Othergrounds: The IC Edition (Act 8: The Strangest Days have gone By)

The Blackmores vs. The Regenerator & Eliza.

Spoiler:

Drake Blackmore made his way through the battle towards his siblings. Punching, and blasting everyone that wasn't one of them (Hopefully).

The moment he made his way over there, he saw the threatening black feminine figure known as the Regenerator. It was approaching Charles and Victoria, taking small steps. Regenerating from every single attack the pair threw at it.

Now, it's about time that Drake gives it something it won't heal. Drake charged the monster, orbs of plasma engulfing his hands. He swung his hands in an arc towards the Regenerator, sending a thick wave of plasma at it. It was a beautiful spectacle, him showing off his newly found plasma powers. The plasma burned the Regenerator's flesh, but it was regenerated almost immediately. He definitely caught it's attention. The Regenerator spun around and turned towards Drake "... Am I intruding on something?" A rhetorical question, spoken without a hint of emotion.

The Regenerator roared as it outstretched both of it's claws to slash Drake. However, it totally forgot about the other two Blackmores, and Drake wasn't the type to stand and take it. Victoria used her telekinesis to latch on to it's arms, pulling them, and holding the Regenerator still. Charles sent his glass towards the Regenerator, aiming for it's center of mass, slashing it to bits and pieces. But the one to undoubtedly do the most damage to it was Drake. He got in close and punched it with both arms in it's mid-section. Unleashing a powerful wave of plasma the moment of impact. It was engulfed with plasma as burned formed all over it's front. It had a harder time healing this damage since it was in the process of healing other wounds. The three Blackmores were proving to be too much for the monster.

However, in a truly horrifying display of it's power, it forcibly detached it's arms. Breaking it free from Victoria's grip and allowing it to attack Drake. The Regenerator lunged at Drake the moment it was free, and dug it's teeth into his shoulder. It had %100 human teeth, nothing sharp or too damaging. The Regenerator brought Drake to the ground as it chomped on his shoulder. It regenerated the damage done by his Plasma form. He responded by firing off so much plasma that it would be tempted to release him and get off. It's arms quickly grew back and it slashed him wildly.

"Drake!" Victoria shouted. She didn't even think. She used her telekinetic powers to fire off a shock-wave. Which sent the Regenerator flying off Drake (And Drake himself several feet forward). The Regenerator quickly got back to it's feet, so did Drake Blackmore. His body was scratched a bit by the monster, and blood dripped off from him. It was practically invisible because of the thick shroud of plasma. The Regenerator roared as it charged Drake again. However, Charles sent a flurry of razor-sharp glass shards, around Drake, at it. While it didn't do any definite damage to it, it'll slow it down enough for everyone else to take it down. It's shards got embedded but before Charles could take them out, Victoria urged him, "... Wait! Don't take those out!"

"Wait what?" Charles asked.

"I got an idea!" Victoria had a few theories on how to kill the Regenerator. So far it's taken heavy slashing, getting crushed, dismembered, and getting fried with Plasma. There were a few things she's noticed about it that Drake nor Charles would have picked up on. Like, how when it's already in the process of healing, new wounds take longer to heal. Or how it only starts to regenerate when Charles removes the glass. They have to think of something - Because it's becoming more and more apparent that it's impossible to kill with simple means.

It continued it's charge, the glass shards in it's body didn't heal, raising it's claws in the air. Victoria managed to telekinetically grab it again and hold it there. Drake fired off another stream of plasma, burning the Regenerator, and melting the glass, starting the healing process again. However, one thing that the Blackmores didn't expect was Eliza interfering in their fight with the Regenerator. She started firing off shock-waves of vibrations at the group in hopes of turning the tides. Her very first targets were the Blackmores. She fired off a massive and powerful shock-wave at them. All of them (including the Regenerator) were sent flying. Drake and the Regenerator weren't too close, so they got the least of it. Charles and Victoria on the other hand were sent back several meters, bruised and beaten. The Regenerator took advantage of this. While Drake was stumbling trying to get back up to his feet, it rushed them before he even got a chance to do anything. While Charles was getting up, The Regenerator closed in and kicked him in the face at full force. Breaking his glasses, cracking a few teeth, and otherwise, knocking him out. Victoria had luck because she wasn't targeted first. She managed to send out a wave that sent the Regenerator off several feet away from her before it could even attack her.

