BoltBeam

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Panicked
Status - Slightly injured
Interactions/Mentions - @thatguyinastore ,literally everyone else

---

From her formerly resting position, she was disturbed the moment Lex was cut off. The very second the static began to roar, she automatically knew something 'else' was coming through, leaping to her feet despite the possible lack of space around her. Red stood and listened as this more maniacal voice replaced Lex's own, and the sheer contrast was unbelievable. Whoever was talking to them now had some sort of means to interrupt the communications and use it for themselves... OK, but question one - why? She would not get her answer very quickly, as a bright light surrounded the whole jet, as well as engulfing the people flying outside it. Upon impact, the missile detonated, tearing off the jet's wing and began sending the whole thing - people included - straight down to Earth. Try as she might to escape, Red's scissors nor her spells she attempted to use would not amount to any good. With a troubled smile, she closed her eyes and sighed. "...The end." She quietly spoke before the impact, unconscious along with everybody else then after it.

When she awoke, Red shook herself to her feet and was met with slight pain - no major injuries in sight, but the damage from what could have been lethal was kicking strong and it was gonna be kicking for a while at this rate. That neon green sign she saw after getting up from under the rubble of the jet and a bunch of other stuff under her around her, was sending mixed messages... Joker's Funland... So is that voice they heard related to this? Before she could think much further, she kneeled down before she heard other people awakening and speaking too, responding to Joel through that same troubled smile of hers. 'This really isn't going well, is it?' She thought to herself as she processed the scene.

"Well, somehow alive... not feeling very good, but alive..." She told him, shaking herself again - and as dirt flung off her clothes and the rest of her person, she glanced to everyone else who was still down at the time. With a pause, Red once again focused for a brief moment as a light blue (almost teal) glow suddenly emitted from her - a glow that may seem familiar - and it once more swam through the group, its influence 'infecting' the downed like a plague. They would feel weakness washing away, their injuries from the crash dying, and newfound strength to stand. However, those who already standing (like Red herself) would receive no such feeling. Just trying to get the others to stand, so maybe she's not the only one around - besides Joel - seeing this new land.

And don't even get her started on where the new people came from.

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Chilling (in deep thought)
Status - Fine
Interactions/Mentions - @Thatguyinastore, @ClownTown, literally everyone else

---

The battle yet continued, and much to Red's dismay, fortune frowned upon her. Her second strike had failed, the rocks she launched at Firefly zooming right past him as he dodged. Preparing to guard, this effort would be immediately useless as Firefly would be disrupted before he even had the chance to bathe her in fire with that flamethrower of his, much to her relief. Before she could utter another word or make another move, everyone else's combined attacks back-to-back quickly worn him down and he was soon seen on the ground, hardly even alive at this point - beaten to the brink of consciousness. And before Negan could put the final nail in the coffin...

He showed up.

Superman showed up.

Cue the immediate panic from Red, before Superman swiftly eliminated Firefly, using laser eyes to reduce him to nothing, no life and no face left after the lasers that burnt it, before he just as quickly vanished. "Well, that's... terrifying..." Red meekly muttered to herself, laughing nervously and wiping sweat off her forehead, raising her hood over her head as she suddenly heard Lex's voice. Work's done here... pursue Superman?

From what she knows, largely in thanks to Ultron and the late Mister Combustible, It didn't seem like Superman did anything 'wrong' here - a superhero doing his duty to a criminal, but... He practically 'killed' Firefly! That man won't 'see' another day, there's no face on him to grant him sight and whatever life he had left was now snuffed out... but why not throw him behind bars? Is that not what people do to criminals? Though she wordlessly complied and was shortly seen in a seat of her own, with her feet against the seat before her and whatever lucky(?) individual sitting in that same seat would feel a little bump or two because of this.

To put it simply, she had a 'lot' of thoughts on her mind while she appeared to be relaxing.

