Target's arrow sliced through Pestilence's hose like a bolt of lightning.
But it didn't change anything.
Made from an advanced self-sealing material (Much like self-sealing Jet fuel tanks, bullets through these hoses could be rather catastrophic to the user.) In fact, the arrow only seemed to serve to anger Pestilence. Adding to his frustration were the two spines that cracked in half on contact with the plate of armor in his chest and the third which rather securely locked itself in his suit just above the chemical seal.
Muffled rage apparent, Pestilence again reached behind him and produced another canister, this one labeled TZ in large letters. The savvy among those present would realize that this was Saxitoxin, a cyanotoxin that could cause death in mere minutes. Those affected would immediately realize they were becoming paralyzed, and they'd need to leave.
Fast.
Or at least that was Target Lad's plan.
Cynic, like Target Lad, was blasted back by the small explosion of energies, recovering with a small acrobatic flip on his way back to the floor. He was immediately hit by an electrical net, which had more or less little impact on him. The charge wasn't really strong enough to deal any dangerous levels of damage, and it couldn't immobilize the man.
And in the meantime, Target Lad had just turned his back to the Commander. Time did not slow or stop for Target Lad.
*Pok* went a little energy bolt as it embedded in Target Lad's shoulder. It was a glowing brown spike the size of a finger, had the thickness of something solid, and it BURNED. With his back turned to the Commander, and focusing on somebody else no less, there was no way anyone would have been able to dodge that shot when facing an opponent with above competent aim. He was just lucky Cynic had only fired off a quick snap bolt and not something that could have taken his head off.
The next shot was something that could have taken his head off, but Target Lad had thankfully only fired 1 shot at Pestilence before returning his attention to the active combatant behind him, and the blazing thermal shot barely grazed his cheek when he turned to begin firing his stunning barrage. Before he could even unleash his first shot though, he caught sight of the Commander's trench coat weaving around the corner leading OUT of the room at high speed, virtually unimpeded by the immobilizing electrical net from earlier.
"Sorry, was just running away. Guy with the spines and the archer just started attacking me." Cynic said hurriedly as he rushed past the newcomer in her radiant white armor.
((Incorrect. The only corrosives Pestilence has fired have either been a jet-stream or clouded locally on impact. The other agents wouldn't be doing anything.))
OOC:
Sorry, must have read it wrong. Edited. Sorry for the Confusion. Have a lei. ^.^
Mister Hysteria watched impotently as the documents fell into the arms of Doctor Con Vulse. Seeing a page ripped from and into thin air just made him feel just that much worse. His one responsibilty had now been split in two and he wasnt sure which was piece was of most importance.
He found the thought of heroes beating him to a pulp and sending him back to prison now much more palatable than reporting failure to Agent Nataan. He had to do something. He sat up on the floor nursing bruised ribs and tried to clear his mind. He decided to follow the orange Doctor and hope that the invisible being either took something insignificant or that they were on the same side.
Hysteria may not be much in a fight, but his psychic abilities were impressive. He focused all of his thoughts on Doctor Con Vulse. If he was not a robot as he now believed, he would be able trail him inside of his own mind.
The idea of being able to pull out a potential victory from devastating and humiliating defeat heartened Hysteria as he searched the astral plane for the slippery thoughts of Doctor Con Vulse.
Tongue lolling obscenely, Macrofracture walked down the corridors, hands still opening and closing, grasping for something unseen, hungering for something untasted.
He turned a corner, paused for a moment, and then stepped softly, almost daintily, over the stirring body of a Longbow officer, her cloak torn and fire-scorched, spittle corroding her helmet. Macrofracture turned to gaze down the corridor, tasting the air like some blind worm, quivering with yearning and need. He turned back to the uniformed Longbow agent and reached out.
Even through the mask, through the haze of agony and fear, those hands were mesmerizing. The fleshy pink light that leaked from the air in bursts around it drew the eye into whirlpools of dreaming, and the fingers, baby-soft and wriggling like pillows or maggots, they entranced. To be touched by those hands, surely, is to know unimaginable bliss. The Longbow agent leaned her cheek into the palm, to be cupped and held as by a lover.
From those hands, those lovely hands, lightning sparked, tracing lines of pale fire beneath the face and skin of the uniformed officer. With a final spasm, she fell back onto the ground, eyes wide and unseeing, an idiot smile upon her face.
Macrofracture stands, the voices in his head temporarily silenced, the taste of the women overwhelming, the oneness of her mind giving reprieve from the multitude of his. But a moment is all it lasts, and the sanity bleeds away in a hemorrhage of mental effluvia, the energies briefly splintering the air around him. He looks down the corridor once more, smelling tasting a trio of minds. Drool pooling, he sets off once more, yearning, yearning.
[[OOC: I realized it wasn't clear. This guy is, in game terms, an elec/elec Brute, not some mind-control person.]]
