Emma was scared. Of course she was. Last time they fought things didn't feel so... big. But now with Factory and the steel dragon looming in the distance paired with the sheer scale of the battlefield it felt like they really were in a warzone. She felt the pressure again, the pressure to do something, a migraine forming under the combined weight of the battle and her stigma. Even now she couldn't get rid of it, that voice in her head reminding her of all the things she wanted to forget.

If you end up investing everything in the people around you as your foundation instead of yourself, then when they die here it's going to destroy you. She hated Lawrence a little in that moment, for shattering her fragile conception of survival. She'd always latched onto other people, let them carry her forward in life... he was trying to help, in fact, he was right. She knew that. That's why it hurt so much.

Keep offa' my turf, Time-boy. Jealousy burned inside her, watching how close Callan and Marcus were getting, living together and bonding while she watched from a distance. She worried that she was a third wheel among the few she'd come to care about during her short time here. She despaired every time she though about all the things they were doing without her. She was a petty creature.

You're not so nice either, right? She knew that Ernie was right. She wasn't a nice person. What would Marcus think if she knew what she really felt, what she had done in her past? What about Callan and Siena? Would people still like her if they knew that the prim and proper Emma Halwell was a lie? No, she decided, no one could love her for what she was. She wondered if they even liked the fake her.

You're one of them? Subnaturals are nothing more than monsters.

She gritted her teeth. She had to focus- she couldn't let her team down, not here. Once she got into the battle it would get better, right? Violence sates the stigma, she reminded herself. The curse of the Aberration. Before the canines charged into her trap, her attention was drawn above the battlefield. A dragon was flying above them. It was Chris, she realized, meaning the helicopter behind him held the rest of the Striker team. She reminded herself that Callan had the most dangerous assignment of them all and she was still brave in spite of that... what right did Emma have to be scared?

That thought was shattered the moment the helicopter was blown apart.

Her mouth went agape. She knew Callan was tough, but could she survive that? She'd thought she'd been ready for the people around her to die, she'd certainly been ready for her own death, but now...

"We're FINE! Stay focused!"

A sigh of relief. Callan was fine. The battle didn't stop for Emma to worry, she had to focus. Her eyes shot back down to the ground, to the group of clockwork canines before them. They decided they were no longer interested in Shane's team, now turning their focus towards them. Now was the time to see if Emma's orders were good enough. The canines charged forward, Devotion turning the ground below them to sludge just as planned. The canines ground to a near halt in the field, fighting desperately to trudge forward. Meanwhile Love began pulling them out from a range, shooting towards the shadowy constructs, where Determination would begin destroying them, catching them mid-air with a waiting fist.

The duo began dispatching canines one by one, her plan working without a hitch, at least at the moment. She was sure that it wouldn't take long for Factory to formulate a counter-attack, but the small victory along with her fading stigma encouraged her.

Hell began to descend onto the battlefield, even as Siena waged war for control. A flicker of motion above, a light that pierced through the sky...shouting from a familiar voice, desperate for a response.

'Oh no...Callan...!' The thought pierced through the rest, pinning the usual struggle for maintaining her abilities beneath an avalanche of unease. Swearing under her breath, Siena glanced at the abominations now rushing towards the offensive support team, concern attempting to layer itself over the adrenaline. It did nothing but create a queasy mess that the brunette was far from pleased with. She didn't have long enough to worry about the striker team, did she? Even if that team included Chris and Callan? Had her heart not been pumping a raw instinct geared towards survival through every vein and artery, Siena was certain that the thought would have made her hesitate. Stop just long enough to lose the edge against the name she'd picked. That thought made the mage try to clear her head, at least to tidy up a part of the squall of emotions that didn't belong to her. Not hers. Not. Hers.

'Oh, oh! Won't this be fun?'

Well, they had wanted flashy, hadn't they? Maybe she should have taken a second name--but no matter. Narrowing her temporarily golden eyes, Siena turned her attention to the approaching scourge. Hazel was quick to prepare her attack, a second deafening sound that made the bookish mage grimace with distaste. Annoying, annoying, annoying! Didn't that dumb bitch know better than to--'Ugh...Kanon's even more annoying than the sound...' Siena's own thoughts tore through the rising tide of frustration, breaking down the knee-jerk tantrum that Kanon wanted to throw. Good, Siena Santana was still the one in control, a thought so relieving that the girl barely even managed to register the sound of Callan's voice crackling to life over the transmission.

"Emma and Hazel are basically demigods of destruction, but you don't need to destroy buildings or have your own summoned entourage if you can just press the self-destruct button on those robots!"

'I'll have to thank Brent for the idea if this works.'

Slowly, the golden eyes trailed upwards. With Hazel blindly firing rubble forward, there was no point in even trying to find a target, but there were plenty of ways to draw some attention from the sky. Siena took a breath, focusing her attention on the birds. They were far, but there had never been a real range that she'd understood as far as Kanon went. As limiting as it was to require metal for the use of her power, Siena was aware of the utility in their current situation. Metal army, metal detonator--it might as well have been the self-destruct button that Brent brought up. Not a serious suggestion then, but certainly a viable one.

"Ah, maybe I should have taken a pyrotechnics user too." The words were tinted with something that lurked behind most of Siena's thoughts, brought to the front lines with the use of petty, morbid Kanon. A malicious nature that she kept compartmentalized to the best of her abilities when she took on childish creatures--it was getting harder to do it. She pointed, a surge of annoyance threatening to overload her senses. She turned that irritation on one of the avians. Never saw the red-headed girl detonate more than one thing at a time--better to see how much she could do with a single target in case one by one was the best she could do.

'I'll show them!'

---

---

---

"Striker Team... are you there?"

"I repeat... Callan, Sander, are you two alrig-... Ah shit!"

His instincts reacted before his conscious thoughts could, squeezing the air out of his chest until the sheer physical necessity of breathing forced an inhale. The constriction was worst around his lower torso, right below the ribs, and the prickling tightened there like a sandpaper rope where every sensation moved just as his mind pinpointed a place for him to clutch with his arms.

He hadn't been looking out the broken window nearby because he saw too many scenarios of jagged glass puncturing his flesh and too few things he wanted to see outside. What would he do without Sander now that he had placed so much of his hopes on red eyes and a warm presence? He didn't know if he had the strength to start from scratch a third time. He put too much of himself into every person who would care, and it didn't need to feel equal as long as they didn't leave, but every failure was that much more of his paltry strength gone to waste and his reservoirs were running dry.

Even now he hadn't recovered from the mire of conflicting emotions that was Alvin letting him go.

And if he had to let go of Sander, he wasn't sure if he'd--

"We're FINE! Stay focused!"

At least he hadn't been standing when the message came through on the cuffs or he would have collapsed from relief. His hands were shaking as they clutched at Sander's loose jacket, still warm around his shoulders despite the cloudy sky and the glancing rain that was now almost completely gone.

He wanted to say something back, but Callan's last order had made clear they couldn't afford the distraction of his minor problems. So Christmas stayed seated on the water-stained sofa in that simple, two-story house where portraits and mantel decor had fallen across the hardwood flooring. A coffee table in front of him had been pushed askew and on it rested a half-empty teacup sitting on a cheap, plastic saucer stamped with flowers where the coloring was printed just outside the borders. He had been watching it for the past several minutes, trying to force the pink and purple petals into the lines with just his eyes in a futile endeavor that he persisted at regardless.

He was good at doing useless things like that and staring at the screens of handheld consoles, staring at a daydream in the sky or on the wall, and pretending everything he was measured up to others.

Ernie and Zoe had left him to his own devices as one kept watch and the other scoured the house for anything useful, but he doubted it was because they trusted him. More that they trusted him to not do anything without their explicit acknowledgment. They weren't wrong, but the suspicion only cemented how pathetic he was.

The tiny things he would never admit trickled into his awareness as the flowers' colors remained stubbornly misplaced and his mind looked for alternatives to distract itself: he hadn't cared as much about Callan's well-being as Sander's; he had only felt relieved because Callan had confirmed both of them were all right. If she were in front of him, he would have apologized for that.

Shivering despite Ernie's puffer jacket on his lap and Sander's blue hoodie hanging large around his shoulders, Christmas didn't notice the weight of an unseen footstep that creaked a floorboard near the fireplace.