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Battle mode
Status - Injured (moderate), pending
Interactions/Mentions - @Thatguyinastore, literally everyone else

---

Well hey, what do you know? She hit him! Though the splash of water that covered Firefly after it did very little, Red bounced off using the recoil of the impact to keep herself moving, eventually landing on the ground and grinding her movement to a halt - applying more force to her feet to stop herself from suddenly falling or crashing, to hold her ground. After she did so, Red was greeted by a few bombs thrown her way after her attack, as a retaliation - and with little time to react after her recent landing. All she could do was raise her weapon to incept it, but alas, the blasts of the bombs knocked her down to the ground and tumbling around from the impact, sustaining a fair amount of damage from the explosives in question. It wasn't too pleasant, that feeling - a surge of condensed fire erupting before her and around her, torching her very body with intent to harm - and though she struggled, getting back on her feet wasn't too bad. Until the carpet bombing began, to scorch and absolutely devastate everything they could touch. Dread settled in almost instantly.

"Well, that's not good... Alright!" With a heavy sigh, Red focused for a brief moment as a light blue (almost teal) glow suddenly emitted from her, and with time, slowly spread to everyone else - the dissolved interrogation team, the folks down below - everyone that isn't Firefly (and the people who are already dead/people who have nothing to do with this). With a shorter delay then after, everyone affected should feel some of their strength returning and some of their injuries fade away - and when this glow faded, Red opted to focus on Firefly once more. This time, she dug her scissors into the ground as the blades turned a shade of orange, before she raised it up and swung it towards Firefly. Though the blade would not reach him at all, Firefly would probably be surprised by a small amount of moderately sized rocks trying to knock him out of the sky. If they missed, these projectiles would either end up hitting someone else, or the wall.

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Battle mode
Status - Fine (pending)
Interactions/Mentions - @Thatguyinastore, literally everyone else

---

In response to the question she had asked earlier, Combustible seemed none the wiser. He's more in tune with Gotham, he says - as opposed to Metropolis. Given what the group knows on him already, that makes some sense - but what happened to Superman to go from... toppling schemes, belonging to Lex? Digesting this information was big news, to Red at least - with a strike of surprise, she receded into her hood and kept thinking ever more. So Superman and Lex not only have a bad relationship, but Superman is foiling schemes from this egghead business man... or at least was, before this. That's all she'd gathered - but if that's the case, what the heck happened between then and now for it to get to this point? That's the big question she wanted to ask, but one with no available answers...

Before she could even open her mouth in response, a mighty explosion sounded off nearby. And another, then yet another - and peering into the broken hole in the building, ruins of cars and rising smoke appeared to meet her, followed by a resounding and mighty laugh by the would-be culprit. Though the building shook when these explosions first took place, Red stabbed her scissors into the ground and held onto the handles tightly - maintaining her footing without moving an inch, and yet somehow not damaging the ground any more than it had been. Within a few seconds, the flying madman appeared - the Firefly that was mentioned earlier... And then he swiftly disposed of Combustible, with the lightbulb man being thrown into the open space outside the building, burnt to a crisp mid-flight before his head shattered vividly on the surface that awaited him far below. It all happened so fast. Red was practically stunned. Looking down to the flying pyromaniac, Red narrowed her glance and raised her scissors once more - Superman can wait, the current scene is all about this guy and what he and those thugs had been up to! Then bombs started dropping...

"Well, this sucks! Thanks for bringing both the moth 'and' the flame by coming to clean up the mess yourself." Red quipped aloud as she promptly ran away from the scattered bombs and some kind of green orb manifested in her hand, seemingly having 'absorbed' some of the air around her. With a little jump first, Red shattered this orb below her - launching her further into the air with a mighty gust of wind, avoiding the explosions of all of the scattered bombs while also potentially scattering some of them elsewhere nearby. While in the air, Red raised her weapon as the tips of it were slowly glowing blue, before taking on a water-like appearance coating the majority of both of the weapon's blades - and swung it down below her when she was close enough to Firefly, attempting to smack him right on the head with her scissors - and upon impact if she was successful, the flying pyromaniac would be rudely cut off even further and weighed down by a sudden downpour of water all over himself. If Red missed however, it's straight into that open gap in the floor she goes, inevitably to be landing with a loud crash and with no idea where she is.

