[b]Assault Team B Collaborative Post[/b]

The knife cut pretty deep for something haphazardly whipped round a heat field. Just a flesh wound, perhaps barely more than a scrape, but it still hurt. She'd need to get somebody to fix that... she wasn't so good at sewing, unfortunately. Still, once Eyeblight was immobilised by heatspots, Messiah melted the knife down to metal slag as she had with the gun, ensuring it couldn't be used against them again. Which only left Eyeblight himself, and his claims about the detonator, and oh, dear, that sure was a way in which it worked. Move the thing too far from the bombs, or let him detonate it himself... That... that horrible, creepy, evil... she shook her head with a disgusted groan, beginning to reason with herself about the possibilities, and looking away from him for a moment whilst maintaining the heatspots. Can't let him psyche me out, or let him actually use the detonator. He'd surely do it anyway even if he was freed, he's exactly that sort of person. If the bombs explode by getting too far away from the detonator, chances are they'll do the same if the detonator's destroyed, since the dead man's switch is a thing... wait, CRAP.

'Margrave, Tulpa, come to me. Neither of you go near him,' she stated bluntly, ordering both Margrave and, just to be safe, the more reasonable Tulpa. Margrave's power involved turning objects into toys, and she imagined turning the detonator into a plastic object would trigger a possible DMS just as easily as incinerating it would. She couldn't afford to let the impulse-driven teen have his way about that.

[color=8F9779]"Think yourselves my superiors, do you?  A scarecrow and a seer, commanding intellects far beyond my own, ordering me about like some nameless peon...?  I cannot help but smile."[/color]  The Margrave stood, his weight on his back foot, his body facing nearly sideways, looking out of the corner of his eyes at Messiah and Eyeblight with a slightly tilted head.  [color=8F9779]"When feeble imaginations fail to rise to the challenge, I alone am willing to do my duty."[/color]  He swept his hand aside dismissively to condemn both his teammate and his enemy for their crime of underestimation.  No doubt baffled, his allies looked upon him some varying degrees of incredulousness or apprehension.  Ignoring this, the Margrave stepped forward, his determination plain on his face.  With crossed arms he looked down at Eyeblight, the corners of his mouth downturned in a bitter frown.  Then, he turned back partially to look at Messiah.  [color=8F9779]"Watch, you doubter, as I transform the detonator into a mere toy, incapable of sending any signals to any bombs.  With my power I will defuse this situation!  I have calculated this plan so that it is completely foolproof!"[/color]

Surprised, and quite pleased, as to how things turned out, Evelyn let out a sigh of relief as the knife only grazed Messiah. She'd definitely have to ask if she was okay at some point, but it appeared that Eyeblight had other things for them to deal with. Pinned in his entirety, he did what many villains did, he monologued, and it made her smile beneath her mask, an expression she was glad no one but her was aware of. She'd been counting as he spoke, even keeping it up through the revelation of there being bombs involved. While the capture of Eyeblight hadn't taken that long, his explanation and Margrave's subsequent proclamation had bought more than enough time for her power to reset.

She felt things click into place, exhaling normally despite the feeling of pleasure that went through her as her power opened itself back up to her en full. She looked to Margrave and held up a hand dramatically, [color=#3068FF][b]"Margrave, you've proven yourself aplenty. I was wrong,"[/b][/color] she said, her mask hiding her expression, but not her tone of honesty. [color=#3068FF][b]"Still, the detonator and the bombs are set so that if they lose signal, as Eyeblight has so kindly explained to us, they will detonate."[/b][/color] She glanced at Eyeblight, and then Messiah, complying and walking over to her to listen to her words.

[color=#3068FF][b]"I just...don't think your power can help us here,"[/b][/color] she said, voice sympathetic.

In  an instant, something changed.  Elliot's shoulders slumped and he hung  his head, while a dereaved sigh escaped his lips.  [color=8F9779]"In  impossible situations like this, it's the duty of someone with a thorough grasp of the situation to admit defeat.  I shall allow you, Messiah, to sort this out."[/color]

Almost incredulous, Messiah watched in barely-constrained horror as Margrave announced his intent to do [i]exactly what she'd just said not to do,[/i] only being swayed from that by Tulpa's own statement, then proceeding to... give up, apparently. Was that it? Would he just do [i]nothing[/i] if she stopped being able to prevent Eyeblight from escaping? Granted, she was keeping the scarecrow in check just fine for the moment, but what if she ran out of juice? Insofar as her current output would allow, anyway, which was likely enough to maintain the pattern for a good time, but again, it was an utterly mad change of heart, enough to make her slap a palm to her face (and she was glad the heat spots were being maintained relatively remotely, otherwise that movement might have allowed Eyeblight a gap to slip free through).

Though the hand, in combination with the light emanating from her eyes, was good for covering her expression as she determined something from what Tulpa had said. His power couldn't help [i]here,[/i] but if he could make his way to the hostages... alright, how could she work that to her advantage? Simple: play to her own need to minimise the death toll. In other words, distract Eyeblight, and stall for time. As her hand left her face, she put on a thoroughly defeated expression (though whether or not he'd see this through the light was again questionable), and slowly trudged toward Eyeblight, stopping a reasonable distance away, and dear Lord the effects of his terror field did [i]not[/i] get better  as she drew closer. She made sure to keep him in her peripheral vision only, and just to be safe, a field of heat emanated from her person - enough to set straw alight on contact with her person, but no more, just to prevent him dragging her into his clutches without it being too visible. And now she was in that position? Distraction time.

'Fine. Okay, fine, Eyeblight, you...' she stuttered quietly, only to swallow and proceed a bit more loudly, 'You win. I'll... if you promise not to, you know, blow up the hostages? Promise you'll let them live, maybe go free even, and I'll let you go. It'll be like we never met here, yeah? You can go back to the Community, scott free. And, well, I guess since you have us in a... ahem, a bind and all... if- mmh...' Even if she was faking it, she'd still rather not say this next bit. '...if there's anything else you want from us, just... just ask for it. I guess we'll try to handle it... y-y'know, if it's reasonably possible, and all... does that sound like a good compromise?' Silently, she prayed his own ego would win out over any suspicions of his, and that he'd start to rant about his demands instead of... the alternative. And that Margrave would take the opportunity, of course.

As Margrave spoke his piece her heart sunk in her chest and she reached out towards him as he turned away from them before bringing her hand back to her side in a fist. After a moment she took in a strained breath and sighed, frowning before Messiah spoke. As she did so, Evelyn caught on, a look of surprise briefly forming, the expression hidden by her mask. [i]Heh...using a bit of misdirection, clever. Hopefully it works,[/i] she thought silently as she added to the act, taking a step or two towards where Messiah now stood near Eyeblight, changing her posture to best match that of someone who was angry...and defeated. All the while she used her projection to scan the villain's power and to find the detonator amidst his form. If he was lying about controlling individual strands of straw, then he was hardly as much a threat as he wanted them to think. It gave them a possible alternative to playing along, though she hoped they wouldn't need the alternative. 

Hands jammed in his pockets, Elliot dejectedly waited for the scarecrow's attention to shift away from him.