[IC] The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

[MrDidact]

The Lab

Sixgun's pantomime of terror was absolutely convincing as the Witchfinder did not immediately add another hole to the cowboy's head. Chunk did in fact take this as his signal to go in and kicked in the door, firing at everything within. There were several humans working over what seemed to be a hybrid between a chemistry set and crude arcane workings. Beakers and tubes of anomalous fluids were shattered and two or three technicians were shot in the chest, their blood mixing with a veritable rainbow of chemicals.

Chunk turned and ran and what followed next wasn't pretty. An emaciated hispanic man raised his arms and muttered a word and his hands let loose a green misty burst that hit Chunk in the back and immediately he started to... dissolve. His clothes turned from black to grey and ashy, melting partially and turning brittle and crusty in other places. His skin turned from a sunburned pink to a putrid yellow before it started to melt too. Chunk's screams reached an unbelievable pitch as the spell worked it's ways through his now melted skin into his muscles and bones, unable to walk he sank down into the ground and mere moments later all that was left of Chunk was a putrid puddle in the dirt. He had a bad run in with Legion's Alchemist.

The Alchemist turned his attention to several tall gnarled plants in the room and he touched down muttering a word and then the plants moved, uprooting themselves from their pots and twisting their bodies, turning into roughly humanoid shapes of dark bark, greenish fluid leaking from several places but especially what passed for a pair of eyes. The mandrakes, a half-dozen in all, screeched and bolted out the doorway and came around the sides of the lab, taking quick but shuffling strides as they looked for more intruders.

Maroni's

The woman nodded lightly, "Ok. But what if you get shot? Or worse? That woman was unbelievably fast." There were a dozen or so other patrons within close proximity of the woman and Rift Hound, their escape would be difficult but not impossible. The guards with the guns on the other hand were the first obstacle.

Bishop snapped a thunderous finger again and the guard departed before returning with the drink Shifter requested. Bishop raised his wine, "A toast. To mutual dialogue and cooperation." He drunk and set down the glass, going about back to his dish. He nodded a their answers, "I see. Not your typical heroes then. Lost souls. Looking for something more. Well let me tell you this, Legion is always willing to take in strays." His eyes gleamed as he chuckled, the wine and tea rumbling at the same time.

He cut into his steak and blood mixed into his dish, "Why do things for only one reason, when you can do them for many? Maybe because it's fun. Maybe because of the money. Maybe because it'll burn the Outfit even more." Flasher returned and teleported a group of small children away. The Marconi family group was now down a third of its party. Bishop chewed,"Because while we abduct Marconi's family, this captive audience ensures none of you do anything stupid. And now that we have two of the League's own I feel even more secure."

Bishop leaned in after taking another bite,"And because it states definitively who we are. We're the ones in control of the streets now Heroes. Not the Outfit. Not you. Us. We do what we please, when we please, wherever we please, and however we please. Stay out of our war, let us deal with the criminals you left over, and we can have peace. After this war, after we eliminate every violent outfit in basically half the country, we'll keep the violence down to a minimum. We'll keep the oh so terrible crimes behind closed doors, beneath the surface. Your innocent civilians won't be attacked. You get to keep doing what you're doing. And we get to rule the largest criminal empire in history. How about that for a business deal?"

He drank more wine and went at his plate again, it was now more than half-done. He dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, "So any questions, concerns, comments, conundrums? I brought you here to talk after all."

Prison

The mole creature went still as the impact killed it. Abaddon's wild cry rang throughout the battle. Suddenly serpents appeared around Abaddon's body, dark and red-eyed creatures that wrapped around him tighter than any rope and bite at him, venom dripping from their fangs as they both constricted him and tried to poison him. A calm, resonant voice pierced the air, "You will regret invoking me creature."

A tall caucasian man appeared, borne aloft on the back of what seemed to be a demonic gryphon. The man raised his hands and two massive black-furred, red-eyed dogs appeared blood around their muzzles and red saliva dripping from their mouths. The man snapped his fingers and the dogs ran at him, faster than any mortal canine could have accomplished and they leaped through the air at the ensnared Abaddon, one at his torso and one aiming for his head.

Inside the prison, Frost grimly stared as he started to kill Apogee. Then suddenly a human missile slammed into him knocking him to the ground, robbing him of all breath, and shocking him to boot. The man groaned and lay on the floor, consciousness slowly leaving him. Apogee crashed to the floor and her eyes gleamed red, the heroine readying a heat vision blast but not firing in a bid to raise her temperature back up.

Suddenly the Surgeon sprang at Volt, ten razor sharp claws extended as he dove at Volt's face. Nearby Rot slowly got to her feet. Near the infirmary, the screams echoed down the halls to the three heroes as the fireball strode calmly through the halls, inmates and guards alike burning in her wake or frantically retreating from her. She was now very close to the infirmary and the injured guards, staff, and inmates within.

On camera the prison was in chaos, inmates brutally beating each other or guards, Legion men or inmates executing any cornered staff they found, guards, staff and even other non-violent inmates hiding in every nook and cranny they could find, all kinds of brutal no-holds barred melees, wanton destruction of the buildings and vandalizing, and more than one female guard or smaller prisoner being dragged off screaming. The overcrowded, underfunded, ill-equipped prison had been thrown into complete anarchy.

[Abysse]

Killjoy

Killjoy waved her pistol around, safety off, and whined. "Really? Really?! Teammate is about to get crushed and I'm supposed to withhold using a itty-bitty pistol? Not everyone has the same range of force you know!" She pocketed the pistol with a huff and brought around her backpack, searching for a few items. She pulled out a couple concussive grenades, linking them to her belt, as well as a retractable taser gun she had outfitted herself. It wouldn't work too well against the creatures from earlier, but against a squishy human it would surely deliver quite the shock. It was a good thing she didn't unleash that horrendous pun out loud.

