[hr][h1][i]The Final Stand.[/i][/h1][hr][hider=Shadow of the Colossus Ost - Demise of the Ritual][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzbvcsNPEEE[/youtube][/hider][hr] The monstrous frame of the Devil came into sight. Slithering over towards the resistance unaware of them (or ignoring them). Following the Devil was a storm. The rain and wind intensified, and it masked the Devil in a thick mist as she moved forward. She barely even bothered them as she moved forward - almost like she was merely a pedestrian strolling through the city. A sign of deadly arrogance, or ignorance. However, the resistance weren't taking her lightly. They immediately launched their all out offensive against her. "Now!" Maximilian shouted through the comms. Lihua immediately launched her barrage of concrete launchers, spinning at high speed that cut through the air. Impaling the giant. That's when she pulled out a detonator and pushed the button. A massive explosion rocked the Devil's body as a ripple was sent through her flesh. Sending bits and pieces of her all over the place. Savannah fired a barrage of long ice spears at the Devil, that spun similarly until they had impaled her. From there, she made them explode into sharp tiny pieces that ripped the wound up. Quentin unslung an M320 and fired off a grenade at the hulking mass, ducking back behind his concrete barrier as it exploded against the organic matter so he could quickly pop another inside. Heartbreaker grinned like a fool as she was handed an RPG. She got down on her knee and aimed it right for the Devil's big stupid head, and started laughing like a psychopath as she pulled the trigger and fired a rocket that hit the Devil right in her face. The Berserker let out a horrible roar as she started spinning the wrecking ball over her head, and used the momentum to hit the Devil right in the center of mass. Creating a giant ripple. She pulled back the wrecking ball and swung it again, and smashed into her. The Berserker finally raised the wrecking ball overhead and brought it down with enough force to crush buildings. Count Vicious started launching similar metal lances that were attached to chains (that were in turn attached to the building they were on). The launches embedded themselves inside the giant, and held her in place. They started digging in deeper and deeper as he willed them inside. The Butcher opened his mouth and fired out a massive white hot stream of fire that hit the chain and started super-heating it. The chain got so hot that water evaporated on contact. The Butcher kept firing its raging flames. Ignatius stepped aside and raised his hand up into the air. "REAPERs, arm!" He loudly shouted as Primitive Light raised both hands up into the air. The REAPERs started pulling out the glowing syringes with the Metahuman energy, and injected themselves in the wrist with it. Their hands were surrounded with an electrical aura as they pointed at Primitive Light. They started shooting streams of electricity at her, charging her up with massive amounts of energy. Up until she was fully charged and the electricity danced across her skin. She grinned as she threw both hands forward, and fired a massive bolt of lightning that instantaneously hit the Devil in the body. Causing the electricity to shock her, and leave a massive burn and nothing but missing flesh. All in all, these assaults were nothing but mere irritations for the Devil. Tentacles came from the base of her body - ranging in size from small to absolutely massive. They first wrapped around the chains that were binding her, and pulled on them until she yanked the chunk of the roof off. She pulled the lances out of her body - and swung it around like a chain, and tore through a great deal of the resistance before letting go. A massive barrage of tentacles flew out towards the Butcher and wrapped him in a net that he was unable to move out of. No matter how much fire he shot, it did nothing to stop the Devil from raising him high up into the air, and slamming him down on the rooftops so hard that he was crushed when he was driven through multiple buildings. Killed instantly. A giant tentacle was raised up into the air, before slamming down on a rooftop and absolutely crushing the building. The screams of those who stood on it didn't last one. "Damn it!" Lihua said as one group were flecked aside like they were mere insects. "Can we even scratch her?" She asked - before a storm of tentacles started flying towards her at high speed. She was quick enough to react and throw up a shield around herself and Meifeng. The younger hotblooded teen gathered water which followed her hands. She quickly jumped out from behind the cover and started wildly slashing at them. The water whipped fast enough to launch away the tentacles, along with a spread of buckshot from Quentin. However, one thick tentacle was flying right at Lihua. "Agent Vuhong, I got you!" Maximilian shouted as Echo got in the way and grabbed the tentacle. The appendage squirmed and moved, but Echo flew through the air at high speed and drove the tentacles back into the Devil - before launching a barrage of high speed punches. Disappearing shortly after. Maximilian landed right next to them. He looked up at the Devil, and quickly pressed his comm-piece. "Get ready!" Maximilian shouted in the comms. "She's making monsters!" The Devil was creating monsters of various sizes and they began hopping off her body, onto the rooftops and buildings where people were taking position. This is where the battle truly began, as everyone was keeping the monsters off the heavy hitters and doing their best. However, they couldn't last long as the wave of monsters were overwhelming them. "Cornell, watch your flank!" Cass' voice hailed over the comms as the last bastion of VPD's finest opened fire. Cindy had to take a few steps back. [i]Course[/i] she had to deploy her army of monsters. She gathered her glass around herself, breaking it into large, sharp, shards of glass that turned into a storm of glass that shredded them to bits. Next to her was the boom of Trevor's revolver as he put an end to one of the beasts. Scarlet merely grabbed a large one, and over-the-shoulder tossed it over the