Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[SirNitram]

"Not again..." Gravitas' reflexs could keep up this time; the gravitational pull on the building ramped downwards, preventing it from falling until he could run clear of the creaking, dying structure. He shook his head. "I'd throw something at him, but that doesn't seem to work, do it!"

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot saw the man he had attacked earlier hit the ground and start running. He remembered the large number of explosives that he had dropped on the ground, and part of him wondered if he could make it back in time to disarm them. The answer, unfortunately, was no. Just as he was setting down the last civilian, he looked back and saw the fireball starting to form. He quickly put the civilian behind the best cover he could find and looked back at the pizzaria, seeing Blast in the street.

The fireball was growing. He could see the shockwave expanding out faster than he could remember moving, and behind that, the ball of fire. He went through the options in his head, thinking about what he could do. In the end, it was too late. He couldn't race back to get Blast without getting caught in the explosion himself, all he could do was hope his shield was powerful enough to withstand the shockwave. Meanwhile, the bomber came to mind. He ran to the man who dropped the explosive in the first place, flaring his shield to full strength. "You can run away from that kind of a fall, I don't think this is going to kill you, but it'll fucking hurt, won't it?" He didn't touch the man, he just ran a few circles around him, letting each step heat the asphalt beneath his feet, the few patches of tar used to cover up quick cracks turned to mush, the road underneath getting superheated as Hotfoot ran over it. The shield was close enough that the fire surrounded Baden, Hotfoot dodging any of the much slower man's attempts to be rid of him. As the shockwave got closer, he ran down the road, breaking into a full run and disappearing around a corner to get away from the shockwave.

......Meanwhile......

Blast saw the explosion coming at him with widening eyes. "...Fuck me." He dove behind a car and pushed all of his stored power into his shield, the shockwave hitting him in full before he made it to cover. The massive amount of energy from the Bob's weapons quickly expended itself against the kinetic blast. The shield flickered, shuddered, but it held, just barely long enough to be bathed in fire. The thermal energy washed over him, and he drank it up greedily, keeping him from being impaled by pieces of superheated shrapnel that punched through the car he had finally landed behind. When the eternity of the split second was over, he shook his head and looked up, his ears ringing. "What next, a freaking nuke!?"

[B4UTRUST]

Lenox was shocked to see Legacies' retreating form come flying back at him. He was preparing to throw Legacies away again when Blackheart appeared.

The blow knocked the wind out of him, staggering him and turning him slightly. When Legacies whipped by him the blade didn't sever his arm, just most of the muscles down to the bone.

He lashed out with his mind, throwing out a orb of force from around his body. The roof caved inward as a hole was created, Lenox falling through.

[Bloody Good]

As the explosion bloomed near him, Tasat found himself too slow to do anything. meat and bone only moves so fast.

But the Word is faster.

The Word reached out, almost instinctively, and drank in as much of the fire as it could. Nothing it could do for the concussion, but just reducing the heat lessened that enough that it wouldn't turn him into salsa. Probably.

He flew like a bigass bird. Too bad he landed like a sack of bricks. He landed on his side, his shield below him. The impact jarred his shoulder, and he whacked his head against the inside of the disk. He slid on it as though he were a kid sledding down a hill. One of the gunmen left on his feet got clipped just as the other lunatic smashed into the other gunman. Neither of the demonic commandos looked so good standing so close to the blast, and having one's ankles smashed by what amounted to a few hundred pounds of projectile didn't help a whole lot.

As he came to a stop, aided by the now-broken pavement, he found himself cooking from inside. He spat fire at a trashcan to let off some heat, and dragged himself back up. Staggering, he headed back to the remaining commandos, sword drawn and intent on making sure they didn't recover. He couldn't even tell if they were still alive, but a good warrior makes sure.

[Charon]

Legacies didn't pause for an instant as Lenox fell out of view. Legacies fired out more tendrils, keeping up his momentum as he followed the TKer down, his dagger out and ready to fire again. As Legacies went down he kept his eye out for the man as tendrils lashed out and dug deeply into walls and floors and ceilings to act as a buffer if any TK came at him.

