Reishi saw the men and women falling from the sky, landing on cars, street, street lamps, and even phone booths.
She heard a massive, rattling explosion in the distance.
Definately NOT good.
Experiment 2.0 watched the Trolls dully.
They were still strong, yes, but that didn't mean they were any smarter.
He saw the man in red and white huddled over a dying teen hero. And, strangely enough, he got very angry.
Not at the heroes, mind you. No, he was angry at the mage he had just seen decapitated. The mage obviously knew that the hero was weaker, could not put up a fight, but continued stabbing anyway. It was terrible.
But it was better than what was going on down the street.
A gang of Skulls and Hellions were duking it out, but they weren't disappearing, and going to the Zig like usual. No, they were bleeding, dying, shooting each other in the heart, stabbing the other in the stomach, and kicking dead corpses of enemies.
But Experiment was helpless. He could not possibly take them all, not without his powers. Being Security Level 30, if he had his powers, and his armour, he could probably take all of them in about 20 seconds.
Without his powers, he would be dead in 2.
It did lighten his mood, however, that the white and red clad hero was helping to heal the hero. It meant that not everything was lost.
However, when he heard the roar of the rare Kraken, he felt his throat clog with fear... The Kraken, classified as a Giant Monster in the Freedom Corp's files, like Lusca the Giant Octopus in Independance Port, and Babbage, the Clockwork king's pet, it would be a tough battle for anyone normally.
It would be suicide, however, with no powers.
"Hey, hero!" called Experiment, as he pulled out his healing device... Which he then noticed did not work. He put it away and continued. "Do you have any idea who did that?" Then, Experiment pointed to the runes on the War Walls, indicating what he was questioning about.
Stay with me Hurricane Girl pleaded, now realized the mediport for her fallen friend was not coming. How could this happened, just minutes ago they were on a roll with the nemesis goons falling everywhere from his swift kicks and her blast of lighting. he was dodging bullets with ease and she was sending tornados and thunderstorms through the office corridors. Then the lights went out. Through the muzzle flashes and bright blast of lighting Hurricane Girl saw her life long friend take a half a dozen bullets right in the chest.
She held him in her lap now trying desperately to keep him breathing with burst of oxygen. The medical devise she always kept on her side could not help; it had died along with every other electric device in the building.
He choked and spit up a glob of blood, s
sorry...I
ca... and his chest stopped rising.
No, please, no Her tears fell onto his face, and she hugged his body not willing to let go. She sat there for a minute crying in the eye of the hurricane keeping the nemesis at bay. But she knew now what to do, what she wanted to do. Dark clouds erupted into the room and a thunder cracked loud enough to cause every man and beast in the building to cover there ears with their hands. But Hurricane Girl stretched hers out to the nearest foe and sent a bolt of lighting strait to his brain.
Langley's heart lifted when he saw another hero run toward them. He had already been afraid he'd find none able to stand anymore.
"No idea." he replied to Experiment 2.0, "Quick, help me get this guy in the truck before that monster gets here."
Experiment nodded. There was no need for words right now. As Langley opened the trailer, Experiment lifted the teen hero up to him, very surprised at what this guy carried around in his truck.
The trailer was a state-of-the-art medical ward, the walls lined with what appeared to be bunk beds behind some sort of glass. Langley opened one and laid the teen inside, then pressed a few buttons on the controls beside the bunk.
A green light bathed the chamber. Elastic straps gently but firmly secured the injured hero. Even if the truck had to go cross-country, the stresses in these chambers would be minimized.
After he had closed the chamber again, Langley pressed a few more buttons. The teen's breathing seemed to cease. The 'bunk beds' were medical stasis chambers!
"That ought'a tie you over till we get back." Langley said as if speaking to the young hero. Another roar from the Kraken echoed across the zone. Langley turned back to Experiment, "Move it."
The doors slammed shut fast, and the engine roared as the truck sped off, keeping way ahead of the Kraken - incidentally, it didn't even seem to be chasing them.
"Odd." Langley mumbled, looking in the rear-view mirror as the creature turned another way. Then he redirected his attention to the new arrival, "Forgive my rudeness, as you can see things are a bit upside-down right now. By the way, the name's Langley. And boy, am I glad to see someone else alive and kickin'.Thanks for your help, umm..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
An hour later Hurricane Girl stepped out the door of the office building in Independence Port. The City was in total chaos. Buildings were burning and villains and heroes alike were running through the streak with panic in their eyes. She grabs a tank by his utility belt and turns him around. What is going on?