((Okay, in all honesty... beyond Cynic buggering off, I'm pretty much totally lost as to what's going on >.< Is there any way I could get a quick update on who's doing what?))
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
((Oops! Fixed (again), Ace, though I was under the assumption Prodder was too far from the sword. Or are Nataan and Pestilence close-ish together?))
Prodder didn't seem too nervous by the canister switch Pestilence was making. This was one part due to his total lack of awareness to the significancy of the letters "TZ" and even if he had, his constantly regenerating structure would have made him cocky enough to still not be nervous. The mass of Carrion Vines however were a bit troubling. The bold and fearless fighter found himself having to kick it into overdrive to compensate for their lashes, and even at that he would have to hope the constant steady bursts of his own spiny-ness would literally cut them down to size.
As Pestilence's hands moved to make the switch, Prodder finished his leap, coming up directly in front of the chemical madman. The hero used one hand to try and get a firm grip on Pestilence as the other, covered in a trio of deadly spines, slammed forward for his gut, albeit a tad slowed by Nataan's assault.
He accepted the stinging hit across his back from the sword, hoping the burst of spines that occured right after would force the mercenary back.
------------------
Doctor con Vulse stared in open-mouthed awe at the audacity of the invisible man. He seemed not to notice Hysteria's attempts which were met with an almost electrical static as he tried to reach the Doctor's mind.
A wide electrical field enveloped the Doctor, shorting out several computers that had contained important information. He leaped off in the direction the paper had traveled, suit wildly scanning for the slightest steady rhythm of footfalls. The electric field would highlight anyone he came in close contact with, something he hoped his quick bounding would soon do.
If the invisible man made for the door, the Doctor would soon have him when the betraying glass portal opened.
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
OOC:
Well, let's see...you got Cynic bugging out, so what's left is:
1) Pokin' Prodder fighting with Nataan and Pestilence. This fight is also affecting the entire room on occasion, thus far by filling the lower part with concentrated ammonia, and some plants running wild. Presently, this effect is a room filled with creeper vines.
2) Julia just entered the room on the upper platform, where Cynic has departed.
3) Mister Hysteria bumped into a battle drone and Dr. Con Vulse. Presently, the doctor is chasing someone invisible accompanying the robots.
4) Ghoul is in a corridor running toward the portal room fight from the direction of 3.
5) Ry and Shinji are also in that corridor, however are doing nothing useful.
6) Macrofracture is in the corridor as well, but up further, slowly heading toward 3.
And I think that about covers it. Did I forget anything?
Oh yeah, to Burning: bitter ice blast, carrion creepers, greater ice sword. 
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Mister Hysteria was getting a headache. The electricity coursing through Doctor Con Vulse was causing a feedback effect his mind probe. It was going to take much concentration and more than a little pain to keep the psionic link. But it was working. Even better, Con Vulse was pursuing the invisible fiend. With a little luck maybe they would kill eachother and Hysteria could pick up the pieces.
It was an unlikely scenario, but the diminutive psychic could only hope. With his mind tethered to the Doctor, Hysteria decided to get some physical distance from him and the invsible army. He darted unseen down the hallway, careful to move away from the sounds of violence.
At the same moment he thought he was alone, he spied a figure lurking under the flickering flourescent lights. It was moving closer. Hysteria did not know this was Macrofracture, and the slight build of this new player at first gave him an air of normality. Foolishly, Hysteria did not sense him as a threat.
Hey, buddy, Hysteria said, Do you work here? Can you point me towards the exit?
"Now you wait right there!" Julia yelled, Commander Cynic just now coming into view, her goggles indicating him a known enemy. "I swear, you're gonna get such a beating for interrupting my trip to Portal Corp.!" She leapt at him, rocket boots activating and lifting her in the air almost at the same time as two streams of plasma shot from her fore-arm, each headed straight for Cynic's head. Additionally, her momentum kept up, and, should he manage to dodge the two prior beams, he would find her literally holding plasma in her fist as she attempted to punch him. Her suit was built to handle the stuff, so doing as such was no great feat.
Cynic leapt into action, firing two snap bolts from his Night Staff at Julia to match her streams, the opposing forces colliding in the air. He then slung his staff across his back and mimicked Julia perfectly, by leaping at her with both his fists wrapped in overcharge energy from his staff as he attempted to punch her.
Normally, Cynic would've been far too much for the young high-school girl, his strength easily surpassing her's. However, her armored suit gave her not only the ability to create and manipulate plasma, but a signifigant boost in strength as well. She wasn't going to go pick up any cars any time soon, but it was at least enough for her to hold her ground against any melee oriented villains.
In any case, she quickly reoriented her attack, changing it to a defense as she caught both of Cynic's punches, letting the plasma work its magic on his, no doubt, now boiling fists.