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Serious
Status - (Slightly) Injured
Interactions/Mentions - @Thatguyinastore, @FactionGuerilla, @QizPizza, @MorgueofCrowz, @TheElenaFisher, @XeroUltra, @Kagebaka, @Lazaro1505, @SomeMekBoy, @Crow, @Jeff Jones, @Lmpkio, @ClownTown

---

So... according to the now-named Mister Combustible, Superman was missing for weeks before he started going around and messing everything up. The criminal himself before them works under Firefly, and has more intel on him rather than Superman - and from Firefly, he in extension works for someone known as... The Penguin (at least, according to Ultron)? But listening to the lightbulb man's words, he'd been sent to practically babysit those thugs - and he outright refused to partake in the acts! That's why he was locked up in the closet, for defying 'orders' from the person who hired him... all checks out! Just one problem here - who the heck is this Penguin guy? They already have 'enough' on their plate to deal with, dragging more and bigger names in by connecting multiple people is just going to make it all much worse over time! According to Combustible, Superman was more stable two weeks ago, and the goon himself was roped into work without knowing the full details... But he says Lex and Superman, even prior to this mess, aren't on good terms at all... why?

Though Red dared not say a word as she processed all of this, she's slowly trying to work out an explanation for all of this. The working plan of this ordeal is simple - Superman went missing weeks ago, but not before the two weeks ago period their new 'friend' here mentioned. Then, upon his return, he started rampaging and ended up burning his 'protector' image to the ground like a mindless, mass murderer. Lex has been implied to attempting to ward him off until Red herself and everyone else were pulled into this mess, but there's something Red wanted to quickly ask, before she forgets, though it may not prove valuable to this long-term investigation.

"Hey, hold on. Comprehending all this, Lex and Superman 'aren't' on good terms before this whole incident? Why not?"

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Serious
Status - (Slightly) Injured
Interactions/Mentions - @Thatguyinastore, @FactionGuerilla, @QizPizza, @MorgueofCrowz, @TheElenaFisher, @XeroUltra, @Kagebaka, @Lazaro1505, @SomeMekBoy, @Crow, @Jeff Jones, @Lmpkio, @ClownTown

---

When the lightbulb man came out from the closet, Red's first instinct was to try and step into protect his would-be target, only for someone else to beat her to the punch - one of the two newer arrivals, courtesy of the now wide-open ceiling. The information Ultron provided the group however, was more fruitful - even if fending off this temporary problem, one Red opted to respond to as she kept on eye on the lightbulb man. "So this... Firefly, isn't from here but seems to have relocated here amidst this... Superman problem? As if it couldn't get any worse, here we are. Speaking of the Superman problem, he has been missing for a few weeks prior to this?" Red rested one of her hands below her chin and the other still holding her scissors over her shoulder - and with whatever luck she has, they weren't suddenly opening themselves by being held in the air and in place. "OK, but... this is a bit far-fetched to me! This Firefly guy going around in a place he doesn't belong and doing his thing, a rogue Superman, and the guy who brought us here to deal with his dirty work since the usual folks aren't around. Did I miss anything? Because we're juggling all of it at once."