Oh please help me the huge man cries, TV is a ball of flames, ah god I cant even pick up my war-mace, and I thought I heard a Kraken across the bay! What are we going to do?
Go find somewhere safe if you can, Im going towards TV to see whats happened. She tries to jump to the top of the building but all she manages is to fall on her face. Damn looks like Im running again And takes off down the road along the bay.
Experiment turns to Langley, then looks out the window to make sure that nothing was giving chase. "Experiment 2.0, at your service. OK, one simple question. Do you have any idea who did this?"
Experiment just kept talking. He seemed to be the talkative type, but honestly, he just always wanted the "good guys" to have the advantage of intellect, tactic, and power.
"I assumed it was the Circle of Thorns, seeing as there were runes over the Walls, but since they seem to have lost their power too, it could not be them."
Then, Experiment caught himself. "Oh, don't worry about the help. Honestly, what are heroes for? However, with all this equipment, I hardly see how you need help." Experiment, looking back at Langley, realizes something. "...We are going to Independance Port, aren't we?"
Experiment remembered Independance Port, not because it was memorable, no, because of the giant octopus in the water. If Lusca woke up again, there would be hell on the waterfront, and if they were going to IP, he feared he may experience it first hand, and have no way to stop it.
As the heroes discover the madness, they see many of the villains are putting aside differences, and, quite frankly, getting the hell away by boat. They all seemed to be going in the same direction...
---
Hurricane girl sees flying clockwork carrying wounded Lost, Family dragging Skulls from burning buildings, and Crey breaking open cars, only to let Malta into the vehicles with them before roaring off.
---
Langley and Experiment see other groups, but it is clear that those hellions and skulls were uninformed. They rush past a group of Outcast and Circle of Thorns closely trailed by Hellions and Skulls, all running without engagement...
Even Trolls and Tsoo run alongside each other towards the sea...
The site of cooperation between the filth in city made Hurricane Girl feel sick. If these goons could work together the world had really had gone crazy. She let the fleeing villains run, and turn to the looters and arsonist.
She whipped up a quick storm and put out a burning buildings. A group of trolls were backing a shop owner into an ally when she ran by, but a tornado touching down in front seemed to sway their confidence.
They jumped into the bay and swam for the boat already overloaded with family. She summed the worst blizzard she could. The water around trolls began to crystallize and freeze over trapping the trolls. But she turned and saw some malta gunslingers running down a police officer with their car before she could get between them.
There are just too many villains, and not enough heroes left with enough power to stop them. Hurricane Girl thought. She ran on looking for someone to help.
((Wait, what origin is she?))
((mutant, and some natural talents. I could go into the back story but just keep at that for now))
((Okay, but by the way, you have to understand that most villains are running. I mean, not all of them, but pretty much every large group of them you see, especially high-tech ones with good communication, will be running with disregard for loot.))
Hiding in the boat, Apollon continues to observe boatload after boatload of villains. A Vortex Cor Marksman took up his position near the end of the dock. Sizing him up, Apollon smirked. A quiet hand, a stedy bow, and down goes years of training.
Now, the disguise prepared, Apollon began his treck to the heart of the beast, to the Wolfs Throat.
Experiment looked out the window, dazed by what he saw.
"Dear god..." he said, almost to himself, "Where are all the villains going?"
He watched where they were running, to boats out in the water. Luckily, it seemed no giant octopus was coming out to attack them, so they were safe on that front...
However, he got an idea. "Hey, Langley," he turned to look at him. "Do you have anything in this truck which could help me follow those guys? If not, do you have anything anywhere that still works for transport?"
Coldfire ran between the trees dodging acid and muck. The beast had seen them and wasn't happy. "This is Coldfire Kaiser! I'm stuck in Perez Park with two other heroes and we are pinned down by Kraken!" Coldfire yelled into his broadcast unit, "We need assistance! We can't fight him alone!"
Hurricane Girl was now running in what looked to be a deserted part of Steel Canyon. Where all the villains had run off to she couldnt tell, but she could probably guess why everyone else was gone from the area.
By the looks of it something giant had crawled out of the water and left a path of destruction right through Steel Canyon, and into Perez Park. Telephone polls were ripped in half and cars were crushed under some titanic weight.
She picked her way through the wrecked streets, but froze when she heard a terrible roar. There is only one thing which could make a sound like that.