A bright red glow from the skyline caused Marcus's attention to shift from the ruined streets ahead of them. It certainly looked like the Support team was in for a fight, if that was the kind of attack that the clockwork creatures were letting off. He nearly shook it off as another attack, but a few pieces of scrap fluttering through the air caught his attention.

Cold fear washed over him as he registered the finely sliced metal as the last pieces of the Strike Team's helicopter. Callan's helicopter. He groped his belt looking for the phone they'd been given, his eyes still focused on where the helicopter used to be. Before he could bring the radio up to his mouth, Angel's voice echoed the words he'd already prepared.

"Striker Team... are you there? I repeat... Callan, Sander, are you two alrig-... Ah shit!"

Whatever the Support team was dealing with, it had taken Angel's attention away from the radio. There was a moment of silence, a moment that seemed to last forever in Marcus's spinning mind, punctuated by a far off scream in the distance.

The radio crackled, before a welcome voice responded. "We're FINE! Stay focused!"

Marcus let out a sigh of relief. It didn't even sound like she'd been phased by being blown out of the sky. He doubted that the decidely not-superhuman pilot was as unfazed, but he wasn't as worried about that. A thought that he should have felt more guilty about, but which went right over his head in the moment.

While the APC continued to move, Sophia's main focus remained around the area she had last seen the person, thus missing the laser beam that her power had shaded an inconspicuous shade of gray. It was the words coming from the radio that alerted her that something not so good had happened. Her stomach clenched at the abrupt ending of the message, what was going on over there and with the Striker team? What if- another message came through, and she repeated it to herself. Stay focused. The Evacuation was probably the team that would face the least danger throughout the mission, but staying focused still seemed like a good idea, and she drew her attention back to their surroundings.

Marcus stepped out the APC behind Lawrence, listening intently to the frantic woman. One guy trapped in the store with one of those wierd clockwork monsters. Not exactly the sort of thing that they were equipped to deal with, but one injured monster shouldn't pose a huge threat to a group of four mages.

He followed Lawrence into the store, nervously checking his gun again as they entered, the soft crunching of glass underfoot. The building was dark, to be expected from a ruined town like this, and the flashlight from his phone gave the shadows an eerie look. A loud thumping from the back, punctuated by a metallic growl that made Marcus's hair stand on end attested to the lady's story.

Though she didn't step out of the APC just yet, Sophia listened to the woman while looking out of the door. She couldn't see her face, but it was still evident from the tone of voice how upset the woman was. The mood was catching, and Sophia found herself getting increasingly uneasy and frightened. Weren't they supposed avoid confrontation with the creatures? That would mean going in the opposite direction. But now a person in danger had entered the picture, and that changed the situation too much. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

She followed her teammates closely as they approached the store, not wanting to lag behind even by a few steps. But when they reached the door she could go no further, one hand keeping the door open as she stood there staring transfixed with wide eyes at the clockwork only she could see. She couldn't bring herself to go any further in the store, not when it meant going closer to that dangerous thing. They needed to deal with that?

"Wait," Lawrence said, before they got too far. Pivoting to face Sophia, he quickly took note of expression on her face, keeping his voice low as he spoke, "You don't have to come inside. Just tell us what you see and stay here. We need a look out."

"What about me?" Savannah persisted from the open door of the of APC, "I want to help, too!"

"Stay, Savannah. And quiet down," he replied, "Help Sophia keep an eye out while we're inside."

Turning his attention back to Sophia, he continued, "How many are there? Just the one?"

It made her a coward, but she was relieved Lawrence didn't think she needed to go inside. Nodding to answer his question, she didn't bother to look at him. When taking a metal clockwork with sharp teeth ramming against a door to escape and comparing it to Lawrence, the clockwork won the prize for most attention grabbing. "It has sharp teeth, it's big, and I think it's going to break out soon," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

“Great…” Marcus muttered to himself. A big creature, with sharp teeth, an apparently canine-esque growl, and was about to come through the door? Sounded like their job couldn’t get much easier than that.

If the thing was really close to battering down the door, then that meant there wasn’t any time to waste in assisting the man barring the entrance, and of the four of them present, he was at least best equipped to get out of the way or back the hell up if the thing did come through. Marcus shoved his phone back into its holder, plunging the store into a slight darkness again, before moving to assist.

He jogged over to the pharmacy counter, taking the long way around it rather than leaping over it cool-guy style like he wanted. He immediately pressed himself up against the splintering door, making sure to keep all extremities away from the growing crack. He huffed slightly, giving the man who was currently holding it a weak smile.

“Hiya; don’t worry…here to-” he was cut off here as the creature slammed the door again. “- help.” Although his tone was calm, he could feel his heart beginning to race once more, having caught a better glimpse of the creature.

Of course it would be a dog. It wasn't a real dog (a thought that didn't really do much to help his nerves), but he was at least comforted slightly by the knowlege that he could beat it to death if needed, rather than turning tail and running away with just his bare fists. He certainly wasn't happy about the development, but as long as they sorted it out quickly, it wouldn't be a problem.

Upon closer inspection, the man had a decently sized bite missing from his shoulder. Teeth marks framed the missing fabric and flesh, blood pooling within the crater-like wound. "Where's Lauren?" he asked, his voice strained as the door took another heavy hit.

"Waiting outside," Lawrence answered as he neared the counter-- choosing to remain on the other side as he quickly assessed the situation. Just then, the canine-like clockwork crashed against the door again. This time it managed to drive one clawed paw almost completely through the door as the wood splintered further.

"That door's about to give," Lawrence said sharply, lifting his shotgun into position, but not aiming at the door just yet. "On the next hit, let it go and move out of the way! I'll try to shoot it down." It wasn't the most ideal plan. The better plan might've been not to try saving this one at all, but here they were. Options were limited-- as well as information. Sophia hadn't been very detailed in her description of the creature, but there hadn't been time to sit around and press for details.

Marcus shuttered with the door as the creature slammed against it once more, before giving Lawrence a quick nod of agreement. It certainly wasn't the best plan, but it was all they really had in this situation. He prepped himself for the maneuver, readying to launch himself off the door and out of the path of Lawrence's shotgun on the next hit.

With several mechanical avians on pursuit, Chris no longer worried about drawing attention. The dracomancer let out the roar that had wanted to come out ever since he got off the ground. The explosion of the helicopter only furthered his rush sensation. Though he didn't have time to see if they survived, considering Cal was super strong and Sander hopefully had his invulnerability ready, he simply put faith in that they were mostly unharmed. Still the thought of his comrades possibly dead only fueled more rage in his shout.

While he charged, the dragon flipped himself upside down in the air as his claws scraped into the belly of one of the birds that had came towards him. In an aerial maneuver, he immediately performed a wide vertical loop with his maw taking hold of a second bird that was nearby and was then headed downward. As he swung back up, crushing the bird construct in his jaws as well, he used it as a club to thwack a third attacking bird towards a building before dropping the injured construct from his mouth. With the remaining three moving to another attack Chris fired an intense blaze of breath at the fourth bird while preparing his body to grab the incoming constructs. His tail thrusted upward like a spear which struck a large dent in the fifth bird that attempted to attack his rear, and his front legs gripped and forced down the fourth bird that had been grazed in flame while the fifth had already fallen from its injury.

The six and final bird however clinged its talons on the black dragon's back, and tried to pull on his left wing with its beak to break his flying. In retaliation, unable to reach his back, Chris flipped on his back and ceased his wings from carrying him. This caused him to begin a rapid descent downwards into the town, the fourth bird still in his grip and the sixth now trapped against his back. Upon crashing the sixth construct was smashed between his platinum-exceeding scales and the ground itself. Though the fall had given Chris a brief headache his tough hide was uninjured. To finish the fourth bird he had still in his claws, he flipped back upright and placed his maw around the neck joint. He twisted the construct's neck to the left while his teeth continued to crush the metal until the head snapped off in mechanical gore. Tossing aside the head Chris strided over to the dented fifth bird to ensure it wouldn't get back up. He stomped his right claw onto the beast until it was well crushed within the dirt.

Ah, there she was, missing the point again.

