[b] The Lab [/b] 

The apprentices had managed to down quite a few of the dazed survivors in the chaos but Sixgun's counterattack downed two of them, bullets flashing against suddenly appearing light around their bodies before the light shattered and his rounds hit home. Sixgun's managed to catch another man with a knife and he went down gurgling. The next two dodged his hits and came at him in concord, one lunging with a knife to his face another to his gut. Behind them their master flung sickly yellow blasts at the hillside where the rest of the men were. 

[b] Maroni's [/b] 

Upstairs Zaphkiel managed to momentarily break through the ward, his metaphysical weight too much for the barrier to hold out. However Zaphkiel felt a tangible flash of pain and undercurrent of weariness as soon as he breached the ward, not coming away unscathed. His opposition was completely blindsided however both literally and figuratively. Shrieker was still rubbing at his eyes when Zaphkiel came at him, but managed to scream loud enough to give Zaphkiel a solid hit to the face and chest before he was slammed across the room. Ghost and Stalker recovered along with their henchmen who began pouring on rounds, Ghost flying at Zaphkiel while intangible while Stalker let a trio of knives fly at his face. 

Downstairs Rift Hound's plan worked and the six henchmen were caught in the freefall, screaming in surprise some firing their guns wildly in the air as they kept falling faster and faster, steadily approaching terminal velocity. Rift Hound was caught in his trap too and he'd have to think of something if he didn't want to end up a broken mass of bones and fur. 

Villa shot the explosive in the air and stopped it from detonating at all, and then began firing rounds at her trying to tag her, but in the confusion one only grazed Shifter's leg. Villa reloaded and Bishop snarled holding Sheila in front of him while Belladonna continued drawing. Bishop nodded at Locust who shrieked and began charging at Shifter's last known position upending tables as he searched for his quarry. 

[b] Prison [/b] 

Outside the man closed his eyes and concentrated as he was held in bondage. His gryphon shrieked as the fire burned it and then suddenly it went entirely aflame. The fire burned away its fur, feathers, and skin leaving a charred skeleton. The burning fire morphed and turned into a hellish flame copy of the gryphon who shrieked and swiped Abaddon with a fiery talon. On the ground the skeleton popped and cracked before rising on its feet and spreading bony wings before going at Abaddon from the other side of its fiery twin, bony arms lashing out at him. 

The man himself did not panic as his own parasites infested him. Instead the worms changed and morphed, coming together and merging before long whip-like tendrils burst from his back and hands. One slashed Abaddon across the face while another freed the Summoner from Abaddon's shadowy grip. A tendril grasped Abaddon's neck and started to squeeze while the fiery and skeletal gryphon kept slashing and hacking at Abaddon. The man spoke, "I have been practicing the Art since before your grandparents were twinkles in their mothers eyes. You are no true practitioner. Simply an amateur with the help of a now irrelevant master. You have no training. No natural skill, no natural power. No idea about the real intricacies of magic. I doubt you have ever truly dueled any mage, any who were worth the name anyway. You are a mewling child where I am a master. Surrender now before I kill you and rid the world of your mediocre presence." The whip squeezed even harder while others snaked in the air and slashed and stabbed at him occasionally. 

Inside the infirmary Light's assault didn't go well. She managed to enter well enough but her punches didn't really have the desired effect. This is because the woman controlled not spellfire but very real flame. The woman had heard the obvious collapsing of the wall and nimbly dodged each hit, whereas Light's hands were now on fire. Fire that stuck to her skin and burned her with pain beyond belief. The woman on fire raised her hand to give Light an enflamed backhand to the face. 

Sonja had much more luck as her target was mostly focused on her working. She was caught completely by surprise when Sonja struck. The soul she had captured had formed something approaching a magical ward and it deflected most of the blow but the woman was rocked back in the air in surprise, letting out an oof of pain. She opened her eyes, those of a light blue that would have been beautiful if not for the complete lack of life in them. She snarled, "Ah. The amusement park caster. How quaint. You interrupted me. How rude." She dropped to the floor on her feet and her hands formed a black ball which she attempted to slam into Sonja's face.

In the cell block Apogee giggled, "Four years is pretty much ancient Volt." She rolled her eyes at the mention of a dance but if Volt was watching carefully he might have caught a quick flash of scarlet across her features. She seemed somewhat grateful when Emmanuel introduced himself, she smiled again, "Hi. I'm Apogee, you probably know my cousin. Thanks for the assist. But keep in mind I did get good hits on them first, so don't put them down too much. There's time to talk later though, we've got a job to do." She flew out of the room but slowed enough for Volt and Flashbolt to follow, mindful of the lesson she had learned form charging in by herself. 

Silvertongue's cameras couldn't make out anything in the room itself save for the occasional flash of bright randomly colored light. However the cameras outside showed the door was closed and a squad of a dozen men stood around the door. Their gear looked like Special Forces as opposed to secondhand black market purchases. They wore the newest generation of body armor, ceramic plates covering most of their bodies with sleek helmets hiding their faces. All manner of tactical gear was on their vests and they carried the newest assault rifles, most of them modified with larger clips, bigger barrels, and bayonets. Where Legion had acquired such gear was a mystery but there was no doubt whatever was inside the Warden's office was important. By now the heroes were almost upon them.