The Kraken had destroyed the gates between the three zones and left dead security, and broken heroes in its wake. Now it was ripping trees from the ground, and tossing them towards three brave heroes trying to fight him back.
Hurricane Girl stretched her arms up to the in front of her and a thick fog began to roll across the park surrounding the Kraken. She ran to a hero who jumped ran through some trees over a jumped over a patch of acid. That will limit his ability to see us for a while, but we have to find a way to stop this thing quick
((ok ok, I can't resist this. One of my other toons has to have his fun))
Sirens Call, another successful run against Longbow. But something was different this time, partway through, Orloc could feel his strength weakening, at the same time Longbows fabled technology stopped working. Left with a shell of his former ability, Orloc turned to his training and instinct, for even tho his Vampyr strength was gone, his training as one of the 5th Columns best was forever with him. Exiting the base, bombs planted, he observed the chaos around him. Then, something caught his eye, police drones laying on the ground near the hero hospital. Behind the mask, the mask he has worn since his first days as a teenager in the Column, sharpened teeth glistened in a smile. His chance was here. A rush at the door, and through into Steel Canyon.
At last, a momentary lapse of security had granted him his fondest wish, a chance to return home.
He cocked his rifle, then a roar greeted his ears...
"Das Kraken!"
Training in effect, Orloc rushed forward, to meet the new threat.
Mrrah'chkkt "Technokitty" Hssihn flattened her ears against her head and crouched lower, thankful for the cover and concelament of the dumpster. She'd bolted into the refuse-strewn alleyway when she spotted the hastily-assembled band of heroes approaching double-time from the head of the block. Headed towards the towering pillar of smoke that maked Terra Volta, no doubt, and probalby too busy to bother with an ailuroform from the Rogue Isles, regardless of how many warrants that catgirl might have outstanding.
Probably. Mrrah'chkkt had never been one to rely on "probably." No, she's always planned carefully. Always devoted a good portion of her incandescent intellect to leaving as little to chance as possible. No, "probably" would never do. She'd let them go by and resume her flight away from what she presumed was a radiactive hell when they were well away.
Her tail twitched in annoyance. Everything had, as was her custom, been planned so carefully. She had delivered the nanofusion attenuators, the product of her remarkable mind (and her growing cutting-edge engineering and fabrication firm, Technokitty Laboratories), to her customer here in Paragon City. Such transactions were, of course, very badly thought of by the authorities in both jurisdicitons. But "heroes" money spent just as well as anyone else's, and besides, she never thought there was anywhere near as much distinction between heroes and villains as some people liked to make out.
She was making her way to the entrance to Pocket D, secure in the knowledge that her thoroughly bogus (but perfect) hero ID would get her through the interdimensional link and back home. She always hated being without her usual escort of combat drones, protector bots, and deadly assault bot - felt naked as a hairless primate without them, in fact - but she was getting used to it. Life was good.
"Was" being the operative term. When the warwalls failed, it had sent a ripple of dread up her spine, her fur standing on end for a moment. Nothing prescient in that: her seemingly innocuous iPod actually contained a broad-range comm scanner, passive wide-spectrum energy emission detector, GPS receiver (and still had room for a good 30gb of tunes...). When whatever happened happened, the little unit just freaked.
She'd known even before she tried that her wrist control unit wasn't going to summon her robotic security...or the "fractal box" on her belt be able to cough up her hot-rodded pulse rifle. And none of that stuff was probably going to work, anyway.
Reaching into a pocket of her black leather jacket for a small piece of smoked salmon, the so-called villain known in the press as "Technokitty" perked up her ears again. The heroes had gone on. The coast was at least relatively clear. She could make her way to the docks, commandeer a small sailboat, and get back to the Isles. She darted out into the street.
And practically ran into another blasted hero! The spandex-clad man-mountain sized her up, made an obvious (and incorrect) assumption about her feline body, and said, "We need your help, little heroine! There's a Kraken rampaging in Perez Park...your claws are some of the best weapons we have left!"
Technokitty blinked in a moment's confusion. Heroine? Help? Claws? She didn't even have claws! She drew in a breath to tell this fool to leave her alone...
And the words caught in her throat. There was something in the man's eyes, a kind of desperation, and a confusion that surely stemmed from someone powerful and capable suddenly being rendered helpless. It struck a chord. She flashed back to her own helpless kittenhood in the labs, a helpless piece of property destined to be disposed of when the experiments concluded. Her desperation to engineer an escape while hiding her intelligence and capabilities from the staff. The fear and uncertainty.