Brent suppressed a chuckle as Angelic let out a scream, the sonic blast smacking one of the birds right out of the air. He had intended on her using her superhuman voice to say something encouraging or badass, but…this was probably a better use of her power anyways. They were doing well, if nothing else. With the support of the Remnants of the Main Team, not a single clockwork monster had made it past their offense. Things were going down, and now, up in the sky, Brent could see the dark form of Chris, catapulting through the air towards the birds that he hid from. Good, he could breathe a little more ea-

The sky burned red, a searing beam remaining in his vision long after it had faded.

He could feel the sudden burst of heat even at a distance, and immediately, Angelic’s voice crackled through the radio, filled with worry, even as she had her own problems to deal with. Brent’s jaw tightened, swallowing the bile that had crept up his throat. The raven-haired x-marked was kind, but she had her own things to worry about. Sander was invulnerable, and Callan was strong. If they were done in before even reaching Factory, that wouldn’t even be funny as a joke. They were alive.

He forced himself to believe that, and soon, it turned out that his beliefs were correct.

His gas mask hissed again, taking in the filtered, rubbery air that he had now become accustomed to.

Angelic, Siena, Emma, Grant, and Hazel were all handling things well. Chris had just tore apart a flock of birds by himself. Sander and Callan, judging by the map on the phone, were both going strong after all, reaching Factory. Healer teams weren’t close to any of the giant fatties that were lumbering around. Evacuation team was just cruising on by, hopefully with the ability to run over any clockwork mooks that were in their way. But…

“Grego,” Brent said, bringing up the phone closer, “Giant thing is real close. How th- Can you escape? Need any help?”

One thing that was problematic with these radio phones: no messaging capabilities. If the clockwork giant had the ability to hear, Gregory would be pretty screwed if he tried to respond. But on the other hand…how did that thing get so close without the blond x-marked noticing anyways? The Arbiter bit his lower lip, before balancing his phone on his knee. The map was useful. He really shouldn’t be keeping it in his pockets, lest he end up like Gregory.

Turning his attention back to Offensive Support, the youth clicked his tongue at the rising smoke that obstructed his vision. Hazel had launched another one of her explosive attacks, and now, it looked like the Aberration was shrouded in dust, blinded by her own attack. It was thin enough that he could make out the shadow of her form, standing at the edges of the smokescreen, but Brent unattached the scope from his gun anyways.

The function was improving visibility. The improvement was adding infrared capabilities. The inspiration was in the equipment firefighters used to see through smoke.

Silver circuits ran beneath his skin, dimmed slightly by the wishalloy before touching scope, filling it with a fluorescence. It disassembled and reassembled within an instant, noticeably bulkier, with the lenses a shade of red instead of clear. He brought it up to his right eye, peered through, and breathed. The smoke and any other obscurant was gone, replaced by a light shade of grey that indicated where it still was. Though reduced to black and white, he could clearly see Hazel’s form, as well as that of the clockwork dogs within.

If they were still alive, if they were still moving, if they were using this dust cloud as cover to attack unseen angles, Brent would be ready to alert Offensive Support.

His gun was in his right hand, but it lingered, close to the radio, ready to snatch it up immediately if those monsters had survived Hazel’s second destructive wave.

Grant cast his gaze up to the flying Metalworks that focused in on another entity, which turned out to be a dragon. That’s them out of the way, hopefully. Just as he began to ready another chunk of earth to deal with more of the grounded Metalworks, at the corner of his eye, he saw it.

That was a laser.

Indeed, a laser was just shot out from the Metalwork snake, piercing the helicopter that held the Striker team. Immediately after the attack of the laser, the helicopter fell. And fell. Metal on earth clashing together in the near distance. ”Holy shit.” Grant let out after his brief moment of speechlessness. His hand moved toward his phone but Angel’s voice stopped him. A glance toward her, and he remembered that they all were still in the midst of danger. Metalworks were already up and running toward his team, and he couldn’t let this distract him.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm his nerves before focusing back on the battlefield, missing the confirmation of Striker team’s safety. Screams and thuds against the ground rang across the battlefield, though the screams were easy to explain where from. Grant took a few steps to steady himself before scooping another pile of earth from the ground next to him.

His teammates were already attempting dispatch on a few of the charging Metalworks, so logically, he’d go for the Metalworks that were uninjured. Taking a few moments to mold his projectile, spreading it in hopes of it hitting more enemies, Grant focused. Deep breaths, deep breaths. His eyes narrowed before he reeled the projectile back and let loose another chunk toward the enemy.

A stream of light streaking through the sky caught the attention of Kusari's eyes. She blinked in disbelief as the helicopter Callan and Sander were in was torn apart. She didn't move, she didn't scream into her transmitter, she just waited. Those two were the most durable mages she knew, surely they were fine. Surely. Angel's voice came through, she was far more able to voice what Kusari was afraid to. A moment later, Callan responded, letting everyone know her and Sander were fine. Kusari let out a breath and rubbed her temples. The fight had barely started and she was already a step away from a nervous breakdown.

Kusari inhaled a sharp breath and turned to her team. "Let's go, I don't want to stay in these streets for too long."

"Alright." Allison's voice was relatively quiet, hushed by the weight of the scenario. "Lead the way." She said to Kusari. Allison hadn't said a word since they had left USARILN, having been preoccupied with thought of the coming battle. Luckily, the trio wouldn't be in the thick of battle, at least not yet. The destruction of the helicopter had definitely dampened Allison's mood, though the confirmation of Callan and Sander's survival prevented her from believing the situation to be hopeless. Allison just wanted to get to their destination. She shifted uncomfortably in the jacket she had forced herself to wear, which offered little warmth against the sprinkling rain from above.

Kusari narrowed her eyes at Allison for a moment before turning back to walk to their destination. She seemed to be bothered by something, but all things considered it would be strange if one of them wasn't. As long as she looked like she was focused she didn't care to bring it up. The noises up ahead had gotten louder, it was safe to say the mission was in full swing now. She had to do her part as best she could, being a body guard was likely the best position she could have here.

Keeping a brisk pace, they eventually arrived to a diner. They hadn't run into any enemies thus far, but Kusari could hear the distant sound of abominable machines growing louder. She pushed open the diner's doors, glass falling from it's frame as it creaked ajar. There were plates of old food still sitting on a few tables, clearly people wasted no time trying to leave.

"I don't like this." Kusari said, examining the wide windows of the diner. "This isn't exactly a stellar defensive position."

"Yea." Allison responded as broken glass crunched under her feet. "you're probably right. We could move to another building, though there could be some reason to stay in this..." She looked around at the awful state of the diner, food and broken plates littered both the tables and the floor, toppled chairs marking the panicked escape of those who once occupied them. Several of the large windows had been shattered, the glass lining the ground both inside the restaurant and out. What would have broken into the building through the windows seemed relatively obvious, and Allison forced her mind away from it, continuing to speak. "... This diner. It's an open position, but that does mean we can see what's going on around us." Allison sighed, pulling a chair that seemed to be in decent condition, it wasn't covered in glass or food at least, away from a table, and sitting down next to Lily, who had done the same. "What do you want to do?" Allison said to the girl with the monstrous arm.

Kusari looked at the digital map on the device given to her. They weren't in any immediate danger at the moment, at least none that was obvious. She was just as worried about encountering those enemy mages than she was about running into a group of monsters. She put the device away and looked to Lily and Allison. "We'll stay here I guess, I can't think of any better options at the moment."

"Alright then." Allison stared out the broken windows at the ruined town beyond, uncertain of the coming hours.

Gregory Irving

---

---

Moving from room to room revealed little of interest, and instead just made Gregory want to stop and climb back up to the rooftop. Things like a hard to see splatters soaking into the dark carpet or a cushion savaged and torn apart. About to sigh as he exited from another screening room, he found himself stumbling instead as the building shook violently. Different from the rumbles caused by the elephantine construct just moving about, and the sound of cracking concrete and screeching steel told him enough that he didn’t bother going to investigate.

Pocketing the baton as he bolted for the stairs to the rooftop, he wrenched the fire alarm pull station down as he rounded the corner and ran up, drowning out his movements with the alarms that blared to life. Taking several steps at once, he shut the rooftop door behind him to somewhat muffle the alarm before pulling out his phone.

