"You know for the fastest man on Earth, you are late an awful lot," retorted the Green Lantern as the Flash returned to the field HQ. The field HQ designation was obviously a term that the Batman insisted everyone used. Probably cause dank railroad station with the six loonies did not sound quite so impressive. Also cause it was a bit of a mouthful.

"Shut up Kyle," retorted the Flash. "Not all of us get the luxury of sitting on our duff watching the Sissy Six drool a lot."

"Enough," growled the Batman. He turned to Aquaman, "Continue with your description of the Ryker Island defenses."

"Its quite simple. There is a large force of persons on the main land who do not appear to have any powers. The Seven must have been confident that no superpowered entities would try to break them out from the mainland, and believed that any attempt from the land could be put down with such a force. They are armed quite well, and seem to be mostly regular army. The street toughs act sort as a bizarre police force roaming the streets scaring the general populace.

"The fish in the bay were quite surprised when a man started talking to them. After they got over the shock and discovered they could trust me, they were quite friendly. Based on their description, the guards of the prison are all metahumans.or mutants as the term goes here. All of the cells have been reinforced with all sorts of devices that I assume are meant to counteract their abilities. The sea life in the area dislikes the forces that hold the island as they have been dumping all sorts of trash and have been fishing for sport. Many times, the fish are killed, made inedible, and thrown back. They said they would be willing to help us.

Wolverine motioned that he would continue. "I knew that we would need more information than defenses, so I snuck into the mainland camp. I discovered that the sole source of communication between the island and the mainland is a direct phoneline between the two. Every hour and a half the island calls the mainland to signal the OK. I also overheard a conversation and I picked up three things. One, the prisoners in the island have been kept in pretty good shape." The relief was evident even in Wolverine's gruff voice. "They said they needed them alive for something later. Also, all of the cells are operated through an automated system that can be controlled from the Warden's office. Finally, they said that something big was going to happen at 10 pm. I assume that would be the telecast. But the way these guys were talking, I was thinking that it wouldn't just be a ransom demand but something bigger."

Martian Manhunter nodded and said in his deep baritone: "I concur with Wolverine. I scanned the minds of the six we have, and what I saw confirms this assessment. These six specifically are related to the one called Kingpin, and they were under explicit orders to track and get Spiderman and Wolverine so that the broadcast would not be interrupted by anything. All Seven will be present, according to the six's memories, and that nothing can disturb them."

Superman cleared his throat and stood before the group. "Then that is when we strike. These Seven seem to be extremely powerful creatures and could swing the battle one way or the other. Also, there is no guarantee that we will know where they are at any other time. We have to strike them at 10pm. We also need to ensure that their forces are distracted. Flash, did you talk to Fury. Is he onboard?"

Seeing nod Flash, Wolverine snorted. "Fury is on board. He is probably chomping on the bit to get into this city. I fought with the guy in World War II, and he was always itching for action. He will give it everything he has."

Green Lantern looked confused and asked. "In this world, World War II was in the 1940s right?" Seeing Spidey and Logan nod, GL continued, "And its 2003 right?" Seeing the two heroes nod again, Lantern smiled and said, "Wow, you move well for a geezer. No wonder you need metal grafted to your skeleton. Probably keeps you upright."

Wolverine growled and moved towards GL, but Spiderman stopped him and shook his head. "Save it for tonight." Batman looked at the Emerald Knight and sent him the Look, which promptly made the Corpsman a little green.

Superman continued, "That is one part of our three part offense. Now for phase II. The object is we free the prisoners of Ryker, retake the island, and get them to hold off mounting a counteroffensive. Of the three parts, the last part will probably be the hardest to achieve. Spiderman and Wolverine, do you think you can get them to listen to us."

"Yeah, between the two of us we can do it," replied Spiderman. As more time progressed, Spiderman was feeling more and more confident about himself. Yeah the new guys were powerful. But he had proven he could hold his own with Batman, and that was a big step. Sure, Spidey still felt like he was going to puke everytime Batman looked at him, but so did most of the others. Well, Flash and Green Lantern, but still. He was getting used to this.

"We need to cut communications between the mainland and the island first," stated Aquaman. "We don't do that, they'll be on us before we have begun. Someone needs to go in, cut the communications, and free the prisoners. That ought to cause enough chaos, so when the rest of us come in, it will be more effective."

"Stealth. I can do stealth," stated Spiderman. "Me and Batman can go into Ryker's. No problem."

"Batman, yes," stated Wonder Woman, "but Spiderman.we don't think this particular part of the mission is suited to your particular talents. However, Batman cannot go in alone. He needs someone to watch his back. Someone who has experience in these types of missions. Someone who has been in a war."

"Why do I think you mean me, Princess?" inquired the Canadian.

"You know this world, and are known. You know the ways of stealth, I have seen you. You are a very talented fighter and I am confident you can hold your own if you discovered. If you and Batman can work together, you will be much more effective and have a better chance of getting to the island and to the Warden's office undetected."

"I have no problem going in and getting the job done, but it would be best if I did it alone. Without the help of the bat-freak," said Wolverine nodding over at the Bat.

"No Wolverine you need Batman for this, and Batman you need Wolverine," said Wonder Woman. "Wolverine, you work on a team with people you do not like. Batman is effective at what he does, and has the technical know-how." Wonder Woman turned to face Batman as he sat still in the darkness, "Batman, without Wolverine's knowledge of who is who, you will not who to fight, or what their strengths are." You need each other.

Wolverine looked around and thought. He finally turned to Batman and said, "I don't like you. You don't like me." Batman's eyes narrowed. "But we have a job to do and Wonder Broad is right. We do what we have to do, and save New York. After that though, me and you are going to have a conversation." Wolverine unsheathed his adamantium claws and grinned. "And I think we are going to have a misunderstanding." Batman nodded and Wolverine turned and looked at the rest of the assembled heroes. "So how do we get there? Swim?"

Aquaman grinned and said, "Leave that to me."