Bombard
"Hey, darling. Sorry I missed you, again. Just calling to make sure that you and your mom were doing okay. Say hi to your dad for me, too! Let him know I'm sorry I roughed him up a little bit. I didn't mean to. Sometimes I just don't know my own strength! Call me back sometime soon. Bye!"

Taron grunted after ending the call, pulling his coat a little bit tighter while he walked. He was always cold. Didn't matter what the time of year was. Was it a side effect of his powers? Perhaps. Just meant he needed a better coat.

She wasn't calling him back. Bitch. No, no! He mentally punched himself. "She has things to do. Of course she's busy." He probably had things to do, too. He could fight crime! That was his job now, wasn't it? As Bombard, the Destroyer of Evil? Not that anyone called him that except himself. Still, the criminals would learn to fear his name. Someday.

Crimefighting, then. He bent his knees and leapt into the air. The first explosion beneath him sent him rocketing into the sky, feet first. He yelped as he tumbled, end over end, before blasting himself further into the sky. Slowly, slowly, he pulled himself together, and a chain of smaller air-blasts stabilized him. Bombard flew through the air: not gracefully, not effectively, but he flew.

Another explosion caught his attention. "That wasn't one of mine," he mumbled, steering himself toward the sound. "Is that--fuck!" A lapse in his concentration blasted him horribly off course. Taron spiraled down toward the city rooftops. He'd lost control: it was all he could do to not smash through the roof of the building he landed on. Instead, he bounced hard, rolling over and over along the gravel-covered surface.

When he sat up, pain lanced through his body. Not from the fall, but from the myriad of minor laceration on his hands and cheeks. "Damn gravel," he moaned, sitting up slowly.

Lightning erupted past the roof, and he winced and jumped backward, scrabbling to his feet. He dashed to the edge of the roof just in time to see multicolored copies of someone running around like chickens without heads. They were attacking people, attacking them viciously. This looked like something he could help with!

Phantom
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM--

Even intangible as he was, David still winced when the explosions started. It was human nature. "Where the fuck--" Another blast rocked the world around him, though he didn't feel it.

One of the techniclones evaporated, smashed through by the invisible bomb. The clones had also gotten to him: one minute there'd been a woman, next there was two dozen. They didn't harm him, as per usual, but they seemed dangerously close to overwhelming the others.

Phantom faded into view, multicolored cloak rippling in psychic winds. He punched another clone, passing right through the form and hopefully killing it. He flew up toward the armored woman -- Spectrum was her alias, he thought -- and punched another clone right in the throat. "I really need to figure out a better thing to do than punching people," he grumbled, before diving again. The others were in danger, but him...Phantom could help without worrying about being hit. Not like he could smell in the dream world; if he concentrated, he could see shimmers representative of scents, but nothing more.

"Where did they go?" he called out, wading in and out of the chaos. He struck wherever color bloomed, but he had no idea if he was helping or hurting them.

Alto stuck his hand in his mouth and turned up the flames until all he could taste was ash.

Turns out the inside of his mouth was immune to the fire as well, so that was good. Not much more to say unfortunately, they still had a situation going on, with a lot of explosions going off nearby. First thing first though, he had to get his necklace back.

He walked over to Magus who still seemed to be blinded.

"I'll be taking that back," He said, carefully unwinding the necklace so he didn't spook him too much.

It was for protection, but thankfully it hadn't come down to that. He didn't say anything to Ace because he didn't exactly know the guy. Just a glance and Alto was off, towards dragon and the rest.

@Regitnui@Sedjwick@floodtalon

Emblem's eye twitched. It seemed that one of them was able to recognise that he didn't possess any 'innate' powers. For some reason, that irked him more than it should have. He was a super now, and that was all that mattered. He was about to make another comment when the two villains moved towards him. One of them, the one with normal-looking skin, rapidly extended one of her arms towards him. Like a twisted tentacle of warped flesh it reached for his face, and on instinct Emblem shot back. Luckily he didn't need to move his body to dodge, he was simply moved back by his flight. The hand slid harmlessly across his armour as he launched himself higher into the air, beyond the girl's unnatural reach. What was that? It hadn't had much force, but nonetheless it had felt dangerous. With a glance he checked on Inferno, who'd also been targetted, but she'd completely surrounded herself in a pillar of flame. Over the roar of flames he could hear muffled screaming. Whatever that lady had done to Inferno, she was out for the count.

Anger pulsed through Emblem. He hadn't known Inferno for that long, certainly not long enough to become fast friends. But she was someone he could relate to, someone with whom he'd shared this journey into heroism. She was his teammate. Gritting his teeth he turned to the pair of villains, who were now fleeing. The strangely-coloured one exploded, sending bright lights and semi-solid copies all over the place. Emblem didn't care. He shot upwards, following his target from above as he picked up speed. She wasn't all that fast, he could easily keep up with her. She'd pay for underestimating him, and she'd pay for hurting his teammate.

---

So it seemed the situation had escalated. Those two were dangerous. The one with flesh-warping powers hadn't hesitated to stick her hand through Inferno's flames. Most likely she was capable of regeneration, in addition to her most obvious powers. He hadn't been able to see what had happened to Inferno, but based on the rest of the woman's displayed powers... it wasn't pretty. If she was capable of regeneration though, this entire thing became easier. After all, regenerators were able to take a lot of punishment. So it wouldn't be a problem if he did some damage to her. And Dusk's intervention was most certainly necessary at this point.