[Haizu]

As Tholos landed on the other side of the vehicle, he quickly took stock of the situation. Behind him he saw a man that was in a blur of motion taking down the last of the two enemies in the car he just went over. Looking to his right, he saw something that chilled him to the bone. One of the enemies had just dropped some type of explosive to the ground, judging from how everyone else was reacting. Knowing that there was no way he could get over there in time to use his Word of Change to make the explosive inert, he decided to do the next best thing: make a barrier.

Immediately dropping down behind his shield, he threw up a 3 foot thick half dome of earth and braced his shield against it. Hoping to the gods that this worked, he waited for whatever came next. Even so, he was not prepared for what happened. All of a sudden he felt a force akin to Zeus himself slamming his fist into whole body, but somehow he was able to hold onto his shield and stay put. The whole ordeal only lasted for a few seconds, but it seemed like a lifetime. Once the force of the explosion had passed, Tholos fell limp against his shield, thankful that it had finally ended. Just with that small movement, the earthen barrier he had created fell apart. "By Aries that was close." Almost falling over in the process, Tholos stood up and did his best to maintain his balance. Looking around he noticed that the building to his left was slowly starting to collapse. "Time to go!" Tholos turned and made best speed away from the scene of destruction that lay before him.

[LadyTevar]

Argent was managing to stay upright despite the vertigo that hit every time she moved her head. It didn't help when she coughed and tasted blood. She hoped it was just coming from her ear canal, and not something more serious. Nothing else felt damaged. She paused, swaying dizzily as she felt out the threads that led to her teammates. Hotfoot; annoyed but ok. Blast; upset, but ok. Ghost; well, he was not here, but he was upset. Legacies; some pain, mostly predatory, probably after someone. Blackheart; slight pain, but predatory as well, with his Demon wanting blood. Gravitas; annoyed but unharmed.

She could see Gravitas emerge from the pizza parlor, but looking at the building made her seasick again. It looked like it was falling in slow motion. Has to be my eyes

*Gr... MIKE!* she called out ... and had no clue if she actually spoke loudly enough to be heard. There wasn't even a ringing in her ears, just complete and utter silence. Shit. I hope this goes away soon.

One of the two scrubby-looking demonics ran past, heading towards the fight, as the other seemed to be running to meet him, or just running away. It took more concentration than usual, but she threw a shadow wall up between them to force them to stop.

*You're Not Leaving!* she shouted (hopefully -- with her hearing gone she couldn't tell how loud she spoke). But she wasn't going to let them get away.

[SirNitram]

Gravitas could hear, through the oddities of his system, but wasn't enjoying it. The running man swearing to Ares... Well, that clinched what Argent wanted. "Hold it." He stated simply, almost definately not heard.

What would be felt is a sudden crushing weight on both of the demonics' shoulders as gravity ramped up. It would knock out long before permenant damage came into play, but more important was stopping them in their tracks with their own weight being multiplied.

[Haizu]

Making his way down the street, Tholos started devising a plan to take out the rest of the demons. I saw an alley next to the building that me and Tasat took cover in. If I circle around, I can get back into the fight and maybe take some of them by surprise.

His balance now coming back, Tholos started to pick up speed. He had gotten maybe 10 feet when a black wall sprung up about 5 feet away from him. "What in the name of Zeus is that!?" Sliding to a stop Tholos slowly approached the wall. Is it solid? To find out, he took his shield and bashed it against the wall. KRAAANG! Yeah, it's definitaly solid. Not knowing what else to do, he turned around to see if he could locate what was producing this wall. All of a sudden it seemed like the weight of the world was pressing on his shoulders, slowly crushing him to the ground. Out of pure instinct, Tholos blasted the ground under his feet with the Word of Change, ripping open a hole leading down into the sewers below the streets. Just as he started dropping he noticed that Tasat was also being driven down by this bizzare weight, only he didn't have the benefit of Change. I will be back to save you brother!