"I've got other options I suppose. Not as fun or powerful, but it'll do. Let's just hope whatever else we encounter isn't resistant to electricity!" She jogged back up to Light and Hot Rod, her prior words falling upon deaf ears; maybe a groaning monster that remained half-alive a couple feet away heard her. Killjoy listened in on the heroes conversation with Sonja, noting in particular the mention of a pyrokinetic. Man, why couldn't she have gotten some power like that? That seemed to fit her so much more!

"Oh, oh, oh! I'll come too then!" Killjoy said gleefully, pulling down her welding goggles in preparation. The flamethrower would obviously no longer be needed, so that too was slung around her back, resting alongside the backpack neatly. "If I was a mastermind mad scientist person, I'd have made a freeze ray in preparation for this. Do we have any mad scientists back at the hall?" She began to ramble off on a tangent, following Light knowing full well Hot Rod could easily make it there before any of them.

"Let's hope this pyro-person is as easily taken out as the guy who punched a hole in you, yea?"

[Dingo]

Rift Hound - Maroni's Restaurant

Joshua gave the woman an apologetic look, "These guys seem like the kind of people who'll kill us all just for a getaway distraction." he whispered, "I can at least try to get some of you out. Now get ready."

Looking back to the top of the stairs Joshua opened his Pocket, focusing on retrieving the gunman he had captured moments ago, try as he might however, he couldn't retrieve the gunman without also retrieving the gun he'd been holding. The body dropped out, gun gripped in his hands, crashing down the stairs, dead. A moment of guilt flashed through Joshua's mind, but he pushed it aside to focus on the task at hand. The distraction would only work for a moment, so he needed to work fast! Shooting a look back out the doorway, Joshua opened a table-sized portal into the street, facing away from the restaurant and headed around the corner.

"Now!"Joshua hissed, spinning back to face the woman. As quickly as he could, Joshua opened another table-sized portal under the woman and those near her, shutting it as they disappeared and opening new ones under the other hostages as quickly has he could manage.

[An Outsider]

Hi-Voltage

The kick connected with a satisfying thunk, Frost being hurled onto his back. Volt hit the floor, confident in the knowledge that he had hit the cryokinitec even harder. Tommy-boy, Bruce Lee himself wid be green with envy at thon be-ee-yoo-tiful display! The Lightning-Slinger rolled gracefully to his foot, a small grin breaking his worried expression to see Apogee hadn’t ‘gone into the light’.

“What a frosty reception that wis!” he quipped, laughing at his own bad joke. Ah gotta, nae one else wid find that ane funny! Unfortunately this was the moment the Surgeon decided to attack, razor sharp claws flashing towards Volt’s face. The Scotsman squawked something unintelligible as he threw himself backwards, desperate to stay out of reach of those talons. Even with his speed and reactions it wasn’t enough, the Surgeon managing to lash the Lightning-Slinger’s face, blood spraying from the shallow yet painful wounds. Stupid Tommy, very stupid. Ye been in this business lang enough to ken nae to gloat in the middle of a fight!

Rot was near on her feet now, but the Lightning-Slinger had more pressing concerns. The Surgeon came at him again, emboldened by gaining first blood. Ah ain’t getting done in by some header wi a manicure though, ma Da wid never forgive me! Volt stepped in close, ducking under one of the Surgeons wild swings, shooting a straight right towards the villain’s chin. That was a move he’d learnt courtesy of Chrome, one of the upsides of the former marine’s torturous training. The Surgeon’s head snapped back , the villain giving a step of ground. Volt pressed his advantage, slamming two swift left hooks into his opponents side, but the Surgeon retaliated with a quick whip of his claws, dragging them across the Highlander’s stomach, five long gashes appearing in his costume. The two edged apart after that, eyeing each other warily.

Usually Volt likes to keep the fighting at as polite a distance as possible, leaving folk like Furious or St Micheal to mix it up close, but a regular training sessions with Chrome and the other Leaguers was slowly starting to develop his hand to hand skills beyond what they had been just a few short months ago. That was how he had come to master footing and placement so well to have managed to manoeuvre the Surgeon so he was facing Volt with his back to the wall, a back that concealed a fire extinguisher. A metal fire extinguisher.

Now Volt also has a control over magnetism, perhaps not as honed as his powers with electricity, but still pretty potent, more so since he’d been receiving lessons from Magnetar in how to strengthen them. All it took was a concentration and effort, difficult to attain with blood seeping from your face and chest, but not impossible. Slowly, surely, the extinguisher behind the clawed villain unhooked itself from its bracket and floated into the air silently, the beginnings of a slight headache forming in Volt’s cranium. Just had to keep the Freddy Krueger knock-off’s attention on him while he worked his magic.

“Hear that. yer being called for Surgeon, ah think it’s time tae operate. Sound’s like head trauma!” stated Volt, raising a hand to his ear as if he was listening to a tannoy announcement in a hospital. As he did that he mentally forced the extinguisher to come shooting forwards straight for the back of the Surgeons head.

Morningstar

“Hey there cowboy, don’t be alarmed but I’m Pariah’s replacement.” stated a cool and confident female voice through Sixgun’s implant.

“The names Morningstar, and that shrieking you can hear is a group of plant-men called Mandrakes, but you should just call them bad news. Tough, dumb and relentless, regular bullets wont have much effect on them, unless you hit them in the eyes. High calibre rifle rounds or fire is your best trick, either that or a good sharp axe.”

“Regardless, you're going to want to move. Quick. Like right now.”

