[hr][h1][i]Task Force RAVEN.[/i][/h1][hr] "RAVENS," Dana's voice boomed through the earpieces of every member of Task Force RAVEN. "... We found another lab." [hr][h1][i]The Hands of Science, & The Changeling Unit.[/i][/h1][hr] "How is the evacuation going" Dr. Cross asked on her phone, sitting on one of the lounge chairs inside her safehouse. With the rest of the Chairmen having taken seats around the room. Including Ignatius, Snowblind, and Revenant. All waiting for her cue. "All relevant personnel have been evacuated from the lab, and the computers have already been wiped clean." Stephanie said from the other end. "Bring some expendables in, we know they have means of Extra-sense - we can't have them getting suspicious." Dr. Cross answered. "How is the Sunflower Serum going?" "We'll start production tonight." Stephanie said. "We can arm some of the REAPERS with it for the plan tonight." "Good. We'll need everything we have." Dr. Cross trailed off, a white portal opened up behind her, and Dr. Cross looked over her shoulder. "... Looks like our allies are here, too. I'll go tend to them." She said before she hung up the phone, and faced her associates. The Changeling Unit. "Hello, hello, we heard your call, and, as you can see, we answered." Luis said as he shrugged with a grin on his face. "What is it, Dr. Cross?" "We are planning on springing a trap for RAVEN, and we need your help." Dr. Cross said, as she walked up to Luis and faced him without fear. Luis threw his hands behind his back, and shrugged. "Help, help, help... Can't you damn scientists put down the clipboards and help yourself?" Luis raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "Last time we helped you, we lost half the Unit." He leaned in and stared her in the eyes. "... You're going have to be really convincing this time." For a moment, Dr. Cross was silent. Before she asked, smirking, "How's your unnecessary cruelty working out for you?" "Quite well." Luis dryly answered. "Oh? Then why did the leader of the Changeling Unit get thwarted by a lone RAVEN, and a "good Samaritan"?" Luis immediately grumbled, "Word travels fast...." He shook his head. "It's [i]because[/i] we keep underestimating them." Dr. Cross turned sideways. "We thought that NEST wouldn't find us out, and look what happens. We thought that NEST wouldn't find our stronghold, and look what happened. I thought that Ignatius and the Wendigo could eliminate the RAVENS, but they couldn't. We're being pushed up against the wall, and we need to fight back before they destroy the path we've set ourselves on." "Hm, listening?" "We're going to lead RAVEN to a lab we cleared out, then we're going to teleport some men in, and ambush them from all sides. Hopefully, we can draw some of the Dreadnaughts out, if not, we'll take them out ourselves." "Then why don't we just go spring Heartbreaker while they're distracted?" Luis asked, shrugging. "Because," Dr. Cross said. "If we fail, then so will you." "Allow me to explain, we have one of the strongest Metahumans alive on our side." He threw a thumb over to one of the Changelings. A blonde-haired woman with her hair typed up into a bun. She was wearing an orange prison suit, and she had her arms crossed. She was quite rugged. Luis turned back to Dr. Cross. "With[i] Berserker[/i] here, we can break Heartbreaker out, and hold our ground against any and all of their threats." Luis said. "Can you?" Dr. Cross said. "You've already been toppled, and with all the REAPERS and the Changelings pulled together, we can deal some heavy blows against RAVEN, and eliminate all of them." "... Don't bother," Ignatius said, walking up to the group. "That maniac is far more concerned with killing kids than getting anything done." He shrugged as he put his hands behind his back. "Oh? Suddenly [i]you're[/i] the [i]righteous one?[/i]" Luis started devilishly grinning, as he chuckled. "Or have you forgotten about that dirty past of yours...? Y'know, the Headhunter... the Killer with a Thousand Faces? Your days when you cu-" "Shut up." Ignatius slammed his foot on the ground, materializing a knife out of red energy. "You know I know [i]exactly[/i] how to kill you, Luis. Remember that." "That goes both ways, friend!" Luis said, laughing. "Enough." Dr. Cross put her foot down. "Luis, will you help us or not?" Luis looked at Ignatius for a moment, before laughing. "Sure, sure..." He knew it was a bad idea to out the Changelings this soon, but he'd have to be stupid to pass up the opportunity to kill some RAVENS. "Good, now get ready. I have things to do." Dr. Cross stepped backwards, before she peered over her shoulder as they stood there. "... You can go now." "Yeah, yeah, we were just... admiring the view." Luis said as he stepped backwards into the portal. "Dr. Cross..." Ignatius muttered as he walked to her, narrowing his eyes. "I don't want to hear it, Ignatius," Dr. Cross said. "No, no... I wanted to tell you the progress on Project SCYTHE." Ignatius started laughing. "They're in the prototype stage." "Looks like the scientists are really pulling together if we got a prototype out this fast." Dr. Cross said. "... But we're not testing it on RAVEN just yet. We need to put some more work into it." "If tonight goes as planned," Ignatius leered. "... We won't [i]need[/i] it." [hr][h1][i]...