Ozell was right--Prometheus Park was entirely without radios at the moment. It seemed strange that another park would reside entirely within Atlas Park, but Atlas wasn't exactly a zone that made sense, anyway--more seasoned heroes tended to avoid it, and for good reason. Only idiots liked to hang around in Atlas Park--even civilians, who one day in half-hearted protest started cowering in front of Ms. Liberty, were rather disenchanted with the superpowered populace that swarmed the zone.
Which meant that all of the superheroes were idiots, none of the civilians cared enough to fall in love, which only left the Hellions.
The Hellions were a mockery, even among lower-level heroes, and yet somehow they were able to put on charm to women--or women were able to charm them. In any case, the results were often hilarious.
Prometheus Park was mostly empty at the moment, aside from said Hellions patrolling their turf. Each of them holding their bats and a revolver, with just one girl among them--a brown-haired girl who looked a little young was holding onto the arm of a Damned, the one who was without weaponry. And for good reason, as the Damned had no NEED for weaponry. The hellfire they could conjure up was weaponry enough. She seemed new to this, constantly looking between the Hellions with more than a bit of fear as they surrounded her--the Damned seemed to care little about his prize, and simply strutted along with her, yapping with his droogs.
[KASHUNK!]
"GYAAAAAAAAUGH!"
One poison dart later, and a Hellion was collapsed on the ground, clutching at his side as he writhed and moaned, the others promptly drawing their guns out and unleashing lead at the swarm of two kabuki and five ningyo that appeared, as well as the puppetmaster himself.
Kairaishi smiled grimly. "Don't you people listen to the radio anymore?"
((LOL NICE ONI DITCH, TERM.))
"I would be forced to believe that this is our target." Rulaag muttered to Ozell, "Engage him now. I will provide support."
Slowly, around the park, haze and fog began to drift in, and soon, there was a light breeze. And then, rapidly, a funnel cloud opened up right on top of the Ninjas, sucking them in and flinging them helter-skelter.
Essex sighed.
It had been a long day, as it always was, and now she had packed in her little Knives of Artemis costume and was headed home for Perez Park. Crossing through Atlas, she noticed a patch of inclement weather over the park.
"...What in the world?" she murmured, changing directions towards it. "Either someone is toying with the poor Hellions, or there's really something going on...Either way..."
She skimmed off towards the tornado, biting her lip in worry.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
With a nod, Ozell hopped off his perch, claws extending as he dashed into the park- only to find Kairaishi standing there amongst his puppets. This... would be a special case- Kairaishi, while commonly known as a villain, had as many excuses for his actions as he did puppets- having 'dealt' with him before, Ozell knew to tread lightly. Leaping into action, he landed a blow to one Hellion's chin- they were weak enough here to be put out cold. Then, to another, a claw in the back of the thigh that forced him, wincing in pain, into a kneeling position.
"Kairaishi! You're supposed to incapacitate villains. That guy looks like he's dying! Why do you have all your ningyo here??"
Human faces!
Ozell sighed.
Kairaishi was first alerted to a hero's presence when his ningyo started getting tossed around left and right by abnormal winds. The weather hadn't alerted to strange tornados lowering out of the sky out of random--but, then again, this WAS Paragon, so anything went.
The puppetmaster whirled his head around, narrowing his brown eyes underneath his horned sakkat as he glared at the source of the abnormal winds--then glancing over at Ozell. He smiled behind his mask--he was almost concerned for a bit. A few quick handmotions sent a Break Free override to the Kabuki, and they quickly regained their footing on the ground, no longer knocked around left and right from the winds, the hurricane, and the tornado. They quickly rushed over to the source, waving their hands in front of Rulaag to Placate him at the same time, then leaping into the air for a Golden Dragonfly. The ningyo were all haphazard and blind rushing, stumbling to all regain their footing as they rushed over at Ozell and leapt for a dogtackle, five bodies lunging over to him at once.
"I don't remember asking Paragon's heroes for assistance--why do you feel the need to bother me, eh?"
Essex's skimming came to an abrupt halt when she saw the scene.
Kairaishi, Rulaag, and Ozell? ...Why were they fighting?
"...What in the..." she murmured.
"What's going on here?" she called out above the winds, the next moment. Her first instinct was to synthesize a sonic lullaby and get people to calm down, but she knew that it sometimes hit very selectively -- and if the wrong people were hit, things could go very badly...