Bright lights flashed, but Dusk wasn't bothered. He simply normalised the light before it reached his eyes. Face neutral and heart cold, he lined up his shot. Through his scope he could clearly see the regenerator running. The other one was impossible to track, with the clones going everywhere. But as for the other miss.... he had an armour-piercing incendiary round chambered. Combined with his heavy rifle, it had more than enough stopping power to deal with most supers. He'd seen this thing go through two-and-a-half inches of solid steel and keep going. Assuming that bone armour had a toughness comparable to human bone, it wouldn't do much to stop this round. Of course he didn't want to kill her by accident, so he took his time as she ran. Controlling his breathing, following her movements, checking his aim. He couldn't afford to miss with this shot, he might not get another.

With a loud bang, he fired a round right into Dian's leg. The incendiary element of the round would leave some surface burning, but would pave the way for the main force of the bullet. Hopefully her armour was tougher than it looked, and the bullet would get stuck inside of her leg. That kind of thing tended to slow regenerators down. Even if it didn't, though, the force of a round like this was more likely to blow her leg off than to make a neat little hole. Especially with how armoured her body was.

---

Emblem was still hot on Dian's heels when Dusk fired. He grinned, knowing that he had support. Dusk was a quiet fellow, and quite frankly Emblem had never liked him. But he was sure as shit reliable in situations like this. That old fart wasn't fazed by anything. Knowing it was his turn to do his part Emblem began lowering his altitude. He spun into a gravity-assisted dive, rapidly accelerating as he approached the ground. He put on a pair of goggles from inside his suit's secret pockets, to keep the wind out of his eyes. He had to keep his eyes open as he moved down, adjusting his flight path for his target's movement. A Mimic copy moved into his path and was promptly shattered, unable to withstand the impact. He was like a bullet right now, surrounded by an invisible field of repelling energy, his 'strength' force added onto the force of his movement. A silent approach might have been better, an attack she couldn't see coming, but Emblem couldn't resist. "Hey, ugly! You aren't going anywhere!" Emblem rotated in midair, as his dive turned into a dropkick. Unlike Dusk, he wasn't aiming to be nonlethal. He aimed his blow at centre mass. If he hit, her entire upper body would get smashed into the concrete and smeared across the street.

Anomaly

---

The fight seemed to accelerate as Xoxi watched on in anger, waiting for that perfect moment to strike. Then the copies began to swarm through the street, attacking every hero and civilian that they could. Xoxi simply stared at the oncoming fighters before her psychic hands went into what could be imagined as their "autopilot," simply tearing through the clones as Xoxi moved forward slowly through the crowd, heading towards the small sliver of Dian that she could see. From the few seconds before the clones appeared, Xoxi managed to see what some of Dian's capabilities were, and they involved mending and construing bone into demonic creations.

Unfortunately for Dian, Xoxi's hands didn't have a real bone structure to them. They were just ethereal hands.

... and they wanted a taste of something. Not just revenge, no. They wanted to taste blood.

A gunshot sounded as Xoxi began chasing after Dian, however Xoxi remained unphased by it. It was like she had tunnel vision at this point, what was once a free-spirited and quirky girl was now replaced with an angry amputee, and this one was a lot more capable than most.

"High above, please let nothing stand in my way."

@Old Amsterdam@thewizardguy

---

Dian swore as her leg became a mangled mess of what it used to be. And right when she was almost far enough away to get picked up! "I swear, I'm going to shrink those boobs for this mess, Mimic..." she growled as she inspected the wound with a finger while she looked around calmly.

Her eyes drifted up, and that's when she saw the one who had escaped her reach, the spandex wannabe who needed his brain rearranged. Tsking, she pulled her hand out of her still ruined leg, shifting herself onto her back. A quick roll, propelled by quick projection and retraction of bones, and the fool crashed into the ground besides her.

Right before he crashed, an elongated hand brushed across him and turned his bones brittle. So brittle that even trying to use any of his muscles would shatter his bones and turn his entire body into a shredded mess. The effect would fully form by the time he'd be ready to stand up.

Like a thunderbolt, Emblem slammed into the ground next to his target. A spindly limb reached out and brushed past his face, and immediately he could feel something twisting inside of him. It was a sickening feeling, as if someone was running their finger along his bones. Uncertain of what had just happened Emblem turned to attack Dian, only to feel his legs give way beneath him. With a sickening crunch his pelvish shattered, dropping him to the ground as he cried out in agony. His entire body was trembling now, and as he tried to support his weight with his arm it too gave way. His upper arm snapped, and he dropped to the floor.

Belatedly, Emblem remembered to use his powers and lifted into the air. Whatever she'd done to him, it seemed he was still able to fly. The damage to his limbs was mostly hidden by his costume, but despite this the limbs hanging limply down while he floated looked eerily unnatural. Emblem gingerly moved his remaining good arm as he floated away from Dian, making sure to keep a close eye on her. Even moving it slowly, he could feel it tremble under the strain. There was no way he could fight like this, right?

Gritting his teeth from the pain, Emblem stared down his opponent. He could still fly, so was there a way? The force that the Professor had told him about, it could be used from anywhere on his body. Even a broken limb. So even if he just waved his broken limbs at her, he could still rip her in half. In fact, if he could move the force as he pleased, couldn't he just move his limbs even if they were broken? There was no way that was healthy, but it might be possible....

But even as Emblem realised that he might still be able to fight, he also realised something else. Despite his newfound abilities, despite his flying over the city, he was no larger than he'd been before. Pain throbbed through his body, and fear held his heart in a vice-like grip. With just one touch, his bones had been reduced to twigs. What would another touch do? He couldn't help but think back to the muffled screaming he'd heard from Inferno. At the time he'd dismissed it as mundane injury... but what HAD she done to his teammate? It was like a tractor weighed down on his chest, he couldn't breathe. He didn't have the training. He wasn't equipped to handle this. The other heroes would get her. Cursing under his breath, he made excuses to himself. He knew they were excuses, but what else was he supposed to do? Clenching his good hand and breaking two fingers in the process, he shot up into the sky, retreating under the cover of a barrage of curses.

