By the time the heroes retaliated, a couple of Arachnos soldiers had broken ranks and sprinted into the main yard where the prisoners were still trying to board the remaining troopships. They had been sent by Captain Sullivan to recruit whatever villain they could to help defend the break-out. Of course, Sullivan didn't expect much a response, given how the definition of a villain was to look out for one's own self first and other people almost never. He didn't get much more time to think before the world exploded.
Or, at least, thats what it seemed like when the earth and rock erupted into the air all along the Archnos line. Phantasms assaulted both mind and body while heroes who had crept around under stealth suddenly attacked from the rear. Sullivan himself was targeted by a psychic as an image of his wife appeared in front of him, just like the day when-
No! They won't get me that easily!
"Hold your ground! Ignore anything that scares the crap out of you and concentrate on the capes in the rear! Take them out and all these illusions and summons will vanish!" Sullivan roared over the screams and gunfire.
Taking his own advice, Sullivan turned his sights upon a hero who had clambered up on a rock to better control her pack of fire imps. A long burst from his chain gun cleared up that problem and weeded her out of the gene pool as well.
Serves those capes right for being so stupid as to expose themselves.
Blocking a sword thrust with his left arm armor, Sullivan broke it in half with his right hand and strode into melee combat, green energy wreathing his Shivan arm.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((OOC- Sorry for being gone so long, I have been pretty busy.))
Iron Fist stood in front of Vim, sending persuasive thoughts into her head. His plan must not fail. She was an intergral part of this plan. If she came, she could have her very own group of trained soldiers to kill things with. She might even get what she's always wanted- Fist's persuasive powers that were drilling into Vim's head were inturruppted by the sounds of explosions, screams, and battle shouts. He turned around in time to grip a charging Longbow by the neck and slam the warrior into the ground.
"It looks like this small escape has turned into a battlefeild." Iron Fist didn't care. He would enjoy this battle, just like he enjoyed his previous ones. It was part of being the Avatar of War. He abandoned Vim and Silver Skull. He had had his revenge with the traitorous fool. Besides, even if he was left here, he would still never be able to escape on his own. Fist's spell made sure of that. And he was pretty sure that the mind powers that he had sent upon Vim would persuade her to follow him into battle. Even if she didn't, he could always try again. There was always another chance.
Fist lept through the wade of Longbow, slamming into them at random. There was only one place he wished to be, and that was the very middle of the battle. He got to a tower and dug his metal fingers into it. He started climbing to the top, blasting an enemy sniper as he did so. When Fist made it to the top, he looked down. There were hundreds of heroes, all of them doing a magnificent job. Until now.
Iron Fist lept down, right into the middle of the opposing force. He crushed a 'Blaster' as he did so, and created a devastating explosion to destroy the part of the heroes that wer closest. He looked from side to side until he saw the two who he wanted to. "Hello Physic, hello Hidden, welcome to your destruction."
Vim screamed in frustration and followed after Iron Fist, preferring the battle to staying with Bounty Killa. She wasn't going because she wanted to help him, she just wanted to kill some heroes and work off some anger. Right?
She climbed up the tower after him, creating grooves with the sheer force of her fingers. She wasn't going as fast, and she almost fell when a hero Fist had blasted fell into her, but she made progress. She saw it was better to stay behind soon as Iron Fist seemed to explode for a moment, sending heroes flying or simply obliterating them. And then the overlord spoke, and Vim was shocked to hear who he adressed. She'd seen them on Lord Dire's footage, too. Physic and Hidden were not easy foes, but she bet she could could them.
"I take care of some heroes, you give me power!" Vim shrieked as she jumped at the nearest hero, a scrapper with long thorns coming out of his joints, and slammed her fist into his face. He stumbled backwards, and she didn't relent, just proceeded to snap several of the spines in half and kick him hard in the chest. She was delighted to hear ribs snap under the blow. Her vision began turning hazy, everything became a field of red. She didn't know what was happening to her, but she had never been so feral before. Or so freaking happy to be so feral.
Vim laughed and pounced onto a tanker who was alight with bright flame, then proceeded to yank his head all the way around with a wicked smile. She leapt off him immediatly and jumped onto a controller who had somehow gotten too far in, smashing her head into the ground with ease.
"Paragon will bow to Vim!" the enraged mercenary screamed, empowered with the blessings and madness of the God of War. Flames errupted around her, the earth shot up to block her path, ice encased her, but it was all just so much annoyance to fuel her bloodlust. She broke through the flames, smashed the rock, and flailed around with such strength the ice around her went flying off in wickedly sharp shards, sending several heroes to the hospital simply due to the icey debris.
