Chasing Lightning - Timeline of Events

Summer 2021, Week 4

Sunday 12:00 am

New Vic News

Mary Mays

A tired looking Ms. Mays appears on screen following a Breaking News bulletin that appeared on many screens around New Victoria. Taking a deep breath, letting the shaken expression flow away, she spoke. "This is Mary Mays with an Urgent Report. An open shooting war has erupted in Henry surrounding the south-eastern abandoned Warehouse District. Early reports indicate that the Sixth Street Sparks and other local gangs have captured and are holding hostage multiple officers of the New Victoria Police Department. In response, police backup arrived and were immediately engaged by multiple armed gangsters and hostile Evos. We do not have updates from the AERI Team or Chief of Police at this time. But we advise... no, we urge and plead... that any nearby residents immediately seek shelter and stay indoors. Please do not go outside. We will give updates as soon as we can. Everyone... be safe."

The police were taking heavy casualties. Even as more cruisers rolled in and helicopters started to arrive on scene, officers were being dragged back from the crudely drawn battle lines and to safety. Or relative safety. Already, there were 5 confirmed dead and double that critically injured. And the fight had only just started. A good handful of the thugs had been injured, but calculating their losses was impossible with those Evos destroying police positions. As cameras recorded, thousand growing close to a million would see the difference between humans and the evolved. And the night had just gotten started.

New Vic News

Mary Mays

This is Mary Mays with Breaking News. We go to Steven Testa with live coverage of the ongoing engagement occurring in the Henry District. Steven, please tell me you're being safe.

Steven Testa

Mary, we're being as safe as we can. Currently we're embedded with the New Victoria Police Department Headquarters Team right outside the freeway entrance to the Henry District. Already we can hear gunfire, and radio reports that officers are currently engaged on the other side of the freeway. Early reports indicate there may be an Evo presence on the side of the gangsters under the notorious Blood Bolt.... ...We now have confirmed reports that Evos have engaged the police. Intelligence is communicating that there may possibly be a speedster, a strongman, and some type of earth mover. No indication yet if these are the only Evos on Bolt's side, but already we are getting reports of casualties.... ....We're moving up closer to the lines now Mary to get a better picture of what's going on. We've lost communications with police that went in from the west and east in attempts to flank the gangsters' position. We have no idea what--watch out! The camera falls to the ground and goes black.

Mary Mays

Steven? Steven!? Uh, okay. Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be right back after we get back in touch with our news team.

Henry, The Wards

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Aloy had heard the gunshots from the orphanage in McAlpin he wanted to make sure it was safe, and that the chaos didn't get over there. He was peeking out from behind a nearby alleyway and waiting for others to join. There were so many thugs and the loud cracking of gunshots filling the streets made him freak out a bit. But he steadied himself and breathed in and out. He could go to the top floor, but no he saw bolt there a few seconds ago. Suicide. He couldn't do anything alone. So, he waited for a moment to strike. When there were stragglers or more people to help him. being first here didn't help his chances at winning. Especially watching people get murdered and killed in front of him. He thought maybe in reality he'd be able to take charge. He ran in making sure to stay behind cover and help drag hurt living officers out of fire. Trying his best to not die.

Storyteller

Having come from McAlpin, Aloy was forced to come closer to 8th Street where the officers were cut off from the main assault lines.

Ari Thomas

This is crazy. This is insane. What am I doing here? His hands gripped pale-knuckled on the steering wheel as his car speeds down to the Wards. I'm saving lives, that's what. But gunfights? Doesn't matter. It matters if I get shot! But even if I make a tiny difference. He wrestles with his thoughts as he nearly misses the exit to Henry, and speeds along until he comes closer to a firefight zone, drifting in a crazed U-turn and stopping just before an errant bullet pops one of his tires. "Son of a-" he screams as he hears the burst of rubber. welp, now or never. He starts the CD he got from his brother, a burned compilation of music Ari liked, and turned the volume way up, and sets it to the last track; a cover of the One Punch Man opening theme from season 1, performed by fellow Minnesotan Jonathan Young. Stepping out of the car, he lets it run and leaves the door open; He would need it towed, anyway. He hardens his skin to the point it was like granite and hoped that his entrance was more an inspiration for the good guys and a distraction for the bad.

[Mimic (Partial), Basic x1, -0EP (15/15)]

New Victoria Police

The Police from the Frontlines took a moment to look back at the--illegally parked car, that'll be a ticket, sir. Some of them are in shock, can you blame them? "Did that guy just walk out to theme--holy shit, contact rear!" One overly excited officer shouted as he saw an Evo transform into some sort of rock monster. Raising his weapon, a Corporal quickly pushed it down. "Dumbass, do you think he'd--" The Corporal paused. He was going to ask if the idiot thought an Evo attacking them would announce their presence with music and an epic walk out. But knowing the intelligence on Bolt and his crew, he hesitated. Gun by his side, back from the front lines a bit, he asked. "Name and purpose or I start shooting."

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Henry, The Wards

Storyteller

The three SUVs pulled off the Freeway, one of them carrying Andre, Isaac, and Roslyen stopping right at the exit ramp a few hundred yards off the front lines. They would be able to see the scene below, and the officers engaged in the moment would look up to see a NVPD SUV and three figures stepping out of it. Right now, the universe of the front lines was centered around the four evos present and the officers desperately trying to make sure they were on their side.

Victory

As soon as he stepped out of the car and saw a rock man standing behind the police lines, Victory flew up a few feet and over to land in front of the man, back to the officers. "I'm really hoping you're about to tell me that you’re on my side." He said, hands by his side but ready to push the threat back from the rear lines and into Isaac and Rosy.

[Ind. x1 Basic, -0EP]

Inferno

Inferno jumped out of the van; the katana he had kept from Uncle sheathed at this side. Holy shit this is an actual war zone. Do we need the national guard? It wasn’t long until his eyes set on the rock man standing in front of his friend. An earth bender…. Bullets were flying about, and one whizzed right by the young fire hero. He crouched slightly, drawing his blade in one hand but not setting it ablaze yet. “Rosy, get ready for whatever happens.”

Roslyen Van Steele

Victory

[Pather, x1 Basic, 0 EP, 15/15]

Then she quickly sent out another message to Andre, Isaac, and Rosy. 'AERI team - we've got a speedster, strong man in SWAT gear, earth manipulator, and flyer plus another on the bad guy side that hasn't been outted yet. Hope you're keeping them busy.'

[Pather, x1 Minor, 1 EP, 14/15]

New Victoria Police

"Got it. Good luck out there, Sloane. Stay safe and bring my people back alive if you can."

8th Street, The Wards

The two cops nodded grimly, understanding their task. The injured one grunted as he unholstered his pistol and rolled over getting ready to stand. The lead officer was already ready. One the count of three, both stood up and started shooting.

Storyteller

As fire was being returned, the gangsters, focused on the cops and not seeing the man flanking them, started returning fire. One of them had a modified AR-15, and he opened up on the officers and their makeshift barrier. Meanwhile, Aloy made it safely on their flank, seeing four gangsters with pistols and the one AR focused on the cops when the terrible luck of combat struck.

New Victoria Police

“No!” The injured cop screamed from behind the barrier as the lead cop fell backwards. He had stood and kept up the fire to protect his fellows. Now, on the ground with a neat hole created by a .223 round in his head, the determined expression still frozen on his face, his fight was over.

Parkside, The Wards

Storyteller

Victory flies through the air and slams onto the roof of a slum stereotype home with a thud.

Victory

Peeling his body off the tiles of the roof, Andre scans the sky quickly for what hit him as he rises off the roof, shattered shingle pieces falling off his uniform. "Unknown contact. I'm okay. Follow the plan." He radios in to his team, before barely catching a blur that rushes past him and behind. Moving forward, using a weird mix of fighting instincts and flight practice, he swirls around and floats in his modified flying fighting position. Before him, he sees a man, hands in pockets and floating 10 feet away.

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

"I've been waiting for you, Victory." The man teases the word out of his mouth with a smile. "Bolt specifically directed that when you showed up, you needed to be taken out. Send a message, as they say. And I was selected as the man to do the deed. Got to say, I'm honored."

Victory

Hovering in the air, Andre looked at the man before him floating just—no, more comfortably than he was. He wasn’t an expert in being able to pick apart flyers yet but seeing that young man struggle it had become a bit easier to tell when someone was comfortable in the sky. And this man was very at home. “That answers the question of what side you’re on.” Brushing the rest of the debris off him, Andre took off like a missile heading directly for the man.

[Ind. x1 Normal, -3EP (22/25)]

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

The man’s eyes widen slightly at his opponent coming at him right out of the gate. Different from the rest she’s talked about. Good. Raising his hand, Jeremiah pushed. Forcing the hold of all mortals to tug harder on Victory, aiming to slam him into the ground.

[Revealed Manip x1 Minor, -1EP (14/15)]

Victory

Sonofabitch he thought as suddenly he was ripped from his current course and aimed downwards, back to the sweet and cold embrace of the ground. Fuck. Me. It’s like— It was like when Sloane had trapped him. A telekinetic? It was something. But it wasn’t as strong. Looking down, he altered direction and went with the flow, pouring on power to go with the flow. As he headed towards the ground he slowly pulled away, like ripping out of a current. It took some effort but finally he ripped free and looped around. Keeping the speed he flew back at the man, arm cocked back, and slammed into him.

[Ind. x1 Normal, -3EP (19/25)]

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

A grin spread as he watched Victory falling to the ground. Check. But when he noticed his grip over gravity weaken with the distance the smile fell. It turned into a full frown when Victory ripped away from his hold and…shit. He flew back as much as he could and used his grip on gravity to pull him away from the hit. But enough of it connected that it sent him flying back.

[Ind. x1 Normal, -3EP (22/25)]

[Manip. x1 Minor, -1EP (13/15)]

Victory

Continuing on after his first hit, Andre focused on the man and closed the distance between them when a force smacked him out of the sky...again--so this is what it feels like to be pimp slapped by mind powers....not a fan. Flailing through the air as he want sent off balance, he was thrown back into the Henry battlefield.

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

"Damn. That's not ideal." He said out loud after smacking Victory with a gravity well again and sending him into the ground. Tilting his head, he nodded, more to himself. "Got it, I'll clear up the area with the big man." Before turning around and flying back to the warehouse-outskirts.

[Manip x1 Minor, -1 (7/10)]

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Valentine

War ran red through the streets of Henry raging hard as the storm breaking overhead, the curtain of rain blotting out the moon with their torrential onslaught. The concrete jungle a mess of violence and cracked by battle creeping forward and back before the undulating heart of the conflict, a sanctuary yet untouched. That raucous call to arms hummed within Valentine's bones as she dragged her maul coupled together by chain, heavy weights, and a single barbell the grating of metal against asphalt striking through the storm easily as if it were merely just silence only to be deafened by the distant crackling of thunder. More a shade amid the downpour than a figure, she was a large blot only scarcely illuminated by the dizzy halo of fluorescent lights struggling to spit out the dregs of their life to light up the streets leading to the outskirts. Every step she got closer, her body seemed to swell, grotesque tendrils bloody in the dark reaching out into open air before intertwining with a myriad more. A latticework formed a pattern that locked against flesh overlapping and threading through her clothing and bracing the entirety of her body. Even her head became nearly locked into place, snugly trapped within a prison of muscle with only the faintest glimmers of the hockey mask beneath visible beneath the hellish body of burgeoning strength amplifying her abilities enormously. No longer did she look human as she walked, more a mountain of muscle unbound by a prison of flesh gripping tightly onto a makeshift maul weighing more than two men and lifting it with effortless ease. Her voice boomed out from within the heavy shell of her makeshift armor of tendon and sinew, defiant against the call of lightning above, "You lot look as if you're ready for a fight! Seems I got here just in time for the fun." She cackled madly while bringing her maul skidding across the ground. The heavy impact sent sparks and shards of asphalt from where it landed, "I haven't been this excited for too long, so come on! I wanna see some blood and guts!"

Type 1: Strenuous x1 (Strength) [-15EP], Normal x1 (Durability) [-3EP] {7/25 EP Remaining}

Type 2: Strenuous x1 [-15EP], Normal x1 [-3EP] {7/25 EP Remaining}

Storyteller

[Durability (Type 1): Normal Action x1 [-3EP] 4/25 EP Remaining]

[Muscle Propagation (Type 2): Normal Action x1 [-3EP] 1/25 EP Remaining]

Warehouse Top Floors, The Wards

Henry, The Wards

Inferno

What the hell? Isaac saw his friend blasted away by some unknown force, but thankfully the radio in confirmed he was alright at the least. Picking up his own radio, Inferno radioed Rosy. “Keep Ari with you, I’ll handle the gangsters on my side, you handle the ones on your side, then we’ll take the center. Tell the cops behind us to suppress the center while they get themselves back together.” Without waiting for a response, Inferno stepped out of his cover and rushed his side of no man’s land. Inferno couldn’t see the 3 gangsters opposite him, but he didn’t let that comfort him. Suppress them. With his free left hand, the fire hero launched small fireballs at the line in front of him as he moved up. Isaac just about cleared the dead zone when one of the bullets from another side of the fight grazed his arm as he ducked beneath the barricade the gangsters had hastily constructed. Fuck them. Whipping around, Inferno swung to the other side of the car and sprayed fireballs at the enemy with his left hand while bringing his blunt sword on the right.

[Manip x3 Basic, -0 Ep]

Storyteller

From a treetop viewpoint by the park that gave them just about as good a view as they needed, a hooded and masked individual would be almost unnoticeable in the dark downpour- their fingers itching at the sides of their shroud in preparation. The meaning behind this would be indiscernible if someone even could see them, but it was in preparation for any potential loose bouts of electricity- there was always a chance the storm decided to make this whole killing field a little more interesting. Regardless, the hooded figure stayed out of sight for now, watching the shootout below unfold as they also spied the hit that would begin the fight in the neighboring residential area.

Ari Thomas

Starting to hyperventilate, lost in the memory of his sister with tears in her eyes, his mom begging and pleading to let them go, and his father screaming at him almost blue in the face, he feels the hand on his shoulder. 'Hit them hard and fast' Help us, Ari! 'Be a hero, Ari' Why would you do this?! He shakes his head as the hand pulls away, trying to regain focus when he hears a WHOOSH, with Victory disappearing into the sky. Focus, Ari! He looks around, and sees an officer wounded, and thinking quickly, he states "This officer needs medical attention. We're going to try to provide a distraction and make an opening. I'll be back, and when we're ready to advance, I'll move the wall forward!" With that, he fully transforms into a fully granite golem form, rising to eight feet in height.

[Type: Mimic, Normal x1, -3EP (12/15)]

Geb

"Let's do this." He rumbles as he charges around the edge of the barricade, each step a heavy CRACK as he charges toward the makeshift barricade made by the gangsters.

Roslyen Van Steele

This was...The best she had ever felt. The wind, the water, the pounding of her heart, seeming to match time with the pounding of the pavement. Of course, her heart was beating faster, of course this was life or death. Yet, she couldn't help feeling more alive than ever. Her entire body was in overdrive, having dashed no man's land in record breaking times. The heads of gangsters just barely started to peek their heads, a wash of fire erupting from her teammate’s hands. Yet she barely noticed. Vaulting the first bike, she barely touched her feet on the second one barely launching forward laughing mad as she landed atop the car some gangsters were hiding behind. She dropped down between the two as they stared at her, guns drawing slow. At least slow to her adrenaline laded mind. Everything seemed a bit slow, even her. Slamming her elbows back into their heads aiming to slam them against the car they were hiding behind.

Storyteller

The stream of fireballs coming from Isaac exploded, one of them hitting a gangster who let out a muffled scream that sucked the hot air down his lungs and caused him to claw at his face as the screams died out. Most of them, however, detonated well before hitting their destination. Pieces of concrete had shot up to meet them before they could reach the gangster's lines. Gangsters returned fire, another bullet barely skimming Isaac's shoulder, sending hot pain that was dulled by the adrenaline almost immediately. But then the shooting stopped as the few officers near Isaac who were taking aim cried out and ducked behind the barrier before a boom of earth on earth sounded out and the barrier section near him shook.

Timothy - R2 Earth Manipulator

Sending pieces of the broken ground towards the barrier at high speed, urging the earth to push them harder, Timothy peppered the line of officers with shrapnel enough to get those close to the lighter to duck down. "I know you're back there, AERI. Why don't you come out so we can get this over with." Forcing a section of the barrier, an act harder than he reasonably expected it to be given it was just earth--perhaps because another raised it?--Timothy opened a gap to find....no one. "If you make me search for you, I'll just have to kill anyone I find. Your call."

[Manip x1M, x7B, -1EP (14/15)]

Storyteller

As Geb walks...trots, jogs, lumbers?...towards the barricade, the officers nod at hearing his words and squat down as the behemoth of a rock man charges forward. A group of 3 to 4 gangsters peak out behind some cars and start taking shots at him, most of their low caliber bullets striking his harden surface and deflecting off, but a few cracking the shell only slightly. Not enough to wound the form he's in. Until, at the last second, Geb sees a piece of rebar flying at him and steps to the side, letting it hit and stop against his barrier with a shake of energy. Stepping past the car, moving one a bit with his leg as he walks past, is a man standing at 6'5''. Brawny, more than Victory, with a look of pure joy in his eyes.

Richard - R1 Enh Strength

"Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, where the fuck did you come from." He growls out as he starts to step forward, holding another rebar pole that he throws, aimed directly for Geb's center mass. The man is wearing heavy SWAT like armor but moves in it like it weighs nothing.

[Enh. Str. x2 Basic, -0EP (10/10)]

Storyteller

As Roslyen moved her arms back to smash the Gangster's heads, she only felt her elbow connect with one. Smashing the man's skull and cracking his neck as it hit the corner of the car. The other felt nothing except for the metal of the car as it hit. That and a rush of wind...And the gangster standing next to her, but out of the way of her elbow, and reach....and without a gun?

Dennis - R2 Enh Speed

"Damn. I couldn't get to Steven in time. Oh well." A hyperactive looking man was sitting on the roof of the car right behind Roslyen's head, gun in his hand casually pointed at the back of her skull. "Damn you're a big gal...You're that pop star, right? Rose? Rachel? Anyways, so cool to meet you. I'll have to tell my friends about this."

[Enh. Speed x2 Minor, -2EP (13/15)]

Geb

"Rude!" Ooo, boy... that's a big pole He concentrates on the earth in front of him, forcing up a smaller barrier just tall enough to stop a large amount of the makeshift javelin's momentum.

[Type 1: Manipulation, Basic x1, -0EP (14/16)]

"Fee Fie Go Fuck Yourself!" He shouts at Richard, willing the ground beneath him to swallow Richard's legs up to the knees and lumbers towards the man, slowly patching up the breaks in his granite body. "Do you have any idea what you're doing? Do I have to knock some sense into you, Redfield-lookin' dumbass?"

[Type 1: Manipulation, Basic x2, -0EP (14/15)]

[Type 2: Mimic, Basic x1, -0EP (12/15)]

Richard - R1 Enh Strength

Seeing the rebar crack through the rock barrier, but slowing enough to lose any danger, Richard frowned. "No fun. Wanted to go rock-spear fishing." Feeling the earth twist around his feet he laughs. "You can try, big man. Make my night." Ripping his feet out of the rock flowing around him, Richard leaps up a good 8 feet onto a waiting car. "Like Timothy. Rock mover. Coward’s power."

[Enh. Str. x1 Minor, -1EP (9/10)]

Inferno

Inferno sat behind the opposite end of the earthen barricade, now filled with an empty hole in the middle. Another earth bender? Weighing his options, the flame hero pushed his hands against the earth, imbuing small streams of fire as bullets to appear on the opposite end of the makeshift barricade. At the same time, he briefly used his to step-jet into the air above the barricade and over, launching fireballs at the earth bender he was facing from above. “I’m right here, and I think I’m gonna call you ROCKY.” Inferno yelled the nickname, as this was when the fireballs launched at the man.

[Manip. x3 Basic, x1 Minor, -1 Ep]

[Imbue. x7 Basic, -0 Ep]

Roslyen Van Steele

Adrenaline makes people think...Oddly. It makes people quiet. Power hunger, quite mad… and feeling invincible. She knew the man was behind her. She hadn't felt him come, meaning he was fast. Extremely fast. Pulling her arm away from where she missed the guy, he moved she smiled. Her teeth showing as she braced herself. "It's Roslyen sweety, and yeah I'm a pop star. Want a photo? I'll make you a deal. Lay down, drop your weapon and I'll give you one." Spinning on her foot she didn't bother trying to dodge the bullet, she was fast but not faster than that. Instead aiming to absorb the energy as it hit her.

Geb

"But you still listen to him? Who's the bigger wuss?" He taunts in his deep, gravelly voice. "And you haven't seen me move rocks yet!" Tempted to summon a mass of dirt to bury everything but Richard's head, he remembered that Victory had said to save energy... But maybe there was an alternative to what he had planned. Thinking back to that night with the Unbreakable dude, he first made the earth around the car beneath Richard to jut up and crush his chest between two pillars, then burst forward with a sudden pillar of his own, screaming towards him with a crazed fury as he readied a solid granite punch

[Manip., x3 Minor, -3EP (11/15)]

Storyteller

[Revealed Enh Dur/Str x2 Minor, -2EP (12/15)]

Roslyen Van Steele

Roslyen was fast, she regularly broke records on her treadmill. She often tried to race boats down the harbor near her home. Yet right this second, she never felt slower. She felt the wind before she realized that her target had moved-moved. Glad she had braced to absorb she felt the bullets super charge her. Drinking in the kinetic energy the bullet dropped to the floor. Feeling he was behind her based on the bullet she let herself spin. Lifting her foot, she let all the energy from the bullet push out of her foot whipping it around. She didn't need to connect to him. She knew the kinda force she absorbed. The air would slash for her, she could feel the air tear at her bare legs.

[Manipulator, x2 Normal, -6EP (19/25)]

Inferno

Inferno saw the spikes veering towards the officers on top of the ones rocky was prepping. Do I seriously have to choose? Fuck that. Inferno used his free hand to launch fireballs with a bit more oomph at the spikes as they came at the officers. With his left leg Isaac launched a sweeping wave of fire with a fiery kick, hoping to neutralize both threats and get into a favorable position as he landed. “That’s not very kind of you Rocky. Ever thought about going to play with sand by the beach instead?”

[Manip. x5 Basic, x1 Minor -1 Ep ,23/25]

Storyteller

Ari v. Richard

Geb

Dammit, I hoped he'd go down with that... Looking to his hand, he blinks at the cracks as Richard gets up. Jeez, this guy's a tough nut to crack. Feeling the earth shift by his barrier, he glances back and sees the spikes. Oh, no. Focusing on redoubling his own hardness and fixing his damage, he also attempts to will the earth to be unresponsive near the officers, trying to cancel any outside influence other than his own. Hearing the comment from Richard, he snaps his focus back to the brute, only to see him launching himself at Ari. Crapcrapcrapcrap. He charges toward Richard in an attempt to throw him off guard, readying the earth for another quick strike from below after contact, focusing on making his fists more dense than the rest of his body. All or nothing for this dude.

[Manip. Minor x4 (3 for countermeasures, 1 for strike), -4EP (7/15)]

[Mimic Minor x1 Normal x1, -4 EP (8/15)]

Storyteller

As the three, Roslyen, Inferno, and Geb, prepare to unleash their counter attacks on their opponents, a crash sounds in the middle of the battlefield near the barrier. Standing up out of the dust is Victory, who instantly glances around the sky rapidly before his eyes lower to the field in front of him.

Victory

'Found the flyer. Fought the flyer. Lost the...' Andre's thoughts to Sloane trailed off as he saw the scene around him.

Storyteller

Geb's attempt to reinforce the barrier assisted in protecting a few officers where Inferno's weakened fireballs broke against the hardened earth spikes sent directly to the officers. The fireballs destroyed two of the spikes, while Geb's barrier stopped two more. That left three, one of which was caught by Victory's hand that lashed out. The other two...found their mark. One hitting an officer in and through the chest and the other taking another in the arm and basically removing it.

Timothy - R2 Earth Manipulator

To Inferno, the man smiled as he raised a wall of wet dirt to clash with the fire kick. "I'm not very nice. Good job there, hero. That's--" Finally seeing Victory standing there, the man paused, but was confident he was far enough away from the new threat that he could focus solely on Inferno. "Maybe you can send some flowers to the family." Indicating the hit officers. Throwing his remaining spikes through the wall of wet--now drying because of the flame--dirt and to Inferno, he laughed as he launched himself backwards with an earth column to get more space between them as he continued to launch smaller spikes and rocks at the AERI hero.