---

Sighing, Dusk shook his head. There was no doubt that Emblem was the most powerful of all of them. His abilities were frightening in close quarters, Dusk had seen that man punch through brick walls. And his 'defense' allowed him to withstand even this heavy-duty rifle. But despite having all that power, underneath was still just a man not experienced to the weight of such power. It was a shame, really. With both Emblem and Inferno incapacitated, there was no way this mission would be a success. Sighing, the assassin gave one last look around the battlefield, he might be needed to help clean up.

That's when he spotted someone he hadn't seen before. A lady without arms, charging towards Dian with no regard for her teammates. An Epic without arms? He'd heard of that before. Wasn't this.... Anomaly? Her powers were supposed to be some variant of telekinesis, right? He wasn't aware of the details. But why was she charging in like that, without waiting for backup? Was she more powerful than he'd heard? The only reason he was able to recognise her in the first place was her unique appearance, but she wasn't so high-profile as to warrant the idea that she could take on Dian alone.

Intrigued, Dusk decided to put his exit on hold. Whatever Anomaly's plan might or might not be, there was no real chance of her defeating the regenerator alone. But with a bit of fire support, it just might be possible. After all, telekinesis was an excellent counter to a touch-based power.

'Let's slow her down some, shall we?'

Smiling under his mask, Dusk once more lined up his shot. Another fullmetal incendiary round exploded out of the barrel. This time, aimed at her chest. Based on how quickly she'd recovered from the leg wound this wouldn't inflict a serious injury, but it might buy Anomaly the time she needed. And if Anomaly was able to slow down Dian a bit, then the other heroes would have a chance to catch up.

Anomaly

---

Xoxi's face stayed stoic as she watched Emblem crumble to pieces in front of her at the hands of Dian. She was doing a good job at hiding her actual emotions and feelings, which all accumulated into her wanting to spew chunks literally everywhere in front of her.

Nevertheless, her wispy ghost hands materialized once again as she stood near the two fighters, but still at a fair distance. Her hands flew out of sight and returned to where Dian's legs (or in this case, leg) stood, calmly waiting there to act on an opportunity to just pull the super to the ground if she tried to get up, maybe give someone else some opportunity to strike.

Speaking of opportunities to strike, a gunshot rang through the area, causing Xoxi to wince at the sudden noise and give a half smile... that is... until the bullet veered off it's course and jammed itself into the ground behind Dian.

"Shit."

@Old Amsterdam@thewizardguy

Up to this point the heist was going smooth all things consider. The drill was nearly through the vault and in moments it would be open and the riches of the bank will be theirs. And now some fancy looking asshole has come strutting with some floating machine guns in asking for a part in the heist. And by extension a part of the loot. After the man introduce himself High Voltage turn to the horse masked man who was frozen in fear, "I got this guy just get that vault open." Before the horse masked criminal could stop him he walked up to jack. "Alright listen here you suave baster you can't just roll in here and demand a part. You should have join the plan on the ground floor. So, you got two option carry your ass out or I am gonna throw your ass out." he punctuated the point by arc electricity over his arms.

So this fellow was the leader. An Epic, by the looks of it, and his power had something to do with electricity. Probably just simple Electrokinesis, but there are many specialities within that area. It was a rather dangerous ability to be faced with, but the Jack's suit had been enchanted with the ability to ward off electricity. That defense had a limit on how long it could remain active, of course, but he wouldn't need long. Having analyzed the situation Nikitovich decided that he was not intimidated, and simply smiled.

"I suppose I'll have to thank you for the compliment, although I cannot return it. However, I would recommend not starting a fight you can't win." This person looked headstrong. It was unlikely that he would be intimidated by words alone, but if this turned into a fight then his whole plan might fall apart. He was here to recruit, after all, not pick fights. "How about we do this the easy way. I'm sure even you don't want an extended fight, do you? After all, even if you win, you can't spare the time." the Jack clasped his hands, as if making an offer. "How about we agree to make this easy for everyone involved? I'm not after the money, anyway. Rather, I'm here to offer you a job. I'm in need of.... foot soldiers, and you seemed capable enough."

The electric mercenary was ready for a brawl with the Jack. But he was not expecting to receive a job offer. ” I am in the middle of another job currently,” High voltage turn to looked at the drill noting that it is nearly through the door. ” So what does this job entail and how much does it pay?” he asked the vault was cracked open behind him. The robbers quickly ducked into the vault to start collecting the loot and to get out of the line of fire between the two villains.

"And that job is going swimmingly." the Jack glanced around approvingly. "Of course, if it wasn't for the uprising in another part of the city you'd probably be hip-deep in heroes right now, but timing is an important skill." With a gesture, he produced a note from his sleeve. It was covered in strange scribbles, runic-looking text that covered every inch of the paper. He flicked the paper at the mercenary, where it immediately attached itself to him. "For the next minute, you have superhuman strength. Try it out, if you want. You should have about 10x the strength of a normal human being, for the duration." He'd spent a while crafting that thing. It was short-lived, but effective. "I can pay you in a way no other employer can. I possess the ability to both enhance your pre-existing abilities, or to grant you new ones. Permanently. An increase that will serve you for the rest of your life. Or, alternatively, I could just pay you in normal money." Some were just obsessed with cash, after all.

‘So that explains why nobody has come by yet,’ High Voltage he though as Jack produce a note from his sleeve. Before he could ask what the note was Jack toss the note at him. The note latched onto the merc. As the note attached to him he felt his strength surge immensely. Deciding to follow Jack suggestion he walked over to a nearby ATM machine and with effortless ripped from the wall. Toss it onto the ground he thought over Jack offer. He quickly came to his decision, with Jack power he has a way to the top. To be the top mercenary on the planet quite a fair deal if you as him. “You got your merc sir. Turn me into one of those thunder bolt throwers of old and I am your man.” He said as the enhancement faded away.