Aftert he freed himself from the catwalk, Lord NightBlade went to part of the prison yard where few heroes had ventured. Arachnos soldiers were highly trained and well equipped to fight heroes, but Recluse tended to train them to fight certain hero profiles. Fliers were typically blasters or defenders, while melee oriented scrappers and tankers tended to be jumpers. Thus they didn't expect NightBlade to come streaking at them bare inches from the ground, tritanium katana drawn. The soldiers fell like wheat before a scythe as he swept thru the prison yard. Then he shot upward, looking fore more assault helicopters and dropships to take down.
The scene that greeted him was something out of the lowest depths of hell. Rioting prisoners were beating the pulp out of guards. Flaming wreckage from copters and dropships was scattered throughout the yard and a massive group of heroes was leading a coordinated assault on the Arachnos positions, going head to head with the big fellow with the cybernetic implants, who had just proclamed himself Wolf Spider Warrior. The remaining Arachnos air support appeared to be in full retreat after suffering heavy losses.
NightBlade decided that the void left by the retreating copters should be filled, and he knew just the right way to do it. The news earlier that day reported that the carrier USS Enterprise was off the coast of Rhode Island field testing two squadrons of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. What better way than to pit them against Arachnos? He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number of a friend in the Department of Defense. "Hello, Admiral Fisher? It's Lord NightBlade. We have a situation at the Zig."
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
A voice came from behind Lord NightBlade.
"Friends of an admiral, huh? I should be impressed."
NightBlade spun around and came face-to-face with six massive Crab Spider troopers with jetpacks strapped onto their backs hovering in the air behind him.
"The captain informed us that there was a hero in our rear. I don't think we would've found you if you hadn't suddenly attacked those scum. Now then, die!"
The lead Crab Spider flexed his eight mechanical spider limbs and dove at NightBlade, limbs out like a cage. His fellows spread out and moved to encircle the hero in a globe. Judging from their tactics, these guys knew how to fight in the air.
--------------------------------------------
Sullivan wheeled around as two new villains charged into the fray, sending heroes and Arachnos alike flying through the air. Sullivan ducked under a kick from a scrapper and knocked him back with a quick upper cut as the one-eyed villain toppled a guard tower, crushing a hero or two...along with the soldiers that had been fighting them off. This got Sullivan pissed. He was perfectly fine if the battle was ultimately lost and would accept those casualties he had too take in order to win but he would not abide with friendly fire.
"Watch where the hell you're throwing stuff, hot shot!" he shouted to the villain, "You kill any more of us and we're all going back to the Zig!"
And there's no way in hell I'll take another "favor" to get out.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
OOC: If you checked one of Bagle's posts, she says that there are around 70 or so heroes, not hundreds. No way in hell we could handle hundreds.
BIC: The pair of Arachnos soldiers were standing next to the grounded troopship. They seemed to be shouting something about how the villain's rescuers needed help and any able super should go and lend a hand over on the east side of the complex. (Troopship is on the south side)
Archlich looked over and saw in the distance the many bright flashes and glares of an intense super battle taking place. This was the second-to-last troopship here and there were still about 800 inmates milling around. With a capacity of only 200 each, there was never going to be enough room for everyone to fit and Archlich and Kairaishi happened to be pretty near the back of the line.
"A dillema. Either I remain here and force my way to the front, thereby assuring myself a place in the ship but the eternal emnity of all those that I move past or I can aid those who have fought for us, hoping that they will have some means to escape without the troopships." Said the lich to himself.
"My mind is made, I need to collect magical talismens to restore my power and undoubtedly some of those heroes will be users of the arcane arts. I just hope this captain that those two buffoons keep shouting about has an escape plan."
Archlich looked over at Kairaishi, who was looking at him.
"You may come if you wish. Otherwise I am sure that we shall meet again back in the Rogue Isles." he said to the puppeteer.
Muttering words to a spell, Archlich teleported away. The devices still operating in the Zig kept him from teleporting out of the prison grounds but now that he was out of his cell, with the more powerful local teleport blocker, he was able to move about the prison grounds unhindered. Appearing off to the side of the main battle, Archlich chanted a few spells to shield himself and then entered the fight by throwing a powerful energy beam at a hero who seemed to be shielding his comrades.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Bounty Killa followed Vim and Iron fist. You guys ain't leaving with out me. Gideon Spotted Bounty Killa running with Vim and Iron fist. "He's over there!" shadow Wraith Teleported to where the villains were. You aint going no where he said as he teleported in front of them. Gabriel Seraph tackled some of the Wolf spiders Gideon and Xiang Long were surounded by Wolf spiders Gideon Got his sword ready. "On my go, Ready?" With that said Gideon and Xiang began pummeling and slicing some of the Wolf spiders.