[Yog Sothoth]

Hot Rod was about to laugh with Light about her comment about it taking a lot to kill her, but then Sonja ran over to them and say his civilian name which made him cringe. Does she even realize that this place is swarming with enemies, not a very smart idea to say each others' names he thought to himself. When she talked about a pyrokenetic villain heading for the infirmary then Hot Rod knew that it was a job that really want expertize with the element. He nodded and took ran after Sonja, keeping an human pace to not leave the others behind.

"Just for future reference, please don't say my real name while we're in the field of duty with so many villains around" He said to Sonja calmly as he ran towards the prison entrance.

---

As Ocean Warrior waited for the order to forcibly enter the restaurant and take down the fiends as quick as possible, he heard MC asked if any of them had any stories to tell while they waited.

"None that are pleasant" he replied to MC. Just to try and pass the time, Ocean Warrior made his trident radiate heat and then cold.

[Krein]

MrDidact said
Sixgun's pantomime of terror was absolutely convincing as the Witchfinder did not immediately add another hole to the cowboy's head. Chunk did in fact take this as his signal to go in and kicked in the door, firing at everything within. There were several humans working over what seemed to be a hybrid between a chemistry set and crude arcane workings. Beakers and tubes of anomalous fluids were shattered and two or three technicians were shot in the chest, their blood mixing with a veritable rainbow of chemicals. Chunk turned and ran and what followed next wasn't pretty. An emaciated hispanic man raised his arms and muttered a word and his hands let loose a green misty burst that hit Chunk in the back and immediately he started to... dissolve. His clothes turned from black to grey and ashy, melting partially and turning brittle and crusty in other places. His skin turned from a sunburned pink to a putrid yellow before it started to melt too. Chunk's screams reached an unbelievable pitch as the spell worked it's ways through his now melted skin into his muscles and bones, unable to walk he sank down into the ground and mere moments later all that was left of Chunk was a putrid puddle in the dirt. He had a bad run in with Legion's Alchemist. The Alchemist turned his attention to several tall gnarled plants in the room and he touched down muttering a word and then the plants moved, uprooting themselves from their pots and twisting their bodies, turning into roughly humanoid shapes of dark bark, greenish fluid leaking from several places but especially what passed for a pair of eyes. The mandrakes, a half-dozen in all, screeched and bolted out the doorway and came around the sides of the lab, taking quick but shuffling strides as they looked for more intruders. The woman nodded lightly, "Ok. But what if you get shot? Or worse? That woman was unbelievably fast." There were a dozen or so other patrons within close proximity of the woman and Rift Hound, their escape would be difficult but not impossible. The guards with the guns on the other hand were the first obstacle. Bishop snapped a thunderous finger again and the guard departed before returning with the drink Shifter requested. Bishop raised his wine, "A toast. To mutual dialogue and cooperation." He drunk and set down the glass, going about back to his dish. He nodded a their answers, "I see. Not your typical heroes then. Lost souls. Looking for something more. Well let me tell you this, Legion is always willing to take in strays." His eyes gleamed as he chuckled, the wine and tea rumbling at the same time. He cut into his steak and blood mixed into his dish, "Why do things for only one reason, when you can do them for many? Maybe because it's fun. Maybe because of the money. Maybe because it'll burn the Outfit even more." Flasher returned and teleported a group of small children away. The Marconi family group was now down a third of its party. Bishop chewed,"Because while we abduct Marconi's family, this captive audience ensures none of you do anything stupid. And now that we have two of the League's own I feel even more secure." Bishop leaned in after taking another bite,"And because it states definitively who we are. We're the ones in control of the streets now Heroes. Not the Outfit. Not you. Us. We do what we please, when we please, wherever we please, and however we please. Stay out of our war, let us deal with the criminals you left over, and we can have peace. After this war, after we eliminate every violent outfit in basically half the country, we'll keep the violence down to a minimum. We'll keep the oh so terrible crimes behind closed doors, beneath the surface. Your innocent civilians won't be attacked. You get to keep doing what you're doing. And we get to rule the largest criminal empire in history. How about that for a business deal?" He drank more wine and went at his plate again, it was now more than half-done. He dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, "So any questions, concerns, comments, conundrums? I brought you here to talk after all." The mole creature went still as the impact killed it. Abaddon's wild cry rang throughout the battle. Suddenly serpents appeared around Abaddon's body, dark and red-eyed creatures that wrapped around him tighter than any rope and bite at him, venom dripping from their fangs as they both constricted him and tried to poison him. A calm, resonant voice pierced the air, "You will regret invoking me creature." A tall caucasian man appeared, borne aloft on the back of what seemed to be a demonic gryphon. The man raised his hands and two massive black-furred, red-eyed dogs appeared blood around their muzzles and red saliva dripping from their mouths. The man snapped his fingers and the dogs ran at him, faster than any mortal canine could have accomplished and they leaped through the air at the ensnared Abaddon, one at his torso and one aiming for his head. Inside the prison, Frost grimly stared as he started to kill Apogee. Then suddenly a human missile slammed into him knocking him to the ground, robbing him of all breath, and shocking him to boot. The man groaned and lay on the floor, consciousness slowly leaving him. Apogee crashed to the floor and her eyes gleamed red, the heroine readying a heat vision blast but not firing in a bid to raise her temperature back up. Suddenly the Surgeon sprang at Volt, ten razor sharp claws extended as he dove at Volt's face. Nearby Rot slowly got to her feet. Near the infirmary, the screams echoed down the halls to the three heroes as the fireball strode calmly through the halls, inmates and guards alike burning in her wake or frantically retreating from her. She was now very close to the infirmary and the injured guards, staff, and inmates within. On camera the prison was in chaos, inmates brutally beating each other or guards, Legion men or inmates executing any cornered staff they found, guards, staff and even other non-violent inmates hiding in every nook and cranny they could find, all kinds of brutal no-holds barred melees, wanton destruction of the buildings and vandalizing, and more than one female guard or smaller prisoner being dragged off screaming. The overcrowded, underfunded, ill-equipped prison had been thrown into complete anarchy.