The Jack smiled beneath his mask. "Excellent! So glad that we could reach an agreement. Well then, I will leave you fine gentlemen to your business." He made another short bow as he backed out of the room, already thinking of his next move. "I have business to attend to elsewhere. But when you're finished...." As he turned to leave, he dropped a card. Not a magic one this time. It was akin to a business card, containing the location of the normie appartment the Jack used as a base. "I will see you later."

---

Alex coughed and gagged as another copy exploded on her sword, filling her nose and mouth with what seemed to be death given form against her senses. She couldn't swap these things, they simply didn't register to her lock attempts. It was utter chaos, and she'd lost track of where Anomaly had gone. Dragon's lightning was the only easy indicator she had of his location.

So much going on, so much sensory overload on what she relied on...

Falling to her knees while holding her head, Alex groaned. "Someone just end this already..."

((I neglected tagging anyone since practically every active player is involved xD))

Just when Magus thought he was getting a handle on the situation, things got crazier. It seemed everyone and their mother had chosen this place to gather, though Magus had no idea who any of these people were since he couldn't see any of them. Fortunately, Mimic and Dian seemed unwilling to face so many people at once and began to beat a hasty retreat.

Then, just as Magus thought he was in the clear, things got even crazier. Suddenly he was being attacked from all sides, though by whom he couldn't tell. He swung his staff around at each whatever-it-was that attacked him, only for his staff to pass through with little resistance followed by some sort of explosion that assailed his remaining senses in ways he couldn't begin to describe. Coughing and nearly vomiting from the foul taste each hit produced, he shouted, "What in the world is going on?!"

---

It was only through Cheshire and sheer dumb luck that Charlotte evaded being overwhelmed. With the cats sensory abilities, Charlotte ran off to the side to find higher ground and take cover, which was how she found herself in a rickety old building. This was the most chaotic position she'd ever found herself in. Swarms of technicolor girls covered the streets and explosions rocked the earth. She could easily make out Dragon from the lighting flying off the ground, and she was relieved to see Spectrum safe in the skies.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for her.

She grimaced as a clones entered the building, rushing after her. Using her augmented strength, she kicked one, sending it crashing into another before racing up the stairs. Cheshire remained invisible and was keeping track of the movements of several of the clones, directing Charlotte on how to avoid them.

At the second floor, Charlotte leapt into the neighboring building, clones following after her before she hurled a coach at them mid-jump, causing them to fall into a pile to the ground below and explode in a flashy display of technicolor gore.

Grimacing, Charlotte looked around for an item she could use as a weapon. Coming here without her guns was definitely a mistake, but not one she could afford time agonizing over.

---

Rend materialized almost instantly, holding out a hand for Finch.

"There's trouble. Get your mask on and suit up. We're all heading out," he said in a tense voice, looking a little worse for wear himself.

An eyebrow rose as Rend appeared with trouble on his lips. Never a dull moment it seemed, if they had somehow managed to get in a major conflict in the short time that he had been off to get his stuff. He wasn't sure what they were doing that they needed his help for, but if they were calling he couldn't exactly refuse.

"Alright." He stepped back before ducking out of sight so he could change and get his mask on. That would only take a minute or two and soon afterwards he returned to stand in front of Rend. It was one of the suits he was used to wearing, and he had his new mask on as well.

He then nodded to Rend with a casual grip on his stuff. "I'm ready. Let's get going."

A flash, and they disappeared, reappearing in Finch's new quarters. "Drop the stuff, and get to the main hall. Chrysopoeic is waiting, and he's angry. I've got to pick up a few more," Rend said with a tense smile, disappearing again.

---

In the main hall was Chrysopoeic standing in the very center with his back to Finch. Null was looking at Finch with a spark of anger in her eyes, visible beneath the blank mask.

If he had needed directions back down here, she had given them without any small talk.

It appeared everyone, but Chrysopoeic, was on edge.

"Got it," Finch confirmed as Rend issued new instructions before vanishing. He had to be a busy guy even on good days so Finch did not hold the brevity against him. There was certainly more utility in his power than others.

Placing his stuff up against his bed, Finch wasted no time in making his way over to the main hall. He was still getting used to this place but he hadn't gotten too lost, and Null had helped when he needed it. Arriving h found that there was a tense atmosphere in the air, mostly courtesy of Null to be honest. Even he couldn't help but get a bit more serious with how everyone else seemed to be.

He stepped into the hall before coming to a stop some distance from his new boss. "What's going on?" They were going to have to do something he supposed, and he was ready for whatever happened.

"We have vermin to exterminate," Chrysopoeic said in his thunderous voice, still reverberating through the room even with him speaking softly. "Our precious young one has been preyed upon by a fool."

At that moment, Rend appeared with Scatterer. "Smog was injured. She'll need Dian to fix her so she's not out of control anymore. I got her in the safe room."

"That is a shame. But come, let's show this City the erroneous beliefs their so called heroes maintain."

Finch nodded as Chrysopoeic explained in general terms what he planned to do. Making a demonstration? He was okay with that even if it was likely to include things similar to what he had done for him before. It was to be expected that they would do something like this eventually.

"Sounds good to me," he agreed with a nod. He didn't know what they were going to do but they would probably find out soon enough. Until then Finch would just wait and see what happened.

Rend created several copies, quickly teleporting everyone at once onto the scene in question. Dian was on the ground, her leg a mangled mess, and chaos ensured all too close from Mimic's magical copies and the combat involved.

Arrival on the scene heralded bedlam and chaos, with one ally on the ground and the other a multitude of copies that were basically attacking everyone else already there. There were quite a few Epics as well, which probably explained what his employer had meant by the delusions of heroes.