She wasn't content with this, though. In an attempt to get some ground between the two of them, she lifted both of her feet, rockets still blazing, and attempted to kick him in the torso with both of them, thereby giving her a boost in the opposite direction.
Pestilence swung himself backwards with an angry growl, landing on his back but successfully sliding away from Prodder's onslaught. Now in a rather weak position to keep fighting, the Specialist reached into his tactical belt and began arming grenades filled with Mustard Gas in an attempt to cover himself long enough to scramble back to a fighting position.
Unhooking the grenades and simply letting them spray on the ground next to him, Pestilence surprisingly gracefully rolled backwards, smoothly transitioning to a standing position. Re-aiming his sprayer at Prodder, he once again tightened the nozzle to the strength somewhere around 300psi for a good, fire hose-like jet, and fired off another spray of Saxitoxin to take out the incessant scrapper.
OOC:
Julia and Cynic aren't in the room anymore, and are a good story above the Pest-man.
((D'oh...))
OOC:
Hey, it's cool man. Have a lei and enjoy the ride. ^.^
BIC:
As Cynic smashed his fists into Julia's defense, he immediately tried to press the offensive, leaving himself open, which is why Julia's kick succeeded, knocking the commander back at the wall behind him. Right before hitting, he recovered with acrobatic grace, landing on the vertical surface as if it were horizontal.
"Hah!" He shouted.
Then he fell flat on his face. Falling to the floor with a heavy thud and a nasty smashing noise as his helmet hit the ground, Cynic still somehow retained his punctual combat reflexes and had the Night staff firing off a stunning bolt of solid, but almost harmless kinetic mass at Julia that would send her through the looking glass, out the wall behind it, and right back down the rabbit hole.
Macrofracture paused, twisting his head to gaze at Mister Hysteria. For a moment, there was just the sound of the air ducts rasping over head, and the background twitch-flicker of florescent lights. Then, Macrofracture began to answer, a flow of nonsense syllables rolling off his tongue, a polyglottal concatenation of sing-song babel.
He reached out languidly towards the psychic, hand still opening and closing like the dead toothless maw of a fish. At his passage, dimensions splintered, then splintered again, and that strange, organically pink light leapt to dance at his fingertips, the waving, welcoming fronds of an anemone.
The little energy bolt whiffled past the erratically-moving Target Lad- in a roomful of acid spray, writhing vines, and hurtling spikes, the relatively defenseless archer was flying a wildly evasive pattern, and didn't even really notice one more aerial hazard. He did, however, notice that Cynic was scarpering, and wheeled around in pursuit... to be brought up short by a high-pressure jet of acid roaring past his face.
An eye twitched, once, and he reached into his pocket dimension full of arrows, drawing out a giant fistful, drew it back, fired... another... fired... another... fired... another... fired... until the entire portal room was filled with a hissing rain of arrows, richoteting off walls, bouncing off the ceiling, and generally filling the room with pointy doom.
Unnoticed, one arrow hit just the wrong control on one of the many panels monitoring the great portal, and the rings shifted slightly, the roar taking on a new pitch as, above the thunder of battle and general portal noise, faint *glorp*ing sounds came from the other side of the portal.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Prodder's plan succeeded perfectly, the Frostvine Agent rasping a pained hiss through his ventilator as the close-range burst ripped through his armor and ran the mercenary through.
Already upset by the potential loss of profit, and now hurting badly, Nataan had just gone from ticked to blood-boiling mad.
A ripple ran through the air as the mercenary triggered a partial hyperfield, accelerating his senses to strike with nearly twice the power he could usually muster. Worse yet, the air about him chilled to abysmal temperatures as he used its heat to fuel a further power boost. The chill's range extended only a few centimeters, meaning unless someone decided to touch the Frostvine Agent at just that moment, the action didn't affect anyone but him.
Well, him and Target Lad's arrows.
The few that managed to make it through to Nataan froze to the very core in an instant, shattering like crystal glass against the mercenary's biosuit. They still hurt, but did not achieve their full lethality, as nothing but frozen dust that slowly sank to the floor remained of the five or so arrows that had reached the zone of chill about Nataan - logical, considering the writhing flora that covered virtually the entire chamber, yet had by some miracle not managed to do anyone in.
That was about to change, if the Frostvine Agent had anything to say about it.
"Devour him." he hissed commandingly at a pod of plantlife, which immediately sprang into motion, forming something that might as well have been called a Venus Man Trap. The animated plant didn't hesitate to obey its command, chasing after Target Lad with the intent to consume him by whatever means necessary.
The Frostvine Agent then turned his attention back to Pokin' Prodder. Unbothered by the stream of mustard gas, the mercenary used his temporarily supercharged biotech to call forth a mass of flora nearly triple the magnitude of what he'd been commanding so far, a thick strangler of massive, root-like vines erupting from underneath Prodder's feet...
