Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[Cynical Cat]

A fist came swinging for Blackheart's face. The elevator shaft briefly shown an actic blue-white as Blackheart's flash vision hit the gauntlet at full power.

[Marcao]

It would have been difficult to understate the mood that had descended on the members of Team Mirage over the last handful of minutes. The sounds that had welcomed them the moment that the elevator had been breached had all but driven away any sort of complacency that had existed. They were going deeper into the maw of whatever hell this complex represented, relaxation was not simply inappropriate in their situation. It was criminal.

He had seen action before, he understood quite well that entry points were always points of contention. That something would be ready to welcome them was more than simply expected. It was fact, all that remained was to ascertain what exactly laid before them and how to best go about the process of eliminating them. The two large imposing figures did not impress him, although he wasted a second to glance over the nearest target to him and notice the armor. Blackheart was in front of him and he was slightly to the meta's side. Blackheart was in many ways tougher than he was and his strength had been the method they had used to breach through the elevator doors.

When the melee began he had little time to act. Blackheart could take care of himself, he had no need to babysit him. As the second guest rushed towards him a thin smile danced on his lips. He was not going to repeat his mistakes. He waited until the last possible moment before he blinked. He did not go far, that had not be the true purpose of the blink. He did not leave the elevator, there was no need to. He appeared on the opposite side of the elevator suffused momentarily with a heightened perception of the pasage of time.

Tight confines limited his mobility, but it simplified other abilities. As his would be attacker began to react to his blink, he prepared for his own counter move. The imposing figure managed to turn around and look towards him, he saw muscles contract as the body prepared to once more cover the distance between them. It was far too late.

He emitted energy from his body, there was no need for him to move his arms or shoot beams from his eyes. The space between himself and his guest seemed to screech in agony and hiss as an enormous amount of energy seemed to manifest as if from the wrath of an angry god. He could not match Blast in pure destructive capability, but he could come close especially when such short distances were involved. The pillar of green fire leapt out and sought to engulf his target, a cone of devastation that forced the temperature inside the elevator to noticeably spike. The walls behind the target hissed and turned red beneath the onslaught of energy as it was deftly guided to swallow his adversary and go no further. He had no intention of destroying the elevator about them if he could avoid it. Then again, if that was what it would take...

[LadyTevar]

A bright blue-white flash, followed closely by a green wash of light splashing up the elevator shaft was warning enough, even if Argent hadn't felt the jolt of adrenaline and combat-lust from Blackheart.

"We need to see what's down there," Argent said, looking to Legacies and Gravitas as the second-in-commands. "I need to see how many there are, and if there's a place to bring the team in. Comments or suggestions before I go?"

[B4UTRUST]

The fist glowed as the death beams blasted into it. The armor began to melt and smoke from the heat, liquid metal drops flying off as the fist continued its movement into Blackheart. When it struck the superheated metal would probably hurt just as much as the metal-clad fist.

The giant man fighting Tach crossed his arms over his face as the blast engulfed him. Like the one fighting Blackheart, the armor began to liquify and run.

Both paused their assault for a brief second and dove out of the elevator shaft. Starting about 3 meters above their head, buried explosives detonated, blasting multiple tons of rock out of the shaft, sending it down towards the bottom. Above, the elevator began to vibrate as the explosives ripped through the shaft. A small charge activated, blowing through the cable holding the elevator up. It plumeted down following the rocks.

On level 4 there was a loud hissing sound as the wards along a dozen doors dissolved. The doors clicked open. From several of them there came beastial roars of rage.

[Cynical Cat]

The fist smashed into Blackheart, knocking him back into the shaft and bouncing him off the wall behind him. Then the explosives went. The concussion from the blast wasn't that for Blackheart, but several tons of rock and elevator dropping on him were another thing. They hit him with bruising force and carried him down the shaft.

[LadyTevar]

In Tachyon's mind, time was moving slowly. In that odd slowdown, the sudden retreat was clear warning, even before the explosions blew. He grabbed for Blackheart's arm to blink both of them out of the elevator ... and missed as a rock smashed into his arm, leaving him alone outside the elevator as the rocks poured down the shaft and buried Blackheart inside. "Shit."