Well, Finch was the villain. In that case he might as well play the part. "You weren't kidding," he noted to his companions as he drew out a cylinder from his belt. Flicking it open revealed his trademark glass, and the contact of his powers reshaped it into several small discs with sharp edges. Ranged fighting with his powers wasn't usually his style but he didn't exactly have an assault rifle on him right now so it would have to do.

He took a moment to line it up before he sent the discs twirling through the air, aimed at one of the opponents who had been fighting at what was previously a distance from Dian. Time to make an entrance.

As the bullet entered Scatterer's field of influence, he redirected it from Dian's body.

"Null, stop the one who attacked our precious young one. Rend, go retrieve him for me," Chrysopoeic commanded.

A moment later, Emblem found himself unable to move anymore as his brain was assaulted with how worst nightmares brought to life, his body already unable to move by itself. Rend materialized above him, a simple touch to him as they began to fall, and they appeared in front of the group.

"You have much to pay for, you insolent rat," Chrysopoeic growled, walking forward. "I have passed judgement upon you, and you are guilty. Your sentence is death."

Metal pooled from his arms, quickly encasing the faux-hero and growing into a foot deep mass. With a single clenching of his fist, Chrysopoeic condensed the ball around Emblem into one barely five inches in diameter.

Dian looked up to see the rest standing over her. As much as she wanted to be grown up, the tears she had held back burst forth. "Daddy!" She sobbed, holding out her arms to be picked up.

Having launched his initial volley, Finch was prepared to do so again almost immediately after. But he found his attention dragged away by his employer in action, an opportunity he could not pass up to watch. If this man was as dangerous as he appeared then Finch needed to know more about him, especially if their relationship should end badly some day.

What he saw was, well, Chrysopoeic definitely confirmed what he had suspected. Very quickly the flying Epic was brought down by the members of the Alkahest working in concert, as he had figured would be the case. From all he had observed of them thus far, and what he had been told, these guys weren't here because they could be pushed around easily.

Yet what Chrysopoeic did made even him wince, and he averted his gaze a bit. That was...brutal. He couldn't say whether the Epic deserved that, but it definitely served to highlight his position all the more. He was going to have to tread carefully from now on.

Chrysopoeic raised his hands, bringing the small sphere into the air, flicking it in the direction of the heroes with a whoosh. Null walked forward and picked up Dian, nodding at her injured leg. Dian muttered darkly as she stuffed her hands in her leg and started moving the pieces around, reconnecting pieces slowly. "Big Sis! Mimic was super stupid!" She pouted as she glanced up at Null.

"Hear me, so called heroes!" He called out, his voice booming through the area. "You have been blinded by the lies and tricks of your false gods. You have fought valiantly to defend those which should have been destroyed, grown like cattle before the slaughter! Your failings in this are of no fault of yourselves, but of those who claim to guide you and protect you."
"But have you been protected? No, you have not! Your city has been a playground for the twisted beasts of the dark, of the murderers. You attack children because of these liars! You sit when you should act! I, Chrysopoeic, have come to rid this corruption from this City and take my rightful place on the Throne, my Alkahest at my side. Lay down your powers against us, and rise beside of us into glory and greatness, bringing the flood of change that are coming."

The copies eventually began to thin, and the original teenage girl started to fade in like a film transition next to Rend. Before she'd even finished fully materialising, she was adjusting her shirt and brushing her hair back. "Hey, Rend." She tried to sound disinterested even as she reached behind her and pulled her top a little tighter to attract his attention. It did, but she missed the annoyed eye-roll that followed when he looked away. Mimic grinned from ear to ear. Progress!

"Well done with this mess," Chrysopoeic rumbled at the front of the group. Her smile faded. It wasn't her fault, and she opened her mouth to say so, but then Dian caught her eye. The little brat stuck her tongue out at her, while she was busy with her leg too. Little baby. Mimic returned the favour. She could stick her tongue out further anyway, unless Dian did something funny. But it definitely wasn't her fault for this mess. Rend was supposed to take care of that teleporter lady anyway. He'd seemed too eager to go looking, so Mimic had already decided she didn't like the teleporter.

She looked over at the new guy. He looked cute. Maybe she could play with him later. Those discs flying around him looked like he had a cool power too. With a small smile, Mimic decided she'd find his room later and have a little talk. Maybe he'd appreciate her properly. Maybe it would make Rend jealous. She bit her lip, pleasant thoughts running through her head as she let her top adjust itself back to normal and her last few copies burst or faded. She liked that power sometimes. Too bad Null had killed the Epic with that power. She wanted to use it more often.

---

Spectrum looked around as the air around her spontaneously cleared itself of copies. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she scanned around for Charlotte, a pang of white fright making her drop a few feet when she couldn't see the girl. Ignoring the group battling on the street, she spun and pointed a finger, heading in the direction she was facing when it stopped. A nearby window shuddered in time with an explosion, and she glanced at it to see Charlotte inside. "Charlotte!" She shouted, smashing the window and taking out the last copy assaulting the girl. "Thank the High you're okay." She took the girl in her arms, then held her at arms' length checking for injury. "You are okay?"

Another explosion rumbled, and Spectrum decided it'd be more prudent to be out on the street when whatever was causing those rumbles got here. "Come on, let's find Dragon," she said, taking Charlotte's hand and practically dragging her out of the building. Dragon wasn't far, thankfully, and she went to him right away. "What's-"

"Sh." Dragon interrupted her, looking down the road. She followed his gaze and a chill went through her. Just the two girls had been enough, and now there was a whole group of them, men and woman and... Was that metal ball bleeding? She stepped closer to Dragon, ushering Charlotte behind her even as she hid behind him. The man in front of the newcomers gestured, and the ball dropped to the floor, cracking the tarmac and rolling to a stop between them and her family. She blinked, a colour flickering across her armour. Her family?

