Protean watched as Messiah blasted Tulpa's creation with fire from behind, taking in the results of the action, but he did not do so idly. He took a jump back in surprise at the sudden massive increase in the thing's size, its energy field having had a growth spurt along with the physical body.
Damn, how lucky. There's no way she detected it after she manifested the projection, but this maneuver set back my strategy! Despite effectively having two sets of eyes, one pair focused exclusively on Tiger Lily, most of his focus had been taken up by the projection. While he noticed Tiger Lily's transformation and counter attack, he was just sluggish enough to be caught up in it. The dinosaur girl tore off the head of his snake arm, which dropped limply to the floor. Almost instantly the stub stopped all bleeding and reformed into something more useful: another mantis shrimp claw. However the dead snake head had been separated from him completely, and he was powerless to stop Tiger Lily from smashing through the wall. Well, no matter. She merely gave him another exit if this fight proved too troublesome. The remaining Wards before him were a far more pressing issue.
---- Tiger Lily ----
Rather than a verbal response in her communicator, Tiger Lily received directions in the form of small LEDs lighting up along the floor in a single path. They appeared to snake around the lobby and into another hall, stopping at a completely blank wall. Once she neared this wall, a series of lights flashed and it opened up, revealing a secret compartment which held a stash of PRT equipment: one combat rifle, one side pistol, and a single containment foam grenade. It wasn't an
armory but clearly someone had wanted to be prepared in case of an emergency.
---- Back to the Battle ----
Protean did not move in closer to the massive projection blocking off the entire hallway. Confident he could tank through the energy field it had been armed with, he did not want to risk any other tricks Tulpa had thought of. Her power was even more unpredictable and dangerous than his, and he would not play the fool this day. Instead he waited, but did not have to wait long at all before it shrank down in size once more, becoming a bit larger than its original appearance and moving in on him in a dangerous warpath. The energy field of the projection let off many crackles and sizzles, darkening the floor beneath it and letting up many plumes of smoke. The scent of searing flesh permeated through the hall.
That's when Messiah let off another burning hot spear of flame aimed straight for Protean's head. This became a conundrum as he faced multiple attacks: dodging one could put him at greater risk to another. Determining that the tulpa was the more unpredictable, and therefore more dangerous threat, he opted not to avoid Messiah's blazing projectile. The heat seared away his antennae, melted the globes of his eyes, and scorched his skin. If he were to let out a cry of agony, nobody else would be able to tell as his leaps were melted shut. It seemed he had become easy prey for Tulpa's manifested creature as it moved in for the grapple, but the results proved to be not so. Just before it could complete the grab, Protean's shrimp claw extended outward at impossible blazing speeds, powering through the energy field and punching the creature dead center. The force knocked it back several feet, whipping up a strong wind. Just like the first punch demonstrated, if it had made contact with any of the Wards they'd have been instantly taken out. Luckily the tulpa was made to withstand such forces, but unfortunately those arms simply moved too fast to be affected by the energy field, at least for any more than scratch damage.
They definitely haven't figured it out yet. Good. I just need to hold the line a few more seco-oof! The shapeshifter's train of thought had been cut short when a sudden literal flying brick (wall) slammed into his chest, knocking him back a good few meters and toppling onto his back. Bruises, torn muscle tissue, severed veins, and broken bones healed in a near instant, but it was just enough time for the Wards' next gambit to pay off. The tulpa crossed the distance once more, now combined with Mastar's gooey namesake, and pierced into Protean's flesh just as he began reforming his eyes. The mere proximity of the creature meant that his flesh was bubbling and sizzling, burning away his excess body matter little by little. Of course, he had a
lot of body matter, so the more pressing concern was the injection.
"GET OFF!" He unleashed another mighty mantis shrimp punch, this one more devastating than those before it. The force not only knocked the tulpa back along the floor, but put a nice size hole in it. It had been gored from one side straight through the other. This afforded Protean the precious fraction of a second he needed to get back on his feet. Even from the distance they all had put between them, the Wards could make out that Protean was breathing heavy from exertion. That only happened when he had run through large amounts of bio-mass, and for a man that normally contained around 16,000 pounds of bio-mass, that was a lot. But as for the injection site where some of Mastar's tar had gotten into his body? The flesh was falling off, dropping onto the floor. He had forcibly ejected the contaminated tissue from his body, but judging by the size of tissue, he was a good 20-25 pounds shed.
"I'm compartmentalizing sections of my body," he commented through heavy breathes.
"Individual circulatory systems. That won't work again, but it was great teamwork. Really. You've all grown a lot. Maybe you can... Even win against Father?" He spoke with an air of sincerity, and regret. Though he undoubtedly fought for his life in this moment, Protean could not shake his affection for the teen heroes he had mentored. And when he spoke of "Father," he held clear disdain in his voice. Despite this, Protean never dropped his guard, and his body was only morphing more parts to fight with.
---- Director Kens ----
No. Not yet. It isn't... Time yet. Just a few more seconds... Once Lillian gets back... If I stay awake that long." Roger Kens glanced down to his bloody wound, still fresh and painful.
The panic that set in with the discovery of the bomb proved to be mostly unwarranted, as it was near instantly, and quite decisively, dealt with by Headhunter. With his power he scoped in with specific parameters to destroy the device, pulled the trigger, and then it was done. A loud BANG shot out in the open air of the airport, a bullet shattered through a window, and then the device lay in many pieces, each one completely inactive and inert. But the danger wasn't over yet.
"It's a bomb!" came the shout of another man from further down the concourse. Either he had not yet been affected by Chatterbox's power, or was still at such a stage that he maintained greater independence, but for one reason or another he did not communicate with the designated tap code opting to cry out in terror. Further down still, to those who were paying attention, a white voice opened up only for a second and no longer, just enough to drop another identical bomb to the floor. Then another, and another. Systematically, about thirty feet apart each time and a few seconds separating the intervals a white void appeared, a flash of the figure of Dr. Dean could be seen, and the void would close up leaving behind another bomb. The information was communicated to Chatterbox with his designated tap code, and it was a clear recognizable pattern. They could take advantage of this.