Aint going nowhere?! Vim laughed. What is this, cowboy hour?! Im gonna freaking kill you!
She leapt forward angrily, swinging her fist with enough force to send the heros head rocketing off his shoulders. Luckily for Wraith, he could teleport, and disappeared in a flash before Vim could connect. She stumbled into another nearby hero and took the opportunity to give him a vicious uppercut, sending him flailing into the crowd. Her eyes were alight with fiery passion as she turned and attacked again, barely missing the hero again and nearly taking down one of the towers as her fist connected with stone.
(OOC: Id write more for this, but Im not really sure what Wraiths powers are, so go ahead, Gideon.)
Iron Fist made no movement. His plans were working perfectly. He continued to send the spells drilling into the warrior woman. But what goddess should Fist bestow upon her? Hera? No, already taken by Ms. Liberty. Maybe the Norse goddess of Hunting? Yes, that would befit her perfectly. She is an assassain, a person who works to kill, yet with a purpose. And for that sniveling Silver Skull, who was still a part of the plan, he would give the deadliness of Anubis, for he killed without any means, pretty much only for pleasure... The ramblings of plans continued in Fist's head as he waited for one of the two heroes to respond to him.
((OOC- Billyboy, make sure Vim is ready at a moments notice. I have a plan. I won't say it here, because the heroes might hear it. 
))
OOC He was inspired By Batman. he uses fear tactics. He can teleport, Has dark melee and has the concealment pool as well as regeneraton. so can turn invisible and phase shift. he uses all that to make criminals think he is an avenging spirit that can appear anywhere the criminal runs to.
Wraith covered his hands with negative energy and began swinging but Vim blocked his punches Vin then managed to punch him in the jaw breaking it and sending him reeling. Shadow Wraiths' jaw started to heal just as quick as it broke. Shadow Wraith then hit her with an open palm to the chest sending her flying back. I was a world Martial Arts Champion before I became a hero." Shadow Wraith then signaled for Vim to come foward. Bounty Killa then stepped in. Gideon noticed That both of them were goin g to fight Wraith. "Xiang go help Wraith." Xiang then flipped over the Crab Spiders and went to aid thier friend. Gideon was surounded by Crab Spider.. Gideon jumped in the air and wrirled his sword around slicing the Wolf Spiders around him. Gabriel then landed next to Gideon.
OOC: A quick note. The Crab Spiders were only attacking Lord FrostBlade. The other Arachnos are normal soldiers, Wolf Spiders. I think you meant to attack the main group of villains which means that you would have ignored the much smaller fight that was going on up in the skies. Just tell me where your guys have gone and I should be good.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
ooc ok thanks I didn't know. I thought they were attacking all the heroes.
Kairaishi arched an eyebrow, muttering to himself as Archlich went away. "...Uh, fine, then." He raised one hand to sift through the hair poking underneath his hat, staring off after the combat--he couldn't really follow Archlich, seeing as how he had just teleported off willy-nilly, and he had no real intention of charging headfirst while screaming LEEEROOOOY JEEEENKIIIIIINS, or something like that.
...Bah. It was a simple choice, anyway. Head out and get into a fight later, or get into a fight now and have a lot of fun doing it.
Kairaishi raised his hand next to his face slightly, and strings dropped down from the sky, three gray-garbed ninja slowly sliding down from them, their forms completely limp. Crossing his arms, and with a few subtle movements from his head, the ninja quickly jerked up, bending around and flailing comically, then settling down into a fighting stance. One look at their face would reveal that they were not ninja at all--their faces looked to be plastic, with painted-on expressions and features. They were puppets, or as Kairaishi referred them as, "ningyo".