“Wasn’t seen by it, unless there’s small observers. Isn’t likely it heard me either. Seems to sense things without line of sight. Might be motion based, but don’t bet on that. Let others know, busy.” Having hurled the bundle of rope off the roof by then, Gregory placed the phone back on his belt and looked down to the ground, at the door, and then the ladder down to the fire escape stairs past that. From the rumbles he could feel, it didn’t seem like the construct was about to stop any time soon. Grimacing, he bolted across the roof for the ladder and stairs and hoped the construct didn’t decide to emulate the Kool-Aid man.

---

---

---

Determination had dispatched two of the large canines just as Angel's scream slammed into all three of Emma's tulpas and shoved them away with most of the charging dogs. Weaker than the metallic animals, the tulpas dissipated swiftly under the force of the sonic wave with only Determination able to bear the brunt of it, though even the most resilient of Emma's summons was knocked down.

That left most of the creatures easy hits for Hazel's and Grant's attacks that, once more, obliterated clockworks and crushed others, putting another four dogs permanently out of commission.

Two of the dogs in the initial charge remained and they righted themselves quickly, dashing to either side of the group and charging in again from opposite ends. Five dogs that had held back before now dashed in as well.

The centipedes, marginally slower by comparison but far sturdier, slithered forward on winding movements, closing the distance rapidly and skirting the dangerous field surrounding Ethan's group, intent on backing up their failing front line. The spiders in the back continued their busywork, revealing a fine netting of thin wires that would certainly cut into skin and bone if anyone caught within struggled overmuch.

In the sky and then onto the ground, Chris demolished the six birds that had been the aerial attempt to stop him, one of them bursting into broken shards of metal from Siena's power on the descent. More fragments of metal materialized in the air as Factory attempted to compensate for the lost minions, but a sudden resounding snap of steel from the direction of one leg drew its attention. Callan's attack had completely torn the limb's lowest juncture apart and the summoning of new clockworks stopped as the monolith of metal raised itself up ponderously. Its winged serpent halo spread its eight pinions wide, an ominous red glow emanating from each flight appendage as they slowly built up a charge. Meanwhile, the reinforced orb of metal suspended in the center of Factory's torso felt the force of Sander impacting and latching onto the body nearby. It spun wildly, adding more material to the giant body and attempting immediate repair to the damaged limb as Factory struggled to stand on three of its four unsteady legs.

---

"NOW!"

Undeterred by Marcus or the other boy, the door swung open as the paws of the clockwork dog smashed against the splintered wood. Immediately, the store was filled with the sound of gunfire as Lawrence squeezed the trigger, doing his best to use the counter as cover. But the sound was all wrong. Several metallic twangs prefaced a feral growl as, unaffected by its lead shower, the beast's attention immediately fell on Lawrence.

"Shit," Lawrence took a step back, watching it crouch in preparation to jump. It cleared the counter easily, planting its heavy paws on the older Arbiter's shoulders and sinking its teeth into the barrel of his gun. It snapped in half easily. Sparks flew off the side of its head as glowing red eyes flashed at him, cold and unfeeling. Shielding his face with his arm, the creature bit into the exposed limb. Fortunately, it seemed the wishalloy was enough to prevent the razor sharp fangs from puncturing anything past his jacket-- for now.

Just behind the right eye, a large plate meant to cover the delicate inner workings was clearly missing from the side of the dog's head. Noticing this despite the unnerving pressure on his arm, Lawrence unsheathed his knife. The clockwork adjusted its grip on his arm, violently jerking him sideways as he tried to reach across its face towards the exposed circuitry. The knife flew from his grasp. He could feel the wishalloy start to vibrate against his skin-- a likely sign that it wasn't going to hold up for much longer.

"Marcus! Get its head!" Lawrence called out, doing his best to keep his voice level.

---

The collector near Gregory's position continued tearing up the ground floor as its target descended to safety along the outside of the theater, still within range of its sensor enough that it could safely decide the general location was still correct. The arms raked along the walls as it continued searching, eventually reaching upwards and tearing through the ceiling above, intending to bring the upper floor down as well in its search and undeterred by the potential rubble that would rain down upon it.

As it moved, it was signaling to the other collectors, already lumbering towards the site and likely to detect others along the way.

Each of the other collectors extended similar arms, tearing through simple partitions and stationary objects as they decided to expedite their pathing, the sounds of their approach echoing down the streets as they moved without concern for stealth or tactics.

---

The invisible Arbiter inched closer to Christmas's seat on the sofa, trying to determine which of the three in the house was a healer, per his orders. The coalition of X's in the mines had helped provide him and his group of refugees with food and water for the past several months, something he had never mentioned to the others for fear of what would happen to both him and them.

The group had only required, in exchange for limited access to their supplies, that when they asked something of him, he would comply, useful as his ability was for espionage.

"If something happens to the town, come to us. We'll have further instructions for you," a pale woman who favored a red cloak had reminded him the last time he had come to them for food when forays into the town failed for one reason or another.

The morning disaster had torn through the town and he had retreated towards the coal mines, receiving chilling demands from the pale young woman with long black hair. USARILN East would mobilize in response to this threat. If they had a healer in the mix this time, he or she would be tucked somewhere in the backlines, far from the worst of the fighting and likely protected by several others.

"Give us a live healer and you'll never have to worry about your needs and wants again. I'll make sure of that," the young woman had assured him, words spoken with crystal clear enunciation. He remembered that the most about her otherwise pretty, but plain features. Spoken precision, as if she needed even the minutiae of language to follow her whims.

"Failing that, kill anyone hiding in the backlines. Your power should make that simple, and your reward remains the same."

A faceless, hairless man standing behind her had terrified him into quiet acquiescence, but standing here now in front of a teenager who looked as miserable as he felt, Cain wasn't sure he could cut that throat in cold blood if this group didn't have a healer. He had lurked long enough to notice the military tended to ferry reinforcements back and forth from the main road leading into town, so he had remained in a house nearby, using his power as much as he could to avoid detection from both the machines and the soldiers. Choosing a group to follow had been difficult, given the circumstances, but he had settled on the group that looked least capable and wasn't riding in an armored car.

Deciding there wasn't a better opportunity than the current moment when the flimsiest of the group seemed distracted, Cain stepped a bit closer, a knife from a ruined kitchen the only weapon he had been carrying for the past day. The blond kid's belt was laden with gear and he figured he could spirit away with at least that once this subnatural was dead and wait for an opportunity to take out the rest.

He walked as close as he dared, lunging forward with the knife aimed towards the boy's throat and managing to nick a superficial gash along the side of his neck before something deflected the slide of the knife's edge. Confusion gave way to realization when Cain finally noticed the strange, almost invisible armor on the subnatural's pale neck. It took the dimming light glossing over the surface to reveal that something was there, but the boy had already shouted, eyes wide and searching, and scampered off the chair, towards the mage near the window. A hand was clamped over the bleeding injury as the subnatural continued gasping and whimpering.

Cain held his breath and stood still.

---

Four out of six. For such an explosive attack, Brent was surprised that it didn’t do nearly as much as expected. Past the veil of smoke, five other dogs were charging into the fray as well, their centipede brethren joining in on the fight.

That was enough information.

“Offensive Support, listen up,” he began, pressing against the radio, “Five are charging in from the distance, forwards through the smokescreen. Someone needs to drag Hazel out or clear away the dust.”

Brent chewed on the inside of his mouth. Could any of them even hear him in such a violently loud environment?

“Spiders are spinning a web. Don’t know what for, but might want to stop them soon.”

He scanned over the rest of the area with his scope, but nothing else of note popped up. The overclocked scope felt warm within the palm of his hands, and the arbiter turned his attention to the constantly updating map once more. Holding the phone still, he rearranged himself into a more comfortable position, watching the movements of the larger beings and gulped.

Gods, they were all converging upon Gregory’s point. Some sort of radio-based communication between all four of them? Brent narrowed his eyes, trying to imagine how fast Gregory could move over the rubble-filled terrain. Could he outpace the speed that those behemoths moved? If Gregory moved east, he’d be leading the giants towards him. If he went north, they’d pick up Offensive Support, no doubt. If he went south, he’d be running into them.

“Angelic,” Brent said, “Can you all take on four of those giant things we heard?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” came the stressed reply.