"Agh!!!"

The appearance of these large serpents was completely unexpected, even for Abaddon. Though he had sensed a changed in the air around himself, their sudden appearance was far too quick to be dodged instantly, leaving him bound in crushing pressure that easily could have broken the bones of a normal human. And the venom... it didn't necessarily poison him, but by God did that shit burn like hell!

"So..." Abaddon coughed out, "This is what.... what that feels like...!"

Abaddon had used constriction via his tendrils to give his unlucky victims a slow death before. Now he knew how it hurt, but instead of regret, Abaddon let out a strained laugh as the summoner appeared before him.

"Gotta thank you for this. Now I know that they didn't die painlessly!"

Two demon wargs appeared before the summoner, jaws snapping and dripping blood in saliva as they eagerly awaited their master's order to dig in to their trapped meal.

*You will regret invoking me, creature,* the summoner spat as he ordered the hounds to attack. They leapt forward, claws outstretched and mouths wide open to deliver fatal snaps to their prey.

"Ha!"

What an expected move. Abaddon had at least three ways he could have gotten out of this situation earlier, but he decided to endure through it to see what else the summoner would do. Now he had the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone! Well... four birds.. two snakes and two dogs. You get the deal! Clenching his claws together, Abaddon released sharp spikes all ove his body, cleaving the serpents on his body into pieces and impaling the too eager mutts.

"Ahhh, much better!" Abaddon hissed as he cracked his back, the long spikes now shifting into flexible tendrils to move and throw away the corpses. He did keep one though, the body of a freshly killed warg which he used to try and unnerve the dark conjurer.

"I hope that's not all the magic you have at your disposal," Abaddon mocked as he brought the animal closer to the now open second mouth along his stomach. The sharp teeth splattered blood and pieces of flesh everywhere as he devoured it.

"Because if all you can do is hide behind worthless pets, you're not gonna last long! Half of these sorry beasts lying all over the place was my doing!"

He motioned to the grounds around him. Left and right, there were monstrous bodies with pooling blood and missing pieces strewn around. Their numbers had been greatly diminished, something which gave the guardsmen a boost of confidence to press onwards and do a better job of fighting against the creatures. Manmade weapons could only do so much though, so Abaddon knew he had to kill the summoner to banish them all.

"Sadly most of your meta buddies got hogged by Zenith and his friends, but I guess you'll have to do as compensation for the lack of excitement around here..."

Abaddon thrust out his arm and delivered a wave of magic energy intent on knocking the summoner backwards...

[Heat]

"There's always a better way to do things, perhaps a way with less innocent hostages." He stated then crossed his arms, just waiting for the signal from Pariah. He really wanted to clock this cocky bastard right in the face, take the man down a notch or two. But he would not do that until he was ordered to by the senior League member, for now it was conversation with this strange man.

[TheBiddz]

Emmanuel continues his creeping through the prison, slowly but with purpose. Of course, that purpose is to find and beat the shit out of whatever trouble makers he can find, but still. It is in fact a purpose. And considering the situation, it seems to be a damn FINE purpose at the moment. Hi Voltage's power signal has gotten stronger, and Emmanuel can tell that he's close. Oh what's that? It sounds like yelling. Sounds Scottish? Yeah! Definitely close then.

Emmanuel kicks it up a notch and begins to run through the prison, following the yelling until he enters a room just in time to witness Hi Voltage electro dropkick some blue frosty guy in the face. Sick. Emmanuel fist pumps and enters the room, Hi Voltage's back to him.

”What a frosty reception that wis!”. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. An electric punster. This could very well be Emmanuel's Scottish brother from another mother. He chuckles quietly, not wanting to distract Volt from his fight. Which seems like its starting round two as some dude with super pointy fingernails launches himself and slices his face. Wow. Rude.

Emmanuel is about to leap into combat and help double team the Surgeon when he hears groaning and sees a woman off to the side getting on her feet. She smells funny. Funny in the “Oh look at that pile of acid off to the corner and look at how sickly this lady looks.”

Emmanuel goes to square off with her, jumping in front of her before she fully stands up, Surgeon and Volt duking it out on the other side of the room. “Stop right there criminal scum! Your days of doing things are over. I have no idea who you are, but you're in prison, so Im gonna kick your ass. I see acid dissolving some of the wall over in the corner there, and I know for a fact none of the heroes in this particular landing party have poison powers. Definitely villain material.” As he gives this short speech, he begins to power back up, his scars lighting up once more with his godly lightning. A crackling sound and the smell of sulfur begin to fill the air. While the dampening may still be up, Emmanuel is much more inclined to fight with power now that he's inside. He can take electricity from multiple sources in here, including the lights, electric grid, and the villains he beats the shit out of. It seems kind of sinister, but he doesn't take enough to ever kill them, and if they're the bad guys, it just makes them easier to put back into prison! Its a win win for everyone! Everyone that matters, at least.

Still, the dampener makes taking hold of the electricity rather unpleasant, so Emmanuel's only using about 50 percent of what he feels can safely use under the field, which is probably about 25 percent of normal fighting strength. Just to feel it out how it feels, you know? He knows this person isn't just a bunch of mooks. He can take them on unaided, he's still way faster than any human can hope to match. Now, he's right into superhuman territory.

Facing Rot, Emmanuel thinks a second. ”Okay, I should be fast enough...” He doesn't even finish that thought before rushing forward with superhuman speed and reflexes towards Rot, who he still doesn't know the name of. What he does know is where the human liver is. So as he dashes forward over like the 15 feet or whatever, he clenches his fist and throws a jab at incredible speed, surging with electricity, aimed right for her liver. Normally he would use a stabbing motion with his fingers, but that would ah....probably....absolutely rupture her liver and most likely lead to death by internal bleeding within a few minutes. That's not good at all. He's still pretty good at punching too. If the punch connects, Emmanuel will immediately back up to try and avoid getting facial-ed with acid.