edge of the building - which knocked down a great number of them. Shizuka let out an irritated tch and pulled out the survival knives. He went for the monsters which were trying to sneak up from behind them; after numerous encounters with these slimes he was more or less certain where their weak spot was. His intangible frame passed through the muck as if they were merely air, but the still-solid blades slashed through what little brain they had with precise one-hit kills, quickly turning them back to a pool of sludge on the ground. "Got it!" Maximilian shouted as he rose up into the air, Echo floating behind them. The only thing that could really put a dent in the Devil right now was a powerful attack - which, fortunately, they had in the form of the missile array that tore the Devil apart earlier. "Grue! Is the missile array prepped yet?" "We're still working on it," Dana said. "We just need ten or so more minutes..." "Girl, does it look like we have ten minutes?" Cindy chimed in. A beast had lunged at Cindy - only to quickly meet its end by Sonya Mayfield's rifle. "Just keep doing you, darlings!" Sonya shouted over the comms. "I got your backs!" That reassured Cindy somewhat as she forged her solid panes of glass again, which shielded Trevor, Scarlet and Shizuka. They needed to hit her with [i]something[/i]. This was madness, the Devil was too powerful. Though, Cindy just felt like she was just toying with them. Not using all of her strength to destroy them in one blow. It was that deadly arrogance that made Cindy doubt if they could even do anything to her. The Devil remained stationary as everyone attacked - she stopped producing her army of monsters. "Get that thing working as soon as you can!" Cass barked once more over the comms as his SWAT colleagues shredded a few of the stragglers with concentrated gunfire, aware that they wouldn't hold out for long if the Devil wore them down. Mighty bolts of lightning were called down from the sky at random places in the battle. Striking anyone who was unfortunate with deadly amounts of electricity. "Everyone! Find cover!" Maximilian shouted as he put Echo above himself to absorb any electricity attacks directed at him. "Vuhong!" Quentin shouted as he spotted a glow forming overhead. Without thinking, he pulled up a crudely formed slab of concrete and managed to throw up a shield between Lihua and her daughter seconds before an arc of white light struck close to their position. Lihua used her own ability to help strengthen the shield. The lightning didn't hit them, but Lihua was going to stay on the defensive. "Thank you, Taylor," she said. "Meifeng, stay behind cover - you know that you're drawn to electricity." Another bolt struck one of the VPD's SWAT officers, forcing Cass to draw his colleagues back whilst Reed dragged the burned body to a safer spot in a vain attempt to resuscitate his dead colleague. Helena was firing her grenade launcher in midair at the droves of the monsters, and splattered them with every blast. However, she was barely prepared when a tentacle grabbed onto her ankle and yanked her. She let out a shriek as she was yanked through the air towards the ground. "Helena!" Maximilian stopped what he was doing and flew towards her - with Echo behind him. But it was too late; the tentacle whipped Helena through the air, and slammed her into a window. There was a disgusting sound of bones being crushed as she was barely still alive. She saw Maximilian floating towards her fast as he could, and she put a hand out. "...Maximilian," Helena weakly said, as all she felt was pain. The pain didn't last long as the Devil channeled electricity through the tentacle, and it was forced into her system. She began violently shaking as the electricity ravaged her. "Helena!" Maximilian ordered Echo to punch clean through the tentacle, and she dropped to the ground. Maximilian flew down, and caught Helena... but it was too late. She was dead, the electricity had been the one thing that put her out of her misery. Maximilian let out a tear as he held his dead comrade. "Supersonic down..." Maximilian sobbed into the comms. Frustrated at their own loss, the VPD unit under Cass' orders made another push forwards, keeping the creatures at bay with gunfire and explosives in an effort to gusrd RAVEN's flank. Ignatius was slashing his way through the horde of monsters - with every swing of his blade, a group were sliced into pieces. He looked back and his REAPERs were holding off the horde of monsters with electrical, and other pseudo-Metahuman attacks. He turned over his shoulder. "Charge her again!" Ignatius snarled at them as he kept slashing. Primitive Light raised both hands up into the air, and was charged with as much electricity the REAPERs could. Before she shot both hands out again, and fired a mighty bolt of lightning at the Devil again. Tearing off even more of her flesh. Luis had put his hand on his chin... This whole battle, he's been deducing where the Devil's weak points were - so they could aim around them, of course. He swung his meat cleaver and cut clean through another of the monsters. Before he started laughing. "Flashbang, get Mannequin's special concoction! Two of them!" Luis ordered, and the teleporter jumped right on through a portal. Luis started swinging his blade around. Heartbreaker was focusing on the big ones - shooting them down with both of her revolvers. She turned her head and saw the Mannequin moving like a blur. He dodged whatever they threw at him gracefully - and launched deadly attacks right at their vital points. A moment later, and Flashbang was back with two large canisters - with the purple gas. Grinning, Luis stepped up and grabbed both of them. "Berserker, come here!" He called. The brute was swinging the wrecking ball around, and smashing the Devil hard as she could with the attacks (taking out [i]whatever[/i] else was in the way). When called by Luis, she did one last mighty swing, before turning around and running towards Luis with the chain in hand. When the Berserker came to a skidding in front of Luis, the Changeling leader presented both explosives to her. "Alright, Berserker, grab these, run into the [i]center[/i]-" Luis put emphasis on