[Manip x4 Minor, -4EP (8/15)]

Dennis - R3 Enh Speed

Seeing the bullets hit...well not hit but rather fall against the pop star's legs, Roslyen missed the smile, frown, surprise, acceptance that quickly flashed on the speedster's face. Huh. Super cool. Super pain in the ass. But still cool Seeing her raise her leg as she started a kick, the man started to move behind her when he saw the golden clothed figure stand slowly out of the ground. Oh shit, that's the guy on the-- remembering the kick the man moved backwards, too late to move behind her, as he saw the air ripple around her foot. Moving back and back until he was over 25 yards away, he cursed. "Shit, went too far. Sorry!" He shouted at her, before raising his gun and shooting rapidly at her in return.

[Enh Speed x1 Normal, -3EP (17/25)]

Richard - R2 Enh Durability

Geb's action saved lives and also gave Richard enough time to close the distance and crash his fist into Geb's rocky chin.

[Enh Dur/Str, x1 Minor, -1EP (11/15)]

Storyteller

Geb would feel a strong hit, enough to register some pain but not enough to crack the exterior, not yet. The man in front of him was strong, but more than that it seemed like he was designed to take a hit. That could be a life saver for Geb. Still though, that would bruise in the morning.

Victory

'I need you to get the team here....right now. It's--' He cut off the thought to Sloane again as he leaped over the barrier and found the numerous officers hiding behind it and plenty wounded. In addition, there were a few bodies dragged behind the barrier that weren't moving anymore. Standing up and looking around, his mind went into emergency mode.

Storyteller

Andre would be able to see two trapped officers outside of the barrier’s protection and behind a torn-up car. Both were bleeding as one tried to tend to the other and gunfire raked their position.

Victory

Flying over, Andre grabbed the back collars of both officers and dragged them back to the barrier, ignoring the gunfire and fighting around him. 'I have wounded. I need EMTs up here now and a medial area closer than the HQ. Or something like that. We need to treat these critical ones right now... I have--Sloane, just get here.' He couldn't put words to what he was seeing. Isaac and Roslyen were both fighting with Evos while officers laid on the ground. Geb seemed to be focused on the danger but likewise engaged. The image of the officer taking a spike to the chest before falling back still fresh. No no no. Not like the university. Not again.

[Ind. x1 Basic, -0EP, (19/25)]

New Vic News

Steven Testa

...Currently Steele seems to be engaged with some sort of speedster, it looks--holy shit, I'm sorry, she's been shot. But it...it looks like she's okay. We also have Inferno engaging the earth user and it's a brutal...oh god. Oh my god. The earth user just used...we've lost some more officers...The unknown evo seems to have...buried a man, one of the bad Evos. Oh, Jacob, get that. When did he get back here? Victory has returned and seems to be tending to the officers rather than engaging. It's...ladies and gentlemen, it's chaos here. It's just....chaotic....

NVPD Command Center, The Wards

Storyteller

As Luna worked on the communications tent, she'd find that there was enough to set up her connection to her sister. It wasn't the best or most stable, but it was enough. When Sloane exited the tent, she'd find 11 men equipped in SWAT Gear, each carrying a modified M4 and looking past her and into the tent. Out of the tent can another SWAT Member, who's black nametag read George.

New Victoria Police

"Ms. Sloane, I'm Lieutenant George, head of the SWAT Team here. We're set to follow you in however you suggest is best. Not going to lie, we're a bit out of our depth here. But get us to where the shooting is happening, and we can provide cover and take out the thugs."

Sloane Whittier

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, give me just a second." She turned away to the side as she tried to follow Andre's broken messages to her. When he finally finished, she nodded even though he couldn't see. 'Heard. Relaying now.' Turning back to the SWAT leader, "Victory was giving me a report. He needs medical for the NVPD staff. There are critical wounded that need attention, and they can't be moved back to Command in time. Any chance we can mobilize and take med staff with us? Then we need to roll out ASAP."

[Pather, x1 Minor, 13/15]

New Victoria Police

"I can ask for volunteers, Ms. Sloane, but that's a dangerous ask. They aren't police and aren't used to these types of situations. Let me check. If anything, we can bring some officer's that know first aid. We can only do so much in the current situation. But I'll check." The Lieutenant moved off to the EMS huddle and started talking.

Luna | Mecha Loli

She quickly got to work going through the computers and other equipment. It wasn't much to work with, but it was enough. She plugs a USB flash drive into one of the computers and launches a program to handle the rest from there, which promptly connected the local network to her home network via the internet.

[Individual: x1 Basic, -0 EP (15/15)]

'What do you think needs more support? I can summon a few critters to leave behind or I can stay and send some with you instead. Either way, the ones not with me will not be easy to control since I won't be nearby to give them commands.' she responded to Sloane as she came back out of the communications tent.

Alexia

Alexia would be on the other side of the connection, waiting for the remote access program to link up the two networks and give her control. As soon as it was done the older of the two siblings got to work going through information in the system as well as sending a message to HQ to tell them that AERI had arrived and that she was tasked with helping behind the scenes where needed.

[Individual: x3 Basic, -0 EP (15/15)]

Sloane Whittier

'Do you have anything that can just serve as a trip wire or alert then? That way your attention doesn't have to be split. I'm wanting to leave them with some safeguards in case they get attacked when we leave and need us to come back. If I can help it, I don't want anyone to be too vulnerable.'

[Pather x1 Basic, 0 EP, 13/15]

Luna | Mecha Loli

'Yeah, I can leave a few flyers to scan the surroundings and give them the order to return to me at the first sign of trouble. I'll summon them now.' She wastes no time in starting the chant, clasping her hands together as her words become slightly distorted. "Ich rufe nach den schnellsten Schwingen der Lüfte! Beschwören: Pen-Pen, Filo, and Nero!" As she calls out the final words, a shout louder than the rest of the chant, her hands begin to glow, and three circles of light appear above her. A mechanical bird flies out of each circle almost in unison before the portals close back up again. The birds all land nearby, facing their summoner. "Fly around and keep an eye out for anyone that might be an enemy. The moment one of you spots someone coming towards this base, find me to let me know, 'kay?" Luna tells the birds, and they quickly fly off into the air to begin patrolling from the skies.

[Transporter: x3 Minor, x1 Basic, -3 EP (12/15)]

New Victoria Police

Returning to the small huddle of Evos, the Lieutenant spoke quickly. "I have 4 EMTs who are ready to rush in with us. They'll be able to bring first response gear which should be enough to stabilize all but the worst cases. We're ready to move at your word, Miss Sloane."

Sloane Whittier

"Let me grab my people. Also, do you have some extra vests? We're a bit squishier than our counterparts and there are bullets flying." Quickly she sent a message to the captain. 'Captain Vaughn, it's Sloane. We have 3 birds surveying your site. They'll alert us if you guys get into trouble. Shout if you need me or get new intel.' Then she sent out a message to Luna and Alex. 'Luna, Alex, ready to roll out? SWAT is good to go.' She sent a third to Andre. 'On our way in a min with SWAT and a med team. Stay strong. You'll have backup soon.'

[Pather, x2 Basic, x1 Minor 1 EP, 12/15]

New Victoria Police

"I'll grab some for you. Just you or do the ki--others need them too?" Based on her answer, the SWAT team would grab the vests used by detectives in the field. Slimmer fitting but still well made enough to protect vital organs. Chosen for their tinier frames given they weren't decked out in combat gear.

Storyteller

After that, the SWAT Team and Medics were ready to move out into the battlefield. The scout 'birds' not sensing anything hostile or incoming at this time.

Sloane Whittier

"At the very least Luna and I should be outfitted. I'll let Alex decide if he wants one too when he gets here. Thanks, Lieutenant. We really appreciate it. We can head out as soon as my team is ready."

Alexander King

Alex hadn't been far, but when he heard the mental question, he was quick to jump back to attention and reply. Yeah, I'm all good. I'll catch up in a second, he thought to Sloane before he began to jog over to the nearby location. It only took a little while before he was gazing upon the SWAT team as vests were being handed out, "Christmas came early this year it looks like! Glad I got here in time. I'm guessing we're nearly ready to go?"

8th Street, The Wards

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Aloy did his best to ignore the screaming. It was hard to hear over the pounding gunshots a few feet away from him. His heart rate skyrocketing again as he let his instinct take over. It was entirely fight or flight at this moment. He had the drop, rushing forward he used his brute strength and past fights take over his muscle memory, moving forward before clocking the nearest man with enough force to knock him out. "Go drive!" His voice trembled out in an adrenaline filled yell. He was holding back. He didn't want to murder these random gang members, but he kept bashing his way through them with brute force taking them out one by one. Something that surprised himself.

[Type: Enhanced 4 x normal -12 10/25EP]

The gunfire ebbed off, as the men who were shooting moved back and away from the fight. The diamond like surface of the Golem started to crack as the leg was brought back, but not before the pressure Val felt under her body as it was wrapped around the leg vanished with such speed and even as she moved to tighten the grip it was too late. At the same time, Val felt her movements to close the space hampered by an unseen force. It wasn't much, but enough resistance to hold back the tide.

Savannah - R3 Rock Golem

The pressure on her leg was present but using her own granted strength and the hardness of her exterior she fought it for a few seconds. That's all she needed. Her grin couldn't be made out through the stone mask, but it was there in her mind. "Times up for you, cutie." She said through a slightly strained gravelly voice, before her rocky appearance vanished with a speed. As she shrunk, her instincts of slipping a clinch took over. Tucking her leg and using the micro-seconds of free space to hold her hand out, she grabbed onto the coming blur and was yanked away from Val and into a standing position. "Took you long enough." The girl said to Jeremiah, who floated nearby looking at Val with hate in his eyes. Savannah, for her part, was heavily favoring her uninjured leg. The adrenaline keeping back the true extent of the injuries.

[Mimic, x1 Normal, -3EP (7/25)]

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

"Another one of Victory's little team?" He asked, relaxing the grip over gravity he had used to lift Val enough to widen the space so he could grab Savannah. He was tired, and still a bit dizzy from that hit from Victory.

[Ind. x1 Normal, -3EP (19/25)]

[Manip. x1 Minor, -1EP (6/10)]

Greg

"A nuisance the boss has words for." Greg rumbled from behind the group, coming from the group of men who had finished reloading. "Did you finish him?"

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

"No, I got called back here for this one." The man said, nodding towards Val.

Greg

"You got called to secure the area, not save her."

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

"Same orders, different interpretation."

Storyteller

Surrounding Val were the three Evos and the group of men either finished or finishing reloading. The situation was dire. Val could try and escape, and likely get away if she focused the rest of her energy on that. But at a cost. That much was certain. With the flyer and Greg, it would be enough to catch her and wound her. Or she could see what it was that the Boss had to say to her, with a likely ending to come from that.

Valentine

Unprecedented, her mind rattled as the other woman effortlessly slipped the clinch by dropping out of her form with the aid of an unseen force. It was enough to grant Savannah distance, but despite a delayed response the ground where Savannah had lied turned into a crater when her fists collided down onto it in fury. Her eyes flickered upwards towards the fresh meat surrounding her now. "Greg," She managed through grit teeth, frustration blooming within her chest. "Glad to see you're still kicking after you lost your boys." Somehow the maniac managed to cackle despite the odds being terribly stacked against her. "All this for little 'ole me? Fuck I'm popular, but you've done it again! Every fuckin' time with people like you." Valentine growled as blood dripped and mixed with the rain cascading down her body, "You ruin my fun, every time! These fucking peashooters are pissing me off too." She shook her head side-to-side, more like a mad dog than a person as adrenaline roared through her. Slowly she took in her surroundings and got a gauge of the situation. I won't go down without a fight, she thought to herself before looking towards Greg, "Fine then, take me to Mr. Pikachu and I'll hear 'em out. But try some fuck shit and people are gonna start losing their heads."

Warehouse Top Floor, The Wards

Henry, The Wards

Inferno

Shit shit shit. Isaac couldn’t tell but he didn’t want to believe that the officers had been hit. I’ve forte trust them with handling this. Also, SLOANE. We need you NOW. Isaac barely got a moment to breath when he finally landed on the ground when the earth bender started putting distance between them with his earthen column. This bitch. Fine. The fire hero let his feet burn, his shoes going up in flames and being burnt away. “I didn’t say you could get away Rocky!” Isaac got into a position akin to that of a sprinter before he takes off, and he let it rip. He hadn’t used his Fire Feet at full force like this in a while, relying on using small bursts of flame to get up in the air instead, but the hero needed the speed. As he accelerated, Isaac heated up his sword but did not set it ablaze. As the spikes and just endless streams of earth approached him, Inferno manipulated the light embers in his blade to rapidly heat up when on contact with the spikes and rocks. Get closer, faster. You have to protect the officers. You have to save people. Each rock that came at Inferno was blasted apart with the sword, and every second he was getting closer to Rocky. As he got closer, Isaac set his sword ablaze fully intending to cut through the rock like butter. “SUP Rocky, missed me?”

[Manip. x7 Basic x1 Normal, -3 Ep, 20/25]

[Imbue. x1 Minor x1 Normal, -4 Ep, 11/15]

Geb

A combination of flames, seeing his efforts ultimately... fail... and the impact of the blow from Richard, his last thought before his mind blanks from sheer rage at his own feeling of helplessness is When will I ever... BE... ENOUGH! Grabbing Richard, he howls with fury as Geb simultaneously pummels his face while using his earth manipulation to swallow him bit by bit until he is wholly consumed by earth, transmuting the earth around Richard to solid concrete, making a 15-foot-deep prison of earth and rock. Looking for the source of the earth manipulation next, he readies to leap and bound towards Timothy in a blind rage, sending out dozens of his own concrete lances towards Timothy in the process.

Looking over at Timothy with a frown, "Inside. Drop him off with the Boss."

Storyteller

Dennis left without a word and stayed gone for a minute before appearing back empty handed, standing next to Greg.

Dennis - R3 Enh Speed

"So, what's the plan big man?"

Greg

Richard wasn't with them, but Greg could make out the noises of the other men pulling back to the warehouse. All the Evo's tilted their head and a few nodded. Turning his attention to Val, Greg shook his head. "Not for you. For something more important." He growled back at the bleeding figure before him. Unable to control himself, he smiled and gave a short laugh that slipped out. "You remind me of Bolt. Minus the power, the brains, and the ability to back up your shit talk. A fool too big for britches. And one who hasn't learned when to keep their fucking mouth shut." Greg tightened his fist, knuckles cracking, "Still making threats you can't back up."

Storyteller

At that moment, Val would hear a banshee cry radiate in her mind, tearing loose all conscious thought and ability to think. The next thing she'd feel was a pain in her skull as Greg smashed his fist repeatedly into her head. But then, thankfully, darkness took her as Val as she succumbed to the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.

Greg

Fist broken from smashing into the thick skull after launching himself when Rachel distracted Val, Greg watched Val slump to the ground. "Take this piece of trash upstairs." The sound of bones falling back into place and the scrunch of his face as they did was all Greg added, before turning to head inside.

[Enh. Strength, x3 Normal, -9EP (7/15)]

[Regen, x1 Normal, -3EP (22/25)]

Storyteller

Val, Jeremiah, Savannah, Dennis, and Greg would move from the outskirts into the Warehouse proper, to the warehouse top floors.

Henry, The Wards

Storyteller

The situation was this for the AERI team at the moment that Dennis and Timothy had vanished. Richard was locked in hardening concrete. Timothy and Dennis had departed Henry for an unknown area. The NVPD had 11 officers still able to fight on the front lines. There were 9 wounded and stable, 4 critical, and 7 dead that Victory had gathered. Isaac was directly in front of the barricade, injured by able to move. Geb was standing in the no-man's land, with a few bullets pelting his rocky exterior. Rosy was charged with the energy from the two bullets Dennis had fired at her the second time (altering her current EP to (13/25) for the x2 Normal Actions required to absorb). Victory was behind the barrier, tending to the wounded. The Gangsters, with an estimated 24 men and women still standing, were pulling back. Shooting as they went to the Warehouse Outskirts where more men with stronger weapons lined their own impromptu barrier a couple hundred yards away or so.

Inferno

Well.... this hurts. Isaac leaned back against the car, feeling the rain fall on him and down his face. This feels... nice, at least. He closed his eyes, finally processing there was a literal hole in him. Seeing the bullets fly by as the gangsters pulled back, Isaac decided it was probably best to get behind cover. Keeping his head down, leaving his sword in front of the barricade and grasping his lower abdomen with his left hand, the flame hero crawled around and behind the barricade. He didn't go too far behind, just around the corner and visible enough for him and his injuries to be seen. Leaning back again, Isaac saw the wounded officers and the dead ones littered about, with Andre tending to them. He's... he's really going through it right now. Blood was all over the ground in patches, being washed away slowly by the steady rain. "Yo, Andre, how's it going?" Isaac coughed slightly, still clutching himself to try and contain what bleeding there was best he could. "I know we're short staffed, but when Sloane or Luna get here could you send them my way? Rocky really did a number on me." He smiled slightly as he lit his fingers on his right hand on fire. This is going to fucking hurt. Taking a deep breath, Inferno concentrated and manipulated the flames to burn hotter than they would normally. Without thinking another thought, Isaac pushed his hand down onto his wound and let the flames do their thing. He had never before screamed like this, and all his mind could process was the immense pain his body was feeling. After a few more seconds of this, Isaac pulled back his hand to see the bleeding had slowed and sealed enough to the point where it was sealed enough. Weakly, Isaac still managed to crack a smile and say "I'm alright, no need to worry about me. Gotta wait for an EMT now."

[Manip. x1 Minor, -1 Ep, 19/25]

Geb

The howling mass of boulder and stone that was Geb watched as a hail of bullets came from the direction of the gangsters, and he redoubled his earthen form once more. Slowly coming back to his senses, he looks at the carnage around him, and back to the officers, Victory and a crawling and injured Inferno. Rosy had caught up to him, though all that remained were retreating gangsters and the officers currently behind the worn-out barrier. "I... I blacked out for a second... I... I should help them quick."

[Mimic, Normal x1, -3EP (5/15)]

Victory

Feeling for a pulse, Andre kept waiting for a bump under his fingers. Anything. And as the seconds past, so did the realization that none would come. Ripped from the oncoming wave of grief at Isaac's words, the man looked over at his...teammate. Eyes hard and cold, softening slightly under the appearance of the man and the screams he let out as he cauterized his wounds. "Five dead." Was all he replied, sending it as a thought to Sloane too. He had more to say, so much to say, when the radio crackled. --help to 8th street I just need one person to keep the other officer stable and I need it fucking now! T-they’re bleeding out and dying, please send help I’ve cleared 8th street from hostiles please-- There was time for other words later. Standing up, Andre saw a few gangsters still struggling behind the retreat, firing on the position of two officers that were still standing. Hopping the barrier, he walked towards and kicked a car with a front kick that would do that woman coach proud, sending the car at the gangsters and forcing them to turn and run. 'I'm off to grab two more injured. I'll be back to this position when you get here with EMS.' To those around him, raising his voice and putting all the anger and power he could in it, he said "Hold this position and await Team 2. Stabilize and gather the wounded. And do it now." Pausing and turning to direct his attention to the officer, he added "I'll be right back. Help's coming." With that, he shot into the sky and hopped to Henry, 8th Street.

Storyteller

After Andre's quick departure, Team 2 could be seen arriving from behind.

Uncle

The sounds of the warzone had taken Uncle by surprise, and at first, he considered heading in the opposite direction; Gunfire means a fight, and a fight means effort. But then the words of that kid popped into his mind as if he was hearing them again. 'If you ever want proper work, stop by the police station and tell them a bit of your story. I just might see you again.' Something told him that the kid was probably on that new force he had heard of on the news, and a gut feeling was yelling at him to look into the battle unfolding nearby in case the kid was involved. He only got a few feet away before the feeling overpowered his judgement, and he turned around. "Damn it, Kid. I blame you." He makes his way through the back alleyways of Henry, knowing the best places to slip through unnoticed for the most part, until he finds himself in an abandoned building very close to the scene. He peers through a window on the second floor just in time to see the two officers get hit by the stone spikes. Shortly after he spots Inferno, who he recognizes because of the sword he wields. There was little time for him to react, and yet at first, he found himself wanting nothing to do with this. The scene before him did not anger him, but it did disappoint him. "These are the people that are to keep us safe? He's learned nothing." Finally, he moves away from the window and works his way back out of the building, preparing to find a way onto the street where the battle is happening so that he could wait for an opportunity to act.

Sloane Whittier

She held onto the door of the SWAT truck as she exited, watching her feet step down onto the pavement. Her eyes went wide as she looked up to see the scene before them. Chaos was right. Chaos and... destruction. This was not right. Nothing about this was right. What happened here? What went so terribly wrong? 'Holy hell.' She snapped out of it and looked back to the Lieutenant. "We'll need cover for the area while the EMS team gets to work. I'll survey and see if I can find any others that need to be pulled back behind the barrier. When Victory gets here, we'll make our next plan of attack to secure as much of the area as we can." She pointed over to Isaac. "That's one of ours. If it's possible to get him functional again, we'll probably need him." Spying the giant bolder on legs, she called out to him. 'Ari I'm guessing? Nice to officially meet you. Welcome to the practical part of your interview. Make your way over here, SWAT will help cover you. We'll make a plan when Victory gets back.' 'Rosy, we're circling the wagons and reassessing. Make your way over to us.' Then she pushed out around her, searching their immediate area for any injured that needed rescue, any minds aiming for an attack, listening and gathering all of the intel she could.

[Pather, x2 Basic, x1 Minor, -1 EP 11/15]

Luna | Mecha Loli

The young girl was the second of the AERI team to leave the vehicle, quickly making her way to cover from where she could assess the situation. But when she looked out at the battlefield and saw the number of casualties and wounded, she froze up. The only words she manages to get out are "Oh God..." before becoming locked in a silent terror as the same thought repeated in her mind as if on loop. She had prepared herself for this, she had assured herself that it would be ugly... Everything, including her sister, had screamed at her that it would not be safe, and that it would not be pleasant... And yet somehow it still wasn't enough for what was staring her in the face. She would remain like this for a minute or two if left undisturbed.

Warehouse Top Floors, The Wards

Storyteller

Jeremiah, Savannah, Dennis, Greg, and an unconscious Val in tow arrived on the top floor, where Bolt was standing with six living officers and his four guards; Rachel standing in the corner trying not to look at the burned body of the officer in front of Bolt. One of the guards had a phone out and was recording.

Blood Bolt

Paused in whatever he was saying, Bolt turned and talked to the phone before burning another officer, his screams resounding on the floor until the guard with the phone held a thumbs up and put down the phone. The officer, screams cut off as death mercifully took him, slumped in his restraints. Turning to the group, Bolt's eyes moved over everyone. "So, Richard is down, huh? Go figures." Timothy was sitting beside Rachel, arm stump burned but no longer bleeding as she bent down to focus on wrapping it while seeming to ignore everyone else. "Oh! You brought me a present. Exciting. Sort of. Disappointed you only brought me one though. This is like the worst Christmas ever. Let me guess, there's underwear in my stocking? Shit holiday, Greg. Total shit. Where's my golden boy all wrapped up."

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

"I had to let him go to fall back, sir."

Blood Bolt

"Fall back to grab your plaything, you mean? I suppose I can let that go. Everyone needs a Greg, even if they're a knockoff. No matter, I'll grab that one myself. For now." Bolt leaned against a column, eyes on Val "I'll wait for this one to wake up. Momma always said I was the type to open one present and play with it before even looking at the others. Well....she would have said that if I knew her."

Storyteller

Val would hear a voice constantly in her head, shouting and then roaring for her to Wake Up!

Valentine

The deep sea of unconsciousness had consumed her whole, but just as quickly it spit her back out as she was urged back to the realm of the living beckoned by a terribly shrill voice that made her groan in exasperation. She felt the entirety of her head pulsing as if it were her heart, blood roaring in her ears as her mind buzzed from pain and the invasion of her mind. She distinctly remembered screaming pain and the words Greg leveled at her, and though she was still delirious, the muscle wrapped maniac still began to lurch forward. The first hit of consciousness already being abused so readily but her vicious intent was waylaid by her rattled mind, "Mind invading fucks," she ground out as her fists made contact with the floor to catch herself as best she could, unable to fully stand despite her desire to. "Greg..." Val huffed as blood dripped from where his fist had crunched her nose beneath her helmet of muscle and hockey mask, splattering over the ground. "By the time this night is over I'm going to gut you." Valentine, despite her threats, did not stand nor strike out she simply sat on her hands and knees sucking down ragged, wet breaths as blood flooded her throat from her sinuses.