Kairaishi calmly drew his shotgun, starting to head in a wide arc around the pandemonium, his ningyo quickly keeping up with him. He tilted his head from side to side, cracking his neck, taking in everyone's positions...the troopship was on the south, he was at the north, big-[censored] fight in the middle, Archlich on the east, heroes in the air...air? Kairaishi looked up, scowling at all the Defenders and Blasters that were just hovering around, shooting, buffing, and debuffing willy-nilly. Oh, how he would have just loved his bow-and-arrow set right now, so he could bring down those puny weaklings to let others feast on their flesh. As it was, however, he dove behind some rocks, starting to sneak around to the east side, slowly heading over towards Archlich...he didn't really consider the guy a friend, he just knew he preferred to fight alongside a familiar face than a brand-new one. As he made his way behind rocks and debris, he would send in his ningyo suddenly, letting them deliver a few hits and distractions to the longbow heroes, then suddenly dismissing them, causing them to vanish in a flash of blinding, eye-and-lung-irritating smoke. After a while of resting, he would then resummon them behind the rocks and continue his sneaking along. He knew he wasn't doing much. Pinpricks don't often hurt, but they still draw blood. Kairaishi grinned. That's really all he wanted to do. Draw blood, piss some heroes off, maybe draw one or two towards him. If they didn't, well, they'd still be with a decent-enough handicap for another villain to take them down.
His finger flexed around the shotgun trigger, his other hand gently brushing the pump. He almost wished some other hero would try to come over towards him, though, so he could finally test this baby out.
Almost.
A lesser man would have started screaming for Jesus, Allah, Buddah or any other deity to save him from certain demise. As it was, Lord NightBlade took one look at the Crab Spiders circling him in mid-air and said only one thing. "EEP!" The Spiders simultaneously attacked him and it took all of his abilities to evade the most damaging attacks. Cut off in all directions, NightBlade saw only one way out. He went into a rapid spin, throwing his cape out and momentarily confusing his opponents. Then he cancelled his flight and dropped straight toward the ground and out of the ring of Crab Spiders. The timing of this manouver had to be perfect, otherwise he would become a pavement pancake. The ground was quickly apporaching, and at the last possible second NightBlade reactivated his flight abilities and zomed across the prison yard bare inches from the ground.
The Crab Spiders were in hot persuit, firing heavy lasers that often missed their target by a hair's breadth. In the midst of the chaos, NightBlade heard a familiar voice. "Lord NightBlade! Lord NightBlade! Are you still there? NightBlade! Answer dammit!" He'd almost forgotten he had Admiral Fisher on his phone still. "Admiral, I'm fine. For the time being anyway. We have a situation at the Zig, I need you to have the USS Enterprise scramble her new squadrons of F-35s and send them over to provide air support pronto! Arm them with the new X-AS Neurodyne missiles, the ones that can overload the synaptic pathways of super powered combatants and render them unconsious. We need them now Admiral!"
NightBlade hung up and put all of his concentration into fighting the Crab Spiders. He drew his katana and reversed his course, flying straight at the Spiders. Crab Spiders are highly trained soldiers and Lord NightBlade knew that if he wanted to escape the situation he would have to out fly and out smart them. He charged at the Spiders, using his sword as a distraction. With his left hand, he subtly removed and armed two web grenades. He and the spiders flew full speed toward each other in a super powered game of chicken. At the last minute, he spiraled past the Spiders and threw his web grenades at the two leading soldiers. The webbing wasn't enough to bring down the two Spiders, but it was enough to severely throw off their flight pattern, and they crashed full speed into a guard tower. If they weren't dead, they had enough broken and shattered bones to spend 6 months in the Paragon ICU. The remaining four Crab Spiders went into a berserk rage upon seeing the defeat of their comrades. NightBlade taunted them, "Catch me if you can mota suckas!" With that, he flew off, four very pissed Crab Spiders on his tail. He flew them all over the prison yard and gradually worked them toward some high tension powerlines. Weaving in and out of the lines following the black clad hero, the Crab Spiders became entangled in the lines, each cursing NightBlade and swearing vengence. Not one to take chances like that, NightBlade found some heavy duty wire and dropped it onto the lines, completing the electrical circut.
Half of Brickstown lost power.
((OOC: Yay my very own squad of Crab Spiders! Lord NightBlade is a mutant katana/reflexes scrapper for those of you who may not be clear yet. his mutant genes give him is reflexes and flight ability while his swordsmanship is from years of hard training. He's independantly wealthy like Manticore, which is why he can afford the goodies like the shuriken and web grenades))
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
Ruggaso was distracted from his eavesdropping by something he couldn't quite place his finger on. It was only when an explosion lit up half of the sky that he realised - the noises he had casually attributed to the sounds of riot had been growing steadily louder and more violent. Something big was going down. He had to see that it was.
