Now was not the time for grand planning. Now was the time for action. Otto scarcely felt himself will his legs to move. It was as if some primal part of him did. There were people out here, people to save. He jumped.
And so, the spider spun.
Trying to snatch all of the bombs out of the air to prevent any more damage, Spider Man began running on buildings trying to web them all into one, giant pile. When that was as closed to accomplished as he could, the former supervillain took the bundle in his hands and leaped into the air. He had to get the bombs as far away as possible. But his conscious mind cried out to not act, that it could be his death. But that primal lizard brain didn’t care. It just needed to do one, critical thing:
Save the day. He threw the bundle, and hoped gravity would take over to get him out of the blast radius.
A slightly winded cleric rushed forward towards the building area, his body fueled by both a sense of duty and protection, and pure unadulterated spite towards the bastard who tried to burn everyone... The barriers trailing right behind him, following with his concrete cracking run. As he arrived to the epicenter of the battle, it was all too clear everyone was attacking the asshat known as firefly with everything they had... Hershel grit his teeth for a moment, hands clenching into fists as he stared into the distant wailing onto the flying bastard...
It wasn't his kind of fight, unfortunately. Letting a long and frustrated sigh escape his lips, eyes fluttering closed... the duke would bide his time for now despite spite. Instead, the man opted to extend his hands, open palms once again, and maneuver his barriers close to him in preparation for any collateral that could come down to the area.
And for better or worse, the cleric wouldn't be made to wait all too long. The pyromaniac's equipment kept being hit and damaged, prompting an action of either panic or defiance: To throw as many high explosives down as he could muster into the street, threatening the enterity of their rescues once again.
Without wasting even a further instant as others made isolated explosives detonate ahead of time instead of chain, the cleric sprinted away again towards the first aid camp entrance intending to protect the rest of the street, for it was quite obvious that every instant would count. By this point, the magical black-ish shield walls had compressed into two small blocks to each side of the cleric for ease of movement.
Yet just as he had done so, a familiar face faced forward towards the danger, a man in a spandex who seemed quite cold and business-like on dealing with superman beforel, who now moved at an incredible speed, captured by the cleric's hazel's almost in slow motion: To web every single bomb he could get his hands on, like a true spider setting up their webbing, catching everything it intends.
It was a conjecture as the man started to climb up, but Hershel knew from educated guesses and experience what the idea would be. Without missing a beat, his magical bag opened at his will and two different long spears with steel shafts would be pulled out from it as the red and blue hero reached the apex of their path... Hershel's position abruptly shifted, the metal tube from the weapon being firmly grasped while the other kept the remaining of the pair ready for some form of use.
A single message would be swiftly transmitted to the hero now starting to fall from the sky:
"Catch onto what I am throwing, pay attention" Delivered at a speed spoken language can't compare as from a javelin-throwning position, the spear took off breaking the air, approaching to intercept the hero's trajectory without threatening to impale... but if they didn't react, their chance to latch onto it would be missed.
And just as the spear took off, so did Hershel and his barriers behind him, his position adjusting from throw to sprinting towards the crumbling building, second spear gripped in hand and hazel's shining once again in the magical blue of his power, exerting control over the magic he already carried from before.
Then from the sprint, a jump, dust and wind following his sudden motion as his momentum carried him to the side of the building in an arc through the air. Crash
His weapon and foot dug into the concrete of the structure for an instant, before the cleric put all his strenght into his arm, and swung himself upwards without hesitation, stabbing the spear from the wall at the right time and running up the side of the building until his momentum would run out...
tick, tick, tick, TICK. But the bombs's timer would wait for nobody, and Hershel knew this. His following magical barriers extended outwards, positioning themselves under the cluster of explosives procured by the hero in spandex before locking onto each other, forming the shape of a cone with an upwards opening, funneling the bulk of explosive power upwards.
And just as the explosives were about to blow, Hershel stabbed his spear onto the side of the building once again, locking himself in place and his concentration onto the disaster containment... the bastard was NOT going to one-up them, and someone's heroism would not be undermined. Interacting with: @SomeMekBoy@Thatguyinastore
Sanford’s Location: Metropolis, trying to kick Firefly’s ass
Sanford’s Mood: Trying to slap a mosquito out of the sky 2: Electric Boogaloo
Sanford’s Status: Healthy, but bloodied
Sanford’s Inventory: Meathook
Sanford’s Mentions:
At some point, while Samus was interacting with Negan, yet another explosion rang out from the distance, likely from the aforementioned tower outside. Even then, Voss hadn't bothered to check. He remained behind the tent wall to not only avoid eye contact with the space marine, but he also assumed that the sound was nothing more than the rescuers in the tower fucking around as per usual. Whatever. It wasn't his job to supervise the tower extraction anyway. It wasn't until Negan exclaimed and ran off alongside Samus that the sea captain bothered to check. He began to stand up, and as he did, he gawked around the corner to witness a volley of flames that rained from above approaching the camp at an alarming pace. Before he could even stand to his full height, Voss threw himself aside at the last moment to avoid the incoming inferno. He landed belly-down onto the ground outside and shielded his head with his arms as the blaze roared straight through the center of the camp. Voss swore he heard cackling as it rushed by.