Blood Bolt

“The only thing you’re going to do, my little street mugger, is entertain me for a while.” With a snap of his fingers, Bolt sent a stream of red energy directly into Val’s chest without warning. No blue streaks to alert of his charging. A sign for the observant he was already charged and primed to go. “That was cool, wasn’t it? I’ve been practicing that for sooo long. Wanted to show it to you. Well, not you. You’re more a recent nuisance. But you’ll do until he gets here.” Turning to Timothy, he frowned. “Will he be getting here?” The man only moaned in pain as Rachel tended to him. “Well…shit. Okay, guess you’ll do then. See…” Kneeling down in front of Val, Bolt smiled. “I can’t stand people like me. Like you. People who talk a lot of smack but don’t know respect. I’m guilty of that by a mile and then some. But I’m the only one allowed, you see? I can’t let some…what the fuck even are you? Is this muscle? Meh, let’s just say Hulk turned inside out fucker, insulting me.” “It’s not that you can’t. I mean, it’s a free country and all. It’s that since you did, I have to answer in kind. Teach a lesson. Make an example. Do the thing. You understand, right? No hard feelings and all that noise. So!” Clapping loudly, Bolt grinned. “I’m going to have my fun with you. But lucky for you, if you survive you get to live!” As energy crackled in his hands, Bolt tilted his head. “Well, maybe not lucky. Depends how much you value life I guess.”

[Manip x1 Normal, -3EP, ]

Valentine

At that moment no words came to Valentine, only pain. Familiar, smoldering pain erupted through her very veins as the red energy made contact with her chest forcing the muscle-made shroud to spasm and become a cage instead of armor. A ragged, resounding cry of pain filling the space of the warehouse's upper floors until the energy stopped. In the aftermath she wheezed, smoldering as her heart felt as if it had just been jump started and her mind fried yet she endured surviving through the blessing grit teeth and smoking flesh. The former marine had endured torture of a similar kind once upon a time, but this power was more unnatural than the machines they used on her in those old days. Is he stronger? She barely managed to think, turning her shaky gaze upon him as the call of unconsciousness danced at the edges of her mind. "Lotta... Lotta tough talk for a guy who didn't drag me here himself."She managed to spit, a wad of mucus and blood splattering across the floor from between the limits of her muscle. Damn... Is this the end? She wondered briefly before her mind sharpened to a knife's edge, ah... Fuck it, I'm not gonna lie still and take this. Such thoughts were easier said than done, but even nearly tapped out and facing death's face she refused to yield. Lightning is faster, but... Her mind trailed off as she looked at the scarce distance between them, the man decided to kneel before her, his hands crackling with the red tendrils of horror that'd soon be upon her. They were coming regardless. One last hurrah, she thought to herself as the muscles all across her body, rather than swelling outward, began to undulate like one sinewy tide before, like some grotesque cocoon, the entirety of all that built up muscle fanned out from her body. Pushing onto her knees that curtain of bloody, visceral red surged forward in hopes of snaring the kneeling Bolt in a crimson tomb that quite possibly might seal her fate. Even if the others don't intervene, he's charged and ready. Best make this a pain he remembers, she thought to herself. All her focus and the last bits of her spite surged into a singular, hateful motion to try and grapple the man and bring him into the fold of her crushing, suffocating musculature. ]Never go down without a fight.

[Durability (Type 1): Normal Action x1 [-3EP] {1/25 EP Remaining}]

Storyteller

No radio calls came back immediately to the request, the channels filled with reports of other injured or backup on the way. But Aloy could barely hear a “Wait one. Assistance coming.” That seemed to be addressed to Aloy and the injured officers.

Victory

Landing behind the cruiser, having seen the figures from the ground, Andre took everything in quickly. Recognizing the form and putting it together with the voice, Andre spoke in recognition but absent the kindness and happiness that he barely felt in his heart clouded heart. “Unbreakable, are these the two?” Without waiting he moved to the officer in the car and started to move faster. “She needs to get back now. There’s EMS heading to the main position. We can take them there. It’s closer. Can you grab the other?”

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Aloy nodded with a sigh of relief as he saw Andre fly over and almost as if he knew where this was going, he ripped another strip and had tied a makeshift bandage to where the man was bleeding and slowly picked him up bridal style testing his flight for a few seconds hovering and finding balance “Yeah. Lead the way. I just couldn’t carry two on my own. There’s uh… what are we gonna do about the gangsters? They’re dying too I think… shattered bones at least, but we can deal with them later show me the way.”

Victory

"We leave them...for now. Officers first, then whoever else we can help." Andre felt the same thing Unbreakable did--at least what he thought the young man did. People in pain, regardless of what they did, shouldn't be left to die like dogs shot in the street. But the situation was demanding triage, and Andre was apparently the one to make the call. Picking up the injured female officer in his arms, moving her out of the car with ease, he nodded at Aloy. "Let's go, it's just a couple of blocks." Rising up into the air slowly, he waited for Aloy to follow and took off to Henry. Sending a mental note to Sloane, 'Coming in with two injured and one unassociated Evo who is on our side. I know him, but not AERI affiliated.'

[Ind. x1 Minor, -1EP (18/25)]

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

“Alright. Yeah.” Unbreakable had managed to balance himself out and while he’d have to take it pretty slow from a glance it was clear he’d be fine as he started following rising softly into the air his clothes didn’t even seem to have been touched. A nice change considering last time Cuervo saw him it was. Y’know, after crashing into a park. He followed Victory to Henry.

[Ind, X1 minor, -1EP 14/15]

Cuervo

Cuervo got out of his Lexus making sure his windows were down and his plan was in place. After he double-checked his gear as well, he fired his grapple hook at a building on his left. Once he landed wincing slightly, he took out his phone and pressed play and from his car music started to erupt out. Oh baby baby how was I supposed to know that something wasn't right He'd installed one of the best sound systems he could buy as soon as he'd gotten the car and now it was paying off. He ducked down and waited to see if anybody went to go check out the car or the noise singing along softly. "My loneliness is killing me and III must confess I still believe...still believe" If anybody was close enough to see or hear him it'd be worth noting the Batman knockoff had an okay singing voice.

[Ind. x1 Minor, -1EP (14/15)]

Storyteller

Cuervo would be able to see from his position the gold figure rise into the sky, and the other if they followed, but at the moment no gangsters would approach their position. Victory would hear the music but would be focused on the current task of getting the Officer to safety.

Henry, The Wards

Inferno

The flame hero remained down against the wall, and a wave of relief washed over him as he saw the EMT coming over to him. "Hey doc, fix me up will ya?" Isaac looked back around once more, and finally truly noticed the carnage of the engagement. Several officers were down, and he felt the weight of their lives on his shoulders. 'Not again.... not like at school.' He began to feel helpless, like he wasn't fit to protect the city. But then another part of him snapped back. 'If I don't protect the city, then who will? We all need to step up more.' Isaac winced slightly as the EMT applied stitches to his wound and some cream to relieve his skin. The EMT then proceeded to do anything else they needed to patch him up and soon Inferno was back on his feet again, though he was still acclimating to the new sensations and feelings. "Give me a minute then I'll be fine." He smiled weakly, now standing and leaning against the barricade.

Geb

Thinking back to what happened, everything seemed foggy after seeing the offi- He hears the sudden voice in his thoughts and blinks multiple times, partially recognizing the 'voice' from a phone call. Confused. In an attempt to respond, he thinks directed at the statements This is Ari... Umm... this is a little strange, but nice to meet you, too. He starts to lumber over to his nearly ruined barricade, keeping up his form until he is relatively safe.

Ari Thomas

Looking at the spikes and the carnage that they caused, his heart sinks even further. FEAR. DESPAIR. SADNESS. REGRET. I couldn't stop them in time... I- His thoughts were interrupted by the intense pain from his jaw and less intense pain from his ear, a little bit of the outside lobe torn off. Looking around, he sees the EMS team and the two new AERI visitors, blinking curiously at the little one and realizing that she's in a state of shock. He looks back toward the upheaval of the city streets in wake of the fight, all the spikes and pillars both he and Timothy created, many of which still had blood running down them from lancing their targets. Now in his normal-ish form with hardened skin, he feels sick to his stomach looking at the horror visited upon this place today. Jeez... this is one heck of an interview. Taking in the current surroundings, he sees that the EMS team has the medical situation covered and walks over towards the little one frozen in shock. He goes down to one knee in an attempt to get down to her level, making an attempt at a friendly smile and speaks with his hands as well as a rather hoarse voice, "Hey, friend. Things are okay now that they're gone."

Victory

Landing softly on the ground, Victory walked the cradled officer to the nearest EMT. “Critical. I tightened the tourniquet and bought a few more minutes.” The EMT, looking haggard despite only having been there for—What, a few minutes?—nodded and waved for Andre to set the Officer down. He obliged and surveyed the field. He saw everyone gathering. Sloane and Team 2 having arrived and a SWAT team either taking up positions or assisting their fellow officers. He saw that everyone was gathering around and knew they needed to…to do what? We’ve done so much already. The carnage was insane and the—No. Focus. “Sloane, thank you for bringing up medical.” He walked over to his friend. His face a cold exterior but the turmoil in his heart clear to his walkie talkie friend.

Sloane Whittier

It was clear alright, but that was a conversation for later. Neither of them could afford to stop and think about what this chaos really meant long term. So, they wouldn't for now. "You're welcome. The SWAT Lieutenant was able to pull through on that for me. We even got protection." She pointed out her vest. "Cause, ya know, some of us are a little more fragile than others." She switched to her walkie talkie frequency. 'The command center is a mess, but nothing like this. I had Luna conjure up some creatures to stay on patrol over there and the captain knows how to reach me just in case someone slips out of our control and heads their way. But Andre... What the fuck happened with the plan? This doesn't look like anything went the way we discussed before we headed out here...'

"I'd really recommend you put that away. We don't want things getting....messy. Nor do I really want to take my eyes off the show. So do me a favor and sit down." The volume didn't raise, but the turn did get hard on the last two words. The man waiting a moment before continuing. "I'm a fan of Beyonce, myself. I enjoy her style and delivery." Bending his knee and peering further over the ledge into the windows of the warehouse, the expression didn't change. Looking over, the man asked. "Do you have a phone on you?"

[Trans, x1 Minor, -1EP (???-1/???)]

Cuervo

He took a deep breath and holstered his gun. "Beyonce is okay. Not my favorite" He pressed a button on his gauntlet and a holographic screen popped up and held his arm out. "Just type on the keyboard. The phones in my suit and no offense you have to take me to dinner before I get naked"

Individual X1 Minor -1EP

Henry, The Wards

Storyteller

Deciding they'd probably not see the big man make an appearance out here, the cloaked individual instead chose to group with the people below- the same people who were supposedly going to be reaching out to them soon. Oh well, that would have to take a raincheck for now. Hopping down from the small vantage point they had been perched on, the cloaked individual would make a loud splashing noise in the wet mud as they landed. Beginning to make their way toward the group from the opposite end of the barricade, the group would be able to hear the individual approaching from the side that would be considered their backs at the moment- the gangsters' perimeter opposite them. They'd be about 20 feet out from the area the group was in, but they were close enough for some to detect them- the darkness and rain hindering the simple matter of visibly spotting them, however. Despite their rather blatant demeanor, they approached the group with their hands clear by their sides to show no clear motion of confrontation. Of course, they were likely to point a few guns at them... considering the whole scene they were all standing in, but they doubted anyone would take action considering the slow and steady pace they took. If Sloane were to grow curious however, she would see more than just the usual train of thought, but that would depend on just how deeply she looked. Instead, the individual kept walking, not stopping until they neared the group- though they would likely be spotted first.

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Unbreakable was a few seconds later then Victory, given he had to actively be more careful since this was his first time flying with someone in his arms. He landed softly with a short stumbling as he undid the bulletproof vest before softly placing the officer with the EMT's before turning and joining the group. Still seemingly untouched from the battle. He quietly stood there awkwardly waiting for a chance to speak.

Ari Thomas

His smile falters at the response from the little one. "...No... But it's better now that the bad guys have been chased away." He stands and helps as best he can with tending to the wounded. I'm supposed to be a hero like them? I'm nowhere near as capable, and I let myself black out. What else did I d- His thoughts cut short, and his blood runs cold. DESPAIR. I... buried someone alive... I buried that Chris Redfield dude... It took every ounce of willpower to try and put on a brave face, but there was something clearly troubling Ari as he tries to help out as best he can where needed.

Inferno

Isaac took his time against the barricade, slowly taking in the newcomers and the situation around them. ’And we’re not even done yet.’ Inferno pushed off against the wall, standing back fully on his feet and stretching a bit. His wound hurt like hell, but he could bare the pain. Isaac’s senses heightened to a point of danger when the hooded figure approached the group. He quickly went for his sword before realizing he left it out in front of the barricade. The flame hero quickly got into a fighting stance, igniting his hands with fire and preparing for the worst. “Heads up, someone’s coming.”

[Manip. x2 Basic, -0 Ep, 19/25]

Storyteller

As Sloane begins her mental search for the nearby individuals in danger or other souls, she finds her abilities hampered with. Like static in her mind, an aura of interference that takes effort to peer through. The more she focuses towards the warehouse direction, the more difficult it becomes. Luna is able to assist, finding a few officer positions via radio and informing the SWAT Team. None of them are injured, the EMS, Victory or Aloy collecting all those immediately wounded in the battle. But she can tell from a few radios that no longer signal that there are more dead out there. More lost lives if the traffic is to be believed. Sloane was able to pick out three individuals, all minds not speaking of attack or aggression against her party. Two were close, but their intentions and focus were blurred from the interference. One was more distant; in the direction the two flyers had come from with the injured officers. Uncle has not been visibly spotted yet, but Sloane would have his general location pinned down. The hooded figure would be spotted by all present and by Sloane. Luna would find nothing out of the ordinary in term of radio traffic besides the terrible news.

Roslyen Van Steele

Shaking her head Roslyen did her best to clear her head. Victory was right, she wasn't here for battle. She was here to help others. Snarling a bit under her breath she moved to run and help the civilians the best she could, not before grabbing a rock and hurling it with the energy of the bullets she absorbed towards the speedster. Moving over to those who needed help she went to do all she could.

Sloane Whittier

She physically tries to shake off the feeling of the static, shaking her head and put fingers on her temples. "Fuck. Shit just got more complicated." She swore to herself. "Andre, can you deal with whoever that is over there? They seem innocent enough. We've got another nearby that I need to verify." 'And as a heads up, someone is fucking with my head. Our communication is gonna get screwy when we closer to Bolt until we can take out their me.' She tried to clear her mind. 'This fucking static. God damn it.' She took some breaths, focused on grounding herself. The mind signature was so damn familiar... Who was this? 'Come on Sloane. You know this person.' Oh!! 'Uncle, right? Is that you? I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Sloane. We met a few weeks ago.'

[Pather, x2 Basic 11/15]

Victory

Looking up from confirming that the EMS had the situation handled with the officer he brought over, he looked at Sloane as she spoke and then past the barrier to the figure. 'Their you?' He mentally asked her before stepping away from the Officer and EMT. Without a word, he floated over the figure, feet landing on the concrete as his boots started to crunch into the broken ground. "I'm going to need you to tell me who you are before you come any closer." Andre kept his tone level, noticing the stance and the outstretched hands, but he couldn't be sure that was the case. Bolt is chaos, I can't put anything past him.

[Ind. x1 Basic, -0EP (18/25)]

Uncle

'Aren't ya the one that came 'round askin' 'bout James? Why am I not surprised to hear ya talkin' in my head?' Immediately after, Uncle takes this opportunity to dash out from the alleyway he was hiding in without waiting for Sloane to respond, deciding that if he's been discovered that means his chances will only go down if given more time. He hardens his skin and his bones in his legs and torso, hoping to mitigate any damage should he be shot as he makes his move. As quick as he can he runs towards the barricade before skidding to a stop as he lowers himself to reach for the blade left on the ground by Inferno. Picking it up, he then attempts to run back for the alley he came out of. 'Sorry 'bout this, I know it's probably not the best time, but me an' the Kid had an agreement and he failed to uphold his end of the deal.'

[Enhanced: x6 Minor, -6 EP (4/10)]

Storyteller

Having stopped the moment, they were talked to by Victory- the figure would take off their mask with the brown hood still over their top. The brown and black overcoat would sport the hood responsible for blocking their identity- the rain and night sky not helping in the slightest. A voice more feminine than what most would expect came out from underneath the darkened cowl-

Aelin Palmer

"Nice to meet you, Andre. Name's Aelin, and I'm here to help stop the guy at the middle of all this-" As much as Aelin would have enjoyed having as regular an introduction as one could have in this scenario- the sudden movement by Uncle pulled her out of the conversation. Not entirely sure what the scenario was regarding the lunging figure, Aelin decided to not intervene lest it not entirely be what she was thinking. Alas, assuming the figure got away soundly, she would resume her own effort as she perched a hand on her hip- "Right then... I applied to join AERI a couple days ago, couldn't sit by and let this whole thing unfold without me." The statement was blunt and to the point, not wanting to take up more of Victory's attention than necessary given the circumstances. Of course, if Victory decided to act on Uncle, she wouldn't have the chance.

Inferno

Isaac initially stood motionless as the man dashed across the open street, making a beeline for his sword. “You’ve gotta fucking be kidding me.” Not wasting anymore time, Isaac dashed at the man behind him, catching up to him slowly while shouting at him. “COWARD. What do you think you’re doing? You’re screwing us all over you know that? Screw your honor and swordsmanship, you don’t know a damn thing about saving anyone besides yourself. You take that sword away and you actively sabotage this entire operation. FUCK YOU.” Isaac caught up to him just in time to leap onto the man, igniting his fists on fire and pushing them against the man’s face. “You have no idea what I’ve lost. You have no idea the shit I’ve gone through to still even be alive at this point. And you’re gonna try and take one of the few things I still have left to fight? You should be ashamed, and you should consider yourself a fucking dishonor to being a swordsman.” Inferno said all this, without letting go of the man and holding on for dear life while planting his feet in the ground.

[Manip. x1 Basic, -0 Ep, 19/25]

Victory

"Aelin...you're the other applicant we were told about today. It’s -- Well, it's not good to meet you under these circumstances, but you understand what I'm trying to say." The man rushing up and Isaac's subsequent jumping on him and screaming took his attention. What the fuck is it now. "Good to have you. Please, head back to the group. If you're here to help tell Sloane, the older woman who isn't a giant, what you can do. We're about to work through our next steps after the wounded are stabilized. I need to handle another situation." 'It's the other applicant, Sloane. Sending her your way. Get her powers and demeanor for me if you can.' Then, he flew over to where Isaac and the unknown man were, setting down a foot away from them. "We have wounded and dead. Officers still standing who are looking to us. New Evos that are hoping we have even the slightest clue what we're doing. A maniac to handle. So, I have to ask..." He stepped up close to both men and grabbed them by the back of their shirts, pulling both back enough so that Isaac wouldn't burn the man. "What is going on." Tilting to look at the unknown man, he glared. "You, I don't know you. Explain, and please include in that explanation a confirmation that you aren't with the murderers over there." Back to Isaac, "And you. If you attack one more person without my permission, I will make sure the SWAT team babysits your ass in time out."

Sloane Whittier

She replied really quick to Andre first. 'Yeah, their me. It's the only thing I can figure. Something is jamming my signal, so to speak. It's gotta be another pather. If not, then I'm fucked either way cause I'm on the fritz.' Her hands came slowly down as she listened to Uncle and then watched as her teammate launched himself onto the man. 'This day. I can't with this fucking day.' She thought about answering Uncle and then about intervening with Isaac, but she decided against it, especially as she heard Andre's instructions about the new person. She pulled a smile out of her ass, albeit one worn around the edges, and went to meet with Aelin instead. "Hey there. Don't mind all of that. You're here to help then? Normally I'd have more time for these sorts of introductions, but today that just doesn't qualify. So, if you don't mind, I need a quick and dirty on you and your abilities so I can figure out how we can use you today."

Uncle

The old man makes it halfway back to the alleyway before tripping on something and stumbling a bit. He manages to keep himself on his feet and keep going but this had slowed him enough for the injured Inferno to catch up and throw himself onto the man. With Victory now making his way over as he tried to free himself, he quickly realizes simply escaping isn't going to work anymore. He manages to slip out of Inferno's grasp, but he doesn't run. "If I was with them, an' 'ere to fight ya, I'd have come out with my blades drawn or I'd have killed ya before ya knew I was 'ere." He holds up the Honjō Masamune in display, held by the blade with the hilt pointing upwards. "I'm only after this. I knew he didn't deserve it, but I let him take it anyway 'cause I thought maybe he'd prove me wrong. But after the display I saw 'ere today, I know now that it was a mistake. I told him if he didn't earn it, I'd be back to take it from him, an' I'd say he not only failed to take steps forward but, in the process, took steps back. So 'ere I am." He says all this to Victory, seemingly paying no mind to Inferno's words.

Inferno

"You come in here, talking with your own sense of righteousness and dignity and worthiness to owning this damn sword, and you think you have the right to tell me I can't own this? I paid for this, I've bled with this, I've almost died with this. I don't see you doing a god damn thing to prove yourself, all you do is hound after some swords, and you throw a fit when you don't get what you want. If you want to take it away, fine, I'll beat Bolt's ass without it. But just know you have no right to any authority over any of this. Fuck you." Isaac began stepping away, the fiery in his veins fueling his emotions and almost letting it spiral out of control before taking a few deep breaths. 'Breath. Concentrate. Remember what Mr. Akira told you.' The flame hero turned around, walking back to the barricade with his fists still coated in fire. Under his breath, he muttered, "I don't need a fucking sword for this."

[Manip. x2 Basic, -0 Ep, 19/25]

Aelin Palmer

Indeed, not having the moment to further introduce herself to Andre- Aelin would give a short sigh before walking over to who she believed was the 'Sloane' Andre had mentioned. His words did confuse her slightly- most likely not picking up on what was an inside joke or other, but she cast that aside as she eyed the events transpiring beside the group she was now in the middle of. Picking her eyes back off to Sloane, she'd get near enough to talk to her, deciding to give a similar smile in return before providing a short and sweet prologue into her abilities at Sloane's request- "Hiya, yeah- name's Aelin and I can do some wacky fire stuff- fireballs, waves, the nine yards... Pretty much it, now, are we planning on pushing further up to where they retreated to or are we going to stay dug in here?" The woman's hood would still be up, deciding against letting her hair get wet if necessary. She'd probably have to go without it at some point, but she hated having to deal with wet hair and the longer she could go without it- the better. Awaiting a possible reply from Sloane or any other, she turned back to once again eye the situation with Uncle and the rest. The kid with the burning hands intrigued her, if nothing else because of the flames that now defiantly burned against the downpour amid his fists. That would have to be an introduction that required more intricacy, but that would have to wait until later.

Victory

Letting Isaac walk away, he turned to the strange man. "I can't say I disagree with your decision, but I can with the manner you did it in. This is a dangerous place and time. Please be safer next time." The man was obviously older than Andre, so he felt the need to be respectful and not to heavy handed with his advice. If he's lived this long, he's not an idiot. Part of what he said resonated with Andre though, the part about the display. He had done his best to shove it down so far, but it was eating at him. Every second, every moment. Every dead face. "I'm sorry." It was all he could say, all the words he could muster for this display. And he felt a need to say it to everyone he met at the moment. An apology for this failure. Letting the man go, he nodded. "Be safe, sir." And turned to leave.

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Aloy was still awkwardly standing behind the group, He waited til victory was closer and with a wave of his hand beckoned him over. Still softly jumping on the spot and cracking his hands a bit. Clearly trying to keep warm given the nighttime air and keep himself awake. He waited until Victory was closer begore he whispered "Hey uh what the fuck am I meant to do? I'm new to this superhero saving people shit."