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Rulaag looked dazed for a moment, but that moment was entirely long enough for the Jounin-like dolls to slam their blades deep into his armor, cutting right through the protective barrier.
Despite immense pain, the Alien only laughed.
"That, fools, was a terrible idea."
There was a sickening cracking noise as green energy began to appear in the wounds of the biological armor, which ended in the release of an Electron Haze, sending the puppets flying off the building.
The Alien, no longer entirely worried about property damage, raised his arms above his head even as the armor slowly began to seal itself together. Radioactive neutrons began to form together in his hands, eventually turning into a gigantic, green blob of power.
"Now you will suffer for your transgressions!!" The Alien shouted as he flung forth the Neutron Bomb at the unfortunate puppets.
AJ, leaning against the War Wall gate connecting Perez to Skyway, idly scanned through the police bands, her own hero registration code allowing her to decrypt all police traffic in the 'core zones' of Paragon. A report on a 'freak' tornado in Atlas caused her to arch a silver eyebrow.
Weather manipulator? Atlas is pretty simple for someone of that level of skill. Unless he's showing off, but then it'd be by the big guy himself. Shutting her scanner down, Arc Jump shot past the check point fences, leaping over them without notice on her way to the tram.
Doubt it. Odds just don't mesh right. Time to kick [censored] and ignore names. She smiled faintly as she leaped onto a tram car heading out of the station.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
The physique of any given ningyo was equal to that of Ozell's- and while he had the advantage of reflex, they could move as fast as Kairaishi could think- which made his chances of escaping all that much more narrow. He jumped, but wasn't able to get his legs out of the way- the group of them seemed to inadvertantly make a human pyramid, if only for the moment before Ozell was knocked, back first, onto a mossy rock and into a fit of gasping for air as it was suddenly knocked out of him.
"K-Kairaishi.. *cough* S-Stop!.. *cough cough* Wh-What do you think.. *cough* you're doing?!"
As he spoke, he tried his best to squirm out from under the dogpile- kicking off of shoulders and tumbling backwards all the way.
The Kabuki were still under the influence of their Break Free override, and thus weren't benefitting from being introduced to the ground--they did, however, back away all the same, if for no other reason than to have only one suffer from the impact of the Bomb. Bousatsu's mechanical hide cracked and shuddered from the radiation detonating all over his form, stumbling backwards and collapsing off of the perch--Reiketsu, though mostly unharmed aside from the Haze, simply leaned backwards to drop off the edge, flipping backwards and taking a hold of Bousatsu's crackling body, holding it as the former lightly landed on the ground.
Reiketsu put Bousatsu upright on the ground, staring up at the Osh'kan, Kairaishi's thoughts whirling through it's motherboard as the puppetmaster planned and strategized. It had been a long time since he last had a two-versus-one.
To cover their escape, a flash arrow promptly soared through the air, smacking into the ground next to Rulaag's parked feet--a blinding flash of light penetrated through the air, suddenly blurring his vision to reduce his perception. He likely could easily regain it, but it would cover the Kabukis' exit back to their master.
The ningyo promptly let go of their quarry and gave him a powerful shove with all five pairs of hands, sending him hurtling further down the hills that made up the edge of the lake and into the water--absolutely no damage or further hindrance, but getting suddenly shoved away from a dogpile into water was something that would be completely unexpected, and promised to buy Kairaishi a few seconds of peace, at least. The ningyo quickly stumbled back over to the puppetmaster's origin, three standing protectively around him as bodyguards while the remaining two went over to the unconscious Hellions.
The woman was still with her boyfriend, even in his grip of being out cold.
Kairaishi simply smiled--he'd have to thank Ozell for making his job easier sometime.
One single kick later, and the woman's lights were shut off to match her boyfriend's.
"What am I doing? I'm simply going to teach people about love--sticking together...through thick...and thin."
You're teaching them...?
Scrambling to the surface and then to shore, those words had an echo to them- Ozell tumbled them in his mind much longer than common sense in a situation like this would measure. Getting up on shore, he took another look at the situation- and the unconscious couple- and then to how confident the puppetmaster looked. Words escaped him- but he couldn't just say nothing.
"...Kairaishi... say it isn't so."
The two ningyo, clearly without any actions stopping them, gripped both the Damned and the woman and promptly leapt high into the air, out of sight and unable to be followed.
Kairaishi hmphed as he turned around to look at the sky where puppets escaped. His arms crossed, the kabuki and remaining ningyo gathering behind him, he simply said one more phrase.