Hitting the floor of the sewer tunnel harder than he would have liked, Tholos sealed the hole back up once he was clear. Picking himself off of the ground, he decided to follow his original plan and circle back to that alley he had seen before. Hold on Tasat! I'm coming!

[Bloody Good]

Yep, they were dead as dogshit.

Tholos ran. That was bad. When a man as stubbornly brave as Tholos thought it was time to get some distance, something bad was happening. He looked up, and saw the building shift slightly. Just as he turned to follow, something dragged him down. A memory surfaced of a similar sensation, of being pulled Down.

No. Not going back. Can't. Won't.

It required an epic feat of strength to bring his head up and look. The man leaving the damaged building didn't feel like one of Them. The woman.... a little bit. He couldn't find a way for the Word to keep him up. But if she was one of Them, maybe...

Something dropped over Li Na's perceptions. It did not block out the world, but rather overlayed it, a memory projected over the present. She was in a body that wasn't hers. The body was dying. Shackles that did not exist clamped around his her their ankles. Chains that likewise did not exist pulled them tight, and ripped the soul from the bleeding body. Down, down through layers of shattered realities, past plains of fire and shadow, past great pits of screaming souls, down past thousands of impossible scenes of misery. Finally, he she they were slammed to a solid floor. Jagged rocks linen the edges of a cliff overlooking Nothing, and two figures stood before him her they, one in robes of blinding white, the other in a burial shroud. They spoke with one voice.

"Tasat the Sumerian. You have sought, and gained, That which was not meant for mortals to hold. Your name has been written in the Book of the Dead. Next."

The chains tightened again, and despair filled him her they as the chains dragged him her they away to the punishment that awaited.


And the memory that wasn't hers left. If any time had elapsed during the vision, it wasn't much. Tasat was still on his knees, struggling futilely against the crushing weight. His eyes stayed locked on Li Na, dead and filled with fear and despair.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart followed Lenox through the hole in the roof. Pain surged through the meta's frame, the pain of a hundred minor wounds and third degree burns. But the pain was nothing compared to the icy fury that gripped Blackheart. Human and parasite were both united in their rage and determination. The crimes committed here were obscene. They would be punished. He was the agent of that punishment.

A punch that could dent a steel door slammed into Lenox's force bubble. Blackheart wanted answers, wanted Lenox's masters as well. That meant alive was better than dead, but didn't rule out a savage beating.

[B4UTRUST]

Lenox was already moving when the others came down the hole. He had stopped running and was doing something that resembled flying, if it were done by perhaps a drunk pilot.

He was navigating hallways at a haphazard speed. However flying was not one of his better trained uses for telekinesis. So the end result was that he was more or less throwing himself down hallways then throwing himself suddenly in a different direction whenever he came to a turn or junction.

A trail of blood was visable dripping on the floor as he went, splattering on some walls as he hit the corners in his flight. He came around a corner and sped towards the stairs. The door popped open and he was through. He touched down long enough to toss a pair of grenades into the hallway behind him before proceeding down. On the next landing he shifted the landing on the floor he had just came from, ripping it up from the ground and twisting it so it pinned against the door to prevent it from opening. A second later the grenades exploded.

He was traveling again, trying to get down the stairs as fast as he could, constantly on the lookout for anyone still trapped in the building. Someone he could use to heal himself.


------------

Baden continued running as a red blur surroundeded him at high speeds then disappeared. He didn't get what that was about until he took his next step. He could feel the bottom of his boot melting. He was even fairly certain the the sock caught fire too.

His worries about that didn't last long. The shockwave hit him, throwing him at a very high speed through the air. Twenty-six thousand four hundred feet per second to be presice. He absorbed the energy as much as he could, filling his body with it. But when you've got that much kinetic energy being thrown around there's a lot left over.