Without a word to the Villians surrounding him, Ruggaso thundered arcoss the prison yard, picking up speed and velocity, untill he reached that perfect point: He bounded straight into the air and streaked over the prison wall, a tail of sparks and fire marking his passage. ((Ever see someone with SuperSpeed -and- Superjump? Yeah. Like a comet.))
The tanker landed in the middle of a skirmish between a lithe scrapper and a hulking Arachnos. Rugg stuck a flaming punch into the soldier's helmet, and the man folded over, screaming and clutching his melted face. Rugg kicked him heavily in the spine, and the man was teleported to the hospital.
he nodded at the staring hero, then lumbered off to do what he could. Ruggaso didn't have to fight fair, after all. He was no hero. Just a convicted killer who had a higher calling and who answered to no one on this planet.
Ah, this was interesting. Very interesting indeed. Strings. And a Ninja?
It was the robed guy with the silly hat who owned it.. Ruggaso shook his head sadly. He felt no remorse for smashing a puppet - but once he got around to taking out the leader, it would be something to overcome his true identity.
He shuddered violently and launched himself at the nearest - and only visible- doll-thing, punching it's porclin (?) face with flaming fists. He gripped the supporting strings with the other fist, hoping that maybe he could burn thorugh them. Unfortunatly, they were re-enforced with some material he didn't recongise, ((I mean, if they were just normal string.. Anyone could just come at them with scissors... lol.)) so he had to do it the old fashioned way. Take out the leader.
His Rugged senses tingling ((haha. Couldn't resist)), the Tanker dropped the half- destroyed doll on the ground, hunting the scene with all his senses tuned for a sign of a horned hat or a slip of robes. Of course he knew that it was Kairaishi - his imprint was all over the stringed contraption. It was just a matter of finding- ah ha!
Rugg lept suddenly and extensivly over the battle zone, landing with an earth-rocking THUMP! some three meters from where Kairaishi sat in hiding.
"Little old to be playing with dolls, aren't you?" Ruggaso growled, joking to make his task a little easier. His body exploded in a whirlewind of heat and fire, and the Tanker crossed the distance before the mastermind could even aim that shotgun of his. He deprived the Villian of the chance to answer by unging at him with rock-hard fists aimed for his chest.
-----
Physic heard her name, and her head turned to seek out the speaker. She was a little surprised as it had mentioned Hidden too, and it had been said aloud - not on the hero-only radio frequency. Her eyes found the speaker, and it took only a short moment for her to realise what this was all to mean. She froze in her tracks as she saw one of the few Villians that she almost respected. His eye glinted dangerously in the firelight and a path of wounded heroes lay behind him. She muttered an explicitive. Then a profanity. Then something about your mother. AND your cousin. Then the first word again.
That was in the two seconds before she breathed to Hidden, who was just as shocked as Physic was - though not as verbal about it.
"Stealth me."
She was immediatly stealthed, the sensation of being stared through was a slight comfort. HIdden dropped into stealth mode along side her, his wavering, shadowed form indicating his position. They slid into the crowd, passing unnoticed by their enemies and allies. Physic doubled back for an instant, right up to Iron Fist's ear.
"I tried to help you." she whispered, before she left in that flash of light that indicated she had teleported away.
She had saved him from Death Row. It was the best she had been able to do - she was only a moderate-class Hero, after all. And he was a notorious Villian. I mean, C'mon. There was only so much a girl could do for a guy like him.
"Hidden, give me numbers. How many do we have left?"
Hidden stopped by a relativly safe-looking pile of rocks, and read the data to her.
"Forty-seven heroes on the field, four of which are in critical - scratch that. Forty-five heroes, three of which are in critical condition. We have seventeen at the hospital, three on the way back... and four are missing altogether. Presumed dead."
".. Christ. And the Power breakdown?"
"Still roughly balanced; most of the ones at the hosp were rangers, though. We've got more punch than squishies on the field."
"Okay, get a hold of all the ones in the medi-tent, tell them to bring as many supplies as they can carry. Especially concentrate on the Blues and Greens. "
"Blues 'n greens, got it. Anything else?"
"Drill it into the remaining fielders that the shields are key. Then get out there and get as many fighters up and walking as you can - divide the healers into three ranks: one for the Punchers, one for the Rangers, and one to patrol."
Physic had already flashed away as Hidden raised one hand in salute, and said smartly "aye aye, Sir!" before going about his duties.
Physic had other things to attend to. She tuned into the local frequency, listening in to the reports.
"Healer down, southeast, need revification.."
"Out of power, kinetics shield failing fast..."