[Lookie]

The last explosive was hooked inside the thugs pocket as Shifter reached for her drink, lifting her cup to salute Bishop. The cup stayed in her hands as she kept her eyes on the other man, seemingly interested even as her mind wandered. A lost soul, he'd called her. Lady Fortune had done the same. Orchid too. Was this turning into a thing?

Bishop was trying to legitimize his group and then admitted that he had no plans of stopping criminal activities. This man was full of contradictions and he expected the League to leave them alone? You didn't get the heroes to leave you alone by shooting a stupid chef at a fancy restaurant. No, he knew the League wouldn't allow this.

”Killshade is right. You're doing things... wrong,” Shifter said, pondering. ”You cannot expect us to agree to your terms. If you do, you -” would be a grade-A moron ”- don't know much about the League.”

The cup was tipped forward, but as soon as Shifters lips touched the tea, her small nose wrinkled. No honey. With a light tap the cup was pushed aside as the shapeshifter moved the chair further away from the table with a loud scrape. The explosive at her feet was kicked on the other side of the table as she changed her position, almost looking like she'd stand up before settling back down.

Then she turned towards Killshade.
”I believe we're wasting our time here,” she said to him and subtly tapped at his boot twice with a slender foot, her brows lifting slightly. Under the table she stretched her left hand, trying to get rid of the pins and needles that were slowly fading from her arm.

[MrDidact]

The Lab

The mandrakes soon skirted the perimeter of the building and saw Sixgun. They all screeched in unison and began giving pursuit, green liquid still flowing from their eyes as the criminals on the hill began shouting in surprise. Inside the Lab, the Alchemist pulled on a robe while his assistants all drew guns and strapped on belts with potions on them. The Alchemist picked up a staff and slowly strode to the door, taking his time.

Maroni's

Bishop laughed again, "There was a chance. Things would go back to normal for you, we'd make our money you'd make your headlines. Its what governments have known for millennia. Why fight the criminals when they're not rocking the boat? After this war, we'll be steering." He finished his dish and drunk more wine, "But I see this League is just as idealistic as many believe. It seems we do have to fight after all. Its a shame that more of your friends will have to die." Flasher appeared and disappeared, the large table now almost half-gone.

Then the dead body rolled down the stairs and several guards raised their weapons at the sound. Bishop made no movement but Villa pointed a pistol at Killshade's head while Permafrost raised both hands at Shifter. Locust clicked and turned around warily, while Belladonna kept drawing and humming. The woman and several others were teleported out onto the street followed by a few others tables. The guards advanced with weapons drawn and were aghast at the site. They didn't fire however and then one of them saw Rift Hound. He pointed a rifle at him followed by his friends, "Freeze! Don't fucking move! You port out someone else, we're killing you then the hostages!" They all spread out to cover different fields of fire and had fingers on the trigger.

The Prison

The summoner curled his lip, "Empty boasts from an amatuer boy." When the wave of energy flew towards him he didn't move. He raised his hands and waved them, muttering a nonsense word. The energy curled and shifted in mid-air, the attack not reaching him at all. With his other hand he flung a stream of lightning at Abaddon while the energy kept curling in the air. He finished the spell and the energy shifted back towards Abaddon shifting until it turned into a swarm of black colored bees, buzzing with a monstrous hum and each three times the size of a standard insect, flying towards Abaddon and swirling around him in a buzzing, stinging mass. There must have been of a upwards of a hundred of them.

Volt's stratagem worked perfectly and the Surgeon was hit in the head with the extinguisher, Magnetar's teaching paying off as he slammed his head into the floor and blacked out. Apogee groaned, "Really Ice puns?" Rot did not manage to dodge the hit and the breath was knocked out of her, the taze of electricity shocking her with pain. She snarled and a gout of acid missed hitting Flashbolt's face. She stood up unsteadily and then proceeded to melt the floor around Flashbolt hoping to trap him before hurling another jet of fluid at him. Volt felt a pain in his leg as a knife cut a horizontal slash across his back and a voice laughed, "I'm going to have fun with you hero." The voice disappeared and then he was cut shallowly on the front of his stomach the voice laughing again. Shade.

The heroes eventually found the human fireball walking towards the infirmary door leaving a hellish trail of destruction in her wake. She burned right through the door and entered to see rows of beds covered with injured staff and inmates. Several guards raised weapons and fired at her bullets straight for her chest and head. They popped inches from her face as the fiery corona from her melted the bullets before they could even connect, the floor beneath her turning black as she stood there. A faint smile could be seen as she raised her hands and several tendrils of flame shot out from them, engulfing each guards head in a fireball. They barely had time to choke out screams before they died and fell to the floor. A second later a portal opened in the middle of the room and a black robed figure strode out. It looked at the injured people, the dead guards, and her before a feminine voice said, "Perfect. Give me a circle." The woman stepped into the room and a circle of fire began skirting the perimeter of the infirmary with the injured people inside. The only place that wasn't yet covered with fire was the door.

[Dingo]

Rift Hound - Maroni's Restaurant

Joshua raised his hands slowly, closing the portals and stepping out from under the table. As he rose, he opened his Pocket, losing his physical form once more and being careful not to phase through any objects.

"The portals are closed, there's no reason to kill anybody." He said as calmly as possible, which was difficult. His voice was shaky and his heart was hammering in his chest, the adrenaline from the escape attempt was coursing through his body.
He hadn't been able to get everyone out, but he'd at least been able to get some people out. His greatest fear had been the gunmen shooting the hostages across the street as they fled, but fortunately they hadn't. Looking at the guns pointed at him he considered attacking them for a second. If they were positioned just right, the bullets would fly through him and hit his attackers, but he couldn't chance a stray bullet hitting a hostage.

