Evelyn made a face, but reacted quickly as she got feedback from the projection’s senses. Covered, drenched even, in a sticky substance. She activated comms,
“Messiah, heat blast my projection” Even as she said it, the tulpa seemed to flex, having already received its modified directives from Evelyn.
Alessa had already gotten the point of what Protean was saying, and whilst she understood that maybe he had some lingering affection for them, it didn’t counteract how he’d been working against them so much. Indeed, Alessa was already burning the quills headed for her to nothing, and would already have simply engulfed him in a blast of overwhelming energy, if it hadn’t been for Lily behind him. Appropriate force output was one thing, harming one’s SO was quite another. So, an alternative to that seemed rather useful, even if it was somewhat counterintuitive; promptly, a ray of intense heat struck the projection, searing through some of the webbing to do so.
Immediately the projection practically exploded, the heat igniting and spreading over the entire surface of its body in an instant. It expanded into a two foot radius of exotic energy, electricity, and fire, incinerating the webbing in less than even half a second. In the same instance the projection’s preparations caused it to expand, about as fast as the aura itself, until it filled the hallway from wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor. The quills would have
almost no choice but to strike it...or be almost immediately incinerated by the electrical current and intense heat surrounding its body.
“Hit the snake with a laser, save Tiger Lily,” she said, desperately hoping they’d be in time or that Tiger Lily had managed on her own.
In the time that it had taken Evelyn to say even that, the tulpa had recovered, going from its immobile, blob-like state to moving. The aura snapped back onto its body a few seconds after the quills struck it, but before even that it had reduced its size to fill only the center of the hall, regaining its limbs as it did so. As a direct result it was able to accelerate even faster, going from a jogging pace of 2.6 meters per second, to a running speed of 12.5 meters per second, and then to 16 in another moment.
Evelyn gave out additional orders through comms,
“Messiah, If the projection closes distance, hit it with your power. Doesn’t have to be powerful. Use the aura to replenish your stores.” As it was about to reach Protean, its size decreased slightly--still making it about twice his size. It would have all of its limbs well in order, and appeared to be moving in an attempt to grapple the traitor.
Suffice to say, the projection was very impressive to behold. At first, Alessa wasn’t sure it hadn’t outright exploded when she hit it with her power, but the way it expanded at the same time to catch all the excess quills... hot damn. And it moved fast, as did Evelyn’s further instructions. Right, the snake! Running an arc about Protean to get the snake in her sights, she hit it with a lance of heat and light, perhaps more intense than it needed to be - but knowing Protean, he could well have reinforced it to be far more dense than that - whilst also frying the man’s head again. His whole head, antennae and all. She wasn’t going to risk his still being able to detect stuff so easily, though chances were she might have missed something even the second time around.
Evelyn might have smiled if a cold rage hadn’t been what drove her in the moment. Instead the edges of her lips twitched. Refocusing as an idea struck her she called over comms again,
“Mastar, throw a bunch of your tar at my projection. I’ve got an idea!” She paused a moment then added,
“Margrave, any way you can occupy Protean’s attention further would be helpful. Tiger Lily, if you’re still in play,” I hope you are, she thought, leaving it unsaid,
“...then do the same, we want him pinned and on his back foot.””Way ahead of you,” came Margrave’s response. If one glanced his way, separate from the rest and never really at risk for a quill-puncturing, one could see his submachine gun tucked under his arm as he labored with great intensity on something in his hands. After a couple seconds, the antihero finished the wall of lego bricks he’d been building, and after taking it in one hand he hurled it Protean’s way. The moment it left his proximity the assembly sprang to a full-size brick wall, three feet high and five feet wide, flying at the traitor like a massive frisbee.
Mastar heard Evelyn’s call over the comms, and immediately nodded to herself. The spines that were shot at the tarry blob were ineffective since they were blocked almost entirely by the projection, but it wasn’t a terrible worry anyway, since the girl could easily switch into her fully viscous state to soak up the damage. The tar girl turned her head towards the tulpa and flashed a smile, her entire left arm leaving her form, save for the small bump where her shoulder would be. Meanwhile, the right arm grew twice its normal size and seeped down into a large droplet.
”Tar incoming!” Mastar called as she spun around, her deformed arm picking up momentum before it separated from the rest of her body. Of course, it sent Mastar back towards the wall, but the arm found itself flung towards the projection and heading to the shadowy figure quite fast.
The tar struck it square in the back, but the tulpa seemed almost not to notice, except in that the tar was pulled into its body. Once it had absorbed the tar it attempted to swivel to Protean’s side, sensing the Margrave’s attack and giving it a chance to strike Protean. A moment later it had more limbs, all stabbing at Protean, its size almost filling the hallway, its speed and strength and ability to adjust trajectory more than considerable. If it managed to strike and pierce Protean it would latch on and pump the absorbed tar directly into the shapeshifter’s body. Beyond that, if it managed to grapple as well, Messiah would hit it with her power and it would light up in a storm of burning, shocking energy.
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