"Pile the ice on that guy - he's not strong enough to shatter it"
"I'm trying, but they keep breaking my concentration-"
Physic shook her invisable head, and spoke reassuringly into her mouthpiece, promising re-enforcements form the hospital as well as lots of supplies. She lent some tips, and many others chipped in as well, offering experienced advice to the front and back lines.
Stalemate.
Physic scanned the ground and the air to see where that Spider-warrior guy had gotten to. There he was, shaking off the holds and immobilises as if they were water. She shuddered as her stealth wore out, and immediatly re-constructed her bubble, downing the last vial of blue-tinted energy she had.
They better show up soon.
Taking on the Crab Spiders left Lord NightBlade tired. He flew over to a deserted guard tower on the eastern side of the prison yard and landed on the roof for some much needed rest. As he was resting his friend in the navy called and informed him that 12 F-35 fighters were 15 minutes from the Zig and that each was equipped with the latest in air-to-air and air-to-ground anti-Super missiles. He surveyed the action in the prison yard and noted that the heroes and villains were in a stalemate despite the heroes' best efforts ((OOC: really a stalemate is all the villains need in order to distract the heroes and allow Recluse's Destined Ones to escape)). Hopefully the arriving F-35s would tip that balance in the heroes' favor.
NightBlade then began thinking of contingency plans in case the Navy wasn't enough. He could have the Air Force come in and start carpet bombing the prison, but that was far too risky for the surrounding neighborhoods and his fellow heroes. He could get the automated defenses back on line, but most of them had been irreperably destroyed allready. Then he had it. He would try to restore power to the prison's cell blocks and reweave the wards in the magic cell block to prevent more villains from escaping. He would need help though. Activating his broadcast headset and the military grade encryption device, NightBlade put out a call to the heroes in Brickstown. "This is Lord NightBlade. I have a plan to stem the flow of prisoners from the Zig, but I'll need help. I need someone with advanced technical skills and a magic user with knowledge of binding wards. Anyone fitting the profile should meet me at the east guard tower in the prison yard ASAP."
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
((It's spelled porcelain))
The stone fist hit Kairaishi like a mace, picking him up and hurtling him straight through the rock he was hiding behind--the rock splintered into tiny pebbles, with a loud cry of pain and surprise from Kairaishi to register that he wasn't quite expecting such a quick attack. His finger had instinctively squeezed the shotgun trigger, but it wasn't aimed at all, and missed Rugasso by a wide margin--maybe several yards. As he was not expecting such a swift and powerful counterattack, the two intact and the one half-destroyed puppets followed their master aimlessly, running right behind his flying form loyally.
Kairaishi soon recovered from the blow, bending over backwards and catching the ground with one hand, pushing firmly and sending himself into a controlled flip, landing lightly into a kneeling stance and glaring over at Rugasso.
Damn. He's fast. Neither my radar nor my ningyo caught him. Hmph...oh well. I won't lose him this time. He tapped the brim of his hat, staring at some diagrams, and then glancing over at Rugasso--overlaying his vision, a red targetting reticle locked on over his form, with Rugasso's name straight above him. Kairaishi frowned and gave a "hm", standing up and running a hand across his sore chest. The armor may have absorbed most of the impact, but getting hit still HURT.
A Tanker...with both fire and stone capabilities. Lovely. Getting set on fire hurts, a lot, and stone is pretty tough to crack through. His hand ran across the shotgun irritatedly. This is, what, the fifth time today I've wished for my bow-and-arrows? I'd LOVE to just bind him down and let my ningyo waste him...
He let the shotgun-holding arm dangle at his side, his other arm resting in his robe pocket. He tilted his head from side to side, audible snap, crackles, and pops sounding out. "Maybe I am, but I rather enjoy them. They're so beautiful, and yet so helpless--they don't do anything unless you tell them to. They never complain, they never whine, they never moan about how things should be or who should do well. You're free to mix and match and improve or suck-ify them however you want...and they never protest or beg for more. It's very beautiful. Plus, they make great conversation partners." He tilted his head down, shaking his head. "Aahh. I'm rambling. Forgive me. I'm pretty sure you could give less of a damn about my interests."