[/i][/h1][hr] The mass of growling, barking, snarling, and other alien sounds became nothing but a blur to Sarah. It was finally time. She was powerful enough to take on this whole damn city, everyone who comes to help it, and the entire Western Seaboard. After a month of hiding in the shadows. To Sarah, they were all the same. Everyone in this city was responsible for turning her into this. Which means they have no one to blame but themselves when she wipes them all out. She could just [i]feel[/i] the Metahuman energy surging within her and strengthening herself, and she felt like a [i]God[/i]. No. At this point she was something else... A Devil. [i]The Devil of Verthaven.[/i] [i]That[/i] was what she was going to call herself. The world would know her as a devil. The darkness of the tunnels underneath Verthaven obscured a colossal army. An army of purple eyes laid in wait in the shadows, ready to tear the city apart with sheer numbers and brute strength. With one signal, she could send them out. However, the moment just wasn't right. A group of footsteps appeared down the tunnel, and the Devil immediately signaled all her beasts to remain quiet. She turned over her shoulder to see some flashlights (And cellphones) shining the way for a group of Iron Cross to move through the sewers. Armed with assault rifles. "Hey, you heard something?" One of them said, skittering. "... Heard that there was [i]something[/i] in the sewers." "Nah, stop being a pussy. Do you wanna end up like those blacks?" Another Iron Cross asked, shoving him to the side. The group was silent up until they made it to the center of the room - where they caught a glimpse of one of the Devil's beasts. "Hey, wait, what was that?" One asked as they all aimed guns at the source. That's when the glowing purple eyes of the beasts started shining brightly. They were [i]absolutely[/i] surrounded. They were on the walls, and ceiling. Only place they weren't was under them (And that was debatable). They started taking steps back, only to find out that they were behind them. No exits. "What the fuck!? What are these things!" One of the Iron Cross shouted as he raised his hand up into the air, and it erupted into flames. Which illuminated the beasts that were of various shapes, and body types - dark-grey skin with a layer of slime over it. They barely got a moment to shoot before the beasts were on top of them. Only two shots were fired before the men were impaled from behind. Sarah didn't even listen to their screams as they were literally torn piece by piece. Until there was nothing left but flesh. However, one of the beasts extracted the heart of the Metahuman, and handed it to Sarah. Again, the heart dissolved, and was assimilated into Sarah. All of her green Metahuman energy briefly shined through her skin. Yes... Another heart of a Metahuman. With every heart she consumes, she becomes more... in tune with Verthaven, and it's Metahumans. She can [i]feel[/i] their presence, and with every heart, that connection gets much stronger (Along with all of her abilities). She's far more in tune with Verthaven than ever before. However, she needed more. If she gets the heart of every Metahuman in Verthaven, then she'll be strong enough to topple the all of America - then her forces will push into the other countries and decimate them. Leaving a trail of bloodshed behind her, before she drowns this world in blood and vengeance. Then, it'll be only her. It's time. Sarah dropped to her knees, and slammed her hands into the ground, and underneath her feet, a grey sludge pooled and surrounded her. Within moments, beasts began jumping out of the sludge, and charged down the tunnels. She was producing them at a faster rate than ever before. There were already millions of them. Though, it was time for her to get ready... Above the sewers, the never ending rain suddenly began far, far, more severe. The skies turned black, and rain hit like rocks. Comparable to a hurricane. It wouldn't be long until Verthaven starts feeling it's effects. Tonight, Verthaven will burn. [hr][h1][i]Later that night... 7:28 PM.[/i][/h1][hr] Verthaven was engulfed in a massive storm. In a few hours, streets were being washed away, and flooded. There was an uncountable amount of destruction already. Molly Schuler was standing on the sidewalks in the Central Valley district. [i]"Hello, this is Molly Schuler, and I am on the Fire Shores reporting a severe weather storm heading Verthaven's way. Meteorologists are absolutely [/i]baffled[i] as the storm seemingly came out of no where. There is already destruction all over Verthaven. It is heavily advised that everyone remains indoors and waits out the rain. NEST is investigating this matter as Metahuman-related."