"Hear me, so called heroes!" He called out, his voice booming through the area. "You have been blinded by the lies and tricks of your false gods. You have fought valiantly to defend those which should have been destroyed, grown like cattle before the slaughter! Your failings in this are of no fault of yourselves, but of those who claim to guide you and protect you."
"But have you been protected? No, you have not! Your city has been a playground for the twisted beasts of the dark, of the murderers. You attack children because of these liars! You sit when you should act! I, Chrysopoeic, have come to rid this corruption from this City and take my rightful place on the Throne, my Alkahest at my side. Lay down your powers against us, and rise beside of us into glory and greatness, bringing the flood of change that are coming."

In the silence after that speech, the explosions were drowned out by a slow, pervasive rumble. Spectrum recognised it even as she wished she didn't. It was a building falling. A few blocks away, but still close enough that she squeezed Charlotte's hand for comfort. The Island would put it right back up, but that hadn't mattered to the residents of the Fitch building. Dragon, oh High he looked cool, folded his arms and waited for the rumbling to finish before replying, "Gee, thanks, Chris, but the High don't take too kindly to blasphemers. Perhaps you should run off and find some other city to play warlord in."

Anomaly

---

Xoxi had a few precious seconds to react to what was going on before she saw several discs flying at her neck. Okay, maybe not her neck specifically, but they might as well have been. Xoxi's hands disappeared and re-materialized in the path of the two more scary discs, solidifying right in their path and shattering them, while the third and last disc got by her defenses, grazing right through the flesh of her calf and leaving a giant gash in it. "GYAH! FUCK!" That was gonna leave a giant ass scar.

Xoxi fell to the ground onto her knees, trying her hardest to not reduce herself to a pile of vulnerability. The teen's hands reformed at her side, looking more like static than if they were normal. Each hand grabbed the teen and pulled her to a good amount of cover, conveniently behind what appeared like a collapsed wall. She sat there, watching blood ooze out of her pants and her leg. It was... terrible was the nicest word for it. It singed with burning pain as Xoxi's hands kept reducing into static more and more. There wasn't any fire around though... why were her hands acting like that.

"... I-I'm gonna die here..." Xoxi thought as her hands just pulled her legs in to her chest for comfort. She wasn't doing good... and she was crying. The flood gates opened and she was streaming down with tears. Shit was getting too stressful right now. First Lucky, then that one spandex guy, and now... her...

... man, did she hate crying.

@Flamelord@Old Amsterdam@Regitnui

Chrysopoeic laughed at Dragon's words. "I would think one such as you would know better. That you of all these misguided children would understand the fault and failings of these liars."

Dragon shrugged, taking Spectrum by the hand. "I couldn't care less what the High do. People threaten me and mine is when I get irritated. You're talking about stuff that's way over my head, anyway, Chris. You cause trouble, I..." He squeezed Spectrum's hand and indicated the rest of the gathered heroes, "We come down on you."

"And I had such high hopes for you," Chrysopoeic replied with a shake of the head. Holding up his hands as if in prayer, he continued, "I forgive you, child, for your ignorance. May you be cleansed before the coming storm so that you may weather it and find your rightful place by my side. Both of you."

Bringing his hands down, he looked back at Dragon. "I give you one final chance for you and yours to break free of your shackles and join me in freedom. To grow and gain, and to remove the oppressors from your head and heart."

Dragon frowned and sighed, rubbing his chin. "Don't tell me you're some mainland evangelist cult or something. There's a Catholic church about six blocks that way that's even got nuns, if you want to pray to your own God." His tone was flippant, but Spectrum noticed how he checked where everyone else was with a casual glance. He was nervous, and that made her more worried. His gaze lingered on the armless girl, Alex' friend, but he was soon matching gazes with the man in the suit again. Since her eyes were less distinct, Spectrum watched her instead, trying to weigh up supporting Dragon and keep Charlotte close or going to her.

"The only cult that exists is the one you have all been secretly anointed into," Chrysopoeic said gravely. "That same cult that I am trying to save you from."

Dragon blinked, stepping back from the group. "Spec, get that girl and bring her back. Charlotte, run to Traveler and get her to open a door back inside, quickly," He whispered. The orders given, he frowned and stamped his foot a few times. Anyone else might have mistaken it for a nervous twitch, but it was anything but. "Look, Chris, I can see you've put quite a bit of effort into the theatrics here. I mean, matching costumes, a nice gender mix for representation, but you're just missing that one final shred of coherence in your message. Take it from me, I do the marketing thing all the time between hero gigs. Probably saw my face on a billboard on the way here."

Kneeling next to the girl, Spectrum tried to remember her name. "Um... Cushy, can you walk? We need to get away from these guys." Looking at the girl's leg, Spectrum thought. If she went Green, she'd be able to carry the girl back on her own, but it'd take her forever, and Dragon's distraction might not last that long.

"If you want to sell something, you gotta make sure people understand it," Dragon continued, as if he were about to walk up to Chrysopoeic and putting a hand on his shoulder. "My rugged good looks and iron hard abs, those people understand. If I stand in front of a mirror and spray on deodorant, people understand that the deodorant is used by attractive and good-looking people. Now your whole spiel of a cult and freedom and stuffing people into tiny metal balls, I'm sure that works for you. But you gotta have a coherent message. What exactly are you trying to sell here?"

Xoxi looked up at Spectrum as she said her name through her sobs. "I-It's Xoxi..." As she tried to stand up, feeling the sensation of pain even more in her leg. The sudden pain caused the girl to fall back down onto her face, arms gone so she couldn't even pick herself back up. "... n-no... can't stand..." All the pain really made her just want to throw up.