All in an instant, she decided she couldn't flee. Not now. The authorities of two nations considered her a villain. But no one had ever asked her. And she was a cat. She was going to satisfy herself.
She cocked her head to one side, tail lashing furiously. She held up a blunt-fingered hand. "No claws," she replied. "But I have a brain...and it's a pretty good one. I'll think of something...let's go!"
"And in this moment, I will not run.
It is my place to stand.
We few shall carry hope
Within our bloodied hands."
Kraken sudenly threw a tentacle at darkgun, but he and coldfire burned it to a cinder. It tried to hit them again and the trio of heroes dodged the great beast. Running blindly through the forrest, darkgun got an idea. "If you guys can distract it for a moment, I can get out of here and teleport you to safety. I just need a minute to jump to the gate."
"This is Coldfire Kaiser! I'm stuck in Perez Park with two other heroes and we are pinned down by Kraken! We need assistance! We can't fight him alone!"
"Sorry," Langley said to Experiment as he popped the truck into 6-whell and rolled off the road and onto the soft grass of Perez Park, "your pursuit's ging to have to wait. I'm not about to leave someone behind in here, especially with that thing around."
As they neared the giant Kraken, Langley parked his mobile hospital just far enough away so it wouldn't get into the battle, then opened a compartment behind the seat and handed Experiment an assault rifle.
"You know how to handle one of these?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
It had started like a textbook example of heroes at work. Recieving a random request for assistence against a planned Freakshow raid on the reactor, Stellarmare had joined to find a couple she had worked with before. Between the three of them, they had managed to uncover their depths of the Freaks plan and get the others in the team into their rythem. Fighting their way to the reactor was almost boring to the Peacebringer. The first several waves inside the reactor itself, while slightly more pressing due to the team dealing with incursions from multiple access tunnels, was procedding well.
Then things went to hell in a hurry.
The lights flickered and died, leaving the only light in the room eminating from her own Bright Nova form, the flaming hands of the blaster Nuk-m, and the reactor itself. It took her a second to realize that the radiation shields the team was supposed to have were no longer in evidence. Trition, the nanotech tanker was the first to fall under the onslaught off three Freak tanks as his nanodefence just... stopped. Nightengail was next as she rushed to her husband's side and tried to cast her healing spells to no avail.
All around the alien woman, chaos riegned. The Freaks seemed... lesser as well. Several of them just fell over in convulsions, as though the electricity they were so fond of was now running loose. However, they did not stop in their assault, indeed, they suddenly seemed even more desperate and fanatical about it. Slipping into her Dwarf form, both for the marginal resistence against the radiation and to try and pull the Freaks away from the core and her team, Stella stompped and roared at the crazyed cyborgs.
Two others in the team fell quickly. Xhan Xiu, the mystical martial artist suddenly found his armor of shadows gone, and, though his skills still remained, they were unable to make a dent in the heavily armored forms surrounding him. The kid Catain Catasrophy, the youngest member of the team, tried to make a run for the door, but was dragged down by a Jucier Cheif dying from his own voltage.
Then, as though things were not bad enough, the pounding the Freaks were giving to the core casing caused the highly unstable energy core to flicker. Stell's eyes meet Nuk-m's and they wordlessly realized what was about to happen.
They, and the whole island, were about to die.
"Go!" The mutant screamed at her. "You can still survive this! Get out of here!"
<But...> She telepathically tried to protest, but the core failed at that point. A wave of deadly energy washed over the fire-wielder and the Freaks around him. Instictively, Stell shifted her pyhsical matrix into the quantum band and the energy just went through her.
In seconds, she was hovering in the middle of a crater that was once Terra Volta island, the waters of Independence Port already filling it in and extinguishing the fires. And covering the alien's tears as they fell into the contaminated waves.
She wasn't sure how long she sat on the side of the steel frames of Valor Bridge, just looking at the smoke rising from the water and ruins, but it was a voice over her comm that finally snapped her out of it.
"This is Coldfire Kaiser! I'm stuck in Perez Park with two other heroes and we are pinned down by Kraken! We need assistance! We can't fight him alone!"
Wiping her eyes, Stellarmare launched into the air. Greiving would come later. For now, there was work to be done, a city to protect.
And answers to find.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
[ QUOTE ]
"This is Coldfire Kaiser! I'm stuck in Perez Park with two other heroes and we are pinned down by Kraken! We need assistance! We can't fight him alone!"