A deep breath expelled from the amethyst-eyed youth’s body. Sounded like a no.

“Grego, head west, on the main road. There’s enough rubble to keep you out of eyesight, and maybe deter them. Pay attention to where your feet are going. The giant dots are all converging on your location. Probably got a lock on you or something. Lead them away from everyone else.”

Fuck, this wasn’t really winning at all, but if a lost battle brought forth a won war…

“You’re on your own for now. Chris may be able to assist soon.”

Who supports the supporters?

No one.

He tasted a bit of blood in his mouth, as Brent resumed observations, eyes flickering from the map to the battlegrounds and back again.

Angélique’s eyes widened as chaos erupted shortly after she had screamed. She did not expect Emma to send her tulpas inside the area the screaming Aberration was blasting with sonic waves. Even less expected her shout to actually make the summoned creatures disappear and fell the biggest of those. Perhaps Angel had been underestimating the potency of her own powers in the end, seeing she was knocking with surprising ease the clockworks she had been screaming at so far.

Despite how easy it was for her teammates to dispatch the metal animals, Angel could not help but feel uneasy as their visibility started to worsen with the two dust clouds created by Hazel’s explosions. If it kept going on, they might not be able to see incoming threats later. For now though, they could manage, however Angel wasn’t certain if Hazel could see clearly in this dusty fog.

Fortunately, someone was looking out for them. Brent’s voice came out from the phone, warning them of the coming danger. While the warning was much appreciated, it made the situation the more unnerving for Angel. Already, she could see the two remaining dogs taking position on opposite sides, flanking the support group.

“Angelic, can you all take on four of those giant things we heard?”

What? Internally, Angel was in disbelief over Brent’s question. Just what was he thinking? They had to hold their ground against the marching clockwork army. There was no way they could fight off four mammoth-sized machines on top of that. Hell, the young woman didn’t even know if her team packed enough firepower to take on one of those gargantuan beasts.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” the raven-haired Aberration half-yelled to the phone, feeling the stress of managing multiple sides of the battlefield affecting her morale.

What the fuck should she do? Hearing out what Brent was telling Gregory over the radio, it seemed like the latter was in some kind of trouble; probably the giant elephant robots Brent just told her. Could she just abandon the guy at the back and focus on the front? Also, what should she be doing about what stood in front of her? Keep one flanking dog back and hope Siena could pulverize it with whatever name she took? Or try to blow away the smokescreen of dirt in front of them?

"Stay focused!" Callan’s words echoed back into Angélique’s mind.

One thing at a time. If she panicked and took the wrong decisions, it would most likely hurt her team more than it would hurt Factory’s minions. The charging dog would not leave much room for Angel to prepare though. She had to be quick and improvise as best as she can.

“Siena! On our left!” she called out to her partner just before rushing towards Hazel's position. Stopping by the other Aberration girl's side, Angel let out a forceful shout in front of them with the intent of blowing the dust obscuring their view ahead and the possible five metal hounds charging behind the smokescreen that Brent had warned them of just now.

She had blown glitters to nothingness from the sky before. How hard would it be to blow away a cloud made of dust?

---

---

Ernie was already on edge. He didn't need a sudden scream from Christmas to fuck him up even more. His grip on the pistol was too tight for him to fumble with it as he whirled around, aiming the weapon at... nothing? The scene before him looked as dishevelled as when they had arrived, tables slightly knocked and half-empty teacups, yet Christmas looked like he was about to implode from fear. Instinctively, Ernie summoned his rope in his left hand but his shaking pistol was lowered from the sight of the empty room. Thank god for safeties, or else he probably would have shot himself in the foot. The rope was thrown in a loose coil around Ernie's shoulder, freeing his hand for a two-handed grip on the firearm.

"What's the matter?" Ernie hissed, only briefly glancing at the healer. He needed to keep his eyes open for whatever was out there, if there was anything at all.

Zoe had abandoned her search as soon as she heard the scream, mentally cussing herself out for leaving the others alone. She paid little attention to her surroundings, fear and anger overriding practical concern. It was a matter of seconds before she reached the room, coming to a stop near the door as she scanned the area for any sign of an attacker and found nothing. Seemed like the only thing of note was the panicking Christmas. For now, she stayed silent, deciding to see what the kid had to say.

"The--wh-what--" A small cry of pain cut off Christmas's words as he lifted the bloody hand to reveal the inexplicable cut on the side of his throat. "I d-don't--" His trembling surpassed communication, but he didn't have much to say anyway. The sudden slide of cold metal against the unprotected section of skin had scared him witless, especially when he couldn't understand what had happened.

"Keep some pressure on that cut. Zoe, get the first aid kit out of my backpack."

Useless. Looked like Christmas wouldn't help them much if they wanted to find this enemy. Ernie glared at the cut on the Arbiter's throat. Something had definitely attacked them. The location of the wound was too deliberate to have been a random, accidental fall. It was just dumb luck that Christmas hadn't gotten his entire throat slashed under the watch of two Aberrations. Ernie had been an idiot.

His heart pounded as he slowly came to terms with the situation they were in. They had no idea what they were dealing with. And he had no idea what to do. The only absolute he had in this scenario was the invulnerability that came with his rope, so he threw an arm around Christmas' shoulders and pulled the boy closer, tentatively raising the pistol at the empty room. His arm would defend against any knife that came close to the blond's neck again. First thing, they needed more information before they could act.

"Let's try some 'yes or no' questions, yeah? Maybe that'll be easier," Ernie struggled to keep his voice level, "Did you see what hurt you?"

Christmas was about to shake his head, but the sting of the cut reminded him why that was a bad idea. Through the soft whimpers he managed a "N-no?"

"Do you know if it was a monster? Or a mage?"

"...N-no."

Ernie sighed and looked hopelessly to Zoe. Maybe she would have a plan.

Cain glanced between the three subnaturals nearby, eyeing the golden rope closely. The smart thing to do here would be retreat and wait for them to lower their guard again, but he didn't know if he would get as easy an opportunity as this one. Aside from the larger group that had spearheaded the assault, another set of three had a girl with a monstrous leg and arm and the last set of subnaturals he thought he could take on had piled into a vehicle.

The injured blond kid didn't seem ready to retaliate with anything, so Cain wrote him off as a lower threat. The two X's had to go first and the girl who had come running seemed less prepared.

While the two other boys talked--or tried to--Cain stepped softly towards the red-haired girl.

Zoe had listened to the conversation with growing concern. Something had definitely attacked Christmas - The wound was too deliberate to be an accident, but the constructs weren't exactly subtle going by the laser from earlier. It seemed likely that she would've heard if one of them got in, unless it was abnormally quiet. So, a subnatural? Maybe, she couldn't be sure. At least there wasn't anything here.

Was there?

Her eyes widened in sudden realisation. Nothing had left the room. She'd gotten there too quickly, she was too on edge not to have noticed any movement, and the others were covering the window. Whatever had attacked them, it could still be--

"Christmas, mist!" Her concentration shifted away from her surroundings as she turned to the healer, enough urgency in her tone to be verging on panic as black spiralled across her skin.

The healer obeyed instinctively, Zoe's tone of voice rushing adrenaline through his shaking frame as the blood from his neck vaporized into shimmering white and enveloped the space around the three.

At that moment, Cain dashed for the girl's throat just as white light wrapped around his torso.

Frantic energy surged through Ernie as his gaze flickered around the room. Zoe must've seen something he didnt, something he didn't catch. Of course it was a subnatural. Any wound like that was too precise to be a monster. The Aberration whirled about, hoping to catch a glimpse of any clue. Then a form by Zoe, a body of light that was just a bit too solid to be like the rest of the mist, appeared and Ernie blanked out. Fear and trepidation seized his body and he quickly fired two shots at unknown's torso.

The knife barely nicked Zoe's neck and the stocky boy with a buzz cut was on the ground, visible in his dirty jeans and brown sweatshirt as he clutched at the bleeding, but healing wounds on his chest. Gasps came out wet and bloody in the meanwhile, however, and his large kitchen knife lay forgotten beside him.

Zoe brought her hand to her neck, glancing at the blood for a second before nodding, satisfied that the injury wasn't major. Seemed she seriously owed Ernie one. She was slightly surprised that she'd been right, but as her gaze locked on to the boy on the ground, she felt something settle over her. Kicking away the knife to the other side of the room, she knelt down and grabbed him by the throat with a smile. No powers, yet. She was going to enjoy this.

