prisoners. Most had been to confused, or far too indoctrinated, to contemplating escaping. Not so Magnus, who had lended his strength and savagery to Red Hood's cunning and training. Together the two had lead a handful of other inmates to their freedom, though they soon parted ways.
"For the last three years Hellfire and I have tried to dismantle the operation, but despite our best efforts Granny still operates, hidden on the fringes of civilization and provided asylum by her powerful benefactors."
"I discovered that Belle had attracted Tante's attention. I took her away from her home, with her parents blessing, knowing what Granny would do to her if she got a hold of her. That's why she's here, why I keep her close. Grannies reach is long, and I'm still not certain this place is safe from her influence, especially from a woman who made it her lifes work to train meta infiltrators. There's only two other people in the world I'd trust with Belles safety, and I cannot ask them to 'babysit'." Those two being Carter Hall and Gabe Harlan. Both of whom had their own lives to live, own battles to fight.
"She will train with us. I will help teach her control the beast inside." Fenrir had plenty of practice controlling his own animalistic urges, surely there was some tricks he could impart to her. "And soon she will make her own choice as to whether she wishes to join us on the field or not. Belle cannot be put into a support role. Her powers and personality isn't suited for it. She is like me in that she can either be the hammer or she can be the anvil. Ask of her anything else and we would be misusing her."
"She is no normal little girl. She will be forced to grow up faster than any of you have."
"So. . . Is there anything else?"
Member
Roman