His body began to bleed off the excess, creating an opposing shockwave which created a vaccum of nothingness inside of this explosive fury. He fell to the ground as the bleed off stopped and the shockwave passed. He was a lot farther down the road then he previously was. But he was feeling good.

Here at the edges of the shockwave people were poking their heads out wonder just what the hell had just happened. Which was just what Baden needed.

He ran into a store near where he landed. He skillfully dealt with one of the patrons, reducing her to a snap-necked corpse. And then to nothing as her body disintegrated as he absorbed it into him. The burns covering the bottom of his feet and parts of his body were gone. The hand that had been severed regrew. Though that took another body or two to take care of.

[LadyTevar]

Something dropped over Li Na's perceptions. It did not block out the world, but rather overlayed it, a memory projected over the present.

The shadow wall broke as Argent collapsed, the sudden new perceptions overlaying the world sending her into total vertigo. Her stomach heaved from the feeling of nausea as her mind tried to make what it saw fit her damaged sense of balance.

She was in a body that wasn't hers. The body was dying. Shackles that did not exist clamped around his her their ankles. Chains that likewise did not exist pulled them tight, and ripped the soul from the bleeding body. Down, down through layers of shattered realities, past plains of fire and shadow, past great pits of screaming souls, down past thousands of impossible scenes of misery. Finally, he she they were slammed to a solid floor. Jagged rocks linen the edges of a cliff overlooking Nothing, and two figures stood before him her they, one in robes of blinding white, the other in a burial shroud. They spoke with one voice.

"Tasat the Sumerian. You have sought, and gained, That which was not meant for mortals to hold. Your name has been written in the Book of the Dead. Next."

It's not me. It's not me. It's him. This is an attack
The mantra was chanted inside Argent's head, and it grew stronger when the name was read. This was someone else's memories, a psychic attack upon her mind. Stomach heaving, swallowing back bile as the world whirled impossibly, Argent pushed herself off her hands and knees, looking at the ma... at Tasat.

And the memory that wasn't hers left. If any time had elapsed during the vision, it wasn't much. Tasat was still on his knees, struggling futilely against the crushing weight. His eyes stayed locked on Li Na, dead and filled with fear and despair.

*Tasat.* If her voice carried to him, Argent couldn't tell. The world was still dead silent for her. What did carry to him was a sudden feeling of Calm and Peace, soothing his emotions.

The feeling was at odds with the next statement Argent made. *The enemy of my enemy is -still- not my friend. Mike... watch him... Til Blackheart gets here...*

And she swallowed convusively as the vertigo hit her again.

[SirNitram]

"Tasat, huh? One of Ares' lackeys?" Mike listened to Li Na, advancing on the trapped man. "The girl's not the one holding you. But I'd advise against starting anything with me."

It was clear something about the Sumerian irked and grated against the godling, but he focused on keeping him in place for now.

[Haizu]

The broken, burned, and stabbed bodies of the dead gunman twitched.

To anyone looking at the them, it would seem like the blood of the corpses was trying to escape. The blood on the ground started to flow together and coalesce into a blob that was quickly growing.

To anyone not looking at the bodies, could not fail to notice the ribbons of blood that burst from them into the air and dove down into the growing mass of gore.

With a gurgling, bubbling noise akin to a man drowning, the mass formed legs. Then arms. And finally with a final gurgling pop, a poorly formed defined head appeared on it's shoulders.

What was now standing in the street was something that one would only see in a bad 70's horror film: a 4 foot tall, mishapen, blood midget. Forming a tongue, it looked over at Li Na and Gravitas and blew a loud, wet raspberry at them. "Thbpbpbpt!"

Then with an agility that is usually reserved for monkeys and ninjas, it took off for Tasat. Siezing him by an ankle, it quite literally threw itself and Tasat into the storm drain that the two mysterious men had originally came out of, giggling madly as it went.

[SirNitram]

[Retconned out.]