***

The only reason Argent wasn't already in the elevator shaft was she'd waited for Gravitas or Legacies to make a suggestion on how to proceed. The explosions rocked the ground, and she turned to the elevator just as the cables snapped and it dropped, adding to the tons of material falling down upon... "...Blackheart..."

The links she had to Blackheart and Tachyon told the quick story: Tachy was safe but feeling guilty, Blackheart in a -lot- of pain. She asked later what happened; now she jumped into the nearest shadow and teleported to Blackheart, wrapping her shadow-self around him and vanishing. Rocks groaned and shifted into the suddenly empty space as Argent brought him back up to the rest of the team.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart was still stunned and in no shape to give orders or do anything else.

[Bloody Good]

Hector's attention went to the noises coming from behind them. Moving with a kind of frantic speed, he started yanking things out of his backpack. A sack of ball bearings fell, one corner opening and dropping a few of the pellets onto the floor. A white and red first aid kit clattered to the rough stone underfoot, but did not pop open. Several bottles of water, most of them with a cross drawn on them in sharpie, bounced and rolled around. An odd looking metal contraption that looked like a medieval cudgel with plumbing fixtures attached rang like a bell when it landed. Digging out his stack of laminated sheets, he pulled the first page out. Much more carefully, he peeled back a corner and removed the blank back, and slapped the page on the ground in the middle of the hallway, the symbols facing up. It stuck, the adhesive already starting to set.

The page consisted of a circle lined with tiny, intricate shapes and letters, with nothing in the center of the page but blank space. Raising his left hand, Hector bit the meaty spot at the base of his thumb. Grimacing more at the taste of his own blood than the pain, he pressed his bleeding hand into the blank center of the circle, took a deep breath, and prayed.

Lord, let this work. Please?

He pushed as much energy as he could into the ward, feeling the symbols drink the energy in and hold it. He hoped that there wasn't anything in those cells strong enough to knock his ward down.

[Hotfoot]

<Post edited to realign with reality>

Hotfoot was ready to jump through the elevator shaft, but even with his speed, the entry point was just too narrow, the explosion and the rocks had compressed the window by too much for even him to get through. As fast as he was, even explosions were something he had to worry about, supersonic shock waves had a tendency to catch up to him. Instead, he did what he could for the team and tried to catch stray chunks of rock that could hit other members of the team before they impacted.

[frigidmagi]

Hell... Literally.

Blast turned toward the roars and set himself, minute he saw an angry face it was gonna be a vaporized angry face. The team needed... Shit.

"Argent get Tachyon, Gravitas check Blackheart make sure he's okay! Hotfoot, where are fuck are you? Everyone else behind me and guard that direction, we move when Gravitas says Blackheart is good for it." He snapped. Gravitas had some kind medical experience right? Fuck it worry about it later, that's what Blackheart would do.

[SirNitram]

"Troubling..." Gravitas was quickly checking over Blackheart, trying to ensure the damage wasn't too severe. He had no medical training(As he would say 'The other kind of doctor'), but broken necks weren't too hard to spot. "Enough bruises he'll be down for a few moments. I doubt the company will wait that long." He said as he tried to make sure nothing else was going to keep the heavy hitter down.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart groaned and shook his head. "Motherfucker," he swore. "Placing bombs in their own elevator shafts? That's just fucking nuts."

[SirNitram]

"Yes, well, we knew it was a trap." Gravitas said. "You strong enough to walk? We've got serious problems."

[Cynical Cat]

"Take them down," said Blackheart. He shook his head again. "I'll be up and going in a few moments."

[B4UTRUST]

From inside about half the cells large beast-men similar to the first one they encountered appeared. A few of them ripped their doors off the hinges and hurled them at the group before charging them.

From inside the others multi-limbed creatures emerged. They looked vaugely reptillian from their skin and moved with more joints then any human had ever had. They skittered across the walls and ceiling with fluid grace and inhuman speed, closing rapidly with the party.