"Tell us what you're doing here, and I might kill you quickly."

Cain was still coughing up blood from the two puncture wounds to his lungs, but as the healing progressed he found the gall to scowl at the Amazonian redhead. Big girls had never been his strong point.

"No," he finally answered.

Ernie shot the boy once again in response to the insolence, knowing that the mist would heal it. The unfortunate target screamed satisfactorily from the new injury. A waste of ammunition, for sure. But he was pissed, as reasonably as anyone would be when suddenly attacked. Plus, making that prick scream felt really good. Ernie noted the white streak on his face, though it only drew up more questions.

"Don't be an ass," Ernie spat coldly at the stranger before addressing Zoe. They both knew what was going to happen here, didn't they? This was probably the reason they got teamed up. He nodded, "I need to tell the others and fix up Christmas. I...Take your time, I guess."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Zoe looked at Ernie with a slightly disturbing smile, before turning her attention back to the guy on the ground. "Slowly it is."

Ernie turned away, trying to ignore the excitement his Stigma had brought at the sound of the screams. That was a moral problem for after the battle. There were more important things to deal with, like the condition of their healer and the presence of subnaturals. Easy one first. Ernie pulled the phone from his belt, holding the push-to-talk button. "Team Christmas just got attacked by a rogue mage. Situation's been handled but please stay alert. I'm sure there are more of them around."

Very sure. No solo mage would be nuts enough to attack USARILN personnel in the middle of a monster attack.

Now came the more annoying part. Ernie looked over to the blond boy who was watching the proceedings with both terror and morbid fascination. Not wanting to deal with whatever anxiety that would come from a nervous wreck like Christmas watching a torture session, he took the smaller teen by the shoulders and turned him away. Ernie faced both Christmas and the scene with a deliberately blank face as he reached into his backpack.

"How's your neck?" he asked, unfurling the first aid kit.

"Um..." the reminder of the pain made Christmas wince, but he didn't pause too long, still harried by the fraying nerves of what had almost become a disastrous situation. "...'m o-okay."

Behind them now, Zoe placed her hand almost gently on the side of the guy's head. Still hadn't done anything, but making contact meant she could affect him whenever she wanted. Convenient, really. Just to make clear what she was capable of, she drew her thumb down the boy's cheek, melting a single strip of flesh as she locked eyes with him. "I can break down any part of your body I want, fast or slow. Every time you piss me off, I'm going to make it worse. So let's start simple. What's your name?"

Cain had screamed as his flesh felt like a thousand needles had pierced it along the path of the girl's touch, before the subsequent horror of realizing a part of his face had peeled off set in. The pain quickly subsided under what he realized was some kind of healing effect that had already taken care of his bullet wounds by now.

He gnashed his teeth, both from the residual agony and the dilemma in front of him. Crazy X here or the crazy X's over there? God, were they all this fucking insane?

"David," he offered instead, because unless someone in their group was a lie detector there was no damn way they'd tell between one lie and the next.

"Okay then, David. Truth is, I don't give half a shit what your name is, but I'm getting a bit of hesitation here. So we're gonna go rapid fire with these answers, right? If I think you're hesitating... Well, I'll be pretty upset." Zoe's tone was almost conversational as she looked down at the arbiter. Maybe he was telling the truth, maybe he wasn't, but it was more difficult to lie without time to think.

With a smile, she focused her power on the sole of David's right foot. The effect was slightly slower, since she wasn't in direct contact, but fast enough. Supposedly being hurt there wasn't fun, and she needed to make a point. "Next question. Who sent you here?"

He felt an itch in his foot and he had wisened up enough to realize he shouldn't be dismissing any sort of sensation on his body at this point, including the healing effect that seemed to counteract the girl's powers.

"No one," he answered too quickly.

"No-one? Huh. You know David..." Zoe nodded, smiling pleasantly as though accepting the answer, before placing her hand at the top of his ear and locking eyes with him. "I really don't like liars."

Without giving him time to register the words, she dug her fingers into his ear and pulled down. Melting it clean off. He still had another one to hear her with, and she had no intention of giving him time to recover. She was far past resisting her Stigma - This was the most fun she'd had in ages. "Let's try this again - Who sent you?"

He howled with the sudden pain of it, tears stinging his eyes and the blur of his vision didn't even matter because all he was seeing now were flashes across his sightline. Cain wasn't even aware how loud he was screaming until the healing mist finally mended the wound, regrowing an ear in the process over several minutes. His blubbering only subsided when he finally processed the giantess's question.

Between heaving breaths he finally admitted, "They'll--they'll kill me."

Zoe looked at him disbelievingly, before laughing and shaking her head. "You think I won't?"

Ernie eyed the interrogation session over Christmas's shoulder as Zoe continued her handiwork, ignoring how the healer visibly flinched at the latest, visceral scream. "We're probably gonna have to make a break for it soon, if that guy has friends who know our location. Not speaking from experience or anything here, but it's probably not a good idea to run around with an open neck wound."

Christmas put his hand over the wound again, as if assuring Ernie that was enough of a measure. The Aberration frowned.

"You don't want me to help you?"

"I'm...uh...o-okay."

What was the kid playing at now? "So you can fix yourself up?" Ernie raised an eyebrow and offered the first aid kit.

"Oh..." Christmas took the first aid kit tentatively. "O-okay."

Ernie rolled his eyes and took a step back. He'd let this slide for now, even if he'd probably have to redo it for the kid later.

"I don't think it's going to matter who kills me if I tell you." Cain groaned at last as the odd feeling of healing and regrowth faded once the injury was gone. "Crossing them's just as bad as crossing the USARILNs."

That caught Ernie's attention. Not even the Senators had that sort of reputation. The Aberration looked up from his spot across the room and called out. "These people. They were all Aber-- X-marks, right?"

"...You know them," came the quiet response.

"Maybe. Did they mention their names or anything? Their motives? 'Big, scary gang of X-marks' covers a lot of groups these days."

"Not Cat's Cradle, I'll tell you that much. But you...you know."

Zoe looked between the two in confusion, deciding her interrogation was done with for now at least. "One of you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

---

---

Even beneath the metal shell, this thing was human. Sander could smell it. The scent was wrong; rusty and sharp, like all those fake people in GZ. He wasn’t sure why. Didn’t really care. He knew where the heart was, and that was good enough for him.

He would tear it out.

His limbs were steady as he latched onto the creature’s jagged hide. Bits and pieces of metal jabbed at him, but between the protective layer of wishalloy and his own invincibility, Sander hardly felt anything. Just the fire in his ribcage and the desire to sink his teeth into something warm.

No. Focus.

Gritting his teeth, Sander held fast against the sudden lunge of movement, steadily making his way upward until he reached the spinning sphere. This was the heart. He could smell the human inside. What came next was easy. While his legs and remaining arm found purchase on the metal surface, Sander pulled his right fist back, before beginning to slam it against the smooth core.

Emma's face brightened a little as her tulpas began to dispatch the canines. She wouldn't admit it, but it felt good. Really good, in fact. For the first time in nearly a week her stigma was being sated, the internal voice no longer taunting at the back of her head. She almost forgot how dangerous their situation was, the effect of the violence coming in like some sort of high. Her attention was brought back to the fight before her when Angel's scream destroyed her tulpas- Emma gritted her teeth, turning towards their would-be leader with a hint of anger in her eyes. She opened her mouth to yell at her, but quickly turned away.

What am I doing?

She shook her head. The lack of stigma was affecting her almost as much as having it did, she decided. She took a breath before willing herself to focus. The dust that Hazel had kicked up stung Emma's eyes, making her painfully aware of the fact that it was becoming very difficult to see the battle around them. Brent's voice crackled through her phone, quickly confirming that they needed to do something about the lessening visibility. Emma desperately tried to think up a solution involving her tulpas, but her brain failed her. Either way it didn't matter, Angel was quicker on the draw- someone else that would be better suited to Emma's power than she was.