"You seem surprised, Ozell. Is the fact that I run out of patience every now and then so very surprising?"
With only that, the entire crew lifted up their arms and promptly threw down smoke bombs to the ground, covering a teleportation away. Left on the ground was a pair of two cloth dolls, sewn together into a heart.
They were so interested in confronting the puppetmaster, they had neglected the danger the couple were in, and thus had lost them.
But Kairaishi's teleportation wasn't limitless--a sharp-eyed hero could see him teleporting away, without his ningyo, but with the Kabuki hopping from rooftop to rooftop to keep up. Trying to escape--it was possible he was heading to find other captives.
Or perhaps head somewhere else...
Rulaag hadn't really concerned himself with the saving of the people so much as the stopping Kairaishi.
"You go nowhere where I do not see." The alien growled, crouching low and summoning a light mist that kept him hard to spot. He superjumped after Kairaishi, hoping Ozell would follow, and thinking quickly, the Alien unclicked an ampoule from his belt.
On the ampoule was etched the crude form of a Shivan, and he planned to spring it as soon as the opportunity presented itself to corner them...
And Ozell had thought that the couple would be saved by subduing the Hellions- giving Kairaishi the benefit of the doubt was a grave mistake.
Seeing Rulaag beginning to bound off, he could only follow in pursuit- not before snatching up the sewn-together dolls, though. Recent training had made him a slightly better jumper, but there would be no catching up to a teleporter- at least, not before they got tired. Seeing Kairaishi slowly getting away gave him an idea...
Taking off so as to be in a V pattern with Rulaag, Ozell figured it would be their best shot- even if Kairaishi got a good distance away, they would intercept him if he tried to change course too abruptly or doubled back on himself- and at the very least, would set them up to cover ground most efficiently when Kairaishi inevitably had to stop.
It was a longshot plan, but it was the best Ozell could come up with at the spur of the moment. With any luck, one of them would find him...
Kairaishi looked behind him as he ported.
...Damn, they were still following him? What were they hoping to accomplish?
He simply gritted his teeth and arched his path upwards, porting until he reached the edge of a skyscraper, staring down at the two hoping to pursue him. He lifted up his left gauntlet and started pushing some buttons underneath the cloth--likely memorized their position.
The kabuki, hilariously, were running back and forth at the bottom of the skyscraper at top speed, unable to get up.
It didn't take AJ long to find either the commotion nor the fleeing puppeteer. The tomboyish robot, dubbed tomboy by Solid much to her own amusement, was a runner, getting to the top of the skyscraper would be impossible for her... without some help.
Five jet nozzles extended from her back and a burst of flame sent her up, and up, and up. As she closed in, AJ tightened her fist, the impact caps popping and a charge building.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
Rulaag thought for a moment. How had he seen through the Mist? No matter. He'd seperated the master from two of his puppets, and now it was time to seal his fate.
"Ozell." Rulaag radioed to his partner, "Let the girl take his attention and we will flank. After all of those teleports, he cannot have much energy remaining. When we find him lacking power, we strike."
"And this time, don't ask questions! Let there be no remorse."
The puppetmaster had taken time to lean against the building, gaining his breath--manipulating such technology had taken the wind out of him, he needed a bit of time to rest.
Arc Jump's arrival, however, spoiled that plan. He tilted his head at the arrival of the tombot, lifting up his hands to rest behind his head and generally trying his best to look casual and unconcerned. His quick mind had already observed and scanned her--reploid in design, a little like Essex. Probably a sister unit. Judging by the charge that was building around her, likely an electricity-manipulator. Only Defenders and Blasters could manipulate electricity like that--if it was a Defender, it was no problem. A Blaster, though...that would be a problem or three, especially considering how tired he was.
He still had an ace up his sleeve, though...just in case.
"Oh, hey, miss. What can I do for you?"
Rulaag saw him resting high above, and after spitting a curse, he braced himself, extending his arm.
Particles wrapped around his fist and prepared to fire his Sniper Volley once more. The one problem with this attack was that it was extremely noticeable, and that he'd have to hope the Puppetmaster to be distracted enough by AJ...
"An excellent choice of an observation tower, Ozell." Came a hissing voice from behind him. It was, obviously, Rulaag.
"This new threat appears to be entirely unprofessional in its slayings. Honestly, leaving behind strange items? The fool could learn from a true espionage expert..."
Rulaag paused only a moment before shaking his head. "But I digress. Shall we end his career with an extreme amount of force?"