[/i] [hr][h1][i][color=Lawngreen]Sonya Mayfield[/color], [b]Henry Olin[/b], [color=Gray]Quentin Taylor[/color], [color=MediumAquamarine]Jan Sawyer[/color], & Task Force RAVEN.[/i][/h1][sub][i]Written in collaboration with [b][@tsukune][/b], [b][@Zombiedude101][/b], [b][@UrbanEvolution][/b], & [b][@BantlingBee][/b][/i][/sub][hr] The heavy rain overhead barely bothered Sonya as she stood on the rooftop. In fact, she found it quite refreshing, since it was already nice and moist for her! She aimed down the sights of her rifle at the lab... What appeared to be a warehouse. In the middle of the Downtown district. Oh. They're hiding in plain sight, eh? Only problem was, if the Hands took it there, there could be a lot of collateral. Not that they could evacuate or else they could tip the Hands off. "So, lovely weather we're having, huh?" Sonya asked through the comms. "Indeed. I think I might skinny-dip in one of these flooded streets later." Leon said, sarcastically. "Wanna join me, Max?" He laughed. "All-Seer..." Maximilian trailed off, groaning. He and the rest of RAVEN were taking position around the lab. Getting ready to strike. "Do you think the Hands have something to do with it?" Maria asked (Through the comms), as she took position around one of the corners. She'll have to be extra careful, or else she'll get washed away. "They have the technology." "I doubt it." Maximilian said. "I don't see any reason." "... Covering their tracks would be one of them." Helena said, shaking her head as she stood next to Max. "This isn't their style." Henry commented. "They dont do... bangs like this." "It's convenient is what it is. The weather hasn't been this shitty for years.." Quentin grimaced as the rainwater trickled down the barrel of his 870, briefly exchanging a glance with Max from his position a few cars away. He counted himself lucky that his gear was mostly waterproof but couldn't help but feel a little envy; Cass and Reed were probably doing desk work inside the dry confines of the department whilst he and the others were out getting soaked up to their boots. "Alright, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Maximilian said, shaking his head. "Are all Agents in position? You know the drill, RAVENS will push in with some Agents, while others will take position around the lab to stop anyone escaping." "The usual!" Sonya said. "Roger," Jan said as she adjusted the volume on her headset slightly. It was difficult to hear in the pouring rain, especially given her location. Although she had some cover from the corner of the building, the rain seemed to be coming at all angles. Jan was immediately reminded of some cartoon clip of a weather reporter exclaiming, "It's raining sideways!" She had to bite back a laugh. "Hey wait..." Leon muttered as he focused through his power for a moment. He detected some movement not too far away. "Something don't feel right about this...." He trailed off. Swarm Queen, in response, sent out her swarm of bugs into rainy night. They picked up movement too. She put her fingers to her comm-piece and said, "I got movement, too. I don't know, who, but I'm tagging them..." Meanwhile, Daphne arrived at the control center in the NEST Headquarters, panting heavily. While her ability might seem handy at first, it did have its disadvantages - it would take an [i]extremely[/i] patient person to figure out all the chaotic noises from her green friends in order to extract the information she needed most (which, most of the complains were about the raging storm). She did have the patience, but the mission would wait for no one. "Dia--- I mean, Grue. It's a trap! The lab is an amb---" [hr][hider=AWOLNATION - Run][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw2kKyJu9gY[/youtube][/hider][hr] She didn't need to finish her sentence - because the agents on field would have also noticed it by now. "Oh no." Dana said, she quickly put on her headphones. "Agents, it's a trap! Pull out now!" After observing the area for a little bit, trying to find out where they are, Leon a bluish-white portal opening, and REAPERS stepping out of it. "Shit! REAPERS!" He shouted through the comms and spotted some more being teleported in not too far way. "They surrounding us!" Leon pulled out his revolver. Quentin ducked behind an armoured van, shotgun clung tightly to him. "Well fuck," Jan muttered. She had purposely picked a spot with a decent amount of natural cover, including several enormous landscaping boulders. They were tacky, and a bit outdated, but she was thankful for their presence at a time like this. Her weapon had