Ernie's voice came after Brent's, confirming that there was a subnatural threat on the battlefield. Emma's blood ran cold- she'd told her team that she was ready to kill if she had to, but she wasn't sure if that was a lie or not. Perhaps she was lying to herself too. Up until a week ago she'd never even seen someone die, let alone thought about murder. Her hand wrapped around the hilt of the knife that Kardos had given them... was she ready to use it?

She didn't have time to worry about it. Not now. Determination appeared beside the pair in the frontline, "Protect Angel and Hazel!" for now, she decided, she would save the others for the appearance of their supposed subnatural enemy.

---

---

---

---

Feeling Factory's limb give so easily against her hammer was incredibly satisfying, but her job wasn't quite done yet. A familiar flicker of red light caught her attention as soon as she took off towards the next leg, sending a shiver of unease down her spine. Sander was almost to the core. Would he able to take it down before the serpent finished charging up its next attack? Would it matter?

And more importantly, who was its target? Would it shoot Sander? Would it try and aim for her? Or-- cold dread flooded her mind at the thought-- was it going to fire off at someone else? She was hard pressed to believe even the likes of Kusari could survive such a thing.

No.

She wouldn't let that happen. Wouldn't let that thing hit anyone else. Best way to draw its fire would be to keep going. Take out Factory. In her haste, Callan skipped the wind up and swung the hammer across the leg as she passed it. She growled with exertion, another wave of sweat beading at her temple. She immediately turned her attention back to the serpent. Continuing to run several meters forward, the hammer dissipated, leaving her unhindered. It was unlikely the beast would risk hitting Factory with a laser like that. But if she was quick enough-- maybe she could ensure that its target was her.

Of course, she'd also need to be quick enough to dodge it when it came. Something she felt confident she could do.

Probably.

Hazel Baker

---

Her breathing was growing heavier, the corners of her mouth twitching from the sheer excitement filling her mind.

Her collar was clicking steadily, beating steadily and rhythmically like an alien heart. Hazel was sure the logo on the front had turned red as a warning. It meant she was dangerously close to shorting out her reason. Being shut down right now wouldn't be good, especially with so many of those creatures left for her to destroy. I don't want to die.

The smoke from all the explosions was to be expected, but she suspected she wouldn't have time to throw out another one from what she had seen of those thing rushing towards her. With the others so close to her, she wouldn't be able to simply do a wide sweep blindly as well. Hazel checked her shoes to confirm she still had the wishalloy there before nodding to herself.

She jumped, before materializing her hand underneath her and lifting herself higher out from the smoke, where she could see two clockwork dogs on either side and more rushing in from the front. go away go away GO AWAY

With only one hand left to use in her projections, she materialized a sword, a perfect copy of the sword she had bought, down to the way the hilt was made, and the curiously shaped pommel. Similar, but larger and sharper. With a sweep of her hands, she swept her hand in a wide gesture, bringing the projected sword down to the left and slashing in a wide arc towards the right. It was as much an attack on the approaching clockwork monsters as it was a warning to not approach. dont worry dont worry dont worry
ill protect you

Exactly as planned. As soon as the dog hit the door again, Marcus dove backwards. Mostly to get out of the way of the shotgun blast, but also to get away from the clockwork beast as he came out the door. A deafening concussion sounded, likely signaling Lawrence's shot, but followed by the sound of small lead pellets rebounding off metal. A few of the pellets rolled across the ground near him, and Marcus stared with wide eyes at the seemingly unaffected beast.

He stood up on shaky legs as the creature launched itself over the counter, pinning Lawrence to the floor with it's metallc paws. A scene that Marcus had dealt with not that long ago was playing out in front of him; where a dog was currently assaulting a defenseless boy. Only this time, he wasn't the one being attacked.

He couldn't shoot the dog, not while it was on top of one of his teammates; he certainly didn't trust his aim that much. Which meant he was left with one option, an option he nervously considered as his clammy hands pulled the crowbar off his belt loop. He'd have to get up close and personal, a position that his body would not allow him to take.

His brain wanted him to stammer out some sort of apology. Some reason for his hesitation, based off phobias and fears from the past. A pathetic reason to not save a teammate; one that he certainly wasn't going to be happy with. Still, as unhappy as he was with himself, his body did the one thing that should never happen in a situation like the one before him: he hesitated.

"MARCUS!" Lawrence shouted, the wishalloy vibrating even more violently while his fellow Arbiter failed to move. With an irritated huff, the man in the heavy coat moved first. Roughly shoving Marcus out of his path, he snatched the knife off of the floor and lunged at the mechanical monster. Driving the knife deep into the exposed 'brain' just as the wishalloy went slack and its teeth managed to sink deep into older mage's arm with an audible crack, the creature lurched backwards in a shower of sparks.

Lawrence rolled out of the way, cradling his broken arm as it collapsed onto the ground, spasming for a moment before the lights of its eyes went dim. Heart racing and breathing heavily, the man placed his foot against the now-still clockwork and pulled the knife out, approaching Lawrence with a grim expression as he surveyed the damage.

"That's an artery, I bet," he surmised, sucking his teeth, "Hope you guys have a medic or somethin' or else your guy's done for in ten." He helped the older mage to his feet, sliding the knife back into its rightful place at Lawrence's hip.

Applying pressure to his arm as the sticky red warmth of blood quickly soaked through his own coat, Lawrence looked to Marcus as they moved back towards the APC, opting not to mention his little freezing incident. At least not yet. As damnable as this situation was, chewing him out for inaction wasn't going to improve things.

"Can you check your phone for Lily's location?" he asked, a hint of steel in his tone. "Make sure they haven't moved. Let them know we need a heal. We're going to pass by, but not stop. Can't afford to give away their location in case we're being watched."

The whole situation was over before Marcus could act; thanks to his inability to move, Lawrence had been seriously injured. Worse, if it weren't for the healer team nearby. He didn't meet Lawrence's eyes, instead focusing on his feet as he slid his weapon back into place.

Later. There would be time to think about it later. Once again, he needed to push his own crisis back to deal with the problem at hand.

He plucked the radio from his belt, making sure to switch it to one of the members of the healer team; the first one to come up being Kusari. There was no reason to shout the message to everyone else on the battlefield, especially if some of the clockworks could actually hear it, like the mission reports had said they might be able to.

"Brandt team, ready yourselves. We've got a pretty serious injury on Evac team, and we're going to be coming by to get healed. Are you still in the original location?"

Kusari fumbled with her radio, nearly crushing it by mistake with her oversized hand. She'd hoped Lily wouldn't be needed so urgently, let alone so soon into the mission. "Yes, we're here at the diner." She peered out of the building, spotting the evacuation team's APC. Thankfully they were close. She shot a glance to Lily. "Remember what I said, I'm pretty sure I was placed on this team for a reason."

Diner. Lawrence cast a discreet glance at the building across the street. "They got a visual on us? Ask Lily what her range is."

In less than a minute, it was over and the clockwork seemed to be dead. Or entirely broken, if you didn't want to think of it as a living thing. But dealing with it hadn't come without a cost. Metal bullets on metal hide hadn't worked, so now in addition to the bite on the civilian's shoulder, Lawrence's arm was injured as well. Was there anything she could have done to prevent it, and prevent Lily from having to take on their injuries?

Following the group back to the APC, her gaze lingered on the male civilian. It had been that man who had helped Lawrence fight off the dog, not Marcus. And she was surprised at that, because he wasn't a mage. For some reason, she had assumed that only the mage teams were supposed to do the rescuing, and all the civilians would be doing was stand around. But it hadn't been like that, and now she felt bad for making such assumptions. Pursing her lips, she tuned into the discussion that was now going on between the the evacuation team and healer team.

Marcus shot a slightly less discreet look at the diner across the way, before catching himself and trying to nonchalantly seem like he was surveying the area. They weren't supposed to give away their healer teams at all, even with a casual glance around the area. Marcus sincerely doubted that any of the clockworks would be able to pick up on such a thing, but he still mentally kicked himself for his little fumble.

"Do you have any idea what Lily's range is? Would she be able to heal Lawrence from your position?"