When the coast was clear, the old man scrambled to his feet and whipped his head toward the camp. At least, what was left of it. The entire shelter was ripped in two and was quickly engulfed in flames. Parts of it began to collapse on itself, and those who cared enough and able enough were dashing toward the firey camp to rescue whatever civilian happened to be inside. Voss, on the other hand, directed his focus on other matters. He turned toward the path the flames were taking and realized they were caused by an unidentified flying man who began to engage those on the tower - he grabbed another man from the upper floors and tossed him to his death below. Voss' face promptly became blood-red as he identified his new target. Whoever this flying man was, he had just burnt up Voss' "loot" and was now about to pay the ultimate price.
The sea captain growled as he lugged his dropped weapons along from when he threw himself to safety, not noticing the small flames which had latched onto his oversized coat. He then bolted toward the assailant, hoping to get his saber some use today.
Before Sanford's questions could be even answered, a series of explosions rocked the tower and tossed almost everyone around inside it, including the grunt. He wobbled about before grabbing onto a secured concrete pillar for stability. Not long after, a man in a jetpack and equipped with a flamethrower flew through a hole in the wall of the room to yank a terrified Mister Combustible by his scruff. After berating the lightbulb man for disclosing far too much to the team, the flying man then threw Mister Combustible off the side of the building and followed it with a burst of flames as the poor man descended. Sanford wasn't close enough to witness the man's death, but he did hear the gutwrenching POP! of a bulb exploding. The man, who was eventually addressed as Firefly, directed his attention onto Sanford's group, where he soon began attacking them.
While everyone else was busy fighting this loser as he juggled bombs and turned others into BBQ, Sanford briefly retreated to the side once again to prepare something. Just like the burning and screaming civvies on the ground level, Sanford was cooking up an idea. Trying to get Firefly while he's in the air is a pain in the ass, and forcing him onto the ground would be the best solution. But so far, there had been few successful attempts in doing so. In the back, Sanford grabbed whatever rubble was nearby and looked the heaviest. He pulled out some extra wire which he used for his hook to wrap around the debris and tie it securely around his waist. When he felt he was heavy enough, the Nevadean spun his signature meathook in the air before throwing it toward Firefly, hoping to latch it onto the chassis of his suit. Once the wire became taut, Sanford let the flying maniac drag him off the edge of the tower to hopefully serve as a weight to pull Firefly down toward the ground. Whether or not he makes a fast descent is yet to be seen.
Regardless of whether or not Sanford actually helped in lowering Firefly back to Earth, Sanford did get close enough to the ground to allow the ground teams easier access to the target. Neither of them was touching the ground, but Sanford was a few feet above everyone below and could be grabbed rather easily... As everyone will see shortly.
Enter Voss, who had arrived onto the scene after rolling and hurling himself away from the danger zone of bombs dropped left and right. He was even more pissed than before as he glared at Firefly losing altitude. Seeing Sanford literally hanging onto a thread gave Voss the pathway he needed to get from Point A to Point B. While the Nevadean was busy yelling obscenities to the jetpack man and ordering him to surrender, the sea captain charged behind them with a saber in his teeth and latched onto Sanford. The grunt was understandably surprised as Voss began to climb on him and up his wire with no warning.
"AAAAUGH!! Hang on, man! Get off! He's coming down, he's - OW!"
Sanford was interrupted by a running blade planted on his face as Voss pressed forward. It's a wonder how a man wearing a prosthetic leg with limited movement is able to ascend a wire so quickly if he wasn't so goddamn angry. In only a matter of seconds, Voss became close enough to grasp onto Firefly's suit and he took this moment to grab his saber again. The pair paused for a short while as Firefly would likely attempt to throw them off by any means necessary before Voss would regain his footing and begin to cut and rip away at the man's suit. Whatever exposed thing the sea captain spotted that looked weak enough to grab and tear or cut on Firefly's chassis was taken advantage of - whether it be wires, components, or even flesh. He shouted at the man as he tried this, his voice crackling with pure fuming rage.
"OI! YE BITCH!! WHERE DO YE THINK YER GOIN'?? YE ALMOST HIT ME AND YE BURNT ME LOOT UP! SO HOW'S 'BOUT I DESTROY YER SHITE, TOO??"
Hi, it's me, the Narrator. Don't mind me, just churning out the content that I should've done couple days ago. You're looking for the stuff behind the hiders
[
Condition : Fine Location : ??? Status : Tangoing with the heat!
Unfortunately, he'll have to cut the reunion short. More people decided to show up, some with a larger air of mystery around them than he's comfortable with. And he's good friends with Agent (if that says something). It seems this place is supposed to be a refuge from someone or... Something... At least that's what he can concur from looking at his surroundings. Improvised tents, bandaged people... Guess that's something he didn't have to ask Eric to know about. But the trail of explosions following someone who set a trail of flames? Not normal. He's guessing they're the menace who caused all this mess. As if their mad cackles didn't give the clue.
Talk about a horrible time for him to show up here of all places. Fortunately for him, unlike Hel he actually could stand the heat. The perks of being a Rock Type... With a group of other people busy dealing with the maniac high above Fenrir decided to make himself useful and help protect the civilians from the stream of fire and the flurry of explosives heading their way. But as if with the blink of an eye, the initially one-piece refugee camp is now split into two, after an unfortunate beam of fire split it cleanly in the middle. At this point everyone else is evacuating with at least one civilian alongside them. Clearly this refuge tent is not safe from that war criminal flying high above. They'll have to get out of their line of sight and farther away from the battlefield
Considering his plan A of beating the daylights out of the arsonist is foiled by their ability of flight (not the first time this has happened, surprisingly enough), he decided to do a Plan B. Getting the civilians out of the combat zone. He decided to carry them one by one to safety until he had a thought... Did he pack some Escape Orbs with him earlier?... Rummaging into his bag, Fenrir discovers that he had three. Right, here's hoping they'll escape somewhere safer with it. Fenrir prepares Accelerock, before charging through a rain of explosives (Web Shot away from him, thankfully. That'll make his job a lot easier). Fenrir does a hot lap across the refugee camp, carrying one man to safety and handing out Escape Orbs to some others. "Use this!... It'll take you somewhere safe!...", he informs everyone who received one. As for the man he's carrying?... He's in a safer place now. He'll have to restock those orbs soon, as he ponders if there are any Kecleon shops in a place like this
Watching the action go from down here, he takes a look at the sheer amount of people taking on the flying maniac... He hopes they could take care of them. Welp, back to getting people to safety! With all his Escape Orbs being used, he can only grab one man at a time. As for those who used the Escape Orbs?... The orb Fenrir handed out to them will glow a bright blue, summoning a pillar of light around them that reaches high beyond the skies. A split second later, they would be in a safer spot than they were...
Condition : Fine Location : ??? Status : Everyone's piling on them. How nostalgic...
And just like that, it seems everyone's vacated the building one way or another. The yellow haired man with the giant sword managed to land a hit on the flying menace. It seems everyone else is doing their own number on him, and Hel can only watch for a split second as the action goes on. Too much collateral damage for her to just use Blizzard, and she's fairly uncertain it'll work against him. For now, she can only watch the action happen from the ground level... Where's Firkin when you need him?...
Unfortunately, there's not much time to watch. As soon as Hel touches the ground, she is greeted by a large stream of flames, courtesy of Firefly. Normally this is the part where she'd suffer greatly due to her type disadvantage, but luckily Schezo's back to the rescue, carrying her over to safety like a damsel in distress. And it seems, from his way of speech, that he thinks she is one. "Why, thank you..." The way he presented his words didn't help either. Still, it's the thought that counts. "You're not too bad in a fight yourself...". Hel watches as he swiftly changed the locations of the Shadow Balls, surprisingly motionless until he commanded them to... There's plenty to take in here. A Light Screen just overhead the two of them, protecting them from a vicious chain of explosions
That means she gets front row seats to a spectacle of a show. The odds certainly are stacked against Firefly, and it's pretty much a five... Ten... Too many to count against one. Talk about strength in numbers... Brings her back to simpler times when she and some of her friends would fight against someone in groups. But back to the Dark Mage (Not to be confused with those bizzarely-colored Pokemon back at Vast). It seems they also know Thunderbolt, sending streams of electricity right at Firefly... Just how many moves can a single human learn?!... It's a miracle they weren't around back in her world!
There's an idea floating around in her head that she's too afraid to bring up. "Question... How good are humans at dealing with hailstorms?..." It's too risky for her to use it against a pyromaniac like them at the distance they are at, but if her Blizzard can land a precise hit without much in the way of collateral damage, and if she applies her Aurora Veil to everyone else, it may or may not make up for the rest of it
And, just like that, the time for talk had come to an abrupt end as fire began to rain down from above. All Might’s first instinct was to protect the civilians in the path of the flamethrower, but said task was already well in hand, Hershel’s shields protecting most of the injured at the camp. In the chaos that followed, it became quite clear that what they needed in this moment wasn’t a strategist, or someone to dig the truth out of Lex Luthor’s web of lies.
What they needed was a hero.
Shifting back into his formidable muscle form, All Might watched for a tense moment at all that was going on in the air above. The fight was an absolute clusterfuck with everyone firing off weapons and abilities with no rhyme or reason, just a desire to bring Firefly down without much thought to possible friendly fire. He grit his teeth in frustration as he watched, knowing he couldn’t jump into the fray without making matters even more disordered and chaotic. Not yet, at least. Not until he could find an opening.
Then, he saw it. After sustaining heavy damage to his jet pack, Firefly panicked and threw down as many of his bombs as he could. All Might had barely pulled back a fist before he spotted the hero clad in red and blue, Spider-Man, skillfully capture the bombs in his webs before tossing the bundle into the air, likely fully aware he couldn’t get out of the blast radius in time. Likely acting to save innocent lives before he even had time to think of his own. It was an admirable show of sacrifice, but perhaps another hero could help him avoid paying that ultimate price for his bravery.
”Texas Smash!!”
With that warcry-like call, All Might aimed a punch into the air with such insane force that the air pressure alone would impact like a freight train. That force was directed at the cluster of bombs, launching the deadly bundle higher into the air to where it wouldn’t cause any injury or damage when it inevitably exploded however many seconds later.
But that wasn’t all. Such a punch would serve to dramatically lower the atmospheric pressure in the area, dark clouds rapidly forming in the previously clear skies, thunder rumbling through the battle-torn streets. And then, approximately ten seconds after the detonation, it began to rain.
”You’ll be facing me now, villain!” the legendary hero announced as he crouched down low, potential energy building rapidly in powerful legs. When the switch was flipped from potential to kinetic, All Might was launched up into the air as fast as any bullet, the loud boom of the shattered sound barrier trailing in his wake as he aimed another devastating punch squarely at Firefly’s head.
He listened to combustible as he talked about how Lex and Superman didn't have a good history before the hero went crazy, which had him thinking. That would mean this would fall perfectly for a reason for Lex to get rid of the used-to-be hero...maybe he had something to do with Superman losing it and then him pulling these people from their homes to fight and finally get rid of him. He ignored combustible's question back to him as he noted the other things he said, how he mostly the only thing he did know was he was brought here for management skills, and when he refused he was locked in the closet. As well it seems it's only been around two weeks that superman lost it and started to turn into a villain, but with ultron's info he also seemed to have been missing for a few weeks? It was all set up in a way that worked perfectly for Lex. He turned to the elevator to look at the young girl as she threw her...odd question out, making him a bit confused but he turned back to combustible and decided to ignore her. When combustible had made mention that lex was being stopped by superman, he realized it had to be true that this was the perfect chance for lex to have superman out of the picture, and as a supposed hero called villain himself, he didn't completely like the idea of having someone else experience it, crazy or not. Then, as combustible was about to give some people that could help them. Hearing the laughter he quickly went for the morning star and his sword, keeping his balance as he watched some flying madman appear through the hole in the top floor as he grabbed combustible too quickly for him to react, then he flew out near the building but under their floor. Others who had much better-ranged options then himself were already attacking the madman, he himself grabbing some throwing knives and tossing them at the flying man. However, the man seemed to deal with the attacks mostly, as well he threw something into the building itself, shit. He was quick to move like Ciri, dashing out the hole as the bombs blew behind him. Quickly he threw his morning star out so it would wrap around the flying man. He used the momentum to swing himself upwards, close enough to grab the flying maniac, throwing a punch right to his face.
Upon exiting the building and seeing a crazy guy with a jetpack, the fire being shot down to the ground had date quickly diving for cover. After he flew up, he watched as all the others tried to attack the madman, some even jumping at him to try and physically attack him. Between the times that there wasn't anybody on him, Date fired shots from his evolver at firefly, being careful as to watch if the flying bastards attention went back down to the ground team.
As the man pushed his luck by making a move to touch him, he leered over him with a look of contempt mixed with amusal on his face. He practically dared him to the metal. Unfortunately or rather fortunately no more would come from this as an unfamiliar maniacal cackling began, though it's owner became obvious on appearance. Firefly had come back to finish the job, and he did, quickly dashing Mister Combustible to pieces on the pavement. The fight was predictable in that there was no coordination, just a cluster of bees swarming a wasp and stinging it to death. Despite all the ongoings the robot found himself uncaring of the fight, the cluster would only make him less effective in combat. "This is beneath me." The machine said to himself. He swiftly took a step out of the crumbling building and let gravity pull him down before flipping and righting his body and flying to a more stable building. Before Firefly's inevitable death he needed to test something. It would serve well as a distraction if he was wrong. Ultron was trying to get in that helmet the pyromaniac wore, or rather any of it's communication devices. If the AI succeeded he'd take the opportunity to say just one thing "Firefly..." But not in his own voice, he'd use Lex Luthor's and gauge what little reaction he'd provide to further his theory. The drones would have been unbothered by the flames but it seemed as though Hershel had it covered with his magic. "Impressive." The dominant drone remarked. The others looming over survivors and protecting them, like a flock of sheep. They were soft and pitiful, they needed the protection, but Ultron himself was keeping his distance elsewhere. Watching as the hero went off to save the day the drone looked at the way the fight was going "Well this could be troublesome.." An ominous remark as it looked toward the sky as it began to rain. The drone raised an arm as if ready to blast Firefly but with a subtle shift in it's footing it went wide causing a blast that was more of a distraction to those fighting the pyromaniac. The machine didn't need him alive he just needed an answer.
The Nekomata had been momentarily taken aback by the welcoming reaction of their 'captor'. Normally this was where strong, powerful men feel apart, feeling their mortality grip around their ankles and pull their egos back down to Earth. Some would scream, others try to run away, some would even freeze in place as if unable to process the situation... She loved them all, the reactions were the real treat, like seasoning to a nice cooked dinner- But Hatter's reaction was, quite unique, she had to admit, the one who had ceased all movement had been her in the end...
"Oh, you little rascal, that was such a corny rhyme~!", and Berit just- Laughed. As much as she had no respect left for the man, he still had style; Still made what would have been a quick encounter with a cliched ending, interesting.
Rather she hadn't gone in for the kill as some kind of reward or because the Youkai hadn't truly intended to do so from the start, would soon not matter. They had still left the trickster behind to probably die, after all- Wasn't the building burning and threatening to collapse on itself? Berit wondered if they would have felt anything had that come to be true... Mysterious explosions or crushed by rubble, his fate would have been the same, and it would still have been on them and their lack of foresight!
" 'Didn't know'?!", Date's protection of Sougo had ground like fur getting pet the opposite way, "Excuse me, but even a small child with an underdeveloped brain would have picked up that if the sinister man with a top hat was offering it, it's because it was a damned trap!! Therefore, not only does he have no basic instinct of self-preservation, he also endangered us all by being brain-dead!", if she had any say on this matter, that magical tech weird belt would be staying far away from his person for the rest of the adventure! Who in their sick twisted mind was giving incredible power to idiots?! This had to be a bad joke!
Either way, decrepit abandoned dinner aside, they were faced with a door and perhaps to vent her frustration, the Nekomata had pointed her tail at it, ready to blow it t smithereens! ...She didn't have to, one of them used their mind for once and managed to get it unlocked and second idiot rushed past it missing a punch. Hellooo? Collapsing building was still a thing? Her excuse was that she didn't care and if the ceiling caved in, she'd be fine! But these were the 'so-called' heroes and they were simply doing just as much damage. Seems like a good functioning brain was not one of the items on dear Luthor's list, huh?
Finally they were back outside! ...what was that, we skipped something? Do not worry, it wasn't that important and will come back again in time-
So finally, they were back outside! Overall, while definitely hungry, Berit had been pretty content with the group's little adventure. Really, her 'cheery' demeanor, excitedly rushing back into the parking lot with her tail dancing behind her would be quite adorable, if her clothes weren't basically soaked in blood, to the point their original color was barely visible. Well, Hershel might have still thought it was cute, and that was really the only person whose opinion actually mattered. So it was cute, end of story-
Nope, not so fast.
You see, the Nekomata had no idea of who Firefly even was. She wouldn't have cared- in fact! When the cars and so on had started exploding and pulling more objects into a fiery inferno, she had been quite ecstatic, watching it with wonder! It dragged her back to when Youkai were fierce and feared, having dominated all of Japan; She was sure that entire villages had been burnt just like this as well, one of her whims... Boredom, pettiness, you name it! She had, literally no reason to care about fighting a normal human on a fancy armor as if they were the lord of fire.
But then, Firefly made a mistake. Attacking the first-aid camp had set Hershel off over the civilians and attacking that very same camp where Hershel was, set off Berit as a consequence. It wasn't even concern, she knew the cleric could take care of himself, it was more of a 'how dare you' kind of moment, how dare this mere human target her property so promptly!
Her tail tips ignited with a murderous rage, only for her entire form to be soon coated on it. Her anger was so great that it even surpassed any standards she might have, shifting into a gigantic take on her cat form, becoming a Siamese cat with her body the length of a car. From here she had much better space for aiming her tail, unleashing a beastly roar followed by what can only be described as a double spray of machine-gun fireballs. Sure, his suit may be resistant to fire, but its spiritual properties would still guarantee to make a number on the villain's psyche. In other words, this would hurt like hell! And provide an opening for other attacks to land.
"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH, HUMAN, YOU AREN'T EVEN WORTHY MY FULL EFFORT; JUST A PRETENTIOUS PIECE OF MEAT!! YOU WILL PAY FOR MAKING ME ANGRY WITH YOUR MOCKERY OF THE FLAMES!"
As soon as he went down, Berit would be throwing herself on top of the fiend, to hold him into place! It's not like she was afraid of such pitiful attempts at fire after all.
The puppet would have been grateful for the compliment were it not for the building above them crashing faster than the stock market. The cat himself seemed to have many a fancy title, it made sense. He was purple, everyone knew purple people were important. What was strange though was this cat was friends with a dog, or maybe a fox? An unlikely pair, like socks and sandals. Despite these thoughts, he was far more concerned with the world falling apart in front of him, being burned like a CD by some flying pyromaniac. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO [Cancel subscription]!" He yelped as Hershel saved himself and the others. Everyone was fighting for their lives and others. Even the once scrawny now muscular man was ready to fight. The puppet could only gawk in awe as fists went flying. What could he do but watch.
Firefly, eh? What an absolute maniac. Now this guy was speaking his language! For a second, he wonders how fun it would be if he had to fight against all these people. But, ah, maybe he should stay on the winning side. He didn’t particularly want to get beaten by a bunch of weaklings..
Not now, anyway. The gunslinging messiah raised his gun, Crescent Moon with a loud smirk spreading from ear to ear, slid up his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and struck fabulous poses as he fired his shots at Firefly, which would stun him for every shot taken. Four.
”Ka-pow! Pow—bang—pshew!”
After that, he returned and erected another barrier around the refugee camp. “Thank me later. Don’t think I like you guys or anything, though.”
While everyone was fighting Firefly, Kurumi simply defends the refugee camp and strengthens it, helping wounded civilians as well. Black Frost makes an effort to defend the best they can, too.
Thankfully for Cole, Nahobino gave him a good jump-start by offering a source of electricity in the form of her palm. Upon doing so, MacGrath clasped hands, and within moments absorbed enough electricity to get him back up to a good state but not enough to fully charge himself; he didn't want to inadvertently drain Nahobino, after all.
"Much appreciated." It was at this point that the closet opened up to show a guy with a light bulb for a head running right at Cole. He almost socked the guy in the face with a fistful of electricity, but Bardock had thankfully stopped the cane from being remotely a threat. Cole would've grilled the two-bit crook, who introduced himself as one "Mister Combustible", but everyone else seemed to have this down.
Turns out the culprit of the current situation was one "Firefly", the arsonist Cole had seen in the vision- Combustible wasn't lying at all. Probably meant to be the scapegoat of the current situation, if MacGrath had to guess. There was more to the Superman situation, as well- Superman and Luthor apparently had a grudge, the latter being the source of "nefarious schemes" according to the glorified bulb.
Unfortunately, before any more info could be extracted, the group was interrupted by the aforementioned pyromaniac, executing the scapegoat crook before engaging in combat with the party. It was at this point that Cole lifted an electrified hand up to shoot at Firefly, but stopped just short. For some damn reason, people were crazy enough to try and engage in melee combat in mid-air, of all places, making it too risky to blast away. This hesitation ultimately screwed him over, though; when Firefly hurled grenades towards the rooftop, Cole was forced to dive backwards to avoid the explosion- however, rubble quickly surrounded him, and though miraculously none of it hit him, he was temporarily trapped.
A few moments, and a couple Shockwaves later, he'd freed himself from his debris-made prison, with a scowl etched on his face. While Firefly had chosen to fly down to the streets to cause chaos, Cole made his way to the roof of the tall building before firing a few Megawatt Hammers... directly upwards. After doing so, he turned his attention to the still moving Firefly- where people were STILL getting up close and personal! He wasn't going to miss his chance now, though; he had to make sure his electric missiles hit him, as they needed to end the fight ASAP. So, without any hesitation, Cole turned on his watch, calling out for the others to get the hell away.
"Get away from that maniac unless you wanna be fried!" With the one warning thrown out across the watch comms, MacGrath immediately focused in on the scene below, time slowing down once more as Precision kicked in. This time, he targeted Firefly's jetpack- chances were it was electronically powered, so a good bolt would hopefully be more than enough to clip the guy's wings, even if it's only temporarily.
If the shot connected (which it should, considering the near-instantaneous shot of electricity), the Megawatt Hammers would sharply veer away from their trajectory at the sky, instead being directed straight for Firefly like precise, fast homing missiles! If those hit, the sheer amount of energy behind the blasts should be enough to fry whatever electronics were working in his suit, and just like his Shockwave would create an anti-gravity effect, removing Firefly's momentum and knocking him away before leaving him vulnerably dangling in mid-air whilst slowly falling to the ground.
Well, clearly, things've gone from bad to worse out here. Clearly Lex either lied or didn't get the full story. Regardless, the fight against Firefly wasn't what had Grey worried. The entire team is more than enough to stop him- I mean, at this point, just having more than two people attack him is pretty overkill. The amount of civilians out here that he'd been endangering, however, is a completely different story. Turning his attention to the medical camp, Grey breaks into a full-on sprint, dodging any would-be explosions, weaving through the street, and dashing from side-to-side to get to the terrified citizens.
All the while, Eric glances back at Fenrir. "Seems pretty self-explanatory, doesn't it? I'll fill you in on the details when people aren't in danger!" The Espeon chuckles as he turns back to the action and notices Joel and Tess, both of whom had went unshielded by Hershel. Darting over with Quick Attack, the Espeon slides to a stop in front of them and puts up a Protect barrier around the three of them. He glances back at the human duo, seemingly uncaring of the explosives going off around them.
"I'm getting all sappy looking at the two of you." He motions with his head. "Get going."
Eric's scarf then unravels itself from around his neck and flies off seemingly on its own accord, wrapping around survivors and dragging them out of harm's way, careful not to touch whatever injuries they might have. The Espeon raises an eyebrow as he sees Grey fly past him. The fox is quick to grab whatever civilians he can out of Firefly's range, with his blindingly-quick dashes making the rescues far easier for him. Following his lead, Eric continues to drag bystanders away and put up Protect shields wherever he can. In the midst of the chaos, he manages to find a moment to make a grand leap back towards Spamton.
"Front row seats are all sold out, sir!" he exclaims with a laugh as his scarf flies in and attempts to grab Spamton by the arm. If allowed, Spamton would be dragged off to safety just like the rest of the citizens.
After doing their respectively arduous tasks, the group found themselves confronted by the true culprit of the building's explosion: Firefly. Hellbent on killing the group, the pyromaniac Gothamite first took out their only lead, before turning his attention to the group at large. Now, the group has no choice but to fight him, before more innocents are hurt.
Shantae's feathers didn't really do much to Firefly - aside from just knocking him off balance a bit. He fell back in the air with a loud grunt, before redirecting his attention to the pesky bird who'd made said attack. "Piss off, Birdy!" Firefly exclaimed as he attempted to simply thwack her out of the air with his flamethrower in retaliation. However, this left him open for AMAZO to deliver his bomb-throw web-smash combo, which sent Firefly careening to the ground! A loud CRACK! could be heard as he collided with the ground and was launched back into the air - only to then be punched head-on by Diamondhead and assaulted by Sougo's drill simultaneously!
Firefly didn't have any time to reorient himself before Bardock delivered his subsequent punch, and then was promptly assaulted by Perni's javelins, Turing's rubble, and finally Fret's electrified punch! This barrage of attacks was enough to send Firefly hurling back to the ground, the man not standing a chance as he flopped and slid across the pavement like a fish that had just been chucked out of the water by a bodybuilder! And boy, did that do a number on his jetpack, too. Chunks and bits of metal and wire were spread across the ground in uneven sections, resulting in a mess all the way down the street. And then, just as he was about to get up and go for another round, All Might came in for his Texas Smash finisher! That mammoth of a punch sent him flying back all the way down the street - and landing in a crater that literally formed from the force of his impact alone.
And wouldn't you know it? Just when he was starting to pick himself back up, all Firefly could really do was gasp for air as Schezo sent a flurry of lightning bolts crashing down on him! Chunks of heavy metal flew from his suit and wings with that. Both his eyes and part of his mouth were now exposed, revealing even more the horribly disfigured man underneath. Somehow, despite this, his wings still worked. Albeit, it did take a moment or two for them to actually come online, with the jet thrusters sparking in and out of life until he was finally lifted back into the air.
And just in time, too! He narrowly avoided Red's flying rocks in the process. Firefly's breaths were coming out in what sounded like heavy gasps at this point. It was like that suit had been helping him breathe. Now that it was coming apart, he was having a harder time than ever! But despite that, he shakily managed to lift his flamethrower and take aim at Red below... only for Otto to knock him back more with his own explosives. By now, there really weren't any explosions left, thanks to his efforts - as well as Penny's, Lucifer's, and AMAZO's.
Before Firefly could even hope to recover from those bombs to the face, however, Maisha had wrapped his fibercord around his leg and started blasting away! The up close assault left him absolutely no room to fall back and avoid any shots, meaning that his armor was now taking the brunt of all that fire and missile! Slowly, with each hit, much smaller chunks were ripped off in pieces. This lasted a good bit, until Firefly finally managed to speak again,
"GET... OFF!!!"
His words came out in a pained gasp as he kicked his wing's thrusters into a clear overdrive and attempted to take off into the sky - with Maisha attached! Firefly's hope was that Maisha would dislodge both himself and the rope that was still attached to him. His movements were erratic and uncalculated - like a literal bull in a China shop. It was during this time that Sanford managed to latch on with his hook as well. Now, he had two grown-ass, armored men weighing him down. And it was starting to show as Firefly's descent became faster and more apparent by the second. And then, on top of THAT, Voss joined the party too, and began to rip away at his wings like others had before. Smoke was flying out of the jetpack now, getting all up in the thief's face as he ripped apart what remained of his wings. High-pitched whirring noise of pure malfunction screeched from the jetpack's compartment.
But Firefly very well knew what was happening. A loud, sharp cry escaped him as he reversed the thrusters of his jetpack and flew right back into a nearby building's wall. His goal was now to crush Voss - as well as hopefully kick both Sanford and Maisha off as well. But just when he (presumably) got them off, Trevor wrapped his own weapon around him, only to follow up with a punch to his face! Over half of his mask had broken off at this point. All that really remained was his upper mouth, nose, and half an eye. The rest had long since broken off in fragmented, shattered pieces. Following this, Firefly shook his head to reorient himself... but then Julia leaped up and wrapped herself around him. A deep-rooted, inhumane growl left Firefly then, as he used whatever energy was left in his jetpack to try and knock the bitch off him! He couldn't really speak anymore, but his displeasure was being put out in the open.
But still, she did hold him in place, Happy Chaos' shots all hit their mark with pinpoint accuracy. Each one chipped away just another large chunk of his armor, making it fall to the ground in pieces. His wings also sustained heavy damage during this onslaught as well. And as the final culmination of all these attacks, Cole's heavy lightning attack was enough to finally do Firefly in! It struck his winged jetpack head-on just as he'd planned, and that, combined with all the other attacks, had been enough to literally destroy the jetpack entirely!
The ensuing explosion was enough to knock Julia off of Firefly entirely, as well as send him falling to the ground one last time. He landed with a loud cracking noise, as yet another crater was formed in his wake. He laid there, twitching on the ground. The once confident arsonist was just like putty in the ground now. It wasn't even very clear if he was conscious or not.
"WOW!" Negan exclaimed from the side as he walked over to Firefly's twitching body. He crouched down next to the downed maniac, giving him a nudge with good 'ole Lucille. "You really did a number on this asshole, huh?" Lucille went up under Firefly's mask, digging his head out of the pavement where it was buried. Firefly's was surprisingly still conscious, albeit barely. His eye was violently twitching - both of them having been practically swollen shut. His mouth was hung agape as he struggled to breathe in, although it was very clearly a struggle to do even that.
Negan winced at the sight before removing Lucille from under his mask and promptly standing back up to his feet. He shook his head, "Yeah, sorry pal..." he grinned a sadistic grin as Lucille was slowly raised above his head. "But this is for your own good..."
CRASH!