[Marcao]

He settled on watching Baden as he plowed his way down towards the ground and his final appointment with the street below. The man fell, firmly in the grasp of gravity and continuing on his way to his final destination. The man’s severed hand was still held in his own hand, his eyes flickering towards it. It was only then that he realized that the light was red. Oh shit! When had that happened? His eyes focused on Baden once more. He was almost down to the street. The impact was extremely disappointing as the man managed to survive. His right arm moved and he felt his internal reservoir of power answer the call. Well, he was going to have to fix that.

“No, no, no. I am not done with you yet!â€

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart pursued Lenox closely, following him through the building. Unfortunately, Lenox had a means of discouraging pursuit. Grenades bounced towards the battered meta as Lenox then employed telekinesis to seal off the exit. Blackheart flew away the grenades, but didn't get enough space. The enhanced weapons detonated.

The blast wave battered Blackheart and the shrapnel did worse, opening more wounds on him. Adrenaline surged through his body and his eyes blazed. He heard the impact of the landing doorway, blocking it.

Time to change the parameters of the situation. Blue-white beams flashed out, carving a hole in the floor. Blackheart descended, his eyes flashing again. Cutting the monster off would work better than playing catch up.

Lenox found the bodies he was looking for when Blackheart struck him fist first.

[LadyTevar]

[quote="Marcao"]
He reappeared next to Argent, his left hand reaching out for her and touching her shoulder gently.

“Argent?â€

[Marcao]

He remained unmoving as Argent leaned against him and looked up to him. In her eyes he saw her obvious discomfort and a litany of other things. It was a moment of time where he wondered what it would have been like if his mind were not closed of from the rest of the world. Could she have let him feel what she was feeling? Would he want to contend with that? It was strange, but being this close to her he could not help but wonder about the possibilities. Some doors were always meant to stay closed but one could wonder what it would be like, what if.

His eyes followed hers as she looked at him and spoke, the sound leaving her lips somewhat slurred and perhaps a bit more loudly than she intended. He got the message and nodded, immediately dismissing the idea of taking her anywhere immediately.

“Alright, we are not going anywhere.â€

[SirNitram]

With those within it out, Gravitas relaxed the part of his mind that was holding up the building gradually, letting it drift downwards instead of collapsing in a dangerous moment. "I hope everyone has a plan to get the hell out of here in a hurry, the authorities will have our faces inside of ten minutes..."

He watched the storm drain, frowning.

[B4UTRUST]

Lenox rounded the corner and didn't have time to react. The fist doubled him over as a spray of blood flew out of his mouth. His eyes went wide as he sunk to his knees. He clutched his stomach and fell on his side, coughing, trying to remember how to breathe.

Somewhere in his mind he silently came to a realization. His team had been preped before hand for this operation. They had been armed to the teeth and trained in how to take out these threats. He knew it was dangerous, he knew there would be consequences. He began to realize why Abaddon was so pissed. And why Abaddon was back in Hell instead of on the mortal plane. These guys were tougher then anyone had a right to be. And now he was going to pay the ultimate cost for his mistake.

He was fortunate enough to be on the ground as the building started to slide sideways. So he didn't have to worry about falling. Just the hitting the wall.

Outside the building started tilting, the massive weight shifting. The creaking was loud, grinding. It was evident that it was going to collapse within a matter of moments if not sooner.

The other buildings nearby began to display similar happenings. Some leaning, tilting, preparing to collapse in on themselves. Glass was everywhere, dust choking in the air, and bits of concrete littering the ground.

[LadyTevar]

Argent gave Tachyon a brave smile, although she wondered what he said before he left. She wished she healed faster... it would be hours before she could hear again, probably. If not longer. She watched him walk off and wished she could feel his emotions. It would be nice to know what was going on with him. She watched him go and silently wished him luck.

Now... where was Hotfoot? Not that she'd have seen him running by, but it would be nice to have him in sight.... And then, Gravitas let the buildings down.