this as he pointed to the center of the giant, "-of the Devil, then break them open." Gently grabbing the canisters, the Berserker muttered some incomprehensible growling, before turning around and running through the rooftops, and jumping high up into the air. Tentacles tried to hit her, but they were broken on contact with her supernaturally unstoppable frame. The brute went through the Devil's flesh like it was nothing - and she kept moving until she found an appropriate spot, and crushed the canisters and released the gas inside of the Devil. The gas quickly dissolved her flesh - the Berserker came out through the other end of the Devil's body and went through a few buildings like it was nothing - and there was a inhuman scream coming from the Devil as her horde of monsters started getting weaker. They were shaking - which made it easy to take them out. The acid could be seen escaping the Devil - creating holes that burned through her flesh. Which gave the resistance the perfect window they needed to bring her down. [hr] "God-damn!" Reed gasped as another one of his colleagues was hit the ground under the claws of one of the beasts as it rabidly flailed against the VPD team. In retaliation, he emptied half a magazine into the weakened creature before it could finish the job. "Pull him back, I'll cover you!" he barked as one of the others dragged the wounded man to safety. "How long till that weapon's ready?!" Cass' straining voice boomed over the comms as his nephew led the push forwards, cutting through the waning beasts that remained. At the same time, an idea sprang to Quentin's mind as he realized a potential weakness. "All-Seer, can you find her real body in that thing?!" Hearing Cass' distressed voice only hardened his resolve. "Yeah, tryna find it!" Leon said into the comms. "It's just a [i]tad[/i] hard when ya' got all these monsters gunnin' for you." He shrugged. Though, now that the monsters were weakened, Leon had all the time in the world. "We'll cover you!" Cass grunted back, leading the VPD team in RAVEN's defense. "Alright!" Leon shouted as he started peering into the Devil's giant form. He started at the top... but all he saw was a sea of grey. However, he got an idea from the first time they ran into this bitch. He used his power to view the beasts, which [i]directed[/i] him to the Devil's true form at the base of the tower. "She's at the bottom!" Leon shouted. "Direct all your attack there!" "Vuhong," Quentin hoarsely called to Lihua as he loaded another slug into his shotgun, "Can you give me some cover? I need to get close to her!" "Yes, Quentin." Lihua gathered as much stone as she could lift. She took a step forward and stepped on some rocks in other to get the ability to fly. "RAVEN, do you read?" Quentin asked as he pulled one of his concrete wedges from the ground to create a basic platform. "I can end this, I just need to get to her body! Just get ready to cut me a path, how long have we got till the weapon's up?!" Maximilian nodded his head, he still had Helena's dead body in his arms. "I can get you some cover - but hurry up," he said. "The missiles will be ready in one minute," Dana said over the comms. "Now that we know where to direct them..." "Once they hit, I'll push forward. Praetorian, do I have your go?!" Quentin was ready to make his descent atop the concrete wedge. Maximilian was unsure of whether or not he should risk Quentin like this. Especially with one RAVEN dead already. He let out a sigh. "You have my permission... but be careful." Nodding, Quentin descended atop the platform he'd pulled, which quickly touched down with a thud, pilot intact, if a little roughed up. "Alright, the missile array is a good, point me a target!" Dana shouted, and Maximilian pulled a military grade laser pointer from his utility belt. He aimed it at the Devil's base, then pressed the button. A red laser came out that eventually turned green. "Missiles are enroute!" Dana loudly shouted as the missile launcher began firing a barrage of twelve missiles that cut through the air at high speed. They quickly traveled to the battlefield, and hit the Devil right where Maximilian designated. Each missile caused a huge explosion that did massive damage. The Devil's body started vibrating violently and she let out several enormous roars. Her body twisted and examined the battlefield. "This is Counterpoint, I'm ready!" [I]Here goes nothing,[/i] Quentin thought, not realising just how much his hands trembled. "Everyone!" Maximilian said. "Cover Quentin - cut a hole for him!" [I]Go.[/i] Quentin sprang from behind cover, shotgun at the ready, making a beeline for the base of the Devil's form. Everyone pulled their powers together, and started hitting a hole inside the Devil. However, the Devil let out a hellish yell that was so loud that everyone had to cover their ears or risk damage. After the Devil stopped screaming, she started moving. Slithering away from the fight. Not fast as she did before due to the damage she had recieved. The pitch staggered Quentin, who would've hit the ground had he not steadied himself against an abandoned car. "Damn it!" Maximilian loudly shouted as he pressed his ear piece. "After her! Don't let her get away to recuperate!" "Maximilian..." Dana trailed off. "She's not retreating... She's heading towards NEST Headquarters..." "No... you fucking don't..." Quentin growled as he staggered to his feet, still disoriented from the pitched scream. "We have to stop her!" Maximilian shouted into the comms. "I am the [i]last[/i] person who should be questioning your heroics..." Luis said as he hopped over to their rooftops. "But, do you [i]really[/i] want to get in between [i]that?