already been drawn, and she crouched behind the rock, peering out from her vantage point. Almost instantly, Maximilian deployed his Echo. If they were up against who they think they were, then they'll need Echo's strength for this one. He immediately said into his earpiece, "Grue! We're going to need reinforcements!" "Phoning them up as we speak." Dana said. "Hold out RAVENS reinforcements are on the way." Daphne had calmed herself down and was now in her seat, headphone on, ready to assist the RAVENs on field along with her senior. "Merryday, provide covering fire, and stay out of sight no matter what!" Maximilian said as he looked up on one of the roofs and saw some REAPERS running up, and aiming their guns at them. Maximilian immediately put Echo between them - with it's arms stretched out - and acted as a shield for the hail of bullets that came flying at them. With little damage done to Echo. While Sonya, turning invisible, took position on one of the rooftops. She aimed her Barret at the goons raining hell of Maximilian's group, and timed it for a moment, before she took a shot, and literally made one of the REAPER's heads explode! While they were confused, Maximilian sent Echo rushing forward, unleashing a barrage of punches that destroyed the rooftop they were on, and sent them tumbling into the street. Where Helena shot them dead. Sonya quickly hopped to another rooftop before they could pinpoint where she was. However, more REAPERS pushed into the streets, coming from the alleyways, and took position, and started shooting. The Rank-and-File NEST Agents quickly took cover behind cars, and opened fire, beginning a gunfight in no time. Meanwhile, Quentin had made a beeline for the firing line near Max and the others, taking cover behind the open door of a NEST cruiser and breaking away the glass to give himself a line of fire. Henry, who's active camouflage had worn off, was using a flipped car to steamroll through some REAPER agents and provide cover for other RAVENs. He wasn't as bothered by the rain as most were. While he wasn't as happy as a pig in a mud ring like Sonya was, he was thriving. Maximilian slammed his back against a car, and the rest of his RAVENS joined him. He had Echo standing over him. However, this was a golden marker for where they were. He immediately sent his personal entity out, who immediately unleashed a barrage of punches at the REAPERS that kept them suppressed while the others took their shots. Quentin followed it up with a series of slugs from his 870 and nailed one of them in the shoulder, sending the REAPER staggering against a wall and out of the fight? Sonya, again, took position on the roof, and started taking out key REAPERS from the side. "Bloody hell," She muttered to herself right after one shot. "In less than a minute, they turn Verthaven into a bloody warzone!" She fired another shot, and hit a REAPER right in the chest, and he went stumbling over in a moment. Dead. Right in the middle of their battle, a portal opened, and a massive figure stepped into the battle. A twelve foot tall beast that was made out of metal, a black cast iron mixed with a variety of other metals to create a durable combination. With a humanoid form, there were holes in it's back that glowed with a flaming orange light. The metal was burning hot - the rain immediately turned into steam. Creating a cloud as it walked forward towards NEST - with weapons in it's hands. Two, jagged, brutal looking butchers knives. One of the Changelings, of course. "Motherf.." Quentin loaded another slug into his shotgun, not entirely sure of whether or not it'd put a dent in this thing and made an urgent inquiry over the comms "Can we even penetrate this.. thing?" "Kinky!" Henry said through the comms. "You know the drill, Counterpoint - if you can't break it, foam it!" Sonya said through the comms as she set her sights on the brute. On a rooftop not too far away from the action, there was a red flash of light, and Luis, Ignatius, Snowblind, and Shade appeared on one of the rooftops. Gas masks on their faces just in case the RAVENS start using their precious gas. Luis walked up to the side, and knelt down. "Hehehe... Showtime." "Show them what you're made of, [i]Butcher.