Spoiler:

Seeing Victoria and Charles get bashed awakened an innate ability inside of Drake. An ability that'd allow him to basically use two powers at once. The plasma that enshrouded him dimmed greatly, and faded away. Only light amounts of plasma remained on his being, instead of a thick shroud, showing his skin. His skin glowed a light blue-ish green like the Plasma. Then blue-ish green scales started forming on his skin. Some keratin also formed on his major areas. His hands grew razor-sharp plasma infused claws. Not as much Keratin or scales as he would when he's fully formed. Drake Blackmore has unlocked the ability to merge two forms that he has stored inside of him together. He merged his recently acquired Plasma formed, with his older Lizard-form. He would have advantages and weaknesses from both forms - Including some new uses all together. He would have enhanced abilities, like Dragonfly, along with slinging plasma. While it appeared to be useful; he would be weaker than he would be if he was fully formed. It also allows him to quickly change from one form to another - Opposed to changing human, then transforming. Drake looked down at his new body, in astonishment. Then it turned to pure horror. "Sh*t! I broke it!"

At this point the Regenerator had recovered from Victoria's attack and was ready to attack Drake.

With no other options, he choose to take advantage of this form now, and ask questions later. Drake took a combat pose, then he roared "Come and get it!" Ready to tear the Regenerator apart with his new merged form.


Eliza & The Stasis Escapees.


The Stasis escapees were half their numbers now. But they were far from giving up. Freedom is calling for them, and they'll die trying to grasp it. They poured into the room and battled the group.

Eliza made her way to the center of the room, while the Blackmores were fighting the Regenerator. She had the most destructive power out of everyone here, and could bring this factory down on top of everyone if she wanted to. Instead, she choose to use this power to turn the tides of the battle in their favor. Starting off with the aforementioned shock wave at the Blackmores, she fired powerful shock-waves at everyone in her gaze. Injuring her allies in the process, but that was the least bit of her concern at this point. She fired powerful shock-waves, one at a time, at Sandy, Bones, Toby, Frillerfang, Seth, Crystal, Jack, Faith... Among others. They would be sent flying if they're even close to it.


Hunter.


Hunter didn't have anything noteworthy on him. Only his large knife he uses to cut himself, the key to his room, and his other art supplies he keeps on him, including a small first aid kit.

Crystal, Lexy, Jack, and Faith
-----

Faith let out a scream as she, Crystal, Lexy, Jack, and the Eye barricade she had formed were sent flying. Her back hit a wall and she sunk down to the floor. Faith coughed, trying to catch her breath as it had just gotten knocked out of her. She remained sitting, forgetting about the heat of battle as she regained her breath. Ouch, that hurt. She looked around. All the Eyes she had summoned were destroyed. Surprisingly, her original one survived. She could tell the difference by the model number in the system. Faith once again sent out a signal for Eyes in the area to surround her. She was so focussed on other matters that Faith didn't notice the no-name meta human that had already recovered the blast from Eliza nearing her, sword in hand.

Jack, on the other hand, saw the meta human and stumbled to his feet. He knew that he had treated Faith wrong just for his amusement, but she was his step-sister, and he felt a need to protect her in some way (and Celo wanted a dramatic death) he knew by the time he got to Faith it would be too late to cast an illusion or attack. Reacting on impulse, Jack ran and threw himself in between Faith and the no-name, getting stabbed in the stomach in the process, the sword going strait through him.

Faith stared in shock at Jack, her eyes wide and droplets of blood on her face and shirt. Why did he...?

Jack grinned despite hardly seeing anything and being close to death. "Sorry... being jerk," he managed to get out, along with blood pouring from his mouth before collapsing, dead.

Faith could only stare at the now lifeless body of Jack's, tears stinging her eyes before she looked at the no-name in front of her, sending bot an electric Eye hurtling his way with her power and a rock hurtling his way with her hand. She would have never thought she would cry for Jack- the one who gave her the worst time, the one who tried to make her life miserable on purpose. Yet here she was.

Luciana "La Cordera" Rojas

"The likelihood was very good. Consider something, Miss...whoever you are," Luce muttered, remember how insolent this girl was-however, at the moment, she was short on allies, and if this little doe wanted to slip up and incriminate herself as the Traitor, Luce's job would be easier-so the conversation went on. "How do you get a beast to do work?" Luce drew the meager possessions from Hunter's lifeless corpse, pocketing only the knife (she noted the numerous scars along his arms, putting two and two together; the knife suddenly felt very heavy, evil. She couldn't dismiss it now without looking weak around Emily, however). The room key may prove useful, if Hunter truly was the traitor...which Luce doubted, simply because her life was never that easy.