[/i]" He asked, not the slightest amount of sarcasm in his voice. It sounded totally legitimate. "The people in your little refuge have no tactical advantage... just let the Devil have her fun, and come up with a plan of attack from there." "To hell with you." Maximilian shouted as he made a desperate call. "Dana, get everyone out of there!" Further behind their lines, Reed had already jumped into one of the VPD trucks and had floored it towards HQ, determined to outrun the Devil. "We have to get back there!" Lihua said, frantically. "Lijuan's there! So is Mika!" "And [i]my[/i] family too!" Shizuka added indignantly. "Everyone get inside your vehicles, and let's go!" Maximilian loudly shouted. Flashbang merely opened a portal for the Changelings, and they hopped inside. [hr] The Devil was going on a beeline through Verthaven - merely smashing aside anything that got in her way. She was done playing around. She started gathering her element... water. NEST headquarters was directly on a beach. She pulled water out from the ocean, and quickly created a giant tidal wave that hit Headquarters... fortunately, the building was reinforced against Metahuman attacks. However, the safezone was quickly getting wiped out. People let out screams as they were washed away into the ocean. The Devil kept pacing towards the headquarters... this building... it was a symbol of fools. On her tail was a lone VPD truck, weaving in and out of abandoned traffic in a frantic effort to reach HQ before she did. Over the radio came a single voice, distorted by the storm's intensity. "NEST HQ --- is Detective Ta--lor - you need --- to safety! Th --- thing's headed your wa---" The raging tidal wave was nothing compared to the Devil approaching NEST headquarters, and retracting tentacles from her body. These tentacles were as thick as buses, and they slammed on the ground and knocked over buildings as the Devil beelined for the NEST Headquarters. "God dammit!" Reed spat, swerving at the last minute to avoid slamming into an overturned cruiser. Just ahead, he could make out the tip of the concrete wall surrounding the safezone - along with the surging ocean spray smashing against it. Again, he tried the comms, "NEST HQ, get -- safety! --- Devil is abou-- hit you!" yet in this raging storm it was hard to make anything out, save for her growing form. "Cass, Quentin, Cornell - she's gaining!" The RAVENs were right behind them. Speeding after the Devil fast as they could. Quentin practically straddled the gunner compartment of Max's APC, hanging on for dear life with one arm wedged in a handhold whilst in the other he frantically fiddled with his M320 grenade launcher. "Praetorian, get me closer!" Quentin hoarsely rasped as he felt the rain hammering against his face like stones. "Alright!" Maximilian shouted as he hopped off the APC - choosing to fly instead. Echo appeared behind him, and flew over to Quentin and grabbed him with both arms. Quickly flying Quentin closer to the Devil. "God damn!" Lihua shouted. "We [i]need[/i] something! We have to stop her!" "Grah-" Flight didn't exactly come naturally to Quentin Taylor, yet this was now or never. Rasping, he pulled out a canister containing a potent anti-metahuman agent and quickly popped it into the launcher's tube, snapping it back down. "Closer!" he barked again, aware that this might be the one and only shot before she destroyed [i]everything[/i]. Echo, on command, picked up speed, getting Quentin closer. Maximilian pressed his earpiece, "This is as far as I can get you!" Without hesitating, Quentin shakily squeezed back on the trigger and fired off the canister into the Devil's hulking mass. Against odds, the canister hit her in the body, before it exploded. Releasing the gas into her body. There were tiny holes within her body to allow her to breath through her skin like a salamander. The gas leaked into her body, and began hitting her where it counts - her actual body. She came to a stop, and began using her wind abilities to get the gas out. [I]This was it.[/I] "Everyone!" Dana loudly shouted into the speakers of the safezone and headquarters... what was left of it. "You need to clear the area at once! This is not a drill!" There was panicked screaming as everyone vacated fast as they could. Running away in all directions. It wasn't long before the Devil got over the effects of the meta suppressing chemical. She was surrounded with a thick aura of electricity. It danced around her skin like it was nothing. She turned around, facing her persuers. She let out a roar as the electricity funneled in front of her into a giant orb of electricity that grew larger and larger until it was her size. The earth started shaking, and she was wrapped in a blinding brightness. "Hm," Leon said as he looked at the orb from a distance. "That definitely is not good." "Oh Jesus Christ!" Meifeng shouted in shock. "I think she wants us to fuck off!" "Agents!" Maximilian shouted as the APC came to a skidding stop. "Scatter!" The APCs and vehicles quickly went in different directions - swerving far apart as possible so they weren't in the way of the [i]ultimate[/i] lightning attack. They dipped behind as much cover as possible. Because they'd need it. The Devil fired a bolt of lightning so [i]powerful[/i] that it encompassed the city in a white light. The ground shook, and all that was heard was a powerful thunder that shook the ground. The bolt of lightning was impossibly powerful - and destroyed all that was in its path. Leaving behind nothing but a burning scorch in the ground. Buildings were destroyed, people were vaporized. There was nothing left by the destruction. The APC containing the RAVENs were fortunate enough to be shielded from the blinding light... long as they kept their eyes closed. "Keep your eyes closed!" Lihua shouted as she threw her hands above head, and flipped a stone slab over to provide them much more cover. "Jesus!" Cindy shouted. "[i]How[/i] are we supposed to kill this bitch?!" She followed that up with another scream. She could have squatted them away right off the bat - just as she suspected. Shizuka, who was right beside her, had to cover his ears on top of keeping his eyes shut. "Well, screaming your head off ain't gonna kill her, obviously!" The Changelings... sans Luis, had temporarily retreated back to their headquarters. Which was out of the path of destruction. Luis was standing on top of the roof, with his meat cleaver in hand. "Hahahahaha!" Luis laughed like a madman. "[i]This[/i] is it! [i]This[/i] is the power that will propel me into [i]Godhood![/i] I can [i]feel it![/i]" He was encompassed by the light, and vanished within it. The bolt of lightning wiped out whoever was left behind on the previous battlefield. The