"How about you just let the hostages go? Surely a couple of League members are worth more than a few civvies?" he said, keeping his hands raised.

[Archmage MC]

"Gah, Can I start charging a chaos spell to shatter that barrier, please?" MC said, getting visibly irritated that there wasn't much to do besides whatever he could conjure to keep himself occupied. "I promise the most common worst thing that'll happen is the chaos spell spawns a field of Japanese tentacles where it hits. Plus theres a good chance that the barrier will be down... course everyone in that field of tentacles will be violated, but... well, its chaos magic! Maybe it'll just set everything on fire or something." He thought a bit, his energy depleting as his atrophy began to creep in. "Just something to consider, I'm just going to meditate." he said in a monotone.

---

When the group got to the hallway that lead to the infirmary, Light could see the glow of fire coming out of the room. "Well, looks like whoever it is beat us there. So... whos going in first?" Light said, cracking her knuckles. "At anyrate, even if that fire user is smart, I'll still get a few good blows in. Just put me out if I get set on fire too badly, fire hurts."

[Krein]

"Ah, so you may pose a challenge afterall," Abaddon said excitedly as the summoner stopped his magic wave and began manipulating it for his own use. A bolt of lightning flew towards him shortly afterwards, and though it could have been dodged, Abaddon just growled in annoyance as he raised up his arm to block the magic. No shields though, just a shadowy limb to show the pitiful summoner he was far outmatched at the moment. If this guy wanted to back up all his proud retorts, he should really consider stepping up his game.

"A basic lightning spell?! And I'm the amateur here?! You're funny, are you one of those second rate stage magicians people hire for kids' parties?"

Abaddon got down on all fours and charged the summoner, but as he neared him a swarm of oversized bees came flying at him from nowhere! Abaddon let out a surprised sound as he ran head first into them, immediately receiving dozens of burning stings all over his bodies. Lashing out with spikes and tendrils wouldn't help right now since there were hundreds of these overgrown bastards, and as able as Abaddon was to just disintegrate them all with his aura he wasn't willing to use more of his magical abilities. Afterall...

This guy wasn't worth it!

"You know... I really hate bees!"

So now Abaddon rushed the mage once again. What would he do? Lash out with tendrils? Swipe at him claws? Just pin him down and disembowel him? All desirable options for Abaddon, particularly the last one, but he had something a tad more interesting in mind. With the swarm following him, he took a leap for his foe to feign a pounce, but rather than actually touch him, his body did the same thing it had done with the mole ape thingy and assumed its liquid shadow form.

"Gotcha!" Abaddon's voice hissed as his shadows avoided the man and regrouped behind him.

"Here, let's see how you like it! You bitch, I'll probably have swollen spots all over me for days!"

Abaddon grabbed the man and allowed some of his body to slither over him, resembling a certain black ooze from a comic series. The darkness wrapped around the man's hands and feet, and now Abaddon lifted him up so that he could feel the sting of the swarm instead.

[Polyphemus]

SIXGUN

"The eyes? I can do that," he said, still a little wary about following instructions given by the voice in his head. Especially now that it was a woman. He had met plenty of lady cops and superheroes in the last few years, but he had been raised with the impression that women were delicate and gentle, needing to be helped into carriages and such. Were they just playing at fighting?

He raised his .45 as four of the creatures approached him. Four bullets, four mandrakes. Four left eyes. Nothing he hadn't done before. He fanned off four shots, one aimed at each of the creatures eyes, depending on his talent for making aimed shots in very little time. Snapping open and emptying the cylinder, he began loading .45 rounds into the newly empty revolver. Anytime the cavalry wanted to show up as fine with him.

---

SONJA

She mentally kicked herself for using Hot Rod's name out loud. The man had been right to chastise her- just because her identity was highly public didn't mean the same for everyone. Sonja resolved to be more careful.

But caution would have to come later, as the group was entering the infirmary and being greeted by a scene straight out of Hell. Flames licked the walls and suffused the dead bodies of COs, and the sick and injured could do little more than moan helplessly as the heat increased and the air grew thinner. Sonja watched, transfixed, as the woman in the black robe stepped out of nowhere and demanded a circle. Flames covered everywhere except the door- inviting a nigh-suicidal single file entry.

Sonja turned to Hot Rod and whispered to him. "If I smash out part of the wall can you get through the flames unharmed? They're expecting us to come through that door."

[Arty Fox]

The comment Finnix passed about her name had brought a small smile to Chris’ face. “Still, it’s an improvement on Rolling Girl. Not that the Journalists will ever listen.” Chris grumbled under her breath.

“If you’re looking for a story to pass the time I have one.” Chris offered in a hushed tone.

She moved away from where Pariah was analysing the live footage in an effort to lure some of the new recruits, one of two of which had started to look a little bit uneasy on their feet, away from him so he could concentrate a bit better. After casting a puzzled and wary glance at the now floating MC after his explanation of tentacles, no thank you my dear sir, she found a spot which seemed to be a good place for keeping everyone in order.

The reason though that Chris kept her voice hushed was so she could hear the order that would surely come, and from the looks of it possibly very soon, for her to dash in there and possibly break some necks! Not that she really would really, but she would punch them quite hard. But when a few of them followed after her, and rested their staring eyes upon her, Chris suddenly found her mouth very dry and heart thumping even harder away. After a few false starts, and a couple of deep breaths Chris finally found her voice and began her story.

“You guys probably found your powers in some way like an accident or just messing about right?” She asked, still in a slightly hushed tone. “Well I heard of this guy who can disassemble himself, kind of like pulling the arms off an action figure but he can also take off his fingers and nose, but you’ll never guessed how he found out this power.”
She waited for a moment for the recruits to look at each other in confusion and try to work out how this strange person found their power.