Speaking of throw up, Xoxi gagged a bit before feeling like she just began to spew out of her mouth... only... there was no substance leaving her. More or less. the air around her began to feel more... in tune. Everything just sort of began to work together in ways Xoxi hadn't been able to understand before. A ghost hand appeared in front of her face, flashing a peace sign before fading into the abyss...

Xoxi found herself floating upwards slightly, as if she picked herself up without her hands. Her form was encompassed by a purple aura as she did so, her eyes changing from their normal shade to a color akin to her ghost hands.

She felt... good. Like she was more intact with herself. Like she was more... her... than she'd ever been before.

Falling back down on her foot and balancing, Xoxi spoke again to Spectrum, her tear ducts stopping production. "... d-do you know what happened there...?"

"Nobody likes someone who tells them they're living wrong, you see. That's negative and makes them feel bad."

As Dragon continued his monologue in the background, Spectrum watched the girl she was trying to rescue stand up in a halo of colour. She stepped forward, letting Xoxi lean on her to keep the weight off her leg. "I think you floated," she answered, really having no better answer. "But we gotta get moving." She felt something rest on her shoulder and back, as if Xoxi had put an arm around her shoulders, but when she put a hand up for the other woman's, grabbed nothing but air. "Keep holding on or however you're doing that. Alex should have a gate for us."

Xoxi let a soft smile escape her tears as she nodded, tapping into whatever power she had again to levitate off the ground once more, returning to being in the purple aura from before. "I-I feel... complete. Like the world is my oyster, but even more so..." Xoxi's gaze zoned out until she finally responded to Spectrum. "Y-yeah! Right behind you." Xoxi looked over at the ongoing conflict before questioning what had just happened with her powers. Did she get an upgrade? It seemed like she did, but she couldn't describe it right now.

That being said, there definitely was something new inside her. Something comforting.

Chrysopoeic shook his head, metal pooling from his hands in a lazy fashion. "You are deluded child, listen to reason." Dragon didn't blink, though he noticed. He was going to end up like the comic-book Epic if Traveler didn't give him a portal soon.

High Voltage

Once Jack left High voltage retrieved the card that was dropped by him. Taking a quick look at writing on the card before he pocketed it. Quickly turn around to the vault he jogged into it "Double time it!" He shouted to the criminals as they hurriedly packed the money and gold into trolleys and duffel bags. Swiftly moving their stolen wealth into the banks underground garage. Loading the stolen loot onto a armor car. Once they had loaded the loot they quickly left the bank behind as they to there hideout. At the warehouse the robbers started to count the money and gold they stole. High voltage in the meanwhile donned a disguised to head to the address on the card. After a while of wondering and avoiding the chaos on the streets he soon arrived at the apartment. Locating the door the merc quickly knocked on it waiting for a response.

Alto stood up high, which he seemed to do a lot. Well, you always wanted the high ground after all, but one day he was going to be climbing to the top of a building only to find somebody else was already there, and then he'd have to find another roof. Down below was presumeably the two women's real target; Dragon Heart, and some other famous faces. Would've been weird just to antagonize Magus, after all so that made sense. He didn't know what they were just standing around and talking for though.

He couldn't hear them from up there, obviously, and reading lips was a lot harder than it sounded.

Still, he recognized the type of people they were up against. Someone organized, and judging by the amount of talking going on maybe it was some "holier than thou" religious organization. It wouldn't be the first time one had appeared though, there were always people trying to fight against the High.

Still, there wasn't much he could do but watch and wait. Out of their allies only Dragon Heart could handle his fire without needing silver, and there was an enemy 'immune' to him somehow, although luckily she'd only used the Vice Claw briefly and she seemed to lose it afterwards.

But at the first sign of trouble, there'd be fire coming down.

Finch

Finch was pleased to see at least one of his projectiles strike home, especially since he hadn't held up much hope of doing so against a bunch of Epics. But it seemed like the element of surprise paid off there.

Nonetheless the people thy had come to rescue were retrieved, and Finch squared off with the rest of the Alkahest against those who had shown up to fight as his boss made a pitch to them. It was very eloquent, generally speaking, But it didn't look like anyone was springing at the opportunity,and he wasn't too surprised. People didn't just switch sides on a dime, and their faith in the High probably hadn't been broken yet.

“I don't think they're going for it,” he said aloud as he remained motionless for now. His glass weapons were ready, but he knew better than to jump the gun on the rest of the organization. It wouldn't exactly paint a favorable impression as the newcomer, unless he got some benefit from doing so that they would have missed out on otherwise.

Behind all that he did notice something going on with the Epic that he had injured, though he wasn't sure what it was. Maybe she hadn't been as injured as it had appeared at first. But he was confident they could handle it, so for now it was just up to what Chrys wanted to do. Finch had the feeling that he could guess what the response would be.

Alex wasn't doing so hot. Too many lights and smells and tastes and everything boiling over into each other. She didn't even realize anyone needed her. What was going on?Looking-Glass clicked her tongue. All these honeyed words pouring out of the man's mouth and it all boiled down to "I'm powerful, therefore I am right"; she'd no idea whether the man, this Chrysopoeic, actually believed in half of what he was saying, that he was saving them from the High, or that he was some sort of God-King, but it didn't matter. Having him replace the High was simply a matter of one tyrant dethroning another.

And even if she disliked tyrants, better the one she knew that the one she didn't. The High were by no means perfect leaders - it was in fact, a stretch to even call them that. They were a constant presence, and an undeniable force, but they did not lead. They were ineffective and hands-off, rarely taking action despite they're overwhelming power, and while some would have cursed them for that, Charlotte had spent long hours thinking about their role in the world, in solitude.