Uncle

Every time something like this happens, he still feels the slight desire to explain himself and his actions. He wants to scold this kid and tell him why he is wrong on every account but decades of trying with others had made it a clearly pointless effort, and so now it is but a passing thought; Something considered and quickly dismissed in favor of continuing to ignore him, letting him walk off and instead focusing on Victory. "I'm a lot tougher than I look, but I 'preciate the concern." he says in response to the advice. Uncle returns the nod in turn, and as Victory goes to walk away Uncle speaks back up. "The kid's got heart, but needs a lot o' guidance. I hope ya can be the one to keep him on the right path..." he says before turning to walk off as well.

Mecha Loli

Luna had quickly relayed the information to the SWAT Team but didn't inform Andre and the other AERIs of the full report just yet, deciding it might not be the best time with everything going on. She instead quickly runs up to where Andre, Isaac, and the strange man had been talking, arriving just after the man turns to walk away. "Is everything okay? Should I track this guy?" she asks, looking to Victory.

8th Street, The Wards

Storyteller

That same silence washed over the rooftop as a wave seemed to wash over the man.

Dallas Lock

"Where you're from? You mean some piss water neighborhood where some gangsters ran around killing each other. You mean the same sort of place Bolt grew up in? And you think, what, that made you hard? You think that because you have this history of being able to kill the other insects that scuttled about the underground you aren't afraid of death, of pain?" The man wrapped his hand around the man's face and teleported them both. But this time, Damian's suit didn't come with them. Instead, he was standing in front of Dallas with nothing but his skivvies. "Take off that suit and you're just a man. And all men, Cuervo, are afraid of death. That's a lesson it seems like I need to teach you as practice for when I have to teach him."

Storyteller

It was quick. In under three second and with five different teleportations, Dallas had punched the man's face, kicked out his knee, slapped his cheek, sent the toe of his shoe into the man's gut, and ended with him kneeling in front of the man holding his jaw.

Dallas Lock

Dallas Lock

“Is it so much to ask that people die for something with some honor?” The man muttered, turning around to look back at the warehouse.

Storyteller

The note, in all its glory, read:

Remember. - D

Damian Eli's Apartment, Downtown

Damian Eli

By the time Damian had finally gotten home after taking different streets and looping around for about an hour he finally made his way up the fire escape bloody and bruised. But he was scared more than anything but under that fear was a burning hatred... a goal somebody who he needed to be stronger than. He kept the lights off and pulled the curtains shut tight. When he took off his armor and found the note left by that pompous dick, he gritted his teeth as the fear coursed through his veins, but it was just adding fuel to his desire to fuck that man and his cheap suits up. "I'm gonna fucking kill you" he said to himself not realizing his whole body was shaking with anxiety as he thought about even seeing that man again

New Vic News

Steven Testa

....the gangsters seem to be falling back now. More Evo's are arriving on scene with SWAT forces. I'm not sure what's going to happen next, but we will stay on air as long as we can.

Mary Mays

Thank...thank you Steven. We will bring you more up to date...wait a moment. We're getting news that Blood Bolt has posted a video. We're going to air it here to review it together.

Blood Bolt

Waving at the camera phone with a row of seven police officers behind him, Bolt's smiling face stares into the scene. "Good morning, Viet--wait, sorry, New Victoria! It is morning, right? Greg!" Bolt looks off camera and comes back a moment later. "Morning, yes. See, I'm never wrong. Any who, it's great to see you all. I hope you're enjoying my little show I've put on for you. You might be asking 'Why is he doing this!?' To which I must reply, because I do what I want." Bolt holds out his hands and steps back, tussling the hair of a nearby officer. "And when I try and do that, you always send out our heroes in blue. These poor souls who have to put their lives on the line to try and 'put me in my place.'" With a crack of red light that blurs the camera screen and a scream from the male officer, the camera eventually refocuses on the dead body, smoking slightly. "You really shouldn't do that. Instead, what you should do is realize your place. You normals, you weak bodied, forgotten by the Lord On High, little fuck twits need to learn how to duck your head and stay outta my way. And so, I'm here to teach you that lesson." Another red flare, another scream, another dead body. "I am going to demonstrate for all of you--since I know our education system is trash, like seriously, aren't we ranked near the bottom? I know the only way you learn is through repeated examples--what happens when you decide to interfere. Now I know you're thinking your little kids in tights are going to stop me. I'm excited to prove you wrong on that point." Bolt let's out a little electricity on the rest of the officers, not enough to kill them, but enough to pull out a scream from each of them. "Oh lordy, am I excitedddd for that. Oh, almost forgot, for the people out there who think they can hold onto my leash, you sweet little princelings in your ivory towers. This, all of this, can and should be considered my big middle finger to you. Ta ta for now! Don't miss me too much."

Mary Mays

Oh my...Ladies and Gentlemen, we are going to take a quick break and we will be right back. Mary runs off screen before the camera cuts to commercial.

Henry, The Wards

Storyteller

Uncle departs without interference from the Evo's as Victory puts a hand on Luna's shoulder and moves over to the gathering of Evos and SWAT. Each of them is about to jump into discussions when officers take out their phones and soon the whole front line is watching Bolt's video. Each of them sees the officers being killed and the maniac who is still holding five of them. A mood washes over all present, a mix of anger and hopelessness. How can they stop a man who so blatantly commits such acts?

Victory

"Just keep an eye on him if you're able to. I'll want to talk to him later." Andre says to Luna before moving into the center of the group of SWAT and Evos. He sees Unbreakable looking at him and heard his whisper, as well as a few others. Taking a deep breath, eyes roaming over the wounded and dead, he tries to collect himself. "We have at least five officers in that warehouse somewhere. Surrounded by armed gangsters and Evos. We've....we've lost so many already. But we can't leave anymore behind. So, here's the plan. I'll move in with SWAT at the front. Sloane, Unbreakable, and Luna, I want you imbedded with the team, protecting them from any Evo's that approach but stay with the team. Keep them standing and able to take out the gangsters. Aelin and Alex, I want you behind the team taking out positions as heavy fire support." Looking to Isaac, Geb, and Roslyen, he said, "I want you three to stay with the officers here and keep them safe. You've fought a lot already and I don't want you running out of juice in the middle of battle." Nor do I want you to risk more lives. He thought to himself, confident that none of them would listen anyways but sure he had to say it.

Victory

"Our goal is simple. Get the officers and get out. Right now, saving them is the only priority. We take what we can get as extra’s, but I don't put a lot on our ability to do more than that right now."

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Unbreakable looked down at his bruised knuckles and rubbed them onto the black hoodie before he adjusted his goggles and double checked his face mask was covering his nose and mouth as he did some small shadowboxing trying to keep himself awake. He felt fine but it was just something to get him out of his head. "I've still got some fight in me. Plenty more flying too, I reckon if I push myself, I can get in and out quickly with an officer at a time, but we'll see… Oh hey I'm Unbreakable by the way."

Inferno

Isaac was back leaning against the barricade and letting his wound recover a bit more. He looked at the other newcomers, essentially more of him and Andre, and he figured it was a pretty stacked team. ’We can get the officers out.’ Though, the thought of electro man still lingered in his mind. “To get the officers you’ll have to go through and at least confront all of Bolt’s clown car, including Bolt himself. We don’t have to win, but at least engage him enough to keep them distracted to properly extract the officers. Can you all do that without the 3 of us? I still got plenty of juice left in me.”

Ari Thomas

Worn out, tired and beaten up, he was feeling the effects of the fight and knew he wouldn't last too much longer if he had to go in now but puts on a brave face. "I can still go on, Mr. Victory. But if we need someone to clean up this mess and keep them safe," he motions to the officers recovering from the gang's onslaught. "I can at least make a little bit of a difference." Smiling, a bit sheepish at first towards the Unbreakable dude, he replies, "I 'member you. Glad you’re... uh... flying a bit better? Listen, bud, if we both make it out of this, come stop by my workshop in Bush Hill. I have a little gift for ya."

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

“Oh, hey it’s you. Uh yeah. I dunno if I’ll remember that cus I’m probably gonna get a concussion and at least one bullet in me probably so. Yeah. Can we focus? Now isn’t a good time for pleasantries.” Aloy’s tone was still the same fake stoic and heroic one he had whenever he was Unbreakable. Though there was clearly an underlying tone of ‘hey dude time and place’ to him.

Ari Thomas

His smile gives way to a grimace as he starts to sign his words. "Sure... sure... cleanup and defend." Why do I even bother trying to be nice to these people? He sulks off, using what little effort he can spare to bolster the defenses and return the results of the earth bending back to normal.

Aelin Palmer

At seeing the video, Aelin would not be nearly as impacted by the rest apparently, her gaze even scanning the rest to gauge just how it affected each of them. As they all processed what had occurred and Victory laid out his plan, Aelin would have quickly let out a small burst of white flame at a small piece of the blockade to effectively flash-dry it from the rain before taking it as a seat. The light would be gone as quickly as it appeared, a few people probably able to catch what she had done- though it was likely it would have gone unseen. Either way, Aelin had sat down and began to mull over Victory's plan as she adjusted her hood, the overarching goal, he specified, was to save the officers... but would that really be the best they could do? So many had died here in just the past few minutes, and all that would be for was just... to save a few people who were likely already dead? No, there was more they could do, but whatever that may be would have to be figured out when they got inside. Still, Aelin opted to spectate the others present, picking up on the attitudes and way they all moved- however little she could gleam through the rain and darkness. After Victory finished, she'd try to spot Alex, as she wanted to at least know who was supposed to be alongside her for the next short while.

[Manipulator, x1 Basic, -0 EP, 15/15]

Eleanor Sinclaire

Elle wore all black as they made their way down the wards. She wasn’t exactly new to town; she had studied for a semester in New Victoria already. However, she had never been around this side of town at this hour before. Everyone always told her to stay away from this part of New Victoria, but right now she couldn’t. It was like something- or someone- was calling her there. Ever since she woke up to that news alert, she couldn’t help but check it out. Voices echoed in the distance; sirens blared somewhere in the night. Shit, Shit, SHIT. She thought, their mind racing with the fear of being found by someone living. Ghosts were bad, but at least they had a reason to be left on earth. Humans? Humans didn’t always have a purpose- nonetheless a good one. Elle tucked their hair into a black beanie, disguising herself to blend into the night. Unfortunately, the blue wisps always manage to reveal themself. Hopefully though, no one would recognize her. After all, no one had before, whether she wanted people to or not.

Sloane Whittier

"While I don't like the idea of splitting up, it makes sense in this case. We have limited Evos, and we need to make sure each of the officer groups have protection. Please, for those of you that are new, remember that our primary goal is to save these officers. Bolt will be engaged, but this isn't a place for revenge" She looked over to Isaac "or heroics. We're not showing off for the cameras. This isn't a game of heroes and villains. Our primary objective is to save lives. Speaking of newcomers, let's all split up into our groups so we can get familiar with those we're working with. I'm Sloane. Luna and Unbreakable, with me please. Then we'll come back together to do introductions as a group. We need to know what everyone here can do before we head out. Just in case."

Victory

“To get to the officers safely we need to move fast and stay focused.” Andre quipped back to Isaacs’s point. “We need to be able to follow SWATs lead, get in, hold back whatever the maniac has with him as they get the others out, and leave before anyone else dies. To make sure that gets done I need to have fresh people.” And ones who can listen. “Unbreakable and I are probably the only two who can take a hit from him and not instantly die. Maybe. Sloane can keep us apprised. Then we have two elemental users and a summoner. That’s enough to put up a distraction and then get out with the hostages. Because that is the goal.” Looking around and meeting eyes, he said. “Get ready, we move out in five. Ari, a moment?” Walking over to the man and setting a hand on his shoulder he pointed to the barrier. “I’ve talked to EMS. They can’t move most of the people here. That means they’re sitting ducks if someone comes here after we move in. They need someone with enough strength to prevent that. You’d be great up front with me, but that’d leave everyone else here without much backup with Isaac injured and Rosy lacking your defensive abilities. I’m not blowing smoke up your ass when I say I am literally counting on you to keep these people alive. Can you do that?” His eyes were pleading with the mans, conveying that he was afraid for those he was about to leave behind.

Storyteller

Elle would wander into the warzone during the lull. Whispers from elsewhere calling to her. Screams of pain from fresh spirits, the moans of the older ones. Wafting in like echoes in a dark cave. She would be unseen by the eyes for a moment. But would feel the pressure in her head of two minds. One closer, and one farther away and more powerful. Both were…different. That much she could feel. Sloane would briefly sense a mind louder than the rest. The only telltale sign a Pather had that another was active in the area. But this one felt strange, different. Not like the interference but also not operating on the same “wavelength” as his own mind. The mind would have nothing hostile in its few thoughts she could hear.

Eleanor Sinclaire

Elle let her body lead her to the closer spirit first. The ghost was closest for a reason. If Elle were to walk past, then she would never know what the being had to say. Elle’s eyes glowed scarlet. Her eyes had a tendency to morph depending on the ghost they were interacting with. Misty grey was usually avoided, that meant some sort of possession. Now, it was just the eyes turning red and the pressure in her head that pushed her forward to assist the ghost. Where are you- She thought. This ghost most likely wasn’t powerful enough to read her thoughts, but still she knew better than to speak up. She felt herself growing closer to the soul. Was it fresh? Did this person just die? Questions flooded their head, questions that were used to wash away the sounds of ghosts’ agonizing screams. She could see that some were finding peace as sparks scattered around the ghosts- but a surprising majority stayed. Unfinished business.

Ari Thomas

He gives Andre an attempt at a reassuring smile, not sure if it'll do any good due to previous attempts at consolation and uplifting people's spirits. "Already on it, chief." he says with an almost forced optimism, his hands signing the same but adding, "Although I am almost out of juice, I'll do my best." "What would you like me to do if we have friendlies show up here? If they're combat capable, should I send them your way? And... think in Miss Sloane's general direction? Or should I give them the option to stay, too?"

Inferno

The flame hero watched as the group broke and milled about before the main assault began. ’And I’m not gonna be there to take part.’ Part of him felt anger at simply not being able to at least even be a hero, and yet another part was filled with the hatred and anger against Bolt. The rain was still falling endlessly and the darkened void above the city wasn’t getting any brighter. Isaac looked to his right and saw the officers who desperately needed to be kept safe, those who risked their lives for… for what? They responded to a call of a murder, and it slowly got out of hand into a full-scale war. They hadn’t signed up for this, but they carried on anyway and fought for their friends. The EMTs were scurrying about and between the officers, dealing with any wounds they could. Isaac walked over to one of the officers with an open, bleeding wound. Somberly, he lit his finger aflame. “This is going to hurt, you might pass out, but it’ll keep you alive. I promise.” He gave the best smile he could despite the conditions of the field and instantly pressed his finger on the officer’s wound. ’I’ll head up to the front later, for now I’ll do what I can here.’

[Manip. x1 Basic, -0 Ep, 19/25]

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Unbreakable nodded going over to join Sloane, flying over to her hovering a bit, trying to get used to the situation and show off one of his basically two abilities nodding to Victory. "I can probably only survive one given I've already spent some energy, don't worry I'll be fine, I know the job here focus on getting them out. I can fly and I'm strong that's really it just a copy paste of Victory really. Though it's nice to meet you miss." Aloy kept softly floating in place and intently listening to everyone. This was his first time doing actual hero stuff, besides the other night with Ari. He doesn't wanna talk about that though. "I can fly with other people as well, so I guess I'm probably gonna be focused on getting officers out, aren't I?"

[Individual x1 basic -0EP 14/15]

Alexander King

Taking Victory's plan to hear, the white-haired boy gave him a nod and quickly made his way over to Aelin. The chaos, even in the aftermath of battle, was still a tangible obstacle that made it hard for him to focus. This, he thought to himself, this I can work with. Moving over to the new arrival, the boy gave a grim smile to the other member of the literal fire support team. "Hey! I'm Pyre, good to meet you. Ready to kick some ass and save lives?"

Aelin Palmer

Finally picking out Alex as he made the few steps toward her, Aelin would smile under her hood at his introduction. This, she could vibe with. Slightly leaning forward as her legs dangled over the edge of the block, she would return the formality- "Salut, nice to meet you too, 'Pyre-'" She'd inwardly chuckle at using the names, a concept she had always found funny for those in this line of work. "Name's Aelin, but I'd recommend using 'Fawkes' in times like these." There would be a hint of a French accent in her words, but it'd be minute enough to only give a little piquancy to her speech. At Alex's question though, Aelin would kindly respond in a similar manner, "Hell yeah, been itching to do something ever since I got here late." It was true, but the role of spectator she had taken just minutes prior would semi-betray her words- however noble her intention had been. Taking a look back to Isaac by the injured officers raised a question within her- looking back to Alex sidelong now- "He's not really going to stay back, is he?" Her question to Alex would be quiet enough for only him to hear, but there was enough genuine curiosity in her words that it was apparent Aelin thought the other fire user would do much more than just cauterizing wounds before the night was over.

Sloane Whittier

"Good to meet you too, Unbreakable. Let's hope you live up to your name." She gave a weak smile. "We don't know exactly what we're going to come across. Our primary goal will be to get the officers out, but you're also going to be the muscle in the team with me and Luna here. So, we'll just take it as the situation evolves. Victory and SWAT should be good as the first wave of defense, but I imagine we'll see our share as well. Here's hoping we all have enough gas left in the tank." 'Luna, do you have any sort of stealthy watchdog that we can leave behind? I hate to ask you this twice, but I have a bad feeling with Isaac. He's not going to like staying behind and we need to know if he's coming.'

[Pather, x1 Basic, 0 EP 11/15]

Feeling the touch of another mind such as hers led to a wave of weariness washing over her. There was so much going on as it was. "Give me a moment." She excused herself from Aloy and Luna by turning and walking away a few steps as she did earlier with the SWAT captain. She focused on this new mind, pushing through the feedback, and sent a quick message to the stranger. 'Announce yourself, please. I'd rather not have any more surprises. What's your purpose in joining us here tonight?'

[Pather, x1 Minor, 1 EP, 10/15]

Eleanor Sinclaire

Elle paused; they sensed a being in their head. In their head? No, then this was not a ghost. Eleanor took a step back from the approaching being. Figuring that the person speaking could sense her thoughts she replied earnestly but with as little information that she needed. 'I'm here for the ghosts. Now, go away. I'll talk with you later.' Unfortunately, while Eleanor knew she came here for the right reason, her body was growing a tad anxious. This isn't good. I need my mind back. She thought. She didn't really care about thinking this, after all, that would just lead to more overthinking if she thought too much about who was listening into her thoughts. Her thoughts just had to be calm. If a ghost sensed something was off, that could mean her whole plan would go off the rails. "I'm here. I'm here." She whispered aloud so that the ghost would communicate with her. Hopefully they wouldn't have to deal with two things at once for much longer.

Alexander King

Taking a moment to assess both Aelin, he gave an internal nod to himself and then an external two-fingered salute to the woman before him. Seems somebody got the wrong message, but regardless the white-haired college student kept smiling. "Hopefully we're able to provide the support the team needs then, lookin' forward to seeing how it goes." He mentioned briefly, his gaze flickering from the French woman to Isaac. His brow knit in concern as he shrugged, "It’s his call, really. This means a lot to him, but I won't be making that decision for him, y'know?" Alex sighed as he turned to face the rest of the team, watching them as he continued speaking to Aelin semi-casually, "If he does come, we'll need to watch his back especially. He's gotten a bit roughed up and has a bone to pick once we get into the thick of it."

Storyteller

Victory had moved to speak with the SWAT Team, their conversation wrapping up as the group prepared to push into the next stage of the plan. The SWAT Team was 11 strong, one officer taking a minor hit and the commander and Victory both agreeing they should stay behind to assist with the other officers. It gave the protection team some actual human-level firepower if shit hit the fan. The EMTs and Isaac had stabilized who they could, but there were a few the EMTs simply had to shake their heads at. One of them being the female officer Unbreakable and Victory had brought back. The lesson taught in that moment to those who stood around her trying to make sure she was comfortable was that even with 'heroes' around, people still died. Sloane would have a hard time peering into Elle's head, harder than any other Evo she had met but not seemingly as difficult as whatever interference there was floating around the Warehouse. The Interference affected both Pathers, but Sloane worse of all. Elle would still feel the difficulty as when the shapeless apparition pushed through the realms to speak to her on the physical plane, it sounded garbled, distant, worse than what may happen with new spirits. Almost like it was being muffled. But it did speak. Repeating its death throws first. "--focus fire on the Earth user, give the fire guy some cover, quick! Shit, shit what are they, oh--get do--" It repeated this phrase once, twice, until it spoke, it's tone like a lost lamb in a new world. "I'm....dead, aren't I? Where--who are you? Where am I? I need--I need to help my friends. I need to stop--I can't be dead. I'm not--the AERI team was here, weren't they? Everything was supposed to be...okay...." The AERI and SWAT team, meanwhile, were ready. At least SWAT and Victory were.

Victory

"Form up. SWAT and I will move in first, Unbreakable you're behind the team. Then the rest of you spaced out 10 yards or so in case we run into anything and need to react. Let's move out."

Storyteller

SWAT and Victory would start moving out first. The trained SWAT team fanning out and weapons raised, as Victory walked among them in the center. Heading for the Warehouse Outskirts.

Ari Thomas

He tried his best to keep on a brave face as he helped people move the injured to safety, thinking in Sloane's general direction, Please let everyone know to stay safe... I think the earth user is out of the fight for now, but please be ready for anything. Keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding area, he watches for any hint of a shadow, any trace of movement outside of the area the EMTs and police were recovering in.

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

“Yep. Will do and don’t worry miss Slone, I’ve been shot and crashed into a park. So, I have confidently lived up to the name.” Unbreakable nodded and buried down any anxiety he still had trying to clear his mind as he did his best to think and act following behind as told. He didn’t like being bossed around. But people’s lives were at risk, and he needed that training with victory to happen. His world was becoming more and more like cardboard each day.

Eleanor Sinclaire

Elle sensed the panic and frustration in the being. The idea that they were still fighting for a life they no longer had made her hurt for the spirit. Eleanor grasped for the ghost with more strength this time, focusing in on their words. "It's alright, I'm Elle. I'm here to help, we will take down who hurt you. Please try to give me any information you can. I want to help. Eleanor pushed out distractions, clearing her mind of everything but this spirit. Sounds in the distance grew loud as more people gathered in on the villain in the distance. Elle was safe, she just had to make sure everyone else was, too. Sometimes she hated being drawn to the dead, wanting to help them fulfill their last potential before moving on, but she was an empathetic person. She had to be here. She would never forgive herself if she didn't try to make that difference.

[Pather, x1 Minor, 1 EP, 24/25]

Mecha Loli

She gives a nod to Victory and then gets the message from Sloane shortly after. 'Sure, leave it to me!' Placing her hands together once more, fingers interlocked, she begins her distorted sounding chant. "Ich rufe nach den schnellsten Schwingen der Lüfte! Beschwören: Carue and Inko!" As she shouts the last few words her hands begin to glow, and two circles of similar light appear above her. A mechanical bird flies out of each circle before the portals close again and the birds quickly land nearby. She hurries over to them and crouches down to get closer, slipping her right arm out of her gauntlet. She reaches into a pouch and pulls out two small metal discs which she promptly places onto the birds, one for each of them. Immediately a faint glowing light appears on each disc as they activate their magnetic hold and GPS trackers. "I need the both of you to follow that guy with the sword over there, just stay near him but stay out of sight, okay?" she says before quickly giving a mental command to one of them. 'Carue, countermand that, I still need you to discreetly follow someone, but I need you to follow Isaac instead. Fly off with Inko but circle back once you're out of sight and keep an eye on him. If he goes anywhere, follow him, but you must still keep out of sight, got it?' The bird named Carue gives the summoner a salute with one of its wings and both birds then fly off in the direction of the nearby alleyway. Afterwards she stands and accesses her HUD again, this time to configure the trackers. She sets the tracker on Inko to run passively, but she sets the tracker on Carue to alert her if it moves too far from this location.