bolt of lightning went right through them like it was nothing... and burned all to ash. The electricity kept moving past the trail of destruction until it had hit the shield. It hit the shield with such a powerful blast of electricity, that the shield turned red and began to fluctuate. Dipping in and out. The light from the blast of electricity faded, and everyone could see what was going on with the shield. "Yooooo..." Cindy said as she looked up at the shield. "Is it gon' break?" Trevor asked. "We can get out of here!" "Or High Command will just cut their loses and drop a nuke on us." Lihua rolled her eyes up into her head. "Before that shield goes down, we should make sure she's dead." "We had her on the ropes, right?" Meifeng asked. "That's why she's running." "But she's still powerful enough to do [i]that[/i]." Lihua said as she pointed skyward. Taking advantage of her distraction; the Devil finally approached NEST headquarters, and giant tentacles came out of her body. They smashed the concrete barriers of the headquarters like it was nothing, and what followed was a flood that washed away what was left of the base - and whoever was unfortunate enough to stay behind. Their screams were ignored as the Devil approached NEST headquarters. Once the Devil got closer and closer to the building. They started wrapping around the building with her enormous tentacles. Glass was shattered as they tightly wrapped around the building. "Maxi - Maximilian!" Dana loudly called from NEST headquarters. "She's tearing headquarters apart!" "Grue! Get out of there!" Maximilian shouted without a second thought. "On it!" Dana shouted, before she finally put her headset down... she quickly looked around. She was going to miss this place (she never thought she'd get to serve in headquarters), but she had to get out of here. Everyone else was evacuating the building, so should she. She was about to roll herself out of here, but Daphne got behind her. She nodded at her fellow I&I companion, before she was pushed away. The building was crumpled and crushed as the Devil's grip was tightened on it. The Devil drove tentacles through the windows, and started tearing apart the building from the inside. Alarms ranged as the Devil utterly destroyed the former beacon of NEST. The building crumpled as it was utterly torn to pieces. Explosions boomed as The Devil's grip on the tower got even tighter. The building was ultimately crushed like a soda can as a large chunk of the building fell off. Burning as it hit the flooded streets of Verthaven. The rest of the tower was knocked over like it was a sandcastle. Nothing left of it but an exploded wreck. "Project SCYTHE is in position!" Dr. Cross said. "Permission to fire?" Maximilian fell to his knees as he saw his precious NEST headquarters falling to pieces. He couldn't help but feel pain for the immeasurable amount of deaths that went down. "...Do it." [hr] Carted a flatbed, the Hands of Science's pride and joy began rolling up until they came into clear view of the Devil's towering form. The cannon took aim, and Dr. Cross and Stephanie tapped away at the buttons. The cannon started powering up, and started glowing a bright red color as it began powering up. A red orb formed at the barrel of the cannon, and a bright red light encompassed the area. Before Dr. Cross dramatically pressed one last button, and fired a red beam of pure energy at the Devil that traveled at high speeds. The beam hit the Devil in the back, and the creature let out a scream that could be heard from [i]beyond[/i] Verthaven. The beam burned a hole into her back - before the energy buildup caused her form to fall apart. She let out some more cries as she slithered over towards the RAVENs in one last desperate attempt to kill them, but she raised one tentacle and she fell apart. She hit the ground with a thud that cracked the earth, and continue dissolving into a sludge. The rain slowed down a bit. "...Praise Jesus." Cindy said as she dropped to her knees with a smile on her face. She almost cried tears of joy here. "We can finally get out of here." "I wouldn't be so quick to say that." Maximilian said as he placed Quentin down, and landed on his feet. "Remember, [i]confirm[/i] before we celebrate." "Always confirm the kill, after all." Lihua said as she turned towards the group. "Praet.. Max, do I have your approval to finish this?" Quentin glanced towards the de facto leader of NEST, disgust washing over his face as he bore witness to the Devil's dissolving form. "You do... in fact..." Maximilian looked among his group. "We're [i]all[/i] going to finish this." Nodding, Quentin tugged his Remington 870 from its sling and drew back on the pump-action. Lihua took in a deep breath as she also pulled her mossberg from it's sling, and nodded her head. "Let's put an end to this bitch." Meifeng gathered the rain from around herself, and created a spinning pillar of water in front of herself. "Legs are getting a little tired - gonna have to use this for a bit." She answered. "For Jennifer," she fondly said. "For Reed," Quentin echoed, recalling how one of this.. [i]thing's[/i] creations had almost killed his brother. "For Helena," Maximilian said as he remembered he left her body back there. "Let's also not forget the others - countless innocent lives - lost throughout this whole city," Shizuka added solemnly, bowing his head a little. "Don't worry, lads." Sonya said as she leaned up against the APC, she started loading up her sniper rifle with massive rounds. This was going to be the thing that puts an end to that bitch, once and for all, after all. (Hey that rhymes!) "I'm going to take position ahead of you all, and confirm. Recon's my middle name!" After saying that, Sonya hopped up onto the side of a building, climbing up to the top like it was nothing. She started hopping from roof to roof, as she moved towards the Devil. The rest of the group followed behind her. [hr] Few had managed to escape the safe zone; fewer had managed to outrun the tidal wave. Yet, for what little it was worth, a small group had escaped the Devil's wrath. Foot jammed against the accelerator, Reed could only watch helplessly as he bore witness to NEST HQ's destruction in the