From further back in the level, out of sight, but within range of hearing more roars echoed, followed by a large banging noise. The sound of massive footsteps sounded and faint tremors in the ground were felt. Whatever it was, it was very large.

Down below Tach had his hands full. Over a dozen of the armored figures were visable and spread out. The one with the blades on his gauntlets charged Tach again, using them expertly. A few others drew long wicked looking swords that appeared almost European in design, though much larger and wider then any held by mortal knights.

[frigidmagi]

rom inside about half the cells large beast-men similar to the first one they encountered appeared. A few of them ripped their doors off the hinges and hurled them at the group before charging them.

From inside the others multi-limbed creatures emerged. They looked vaugely reptillian from their skin and moved with more joints then any human had ever had. They skittered across the walls and ceiling with fluid grace and inhuman speed, closing rapidly with the party.

Blast had been waiting and unleashed without a second thought. The burning torrent of energy tore across the distance at the speed of light and vaporized anything it touched. The air, the walls, ceilings... Anything. Blast swept it back and forth without pause.

[LadyTevar]

Even as Blast was giving out his orders, Argent was already using the shadows of the elevator to teleport back down the shaft. She paused for a second to get her bearings and see what they were up against.

It wasn't pretty. The one charging Tachyon suddenly had to worry about the shadowy tentacle that wrapped itself around him and yanked him backwards. It was merely a diversion, however, to give Argent a chance to wrap her draconic body around Tachyon to teleport him away.

"Did you think I'd forget you?" she teased before teleporting them both back to rejoin the team. "I saw about a dozen large armed warriors below," she reported, and then saw what was coming towards them. "What did they do, unlock all the doors!?"

[Marcao]

It had been his heightened perception of time that had allowed him to react at all. The retreat was telling and he was not without experience in these matters. He reached for Blackheart immediately, the leader of Team Mirage was notoriously tough but this was a situation where he need not suffer. His fingers were inches away from the man’s body when he lowered his force screen over his arm. The force screen was miraculous, the only thing that had kept him alive all this time. It was an extension of him and like his energy manipulation powers he had near absolute control over it. In a combat situation he kept it around him at all times, lowering it only briefly when times required it.

His fingers grazed against Blackheart’s clothing before a rock came crashing down into his arm. Without the force screen to ward of the blow, the pain was very much real. The hit was glancing, his moving arm presenting a serpentine target but it was enough. Pain receptors flared and sent their angry message to his brain, his arm pulled back by reflex. He heard the explosions and understood that he could not reach Blackheart in time. He blinked into the hallway that they had moments before opened, trusting that Blackheart’s near legendary toughness would serve him well.

<Blink>

“Shit.â€

[B4UTRUST]

The attacking creatures fell one by one to Blast's onslaught. Steel doors were thrown open as more of the things stormed out and charged the team. They too fell to the combined efforts of Tach and Blast.

But foot by foot, meter by meter the creatures came closer as their numbers increased. They vanished into ash and fragments of bone as the blasters did their thing, ending their hellish half-lives in flashes of energy and explosions of power. But the legion of creatures kept coming. Their feet left footprints in the piles of ash of their fellows before they took the step beyond it to meet their doom.

And the cycle continued. The monsters arrived and died and the wave behind them advanced, closer and inevitably closer. Soon they would be within melee range of the party.

And beyond the hordes the sound of footsteps were louder as they got closer.

[Charon]

Legacies had sat back thus far in the the combat, gauging the enemy. He had few doubts that the team could overcome both of the threats that were now being put against them, what worried Legacies was that this was going to take far too long, and with Blackheart down it may result in numerous casualties. So Legacies made a decision.

"Blast, Tachyon. Move now." Legacies turned to Blackheart. "We shall hold off this group. You will not be able to achieve the goal if you are held down here. Hell has begun to realize our threat level, it is best to hurry before we are overrun." It was uncertain if Legacies was refering to the group or himself in that last statement, and the symbiote itself may not have known the answer to that question.

Having given the energy users ample time to move, Legacies jumped forward, using his full strength to rocket forward. If Tachyon or Blast were not out of the way by then, Legacies would, as gently as he could, shove them back with the rest with an arm.