[Transporter: x3 Minor, x1 Basic, -3 EP (9/15)]

[Individual: x3 Minor, x1 Basic -3 EP (11/15)]

Aelin Palmer

The rain's audible backdrop would soothe Aelin as she mulled over Alex's words, unsure of how to handle the situation with Isaac. On one hand, he apparently was considered a rogue variable in this scenario by the other AERI members, but who was she to stand in the way if he wanted a bite of Bolt too? Clearly Alex wouldn't stop him if he came running, but Andre or Sloane? Aelin wasn't so sure. Turning her attention back to reality, Aelin would hold out a gloved hand- her fingers exposed by the glove's design to the rain as she sought to feel the droplets on her hand. She knew this weather was likely going to largely impact the fight, but they might get lucky and be able to keep the bulk of the upcoming scene in the warehouse. Pushing the thoughts aside as Victory called to the groups and made to move, Aelin glanced down at herself at a feeling of suspense. A part of her knew something was coming, but that much was obviously clear to just about everyone. No... there was something else in that feeling, a twist in her gut that didn't quite sit right with the usual sensation you'd get from anticipation. Almost as if in awareness of Aelin's recognizing the feeling, it disappeared- the usual dim roar of her fire where the sensation used to be. Oddly, the sense of suspense never disappeared, that layer of feeling present just above the churning ocean of heat that Aelin had grown accustomed to over the years... "Let's move out." Pulled from her thoughts by Andre's words, Aelin decided to stay focused on reality this time as she hopped off the block she had been sitting on and tapped Alex's shoulder if he wasn't paying attention- instead merely giving him a glance if he was. "One last thing, be ready to throw your fire into mine if I tell you to." Aelin would deliver that with a wink, moving to take up the position at the rear of the group alongside Alex as planned. If Alex or anyone else didn't try to stop her, Aelin would fall in line with the position and head to the Warehouse Outskirts.

Sloane Whittier

Shaking her head at the girl's response. 'Well alright then. Too many things to worry about right now and she's clearly not one of them. So much would be different if it was any other day.' She sighed. Meanwhile, Luna's reply made her thankful that the young girl was on their team. 'For the love of all things good in this world, don't let anything happen to her. Please just... please let me keep as many people safe as I can.' That was the closest to a prayer as she was gonna get. 'Thanks, Luna. I really appreciate it. Head over to me as soon as you're done so we can head out.' Once the girl joined her, they'd make their way over to the group of officers they'd be assisting and head out towards the Warehouse.

Storyteller

Sloane, Alex, and Aelin are all able to move without harassment to the Warehouse Outskirts. Uncle does not yet notice his mechanical avian tail. Elle is startled as the ghost starts to scream, roaring with the pain of loss. “THAT MANIAC DID THIS TO ME! We were sent to hold the line, allow the…evacuation. Instead, it…I was a soldier once. I saw war. I lived through war. This was worse than war. This was a massacre….we….we were sacrificed against gods.” The spirit, it’s anger seemingly spent, started to drift. It seemed clearer thanks to Elle’s focus, but every once in a while, it would flicker. Like a satellite tv in a light storm. “….I’m dead, aren’t I?”

Eleanor Sinclaire

Elle let the ghost scream, let the anger erupt until the spirit was ready to speak. "Yes, yes you are dead, but I want to end the people that did this to you. Any information you can give me that I can use against this person... I just need a name. I need any person you saw working with him, any powers that you didn't know about. You must have been given some information as well because you were working with law enforcement. Consider me a resource to both avenge you and spread any thoughts you have that you want to share to help others." Elle gave a soft smile to let the ghost know that she would do her best to help. Then, her face grew more serious. "Help me help you."

Storyteller

The ghostly specter seemed to solidify as it turned slowly to face Elle. "A name? There is only one--one name that matters. Blood Bolt. Blood. Bolt. BLOOD BOLT!" The spirit raged again, its pain and anger flaring brightly as it lit up more and let out a howl. It took nearly half a minute to settle down before it could continue. "He is a monster, lightning incarnate the report said. A maniac that has no moral compass. He kills for fun, for sport. He is death."

Eleanor Sinclaire

Elle looked at this ghost, frowning. "I understand your frustration. I will do my best to help take down this blood bolt. Blood will not be spilt by his hands much longer I hope." With that Elle walked back, head down.

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Storyteller

[Manip. x1 Minor, -1 Ep, 18/25]

Eleanor Sinclaire

She heard a voice behind her. A man? On fire? "I should go now. I need to figure out who this flame guy is." Elle hid behind a pile of rubble, not far from the ghost. She stared down the man, trying to listen in on the conversation and look at reactions.

Ari Thomas

Seeing this new development, he hardens his skin once more in preparation in case things get sour before heading over with Inferno. This new person is giving him the creeps, and his nervousness increases a hundredfold as soon as Inferno ignites his hand.

[Mimic, Basic x1, -0EP (5/15)]

Laslow Karivatz-Briggins

He finishes prepping for the excursion ahead, when he notices the approach of the new individuals. Moving to great them, hands outstretched to the sides to show he is not hostile. The light from the fire clearly illuminates his dark mask as he allows his eyes to change, the icy blue illuminating from the eye holes as the pupils become predatory slits. "Hello, everyone. You folks seemed to need a bit of extra firepower, so I'm here to provide it."

[Power reading, Normal x1, -3EP (12/15)]

Warehouse Main Floor, The Wards

Storyteller

The Squad commander spoke in a hurried whisper to the Evos. “We need to move quick. They definitely—“ All members of the team would hear a high pitch, debilitating scream in their minds that pushed many of them to their knees. SCREEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Only Sloane would be left standing. Barely, but standing. At the same time, she could hear a flood of thoughts through the screech as the interference shifted from blocking her to wounding her team. Rush down, end the normies. Have fun with the rest. Take Savannah with you.

Henry, The Wards

Storyteller

All members of the area, Evos and police, would all be brought to their knees by a loud and powerful SCREEEEE!! in their mind. The only slight exception was Elle, who would find her connection to the ghost shaken but not destroyed. The spirit had stayed by her side as she watched the interaction between the Evos, and it looked—or looked for a ghost at least—over in concern. “Something—something is harming them. You. It’s…I don’t know. I can…hear it, but not like I hear you.”

Ari Thomas

Mind reeling, both from the shock of the screech in his mind and feeling violated by this man that apparently takes powers in front of him, he immediately looks around frantically, shouting "Is everyone okay?!" Staggering to his feet, he attempts to help Inferno and the nearby police officers to find their own footing.

Laslow the Boogeyman

G̸̱͊ȏ̴̄d̵̛̉ ̵̍̅d̴̆̚á̶͋m̴͑̈́n̵̎͝ ̵͔̄i̸̎́t̸̅͠.̶̎̀ He rises to his feet, attempting to reach out and touch Inferno in an attempt to borrow the power of the fire user, disguised as an attempt to help Inferno to find cover from an unknown assailant, then shakily gets back up to his feet.

[Power absorption: Fire Generation, Imbuement (Fire)]

Current power roster

Earth Manipulation
Elemental Morpher (Earth)
Fire Generation
Imbuement (Fire)

Wincing, Sloane grabbed her head as the sound permeated her mind. 'So this is what it feels like to have a front row seat to Scream Queens. Payback's a bitch. Reminder to self, apologize to Isaac again.' She had wished their telepath was more of a basic bitch, but it seemed she was wrong. This Evo had some fucking oomph. She was looking around at her team on the ground as the last thread of thoughts came through. 'No no no.' She called out to them - choosing her voice to save their minds after getting rolled like that. "Get up, get ready!!" She started pulling up the officers near her. "They're coming." She pathed a gentle whisper to her team. 'Incoming, at least 2 Evos. Possibly more. I don't think Bolt is coming with them but be ready for anything.'

[Pather, Basic x5, 0 EP, 10/15]

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Aloy followed through as well but stopped as he saw the room was empty looking around and grabbing the door and lifting it up to make some basic cover. "Uh I know this is my first y'know superhero business, but I've seen horror movies this doesn't feel right-" Of course it didn't feel right as he collapsed onto his knees desperately trying to lean the door on his back for any cover as he covered his ears. "Ow fuck! I fuckin' Knew it!"

Victory

Dropping to his knees, hands raising to the side of his head, Andre had to take a moment to even get to the level of opening his eyes. Slowly, he placed on foot down, and then the other, standing shakily. "Fuck me, what was that?" He looked around at his team, head still swimming, and then around the room once Sloane's words settled into his shaken mind.

Mecha Loli

Luna drops to the ground on her hands and knees, pushing her forehead into the floor as the pain of the screech lingers in her mind longer than some of the others. After hearing Sloane's message, she pushes herself upright, still on her knees, and quickly brings her hands together. She begins chanting rather quickly, like someone rushing a prayer in their most desperate hour, and her hands give off a glow in response. "Mächtigster der Wölfe und listigster der Löwen, ich rufe dich in dieser Stunde der Not an meine Seite! Beschwören: Ranga!" A single circle of similar light appears in front of her, and a metallic creature with the features of both a wolf and a lion come sprinting out. The creature stops as the circle shrinks away to nothing behind it, and Luna begins to look around more carefully now that the pain in her mind had begun to properly fade.

[Transporter: x1 Normal, -3 EP (6/15)]

Warehouse Top Floor, The Wards

Rachel - R1 Pather

"Wait!" The girl in the corner holds up a hand as Bolt orders Savannah and Dennis to start heading down. "Th-they're waiting on us. The telekinetic got up quicker than expected."

Blood Bolt

Holding up a hand to the two, he frowned at the young woman in the corner. "Well...what a fucking nuisance. Can't you kill her? Pull a brain blast moment or something and turn her to mush?" He started taking a few steps closer to the girl who shrank away from him.

Rachel - R1 Pather

"Not at the m-moment, sir. She has her guard up. I-I can't do it and keep up the interference at the same time." Her back pressed up into the corner of the building. Nowhere left to run.

Blood Bolt

Running his hand through his hair, Bolt let out a sigh. "Ahh. Fine." Turning on his heel, Bolt started moving to the center of the room. Taking slow steps as he looked up at the roof, eyes roving for something only he knew. Glancing over briefly at the few hostages left in place, he nodded. "I'll do it myself." A crack of blue light flew down through a hole in the roof and into the floor below him, lighting it up with a blue hue until it started to shift to red, and then orange as it spread from Bolt's hand and into the thin metal floor.

[Manip, x2 Normal, -3EP (34/40)]

Storyteller

As the Evo's and SWAT Team were getting to their feet, the sound of thunder tore into the building, cracking as loud as the scream they had just heard in their heads. That sound was replaced by an orange glow of melting metal forward and above them, followed closely by the screech of bending metal and falling debris. Everyone stood frozen as red light poured into the room, the jumping of electricity spreading the hole in the floor further open. From the hole, a voice sounded out.

Blood Bolt

"Ello darlings. I'm disappointed you all kept me waiting so long. I was starting to get bored."

Storyteller

Two figures dropped from the hole, a large man and a tall woman. Following them was another man who floated down behind them. From the far stairs came a blur that stopped beside the four figures. Echoing of footsteps came from the stairs besides them as a man descended from the top floor.

Blood Bolt

"You shouldn't keep me waiting. I get into trouble if I don't have something to occupy my time with."

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Laslow the Boogeyman

Ǹ̸̈o̷͋̎ ̸̇͝n̶̫̈́ŏ̴͒ ̴͛̽n̴͑͝ō̶̈.̷̽͠.̸̈́̾.̷̂̋ he thinks as he can feel the power of the earth manipulation and elemental morphing leave him. "Give me a second, I'll catch up to you." He says to Inferno before turning to one side of the firefight, focusing on the earth beneath any makeshift barricades of the gangsters, willing it to push aside barricades to provide a line of sight before slamming his palm to the ground, willing the borrowed fire within to shoot itself through the ground in a fiery arc and spreading amongst the ground beneath the unsuspecting gangsters' feet, heating up the ground to an intense temperature. "Carry on, gents." He says to the line of SWAT before doing the same on the opposite side. After the deeds were done, he runs to catch up with Inferno, smiling underneath his mask.

[Earth manipulation, Basic x4,-0EP (15/15)]

[Fire imbuement, Minor x2, -2EP (13/15)]

Inferno

Inferno walked upon the battlefield, completely at a loss of what he should do. The words from Ari ringed in his head, but the desire to beat Bolt's ass was stronger than ever. 'What do I do?' As soon as thew newcomer opened up on the gangsters, however, Isaac made up his mind. Without a second thought he launched fireballs at all the gangsters within his line of sight and imbued fire through the barricades to come out the other side as little fire bullets, meant to suppress more so than do damage. The flame hero crouched after that, unsure if both the damage he and the newcomer caused would be enough to wipe the gangsters from the front of the warehouse and relieve the SWAT team. Beside Isaac was one of the two SWAT teams who were both hitting and getting hit. "Long day, huh?" the flame hero says to the closest SWAT officer. "Name's Inferno by the way. Listen, if what we did didn't get rid of them then I'm going to need you to cover me. We'll handle them, I just can't have anyone else dying anymore." The words slipped out of his mouth before he realized it, and Isaac had finally come to terms with what he had to do. 'I can't let anyone else die. Not from the college, not like Mr. Akira, and not like the countless officers who already laid dead on the ground.' Putting an end to Bolt was part of it, but he had to trust his friends inside the warehouse were strong enough to handle the situation for a while until he cleaned up the gangsters outside.

[Manip. x8 Basic, -0 Ep, 18/25]

[Imbue. x12 Basic, -0 Ep, 11/15]

Storyteller

The imbued fire into the ground does heat the surface up, but not enough to be noticed by people wearing shoes. The power of heat simply can't make that much of a difference in such a large surface area through asphalt at that low of a power. The moved barricades do force the gangsters to reposition themselves, showing the two Evos how many of the enemy are present. At first glance, it appears to be around 30, but a more accurate count would show 25 with a few of them wounded but still fighting. The fire balls cause a brief pause in the fighting as the enemy takes cover behind overturned cars and shifted concrete barriers. The battlefield has changed shape. And when Inferno, and then Laslow who follows him, get close to one of the SWAT Teams, they make this new development known.

New Victoria Police

"Yeah, it's been a long fucking day. And not it's going to be even longer since our fucking plan just went out the damn window, Inferno." The SWAT man talking to the hero put some hate on the name, the tired face clearly indicating that he was beyond exhausted. "So you fucking listen. I was told to keep these shits back while the main team takes down the psycho responsible for that. So how about you and earth shaker here get the fuck out of my fight and stop messing with things that are going to get more of my people killed. Fucking kids." As he finished talking, he turned to his radio and communicated quickly before returning to lay down covering fire. As he did, another SWAT member, one with a slight injury, scooted over. "Hey, Inferno, other guy, just--just get out of here okay. We've had enough...help from the Evos. The rest of them are in the warehouse. We are just keeping that opening available. Better you help them and let us do our jobs. Most you can do is get more people killed if you interfere, you know?" The words were kinder, but as stern as the first. It was clear SWAT didn't want them here.

Inferno

The words from the SWAT team stung. Isaac hadn't considered it, but the countless dead officers and the many more wounded so far was nothing short of a massacre. And what did AERI do to stop this? 'We didn't help much, and even when we did, they still died. So how can they trust us?' The words and thoughts ran around Isaac's mind just as bullets whizzed above them over the barricades. "I can't blame you for thinking we're terrible, but we've done our best. I came here blinded by revenge and spurred by guilt. I would be lying if I said I was over it, but I remember now why I chose to join this team. I was the one who got attacked in St. Maria and I couldn't do a fucking thing about my classmates dying in front of me because I was weak. I'm stronger now, and I'm dealing with just street gangsters who aren't Blood Bolt. If you want me to leave, fine, but I refuse to let anyone else die tonight. Whether you believe what I'm saying or not, I don't care - actions speak louder than words." The flame hero turned to his companion immediately afterwards and spoke just loud enough for him to hear. "Look, we got off on the wrong foot. I was being hard on you, you were being mysterious, whatever. I don't care about that at this point. I can't say I completely trust you, but if you are a man of your word then I trust you will hold to it. We're going to make a dash for the warehouse but I'm going to be the only one going in. What I need you to do for me is once you're behind the gangsters you let loose every bit of power you have inside of you, including your guns. Just unload that shit on them. Give the SWAT breathing space to get themselves back together. What you do after that is up to you but if you do this right you should be able to knock a significant amount of them out. Are you good with this?"

Laslow the Boogeyman

Frustrated that the fire power he borrowed was not as strong as anticipated and that the fucking normies fucking saw it, his face beneath his mask wore a scowl, but then Inferno spoke up. The words gave him a hint of a warm, fuzzy feeling, and he hated it. Though he took up on the cue that he needed to be quiet about Inferno's plan, nodding to confirm he understands. "Then let's move." Goddammit, I just need to k̸̏̐i̷̿̓l̶̔̌l̴͌́ ̸̈̒s̵̃̈́ô̷̤m̷̛̍ė̶͌ ̸̿́- Then he remembered that there was a message in his head just moments ago, almost letting slip his dark desire to rid the world of an inferior people. "All right, Inferno. I'll make sure I unleash hell on their flank, but would you be chill if I refresh my timer on your power?" he asks as they make their way to the warehouse, extending a hand toward him, almost ready for a high five before they break towards their individual destinations.

Inferno

Almost relieved, Isaac went over to high five his companion. “Here you go. Take as much of a buff as you need. And give them hell.” The flame hero smiled and looked back at the SWAT team members. “We’ll get out of your way now, give us some cover while we rush in?” He gave a confident smile, trying to reassure any disbeliefs held in the team.

New Victoria Police

As Inferno finished his speech, the SWAT officer looked at him blandly. "Kid, no one gives a shit. No one cares why or what, or the excuses you make for yourself. You and your crew got good people killed. Simple as that. As far as we can tell, the only difference between your lot and the fuck face over there is that the mayor says you're the good guys. That's it. And after tonight, that probably won't hold much water." As Inferno turned to talk to Laslow, SWAT got into position until they were addressed again. "Sure. Just--just don't make shit harder for us by trying to play at being a hero, okay?" The others nearby grumbled that it was good for the freaks to join up with the other freaks all while they took aim down their scopes and started letting loose concentrated fire designed to open up a hole to the warehouse door. The SWAT team on the other side did the same.

Warehouse Main Floor, The Wards

Aelin Palmer

Having followed behind the rest of the group, Aelin would make her way inside the warehouse with the other squad and AERI members. As the attack to her mind had occurred, however, Aelin would fall to a knee with a hand to her head and another to her chest- a pain echoing in her stomach as though the mental attack had triggered a response from whatever she had been feeling before. The woman would push aside both sources of pain after a few seconds to the warning from Sloane, as her 'gentle whisper' had a much stronger effect than just a whisper due to just what it was saying. Quickly snapping back and readying herself for a fight, Aelin got back into the formation and helped up anyone she could with what little time she had, the closest people to her being Alex and a few SWAT members. As the Evos began to pour from the ceiling accompanied by the red light, a frown donned her features as she prepared for what was to occur. Aelin would wait until the brunt of the attack would commence before doing anything- taking her role as artillery to heart as to prevent herself from becoming a key target in the enemies' eyes just yet. Aelin still had her shroud on however- the slick material veiling a decent portion of her bodily features from the new enemies before them... Any advantage would be a welcome one right about now.

Sloane Whittier

Watching as the small crowd gathered before them, Sloane almost recoiled inside herself. 'I was so fucking wrong. Five of them. Five of us. One on one. That's if no one gets hurt. That's if we're evenly matched. That's if we haven't used up too much of ourselves just getting here. Too many ifs. Too many unknowns. Fuckity fuck fuck. He couldn't have just run. Noooo. Of course not.' Her eyes flicked down to her side, to Luna. Anxiety roiled through her body, tightening her chest. 'She shouldn't be here. No kid should be here. This is too much.' Sloane moving to put the girl behind her, hoping to make it look like she was just shifting her weight.

Blood Bolt

Reaching into the front of his shirt and pulling out a single cigarette that he placed between his lips, red light leapt from his finger until the tip glowed a cherry red. Taking a long drag and letting the smoke exit through his nostrils, the man smiled at the group. Taking advantage of the momentary pause. “You might be wondering why I’ve called you all here today.” His smile broadened as he looked side to side at his group. “Good one, huh?” Back at the heroes he said, “Seriously though I’ve been trying to think of something catchy to say all day and I came up blank. It’s super depressing. I mean, my bug debut and I have stage fright? Totally lame. Oh well, I can always think of something later and say it was cool.”

Storyteller

The group started to spread out as the seconds since their drop down ticked by. Jeremiah and Savannah on the left. Greg and Dennis on the right. Both groups started to spread out, expressions varied between focus and exhilaration.

Blood Bolt

“I didn’t know you would be bringing some normies as your plus one. I’m not sure we have enough snacks for them. Well shit. Guess we will need to rectify that mistake. Greg?” The big man turned to look at Bolt. “Please go get my guests. In pieces is fine. The normies are uninvited though. Too basic, I don’t have any pumpkin spice to satisfy them.”

Alexander King

His mind reeled from the mental assault momentarily, his apprehensions smothered by the pressure of an ability unbeknownst to him. A foreigner intruder shattering his mind as a red light burned at the edges of his vision, and before he knew it, they were being faced off against a squadron of gangsters; individuals with varied and potent abilities itching for a fight alongside their ringleader. Fuck was all he could think as he watched the dying star that sat at the cigarette's tip flutter through the air and up to Blood Bolt's lips. This is the guy, he thought to himself anxiously as he moved in closer to Aelin's side. Reaching forward, he placed a hand on his teammate's shoulder and whispered to her, "Could you cover me for a bit? I don't think my firepower is going to outright be enough, but if I can charge up... It may help." His eyes burned blue as he watched the spread formation of their adversaries widen, that same glow coursing through his veins and burning within the center of his palm before being swallowed into his veins. Lances of fire beginning to build up just at the edges of his fingers before being taken into his core, smoldering him from within, and growing more dangerous with every passing breath. With enough time even his meager embers might become a raging inferno.

[Reality Generator: Minor Action x1 / Reality Absorber: Minor Action x1 (8 / 10 EP Remaining)]

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Aloy stood up from behind the door still reeling from the mental assault and grabbing the handle so he could move more like a shield with the metal door. Looking over to Victory and everyone else for the go ahead as his heart rate skyrocketed. He was as ready as he could be given the situation.

Rachel - R1 Pather

”You’re like me.” The voice that speaks in Sloane’s head comes as the interference fades. It’s powerful. Sloane knows that the tone of a telekinetic depends on their power. When the others speak to her, using her ‘signal’ to talk to her, they’re muffled but understandable. This voice is clear and carries the feeling it could scream and rage inside her head without much effort. ”I’ve never met someone like me before. You—look, you need to run, get out of here. He will kill everyone without a second thought. If you don’t leave now, you’ll all die. Please, I can’t listen to any more deaths tonight.”

[Revealed Pather, x1 Basic, (20/40)]

Storyteller

While the interference wears off so the girl can speak to Sloane, she also senses the thoughts of her enemies planning. The shifty thin man plans to rush the SWAT team and take them out first. The big man has his thoughts locked on Andre. The girl plans to tackle Aelin and Alex. The flyer is coming for her. Sloane has maybe enough time to mentally prepare one of the groups as time seems to slow to a trickle in her mind. Enough time for a warning, or a preemptive attack. And just before she can react, she feels the minds of a familiar fire brand and an unknown headed their way.

Sloane Whittier

Sloane locked eyes with the woman and shook her head. 'You and I both know we can't run now. It's too late.' She didn't have time to warn everyone about their plans. They'd know soon enough. But she could change their orders. 'Executive decision time. Here goes nothing.' She sent out a message to every officer and Evo on her side in the room and included the two approaching the building. 'He means to kill. Keep your guard up. Fight like hell. Survive. All bets are off.' She threw one more message at Rachel. 'You could have warned us sooner. You could have saved lives. Whatever happens? It's on you as much as it is him.'

[Pather, x1 Minor, 1 EP, 9/15 EP]

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Storyteller

The firefight began in earnest again, with a hole to the warehouse door being forced open by bullets and grenades.

Laslow the Boogeyman

Feeling the power of fire once more flowing through his being, he frowns at the blatant disdain for the evos. "Oh, so sorry that you feel like they didn't do a good enough job. But riddle me this, sweet cheeks, how many more would have died if evos didn't show up to your aid? You all have no excuse to make judgement against those FREAKS, as you say, that saved the lives of the NVPD back by the freeway." he speaks with venomous sarcasm at first, then devolving into pure contempt. "We are all fighting the thunderhead and his cronies. So, swallow your insults and shit it out after all this is done, capiche?" Not even waiting for a response, he turns to the warehouse and says to Inferno "Let's get out of here. This place reeks of asshole." before they make their way to the warehouse, Laslow splitting off just before the doors to sneak behind gangster lines, shouldering his M4 that he gingerly named "Martha". T̶̓̈i̴͐̊m̴̀͑ě̵̏ ̵͗̚t̷̄͗ò̷̔ ̵̇͋h̴̽͠u̷͑̒n̵͒́t̷͉̚ he thinks to himself, inhaling through his nose and drinking in the lingering and distinct scent of fear in the air, allowing it to drive himself into an adrenaline-fueled state.