truck's mirrors. Yet he found some relief on knowing that the Devil was out for the count and that he'd managed to save some. He could only hope that Quentin and Cass were unharmed. [hr] Sonya moved fast, and far ahead of the group. Hopping like a ninja as she went from roof to roof. This was her job as a scout, after all. Charge into the nearest vantage point, with stealth involved, and make sure the coast is clear for the rest of the lads! She was anxious to put an end to this. She was so sick of violence, so sick of blood, that all she wanted to do was retire to a pond for the next five decades. With the wifey of course - Oh! And maybe some kids! She came up on the final ledge, it was dark, but she had the perfect view of the Devil's smoldering corpse! She got down on her knee, and got her sniper rifle in position. She looked down the scope, and observed the area. She was ready to take the shot the moment she saw the Devil alive. If the Devil is dead, then they're going to have one hell of a party. On her! But, nothing is ever simple in this city - just as Lihua said. The rest of the Devil was falling to itty bitty bits, and then disappearing into thin air. There won't be anything left of her soon. Which means that she's going to get her answer soon. "Hey, wait a minute..." Sonya quickly said as she focused her scope on a particular target. It looked like... "She's alive-" Sonya felt a cold revolver press against the back of her head, and she was immediately cut off by the surprise. "...Sorry bitch," Heartbreaker said with a grin on her lips. "But, you should'a kept those eyes of yours open..." "...What-" [hr][hider=Black Lagoon ost - Don't Look Behind][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWAuhFljn0M[/youtube][/hider][hr] Heartbreaker pulled the trigger, and the bullet immediately exploded out of the gun at high speeds, and blew Sonya's skull apart. Her body fell off the rooftop with grace, as what was left of her brain fell and hit the ground. Immediately, Maria let out a scream as her wife was killed right before her eyes. She fell down and started crying. Everyone quickly turned their weapons on Heartbreaker's position. "Sonya!" Maximilian shouted as quickly deployed Echo and sent him flying towards Heartbreaker to get vengeance against her. Heartbreaker did nothing but laugh as she flipped backwards - a portal opened and she went inside, before it closed. "No!" Quentin boomed, turning his sights towards Heartbreaker's position - yet she'd already gone. Running over to Sonya's corpse, and held her in her hands. She started crying tears of black ink as her body started reverting back into it's ink form. She started to partially dissolve in the water that was puddling underneath her. She was too immersed in grief to notice. "Maria!" Maximilian said. Echo quickly retracted, and grabbed Maria and held her above the water. "Mayfield..." Lihua said, somberly. She... couldn't feel a thing. She clenched her fists in anger. Lihua should be outraged right now, but all she could feel as [i]nothing[/i]. Cindy quickly covered her mouth at the gory sight, and nearly let out a screech. Shizuka squeezed her shoulder to steady her. He never had a chance to chat with the lady-frog sniper, but he did like her bubbly personality; he was going to miss her chirpy voice over the comms. "Oh shit! Frog woman!" Trevor said as tears started rolling down his eyes. He only really known her for a few weeks - and now she's dead. Jesus Christ. He dropped his gun. "God damn it!" He cried out in anger, as his drug infused tears started leaking down his face. "They keep- they keep... they keep fuckin' us over like this." "...She stopped me from killing her," Quentin realised with horror, recalling when he'd broken her fingers instead of putting a slug in the bitch's skull, "Sonya convinced me to take her alive. God... I could've stopped this." "She..." Maximilian trailed off as he focused on holding off the hysteric Maria. "...Was the best of us... She was honestly my best friend..." Maximilian clenched his fist. Behind them, an engine could be heard grumbling as it drew closer to them. The other VPD truck, containing Cass and his surviving colleagues, soon came to a halt. Disembarking, shock soon washed across the old man's face as he bore witness to the ruins of NEST's HQ and the Devil's dissolving remains. "Jesus, what happened?!" "...She destroyed everything." Lihua somberly answered. She quickly looked around. She raised her foot up into the air, and quickly slammed it down that hit with an impact that betrayed her strength. She pulled stone blocks out of the ground that floated around herself. "The Changelings have turned on us, as expected - we can mourn later!" In the distance, Cass could see Maria mourning over a corpse... Mayfield's corpse. "...Bastards." Then, something else occurred to him. "Quent... where's your brother?" "...I thought he was with you?" "No, he took off in one of the trucks." "We gotta take out the Devil." Meifeng said as she turned towards the Devil's corpse... "...No." She mouthed out the words as she desperately tried to throw cover up. Lihua quickly turned over her shoulder and tried to move the shield as well. What Meifeng had saw was a portal opening right in their blind spot, and Heartbreaker was spinning her revolvers with a grin on her face. Everyone took notice, and tried to react. Shizuka instinctively grabbed for the arms of Cindy and Trevor, who were the nearest to him - to keep his word with them: not to let the both of them die. But few could match Heartbreaker's speed. [i]It took one second to find a target...[/i] The mantra went through her head as she scanned the group for the [i]best[/i] target. [i]It takes another second to line up a shot.[/i] She quickly whipped her revolver in the direction of her target. [i]...And one second to fire.