Lily traipsed over to the broken window, trying to get a better look at the APC. Big wound, she had to look for a big wound. The blonde took a deep breath. A black string appeared around her wrist, extending and roaming towards the vehicle and inhabitants. Seeing wasn't necessary here, only feeling. Big wound. The boy with a broken arm, got it. Suddenly, her own arm became mottled and bloody and she gasped out in agony. Despite the obvious pain she hesitated as she looked at Kusari, as if she was trying to hold something back. As if she was holding herself back. But the injury was transferred as instantaneously as it was received and Lily flopped into a seat, looking tired and slightly apologetic towards her immortal teammate. After an extended pause, she transferred the rest of the APC's passenger's injuries to Kusari too, then slumped further into the booth seat, exhausted now.

Kusari watched as the bone in Lily's arm suddenly snapped, no doubt sending a shock of pain through her body. Her power wasn't exactly enviable, between her and Christmas she wondered just how many healers had to hurt themselves in some way to utilize their magic. Before she could pity her teammate too much Lily transferred the wound to her arm. She sucked air between her teeth, taking deep breaths as she got used to the pain. This wasn't nearly as bad as what she'd done to herself during the flag game. She held her arm away from her clothes, it was bleeding like a leaky faucet and she didn't feel like ruining her new custom uniform just yet. She let out a quiet chuckle, it was funny, life threatening wounds really were nothing to her now, weren't they?

Right as her arm began healing she noticed Lily take on even more injuries. Kusari raised a brow. "Hold up, didn't Marcus sa-" She cringed as the new wounds were transferred as well. The cuts on her face were barely felt, however her arm was a mangled mess now. She let out a grumble full of expletives, shoving down the urge to complain about not being warned. She held her arm up, waving it around like the limb of a doll stuffed with straw. "Screw it." She walked into the back of the diner, out of sight of her team. "Right then..." She raised her right arm and slashed her entire left arm off with her crimson claws. She'd been thinking a second altered arm would come in handy, she just wasn't sure which option to choose. A second claw could increase her lethality, however a tentacle had far more useful options, if only it was a bit longer though. The initial shock of pain nearly caused her to black out, but she ignored it as best she could. The tiled floor was also a red mess now, she almost felt guilty before remembering that the place was a wreck anyhow.

Her bleeding stump of an arm began to bubble as her flesh molded it's self. "Wha?..." She stood dumbfounded as a tentacle grew from her wound. That wasn't unusual, what was odd was that it didn't stop growing. She silently panicked as she contemplated running for help or cutting the thing off. After two minutes it finally stopped growing. "You've gotta be kidding me." She estimated the length of the tentacle, it had to be at least fifteen meters long. Well, she got what she asked for, but she wasn't quite sure how her team would react to seeing it.

For the time being she picked up the mangled arm and tossed it into the diner's freezer. Maybe she'd actually remember to get it later, unlike her right leg.

Allison had stayed planted firmly in her chair during the dealings with the evac team. The healing was Lily's thing, and Kusari would be taking the wounds, leaving making sure that giant mechanical monstrosities didn't sneak up on them during the process to Allison. As a bonus, it gave her a good reason to not look at the wounds appearing on the seemingly immortal girl.

Allison's gaze shifted from broken window to broken window, her eyes searching for any signs of their foes on the surrounding streets. The only thing of note that she could immediately see was the evac team's APC. Though there wasn't much else to be seen, Allison's eyes kept searching the streets until she heard Kusari walk off.

Allison turned back to see Lily slumped into a booth seat by one of the intact windows. Kusari had gone off to the back of the restaurant, judging by the sickening noise that came from that direction only seconds later. If Allison had to guess, Kusari just cut off a limb. Allison was thankful that the girl had chosen to do so away from view, at least.

Kusari had been in the back for a few minutes by the time Allison started to get concerned. She rose from her seat, and made her way to the back of the diner. She didn't actually enter that section of the restaurant, instead keeping just outside of it and calling to the nearly immortal girl.

"You okay back there, Kusari?" Allison heard what she assumed was the door to the diner's walk-in freezer closing as she spoke.

Kusari twitched as she heard Allison call out to her. She couldn't stay back here forever, she had a mission to complete after all. She let out a sigh and walked forward, only to stumble as the tentacle snagged on something. A few suction cups had stuck to the floor. She relaxed the grip, and continued. She had to have the tentacle writhe on the ground on it's own mostly, as lifting it caused her light body to go off balance. As she came within view of Allison she avoided eye contact, pretending everything was normal. "Y-yeah, I'm fine alright?"

Allison took a moment to process what she was looking at. She knew she was gawking at the massive limb, it had to be around 15 meters at least, but she couldn't help it. She had seen Kusari with a tentacle arm before, but that was through a screen, and it hadn't been nearly as long as this. There was a sudden rush of activity in the back of Allison's brain.

Her stigma took hold of her mind. How much could one do with a tentacle that long? What would it feel like? How much would fit in...

Allison rammed her fist into the wall in front of her. Glass fell somewhere behind her, likely shards from what remained in the frames of the broken windows. Her knuckles hurt now, and she focused on that. The action didn't exactly numb her stigma, but it gave her enough control to not force the other girl to the ground.

"Yea... Alright." Her voice had a clear tinge of agitation to it.

Narrowed eyes looked between Allison and the freshly broken pieces of glass that had fallen to the floor. Kusari didn't know what her problem was, she never seemed to be the type of aberration that had a desire to destroy things. It could be something personal, but either way she didn't feel the need to bring it up. "Right... I'm gonna have to stay inside the diner, for obvious reasons. If anything happens out there let me know."

---

Kusari's answer came in the form of a heal. As they neared the APC door, Lawrence felt the injury in his arm repair itself. He still felt a slight chill and lightheadedness at having lost so much blood, but it could've been much worse. No longer needing his support, the man in the black jacket ran towards the blonde woman, her cuts disappearing as she rushed to meet him. They embraced tightly before Lawrence spoke up again, standing by the door, "Alright, let's hurry up and keep moving. Don't want to draw any extra attention here."

As the man in the heavy coat moved to step on, Lawrence stretched his arm across the door frame, hand on his knife as he stared at him warily. There was a moment of tension as the man stared back, shooting confused daggers at the older Arbiter.

"Unzip your collar," Lawrence said stiffly, his meaning clear.

The man scoffed, shaking his head, "I'm not one of you clowns."

"Babe," the woman, Lauren, tightly gripped his arm, "Just do it."

He reluctantly unzipped the collar of his coat, revealing a bare neck. Lawrence nodded impenitently before moving his arm, standing by as the rest of his team filed in. Beyond an unreadable glance, Lawrence paid Marcus no mind. His eyes swept the area for anything unsavory.

With the first wave of birds down, Chris was now completely at a lost on what to do. things hadn't gone as planned, but that may have been for the best; after all Sander and Callan were already tearing through Factory without his help. Still however, that left the giant flying snake open. Sure Chris was supposed to help take out factory, but after witnessing Sander Tear through it easily enough it would be best if he could keep the heat off of them instead.

The black dragon let out another monstrous cry as it took off into the air again. Flames trickled from its widening maw as it flew directly towards the mechanical snake. Upon getting into range of the behemoth, the dragon-arbiter slowed his momentum as he unleashed a breath of flames upon the serpent.

Grant nodded to himself as he dealt with some of the charging Metalwork canines, and he let out a breath, wiping the sweat from his brow. He was already getting a bit tired and disoriented from the two projectile attacks he had set loose. He shook his head to clear it and took a deep breath. Fog and dust, kicked up from amidst the battle was obscuring his view from the rest of the Metalworks, squinting and peering to no avail.

“Offensive Support, listen up. Five are charging in from the distance, forwards through the smokescreen. Someone needs to drag Hazel out or clear away the dust.”

The familiar voice cut through Grant’s attempt at looking through the dust. His phone spat out Brent’s words, informing him of the assumed charging Metalworks from beyond the smoke. Not only that, another, unfamiliar voice, was spat out from it.

A subnatural in the area. Might be more.

Gulping down a lump in his throat, he took a look around at his surroundings, noticing Hazel raising from the smoke, his teammates around him. He had to focus back on the battle at hand. Grant finally turned his attention forward, to the dust cloud and he tore more earth from the ground. Pressure and stress filled his body, his knees almost felt like they were going to buckle and just give out from underneath him. Like the two times from before, he decided to take a chance, launching the chunk in and through the smoke, hoping that he’d hit a Metalwork, even if he wouldn’t see it.