As Legacies closed in on the smaller demons great sheets of symbiote stretched out to the walls where they developed sharp points that dug into the wall. Legacies was not immediately stopped, or even slightly slowed by this as he practically flew down the middle of the hall, dragging the creatures behind him, crushing many under the pressure of his gates and the bodies of the creatures behind them. When Legacies felt himself begin to slow he shoved with all his might upon the creatures he'd collected in his "wings", throwing them further down the hall.

Legacies turned towards Argent. "Go! Now!"

[SirNitram]

"Their hordes are without number... I'm going to seriously discuss whoever thought it was a good idea to grant Hell that kind of advantage." Gravitas muttered. "They get close, we're basically done. Anyone think they could survive dropping to down the shaft?"

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart shook his head. "The shaft is too short. Only a couple of stories and less than that now with the rubble." Devour/feast/murder/consume/kill/slaughter/butcher flooded into his brain, merging and combining with abandon no one/defend/protect/stand/kill/accomplish the mission. Muscles flexed under his skin. Light blazed in his eyes like newborn stars. Devour and grow strong. His hands clenched into fists.

He dived into mass of hellspawn alongside Legacies. Blue-white beams flashed from his eyes and his fists fell with bone breaking force. Two minds felt the pain of wounds, two minds saw enemies crumble into ash, and two minds felt the impact of his fists on hellspawn flesh. Two minds. One purpose.

[B4UTRUST]

The numberless horde ceased their advance for the moment as the two fighters entered the fray. Legacies tendrils and blades slashed out, ripping and rending. Bones were broken, blood was spilled and creatures were reduced to ash in flashes by Blackheart. Piles of bodies and slicks of blood littered the ground creating tripping hazards as more and more opponents fell before their ruthless advance.

From above and the sides the skittering clawed warriors leaped and fell at the pair, striking with their taloned hands, ripping flesh. The masses of moving muscle ceased their fallback and strove to hold their ground. They hammered the duo with their fists and lashed out with their feet, refusing to budge save under the force of death. Every inch was a life given to hold the heroes a second longer.

[Cynical Cat]

Cloth tore and so did skin that could repel knives. Flesh was bruised and subcutaneous blood vessels burst. The skin tore away from Blackheart's knuckles after blow after blow. Bloody lines and punctures, shallow as of yet, marked his upper arms, face, and chest. It was hard to tell he was wounded though. There was so much blood splattered all over his body.

He ached. His hands were agony. Pain shot through his body. And he still killed. Power swelled inside of him. Kill/Destroy/Protect. Do not stop. Yield no ground. Do not surrender. Not one inch back. Leave no one behind. Destroy the enemy. Utterly.

He fought on with greater strength and fury, throwing himself at the warrior hordes. An observer might make the comparison to a raging demon or a waring angel, but he was neither. An ancient devourer and a human soldier sharing the same flesh and purpose. He was Blackheart.

[Charon]

Legacies watched as Blackheart moved to assist. He had been wounded, that would limit his capabilities for the moment. But between the two of them they could hold the legion for long enough.

Legacies began using the bodies of the fallen as weapons as his blades and tendrils ripped and tore through the ranks of the Legion he would scoop up the living and the dead with other tendrils and throw them down further in the hallway. The creatures were tenacious but with the assistance of the dagger Legacies was simply too fast for many of them to make contact. Some creatures were turned into sprays of mist as Legacies continued to fight, the attacks making it through to stab into him or cut open his body being sealed quickly by the symbiotic silver fluid around him.

Legacies was annoyed as their assault began to slow down. The silver figure struck out even faster spearing a dozen of the creatures at a time and throwing them into their fellows to slow them down. It's jaws opened wide and crushed one of the creatures whole, spitting it back out as a giant fist hit him hard, sending him flying back as the sound of ribs shattering filled the air. Legacies landed quickly, coughing for only a short time before he jumped back into the fight, passing by Blackheart and landing in the midst of the creatures, tearing into them with a new ferocity.