[Power absorption: Fire Manipulation, Fire Generation, Fire Imbuement]

Current power roster

Fire Manipulation: 10 Min.
Fire Generation: 10 Min.
Imbuement (Fire): 10 Min.

Inferno

Isaac didn’t say another word to SWAT as he turned around besides the man. He knew this was the last few moments of calm before the storm, but the adrenaline he was experiencing began coursing through his veins. The flame user breathed, and tapping his companion on his shoulder, said “Go,” as he made a mad dash for the doorway. His wound was starting to bring pain with it once more but the thought of finally putting an end to all of this was enough to keep up his sprint. Inferno did not look back, hoping his companion was following the plan and doing his part to help them in his own way. He dashed into warehouse-main-floor, certain the fight behind him would be cleaned up as Isaac smiled looking at the fight ahead.

New Victoria Police

Almost as one, the SWAT looked at the two Evos. "Why cover for them." "Let them get shot." "Focus on the mission." "Sarge, they aren't worth risking a bullet." "If we do that, we're no better than them." "They aren't fucking worth it--" "Stow your shit. Just shoot. Then we fall back. We've done all we can." "But what about--" "We fall back and hold nearby waiting for ex-vile. When the hostages."

Storyteller

Both SWAT teams were communicating and seemed to independently come to the same conclusion. Fuck the Evos. The amount of death on their hands. But they'd cover....sort of. Enough to get them to the door. After that, fuck those freaks. Better if they all die.

Warehouse Main Floor, The Wards

Mecha Loli

As she watched the enemy arrive through the ceiling and bolt began his 'entrance speech', Luna looked at her HUD and started turning the gears in her mind. She shifts her hand into a place not easily seen by the enemy and inputs something into her HUD just before the warning from her teammate reached her. At the same time, she notices a ping from the GPS tracker attached to Carue signaling that they are on the move. It was a few minutes ago but she didn't notice till now thanks to the mental attack, among other things. 'Sloane, Isaac has started making his way here, but from the looks of things that might be a good thing to have more backup. On that note I think I have an idea... I'm calling in some fire support, but I need to get to the north of the enemy to give them their shot. Problem is, I can only create one more portal if I want to be able to maintain it for more than a few seconds.'

[Individual: x1 Basic, -0 EP (11/15)]

Text Message

To: Alexia
We could use your long-range skills, if you know what I mean. I'll give you a window, keep an eye out for it.

Alexia

Text Message

To: Luna
Are you sure? We still haven't tested the non-lethal rounds yet...

Aelin Palmer

As Aelin received the warning message from Sloane, a simple smile would cross her face as she decided now was the time to shift herself into high gear. If Sloane of all the people present was saying the training wheels were off and death was on the table, then she'd damn well fight like she meant it. While those thoughts crossed her mind, Aelin looked down at her hand and saw it begin to glow the same white hue as her flames. Just looking down at her hand brought back a memory of it reaching out toward someone- a memory which prompted a familiar feeling to call from her gut again... Rolling her eyes and ignoring it for now, Aelin returned her attention to the scene at hand- her eyes closing as she loosed a breath. That same aforementioned smile had returned to her face as a white glow began to emanate from Aelin- a halo of white flame forming a few inches over her head as she pulled the hood of her cloak back and turned to give a sidelong look at Alex as he delivered his request. There would be a faint spark to her eyes now, one that would likely be visible to the boy beside her, but the halo would be the only thing that could stick out to the Evos across the warehouse from them. Assuming Aelin still had the same few seconds that the others had before the enemies were upon them, Aelin would nod in response to Alex- "Just stay close to me for as long as you need, they can't get close to me for long." The words would be accompanied by little pieces of the halo smoldering and falling to the ground, the flame's nature perpetuating the ring of fire above her brow as the small chunks that fell faded into nothing.

[Individual: x1 Basic, -0EP, 15/15]

Storyteller

The message from Sloane reached the minds of all present. Just in time too. The fight was beginning.

Rachel - R1 Pather

The words to the young woman caused a momentary silence across the mental link. After a few seconds, that was broken. Screaming into Sloane's mind, the girl shouted. "I HAVE NO CHOICE! He--he's insane. He will kill everyone!" The scream would only shake Sloane for a moment, but it may have been enough.

[Pather, x1 Minor (19/40)]

Victory

"Stay alive. Create an opening so SWAT can get the hostages." That was all he had time to say, but there was so much more that he wanted to discuss. So any more things to say. No time. Never enough time. He'd just have to move fast enough with the time he had. The big man was standing there, eyes locked on him. And the flyer was looking at...not him. Someone else. If he could...fuck it, might as well try. A whoosh of wind came as he vanished from his place, rocketing ahead to slam a fist into Greg's jaw. Feeling the connection of skin to skin, he turned sharply and aimed his body towards the flyer like a battering ram.

[Enh. Strength x1 Normal, (18/25)]

[Ind. Flight x1 Normal (14/25)]

Storyteller

The crack of Victory's fist on Greg's jaw was loud, but it was drowned out by the sound of the man smashing into the far side of the warehouse and going through it seconds later after his body rag dolled its way out of there. As Victory headed towards Jeremiah, speed still poured on into his flight, the man swiped his hand aside.

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

"I am so fucking sick of you." With a slap of his hand, Victory was sent off course and careening into the far end of the warehouse near where he put Greg. Turning to follow, mind filled with the desire to finish off the prick, Jeremiah headed towards Greg to assist in tearing the man in half.

[Manip x1 Minor, (6/10)]

[Ind. x1 Minor (18/25)]

Savannah - R3 Rock Golem

Watching Jeremiah fly off, she sent a quick thought of don't die, J before turning to the two she was tasked with. Both of them seemed young, or small. That was funny coming from her, given she was like 100lbs soaking wet. But still. Smiling at the cute little fire halo above the girl’s head, she strode forward. "Please tell me you aren't gonna disappoint me like the last one. Momma needs to work off some steam." He next step came with a clack as his foot transformed into black shiny stone. Then the other leg, and then her body as she morphed and grew into a slightly taller form of herself covered in black stone. The evos present wouldn't know this was her weaker form. Smaller and more constrained in its abilities, but just as durable. "Let's play."

[Morpher x1 Normal (4/25)]

Dennis - R3 Enh Speed

Well fuck, if J's out we need to level the playing field. Dennis wasn't really happy at the moment. He wanted to kill some normies. But they were the least of their worries at present. Instead, as the movements of those around him seemed to slow down, he focused on the women. A sick thought went through his mind--

Storyteller

Seriously, someone needed to kill this man.

Dennis - R3 Enh Speed

--But there was no time to play....yet. With a dash of speed, Dennis took off. His speed could reach 100mph in a blink, and he used that to his advantage. Appearing before the small one with weird gauntlets, he used his speed to carry a punch into her helmet....and it fucking HURT. What is that bitch wearing? Fuck. Me. Okay, new plan. Dashing over to a SWAT member, he unsnapped the man's baton, extended it, smashed it into the back of the officer’s knee, smiled with it connected, ran back to the loli, and hit her in the head with it. Much better. Though his hand still hurt. Then he dashed over to the boy with the cool piercings. Dennis liked piercings. And swung the baton as hard as he could into the boy’s gut. Dennis liked causing pain too.

[Enh. Speed x3 Normal (8/25)]

Blood Bolt

As the fights started, Bolt looked at Sloane. The only one left alone from the first wave of attacks. Smoke curling around his nostrils, he pointed the lit cigarette in her direction and asked--shockingly normally--"The fire brat dead or what? Was sorta hoping he'd be here."

Sloane Whittier

Wind was all she felt as the speedster left a wave of destruction behind him. She dropped to her knees to check on Luna. "Luna! Luna, are you ok? Do I need to get you out of here? I'll do it. Just say the word. Talk to me." 'That fucker is going to pay for this.' Then she heard him talk. She turned only her head to look at him, keeping her body facing Luna. "Fire brat? No, Inferno is not dead. Please tell me this bullshit isn't only for his benefit. Seriously, what is your deal?"

Mecha Loli

Having still been on her knees from the mental attack, choosing to use the time it would have taken her to stand to prep in the other ways that she had, she recoils back slightly from the punch but remains upright. The fist had connected with the inner plating of her hoodie, which felt like punching steel... slightly flexible steel, but it still felt like steel nonetheless. Before she could react, the speedster had already fetched his new weapon and struck her again, this time adding to the force of the last impact and sending her backwards off her knees and onto her back where she slid for a second or two. Immediately following the attacks came a loud, almost deafening roar from the machine that had been staying near the SWAT team. It had been ordered to protect them, but his master had just been hurt and he would not stand for that. Dashing forward, the creature fixates on the speedster and lunges repeatedly at him as it chases after him. Ranga cannot hope to match the speed of the evo, but he is still a mechanical beast that was chosen by the master for his speed and strength, and so he would give them no chance to recover or attack again lest the speedster leave himself open to Ranga's fangs and claws. "I’m... fine..." Luna forced the words out in an attempt to reassure Sloane, but the attack had left her dazed and she would need a few seconds to regain her senses.

Aelin Palmer

Having kept her eyes on the fight before her, Aelin would not merely sit and watch it all unfold as she began taking precautionary measures. These measures were mainly only necessary because of that damn speedster, but nonetheless she made them. As the enemy force began to mobilize across the warehouse, a ring of white fire would instantly form around both Alex and Aelin. It would not be too large, only a few feet- though more than enough for either fire user to move around in. The intent was to create a lip of fire that could be further used by her power, but it also might just stop any enemy from charging through it on principle- an unlikely possibility, yet one nonetheless. Seeing the speedster begin to move, Aelin had already begun to shift her ring of fire before he had completed his attack on Luna. This was done out of a rapid shift in intent as she prepared for the possibility he paid them a visit next. He could move fast, but Aelin had also utilized her increased speed to secure their position. Aelin would manage a few words out to Alex- "They're gonna push us both, stay as damn close to me as you can." By the time Dennis had begun to move away from Luna, the ring of fire would begin to extend upward akin to a curtain in preparation of Savannah's push- a screen meant to deter her advance that would hopefully have a similar use against Dennis. The wall would span around 7 feet in height, the white flame letting nothing be seen from either side. It's production and formation would be nigh instant as Aelin threw up her barrier, utilizing both her extensive control and the increased speed of her bodily movement to prepare for a direct push. She would need to play defense for a bit until she could secure breathing room, but she was hoping she could do it in time to help the others- Dennis and Savannah might be a rough combo but Bolt was still in play and Victory was... preoccupied. If Dennis did decide to fall through with his intended attack on Alexander, then he would have to run through the small wall of fire Aelin had created as a result. If this was the case, the fire would stick to him and stay- even his fast speeds unable to douse or shake off the flame as it began to seep any heat it came into contact with. These fires still burned just as brightly as any other- their temps reaching slightly above 2,000°F as the fire would create a chilling sensation along the areas they occupied while also burning the areas surrounding their contact points. It could easily become apparent to Dennis if he came into contact with them that they were abnormal, though it would be extremely difficult for him to discern just what they were doing to him with what little experience he had so far.

[Individual: x1 Basic ; x1 Minor, -1EP, 14/15]

[Manipulator: x1 Basic ; x1 Minor, -1EP, 14/15]

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

A lot had happened rather quickly. People were flying around; someone just punched a metal kid and was running around at an insanely high speed. I should take him ou-...never mind someone’s got him uh shit where's Victory? Almost as Unbreakable thinking of the man was the queue Victory went flying in the opposite direction and Aloy looked up to see Jeremiah going over in chase. Well uh fuck shit. Shit shit okay just breathe. Go help victory so you can at least have someone around who understands what it's like to be....y'know exactly like this. Also, because he's like a major-. Okay no we gotta go now fight dirty. Unbreakable flew up leaving the metal door behind as he took off and chased after Jeremiah. He was quick and still left a crack in the air, however he was obviously not flashing around in an instant despite his speed. He pushed himself to his limit using his momentum and his strength to do what any teenager fighting another man would do. Kick him full force right into the nuts. "Prepare to be even more sick then you cunt." CRACK Like a football being sent off a tee Aloy made contact with the flying man in his....well y'know nuts. "Oh fuck that's gotta hurt."

[Flight normal x 1 -3 11/15]

[Eng Str/con normal x1 -3 7/25]

Alexander King

His mind sharpened as adrenaline and pain wracked his body as the beginnings of his own flames began to grow. Their otherworldly nature increasing their heat and size as they resided within his body, making his veins glow even brighter with each passing second. He was thankful for the stakes, the extra motivation affording him an extra inkling of control he didn’t know he had as he kept the flames from spreading wildly to burn him out too early. I need more time, Alexander thought to himself as he funneled more fire into existence and drew it into his body to allow it to fester and grow. A sizable fireball disappearing in a flash as he grit his teeth against the cloying heat within him. His mind went nearly blank as the shock of pain rattled through him, the Dennis’ surprise attack catching the boy off guard and nearly forcing him to his knees as he choked out a gasp of pain. Alexander grip on Aelin’s shoulder tensed, struggling to keep himself up against the pain. “Fuck off,” he managed to hiss between his teeth before the right half is his body flickered with the telltale sign of ravenous blue flames for a breath of a moment, before a miniature pillar of flame erupted in Dennis’ direction, the flames with the mind of their own reaching out to grasp onto him and stick. Even if only an ember landed, it would grow in size and heat, eating away at anything he had the chance to. Alexander only sustained the pillar for a moment before pulling it back into his body, adding to the growing inferno within him for better or for worse.

[Reality Generator: Minor Action x2 / Reality Absorber: Minor Action x2 (4 / 10 EP Remaining)]

Jeremiah - R3 Flight

It was only the sound of an air barrier that alerted him. The same sound he made when he moved, and the sound Victory made. But golden boy is over...SHIT. Jeremiah had turned around just in time to see an unknown flying at him at speed, with a leg coming right at his...Jeremiah moved, flying up as quick as possible to lessen the impact. But impact was made. It was at a force akin to a bit more than a normal human could muster thanks to his movements but lacking any sort of endurance it didn't mean much. Still flying up, mind reeling from pain, Jeremiah smashed his hand down with all the force he could muster. Once, twice, before flying up through the hole in the top floor.

[Manip x2 Normal, (0/10)]

[Ind. x1 Normal (15/25)]

Storyteller

The force of the gravity smashing into Unbreakable was more than enough to snatch him from the sky and slam him into the concrete ground with a thud. Before Unbreakable could recover, he was lifted back up and slammed into it once more, creating a crater in the warehouse floor. The force pressing on his chest caused bones to creak, and a sharp snap signaled a rib, a reinforced enhanced strength rib, breaking. Then another. Thankfully, the force stopped after that, and Unbreakable was left in the crater, injured but able to move after a few seconds. The ribs that were broken had not pierced a lung or anything dangerous....yet.

Dennis - R3 Enh Speed

It was the wall of air proceeding him that saved him from direct contact with the wall of fire. That and the rapid, frantic swings of his new favorite toy and created enough of an opening to slip through. Slip through but not unscathed. The heat of the fire, contained unnaturally close to the actual flames and not properly dissipating out away from it so as not to cook the rest of the people, singed his clothes and caused his skin to redden. It was only the speed at which he went that saved him from frying. Enough time to get in, slap a bitch--the bitch being the cute guy with piercings. Mmm, we'd have so much fun with him--and then back out the same hole the wall of air had created. Once outside, he can to the realization that he wasn't about to try that again, his body twitching and hot--the sense of pain only dulled because of how wonderfully high he was right then. "Damn, girl, you're on fi--" A roar cut him off as a fucking METAL LION WOLF THING came out of god damn nowhere. "What the fuck!?" Dashing away to the other side of the room, he saw the creature unnaturally track his movements and turn to follow him. It was slow, but it was relentless.

[Enh. Speed x1 Minor (7/25)]

Blood Bolt

"Does it honestly matter why I'm doing this?" The tone was still as unnaturally calm as it was before. The smile was not. It was chaotic, maddening, and what one would expect from a monster like him. Casually, almost relaxed, he held out a hand and let a bolt of energy zap out and towards the back of the room, directly into the mechanical beast chasing Dennis. A thunderous crack escaped, and the beast let out a metal roar of pain and agony before it collapsed. "Dennis, darlin, stop playing with your food and kill them for me." His attention moving back to Sloane--and by proximity Luna--he spread his hands again. "I'm doing this because I can, sweetheart. That's all the reasoning I--" A gunshot rang out, the bullet barely missing Bolt who did a quickdraw motion with his finger and sent a strike directly into the heart of the SWAT officer who fired at him. "Hey! Not fucking nice. I'm having a convers--oh, he's dead. Okay, to the rest of you, I'm having a conversation. Why don't you go see if your friends are still alive and leave the talking to the actual people with power, hmm?"

[Manip, x1 Minor, x1 Normal, -4EP (30/40)]

Savannah - R3 Rock Golem

Fully transformed, she seemed to strut her way to the wall of fire. "That's adorable." She said, as she passed through the wall of fire without pausing. The flames coated her morphed body, black rock glistening in the strange coloration. Then, Alex's attack hit her. Originally sent for Dennis, the speed at which the man moved was too quick to be hit. But that still left the embers in the air and space of the fire circle. As the fire hit the rocky skin, she ignored it as she did with Aelin's flames, continuing to walk forward until she paused and looked at her surface. The flames were still there from both of them. And slowly, so slowly, they were starting to change the rocky surface into a more glass like covering. Well, that's not grand. How long did she have before it ate away at her? Mmm, if they were manipulators then they would probably dissipate once she killed them. Killing them it is. With unnatural speed, her slightly melted surface cracking as she moved having been transformed from its normal state, she lunged forward and backhanded the two fire users out of their circle.

Storyteller

The hit primarily struck Aelin, thankfully. Her halo form made her stronger than the normal human and as a result only left her with a slightly cracked sternum. The concussion both her and Alex would suffer from later came from their slamming into the back wall. Their attacks had server to slow Savannah's movement enough, and her form didn't hold enough strength, that the blow and hitting of said wall was only enough to daze, not knock out. So they were both awake to watch as she came closer to them. A crash comes from the far end of the warehouse. It's a blur of gold and black with another body in front of it. The crack of bone-on-bone sounds and the larger figure, Greg, slams into a support beam and bends it.

Victory

Grabbing the front of Greg's clothes, Andre looks at the man and sees he's still conscious. That won't do. "Go to sleep." He says sternly, drawing his fist back and punching the man square in the face, letting his head hit the back of the support column. The man goes limp, and Andre lets him slip from his fingers. The sounds of the other battles come back into focus, and he takes a moment to look around. Sonofabitch. Seeing Bolt standing there, he saw the SWAT team still on the bottom floor. Looking up, he saw Jeremiah as he went through the hole in roof separating the floors. Hostages first. Grabbing Greg back up, he flew through the hole in the wall after locking eyes with as many of the SWAT team as he could.

[Enh. Strength x2 Basic, x1 Normal, (15/25)]

[Ind. Flight x2 Minor (12/25)]

Alexander King

Beat senseless by the speedster then sent flying by Savannah didn't do much to help Alexander's concentration as his mind reeled from the pain, darkness dotting the edge of his vision as his body pooled at the base of the wall. The young man wheezed, strands of white hair clinging to his face as sweat poured down from his brow before steaming away into nothingness. I'm going to die here, he thought to himself, something within him snapping as hysteria sunk its talons deep within his mind. I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to... The words repeated over and over within his head as he stumbled to his feet, attempting to grip the wall as the flames within him smoldered, thrashing as they begged to be loosed to consume everything in their path. Wide-eyed and frantic he looked towards Savannah, miming the shape of a pistol he leveled one of his hands towards it as shaky as it was, defiant to the last. Even a match can become an inferno, he heard distantly within the back of his mind as his face twisted into a grimace as she continued her approach. "Stay back!" He shouted, waving his faux-pistol shaped hand towards her as if to threaten her. Trembling beneath his own weight after being so easily tossed, he clasped his free hand around the one leveled towards the golem-like figure as adrenaline and blood roared within his ears like the steady beat of a war drum. "I don't want to have to hurt you!" It was a vain attempt to keep her at bay, he knew, but the words tumbled from his lips all the same. The press of death felt heavy on his chest, a constant fear now as the larger figure loomed closer by the second, each step sounding as if they were the closing chapters of his life. No, he thought desperately, not like this. In a fit of panic and desperation, he fired off a surprisingly meager expression of his accumulated power. A single, thread-sized strand of fire that moved at a modest speed, hissing from between his fingers as if miming a bullet. The meager thread of fire was painful to look at, burning so brightly that the blue appeared like that of neon as it meandered through the air, his skin turning to ash around where the flames began to push forward from. He funneled everything he'd built up so far and more into a single, long strand of compressed flame. Holding the shape of the thread together through sheer force of will with the fear of death looming so close, heavy as a guillotine. Every inch of burgeoning flame trapped within a single expression. "Armageddon flame..." He muttered to himself as the thread moved through the air missing Savannah by an inch as that neon-bright strand nearly split the room in two. "Release!" Even his eyes steamed in the aftermath of this release, the blazing within his veins reduced to embers as every bit of power was funneled into this thread. A thread now unraveled by his will and allowed to exist in its fully ravenous form. A ravenous storm of fire he'd allowed to eat him from inside before the battle had even begun. Hot, napalm-like flames that roared free and spread in a cascade of consuming flames towards anything they could touch. A veritable serpent rearing its ugly head and spitting embers as they sought out anything within their reach to burn and convert to more of their own. It was the ultimate expression of his power as measly as it was. Even a match may become an inferno, Alexander thought sluggishly as the flames were set free from their thread-shaped prison and allowed to engulf all that they wished. Hysteria, desperation, and fear fueling his wild, untamable flames.

[Reality Generator: Minor Action x2 / Reality Absorber: Basic Action x1, Minor Action x2 (0 / 10 EP Remaining)]

<Note: All previously absorbed and built-up flames were released at once.>

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Laslow the Boogeyman

Quickly after the cover fire is gone, things immediately grow tense. Odds were stacked against Laslow, and the thought of it set him on edge. And he LOVED it. A shame he was limited to just the fire user's power in this storm. In any other situation these powers would be a huge boon; right now, there was little he could do to make them seem effective. As the SWAT were retreating, he took the opportunity of the attention they drew to themselves to come up with an idea that might just improve his odds. Yes. That's it. he thinks to himself as he starts to imbue just enough heat in the ground around him to make the wet surfaces steam and mist in the cold night air, providing almost a smokescreen cover that spread with him as he darts to the left group of gangsters, loading a clip into Martha before shouldering it, setting the switch for firing mode to fully automatic, and ready to aim for center mass or a head shot, whichever made itself present first. It didn't matter who. There was no why. These were normies that needed to die. Just like those SWAT also needed to die. The sight some gangsters would see as the encroaching mist would embrace them is that of a dark silhouette, lit only by two luminous blue orbs with predatory slits at their center before Laslow opened fire upon them.

[Fire Imbuement (Borrowed), Basic x4, -0EP (13/15)]

[Power detection, Minor x1, -1EP (11/15)]

Warehouse Main Floor, The Wards

Mecha Loli

Luna starts to get back up as Bolt is distracted by the officer, starting to speak as she does. "I don't think that reasoning checks out, because someone is going to stop you. If we fail to do it now others will come to do it in our stead, and the more harm you cause the stronger the convictions held by those people will be." Simultaneously she sends a mental note to Sloane. 'Sloane, can you get me to the north side of the room? I don't care how you do it, throw me if you have to...'

Sloane Whittier

'This is not what I had in mind when I said I'd get you out of here, Luna... I wonder if I can get you an escort though. Hold, please.' 'Unbreakable, I need your help. Can you get back up? I'm going to launch Luna up in the air. I need you to grab her and fly her to the North side of the room. She'll tell you where specifically. You up for it?' Sending the thoughts out to her teammates, she kept her eyes on Bolt, hoping to just keep the man talking. "Yeah. It really does matter. These people have families, friends, they didn't deserve this. Why don't we make this an even fight. Let the cops go. All of them. Not even just the cops, tell everyone that isn't an Evo to get out of here. Enough of them have died, on both sides. Let this be between us." She did everything she could to keep her voice even, strong, no sign of the fear that still left her body cold.