[/i] Heartbreaker took the shot right for Cass - aiming for his face so he wouldn't look pretty in those funerals. At the same time, the old man squeezed back on his trigger - and in his final moments managed to graze Heartbreaker's shoulder before her bullet tore through his eye socket. Heartbreaker let out a hiss of pain as she fell backwards, and the portal closed - but, she had the last laugh. "Alright!" Lihua knew what had to be done. She used all the stone she could to create a dome of concrete around herself and the others. With the Changelings picking them off one by one, this is the only thing in the way. "Oh shit!" Meifeng said as she dove for the old man. "Cass!" She barely knew him - but he... helped Jen back there, and she was so sick of all this death. "...Cass?" Quentin slumped towards the old man's lifeless corpse, face awash with horrified shock. Pulling off his gloves, he tried with all the might he had to give him his powers, to be able to regenerate, even PR-1's power, yet it was too late. Cradling his uncle's body, he remained silent - tears streaming down his cheeks. "Aw shit!" Trevor said, "Maybe... maybe... maybe I can help 'im!" Trevor said. "Maybe there's still time!" He tried to infuse him with as much of his drug as he could... but nothing. It wasn't doing anything to him. Trevor tried giving him some more, but it didn't do anything. "Oh no..." Trevor said as tears began to roll down his cheeks. "He's gone..." Two consecutive deaths, even if they were mere strangers, definitely made an impact on the usually hard-headed Shizuka. He was beginning to see why the Vuhong woman and Quentin had such a deep personal hatred towards Heartbreaker... It was a miracle that Haruka was still alive after falling into the hands of the Changelings previously, but there's no guarantee that his brother would get lucky again the next time... He clenched his fists; part of him wanted to give those fuckers a taste of their own medicine, for laying their filthy hands on Haru...but the bigger picture was to get rid of them for good, to stop these tragedies from repeating themselves. Quentin wanted to believe it. Wanted to believe that [i]something[/i] could be done. But this world was never that kind. It never had been. And she... that bitch was still out there, free to murder others. And then... Then, an entirely different look washed across his face as something else hit his thoughts. "...That fucker..." Quentin hoarsely rasped, setting Cass' lifeless body down before standing up. Without another word, he stormed off, shotgun in hand, before any of the others could a damned thing. "We got another problem..." Leon said... sobbing as he suppressed the tears over the death of Sonya. "We gotta..." "...Hello friends!" Luis's voice boomed through their barrier as he stepped through the portal, twirling a knife around with both hands. "Sorry, I can't play right now - but [i]my[/i] friends are going to be the ones who keep you company. Okay?" A portal opened behind him, and each member of the Changeling Unit stepped out. The Berserker hopped out, pounding her chest. A newly healed Heartbreaker also stepped out, twirling her revolvers. Count Vicious stepped out, and massaged his hook hand - before he was encased in metal. The Skin Walker stretched his way through the portal. The Mannequin appeared to have fell from the sky. Rising up like someone was pulling the stringers. The Changeling Unit was before RAVEN. "Well, have fun!" Luis said as he ran off. She gritted her teeth. She summoned stone to float around herself. "He's buying time," Lihua said. "We have to kill the Devil..." Being overcome with rage over the death of her friend, Meifeng's sheer hatred for Luis made the water around her to swing around at high speed. Once she calmed down, Meifeng dropped into stance. Hissing, "I've been [i]itching[/i] to get back at you fucks for what you did to Jen." She cracked her neck. Cindy did the same, and coolly created a large glass pane in front of herself. "You maniacs are [i]definitely[/i] someone that needs to be stopped." She never thought she'd run into super villains like this. "Agreed," Maximilian said, as Echo appeared behind him. "I hope everyone is ready for this, because this is the big one." He took in a sigh as everyone stood at his side. "The battle that will decide who lives, and who dies." [hr] Luis was running through the wet streets with the meat cleaver over his shoulder. All he needed to do was grab her and he'll be one step closer to his [i]dream.[/i] Luis saw the Devil in clear sight, lying right on the ground. Right at the wrong moment, that bitch Revenant from the Reapers appeared and looked around. By now, the Devil had completely dissolved and all that was left was the Devil's naked body sprawled out on the ground. [i]Just as Dr. Cross predicted.[/i] Revenant quickly teleported over to her in the midst of the death, grabbed her... then teleported back into the Hands' home base. "No!" Luis shouted as he stretched his hand out from the opposite street. The Hands have her now. "Damn it!" They'd have to get the Devil out of their hands later. However, this was very irritatin- At that moment, the leader of the Changelings was hit straight in the mid-section by a slug, then another, then another - until Quentin had expended the entire magazine tube of his Remington 870. The others were nowhere to be seen - he'd gone it alone after, for lack of better words, guessing that the Spaniard would be here. Instead of going out in plain sight like Quentin, Shizuka stayed hidden around the corner close enough to hear them. He had helped the agent to get out of the concrete dome with his intangibility - which was a much quieter alternative than trying to punch their way out and alerting the rest of RAVENs. Luis was caught off guard, every shot pushed him back another step... and he merely looked down as the slugs were pushed out of his body. "...Haven't we been over this before?" Luis said as he slung his meat cleaver over his shoulder. "Nothing can kill me, I am [i]invincible![/i]" he announced with an evil grin. "[i]Fuck you[/i]." Quentin seethed, a cold fury in his heart as he started loading more slugs into the magazine tube. Luis merely rolled his eyes as he took the opportunity to rush Quentin with astonishing speed and hit him in the gut with a sharp kick. Winding him, the blow knocked Quentin off his feet with a surprising level of speed, pushing the shotgun a few feet away. Luis walked up. "Ah... I know you are quite angry about what my cohort has done..." he said casually. "However, I