[hr][i][h1][color=dodgerblue]Lihua[/color] & [color=red]Meifeng[/color] [color=dodgerblue]Vuh[/color][color=red]ong[/color], [color=yellow]Mika Baozai[/color], & [color=aqua]Jennifer Marissa Caspin[/color].[/h1]
[sup]([@Mr Allen J])[/sup][/i]
[hr]

The storm overhead provided Meifeng with plenty of ammo. 

Raising her hand up into the air, Meifeng drew a wave of water to herself from falling rain and puddles of water around. It rested at her hand in a orb, and she swiped her hand across at chest level, creating a mighty wave of water that sent their aggressors flying. A humanoid, lumpy creature, with the same glowing purple eye that these things were known for, hit a crashed APC; before it got a chance to recover, Meifeng was running up, drawing pillars of water up to herself. Using her momentum, Meifeng jumped off her back leg, and cocked her fist back - creating a large spiral of water. She thrust her fist forward and willed the water to hit it with incredible force. The wall of water sandwiched the beast in against the wall, and the force caused it to splatter.

Meifeng's feet hit the ground, and she stood straight up. Feeling the odd embrace of a hand on her shoulder. She nearly jolted, before she turned her head and peered up at the stern, blank face that her mother always sported.

"You did good," Lihua said to Meifeng, before releasing her grip and taking steps ahead of her. Meifeng stood there for a moment, letting her older cousin pass her during her pause, before she nodded her head.

Everyone's voice was getting drowned out by the screaming, bullets, and other general sounds of anarchy. They had to keep moving, or else they'd be next. Lihua looked at the giant that Maximilian was holding off. [i]If that gets here, then[/i] we're [i]going to have a problem[/i], Lihua said to herself. The faster they get out of here (and away from that thing), the better. The three, lead by Lihua, and with Meifeng taking point.

When the three escaped the maze created by the vehicle wreckage, and stepped out into the open...where the battle was taking place. People were fighting for their lives, and dying left and right; there were bullets and powers being flung around left and right, and it was anarchy - and the storm of beasts just kept coming. That was the last place that Lihua wanted to bring the three through.

Meifeng took a step forward, and was stopped when Lihua put her hand out to stop her. "We can't go through here," Lihua explained, having to raise her voice over the chaos. "It's just begging to be caught in the crossfire."

"Then what do you suggest then, we fly?" Meifeng tilted her head, and gave her a mother an off, disgusted look. 

That was an option, but that was so impractical at this point that it's not even worth a try. Lihua looked over her shoulder at the burning wreckage of a truck that was blown in half. She narrowed her eyes as she raised her hands up into the air, putting one leg in the air, knee bent. She brought back her hands as if she was pulling something, and slammed her foot on the ground. A concrete spire came out of the ground, and split apart the wreckage, making a nice path for them.

"This way, we're going around them," Lihua said as she quickly ran through the gap, and gestured for the girls to follow behind her.

Along the way, a monster built like a puma jumped on top of a burning wreckage of an APC, and another ran up to them. Lihua and Meifeng nodded their heads at each other, before they went to work. Mika raised her hand up into the air, and created a transparent white dome that shielded herself and Lijuan. Lihua slammed her foot up into the air, and tore a piece of stone out of the ground, which hovered until it wildly lunged at her. Lihua did a full spin and shot both her fists out and sent it as a high-speed projectile. It impacted the beast so hard that it dissolved immediately.

Meifeng quickly charged at her target, which was much bigger than her, wildly. She drew water to herself, throwing her arms back as she ran. Up until she had a large amount of water at her disposal. When the creature was in range, she shot her hands forward as hard as she could, then the water shot at it like a cannon. The beast was sent flying, and impaled on a spear of scrap. It let out one last cry of pain before it dissolved.

"We can't keep fighting all of them," Lihua said, as she put her hands on her hips. Small cracks in her hand had formed, and were leaking blood. It was invisible underneath the gloves she had on. The pain was just as invisible to Lihua, who was long used to it.

"C'mon," Meifeng said as she started moving yet again.

[hr]
The pain... It was incredible. She wasn't bleeding as much as expected, the shrapnel was preventing her from bleeding - as well as regenerating properly. Bleeding bloodlines were quickly closed, but they couldn't address the large wound - which was a problem when she was pinned down. Blackness was creeping into her field of vision. She couldn't pass out now - if she did, she's good as dead. Jennifer looked around...seeing a familiar silhouette running away. She didn't know what it was. If anything, it was her only hope.

"H-help..." Jennifer said, putting out her hand out, and called out to them.

[hr]
The familiar voice made Meifeng stop in her tracks, and look over. "Huh?" Meifeng swore she heard a call for help. She couldn't quite see all that well in this rain---

A beast lunged at Meifeng with its jaws open - Lihua reacted at lightning speeds and created a concrete spire which impaled the beast through it's body. It wasn't enough to stop it completely, but it gave Meifeng some time to react. She quickly turned around, and swiped some water behind herself, and hit it so hard that it broke off the spear it was impaled on. It got back up, but Lihua willed the concrete to explode inside of it, and killed it.