"I worked on a ranch for a while. Hard work. Very messy. I learned things, though. You can get a beast to do something one of two ways. You can dangle a carrot in front of a mule, get it to go, or you can let it do its own thing. Leave the cows and your prize bull alone long enough, soon enough they'll f*ck. You get what you want, they are none the wiser."

Luce stood up, murmuring a quick prayer for Hunter; she'd planned on killing him, merely a little later than Johnny would have, but saying the old rites felt right anyways. A twinge of remorse welled up, in that she may have assisted in the death of an innocent-of a child-but a colder part of her quickly squashed it. There were no children left here. No innocents. Just mad dogs, looking to be put down.

"The Traitor wants something, and he's very close to getting it. It isn't so simple as killing all of us-he could've done this already. What he needs is more complex. So he pits one group of beasts-" she nodded towards Hunter and seemed to be implicating Emily and herself as well, "-against another." Luce indicated towards the fallen Colossus. "My guess is that the Traitor's bait, the prize he's offering, is a way out. I am no expert of...sy...sike...sychology, I think it is a load of bullsh*t, but figuring out your enemy, this is something different." Luce scanned the room, her twenty-something face looking weathered and old. "He's playing off our natural instincts and baiting us all at once. Lock a bunch of scared teenagers in a big room, they'll destroy each other if they don't screw each other first. But this-this monstrous thing...it's no teenager. What's his endgame? That's why I wanted him alive, doll. Why I felt up his dead body. I think the Traitor knows something. I intend to find it out before I kill him and leave this place."

A smile exposed Luce's pearly whites, but it wasn't an affable grin. She moved a little closer-rather uncomfortably, her intentions weren't exactly clear, and didn't break eye contact from Emily. This was primarily to f*ck with her, as Luce felt unpredictability and instability were advantages. "Now, darling, why don't you break down that barricade and let us out of here. I name the traitor as a 'he', because I would hate to find it's a lovely girl like yourself. Run along now, dear. I've no desire to get ash on my boots." she muttered, glancing towards Gabe's funeral pyre.

Luciana "La Cordera" Rojas

Luce turned away from Emily while she was talking-perhaps the girl viewed it as foolishness, to turn a back to a potential enemy, but others would see it as something entirely differently: an act of utter confidence.

Because deep down, they both knew what Emily was and wasn't going to do.

Luce stared at the flaming, red-hot metal, eying it with an appraising look while Emily taunted her.

"Darling, darling, darling," Luce sighed, her voice melancholy and distant, as if she were speaking to a child who simply didn't understand. "Let me tell you a story. By firelight. Once upon a time there was a little girl and her brother-and the little girl, you see, she was much like you. Very confident in her abilities. Abilities no one else could do."

Luce slipped her hand into a pocket and drew a rock, sending it spinning away from her. It hit the wall and sent cracks up and down the concrete, making the rock shatter into a thousand pieces. "She greatly enjoyed challenging others in situations she felt she had the upper hand in...felt she couldn't lose. You tempted me once earlier, in the hallway before the attack, and now again here. Perhaps you are used to the principals swooping in and stopping fights, perhaps not. No guardian angels wait for you here, love. But I...I veer off track."

Luce knelt down, dirty, worn blue jeans bending at the knee as she stared deeper at the glowing, jagged pieces of metal. "So this little girl, and her brother, they are growing up...they are living a good life. Things are okay. They are happy. Then, however, things...things go wrong." Luce drew a bullet from her waist belt and flung it into the center of the fire; it settled for a moment before igniting and rocketing off into the room the Colossus came from. "Things go very wrong. Their family loses its money, the princess loses her crown. The brother is sick, he cannot work: and the father, he is unable to pay bills. They lose their home...but no matter. Because this girl, she is still confident. She still thinks it will end okay."

Luce stood up slowly, calmly. Her voice betrayed no emotion, stayed perfectly level. "This girl...very bad opportunities present themselves. The girl starts to consider these things, she starts to consider them when she can count her ribs by looking down and the idea of breasts are like a funny childhood joke. So this girl, she gets involved with some bad people. Because she has her gift, you see, her talent...she makes the kind of mistakes you did."