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Unbreakable groaned at the pain of his ribs cracking as he got slammed into the ground over and over again His body rested in the crater as he rubbed his side and raised a thumb out of it to show to anyone who could look that he was okay but still lying down. He spent a few seconds taking in the pain and getting himself back to somewhat normality before he responded to Sloane by standing. 'Yeah, uh I respond by thinking back, right? uh anyway. Yeah, I'm fine, I can take her, just let me know when and I'll do it. Tell her to watch my right side though, ribs are killing me. Anyway, I'll start flying over now and when I see her, I'll speed up.' Aloy began to float a bit just above where he was flying and slowly moving towards Luna not making a burst until he could catch her.

[Flight basic x 1 11/15]

Storyteller

Given the chaos going on around them, and with Jeremiah’s retreat, Aloy is able to float up without any further assault. The rest of the ongoing action would soon take a turn once the Storyteller had a minute to breathe again.

Sloane Whittier

'Think light thoughts, Luna, you're going airborne. Unbreakable is coming to give you a ride. Mind his right side. He seems to be a bit broken after all.' Sloane stood up next to the girl, widening her stance and trying to ready herself. She caught sight of her teammate as he got near and took a steadying breath. 'Three... Two... One... Blast off!' She sent the countdown to them both so as to make the handoff easier. Without moving a physical muscle, she opened her mind and lifted Luna off the ground and sent her flying into the air like she had jumped up high on a trampoline.

[Pather x2 Basic, 0 EP, 9/15]

[Manip. x1 Strenuous, 15 EP, 10/25 EP]

Dennis - R3 Enh Speed

Holy shit that could have been bad. Dennis activated his power enough to slow down his perception of what was going on around him. He started to smile at the chaos when there was a slight tingling sensation coming from his stomach. Looking down he found a weird white ember burning on his shirt. Another sensation, this time from his pants leg. A weird blue flicker. And more. More. More. Soon the embers became small sparks of fire that wouldn't go out as he frantically slapped at them. Time to run. Wind would put it out, right? God it was hot. So hot. It was hurting a bit.

Storyteller

Zooming around the room, Dennis ran at 60mph...then 70....100....120mph. Faster and faster he was running as from the sound of wind and displaced air molecules a strange sound emanated. Like a distant scream. A blood curdling scream. As Dennis ran small pockets of strange colored fire popped up around the warehouse. It would be blue or white for a moment before turning to a normal fiery color. But these were small, ignorable. The splatters of steaming liquid that was dark in color was not. And everyone noticed when the wind stopped and all that remained was a fast-floating pile of ash that wafted towards the rear of the building.

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Ari Thomas

Huffing and puffing as he runs, exhausted and beaten up, he maintains his hardened skin as he runs toward the makeshift barricades as his thoughts race through his head. Should I engage in rock form? But if they're inside I should probably do a sand form, so I don't get hit as much... but then the speedster can make a cyclone if he can run fast enough. Rock form it is. Do I go granite again, or a concrete with silica aggregate? Inferno's going to be there... but so is Bolt... maybe I can draw his lightning if I can add magnetite to the aggregate, too... but I can resist impacts better if I use granite or even diori- His thought is interrupted with the sound of gunshots and impact of low caliber bullets on his hardened skin. Diorite. Definitely diorite. He begins to transform, keeping the heat resistant igneous rocks in mind.

[Elemental Morph., Normal x1, -3EP (2/15)]

Geb

He focuses on the ground in front of the barricade, willing it to harden and build pressure to make a spring so he can bound over the barricade and crash into the middle of the gangsters. I really hope I don't land on any... I think I've seen enough death tonight. His thoughts flash to the haunting image of the ground swallowing up Richard like the concrete was quicksand, and the unnerving stillness that followed. Shaking his head physically to shake off the horror and refocus, he steps onto the patch of concrete that he primed, and a single thought willed it to spring him up. PUSH The rocky mass of his elemental form barely clears the barricade as he sails into the crowd, landing on all fours above a gangster that would have been crushed if Ari landed on his stomach or on his back. He promptly headbutts the gangster's head, knocking them out as he stands, reluctant but ready to beat these guys into submission.

[Earth Manip., Basic x1, -0EP (1/15)]

Storyteller

The SWAT Team pulled back with precision. Maybe a bit more than precision, something fueled their movements. Maybe it was their already existing distrust for Evos, or because of the most recent interaction, but eyes were on Laslow and Inferno as they pulled back. Better to be careful then dead. As SWAT pulled back, an expanding group of gangsters saw Laslow and called out the threat. Before they could lock down his location the steam wafted in like an eerie fog. This forced the gangsters to guess. But Laslow had to guess too. Bullets started flying from the Evo before return fire could be offered, but eventually the gunfight opened in earnest. Two gangsters went down, but the return fire forced Laslow to be cautious....well, cautious for Laslow. A few found their mark in his armor, or along the soft part of his fleshy fleshy body. But tis was merely a scratch! Ari arrived on scene right when the battle restarted anew. Rather, Ari flew into the battle like a meteorite when it began anew. The gangster below him, clearly in shock, got out a "the fu--" before a rocky head met his own skull. Two more gangsters rushed him only to find themselves brushed aside like lint found in your pocket. The remaining 23 gangsters broke into groups, roughly even, both groups attacking the threats around them. The Evos were powerful, yes. But the gangsters had brought a few AK-47's so....power has its limits, and actions would need to be taken.

Warehouse Main Floor, The Wards

Savannah - R3 Rock Golem

She wasn't far from them. Both were barely on their feet after picking themselves up off the floor. But each step she took was powerful. The slam of her feet shook the vicinity. "Poor baby." She cooed as her black eyes watched Alex lift his arm to point at her, as his unsteady voice reached her ears. "That's too bad. Because I really really want to hurt you." Step. The black earth on her surface still shattered or cracked slightly from where the fire had first hit her. Tiny shards of her surface sprinkling down like black snow on the warehouse floor. Step. Then she lunged. Grabbing Aelin by her neck faster than she should have been able to move. Lifting her with one arm, she had never taken her eyes off Alex. "Pathetic. You know, I thought you were the fire boy Boss man was so worried about. I am so grateful you aren't or that'd say something about my employment choice." Stretching out her hand to grab ahold of the boy and finish both of them, tightening the grip around Aelin as the heat and strength from the woman demanded a bit more from Savannah. In fact, it was only the dazing Aelin suffered that allowed Savannah to hold her grip so firm.

Storyteller

Alex's Armageddon Flame raged forth from the thread and smashed into Savannah's rocky surface. She was taken aback for a moment, but then she started laughing at the attempt.

Savannah - R3 Rock Golem

"Is that the--"

Storyteller

Her words cut off, replaced by a cracking as she tried to move her jaw. Opening her hand around Aelin enough to let the woman slip out, she moved her hand towards her face until it stopped too. The arm outstretched towards Alex stopped in its place. Then, the towering Giant, ceased any movement as the rocky surface was now a glistening black mirror. Alexander stayed awake just long enough to confirm this ending. But with all his power drained out of him, he was unable to stay aware any long and collapsed onto the floor into unconsciousness. Thankfully. As when he did, the unearthly fire lost most of its ferocity, no longer tethered to its pseudo-master. And slowly, it too vanished into the black.

Inferno

Isaac ran into the warehouse to see what could only be described as pure battle. The unconscious Alex and the dazed and beaten Aelin were a sight of concern, but not as much as the dead SWAT member on the floor the remaining few holding and gripping their weapons tightly. Andre was busy pummeling Greg, and Aloy catching Luna for... something.... was enough to lead to him to question the situation. And finally, Sloane was in a position of some sorts against... him. It was in this moment that the emotional locks Isaac had managed to barely clasp to the last hour were shattered in an instant. Floods of memories and still pictures in his mind of his dead teacher, the dead students, and the countless dead police officers out there in Henry and the countless others from the last few weeks in New Victoria. Faces and emotions passed by, before all that settled was a sharp and dense vision filled with nothing but red for the man standing in the center of the room, Blood Bolt. "BOLT. YOU TOOK FUCKING EVERYTHING FROM ME. AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE." Slowly, Inferno walked forward, eyes bright red and his footsteps leaving heated imprints in the concrete. "This motherfucking is going DOWN."

[Fire Manip. x4 Basic, -0 EP, 18/25]

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

Hearing blast off Unbreakable left the air he was in, filled with nothing but a Crack like a whip had gone off flying quickly as fast as he could and catching the girl before throwing her onto his back somewhat like a bag although much softer. "Ow fuckin' shit. Someone requested a lift? Just uh point me where to go." He started flying with the same momentum towards the northern side of the room making sure to avoid the hole to the next floor and stay closer to the roof avoiding conflict. "I'm almost outta energy for now. I'll stay and help ya out as long as I can b-but urgh, I think my ribs are a bit more shot."

[Flight normal x 1 -6 5/15]

Mecha Loli

She points to a spot between the northern wall and the center of the room, far enough away from the enemy without being too close to the wall. "Over there is fine." She gets down as they get close to the spot, giving him a thumbs up. "Thanks! Getting here safely and quickly is all I could ask for, so don't push yourself too hard. I'm about to call in some backup of sorts, so no need to worry!" Looking around she gauges the status and location of Bolt and his crew. Bolt was in the open but was probably the most on guard despite the look of things. The stone woman was probably not a good target for what she had in mind and seemed to be handled for the most part. The speedster was... gone? And the flier had left the room for the time being... So, with Bolt the only potential target currently, she decided to center the portal's field of view on him as she lifted her hands into the air over her head. With a faint glow emanating from her hands, a small orb of similar light appears above her before expanding into a ring shape that grows to about the circumference of a bowling ball. Through the ring, a strange scene can be viewed: An empty sky filled only by a tower of steel which seems to be about the height of an average skyscraper. About 3/4 of the room can be seen from the other side of the portal, with most of the edges (especially sections of the room close to the portal) outside of the cone of vision provided by the portal.

[Transporter: x1 Minor, -1 EP (5/15)]

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Laslow the Boogeyman

Taking what cover he could from the firefight, he gripped his flesh would, growling like a wild animal in between his teeth. He focused on heating up the graze wound to cauterize it, grunting in pain as he sears his flesh closed. Seeing the mist begin to part around the heated area, he grows wary. Can't blow my own cover. He hears the familiar sound of an assault rifle being loaded, and immediately scowls from beneath his mask. Crap. This doesn't bode well. Maybe if I set up a distraction... He pours heat energy into the ground, and steadily moves it away from himself, making it appear as if he is finding new cover with moving mist. That might help. Now to wait until they reload, then I retaliate from here while their focus is drawn to the mist. He grabs another clip of 45mm ammo from his vest, trying to be as silent as he can as he replaces it with the partially depleted clip. Now we wait.

[Fire Imbuement (Borrowed), Basic x3, -0EP (13/15)]

Ari Thomas

He continued to knock heads where he could reach them, but then sees that some of them have BIGGER guns now. Aw, jeez... That's not good. Better take those ones out first... Lumbering towards them with surprising speed given his massive form, he focuses his power with a few stomping steps, making the ground near the gangsters shake and hopefully knocking them off-balance as he lumbers towards them, attempting to clothesline them with his diorite arms.

[Earth Manipulation, Basic x4, -0EP (1/15)]

Warehouse Main Floor, The Wards

Blood Bolt

"Fine with me, the big guy is already moving them now anyways." Bolt shot back to Sloane as he stomped out the mostly smoked cigarette. "I was done with those toys anyways since you all brought some new ones with me to play with. Take them, kill them, play dress up with them. I don't care. As long as you and your K-Pop band are here." He started to move forward as he talked, the disregard he had for the cops, for any normals for that matter, clear in the way his tone carried his words to not only Sloane but anyone listening. The cops didn't matter. Worse yet, they might have never mattered. And that disregard for human life was evident in Bolt's features. His steps stopped for a brief moment as Isaac's shouting reached his ears. Twisting his finger in his ear and making a too loud face, he said, "Listen, Linda, no need to shout. I'm right here and not deaf. Geez. Use your inside voice. You'll wake the neighbors." Red energy danced on his fingertips as the faux pain turned into absolute joy. "About time you showed up Johnny Blaze. I was thinking I'd have to make Little Miss Demanding scream a song before I got you here."

Storyteller

The situation in the warehouse was as everyone had indicated. Aelin and Alex were both in the corner near the melted form of Savannah. Aelin pulling Alex close to her to shield him with her body. Luna was in the back of the warehouse, but something was causing the portal to flicker a bit more than normal. Sloane was beside-ish Isaac, Bolt in front of both of them. The SWAT Team had taken the time to move up the staircase and hadn't reported in yet. Neither had Andre. Telepathically or otherwise.

Sunday 12:45am

Aelin Palmer

As she had been cast aside by Savannah, Aelin's vision had blurred due to the daze she now found herself in. Though it was hefty, it was not enough to prevent her from noticing Dennis' fate- a combination of her and Alex's flame consuming the energy he output as a means of killing him. She merely smirked through the dirt and grime on her face as he screamed out in throes of pain- the speedster's gruesome death a fitting one in her eyes as she managed a chuckle through the pain. In turn, however, Savannah's advance was too quick for her to fully recover and defend herself, but she wasn't so dazed that she couldn't notice the glass falling off her form- not unlike ash. The cogs within Aelin's mind would begin piecing it together as Savannah made her lunge, the white ring of fire rising into the air alongside Aelin in the other woman's grip. As Savannah began to insult Alex and question his strength- as a villain is want to do- Aelin would merely squeak out a chuckle in her grasp followed by- "He is." in response to her claiming he 'wasn't a threat.' This would reach Savannah's ears and catch her attention just before his flame rang out- the blue attack quickly taking Savannah by surprise as the tightened grip would not quite go as Savannah had planned. Aelin's vision would begin to blur once more before she fell to the ground, quick and deep gasps of air being taken as Aelin recovered- unsure of what quite happened. That was when she looked up and saw Alex's attack, the utter massive amount of blue flame spewing all through their section of the warehouse. Aelin's awe wouldn't last forever though, as she quickly gained her movement again and turned to Alex- her judgement and senses telling her the boy was about to fall after such an output. Getting back to her feet and ensuring Savannah wouldn't push after such a feat- Aelin cringed in response to her stomach's cry of pain as she made to move. Now dashing to Alex using her speed, she caught Alex before he fell. Letting him down lightly, Aelin would move him to a rather dark and unceremonious corner of their side of the warehouse, also utilizing some of her strength to lift him. After confirming he wouldn't be targeted where he was, Aelin would give Alex a long glance in the dark before returning to Savannah's body- his desperation and refusal to death reminding her of her own all that time ago. By now, Aelin had regained control of her senses- her gaze merely looking at the glassy form of Savannah now before her. The rest of the team's actions would be in Aelin's peripheral, her sole focus now on Savannah as anger began to flare inside her. Aelin had been disposed toward them before the fight had even begun, but after the stunts Savannah and Dennis had pulled, and not to mention what they did to Alex, that disposition had quickly flared into an inferno not unlike the one within Alex moments ago. A moment would pass of silence from Aelin as she steadied her breathing- her eyes glued to Savannah's form while Sloane and the rest prepared their catch plan. As she began to focus on that hatred she was feeling, Aelin could feel that sensation of an eye watching her again, that presence still quietly waiting, offering something. She merely acknowledged it once more as she lifted a hand toward Savannah and loosed a spew of white fire along the body in front of her. Curiosity had begun to mesh with that fire inside her- a dangerous combination as she let the fire begin sapping heat from the material, aiming to see just how low she could bring its temperature in an effort to shatter the melted form on the floor and subsequently the body within. It was at this point that she opened her focus to the rest of the room, just in time to see Unbreakable begin to grab Mecha-Loli and carry her. As the flames quickly sapped the heat and brought the material to what would be a freezing point, Aelin manipulated her flame to apply pressure on its coldest points and seep further into the material's cracks- now aiming to essentially take a pick to the frozen form. Using her hand as the hammer, Aelin would land a hit with her increased strength on the coldest spot of the material alongside her flames as the material would hopefully shatter and fall under the pressure and force. Quickly pulling her hand back as to avoid damage, Aelin would watch if her intentions proved true- hoping that the body within would crumble under the effects of her flame alongside the outer form. As this occurred, Aelin would keep her eye on the others, hoping to utilize the time they were spending on Bolt to deal with Savannah so that she could join them in dealing with the more serious threat.

[Individual: x3 Basic ; x1 Minor -1EP, 13/15]

[Manipulator: x3 Basic, -0EP, 14/15]

Sloane Whittier

She watched as Unbreakable caught Luna. 'Thank god he caught her.' Once she was safe, Sloane turned her attention back to Sparky. As soon as Bolt agreed with getting the humans out, she sends out a broadcast to them. It included the SWAT and the gangsters. The police and the hostages. If any other non-Evo was left in the immediate area, they'd get it too. She focused to omit the Evos on her side from hearing it, so they didn't get distracted and lose their concentration. 'This is the AERI team. Bolt has agreed to let non Evos get out of harm’s way. ALL non-Evos. Please make your way out of the warehouse and surrounding area as quickly as you can. Shout in your mind if you can't make it on your own. Tell me where you are. I'll send help. Just get out before he changes his mind. He is looking to cause harm and you don't need to be in the way anymore. Please hear me and get to safety. We'll do everything we can to neutralize this situation.' She didn't catch everything else Bolt was saying as she relayed the message, but his body language read loud and clear. She really didn't want to be so close to him when shit was gonna hit the fan. 'Could this not be the new norm, please?'

[Pather x2 Normal, 3 EP, 6/15]

Alexia

The young girl in the tower seen through the portal places a rather large rifle onto a mechanism mounted to the window, like a built-in bipod, though it's hard to see the girl from the warehouse without some kind of improved sight considering the distance and the sniper screens covering all the windows of the tower. The rifle has only a small magnifying glass attached to the end of the barrel as a sort of makeshift sight but it's hard to call it a scope on its own, with the real potential of the sight coming from the girl’s eyes. As she more properly grips the rifle in her mechanized gauntlets and lowers her right eye to rest near the back of the barrel, she concentrates on her vision and closes her left eye. The pupil and iris seem to visibly shift, as if the eye is bionic even though it is clearly organic. As this happens her vision improves and magnifies as if looking through a rifle scope, alone reaching 10x magnification. When combined with the lens at the end of the rifle, specifically designed to enhance the girl’s unique vision, she achieves a final magnification of x20. Certainly, more powerful scopes exist, something she would hope to one day match or surpass, but with everything at her disposal it was enough to defend her home, and enough to get this job done. Further, her vision was far clearer than a normal scope of equal power. Her vision shifts back from x20 to x10 (x10 to x5 without the rifle's sight) as she waits for the portal to appear, ready to redirect her aim towards the portal once it does. Eventually the portal opens, and she quickly zooms back in as she lines up the rifle with it, just in time to see the portal flicker strangely... That's not normal... For the time being she pushes that detail to the back of her mind and instead concentrates on the mission. She has descriptions of Bolt, and he is basically at the center of the portal’s viewpoint, so she assumes he is her primary target, and locks her crosshair on him for a moment. Steadying her aim using the gauntlets and focusing on the shot she needed to make it was as if the wind, the temperature, and gravity themselves were speaking to her, guiding her aim. Taking only the time necessary to calculate the shot, she quickly adjusts her crosshair to account for the calculation and pulls the trigger three times in quick succession. Each round fired would generate recoil for her gauntlets and the window mount to absorb, but she was able to keep the rifle steady for all three shots. The weapon fired what seemed to be long, large caliber rounds, but once they got close to the portal they suddenly seemed to break apart like multi-staged rockets, revealing a tranquilizer syringe with a multi-plated umbrella shaped device meant to slow the projectile while maintaining the same trajectory. Unfortunately, they were not tested before this and two of the three devices malfunction, with one failing to deploy at all and another deploying but being sent far off course, potentially even missing the portal entirely. Only the first round fired manages to successfully deploy and slow down as it reaches the portal. The tranquilizer used would have needed at least two of the rounds to hit for it to be effective quickly, and all three for it to be immediate. With only one shot potentially landing it's mark as intended, if it hit it would take an hour or longer to take effect and could even be completely ineffective or neutralized. On the other hand, one of the other shots is still on track but undeployed, functioning like a mostly normal large caliber round if it hits, albeit more fragile. All shots were aimed at center mass.

[Individual: x1 Basic, x3 Minor, -3 EP (12/15)]

[Enhanced: x2 Normal, -6 EP (9/15)]

Storyteller

The black glossy surface of Savannah's form began to ripple with the sounds of thousands of microfractures as Aelin's power drained the large amounts of heat imparted from Alex's attack. As the seconds ticked by, small pieces of the rocky structure would fall or fly off with a pop as the sudden change in temperature caused the newly shaped material to react violently. Then, larger chunks came off. A toe, a piece of her arm, a section of her stomach. On and on the shattering went until a leg piece broke and the structure tumbled to the ground with a bang. Looking at the woman, still frozen in her body's tomb, she was ruined. Missing the bottom half of her leg, a portion of her abdomen, some of her muscles or outer layers. But a large piece was 'in tack' if you could call it that. The question was really what would happen to her if she transformed back, if she even could at this point since there was no reaction from Savannah during Aelin's attack. Whatever happened, in the state she was in now, Savannah was not going to be a threat any longer.

Storyteller

As the last projectile exited the portal, the interference caused it to move only a micro-fraction off course. This wasn't enough to move Bolt out of the way however, and the non-thinking missile with the mission to put that crazy mother fucker to sleep was still on course. Had it had a mind, it would have thought to itself A thousand years of death! Because apparently this projectile was a Naruto fan. What the projectile couldn't account for was the voice screaming in Bolt's head to turn around. The voice was slow in comparison to the tranqs, but fast enough to cause the man to turn a little to his left. A fraction. A miniscule amount. But enough. The shattered tranqs zipped past him and into the ground. All except one, which hit him in the arm with enough force to continue his turn around, and another which nicked his skin enough to draw blood. Alexis wouldn't see the results of her shot, the portal shutting down with a crackle and twist from focused interference.

Blood Bolt

"Did you get my note, torch head? Remind me, did I add the hugs and kisses to the end? Bah, I can always go back and write it only later. If I don't have a pen, I'll use the old man's blood to finish--" The voice in his head caused him to start turning bare moments before two pains in his arm lit up. "FUCK!" Turning around, his eyes opened wide.

Victory

"They're out." Andre sent the note to Sloane as he flew back into the top floor of the building, having helped SWAT rappel the hostages down by carrying those they couldn't move. All the humans were out. Before him, was the unconscious form of Jeremiah whom he had knocked out with the combo he had practiced with his 'Coach' when he first arrived. From those previous actions:

[Enh. Strength x3 Basic, (15/25)]

[Ind. Flight x2 Basic (12/25)]

Rachel - R1 Pather

Her eyes went wide when she watched him take out the apparently already injured Jeremiah without breaking a sweat. If she had known the....let's call it pain even if it’s an understatement...Jeremiah was in when he first arrived, it wouldn't have seemed so shocking. As it was, Rachel pushed her power to cause Victory...the Victory...to ignore her presence. She had heard Bolt's words and made no effort to stop him or the SWAT team from rescuing the remaining hostages and taking the bodies of their comrades out of the building. Updated from other actions:

[Pather, x1 Normal (12/40)]

Victory

With the business up here handled, Victory rose into the air a bit and took a breath. This was it. Finish it quick and finish it now. Flying back down through the hole in the roof, he had enough time to see Aelin near Alex blasting the form of the rock girl. Sloane and Isaac standing in front of Bolt who was walking towards them. And Luna and Unbreakable at the back of the warehouse. Bolt's back was to him. This is it. Rocketing at the cause of all this death, Andre missed the shot being fired as his feet hit the concrete to give him support for his next action. As he did, Andre was able to see as Bolt turned around and his eyes locked on. Those red, full of death eyes that stared into his golden ones. Fist cocked back; Andre pushed every ounce of power he had left into this blow. Something telling him it wouldn't land, not physically, but that even if it didn't it could still do something. The air seemed to ripple around his fist as he sent it forward towards Bolt's face, and then everything went black as the electricity jumped out and struck him.

[Enh. Strength x1 Strenuous, (0/25)]

[Ind. Flight x1 Basic (12/25)]

Blood Bolt

Those golden eyes, that 'holier than thou' demeanor. Those fucking spandex. Bolt's mind was moving faster than he could keep track of, but he knew what was coming. He reacted instinctually, his hand flashing out and the energy coursing through his veins as it launched out and into the neck...Fuck I was aiming for his perfect sun-shiny heart off the little puppet in front of him. A grin started to form as he watched the energy hit the so-called hero. A grin that promptly stopped forming as the blast of air caused by Victory's fist hitting him in the face with much less power than intended. It was, by all account, a slightly stronger than normal punch as it met his nose and mouth. That was, it was only that until the blast of air hit him to causing him to stumble back as well.