She came to the conclusion that their lack of interference might have been for the best. For humans, power in their hands often went all too easily to their heads, and the god-like powers of the High made them no different - in the end, they were still human; getting too involved with the people, bearing their presence on them all the time like the old deities of Greek myth, would blur the line between divine and human. And it's well known that when a human forgets that they are anything but, is when the true atrocities begin.

Looking-Glass was face-to-face with one such being right now, and she found that she didn't like it.

She nodded at Dragon's request, and moved quickly. Whatever her feelings on the matter where, Chrysopoeic still had them in the palm of his hand. That power of his was comparable to a High, which meant that they had no chance at winning this confrontation. The only way out then was to escape and recuperate. With Cheshire's help, locating Traveler wasn't difficult. Upon reaching her however, she found her condition less than ideal. The woman was collapsed in a heap, and if her glazed expression was anything to go by, probably seeing stars. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Charlotte gently shook her.

"Traveler, we need to get out of here." Getting to the point, she chose to forgo pleasantries for the moment. Dragon's distraction wouldn't last long.

Alex looked up at the armored girl. What...? She shook her head, which promptly caused her to projectile vomit forward. Coughing, she wiped the bile from her mouth, feeling more alive. "What?" She asked in confusion.

Under her helmet, Charlotte grimaced as some bile landed unceremoniously on White Knight, who promptly complained aloud. Looking-Glass paid him no mind, focusing on the task at hand. "Powerful Epic, might be High-level. Need to get out, now."

Alex looked up at Charlotte blankly, gingerly she moved to a standing position, wobbly. Holding up a hand, Alex motioned towards her head, lifting her shoulders slightly. "I don't know what you want," she groaned.

She was really out of it. This wasn't good. Pointing at Dragon, Looking-Glass hissed. "We need to teleport out of here."

Alex shook her head slowly. "What do you want? I don't have hearing..." She hissed. Frustrated, she pressed her head against the armor, and that was when she saw everything. She froze, eyes narrowing as she looked past Charlotte. "He's here!" she hissed.

Looking-Glass's eyes widened in realization. "She's deaf!" Of all the times for critical information to slip her mind, it had to be now?! The moment Spectrum had issued her warning, Looking-Glass scooped her up, and hightailed it to the nearest building. Her helmet slid off as she did so, resting against her neck like a metal hoodie. Damn it, she didn't have writing material on her, and she had no idea how to do sign language. Hopefully she could read lips. "Need. Teleport. Everyone. Danger," she mouthed as cleanly as possible.

Alex began to protest weakly at being moved, her eyes still locked onto Rend. Seeing the young girl's face, she latched onto what she was saying. "Well, shit..." She muttered. "Hold on!" She said in a falsely cheery voice, dropping both of them through portals and back behind Dragon fairly out of sight. "How do I let him know we're ready?" She thought aloud. One chance. Looking at some rubble behind the villains, Alex took a few moments while the big guy was talking and swapped a smaller brightly colored sign with the rubble. Hopefully he'd see it and know what it meant.

Indeed. Dragon's eyes flicked to the left, where the sign had appeared. "I'm plenty reasonable, Chris. Like I said, me and mine get on and we don't bother nobody." Where had he picked up that drawl from? He hadn't gotten any Westerns lately. He put his hand behind his back, hopefully where Traveler could see it, and held up three fingers. Slowly folding them to count down, he continued with his spiel, putting the other hand behind his back just for show. "Now you say the High do something wrong," Three. "But I don't see anything like that. They stay out of everyone's business more often than not." Two. "In fact, most I've seen out of the High has been when people are in trouble; High Island put my apartment back together not so long ago without a word of complaint." One.

"So, basically, what I'm saying is..." He felt the ground beneath his feet disappear, and he had just enough time to say, "Fuck you, Chris" before he ended up on his ass in a dark room. "I don't normally get to literally flip off supervillains, but damn if it isn't cathartic," He said to nobody in particular, while his eyes adjusted to the suddenly very crowded basement. He'd never been here before, though looking up at the rather shabby couch, he recognised a bra lying half-tossed over it. Hadn't he...

Spectrum, glowing an angry shade of bright red with one arm over her breasts, grabbed his wrist and pulled him to his feet, letting him see a little more of the untidy space the entire group now found themselves in. "Alex!" Spectrum shouted. "Bedroom! Now! Charlotte, stay here!" With the remarkable strength that comes with determination, she dragged him over to the only door in the room, kicked it open and yanked him inside. When Traveler appeared, Spectrum slammed the door, leaning against it withe her full weight as she sighed in frustration. "Why my place?!"

Anomaly

---

As quickly as Xoxi got involved with that conflict, she was gone. Gone without a trace. Thanks to Traveler, she was in a safer place for the time being. A place where she could revel in something. That something, was her new sense of unity. She felt complete and safe within her skin now, to the point where a hoodie would just be restricting that feeling almost entirely. She still wanted her hoodie back, though.

What do you do after you feel your body and mind become more whole than they had ever been?

You sit on the ground and contemplate life.

That brings us to Xoxi now. The amputee Epic sat on the floor of Spectrum's place, her familiar psychic hands squeezing her leg and trying to stop the blood from flowing out everywhere as she stared into space. She wasn't angry. She wasn't glad. She was just there. She was just existing, really. Not feeling much but the blood leak from her leg and onto the ground.

The weird thing? She could feel everything else. She felt it like it was her hand running along it. The carpet. The couch. The table. Everything around her, she could feel it again. Not only could she feel it, but it was so... so detailed. The wood of the table, especially. She could feel every minute crease and crack of the hard wood and it honestly scared her at how exact it was.

Regardless of that, Xoxi looked over towards the kitchen and freshly closed door, where a lot of the noise was coming from and where she just figured someone would be.