Luce reached up and lifted her hat off of her head, letting it fall and settle at her feet. "So this girl, she mouths off to a certain man named El Jefe. The girl, she has done some bad things by now, you see, she thinks she has reached the ultimate of...badassery. Of cruelty."

"She is very, very wrong, love. El Jefe does not take kindly to her tongue, and so he has her and her brother taken one night, as they are walking home. Held captive." Luce took her left hand and rolled up her right sleeve as she spoke, turning her arm back for Emily to see: several old scars, like needle-holes, dotted the inside of her arm, and the medley of other scars across Luce's body suddenly gained a far more morbid appearance. "They do very bad things to this little girl. Break her mind with drugs: white china, crystal, then take them away. The withdrawal is painful, but with starvation, with thirst, with watching her brother endure the same...enduring punishments you are too young to learn of...darling, she begins to go a little mad."

Luce reached up, untying the old black eyepatch that was strapped across her head. It came loose after a moment; Luce inevitably used a very secure knot to keep it in place. She held it in her hand and kept staring at the fire, keeping her face hidden from Emily. "...so El Jefe, he comes to visit. He asks if she has learned her lesson, if he has as well. El Jefe must compete with many other cartels, must keep them in line. Any sign of weakness is a death sentence, even an insult from a drunk young girl...this girl, of course, she says yes, she begs for mercy when he comes. So does the brother. But El Jefe, he just laughs. He tells her, he tells her exactly, 'I'll let you go when you claw your own eyes out, wh*re.'".

Luce turned around, a wide, cold smile on her face, her remaining eye just as hollow as the nonexistent one. Her socket was...hideous. Scarred and webbed with veins, the tissue was burnt pink in some places, black in others, a sick collage of tender flesh and a nauseating look that couldn't quite be named, but was just wrong on some primal level. Luciana refused to break eye contact. "So the girl, she knows that El Jefe may be the Devil himself, but he is a man of his word. So when they think her broken enough to leave her without being chained to the wall, she takes a deep breath and she prays..." Luce curled her hand into a fist, one thumb extended, and placed it up to the socket. "She intends to make El Jefe hold to his promise. The guards, they call for reinforcements, they stop her before she can do the full job. El Jefe, oh, he's impressed. Impressed at the girl's stubbornness. But he's a man of his word-exact word. The girl, she only clawed out one of her eyes. Not both. Only one goes free. The girl knows the only way they'll be able to pay ransom is if she goes...she leaves. But not before she stops and asks El Jefe for his cigar-he loves cigars, always smoking them, chewing them down. She's lucky. It's a fresh one. So she takes it, she puffs it..." Luce gestured towards the flaming, glowing metal behind her, "...makes the embers nice and hot. And she stops the bleeding in that eye of hers. It's the one word in your filthy language I can remember. Cauterize. She cauterized it. She walked out of El Jefe's base, stumbling and cursing, her head alight with pain, her body barely strong enough to move."

Luce stood back up, slipping the patch back on, then her hat. She moved calmly, comfortably, getting her outfit just so again. Luce moved once again uncomfortably close to Emily. Luce had, it seemed, put on weight since this ordeal, her frame healthy, despite all the scratches tattooed into her skin. Her body conveyed a quiet, deadly seriousness, and there was no exaggeration or hint of lying to any of Luce's words: she was speaking the truth or was one hell of an actress.

"I am tired of your backtalk. I am tired of you. I am tired of life. Let us be very clear right now Emily. I have been burned before. I will survive more burns. Here are your incentives. You take down your barricade and I will go. Or, I will kill you, coat my lovely jacket with your blood, and wear your hide like a jacket when I go through that flaming tunnel. If there is any doubt in your mind that I won't kill you, that I can't kill you-" Luce, hoping her monologue was serving the purpose of distracting Emily sufficiently, drew for her gun with blinding speed and raised it to Emily's temple, drawing the hammer back with a rather ominous noise any movie-goer knows. "...then you are more of a fool than I thought. Your choice, darling. Provided you survive the next thirty seconds, I suggest you watch your f*cking mouth and stop thinking that being superhuman makes you unbeatable. It is a mistake you will pay dearly for."  Luce drew the revolver back and slid it into its holster, keeping her gaze level with Emily. She wasn't totally sure what the girl could do beyond barricades, but unless it was incredibly lethal, Luce could kill her. Even if she couldn't, she could grab the b*tch and drag her down into the scorching hot metal with her. It was of no consequence to Luce-nothing was, anymore.