He suddenly stood up straight, waved one arm, and the injured puppet soon went limp, collapsing against the ground and literally falling to pieces--gears, metal, cloth, porcelain, and springs splattered all over the ground, in a fashion not unlike breaking glass. The strings went up into the sky, and with another wave of his arm, soon came back down with another puppet in tow, limply responding against the string movements, but soon settling into a solid stance in front of Kairaishi, standing stiffly. He then crossed his arms and nodded, all the strings suddenly jerking away from the puppets, flying back up into the sky...to wherever they came from. Considering the puppets didn't instantly fall to the ground when the strings were removed, one could guess that they simply acted as a crutch for until Kairaishi got a firm hold on their control. All the puppets stood in a straight line in front of their master, staring with painted faces over at the horned Tanker, their emotionless eyes boring into him.
Kairaishi simply leaned up against a wall, nodding at the Tanker, twirling the shotgun around in one hand. "Ten bucks says you can't do that trick again."
"Ten bucks says we kill him." came a rasping voice from behind Kairaishi.
Archlich walked up next to the puppermaster and gave him a look before making an arcane gesture. A shield of ice soon encased Kairaishi's body, giving him added protection to the elements that the tanker used.
"Do not think that I abandon my comrades so easily." said Archlich as he readied himself for Ruggaso's assault, "After we are done here I suspect the leader of this attack will want to speak with us. After all, he did promise a ride out."
Off in the distance, the last Arachnos troopship blasted into the air and screamed off into the night.
-----------------------------------------------
"Sir! The last troopship has lifted off! What now?" shouted an urgent voice over the comm. channels.
Sullivan blocked a tanker's punch and retaliated with a knee to the stomach, distracting the hero long enough for Sullivan to respond.
"Activate your teleporters but only use them if you are seriously wounded or if I order you too. If you arrive too soon you can explain to Lord Recluse himself why you left." he said, "All those with extras, search out those who have aided us and make sure they get one. I will not leave them behind after they assisted us."
The tanker had recovered and rushed Sullivan with a flaming sword clutched in his right hand. Green energy once again enveloped his Shivan arm as he grabbed the sword and matched strength with the brawny woman. Suddenly, a spined hero lunged at him from the side and Sullivan's eyes widened because he could do nothing to stop him. The hero had a fierce grin on his face as he slammed into the brute, knocking him to the ground. Sullivan was dazed as one bone spike penetrated his left arm armor and pinned that limb to the ground. Raising his other arm high, the hero said, "This is for Pheonix!" and promptly fell over dead.
Shoving the corpse off of him, Sullivan gave a thumbs up to the sniper that had aided him and glanced coldly at the dead hero's body.
"You talk too much." he said before continuing the fight.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((Hey Bagle, what do ya mean by Death Row? It has me a bit confused. I would really like to know. Thanks.))
Iron Fist watched them go. Their wavering appearance was ignored by everyone else, but it stood out to Fist like red on black. He turned to smash into a hero on his right when he sensed something. Not a small something either. It was Psy and Alpha group. They were coming to get Fist out of there. Fist sneered and said, "It took you long enough. We require help and there are two who need to come with us." Psy nodded and telekinetically sent down an earpiece so he could converse with them easily. As soon as it was over Fist's ear; Psy said, "There are a couple of jets coming this way sir. Requesting permission to fire." Fist simply said, "Permission granted."
The large floating vehical flew away, but not before a dozen troops came to assist Iron Fist. He set off to get to Vim. When he got to her, she was hurteling herself at a small group of heroes. A person in black teleported unknowingly to Iron Fist. Fist caught Wraith by the neck and smashed him into the ground, making a small crater. The hero teleported away. "Vim, it seems that you have embraced the power of the Huntress. You will come with me, to Atlantis, so that you may learn to control this power." Just to be sure, he sent one last spell into her body, making sure she would follow orders. Iron Fist looked around for Silver Skull. This time, he was being beat uo by heroes. Fist shot at them with his eye-blasts. One of the more stupid heroes charged at Fist. The Tankers never give up, do they? he engulfed himself in flames and the Tank tried to get out of the way, but missed. He had run into the great flaming man and immediately caught fire in the mystic inferno. Fist put him out of his misery by snapping his neck. The poor, burnt man teleported back to his base, wherever that was. Skull just layed there, breathing heavily and thanking Fisy over and over. Fist frowned and said, "Don't grovel. It is unhonerable. Get up." As soon as he said, 'Get up' Skull saw green tinted flames healing him. He looked at it in wonder as it re-energized him. "You will now come with me. I require you, and your skills. But remember. Don't try to escape."
Skull shook his head as a meaning of 'Of course not. I would never do that.' Iron Fist--Avatar of War--Incarnate of Ares--smiled strangely and said, "It is time to leave." Imediately, the strange fish-vehical ((?)) appeared before them. Fist allowed Skull to stare in amazement at it as he said to Vim, "We are leaving now. COme with us, and your power will become even greater. Stay with Arachnos, and the power that you experienced here will dissapear forever. It is your choice."