The two exchanged looks. "...You [i]have[/i] to pay attention," Lihua chided her.

Meifeng scratched the back of her neck as the awkwardness of the situation. "I...just thought I heard something."

"Over... here..." The voice repeated, but louder.

"Now I swear I'm not going crazy," Meifeng said, just before she turned and saw a figure, a silhouette against the darkness. She quickly ran over to it without a second thought.

"Meifeng, wait!" Lihua tried to tell her to assess the situation, but she choose to run in first, then ask questions later.

The closer Meifeng got, the more horrific the scene became. Her heart started pounding against her chest. "[b][i]JEN![/i][/b]" Meifeng screamed as she came to a running stop. She was distraught seeing her friend impaled like this. It was just dumb luck that they managed to come across her in time. Meifeng didn't know what to do. She knew Jen can regenerate, but how can they get this off of her without messing her up even more. Meifeng's only idea was to kneel down, and try to lift Jen off of it. "C'mon, Jen, I gotta get you off that." But every time she tried, Jennifer let out a loud scream that made Meifeng pause. 

"Oh dear," Mika said. Covering up Lijuan's eyes so that she doesn't see it. Seeing a human being impaled was no pretty sight for Mika, either regardless. "How is she even alive?"

"She's a regenerator," Meifeng turned her head back, and spoke to Mika. "Alright, Jen, ready?" she said, before she tried to lift Jennifer off it, too.

Lihua walked up, and rolled her eyes. Caspin got injured again. That wasn't the issue - the [i]real[/i] problem was that Meifeng was dropping everything to 'save' her. They needed to keep moving because every second they waste was another second this situation would escalate (or giganto comes this way). "Meifeng, we don't have..." Lihua started off, then cut herself off when she realized how utterly...callous, she was being. This was the life of another human being...[i]someone else's[/i] daughter. She let out a sigh. She could hear the ravenous horde of monsters gathering behind her.

Lihua turned around, and cocked her shotgun - no, she should save it for later. She breathed in. She put it behind her on the strap, and opened her palms, crossing her arms into an X at chin level. She breathed out. 

"Meifeng," Lihua sternly stated her daughter's name. "Help Caspin, I am going to buy you as much time as I can," She started off. "However, if it becomes too much, then we [i]are[/i] going to cut our losses... Do you understand?" Lihua asked.

Meifeng looked up at her...and nodded.

"Good." Lihua said. "Mika, defend Lijuan above all else."

[hr][i][h1][color=salmon]Haruka[/color] & [color=cornflowerblue]Shizuka[/color] [color=fa8072]T[/color][color=e78381]a[/color][color=d58591]k[/color][color=c288a0]a[/color][color=af8bb0]s[/color][color=9c8dbf]h[/color][color=8a90ce]i[/color][color=7792de]r[/color][color=6495ed]o[/color], Akemi Shinoda, & Task Force RAVEN.[/h1]
[sup](Written in collaboration with [@Mr Allen J])[/sup][/i]
[hr]

The Grand Slimeball was even larger by the time Shizuka reached the bombing scene; he was more amazed at the one lone person - make it two, if he counted in the man's shimmering, supersized clone - battling against the Giant [i]and[/i] the waves of Minions on their own. Recalling Holly/Daphne's briefing on their way here, this guy was Maximilian Cornell - acting director of NEST's Verthaven branch, and also the head of the team she was in, RAVEN; the glowing creature was his Metahuman power, an entity called 'Echo'.

"For this mission, you will be called by the codename 'Phantom'," Holly said as she passed a comm-piece to the younger twin. "Your task is strictly to assist 'Praetorian' - Maximilian's callsign - and follow his orders to subdue the giant monster." Shizuka replied with a quick nod, his attention back to the creatures.

Haruka and Akemi gave the silver-haired teen a hug before they left with the chloropath agent, heading towards where the trucks were. His aunt was pretty reluctant about this arrangement, but she knew too well that she would be more of a hindrance than help - rather than trying to save the boys, her over-protectiveness might end up killing them all instead.

Shizuka let out a sigh. He was now on his own.

As he dashed towards Maximilian, he heard the man shouting, "Whoever it is - I just need him now!"

"You called?" Shizuka just couldn't resist making a joke after he ran through the lesser monsters to reach the spartan. He continued to speak into the comm, "[i]Phantom[/i] here. So...let's get the [i]real[/i] party started, shall we?"

The NEST leader looked down, and saw a boy...not some man, but a grey-haired teenager, saying he was the assistance. [i]This is the Phantom?[/i] Maximilian thought to himself. He wasn't expecting this 'Phantom' to be a kid, but he'd have to take what he can get. "Alright, follow my instructions, Phantom," Maximilian started off. He turned his attention back to the giant. Flying backwards, before he spoke into the comms, "Get into position, I'm going to hold its attention, then you do your thing. Got it?"

"Aye aye...[i]sir[/i]," Shizuka trailed off - he frowned a little, unable to recall Maximilian's codename ([i]Prat[/i]-something was all he could remember, and he had enough sense not to call the stern man [i]that[/i] out loud).