“They sneezed.” Chris grinned painfully waiting for it to sink in. “Body parts everywhere, I still not sure if he ever managed to find his pinkie finger.”

[Heat]

"You should have surrendered when you had the chance, Bishop. Now you've put all of your friends at risk." Killshade muttered to the man as he quickly reached his hand into his boot, grasping one of the the explosives, then rose out of the chair as he noticed that Villa had a gun trained on him. He blinked as he figured out a plan, he needed to use the explosives and take out the Legion member who had the barriers up which kept more of his allies from storming the place.

In a second he seemingly disappeared, using his flash step power, aiming to come behind Permafrost the ice user, the source of the blockade. Right as he reappeared, he pulled the pin then underhand tossed the marble sized explosive he had in his hand, aiming for it to land in the middle of the room, then quickly grasped both now free hands on the head and neck of Permafrost. Killshade then sent his hands in an angle, going for the familiar necksnap he had done so many times in the past.

[An Outsider]

The extinguisher slammed into the back of Scratchy Mcgee's head, sending the would-be escapee careening to the floor. Looking like tha Surgeon is gonnae needa doctor. Apogee complained about the quality of his one-liners which, while completely justifiable, was still less welcome than a 'thanks' for saving my life' would have been. Now that the Surgeon was down he had a second to fixate on the pain of his wounds, the slashes across his face and chest, the headache which always assailed him when he manipulated magnetism. Small losses for having taken down three villains and saving three of his League mates.

Seemed the universe thought he should have to suffer more for his gains too, as a burning pain erupted in the back of his leg. The suddenness of it made him fall to one knee, more out of shock at the pain than a response to the pain itself.

"I'm going to have fun with you hero." Came a disembodied voice, before a second cut opened up across the Lightning-Slinger's stomach. The wound was shallow, which told Volt the voice had meant what it had said, the villain probably intended to kill him with a death of a thousand cuts. A terrifying prospect, if but for one small detail Been there, done that, got the scars to show for it. Shank tried his hand at thon too, an ah took him down sure enough. Shank had been a teleporter with an unhealthy fetish for knives. During the bank job Volt had been paired up with the knife nut for the big fracas. Shank, realising he was physically outmatched, had tried to confound the Lightning Slinger by cutting Volt once then teleporting out of reach. The Scotsman had responded by sending out a 360 degree blast of energy, catching the teleporter in the field. Perhaps Shade and Shank's modus were different, but their attack style was similar, and Volt reckoned he could catch this one out much the same why he had caught the last.

"Ah hope we dae have fun Shade, in fact ah hope oor time together is electrifying!" He would have to thank Cord for that line. As he spoke the Lightning-Slinger surged to his feet, launching himself into the air. As he came back down he let the energy inside him build up in his fist, blue tendrils dancing across his arm. As he landed he punched the ground, letting the energy burst out from his fist, lightning arcing out across the room. Everyone in the attendance should be hit by it, but that was what he hoped for. Apogee could handle the shock, and if Emmanuel was anything like him then he wouldn't even feel it. The only people who it would hurt were currently trying to kill him and his friends.

[Yog Sothoth]

Hot Rod looked at the fire that was blocking their way in with the exception of a door which was not touched by the flames. But Hot Rod didn't need to be a geniius to know that it was an attempt to make them enter into room one by one which would leave them open to be easily picked. When Sonja quietly asked him if he could get through the flames unarmed with flaming aura, he knew the answer to the question.

"I don't think so, it looks like the flames are probably magical and my aura only works against normal fire and even then it doesn't make me completely immune. But that's not gonna stop me from doing my duty as a her, if you make an opening I will try to move through as quick as possible to avoid getting mortally burned. What should I do next? should I take out the creator of these flames?" he asked Sonja, curious to hear her answer.

---t

"That sounds like a very terrifying way to discover one's own powers" Ocean Warrior replied to Chris while a light chuckle. They were still waiting for Pariah to give them the okay with entering the restaurant and even Ocean Warrior had to admit that he was becoming impatiant and wondered why Pariah decided to wait for so long to allow them to breach the business and detain the bad guys.

[MrDidact]

The Lab

Sixgun's expert shots drove into the mandrakes' heads, green fluid splattering the ground as they fell. On the hill men started charging down and shouting, jockeying to get into the action and throwing all caution to the wind. One of the Mandrakes reached Sixgun and slapped him to the ground. A big rooted foot raised itself above his head before a large crack sounded in the air as the Witchfinder shot the Mandrake in the head, its partner soon after. The mobsters inched forward with guns raised when suddenly the front door was blown off its hinges and slammed into an unfortunate biker.

The Alchemist strode out after it and raised his hands the green fluid morphing and shifting on the floor before it flew forward in a wave and splashed itself over a large group of the criminals. The men sputtered and spit before they started screaming as the fluid travelled [i] into [/b] their bodies, green blood pouring through open eyes, nostrils, and screaming mouths strangling and drowning a dozen men. Their skin began to turn a sickly green before they all died and hit the floor. The Witchfinder fired again, the bullet zooming at the Alchemist but before it struck the round melted away and hit the floor in a rusted shell.

The gaunt man and a half-dozen or so apprentices looked over the dazed survivors. The man smiled, "More ingredients. Kill them." He stood back as his apprentices brandished knives and strange looking glass containers, charging at the survivors.