[i]" "Everyone else, get ready to move." Ignatius said, spawning energy knives. "We hit them from all angles." "Gaaaaaay!" Henry roared from behind his car, aiming his grenade launcher at the Butcher and firing off a few shots in it's general direction in an effort to either cripple it with the explosions or slow it down. The explosions sent the Butcher tumbling backwards, leaving deep dents in it's body. It managed to balance itself, and kept moving forward. It opened it's mouth as it marched forward, and a thick stream of flames shot out of it's mouth and immolated lines of NEST Agents - However, it's march was interrupted when Maximilian's Echo charged through the flames and launched an onslaught of punches that left [i]dents[/i] in the Butcher. The hulking metal beast hit the ground with a loud bang that shattered the asphalt. Before Agents could move in to foam it - REAPERS provided covering fire as it got back up. "Damn it," Maximilian said. This wasn't good, the REAPERS planned this one. Had to. They intend to finish this battle. RAVEN had to pull together to get out of this one. They had no choice. If they win here, then REAPER will be severely crippled. But they have to give it their all. Maximilian looked around. Helena wasn't too far away from Max, firing her ACR at a line of REAPERS. When she saw that one threw a grenade, she quickly flashstepped - grabbing it in mid-air - and left the grenade in the line of REAPERS. Expertly flashstepping out of the way of danger before the grenade went off and took out some of the REAPERS before they knew what was going on. She zipped around a corner, and dodged bullets. Leon and Maria were taking cover behind a NEST truck. Taking potshots at REAPERS from behind cover. Maria couldn't use her power in the rain, and Leon's power was only useful for dodging danger in advance. They had their situation under control, with Daphne acting as their extra pair of eyes and ears whenever necessary. Soon, Jan joined them nearby. While she didn't especially like staying out of the action, her powers weren't well-suited for this kind of thing. She felt bullets wizz past her and ricochet off the sides of NEST vehicles. If a group of REAPERS got close enough, she would use her powers, but that seemed unlikely at present. Instead, her Glock 20 was generally good enough for the time being. She wasn't the world's best shot, but she managed to hit a few stray REAPERS, pausing only to reload. Nikki had summoned a swarm of insects from where ever she could. Creating a large cloud of bugs. She sent them at the REAPERS that were covering the Butcher, and forced them under their armor. However, the REAPERS retaliated by taking mutagen, and gaining temporary fire powers. They shot streams of fire into the swarm, and destroyed it. Forcing Nikki to fall back, and pull her swarm out of danger. She used what was left of her swarm to throw up cover for retreating NEST Agents, before pulling out her own sidearm. Sonya was, predictably, taking out REAPERS from afar. Key REAPERS, of course. Those armed with heavier weapons, or causing much more of a problem with the Mutagen. Every time she took a shot, someone died, and she dipped out of there before they could even pinpoint where she was. Where she repeated the cycle. Mayfield was certainly talented. She could probably take on the whole army that way. Long as they kept the pressure up down there. Adam wasn't far away from Maximilian, and using his wind powers to direct bullets away from the RAVENS. There were powerful winds circulating through the battlefield. Every shot would steer wildly off course, and hit a wall, or a car. Savannah was in the back, freezing the rain from a distance, and forming it into deadly lances. She sent them flying high through the air, and hitting the REAPERS with an absolute storm of spears. It didn't do as much damage as you'd expect, but it forced the REAPERS to retreat. Quentin had hunkered down with a few other rank-and-files, exchanging gunfire with a squad of REAPERS across from them. One of them had already felt the wrath of his 870 whilst another who'd taken a dose of mutagen took a slug to the chest. That just left Maximilian. The Butcher was back up on it's feet, and fired a stream of red-hot fire at Echo. Which did nothing to it - as Echo is made of nothing that can burn. It was truly his willpower in the form of an entity. When the Butcher realized what happened, Echo launched a punch that hit faster than any normal fist and left a massive dent in it's face, shooting fire all over the place. It swung it's butcher's knife out, but was quickly dodged and Echo used the Butcher's momentum against it - grabbing the edge of the blade, and pulling it out of it's hand. Now [i]Echo[/i] was using the knife. Holding it in it's hands like a great sword. "Keep it up, RAVENS!" Maximilian shouted over the comms. "Ha HA!" Henry said, grabbing the bumper of a hummer and pulling it up to him. He flipped the large vehicle on it's side and and then turned his attention to the smalled sedan he had been using as a riot shield up until now. "Echo! Move!" Henry shouted, lifting the car into the air and throwing it with all his might at the flailing Butcher in an attempt to either flat out kill the damn metal man or permanently disable it. Once the car was out of his reach he aimed his grenade launcher in a small REAPER squadron's direction and fired off another few shots fully intent on blowing a few people the fuck up. They were going to finish what they started at the lab.