[Manip, x1 Normal, (31/40)]

[Enrg Morpher R2, (9/15)]

Storyteller

Bolt was shaken. Victory's punch hadn't fully connected or followed through, but the power of it produced enough of an air wave that it actually forced the man back a few steps. The connection also produced a bloody nose and busted lip which started to drip blood onto the concrete. At the same time, the tranquilizer in Bolt's system would slowly start taking effect. If AERI could hold out, this could be over. Victory was not as lucky. Hit in the neck with the red energy, his body flew back onto the ground with a sickening thud and slide. Luna and Unbreakable would have seen from their position that the energy seemed to go into his neck and down and out his arm into the ground. They could also see from their positions that Victory wasn't moving...

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Storyteller

Outside, both Laslow and Ari would hear the crack of thunder as the warehouse momentarily lit up red. This would barely be noticed, as Laslow was already moving under the cover of his newly made mist. The gangsters would prove a bit--keyword--too clever to all reload at the same time. But Laslow's expertise and focused ears would allow him to target another one, two, three as they reloaded before the majority reopened fire on his position. Ari, for his part, did in fact shake the ground enough to cause the well-armed gangsters to stumble. Look, you try walking when the ground is rippling under your feet and then come talk to them. Granted, these gangsters couldn't all talk considering some of their jaws were fractured as a stone arm clotheslined them in the face and promptly knocked their asses out. The other two gangsters ran back to cover and started taking shots at Ari with higher caliber weapons. And then, from the side of the Warehouse, gunfire came and laid into the gangsters, causing them all to drop. It was Laslow the extrication team reached first.

New Victoria Police

"You're with AERI? Sorry, dumb question considering you're shooting those fuckers. We need to get these guys to medical, but we will give you all the cover and distraction we can as we do. Kick their ass, hero."

Storyteller

The SWAT member that spoke to Laslow didn't let another word in as the team started to open fire and make their way along the edges back towards the Command Center. While they did, the remaining 18 or so gangsters were either pinned down or very distracted. Finish them off, heroes.

Laslow the Boogeyman

Grinning from beneath his mask, he nods toward them to confirm understanding. Heh, seems the normies aren't all bad. With all the gangsters holed up and pinned down, he decided now was the time for an explosive finale for them. Concentrating on the well of fire energy within him, he channels it between his hands, willing it to grow hotter and hotter, despite the rain. Hotter H̵̛̾o̷̅͗t̷̄̽t̴̛̎e̸͓̅r̷̓̏ H̵̛̾o̷̅͗t̷̄̽t̴̛̎e̸͓̅r̷̓̏ Fueling the flames with unholy malice and the intent to either roast normies alive or outright detonate an explosion to blow their bodies asunder, he focuses on making the forming ball of fire in between his hands burn at 400°... 800°... 1000°, until his hands feel the intense heat radiating from the ball of intense flame, then pushes even further until he can feel his energy being poured into this volatile weaponized ball of fire. D̴͛̕İ̸̓Ë̷̾! With that final thought, he pushes the flame orb of doom with sheer force of will like a slingshot throwing a superpowered incendiary grenade over the gangster's barricades and willing it to detonate amidst their ranks.

[Fire Generation (Borrowed), Normal x2, -6EP (7/15)]

[Fire Manipulation (Borrowed), Normal x1, -3EP (4/15)]

Geb

Meanwhile, on the other side where Geb faced away from the fire, the extraction team hadn't quite reached him yet, but they seemed distracted enough by him. Firing round after round after round from their higher caliber guns, they chipped away at the rocky form of Geb bit by bit. He felt the impact of each and every one, hearing the cracking and chipping against his stony exterior. Is this how I'm going to die? The morbid thought sent a surging chill deep within his bones, his chest tightening as his fear grips his heart. He hesitates for but a moment before a bullet hits a particularly weak point in his rocky exterior, causing a loud CRACK to permeate his thoughts, the single sound snapping his thoughts away and leaving a blank stillness. No. I'm not gonna die here. I'm a fuck-mothering HERO! He wills two chunks of stone to erupt on either side, a veritable tower shield of rock for each arm, as he slams his arms against the flat bits of the shield, molding them to his rocky arms for stability and raising them up in a V-type plow formation before charging towards the line of gangsters that oppose him, patching up the marks made by the assault on his rocky form. As he approaches his destination, he pivots unsteadily and throws his stone shields one after another, willing them to dethatch from his arms before they sail towards a group of gangsters each before engaging the group in front of him, missing them entirely from the lack of coordination. He opens up by attempting to swing at the few heads in front of them and follows up with a stumble from his less-than-gossamer advance, shortly after regaining his balance. Stomping to assert his will into the earth with the last of his power, he causes it to crawl up and harden around as many remaining gangsters as he could, making solid, stony prisons around their bodies, leaving their heads exposed. Reeling from the rush, and the sudden lack of strength, he drops to his stony knees, panting and gasping with shaky breaths. The SWAT and NVPD would see a haggard, beaten up and exhausted form of stone sucking in ragged gasps of air.

[Earth Manip., Basic x6, Minor x1 , -1EP (0/15)]

[Earth Morpher, Minor x1, -1EP (1/15)]

Warehouse Main Floor

Sloane Whittier

The adrenaline coursing through her system let her watch the rapid succession of events as if they were in slow motion. Her heart skipped as Victory flew off to the side of the room, but she couldn't take her eyes off Bolt. She knew her team would take care of Andre, she just hoped they could get to him in time. But Bolt... he was finally off balance, hurt, hopefully caught off guard. If there was ever going to be a moment, it was now. She would not waste the opportunity that Andre gave them. 'It's about to go down.' Using the momentum of the punch and his unstable steps, Sloane remembered their practice session. She wrapped a force around Bolt, pinning his arms to his sides and locking his legs in place, just as she had done to Andre that day at the warehouse. She gave weight to the force, not unlike like linking a huge anchor to his back, making it heavier and heavier as she tipped him backwards until he would hopefully hit the ground. She grabbed some of the debris from the fight and started pulling it towards them, careful not to hit anyone in-between. She would use it to pin him down if she could. 'Isaac, we have him, we can bring him in. Help me get him under control. We can do this. We can bring him out alive. We can see justice done. We can be better than him.'

[Manip, x1 Strenuous, x1 Normal, -18 EP, 7/25 EP]

Inferno

Sloane's words echoed in his mind alongside the shock of seeing Andre being thrown back like a rag doll. As far as he could tell through the fiery in his eyes, most of the team was out of the fight or preoccupied. It was just Sloane and Isaac against the city's greatest threat, but Sloane's words... she was right. Victory had given them an opening, and Sloane was capitalizing on it as best she could. The thoughts of Mr. Akira's death and the images of his lifeless body on the floor permeated Isaac's mind. But what followed were some of the last words he ever heard from his teacher, about the importance of control and concentration, of a clear mind and a good heart. ’Ahh, FUCK.’ In a final yell, Isaac unleashed a stream of hot and heated flames towards Bolt. The fire curled around the telekinesis of Sloane, and with Isaac’s other hand he manipulated the flames to close around and further ensnare the psycho - essentially, Sloane’s hold but visible and fire. Slowly, Inferno willed the flames to burn hotter and brighter in an effort to subdue and knock out his foe without actually fighting him but from sheer heat exhaustion or heat stroke. It took his all to keep calm, but by now the floor was no longer distinctly hot and the air around Isaac was no longer burning with the flames of anger. Once the flames were enough to form another layer of confinement the flame hero ceased to produce them and simply manipulate and control them to his will. ’Sloane, understood. If we can keep him in there, he’ll pass out from heat stroke. I want to be better than him, no matter how much I want to beat the shit out of that psychotic smile. Too many people have died already. I just hope Andre is ok.’

[Manip. x1 Normal, -3 Ep, 15/25 Ep]

Mecha Loli

As the portal closes and the scene unfolds before her, she suddenly takes in everything that happened. Ranga was not moving, and neither was Andre... No, no, no, no, no.. the word kept repeating in her head, a denial of the worst-case scenario ever present in her mind. In a split-second decision she suddenly drops to her knees and brings her hands together once more, as if praying to some higher being. She begins to speak, her words filled with desperation, and the familiar glow appears around her hands once more. This time she speaks in English, though her words still carry the same strange distortion as her previous summons. In fact, the distortion seems to be worse than normal, almost making her words unintelligible. "Pɾҽԃαƚσɾ σϝ ʅαɳԃ αɳԃ ʂҽα, ρɾσƚҽƈƚσɾ σϝ ƚԋҽ ɯҽαƙ αɳԃ ϝɾιҽɳԃ σϝ ƚԋҽ ʂƚɾσɳɠ! I ƈαʅʅ υρσɳ ყσυ, ɯԋσ ԃҽϝҽɳԃʂ ƚԋҽ Sαɳƈƚυαɾყ, ƚσ ҽxƚҽɳԃ ყσυɾ ʂԋιҽʅԃ ƚσ ԃҽϝҽɳԃ υʂ αʂ ɯҽʅʅ! Sυɱɱσɳ: Bҽαƚɾιƈҽ!" A circle of light like the one that Ranga came out of appears behind Luna, though this one is much larger with a circumference of 10ft. Unlike her previous summons though, this portal flickered sporadically and shifted position ever so slightly with great frequency, making it seemingly vibrate. This instability was a clear sign of the young girl pushing up to her limit and attempting to break past it, and regardless of whether she was successful or not, it would drain her of everything she had. Almost immediately she begins to feel weary and starts to fall forward, her last words before falling mostly unconscious being “...save them..."

[Transporter: x1 Strenuous (Limit Break), -15 EP (0/?? - 0/15 if Unsuccessful 0/25 if Successful)]

Storyteller

Out of the portal, unstable and breaking even as the seconds twist by, the creature is able to make its way out. As soon as its last foot hits the ground the hold this dimension has begins to call it back to its plane. Slowly though, giving it enough time to assist.

Mecha Loli

The creature is tall, 8 or 9ft, and nearly as wide. It has six prong-like legs (three on either side), a tail reminiscent of a scorpion stinger, and two arm-like protrusions which at first appear to be some sort of mounted cannons but quickly reveal themselves to be hard light emitters which generate claws made of hard light. The creature is more intelligent than the other machines summoned by Luna so far, with this one being almost comparable to a low intelligence human being... Meaning this scorpion-crab hybrid machine is sentient and sapient, only with its core desire being to protect its home and its caretakers. Save. the thought crossed its mind as it comes through the already shattering portal, almost as if repeating after Luna. Protect. it extends the thought as it scans the room. Finding Luna and Andre on the ground, it scans both of them for basic vitals. Charge critically wounded, moving to protect. The thoughts run through its mind as it notices the vitals for Andre (or lack thereof), almost sounding like a robot announcing its actions to anyone that might try to read its mind. If able to get close to him, Beatrice grabs Andre gently with its tail which opens up to form a sort of grabbing claw, then places him within a compartment on its back. Once Andre is secured, Beatrice would do what it could to help subdue Bolt while prioritizing protecting the unconscious Luna and any others who might find themselves unable to defend themselves. Meanwhile it wirelessly patches into the police communications through Luna's equipment to send the following hasty request for medical aid to the headquarters: "ONE OR MORE CRITICALLY WOUNDED, MEDICAL ASSISTANCE REQUIRED AT <Warehouse Coordinates>."

The ground around the warehouse shook, but both men didn't pay it much mind given they were trying to catch their breath. Around them laid the bodies, broken or worse, of the gangsters that had tried to take them on. Laslow's fire grenade barrage had shaken--and killed--a significant portion of the gangsters remaining in cover. While Geb's 'not so insane this time' attack had dispatched the remaining single gangsters left. A few had gotten away, though not for lack of Laslow trying to pick them off. And now the sounds of sirens could be heard approaching their position from down the street in the direction of the Command Center. Neither man had a chance to say anything to one and other, because it was then the red bolt of electricity fell from the sky like the spear of god into the warehouse, forcing both to shield their eyes. In their minds, both thought the same thing. This is it. With Laslow adding a few choice words to that sentence.

Warehouse Main Floor, The Wards

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

“Hey there’s still someone upstai-“ Aloy was suddenly picked up and placed outside with Victory and he softly out Luna down, everything had gotten fuzzy, but he tried his best to do as the robot said beginning to do the compressions to the beat memorizing it. “Please stop playing that song now is not the time! And what do you mean Nearly? Is that a compliment? Y’know what I’ll ask later! It’s Unbreakable by the way.” Aloy went quiet after that. His vision was only filled with a blur the pain was getting to him and he kept the compressions going. If you die on me, I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you. Finally find someone with powers close enough to me and they die would be just my luck. Live you golden fuckwit.

Inferno

Gashes and wounds littered Isaac's body as he limped himself back up on his feet after the explosion. The warehouse was in utter ruins and not many others were on their feet. Aelin was busy with the rock person that he never caught the name of, but everyone else was either out for the count or not there. 'Please tell me Andre is alright.' All these thoughts crossed Isaac's thoughts like the ceaseless rain outside - but his eyes remained fixated on the body of the man who had been his nightmares, his anger, his sadness, his worries and his troubles for the last month. The flame hero didn't know what to feel: relief at the thought of him potentially being gone for good; sadness at the thought of another lost life; or sweet revenge for the killing of his teacher and the countless others dead at his hands. Slowly, Inferno walked cautiously to the body. Greg was still nowhere to be seen, but what was important was securing the immediate area. One of his arms and hands was clutching the wound in his abdomen since it reopened slightly while the other was lit aflame with fire in case he needed to knock Bolt unconscious again. As he got closer, Isaac could see the damage to the surrounding floor and the blacked charredness where Bolt once stood. Once 6 feet away from him, Isaac would imbue a little flame on the floor to trail and make its way right under Bolt's nose to check for movement of air and breathing. No way in hell was Isaac getting any closer than he had to. "Please, for the love of god tell me you're unconscious."

[Manip. x1 Basic, -0 Ep, 3/25]

[Imbue. x1 Basic, -0 Ep, 5/15]

B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E.

"Maintaining playback of the song during the entire process has been shown to help maintain optimum timing, increasing the chance for survival by an additional 3%." the robotic voice replied to the notion of stopping the music, then immediately answered his other question. "Both sets of biomechanical components show an overall variance of less than 5%." She intentionally chose to leave out any indication of who's 'components' were measured more highly. Suddenly, Beatrice begins to feel herself pulled more violently back to her home. Fighting against it as the pull grew stronger and stronger, one of the six legs begins to flicker in and out of existence until eventually the lower portion of the leg flickers out completely, leaving the remaining upper portion seemingly severed and sparking. Seconds later the process begins on another leg, but she was determined to do all she could to stay as long as possible. Quickly, she checks the progress of the EMS teams' arrival and attempts to relay the information to Unbreakable as the pull of her home world becomes too great to resist and the machine seemingly fades from reality.

Aloysius ‘Aloy’ Fumi

“Uhhh I’m gonna presume you’re meant to do that? Is Luna gonna be fine too or should I start doing compressions on her too?” Aloy asked looking over to the rapidly disappearing Beatrice. Admittedly he was trying his best. But he’s also got a robot playing “stayin’ alive” while from wherever the fuck it’s from us trying to pull him back while “saving” victory. It’s a bit of a chaotic mess for him mentally at the moment and he can’t really thing anything….except AH AH AH AH STAYIN’ ALIVE

B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E.

"Beatrice was not meant to be here yet but master’s desire was strong, I suppose; Master only needs time to reboot. Continue the mission, Fleshli-... Unbreakable, save the golden one or Master will be sad, I-" Beatrice's words were shaky and unstable as she responded, her body almost entirely returned to the Barren World, and eventually her words, and the music, are cut off as the process finishes.

Warehouse Outskirts, The Wards

Geb

Barely able to catch his breath and almost blinded by the arc of red lightning streaking down into the warehouse before shaking the ground with a thundering BOOM, he rises shakily to his feet, almost stumbling his way over towards the warehouse, panting and almost wheezing from lack of energy as he makes his way into the Warehouse Main Floor, ready to help however he can.

Laslow the Boogeyman

But not before Laslow had a chance to intercept Geb. "Hey, are you sure you want to go in there, big guy?" He says after running over, thrusting his arm out across Geb's chest as if to hold him back while sneakily absorbing the ability of earth manipulation and rock form, as well. "If the thunder head is still alive, you're sentencing yourself to death." [Current borrowed power roster

Earth manipulation
Elemental form (Earth)

Geb

Brushing the stranger's arm away, he replies haggardly in between heavy breaths "I need... to be there. I'm part... of a team, and if I can... make a difference... I will do... everything I can... to help." He continues on, ignoring this stranger as he continues on his path.

Laslow the Boogeyman

"Your funeral." He says, almost with a hint of anger as he watches Geb trundle on, like a good little soldier. I fucking hate people with a sense of duty. Turning away, and not wanting to be questioned by police any more than he needs to, he wills the ground beneath him to spring up, slingshotting him closer to his vehicle in henry, and adopts a more jagged, spiky elemental form before landing.

[Earth Manipulation (Borrowed), Minor x1, -1EP (3/15)]

[Elemental Form (Borrowed), Normal x1, -3EP (0/15)]

Storyteller

Geb is able to make his way unstopped into Warehouse Main Floor, while Laslow is able to make it to Henry proper without being stopped by police.

Henry, The Wards

Laslow Karivatz-Briggins

Careening across the sky and landing in the proper a few hundred yards away from his car, his form just starting to fade as he feels his power leave altogether, he rises from a cannonball landing and cracks his neck as he walks back to his car, tired and starting to unclip the magazines from his firearms, leaving on the chamber of each pistol in case. The voice is finally quiet. Finally quiet. He smiles from beneath his mask, it seems he will finally have a small moment of peace, not noticing if there was anyone near, tunnel visioned while going to his car.

Warehouse Main Floor, The Wards

Sloane Whittier

Her eyes flickered open, and she was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. She laid there just blinking for a moment trying to piece everything together. 'Where am I? Oh wait. Never mind. Okay. Just sit up, lady.' She started lifting herself up and the room swam. 'That can't be a good sign. Possible concussion. No biggie. Just a regular day at the office. I need a new office.' She decided to push through it and keep moving upwards until she could either see straight or pass out trying. It took her a few moments, but she stabilized enough to get to her feet. She didn't trust herself to walk so she used her mind to do what her legs couldn't. She checked on everything and everyone she could. Tendrils went out to Bolt, Luna, and Andre first. She tried to feel for them, hear them, sense them. Something, anything that would tell her if they were alive and if so, just what shape they were in. After them, she'd check on the rest of the team, but she knew these 3 would need the most. 'Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead.' was all that kept going through her mind as she searched for them.

Storyteller

As Isaac's flames flick the dust under Bolt's nose, a small whiff of air causes it to move. The man was breathing, shallowly and weak, but breathing. Sloane would confirm this as the 'sounds' of a blacked out, but alive, brain reached her from Bolt's position. The man was in fact alive, just out. Whether it be because of the tranquilizer, exhaustion from his powers, the heat overwhelming him, or some sort of combination was unknown. But they had him. They finally had him! Aloy, meanwhile, was alone, outside, hands compressing on the chest of Victory as he mentally sung the song as he worked. There was no change in the man beneath his hands, and when Sloane's tendrils of thoughts reached him, they returned nothing. Aloy was too preoccupied to notice as the EMT's arrived and ran out of their vehicle with their kits. They took in the situation and acted quickly and professionally. They checked for a pulse and lifted eyelids as Aloy worked, and quickly removed a portable AED device. "Ramp it up to max, this guy looks like he needs more. I had to press hard as hell to feel a vein." One of them said to another. The other waved Aloy back, and only waited a half second before yelling out Clear and shocking the body. Victory twitched, and the EMT checked again. "I--I got it! Weak but I got it. Let's go, we need to get him out of here. Kid, Hey, Evo! What's your name? Does she need help?" Pointing to Luna's form, the other EMT had called over a few arriving officers to help him load up Victory. It was then Sloane would hear and see a flicker, a momentary glimpse into Andre's mind before it went dark, like Bolt's. Her reaching out to Luna would find the girl more active, proven by her stirring and slow awakening before the EMTs and Unbreakable. Geb walked into the warehouse to find the chaos and was quickly followed by police officers that started to arrive and secure the scene. The flood gates had been opened, and one office found Sloane and told her and Inferno quickly "Media will be here soon, FYI."

Sloane Whittier

Her chest loosened a bit as she felt each one of them respond to her touch. Coughing ravaged her body as it fought to catch her breath. She'd been holding it without realizing it. Putting a hand on her chest, she concentrated on the feel of its rise and fall while she tried to regain her composure. Nodding wordlessly, she waved a thank you at the officer as they told her about the media. She ran the numbers real quick and realized she needed to get out of here. Soon. She called Isaac over to her, not wanting to shout and trying to reserve her energy as best as she could. "Isaac, stay with Luna and the others. Help clean up and look after everyone. Get contact information for those that helped us today if you can. Evos, I mean. I'll look into them later. I'm going to hitch a ride to the hospital with Andre and Bolt. Someone should be there with them. Meet us there when you can okay? Oh... and keep the grandstanding to a minimum if you talk to the media. Don't comment too much if you don't have to. Just... be careful."

Geb

"I'm... huff here... puff where... huff Oh..." he utters breathlessly from sheer exhaustion, his stony shoulders rising and falling with his breathing. Seeing everyone inside, Bolt (or who he assumed was Bolt, from not having seen him at the gathering of AERI at the Henry proper) on the ground and unmoving. "Is that?... aw, jeez... is it over?... did... we win?" He awaits a response before assuming his normal shape, looking around to confirm as police swarmed to secure the area.

Inferno

The flame hero nodded at Sloane's words as Bolt was restrained and taken away alongside Andre. Everyone else was hurt in some way, and the EMS team was looking after all of them. Isaac himself was pretty banged up, but that didn't stop him from telling an officer to get him Unbreakable, the one who did compressions on Victory up until the medical team arrived. Turning back to Geb, the adrenaline Isaac had been fueled by for the last hour was starting to fade away. His pain began to return slowly, but he had to see this through. "Yeah, we won. We actually won." Inferno smiled, a broken and exhausted smile, while giving a thumbs-up. "Take a nap dude, you've earned it. I'll handle the rest from here." The ordeal of actually handling the clean-up and the media hadn't quite hit Isaac up till that point, given that he was always used to Andre leading and being in the limelight. 'I'm... I'm the one who's going to be on TV tonight. Fuck.' Isaac took deep breaths, calming himself and letting his nerves die down. He fought Bolt twice, lived, and actually defeated him alongside the rest of his team. 'What's a pack of reporters got on me?' Isaac thought as the pack itself was seen in the not so far distance, heading his way.

Warehouse Top Floors, The Wards

The upper floors were empty, except for the blood stains on the floor from where the officers were held. The interference that had plagued Sloane for so long was gone, something she noticed in the back of her mind but couldn't pay more attention to with the thoughts of the injured Luna and critical Andre on her mind.

Isaac sighed, feeling relief as the last of the stitches were finished. “Well, Laslow, we got the name. Nothing we can do about it right now. I recommend getting yourselves checked out and then heading out. You’ll both probably be hearing from Sloane soon. Otherwise, good fight guys. We won.”

Storyteller

Eventually, as the AERI team started making their way outside, and the police started taping off the scene, the warehouse died down except for the designated reporter from each major media station. The reports would carry on through the entire day and into the next. But the worst was….finally over?

Henry, The Wards

Storyteller

The next hour and change went by in blur of red and blue lights streaming into Henry. The police, fire department, EMTs, and then black painted SUVs and Vans rolled off the highway and into the district that had never seen this much police presence in its entire existence. Officers went door to door to make sure people were okay. Civilians that had minor injuries from shrapnel were tended to on the sidewalks. Gangsters were covered in white sheets or stuffed into unmarked vans for transportation to who knows where. Then came the convoy with a simple marking. EHEA. It rolled past the police barricade and towards the warehouse, stopping almost everyone who locked eyes on the most divisive Governmental Agency. The Evolved Human Enforcement Agency. The agency that so many Evos had avoided for their entire lives before New Victoria became a sanctuary city.

Type

Record, Historical

Medium

Digital Recording, Text

Authoring Date

July 11, 2021

Authors