Maroni's

Pariah silenced him with a look, "That barrier wouldn't fall. Destiny assured me it was warded against any kind of assault. It would only rebound on the caster." Pariah looked at Break Neck, "Jigsaw. He joined sometime back. I'm still on the case and I believe it should be resolved soon." The barest hint of a ghost of humor slipped into his voice, difficult to verify given the mask and goggles that covered his whole face. He stared at Ocean Warrior, "Your teammates haven't identified the caster. If we breach now we wouldn't be able to hit with all of our force and we run a serious risk of collateral damage. Furthermor-" He stopped as he took in the situation on the display

Inside the men stared down Rift Hound. One said, "No way hero. Now we just got more insurance." They all snapped their heads back for a moment to take in the sudden explosion of activity. For a vital moment, four seconds at the most, their attention was off of Rift Hound. Near the door, Bishop had noticed Killshade's behavior and acted quickly. He grabbed the serving thug and threw him onto the ball in the middle of the room, the concussive blast of light and sound mostly blocked out with his own body though the man was now blissfully unconscious. It was still plenty loud however and startled everyone else in the room.

Permafrost couldn't react as Killshade went for the kill. But she didn't have to. As soon as his unprotected hands touched her skin a coating of ice covered them. She blinked and slammed an elbow into his face before kicking away and into a wall, firing an ice blast to freeze his legs, Villa swiveling a pistol to point at his forehead. Her other pistol was aimed squarely at Shifter's face. Locust shrieked and stood taller behind Bishop who said, "That was rude. Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson in manners."

He shook his head and walked over to a young woman. She shrieked as he grabbed her and held her in front of him, shushing her as his arms wrapped around her, "Look what happens when you don't play ball with us."

Pariah shouted, "BREAK NECK SPEED THROUGH THE ICE! OCEAN WARRIOR FOLLOW! ZAPHKIEL TOP FLOOR! MOVE! MC REMAIN IN REAR UNTIL MY SIGNAL!" Pariah jumped off the roof and rolled as he hit the ground, running for the entrance and drawing his pistols cocking them on the move as he sprinted towards Maroni's.

Bishop sighed, "We could have just kept the status quo alive. Now innocents have to suffer more. Her blood and the blood of everyone else in this room is on your hands." His hand muffled her screaming mouth as the other wrapped around her neck. Bishop stared at them letting his hand go for a moment, "What's your name sweety?" The lady gasped, "Sheila. Please don-" his hand covered her mouth again as he grimaced, "Sheila. Well Sheila. They just killed you. Now they get to watch the consequences of their actions."

The Prison

The man shook his head, mouth lifting a little, "Always thinking with your fists. A caster's true weapon is their mind." The bees did not do a thing to the man, their master. Instead they all melted away and turned into a miasmic blob in the air. He was utterly unconcerned about being tied by Abaddon's shadow and looked him the eye before murmuring a word. Suddenly slithering worms popped out all along Abaddon's skin, shrieking with tiny mouths as they shot in and out of the area that Abaddon had used to block the Summoner's lightning.

Evidently it had been a trap to plant these parasites within Abaddon, supernatural creatures who began eating away at him on and beneath the skin of his arm, devouring his flesh like miniature piranhas. The man nodded his head and the miasmic energy he had gathered scythed through Abaddon's dark bonds and the man rubbed his wrists before the energy flowed into the mouth of his mount who grew even larger, talons growing sharper, fur turning into needles and wings turning into demonic spikes as it roared and lashed out at Abaddon with a rake of its talons before taking a bite at him.

Inside the prison Volt's tried attack proved true again and Shade's skeleton was briefly lit up as the attack electrocuted him and he screamed, Rot vomitting even more acid as she shrieked. Both groaned and fell to the ground as Apogee rose to her feet. She shook her head and smiled at Volt, "Seriously, Volt. Leave the wisecracks to the younger generation please. And thank you, I wouldn't be around if not for you." Her eyes flashed white and she looked around, "There's two big blips I can see. A large thermal in the infirmary but looks like we have a team on it. I'm seeing something big coming from the Warden's office. Maybe the thing thats putting a wet blanket on our mages." She grinned at Volt, "Wanna help a girl out?"

Inside the infirmary the robed woman assumed a meditative pose on the ground, chanting lowly, before she started rising into the air and floating above the floor. The woman on fire walked around the room looking down on all the people trapped in their beds, her flames seeming to brighten in pleasure as she touched a prison staffer with a hand and the man screamed an animal scream, his cries becoming louder and thready as she leaned her head over him and kissed him, lips turning his skin into a grotesque ruin of flesh as the scent and taste of burning meat filled the air. The man fell silent and a white beam of light flew out of the man's chest and began orbiting the robed woman who continued to chant, the fireball slowly walking to another patient.

[Abysse]

Zaphkiel

The angel responded with his utmost greatest haste, launching off of the roofline with a single flap of his immense wings. The angel propelled himself in just that instance high and long enough to land him squarely on the roof, which he promptly broke through. The sheer weight of his armor and the force of its fall from such a height caved in the roof of Maroni's right where he landed, sending a shower of cement and construction materials to the floor and dust spreading across the room. Beating his wings aside, Zaphkiel removed the space of the smoke cloud and summoned his shield in a shower of light.

His left hand warped into an elongated form, solidifying into a rod of greenish light serving as his non-lethal weapon. He could have had it bladed, but it was indicated to him that lethal force was a last resort. Regardless, his strength alone could put some serious damage behind the rod. With a mighty yell he unleashes a bright flash of light, blinding to all but himself as he took the opportunity to size up the situation. Being the first and only one to be delegated to the top floor, he needed to play his surprise card just right.

There were a few armed thugs, he could see. There was a high probability they weren't supers if they were walking about in their body armor carrying firearms. Three, however, seemed quite the opposite. One against three huh? Just as Zaphkiel's burst of light subsided, he dug his feet into the ground, launching forward carried by his outstretched wings into the villain known as Shrieker, choosing from among them randomly. He threw his shield out before himself, attempting to bash the much physically weaker human into submission.