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Serious
Status - (Slightly) Injured
Interactions/Mentions - @MorgueofCrowz,@QizPizza,@SomeMekBoy,@TheElenaFisher,@Thatguyinastore,@Crow,@FactionGuerilla, @ClownTown,@Yamperzzz,@XeroUltra,@Kagebaka

---

When the ceiling above herself and the others fell on in, surrounding and/or crushing them all, Red was not so lucky. Confused when she heard the initial crumbling and then finding herself under some of the fallen rubble, it took a short while for her to emerge from what had buried her and injured her sufficiently - not too much damage, but the pain is at least noticeable enough to Red herself but not enough to keep her down. It is but a scratch, one could say - and though it didn't look the best, Red tried her best to hold up a wide smile as she sliced her way through any more rubble that stopped her from moving. The hostages should be fine - that remaining thug is out like a light for a while. Shame, too - Red was having a bit too much fun messing around like that for once.

So that then turned her attention to the two new arrivals - one with a GOD DAMN DRAGON, and the other who just dropped in from above! Red wasn't even sure what to say or do, but as she listened closely, the former was responsible for the collapsing of this building - or at least that which just happened - to affect the group here. Could they have really changed the lives of those thugs? They were literally unwilling to cooperate no matter what, as far as she was aware - and Red arrived late! Before Red could say or do anything, she would pause before she even took a step when she heard Cole speak up - as it sounded like he had seen something - or learned something. She doesn't quite understand, but upon hearing it as it was, she was somewhat relieved.

"So, what you're saying is, we may not just have to worry about this Superman we were told about, but others too. Great." Though she didn't sound too enthusiastic, this was probably for the better to know about - they were not told this by Lex, for whatever reason, but knowing about multiple threats gives them more to juggle and more to think about. "Well, if that's the case, they should still be nearby, right? These are just his goons, so the guy himself can't have gotten far by now depending on how good that bucket of bolts is." She thought aloud as her tone lowered, diving into her own thoughts to think about this even more. Just who is this, and which of these problems do they prioritise? The local protector who suddenly took a turn, or a (most likely) smaller-scale evil, who may or may not have any connections to this mess at all?

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Serious
Status - Healthy
Interactions/Mentions - @thatguyinastore, @Crow, @KageBaka, @FactionGuerilla, @TheElenaFisher, @SomeMekBoy, @Yamperzzz, @ClownTown, @Lazaro1505

---

When Red identified the crying towards the top floor, she wasted no time in turning towards that direction and running there. What met her was a small handful of a few people formerly in Lex's office, having seemingly cornered and beaten down a few thugs - interrogating them for answers. To put it simply, Red was concerned - confused, and a little freaked out. When she was looking for injured civilians, thugs were not what she was expecting at all. But if Superman is now evil after his implied turn and running rampant, nobody is really punishing them or hunting them down, right? "...Not what I had in mind. At all." She blurted aloud to nobody in particular, shaking her head and briefly burying herself in her hood to try and briefly hide the sight altogether. If she was right, it seems the group was on board with trying to squeeze answers out of these thugs, using pain and potentially death as a punishment of sorts if they don't comply... Not something Red smiled upon. With her expectations dashed and with a grim mood replacing the one which had just perished upon her arrival, she dug her scissors into the ground and returned her hood to its original position.

"I have no idea how much I missed, but either they know as little as we do or they're just too stubborn to bother confessing anything at all. If they please, they can just lie down and die that way, weak and worthless." She said in an audibly downed, bleak tone - yet one filled to the brim with seriousness as the glanced to the third thug in question, who was currently beneath a boot from Ciri, fearing for his dear life after being scared off by Maisha - both of whom Red does not quite know (but again, she thinks she recognises the former)! Stepping a little closer, she raised her scissors over her shoulder and looked down to the remaining thug, with a wide, malicious smile - though she dared not to act just yet as she instead observed his position - his condition. Terrified, weak, and injured - riddled with fear and his mask hiding his feelings by concealing his face. "As much as your fear has my attention, I get the feeling you're too stubborn to give up. How it's gonna end is you either leave without your pride, or without your life - or maybe you'll just lose both depending on how cooperative you are! ...Not like you have much of a choice in the situation you're in, huh?"