[/ QUOTE ]
as coldfire said it suddenly the massive form of the Kraken loomed over him. seeming to blot out the lights of the city. As it reared back its massive foot for a bone shattering stomp, it staggered back and roared in agony.
Coldfire almost couldnt believe what he was seing the Kraken was burning and the wet slimy exterior wasnt going out. It was as if the slime had suddenly become flammable and then ignited.
Suddenly a bolt of fire blazed past him and struck the kraken squarely in its massive chest, followed b a series of rapidly fired flame blasts. Roaring in pain and rage the kraken spat a blast of acidic venom towards its tormentor the Red clad woman floating above the fallen heroes. the acid which would have scoured steel splashed off of a blazing aura of fire and plasma that evaporated it before it even got close.
Bale Fire reached out to the creatures flame of life and enervated it infecting it with a cold sickly greenish flame that weakend and slowed it. then she blasted it with a blast of flash fire that disoriented it sending it backwards steadilly.
Finally she delivered the COup de grace. reaching into the very fire of the world she was surrounded in a firey embrace, building up her power she took aim and unleashed an massive inferno of flame. the blast caused coldfire to duck and cover as he could feel the intense heat wave come off of the beautiful young heroine. the Kraken roared in agony then fled into the lake losing it self in the depths to lick its wounds.
Exhausted Bale slumped down to one knee it was her most pwoerful attack and it took a lot out of her shed need to meditate for a little bit tonight to recover.
Turning around she jogged back to where cold was hanging back in cover.
"Hey their are you ok?" she asked the heroes. with out waiting to see if the responded she reached out and felt their inner fire. sensing mostly minor injuries and the disturbing sensation shed been feeling for the last hour or so of something missing. she unleashed a wave of radiant green fire cleasning the wounds and healing the majority of them. then she accelrated their metabolisms whihc would increase their ability to recover faster.
She still didnt know what was going on but she was determined to find out. studying the runes on the warwalls floating aetherically on the dulled energy fields. she had never felt anything like them. she was well studied in mystic languages and runes of all sorts but the origins of the runes escaped her. they had the look of ancient atlantean but stunk of banished pantheon.
Yep she thought gonna be a loooong night
((good start looks like fun))
(( just FYI bales a 50 fire fire fire tank, with a blaster and controller version (fire rad fire obviously)) her origins magic but shes also unique in that shes a mutant from a race of sorcerers. shes an elemental prodigy so she thats why she still has her powers and ps the COT, and BP are looking to use her as a doomsday being 
)))
So you mean you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword; and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?
Dubbed first knight of pep-istan by her majesty Queen Pepcat. first catmonaut to walk onna moon.
PENGUIN!!!...(^)>
...............C(...)D
.................m.m
Post deleted by DeviousMe
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((OOC - Please ignore my previous post. The Kraken is dealt with, and that was going to be the thrust of Technokitty's participation. I'd kind of thought the idea was to have little or no superpowers to rely on, but I think that's not how the thread's going to go. At least not if that resolution is any indication. Have fun!))
"And in this moment, I will not run.
It is my place to stand.
We few shall carry hope
Within our bloodied hands."
Coldfire ran out from behind a tree as kraken backhanded the entire cluster and was launched to the feet of another hero. "Are you Coldfire Kaiser?" he asked. "Yah, and that giant thing is all but unstoppable..." He said getting up. The Kraken hadn't stopped fighting since the fight began. "Got any Ideas?" Coldfire said looking back as another hero joined in.
Before Coldfire could respond he saw a massive chuck of wall being crushed behind him, and out from the dust came the massive seaweed monster, Kraken.
"Dammit!" Coldfire said running for cover, "We can't fight it! He could kill us easily!"
Darkgun and Demon ran for cover as well as a poor group of fleeing hellions were crushed by the beasts mighty feet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blade of Dragon entered Atlas Park and heard massive explosions. As he flew into the air he looked over at Atlas Statue only to see it crumbling. And a massive group of heroes fighting of multiple villian mobs.
"What the hell is going on?!" He yelled out as he flew to the scene only to see multiple heroes falling.
"My god..." He said as he watched hellions kill mighty heroes. With that he unsheathed his katana and readied for one hell of a fight.
((w00t, this is great! Anyways, so far so good. And soviet, you're good, feel free to control a few villains and move the plot along in multiple areas.))