--------------------
Doctor Con Vulse's efforts of sensitive sonic scanning were somewhat unnecessary, the six mechanoids in he hallway producing more than enough of a ruckus as they ran for an average human to take notice.
This of course also had the side effect of obscuring any sound the invisible thief might have made, but considering the unseen robots likely followed either the robber or his partner, that really didn't have much to do with anything.
Still, they were rather fast, which meant whomever they followed was pretty darn swift. The doctor might have been hard-pressed to keep up as the pursuit led him toward the portal chamber where the main battle had broken out...
--------------------
"Gotcha." Julia and Cynic more than likely heard the invisible figure's voice as he ran by them, either talking to himself or in communication with someone else, "Negative. Right choice. Might buy some time. Keep it open."
About a second later, the voice was gone again - not due to its owner being a super speeder or anything, but rather thanks to six mechanoids rumbling down the corridor, not to mention a very angry man in powered armor that crackled with crimson lightning in hot pursuit...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Julia, being fairly on balance due to her successful kick, gracefully avoided the blast, smirking with spite at the minor pain of her opponent. "Hah indeed." She said, when suddenly she heard a voice.
[ QUOTE ]
"Gotcha."
"Negative. Right choice. Might buy some time. Keep it open."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Ah, [censored], there's more? How many are there? Are you all working together?" She began to quickly spout off questions until the six robots and an electric armored man came into view.
"... [censored]... I may need some support..."
"Save it, daisy sunshine." Cynic growled at Julia as he got up. There was a large nasty crack across his face plate. "I'm going to [censored] your world up."
His Night staff began to hum, clearly audible over the ruckus the drones were creating. Meaning very loud. Cynic was charging it up for something BIG.
Doctor con Vulse skidded to a stop as Julia and Cynic came in view. After a second of analyzation, he determined they weren't his target. "Step aside, you're not part of this," he said, intending to simply charge past them and continue his pursuit.
------------------
Prodder's eyes widened beneath his helmet as the vines began to course up his legs. He found himself forced to cut them away himself, his bursts no longer doing the deed on their own. This took time away from his attacking Pestilence.
And as the spikey man's bursts hit the freezing field of Nataan, they frosted over like icicles, not shattering into dust, but not quite able to pierce in their frozen state.
"Where the hell is Castle?" he murmured, taking a swipe at a particularly nasty set of vines.
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
Julia, for the moment, chose to completely ignore Doctor con Vulse, the large electrical brute, and all six of the robots, for the time being, instead focusing on, what seemed to her, Cynic's much more dangerous assault. She raised both hands and fired streams of plasma at... The staff?
She wasn't an idiot. It was painfully obvious that the staff was this villain's source of power, therefore, if the staff goes, then he goes with it.
In any case, she also rose higher into the air in order to obtain extra manuverability, charging up her plasma blasts the whole time.
Prodder grunted as the sword struck true, but no sooner had it retracted than the wound began to seal itself. The hero chuckled. "You're gonna have to try harder than that."
"As you wish." hissed the Frostvine Agent in a most sinister manner, a swirl of supercooled air racing up his sword of ice, the frigid weapon growing like a time-lapse crystal to even greater proportions. The process took a second or two, but luckily the chemical mercenary had bought plenty of those just now.
As Prodder's spikes came at him yet again, Nataan threw his free arm toward the hero, a wave of bitter cold erupting from his palm along with knife-like shards of ice. The crystalline projectiles rocketed right at the man while the supercooled air they trailed froze his spikes in mere instants of contact, the embrittled missiles merely shattering upon the mercenary's biosuit.
Fortunately for Pokin' Prodder, the arctic air didn't seem to be very cohesive, dispersing its full effect after only a meter or so, long before the hero entered melee range with the Frostvine Agent. Though the bitter cold might well shake him nonetheless, he was in no danger of being frozen solid where he stood.
Well, at least not by the aforementioned chill - the titanic blade of very unusual ice could still do a number on him.
Worse yet, Nataan didn't seem content to leave it at that, his will forging forth further flora to do his bidding as his arm swung the heavy edge. Thick, savage vines erupted all about the room, even from beneath already defeated Longbow, whipping their thorn-covered forms at anything they considered hostile with murderous intent...
--------------------
"Sorry, I need that one." Doctor Con Vulse perceived an unseen voice as a page of the now-uncovered documents liberated itself from his grip as he ran, only to disappear into thin air as well.
Of course, it hadn't really gone anywhere, but considering the armorsuited villain hadn't noticed the seven invisible figures in the corridor beforehand, there was little chance he'd noticed the one who could move silently.
Still, the unseen man (judging by the voice it was a mean, at least) wasn't about to get careless, and quickly bolted out of range of any would-be counterattacks, such as any caustic auras the good doctor's powered armor may have possessed...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters