[IC] Epic City: Starburst

[thewizardguy]

@Old Amsterdam@Bluetommy

The figure who had previously appeared to vanish reappeared moments after Guilt made her presence clear, and addressed her directly even as the other ranted incoherently in the background. It was clear who was the brains of this duo. Although that Mach 200 number was most certainly worrying, that level of speed was more than Guilt was likely to be able to keep up with in most situations. Even more worrying was this mention of the High Venom. Even as a relative newcomer in this city Guilt was well aware of the High, the legendary figures who ruled Epic City through their immense power. While the abilities of the High were more Myth than fact, nobody could garner that kind of reputation without possessing truly immense strength, and Guilt had no intention of messing with any of the High unless absolutely necessary. It was not the type of encounter she was likely to survive.

However, despite this, she remained cynical. "Any member of the High would be able to end this with ease, assuming there was any reason to go after this particular Freak in the first place." She remained on her guard when addressing the blurry figure. While the other had foolishly revealed his ability, this stranger's abilities were an unknown. At first she had believed he merely turned invisible or teleported, but neither were likely. Her mask was equipped with infrared in order to find invisible enemies and fight in the dark, and this guy had just disappeared. But if he'd teleported, he wouldn't have been aware of what happened here. More likely he had some ability to turn completely incorporeal, no longer interacting with this world on any spectrum of light. "Is there any way of proving that you represent the High Venom's interests?" If these random folks really did represent such a powerful figure then there was little Guilt could do but step out of the way.

While waiting for an answer, Guilt gestured at the spider that had attempted to sneak up on her. The advantage of her current state of hyper-awareness, coupled with the infrared capabilities of her mask, was that it became very hard to sneak up on her. And it was quite obvious who here had the power to manipulate bugs. With a small bang wind exploded outwards above the spider, instantly smashing it to pieces and cracking the cement below it. A large quantity of air, highly compressed, formed an excellent weapon. Storing such things in Void gave her the ability to maintain her airbending illusion.

[Old Amsterdam]

@thewizardguy@Bluetommy

Shatter shook his head. "I was expected back by now. If any more delay prevents Nudd's death, and thus my return, I can guarantee either more Freaks, strong ones like Nightmare, will come. And that's a best case scenario. It's also possible that the High Venom herself will come. And that, I'm afraid to say, would equate to your death, Nudd's, and likely mine. Comet would be lucky to escape some form of reprimand, though it's not out of the question."

He disappeared, rematerializing closer to the woman. "Kindly step out of this engagement. This is my final request. If you don't, I will remove you from the scene myself. I'm not inclined to die today because of another. I assume you're intelligent enough to see reason here."

His arms spread wide. One might say he looked pleading, if he had a proper face.

"Either way, Comet, I think it's time you ended Nudd," he said, obviously giving a not so subtle order.

[Bluetommy]

@Old Amsterdam@thewizardguy

"Yes Edward! Free me from the manipulations of fate, end my suffering!" Nudd yelled in response to Shatter's order, attempting to smile despite his lack of lips. "Do one last thing for your old friend!"

Edward let out a breath as he realized that they probably wouldn't need to fight the new arrival, nodding in response to Shatter's order and disappearing with a sonic boom, letting out a loud crack, he grabbed the stake in his hand and ran towards Nudd, who was too slow to react, his teeth barred in a horrific imitation of a smile as Edward approached.

Edward yelled as he thrusted the stake forwards.

The stake pierced Nudd's eye with a squish. When the kicked up dust cleared, Edward stood, stake firmly planted in Nudd's head, he stared a moment at Nudd, his body twitching as if he didn't know he was dead yet, then pulled the stake loose and dropped it to the ground, Nudd fell to the ground in a heap, mouth held open in a silent scream.

"For all those who you killed," Edward offered solemnly at Nudd's corpse. He stood a moment longer in silence, before growling. "I don't get it! Why don't I feel anything? After all he did, this should bring me satisfaction, and yet I feel nothing!" He yelled in fury at the ceiling.

He sighed and turned back.

"Well, at least he's dead, should we report back?" he asked Shatter, ignoring the new arrival

[Old Amsterdam]

@Bluetommy@thewizardguy

Shatter shook his head. "No. You are to go back to your normal life. If the High Venom has anything more, she'll contact you."

He disappeared, the shards seeming to twinkle before winking out of existence.

----
<Back in the Lair>

"It is done, Lady,". Shatter said with a bow. "U apologize for the delay. The was an unexpected appearance of another Epic in the middle of the fight."

"Who?"

"I'm not sure personally, Lady. The woman wore a gas mask, however."

"Guilt, then." The was a note of annoyance. "Nightmare, I expect you to retrieve the body momentarily once the area clears of the two. I plan to experiment with the remains."

"Yes, Mistress," Nightmare acknowledged.

"Set out at once. By the time you arrive, I expect they will have left."

[thewizardguy]

@Bluetommy@Old Amsterdam

As the options were laid out in front of her, Guilt considered her position. Anybody could just claim to be connected to the High, and that couldn't be considered some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card. Based on his words Guilt didn't think this strange figure was lying, but it was hard to tell with such a distorted creature. So her options were either to fight these people, both Epics, potentially angering one of the High in the process, or to leave and allow whatever happened here to just happen. And that was ignoring the possibility of this Freak, supposedly a dangerous mass murderer, escaping in the chaos. Sighing, Guilt lamented the need to make yet another choice, which would define the way she interacted with this city.

But it didn't appear she would get the chance to make a choice at all. Like a flash of human lightning the one referred to as 'Comet' blasted forward, shattering the sound barrier in the process. For a millisecond Guilt considered intervening, putting a wall in the way or blasting them both. But inaction got the better of action - her indecisiveness made the choice for her. Comet quickly killed the Freak, who had apparently been known as Nudd, thus concluding their business here. Sighing, Guilt decided that she'd just have to live with this. Whether it had been the right decision was arbitrary, at this point.

Turning around, she moved away from the conflict. "If you lied, you're dead." A last warning, more as a token defiance than a real threat. She had been defeated by her own inability to make a choice, and completely lost control of the situation. It seemed that she was still a better soldier than a hero, and she'd have to correct that mistake. With a slight flash of purplish energy she vanished, to reappear at some other location in the city.

[Regitnui]

Chief Jerry Thomas put down his badge and his gun, locked them in the safe, and felt the world fall off his shoulders. Off duty. There were no other two words that sounded sweeter to him in the world. He took a brief shower, then dressed in casual clothes. "Should I turn my pager off tonight?" he mused, but clipped the device to his belt anyway.

He stepped into the common area of his house and called out for the kid. "Alto!" He ended up standing by the kitchen, where he'd expect a boy of that age. "Alto! Where you at, boy?" He called again, opening up the pantry and checking their stocks. He couldn't often afford takeout on a policeman's salary, even with his position, but it might be their only option tonight.

@RoflsMazoy

[RoflsMazoy]

"Here." Alto said, shuffling through the back door holding up a bag full of groceries. "I'm making meatloaf tonight."

Jerry didn't have time to shop usually so Alto usually saved up what little money he got to do it instead. Having one less thing to worry about was always nice, and meatloaf was pretty simple. Just get some mince, mix it with bread blended up in a food processor, add some turmeric, salt, and pepper to taste, add onions, shape it into a loaf, and then bake it or steam it whichever way you wanted it.

"Do we still have a couple of potatoes left?" He said, moving over to the pantry.

There were 4 which was just about enough. He also took about a cup of frozen peas from the freezer. He was probably going to steam the loaf because he couldn't emulate an oven with the Vice Claw for something as big as a meatloaf right now. He'd been thinking of looking up how to make something like that online but he hadn't gotten around to it yet. To steam something he could use a flat colander in a big pot with a plate on the bottom so he could add more water to steam it with, and just place it on top of his palm and he'd just have to sit for a while as it cooked. He could roast the potatoes by wrapping them in foil and holding them in his hand, and the peas could be cooked by putting them in a bowl of hot water and covering it.

He'd already prepared the bread before he went out for the groceries, so all that was left was chopping the onions, assembling the loaf and foiling everything up.

"Oh yeah, I got invited to a prom today," He said as he started chopping onions. "What do you actually do, because I've never been in one."

@Regitnui

[Regitnui]

Jerry was taken aback at this. "Who is she? What's her name? Which school and what does she intend?" Then he realised he was acting quite like his own father, and said, "Prom, my boy, is the school dance for the final year students. Consider it similar to the party we held last night, what got interrupted by the rats."

He elbowed his way over to the counter where he began helping. "I would say it would be good for you, of you promised to keep your little friend under control on the night." Jerry smiled at a half-remembered memory of his own prom. "There's all sorts of hell to pay if you're imprudent."

[Flamelord]

Finch

As expected his plan had worked out great, and Finch watched with some satisfaction as Magus tried to roll out of the way of further strikes only to encounter that particular problem of vehicle roofs. Specifically there was not much space to it, and he rapidly wound up in a situation where he was instead falling off the roof rather than riding on it. Which was good enough as far as Finch was concerned.

Unfortunately it didn't work out quite so cleanly, with the guy grabbing on to the other side before going at the window. Finch moved to pull himself back into the vehicle just about when Magus shattered it, long enough of a delay that he could dive to the side when the fireball came through with only some singed hairs coming out of it. Not bad, if he did say so himself.

"Make sure he's gone," Finch called to the driver, who would intensify his aggressive driving with close scrapes and lots of swerving, to gt rid of Magus if he wasn't gone already. He was getting tired of this, and the sooner it was done the better.

@Sedjwick

[Sedjwick]

Magus was clinging to the edge of the roof of the van for dear life as the vehicle's erratic movement intensified in a desperate attempt to dislodge Magus from his already precarious position. He gripped the edge of the roof with a white-knuckled grip and braced his shoes against the side of the vehicle, holding his staff in his mouth to allow the use of all his limbs in his effort to regain a tenable position from which to deliver justice. With an effort, he pulled himself, inch by inch, up the side of the van, his gaze flicking between his progress and the van's side mirror from which the driver was watching him. Sooner or later, the driver was sure to realize what was happening and do something to stop it. Magus hoped that when he did, he might catch a hint of movement from him so that he could prepare for whatever he intended to do. He had his next move in mind, a desperate, but effective, one, but he could not do it while in his current position.

@Flamelord

[RoflsMazoy]

"Her name's Melissa if I'm not mistaken..." He said, getting his phone out. "I think I forgot to ask about all that other stuff..."

He had no idea what Jerry was going on about with the last part of that sentence but it seemed like generally good advice... He checked her name under his contacts to see he got it right. He considered texting her to ask about where the prom was and when it was, but he could probably ask those later. He would need to ask about when they were meeting up tomorrow though, but he had to finish cooking first.

"Could you wrap everything with foil? Don't do it too thick, and don't do the peas." He said, handing Jerry the bowl of mince with spices and onions mixed in.

Alto grabbed the kettle and filled it up with water. He unsealed the Vice Claw and hoisted the kettle up to his palm. He'd need to get a pot ready in the meantime, and he'd have to keep a bit of distance from Jerry because he was still hot.

"Oh actually, do you go to the movies often?" Alto asked. He didn't know many places to go and he didn't have any one specifically in mind. Maybe Jerry could make a suggestion.

@Regitnui

[Bluetommy]

Edward had done it, he'd killed the person who had caused most of the suffering in his life, he'd gotten his revenge, avenged all those who had died due to his insane worldview.

And it was so anticlimactic it hurt.

It wasn't like he felt like he failed, it just felt pointless, he'd never kill again, but perhaps he could have been changed, perhaps there was a chance of him realizing that he was wrong, and Edward had denied him that chance to fulfill his own desires, and he didn't even feel any better, none of those who Nudd had killed were coming back, and killing him just added another to the list of lives lost due to his ridiculous worldview.

He needed some time to think right now, he needed to go home and talk to Maria.

But first he needed to figure out who that masked intruder was, they had threatened to kill him almost first thing, probably not the most sane individual.

He gave one last look at Nudd's prone form, sighing gently, before running towards his apartment. He burst in a moment later, put on his outfit and gave Maria a cursory hello and goodbye before taking off back out into the city. Maria sighed and turned on the television in response, she knew better than to ask questions.

Where to look first? Edward wondered to himself as he stood atop his apartment building, looking over the city. This person could teleport without leaving a trace, it would be hard to find them, but if they were willing to kill so easily, he knew he had to. He stepped off the side of the building, falling straight as an arrow. Around halfway down he began running along the side of the building, shattering a window or two and gaining speed exponentially. The ground approached quickly, growing with every passing millisecond, but at the last moment, Edward jumped from the wall, rotating upwards through the air around ninety degrees and landing on the ground feet first, continuing his momentum, he ran away from the building and into the street.

He would ask around first, see if anyone had seen a person in a strange gas-mask, perhaps hope that he came across them during this. He began scanning the east side of the city, looking around alleys and abandoned buildings, the most common place for a hiding criminal to be.

@thewizardguy

[ML]

Previously...

"Here's the plan", Kenny said, while Hannah tapped the projector on the table lightly. It sputtered, hummed, and then with a series of clanks and whirs, the device sprang to life and threw light onto the wall. "This is a map of the area. Hannah stores it in her brain." With a start, David realized that the projection was actually three-dimensional: more of a hologram than a projection.

"We hang around here, keeping our heads down as best we can." She pointed to one point of the map, and it glowed red against the rest of the blue. David thought he recognized the streetlamps on the side of the road outside. "A few days ago, we heard that our boys the Kryptofucks were going to try and set up a shop around here. That's a no from us, obviously, so we're going to try and shut them down hard."

"How am I going to help with that?" David said. "I can barely affect anything right now. Are any of you actually...powerful Epics?" He flushed and continued, "No offense, I mean. It's just that, compared to the High, we're all just needles in the superpower haystack. You have good aim," he said to Kenny, "and you can control fire," he said to Ernie. "What else?"

"I'm faster than most people," Vince said, leaning back in his chair around the projector. "So I can like...catch bullets and stuff. And our powers aren't all we got, man. Maria's a fuckin' dead-eye, and that's being modest. Hannah's a technical genius: she's made things I didn't even know were possible, fuckin' nerdy--"

"Hey, in my defense," Hannah interrupted, "it's not me. I told y'all, the machines tell me what they want and how to do it. Leave me be." She sounded serious, but laughter danced in her eyes.

"Right, because that's better to hear." Kenny rolled her eyes. "Hannah does some crazy shit, and she's made us some cool shit. We have some toys to work with. Garfield can see, hear, and smell things across the god-damn city--well, not really, but it's hella impressive--and Ernie isn't just any fire-dude. He's the Firelord Zuko of fire-dudes." She grinned at Ernie, who shrugged. "By which I mean he also can control lightning. It's pretty badass."

"And you?" David asked. "What's your special talent?" He was fairly impressed by all these people, but he wasn't about to just throw down with literal Epic-killers without a thorough knowledge of how poorly it could go.

"Why, David!" Kenny scoffed, looking affronted. "I'm the group cheerleader and moral support!" When he remained unimpressed, she sighed. "Also I can climb like a motherfucker and balance on one finger and I'm in good shape and shit. Happy?"

"We're not an army," Ernie said, his rumbling voice cutting off the others. "We're a guerilla strike team. Anything we do is built off of plans, subterfuge, and more plans. We raid buildings, steal supplies...we don't attack armies or anything."

"Couldn't have guessed." David snorted. "I guess that makes sense."

"Yeah, so, you can fly through walls and turn invisible and shit. And Garfield can loan his senses to other people. Put you and him together, and you can go anywhere and see anything." Kenny rubbed her hands together with glee. "You wonder why we want you around?"

"What about when everything goes south?" David asked. "When there's thirty guys shooting at you all and there's no way out?"

Kenny smiled. "That's where Hannah's toys and Ernie's booms come in, hotshot. We'll make it out."

"With what plan?" David asked. "I haven't heard anything resembling a plan."

"Well...we really don't have one. We know where they'll be tonight. We'll just hit them then. That's where you come in, bud. You're gonna be our eyes and ears. Do you think your phantom can carry a walkie-talkie with it?"

David felt like he'd been repeatedly thrown in a dryer. Everything spun but not in a bad way. "I think so?" he said. "I just can't believe we're doing this. Have you done it before?"

Kenny tilted her head to one side. "What answer would make you feel most comfortable?

[thewizardguy]

@Bluetommy

Speaking to various of the locals, especially the less savoury sorts, Edward might come across talk of this figure. Apparently she identified herself as Guilt, and was known in these parts for ruthlessly hunting down those who broke the law. A number had already been slain for crimes that varied from assault and murder to petty theft. Bodies were found on street corners or in dark allies, often sliced into pieces or brutalized, looking as if they'd been through a woodchipper. Already people had become wary of her, both the true criminals and the halfway decent folks, sometimes forced to bend the law to make a living. Another interesting little facet he might pick up on is that nobody could agree as to what her actual ability was. Most agreed that she could teleport, but some claimed that she had telekinesis, or pyrokinesis, or the ability to kill with a touch. This transformed into more outlandish claims, such as the ability to devour souls or kill with a look. It would be next to impossible to separate truth from fiction.

But his little investigation would not long go unnoticed.

Preferring rooftops and other high places to the twisting corridors of the city, Guilt moved silently and precisely from location to location to survey the less savoury elements of the city. While patrolling for crimes, she came across the sight of the costumed man she had encountered before. The one who went by the name of Comet. Without a sound, a small recording device appeared on a nearby wall, allowing Guilt to listen in to his little conversations without getting too close. It appeared he was gathering information on her, most likely in response to her earlier death threat. Perhaps he intended to kill her, to prevent her from acting on her earlier statements. Or perhaps he sought her for other reasons, although she couldn't imagine many other options. Had she been certain she would have simply killed him from the rooftop, before he had a chance to see her. Supernatural Speed became useless if you couldn't see the attack, or the attacker. But she remembered his possible connection to the High Venom, and decided to err on the side of caution. If it turned out he was after her head, she could always deal with him later.

Vanishing, Guilt reappeared in the street where Comet was talking to a group of rough-looking individuals. Her sudden appearance scared them off, as they scurried off back to whatever manner of home they possessed. This left only Guilt and Comet alone in the alley way, and although she had left a decent distance between them, she was all too aware of his speed. While she had her own countermeasures to speedsters, she couldn't underestimate this man. After all, she had never fought a Mach 200 foe, and if he could reach even half of that speed in combat that would make him a significant threat.

"I don't like it when people talk about me behind my back. Perhaps you didn't hear me when last we spoke. Your life depends purely on the truth of your word. Our business, such as it was, is concluded." While speaking she maintained in a combat-ready stance, already prepared for anything he might try. Often speedsters would attempt to end a fight before it even began, and she couldn't allow something like that to happen. If he even flinched at superhuman speed she'd enact her own measures to keep him subdued. "If you persist in this I'll be forced to take it as a threat, and kill you. Based on your supposed connections, that would be most unfortunate for the both of us." Part of Guilt really did want him to turn around and leave. Another part wanted him to challenge her, to try and fight her. Give her an excuse to rip him to shreds. To get back at him for making her feel weak.

If he did give her a chance, she wouldn't hesitate to take it.

[Bluetommy]

@thewizardguy

Edward turned to the masked person, walking slowly as they spoke, when they finished threatening him, Edward stared at them, his anger not clearly visible through his goggles, but still there.

"Our 'business' concludes when I say it does," he said frostily, he had no respect for this person, killing people in cold blood, acting like they owned the place, Edward couldn't help but feel disgusted. "You know, I wanted to talk this over, but the more I learned about you, the less I wanted to waste my air on someone like you. You murder, brutalize, and for what? Some misguided sense of justice?"

"And don't you dare threaten me," Edward growled furiously, barring his teeth and clenching his fists. He was almost ready to charge, but he wanted to speak first, get it off his chest, it was almost as if he was talking to himself, telling himself how killing Nudd wasn't worth it, but he was more angry than regretful, he killed Nudd, an equally powerful person out of revenge, to protect future victims, this person murdered those much weaker than themself out of convenience, even malice. "I wanted to be the nice guy, for once in my life, give you a chance to apologize for threatening me before..." A sound like a whip cracking rang through the air as Edward sped forward, ending up a few inches behind the person.

"But I don't care anymore," he shot away, back to where he stood before, untying his hair and pushing it over the back of his head. "I hope you're ready..." he growled.

"...because I'm going to break every bone in your body!" he yelled as loud as he could, pulling his goggles off his face to let his snarl loose.

Edward smashed the ground with his foot, his arms shooting through the air, breaking the sound barrier and super-heating the air around them, before finally settling at Edward's sides, sending a wave of wind in every direction. Edward was attempting to intimidate the masked person, get them off their game. Not that it was really necessary... hopefully.

Edward would let the masked man make the first move, just to test the waters, he had no clue what this person's abilities were, hopefully they weren't at all defensive, so he could just punt them through a wall and win.

[Regitnui]

"This will happen." The white suit stood out like a beacon in the night, the cloth clean even with the dirt of the docks around him. "If these warehouses are not secured by daybreak, I'll have your entire cell executed and replaced." The words are delivered conversationally, even casually. The men and women around him scatter, scouting the area. Each of them has goggles, body armour and military ordnance.

Khan, the leader of the Kryptonites, idly toys with a ring on his finger and gazes across the river to the lights of the mainland. Three of his men stand nearby. The faint sound of boats travelling along the river can be heard. The ever present sounds of the city have faded this far out.

[Old Amsterdam]

It had been two days since the death of the Rat King. Two days since the largest swarm attack on record. Two days, and everything might as well be business as usual for the citizens of Epic City.

Murders, thefts, heroic savings... Back to business as usual.

Rumors circulated of of a Demon going by Guilt. Bane of evil everywhere. Nothing was certain besides her name.

Rumors swirled of Traveler and Spectrum after the interview. And for that matter, was Spectrum a man or a woman?

Rumors flowed like currency in this City. And rumors existed of another young Epic. Her creations had been seen around during fights. Some argue these creations are merely Freaks, not so damaged as the popular opinion assumes Freaks to be.

When it comes to Epics, nothing is entirely certain.

----

Techster looked at the outside of the great mansion, thinking to himself. He'd done that his entire life. Think. Think. Think. It was his Blessing, and his Curse. He'd down genius his entire life, and his power added upon that. Though many believed his genius was because of his power. They were wrong, he knew. He also knew that generalizing and saying many was a gross exaggeration. Battle anyone knew he existed.

They didn't even know how much help he'd given to the City.

He plucked up his courage, pushing open the great gate that was his entrance to the mansion.

He'd made the connections, and he was absolutely certain that Looking Glass, as they called themselves in those rare moments they could be found out and about, resided here.

He knocked on the door when he finally reached it, having walked with his head bent sightly and hands in his pockets in case he was being watched. He wore a tee emblazoned with Mr. Mass on it, jeans, and glasses. His sneakers, blue on the bottom, were comfortable for long walks.

He hadn't written the costume he'd designed since he'd made it.

But that wasn't to say he was defenseless. He had his gadgets, the culmination of hours of hard work and his power.

He didn't hear footsteps, so he rung the doorbell.

"Hey! I know you're in there! Someone is, anyways," he called out. "I need to talk to you!"

[thewizardguy]

@Bluetommy

Hmph. And just like that, the Epic had lost his cool. He was showing off his abilities, displaying the extent of what he could do. His speed was indeed astounding, and had he immediately gone on the offensive then that speed might have allowed him to get her off balance. Although she had been prepared for it, even with her own state of hyperawareness, he simply moved too fast to be easily reacted to. If her powers relied on physical movement from her, then there would have been no way to defend against such an attack. Fortunately he was of the arrogant and foolish sort, those that believed their abilities made them invincible. By showing off he wasted his only chance to get in the first hit, as well as giving Guilt time to analyze him further.

"This will not take long."

Moving at supernatural speed was an astounding ability indeed. Defensively it allowed one to dodge almost all attacks directed at them, while offensively it allowed one to easily bypass the enemies' attempts to block. In addition this one appeared to be supernaturally durable, capable of withstanding stone-shattering impacts without harm to himself. But the more Guilt watched the more it became clear that this person possesses an obvious weakness. Even moving at multiple times the speed of sound, flailing your arms would not allow you to fly. The human body was too heavy, not enough air was displaced. As such the only way for Comet to propel himself was by interacting with something solid, usually the ground, and then launch himself in whatever direction he pleased. The answer was obvious.

Without a sight or a sound, the ground beneath Edward's feet simply vanished. Amusingly a small layer was allowed to remain, right next to his feet, but the object's low mass would not allow Edward to push off properly. Just to make sure he could not escape this pitfall Guilt removed all the ground in a 10-meter radius around him. Even significant portion of the houses around them would vanish. Looking down Guilt would continue to remove layers of the ground before Edward reached them in his fall, refusing to give him any chance to gain back his footing, to actually activate his supernatural speed. Now moving down with this constantly sinking pit, Guilt made it deeper and deeper, as Comet began to fall faster and faster. Ten meters deep, twenty meters deep, thirty meters deep..... as long as there was no ground for Edward to stand on, his speed was irrelevant. His powers neutralised. And throughout the entire fall Guilt seemed to be constantly in front of Edward, staring him down as they fell ever deeper towards the core of the Earth.

The fall would probably not kill the Comet. At terminal velocity it might hurt him, but his durability was high enough that Guilt didn't hope to slay him through gravity alone. But if she collapsed this little tunnel into the earth on top of him, he'd be buried alone under hundreds of tons of rock and dirt. Over 50 meters below the Earth, under enough pressure to crush his lungs and squeeze out his favourite internal organs. Should he survive the pressure, the lack of oxygen would kill him. Should he be able to survive the lack of oxygen, he would die of dehydration down here. Once more, his power would do little to help him.

"This is the difference between us..... 'Comet'. You live a life of arrogance and ease. Have you ever truly had to fight for your life? For the lives of those you cared about? You know nothing of pain." They were beginning to reach the appropriate depth, and Comet was certainly hitting terminal velocity. "Consider this the end, your end. But know that this city is left in good hands. Goodbye, Comet."

Having said her last farewells, and rubbed some salt into the wound, Guilt was ready to teleport out of the hole she had made. The surface was a pinprick of light far above, but it was enough for her to exit this place instantly. And Edward was still falling, about to hit a layer of solid stone at rather unfortunate speeds. If he had any bright plans for escaping this, he would need to put them into effect quite immediately. Because if he did not, he would soon be buried alive, with little to no hope for survival.

[Bluetommy]

@thewizardguy

Edward was shocked by the floor's sudden disappearance, but he gave an angered smirk as the epic stated that this was the end for him.

"You know, they always say that," Edward spoke to himself as the ground came ever faster. Not at all worried, terminal velocity for a human was 195 kilometers, he jogged that fast, this would hurt as much as jumping a foot would for a normal person. Edward hit the ground feet-first, falling onto his back clumsily as he hit it. He stood up slowly and glared at the epic, seemingly ready to escape at the first sign of danger. "You done, or you going to try burying me next? Because I could just run up that wall and knock all the dirt away," he informed the masked person grimly.

"You use that trick on the defenseless normals you murder?" he asked angrily. "And no, I don't need to fight for my life, because I can always just dodge every blow you make, and I don't even need to do that!" he said, swinging his arms out to his sides as he continued to speak. The air cracked as he ran up the wall, clearing the ten meter distance in less than a second, he planted an arm into the rock and looked down on the Epic. They thought they were top shit, clearly, hell, they were more arrogant than he was, and that was hard to do.

He was just about done trying to tell them how well this fight would go for them, he leaped off the wall at incredible speeds, the rock snapping into pieces due to his leap. He pulled his arm around into a powerful two hundred kilometer per hour punch, more than enough to kill, but not too fast as to make a kill guaranteed, he didn't want to kill this person, just embarrass them and turn them into the police, he couldn't let murder stand, especially when without reason.

[thewizardguy]

@Bluetommy

Comet slammed into the floor but did not give, getting to his feet in a blur of motion. Apparently this wasn't enough to harm him. That didn't matter, it wasn't her true attack anyway. Just the setup. And it appeared this Comet knew she intended to bury him, and was confident in his own ability to survive such an event. An interesting conclusion. Certainly he was confident in his abilities. She would have to see whether he indeed survived the following attack. Although perhaps his confidence was born from misinformation. It seemed he believed that the floor had been composed solely of dirt... a most unfortunate conclusion to draw.

With an impressive bound he set himself up for a counterattack. A high-speed rush, intended to end this in a single blow. Predictable. It was not a bad strategy, and against a less capable opponent it might have worked. But Guilt had fought this sort of opponent before, and such a predictable attack wouldn't be enough to defeat her. All the Comet would hit was the wall behind her, stone cracking under the force of impact, as Guilt herself reappeared 20 meters away at the other side of the pit. Her teleportation did not require her to move, just to think. Any attack she could predict was doomed to fail, as she moved instantly from one spot to another. "Lack of experience dooms you. Am I the first Epic who you've fought? Granted such a useful ability, you think that power is enough to save you here. Power is useless in the hands of those who do not know how to use it. You are a child with a hammer, dangerous only to ants."

Allowing herself a smirk beneath the mask, Guilt once more vanished, to reappear at the top of the pit. Staring down, she could not even see the Comet way down there. Purple lightning briefly flashed, the air above the pit shimmered. A massive pillar appeared out of nowhere, dwarfing the surrounding buildings. Precisely 50 meters of stone, cement, asphalt, densely packed dirt and gravel. With another flash the air within the pit vanished, leaving only a tiny bubble around Comet. Within moments this tiny bubble dissipated across the vast inside of the pit, even as the vacuum pulled in the giant pillar. Sliding down it screeched and roared against the sides of the pit, making an unholy amount of noise. The sheer displacement of air created buffeting winds that threatened to knock Guilt over as she beheld the spectacle. Already accelerating this pillar of materials slid down like a thundering train of destruction hurtling through the darkness. A suitably immense boot for a suitably large ant.

Of course this wasn't the first time that Guilt had done this. In her head she did the calculations. A hole 20m in diameter, 50m deep, and a pillar composed mostly of stone, cement, bricks, and densely packed dirt.... it would take about 3 seconds for this pillar to strike the floor, squashing whatever remained there. About 12 metric tons of material, which would accelerate to a speed of about 30 m/s before it hit the bottom of the pit. Were Comet to remain below and try and survive this force he would be exposed to a force of approximately 300 tons, enough force to flatten a heavily armoured tank. And with how deep they went, the bottom of this pillar would consist of at least five or so meters of solid rock, coupled with highly dense earth above. Even punches at Mach 200 could not push this pillar back up, and even breaking through this solid stone layer would simply leave him buried alive. And all this while he was completely unable to breathe.

This was the difference between experience, and arrogance. Every possibility was accounted for, every chance taken into account. Guilt did not engage in 'fights' against other Epics. She engaged in executions. And this one had already taken too much time. Vanishing, Guilt would appear on a nearby rooftop, from which she was ready to once more begin her patrol.

Without outside assistance, Edward would almost certainly perish in this hole.