Before Negan could bring down his prized bat on Firefly's head, however, a large crash was seen right across from where he stood. It was on the other end of the small crater that had formed in Firefly's wake. The resulting shock from it was so heavy that it shook everyone that was on ground level. A ton of rubble was tossed up into the air, spewing all over everyone nearby - including Negan. A large cloud of smoke and dust formed around that spot. Negan tried to look up behind his arm, maybe get a view of whatever it was. However, as two bright, red silhouettes could be seen in the center, it could be seen who it was.
"Oh... shit..."
Without a second thought, Negan turned and booked it behind one of Hershel's makeshift shields. He hid behind it like the other refugees, although he kept his head poked out to see who it was. Luckily for him, Superman didn't seem to be focused on him - or anyone from the group, really. The clouded figure simply made his way over to Firefly and reached down. His grip was so tight that the loud crack of his suit's miniscule remnants could be heard, as Firefly was effortlessly lifted into the air. Those two red eyes only glowed brighter, and brighter....
The last thing that was heard from Firefly was a loud, horrific scream as Superman's lasers burned right through his mask. His body went limp in seconds, and his now faceless body was effortlessly dropped to the ground. Back into the crater from where it came. And then, slowly, Superman turned to all of you, just as the smoke began to clear...
And then, he turned to the air, and flew off.
By the time the smoke cleared, he was entirely gone from sight. Negan sat there for a moment, lips pursed as he looked around. Joel stood up too, keeping Tess in his arm as he did so. "Was... was that it...?"
"No."
The familiar voice of Lex Luthor's could be heard over what sounded like an intercom. If any of you were to look around for a source, then you'd soon find the answer to be quite obvious...
A large, semi-futuristic looking jet hovered above all of you, before slowly landing in the street. It landed in a safe area so no one was crushed, of course. Its back was turned to the group as a whole, and slowly, a platform began to descend from the bottom. "Get in. Your work's done here. Those of you who can fly, stay on the outside. We're pursuing Superman."
Not seeing much of a choice (especially since he was partially injured), he helped Tess into the jet slowly. Negan followed behind, whistling to himself like nothing had happened as he just casually waltzed inside. Of course, the rest of you had your reservations against Lex... but for now, what choice did you have?
Once everyone was inside the jet, it slowly lifted into the air, and began to take off.
Grey wasted no time hopping in the jet. Once on board, he proceeds to the front, head still spinning over all the events that have transpired thus far, which all culminated in the confirmation that yes, Superman just killed a guy in front of them all. Granted, Firefly was incredibly dangerous...
The fox, if allowed, proceeds into the cockpit. He brushes off his jacket a little, since it had gotten a bit dirtied from the soot of the fires and explosions he'd been running through for the past fifteen minutes or so. There, he stands at the doorway, looking around for the pilot.
Meanwhile, Eric uses Psychic to fly alongside the jet as instructed. He peers through the windows and knocks. "Nice night out here, guys!"
"...wow. Neat tech," Grey remarks as he steps inside the cockpit and leans on one of the chairs that may or may not be there. "So, Mister Luthor, about Superman..." The fox's ear twitches as he takes off his visor. "Why'd he kill the crazy flying guy? I thought everyone committing organized crime and grand arson would be in it together. And that Mad Hatter, too- why was he there? I didn't think Superman would be the type to use cronies."
Eric, on the other hand, has less serious matters to attend to. Smiling back, he raises his tail and makes an L with the forked ends, all the while saluting to Negan and mouthing 'hold this.'
So, this is what it feels like to work in groups. Duke likes it, really helps carry the weight of enemies. He goddamn wishes the EDF was as badass as they are, not to speak badly about the force, but they usually rely on him to do things once shit hits the fan. These guys, however. They might be an odd group, but they know how to kick major ass and Duke can respect that. Once he hovered down to see Firefly's damage, he winced at the sight.
He's not too comfortable with human mutilation. Alien bastards are fine, but it's not the same as one of your own getting merked. Though, it's not disturbing enough to prevent Duke from cracking a grin and popping a one-liner, that's for sure.
"Hope you enjoy hell, bitch. It's gonna be way hotter than your crappy flamethrowers."
Once Negan tried put him out of his misery, something happened because why wouldn't it?
A crash was seen and heard, and he'd be affected by the shockwave if he was on the ground. Thank God for the jetpack. But that's the least of his problems, the two glowing eyes made itself clear. So, Duke armed himself with a devastator, ready to start blasting the moment this alien bastard attacks. Of course, Duke's grin grew wider as he spat out his cigar.
"Well, look's like the main course is here. Come on, you flying blue freak!" Duke taunted. "Come and get some!"
He paid the roided' out celebrity no mind however, only taking notice of Firefly. He made an example of him, and Duke was stunned at his brutality. The celebrity had his fair share of psychotic killings, but they were all stupid fun. Not this macabre bullshit Superman is doing.
But before he can get out of his shock, he left a second too fast for Duke to properly react.
Hm. This could be a problem.
Anyway, Lex announced that we’re still on the mission. That was a tough fight, but stamina isn’t a problem. Thank God, he doesn’t have to go inside the ship. He always liked to fly via jetpack. Leaves more room for air control because you have no idea how good this thing steers.
He boosted up his jetpack and went flying for Superman.