Upon hearing confirmation from the boy, Maximilian knew that this was the point he would have to start fighting all out. If he did anything [i]less[/i], then it could spell the deaths of everyone here. The beast's attention was solely on him - fortunately - the thing quickly charged him; Maximilian flew upwards, and Echo delivered a series of strikes to its head that left craters in its flesh on impact. The beast turned around and faced Max, who had already followed it up with another brutal series of punches that made the beast stagger. Shizuka ducked a couple of flailing tentacles before he managed to sneak behind the Giant, where it was the blind spot of its huge purple eye.

Knowing that he was on the offensive, Max's Echo delivered a barrage of punches so fast that they couldn't be properly tracked. Each blow converted a bit of the creature's flesh into sludge. It put its hand up to block the blows - but Echo punched clean through it, and followed it up with a massively strong blow to its head that sent it falling over. However, more of the beasts were pouring on it to repair.

"Phantom, now!" Maximilian shouted. He dropped down to ground level, and ordered his Echo to punch everything - while he shot at them. Hoping to give Shizuka an opening.

By then Shizuka was just one foot away from the Giant - in the last spurt he threw himself forward, and his hands met the cold grease. Ignoring the chill of disgust that ran down his back at the contact, he took in a deep breath and gritted his teeth, willing every ounce of his concentration into expanding his intangibility power to the beast, hoping that it would at least reach its brain. He had never tried to phase along with anything beyond the combined mass of two average human beings, but there was a first time for everything. He felt lighter, a sense of weightlessness spreading across his small frame; he was vaguely aware of the Giant going limp, slowly sinking into the concrete...

Though his hearing started to dull at the exertion of his ability (the noises around him sound distorted, almost like those videos which people lowered the audio frequency with a music speed changer), out of the corner of his eye he could see the Minions were no longer merging with the Giant; instead, some of them were beginning to attack those still-corporeal parts in the confusion, which meant that the plan worked - the Giant was cut off from their telepathic network and was no longer considered their ally.

The fallen beast was turned on by the monsters that it was once comprised of, getting torn to pieces. However, Maximilian wasn't going to let them do all the work - he didn't know when it'd wear off, and it'd be considered an ally again. Maximilian dove towards it in mid-air, Echo flying in front of him. His mental clone was unleashing a barrage of golden fists that hit so hard that it could crack stone. Every blow sent a shockwave through the beast until Maximilian's Echo was digging into its flesh. When the moment was right, the two pulled back, and Echo cocked its fist. Charging at the beast, throwing a punch that blew a hole clean through it. Maximilian stopped on the other side, as the beast was dissolving into nothing.

He turned around, and flew up into the air, out of range of the other beasts. "The colossus has been defeated. Good work, Phantom." He noticed that Shizuka wasn't too well, and immediately dove for him.

Shizuka's eyesight was beginning to go blurry - then everything went black and the teen collapsed onto the ground, passed out from the exhaustion.

Maximilian flew over to the unconscious boy, and knelt down, Echo disappeared as he lifted him up with his own strength. It was only fair to get Phantom to safety after he damn near saved the convoy. "Phantom has passed out - I'll be getting him to safety," he spoke into the comms, before he started flying upwards. This was a risk. Shizuka could have damn near ashed at that moment. It didn't come to that - thankfully - but next time, Maximilian's not going to put another person on the line like this.

He headed towards the APC line.

[hr]
After leaving Shizuka to fend off the Giant, the trio continued to make their way towards the convoy. All the running and dodging were making Haruka panting heavily, grimancing at the searing stitches. Akemi and Daphne were clearing a path with assault rifles (M16 was his wild guess - he wasn't a firearm nerd like his twin) the chloropath grabbed from the bodies of dead NEST agents along the way.

"We are almost there," Daphne said as she pumped two more shots into her slimy target - right in the creepy, glowing eye - which burst into a pool of goo before she waved the barrel at the APCs ahead. Akemi, who had never handled a military-grade gun before, fumbled with it awkwardly - she finally managed to drill some bullets into an incoming creature before it could tower over her.

Haruka glanced behind him for the umpteenth time - with each step nearer to the vehicles that would get them out of Verthaven, the feeling of dread became heavier inside him. [i]Don't you dare to die on me, stupid brother.[/i] It was the same for his aunt - he could almost feel the intense anxiety emitting from the plump lady every time she took down a monster.

Daphne's frowned when her comm buzzed, then her brows relaxed and she turned around, beaming at the two Japanese civilians. "He...did it---"

"How's he?" Akemi cut the agent off and demanded, slamming the butt of the rifle into another creature and sent it flying backwards with her force field. "And where's he now?"

"He has fainted from a combination of fatigue...and lack of oxygen---" That part of Daphne's report made Akemi exchange a look with her older nephew. "---But he's alright - I'm sure Praetorian will take care of him."

Haruka shook his head (half out of relief, and the other half disbelief) - to think that breathlessness was what saved his twin from a certain horrible death ('ashing' is the term, according to Daphne) after overusing his power. [i]Well done, Shizu... Well done indeed.[/i]