*Dammit! Why do they have to fall now?* Argent cursed, unaware she did so aloud, or that it was Gravitas' doing. This was gonna be bad. She elongated into dragonform, and had to pause for her vertigo to ease. Teleportation was gonna be a bitch.

Thankfully, she could sense that Blackheart and Legacies were together. She hoped the guy they were both pursuing so relentlessly was there as well. She slid into the nearest shadow to rescue them.

Yes... teleportation was as bad as she'd feared. Argent needed the moment to clear her head before she saw Blackheart and Legacies. Oh.. and that must be the sniper. Here, have my vertigo headache, you bastard. she thought, pushing that troublesome sensation off into Lenox.

*Time to evacuate the building, Blackheart.* she deliberately shouted, so he'd be warned and know this was to save his (adorably cute, nearly naked) ass. If she wasn't feeling so shitty, she'd have taken the time to enjoy that particular view more.

Still shoving the vertigo into the sniper, Argent encircled the three men and aimed to reappear up the street, away from the falling buildings and close to where Tachyon 'ported to find the remaining target. The landing was a little rougher than normal, as the men all appeared about a foot above the ground.

Argent herself reverted to human form and tried hard not to be sick from her head spinning as she knelt down. Her long black hair hung over her shoulder, clearly revealing the drying blood going down her neck. She'd try to give a report once she was under control. Until then, well, she had a good explanation for not hearing a word Blackheart might say to her.

[Charon]

As soon as they reappeared outside Legacies lashed out with his tendrils, lashing Lenox up tightly. "If we even believe for a moment that you are attempting to use your powers we will fill you with more holes than a sieve."

Legacies looked around at just how much destruction had been caused, and almost whistled. "Have the civilians been evacuated?"

[Hotfoot]

Blast looked at the damage done to the street, his head still spinning from the rapid expenditure of energy through his shield. He looked at the patterns of energy around him. The explosion ripped the street apart, leaving numerous high-energy wires undergound wide open. He stumbled over to the largest source he could find and sucked down the energy as quickly as he could manage.

...Meanwhile...

Hotfoot saw Baden go flying, a little shocked at himself for the feeling of satisfaction that overcame him as the body hurtled through the air. He ran back shortly after the blast, picking up as many wounded and trapped civilians as he could. He kept his speed low enough to prevent serious damage to the civilians, but several were going to be hurt a bit, though he tried to be a bit more gentle with the badly wounded civilians.

...Meanwhile...

Blast saw the buildings starting to give way and gulped. The blur of fire carrying people off had to be Hotfoot, but even he was only so fast, and those buildings probably had lots of people still inside. "Hey guys! Can we get someone down here to help with the cleanup? Someone who can maybe keep these buildings up just a little longer?" In a way, he almost missed Saibot, or at least what Saibot could do. He jumped out of his hole and looked around, trying to figure out what to do next, wondering if any more massive explosions were coming his way.

...Meanwhile...

Hotfoot saw the place Baden landed after dropping off a civilian and gritted his teeth. He couldn't do anything against the man, but he knew someone who might...but this was going to suck. He ran back to Blast and picked him up, wincing as other young man started sucking down the energy from his shield. He ran back to Baden's landing spot and dropped Blast off before stumbling off to try and save more civilians. "Note....to self....don't lug Blast around anymore..." He made it roughly a block before falling to his knees, gasping for breath. For a moment of realtime, he was still, finally he made it back to his feet and went back to trying to save more civilians, severely weakened by Blast's vampirism.

...Meanwhile...

Blast noticed Hotfoot at the last moment with widening eyes, seeing the blur coming at him at high speed. He threw up his arms and winced, "Oh shiiiiiii-" And suddenly he was flying on a jet of plasma, the now familiar jolt of energy from Hotfoot's shield flowing into him. His senses felt sharper, and for a moment he thought he could almost see Hotfoot moving as something other than a blur. Then, before he realized it, he was back on the ground, a scene of destruction in front of him. He looked for the source of it all, the high from Hotfoot's energy still flowing through him. "Oh, it's payback time now."