admire your strength, confronting me alone like this... perhaps there's a place for you in my perfect world..." he trailed off. That only gave Quentin the motivation to push on, disgusted at the notion of earning the Changeling leader's 'approval'. Closing his eyes, he focused with all the willpower he had - and pulled up a shard of concrete from the ground beneath Luis' feet. It impaled the glorious leader of the Changeling Unit, and he could only laugh at the injuries that'd leave anyone else screaming in horror. He firmly dropped his weight down, and raised his foot up into the air off the spike. There was a mess of blood spraying that quickly came to a close. "Come on..." Luis moaned. "Why resist it so badly? I know what you did to Heartbreaker..." He pointed his meat cleaver at Quentin. "...So I know you have it in you! That innate cruelty!" Quentin refused to dignify the Spaniard with an answer, whole body trembling half with fear, half with rage. "So..." Luis raised an eyebrow. "...Will you join the man that will soon become a [i]God!?[/i]" he asked. "It's not too late for you, Quentin... we can give you back [i]everything[/i] you lost if you help me fulfill my dreams of a perfect world..." Luis offered his hand. Remaining silent, Quentin looked towards the ground, then back to Luis. Hesitating for a moment, he eventually reached for the Changeling's hand to pull himself to grasp, pulling himself to his feet with his own, ungloved hand... Before he put all of his concentration into drawing out the Spaniard's abilities with one hand, the other wildly grasping for his throat. It was a suicidal attack, but Quentin had been numbed any sense of self-preservation the moment the old man had died. Luis dropped his meat cleaver, and growled in anger as he used his free hand to savagely punch Quentin in the face. Bloody and bruised, Quentin held on as tight as he could, fingers tightening around the bastard's throat. If he couldn't kill him, then he'd at least level the playing field. "Come on now!" Luis shouted with a sadistic grin on his face as he cocked his fist back and threw another punch. "You're just being silly!" Quentin spat a few bloodied teeth out at the Spaniard, yet the vice-like grip persisted as his hands took on a crimson hue. "Fine then!" Luis shouted, his free hand went to his comm-piece. "Flashbang, send Fig through!" A portal opened right behind Quentin and Fig stepped right out with a grin. She aimed a hand forward, and shot a blast of her green gaseous energy at Quentin's back - which quickly ate through his armor, down to the skin. Cursing in agony, it broke his concentration and he lost his footing, writhing on the ground. Shizuka gritted his teeth, using every ounce of his willpower to hold himself back from jumping out too early. He gripped onto the knife on his left - whatever he was planning to do would require him to get the timing right, and he only had one shot at it. Luis stepped over to Quentin, with a grin on his face. "Nice work, Fig," he said, as he stepped over to his meat cleaver and grabbed it. "Now... it's a shame you decided not to join..." he said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "You would have made a [i]fine[/i] Changeling - but, you chose the wrong side... so..." He raised the meat cleaver over his head. "...[i]You can join your friends in hell![/i]" [i]Now![/i] Shizuka pulled out the blade and turned on his power, sneaking up behind Luis quickly and silently. He drove the ghostly knife straight through the Changeling leader's skull - all the way into his brain - and released it. Before anyone could react, he dived at Quentin, landing right on top of the man, and the two disappeared into the ground below. The knife appearing in his brain made Luis drop down to his knees. He was still alive, and he was [i]pissed[/i] he kept getting interrupted like this. He couldn't move. "Flashbang!" Fig said. "Get Luis to Witch Mother!" A portal opened behind them, and Fig threw him backwards into it. Shizuka dragged the injured agent underground before resurfacing - onto an alleyway away from the sight and earshot of the Changelings. "Je-sus," he breathed out in between pants. "That...was too close." He leaned against the wall, and put his arms around himself to stop his shaking frame. Killing those monsters was one thing, but trying to do the same to a human - even if it's someone who deserved it - was definitely no joke. While he didn't think a stunt like that would be enough to kill the almost-immortal leader instantly, it should buy them some time - he highly doubted that bloodsucker could ever completely heal from the knife stuck in the head, deeply wedged into his brain cells [i]atom by atom[/i]. Bloody, bruised and burnt, Quentin shuddered as he felt his caustic burns exposed to the cool, damp air - spitting out another glob of bloody saliva on the ground beneath him. Luis had done a number on him, leaving his face coated in blotches of red, black and blue whilst he could barely open his left eye. A few teeth had been knocked out, too. Quentin hissed for a few minutes, then slowly pushed himself to his feet, steadying himself by leaning side wards against the wall as his senses started coming back to him. He'd... left the others behind, for what? To let that bastard knock him down, kill him if it wasn't for the kid. Luis' words were still embedded in his mind, echoing alongside Heartbreaker's... [i]You would have made a fine Changeling.[/i] He spat another glob of blood, disgusted at the thought. And then something else cane to mind, as he realized in horror... "[I]Reed[/i]," he rasped. Shizuka sighed. "Dude, you're in no state to go after anyone now," he said firmly. "I owed your brother for stopping me from jumping to my death previously, and now I'm paying that back by stopping you from doing something equally stupid." He pulled off his own comm-piece and held it out for Quentin - his power probably short-circuited the injured man's technology, but Shizuka made sure he kept his switched off whenever he was using his ability. "The storm's gone, so you should try contacting his radio to check instead." "Alright." Quentin nodded, gesturing for the kid to pass him the radio.