Xiang went to tend to Wraith as Wraith began to regenerate. Bounty killa then Saw a vehicle arrive This one had an eye on it and had the name Grigori on it. Bounty threw a tracking device on her. the doors to the vehicle then opened up. Out of the Vehicle came the vampire Stonecold Marco Ramirez. Fist could sence his psychic aura. "Marco I knew you wouldn't abandon me." Marco smiled as Bounty entered the vehicle Gideon noticed Marco in the vehicle but it was to late. Bounty had left and the vehicle cloaked. "I could never leave one of my best men." Bounty looked at Marco.. There is this woman that I met and could be a good prospect for the right price." Marco looked at the tracker Bounty had in his hand. Then we will convince her to join us." Marco said as he looked at the tracker.
((Gideon... your spelling and grammar require help. And none of what you said has happened yet. let Billyboy decide what Vim does.))
((Gideon... your spelling and grammar require help. And none of what you said has happened yet. let Billyboy decide what Vim does.))
Vims chest heaved with battle lust, her eyes looked glazed over, yet she was more aware of everything around her than she had ever been before. Iron Fist didnt need to cast any spells to convince her, she was absolutely hooked on power. She looked at him with a wicked grin and began laughing as she shoved Skull out of the way and put her arm around Iron Fists, looking into his face with a lustful expression.
More. She said simply.
Yea Blarg I just noticed it I tend to do that when I rush. I was just following after your post. anyway I'll edit it if i still can. anyway wha\t happened to your hobo avatar/ I actually found that one amusing. the corn avatar looks boring. you should switch it back.
((No Prob, Remember, Paragon only sent their best and brightest. We can handle whatever you dish out. But that black-clad figure wasn't /ment/ to be Wolf Spider. I guess it's cool that it was.
))
Physic barely registered what was going down in front of her eyes. The figure that she had so casually held was actually the Villian she had just warned everyone about. Her eyes narrowed. He stomped. Half the front line went down on their backs, all fighting stopped momentarily. Blasters, Trollers and battle-inclined defenders stared death in the face as a row of Arachnos stood and fired.
Physic threw herself into the hard dirt, pulling two others with her. The two female heroes at her side moaned as they connected with the unyielding ground, but Physic knew they were better off down there.
"SHIELDS NOW!" Physic yelled into her mouthpiece. all around her technology clicked, spells were chanted, eyes closed in concentration... And then there was the sound of bullets and bolts of pure energy being expelled harmlessly off of the layered wall of defense.
"'Trollers! hold the enemy at bay! Blasters, get a good aim while they're immobolised! We need some debuffing."
Physic tugged forcefully at the gravity surrounding the arachnos troops - and that brute of a villian. The air became like glue, and a few of the men were pulled to the ground as the gravity overtook them. Physic stood up, striding across the field, scouting out the healers and reviving them the best she could.
"Healers, do your job while the enemy is prone! Get the tanks up and running first, Scrapps can hold out for a bit longer."
As everyone in the back line got to their feet in varying stages of shock, the group of hereos looked very rag-tag and forlorn. Physic stood at the front of the line - in front of the heroes that society had labled "Squishy", and she knew that society was wrong. Under her triple-layered shield of defense, Physic yelled sharply.
"Ladies, Gents. Get your -bleeps- off the ground and get to turning the tide!"
"Yes ma'am!" The air shouted in her ear, and she prodded Hidden in his invisable chest. The man, still in stealth mode, spoke into his mouthpiece.
"Healers, here's a proposition. Y'all get bubbled up, and I'll personally cast you in the shadow of stealth."
Physic smiled. The Villians were in for a fight.
-----
The ground at the arachnos's feet erupted as mountains of stone and ice shot up to incapacitate the soldiers. The air filled with screames as invisable foes held others at bay - haunting illusions cast the the more talented of the controllers. A handful of fire imps danced aorund their feet, chanting and crackling. Jack Frost punched someone in the face. Rings of fire surround the feet of any who were not yet captured.
Arrows, electricity, rains of fire and ice and a few bullets hurtled into the ranks of men defending the prision.
And the healers did their job wonderfully. The army was back, down perhaps fifteen heroes - who would arrive back from the hospitals soon - and, though their opposing force was powerful and numerous heroes fell - they felt as if the tide was turning.