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Panicked
Status - Healthy
Interactions/Mentions - @RirisStride1, @thatguyinastore

---

Upon hearing the adventurer's response, Red nodded to him and flashed a smile of her own alongside a thumbs up. "You got it! Good luck with all that! Seems like you've got your work cut out for you!" After she spoke, Red wordlessly resigned herself to lounging around once more, though she made a mental note that this same adventurer is to be leading the tactical team - you know, the team she put herself into? Red was still trying to comprehend the courage and confidence needed to even dare to do this in the first place. But hey, it seems to be working so far! However, his last words were a little harder to swallow - on the virtue of being easier said than done. Working with people isn't new at all, but Red is just stood there like - how the heck does he expect me to do that? Not like she has any choice regardless - if she didn't cooperate with the others (and in turn, Lex), nobody in this office that doesn't belong in it will be going home.

Then, during the middle of Lex's speech, explosions were heard outside. As she turned her head to face that direction, it did not take her long at all to realise that Superman himself was right there, with his red cape flickering like a wildfire. He has indeed been going on a rampage recently - destroying buildings and slaughtering innocents, some protector he is now, huh? Though Superman could not be found nearby as everyone ran out of the office per Lex's sudden urgency, the smell of smoke and the sounds of painfully loud crying and fear rang out and drilled their way into Red's ears, something she didn't seem to appreciate - at all. This was a nightmare. Within seconds, she hears Hershel's voice once more, turning her eyes to her watch on her wrist - which she only just knew was there! With all the injured around, it is an idea to go and find them, isn't it? "Sir yes sir!" She comically responded in the same manner before suddenly taking off, on the search for any injured or lost civilians, with her scissors held tightly in her hands and with a noticeable state of urgency as she tried to chase the signs and sounds she heard.

The smoke can wait, that's probably where the hazard himself is.

ArcRift

Red Riding Hood

Mood - Fine
Status - Healthy
Interactions/Mentions - @Thatguyinastore, @SomeMekBoy, @ProfSpacecakes, @RirisStride1

---

So as Red pondered about Lex's words, there may just be hope after all? As she kept thinking about the tension and the stakes - which she seemed to believe - there were but three who spoke up amid the entire group. Their goal? To organise multiple (three to be exact) distinct teams to deal with their alien opponent. There was the strike team for sheer power, the information team to gather intel on the situation and their opponents, and the tactical team which applies said intel gathered! All they need to do is work together in these set-ups and they get to go home. That was all from 'one' of these three men who outlined the plan, the other two consisting of a familiar 'Sun-Head' and what appeared to be an experienced if somewhat weathered traveller. Though she bore a lot of concerns as they even reached this point, Red couldn't help but manage a smile of confidence - and respect. Someone had to take charge after all, but a joint effort of three total strangers? Now this is a treat! Yet, as people file into these teams based on what they are capable of, there's still so many people... Red couldn't help but laugh.

"Now this, this makes me proud. Wish I had this sheer confidence." She spoke aloud - and though she shot herself metaphorically in the heart with these words alone, and dampening her own confidence down even further, she respected the hell out of this - a bit too much. But yet... how could she be mad? "This seems like a bit much though. I kmow we're going up against some kind of... alien protector who is 101% superpowered, but I can't help but feel like we're individually outclassed if that ever comes up..." Her voice laced with worry, she sighed and shook her head and glanced to the trio once more - a man in a spider suit, a second superhero towering above both the other two, and then the adventurer - where her attention finally rested.

"...Though then again, we clearly ain't got a choice if this is our only shot at getting out of here. Guess we're frying a superhuman in the near future, eh? You 'sure' you can handle all this organising by yourself?" With her words alone, Red metaphorically extended a helping hand where she could - and though she wasn't sure what group she originally would reside in, Red ultimately settled into the tactical team - though she lacks a lot of power to wind up on the strike team or the means to gather intel safely for the information team, the tactical team would be the best of fits for her modest arsenal... if you can even call it an arsenal.