Jake, Lin and Lily vs. Stasis Escapees.


The trio were running through the halls away from their three aggressors. Or so they appeared to be. "They" were an illusion being chased around while they got away. The real Lin and Lily were out of the way, while Jake was working on taking these people out of the picture. These illusions were pretty much realistic. They looked like them, they sounded like them... The only thing that was off was smell. Jake can't exactly do too well with a sense of smell (It only really matters when facing those with super scent). The illusions were being closely pursued by the animal-type... Right into Jake's clever plan. The illusions went through a door into another room with the bestial Meta-human. This wasn't the most clever or original plans, but Jake is the person that'll take what he's given. Which so happens to be an idiot that doesn't know what he's dealing with. The Meta picked up speed as he charged down the hallway headfirst at full speed, almost reaching the speed of cheetahs. In an attempt to make a grand entrance and surprise the three. Which would end badly for him. You see, as it may have been expected, the door and the room were nothing but very accurate illusions. What was really there was a very solid wall. Just to f*ck with the creature, Jake dispelled the illusion at the very last second, too late for the creature to stop.

His eyes widened as it tried to skid to a stop. Only ramming the wall headfirst with a loud thud. The creature had killed itself. It had a frail body to accomplish such acrobatics so effortlessly. Therefore such force shattered it's skull and done deadly damage to it's brain and spinal cord. The creature dropped to the ground down, pool of blood forming at it's cranium. It did bother Jake - But, this was something that had to be done - Or else it would be them getting killed. Now it came down to taking out the other two, Jake could hear their footsteps rushing towards their fallen comrade. They could just cut and run now - But, someone's gotta take out these people. When the two came barreling down the hall, Jake decided to have some fun with him. He flooded the hallway with foul-smelling, and tasting, smoke. It was so foul that it would distract even the strongest of Metas. It made him pretty much invisible. So Jake cast another illusion. One of a simple floating hand, it would feel like an actual hand. He was personally wondering why he hasn't bolted yet. Jake made the hand touch the back of the driller, hard. It wouldn't do anything in terms of damage, but it would feel like someone punched him in the back.

"You b*stard!" The Driller shouted as he stabbed his powerful hand-drills in the direction of where he was touched at full force. Rather stupidly - But it will work. He hit his acid spewing friend in the chest - Who responded with shooting acid in the direction of the driller. It was a rather hilarious sight in terms of how silly this situation is. Then all the blood and gore totally dashed that. The Driller impaled the acid spitter's chest with one swing, and the acid shot at the driller melted half of his body in a truly gruesome display.

Wow, that was easier than expected. No, THEY made it easier than expected. It took all of Jake's strength to avoid throwing up then and there. Well, he would be patting himself on the back if he wasn't so disgusted. In the span of two minutes he managed to indirectly kill three people intent on viciously killing himself and his friends. Was he proud of himself? No. Even if he wasn't the one to deliver the kill blow, he was disturbed about what this had come to. But, he needs to find Lily and Lin and get back to the group. Jake easily has the most powerful defensive ability and he could easily defend the group from anything that doesn't have anything to do with energy. He quickly darted away from the scene, invisible. To go find Lin and Lily. He knew where they were, they were in a corner somewhere. He appeared before them.

"... Lily, I know it's hard," Lin was holding Lily in her arms. In the process of attempting to get her to calm down and return to her senses. "You just cannot give up. There is just too much at stake here to just give up. All of us need you, and everyone else, if we are going to survive." Lin continued,

Before Jake interjected, "Lil' we can't have you collapsing like this. If we didn't come, you would have been killed! Or worse..."

"Yes, you must remember that we care about you and your well-being... But, doing things like this is highly detrimental to that initial goal." Lin adds on.

Idle silence was the only response from Lily. She then stood up straight and realized something; she's being a coward and other people are taking the. She really needs to work on this. She is not a coward - No, she is a coward, but no longer will she cave and run like this. For real this time. While she's reluctant to use her powers, she felt more and more open about using them with these people. Because they were open about their powers, and what they really were deep down. "... I'm sorry. Again." Lily started off, "I can't just abandon you all so easily... I just gotta stop doing that... We, uh, should..."

"We really need to head back." Jake asked, trying to complete her sentence, "Look, I can keep this illusion going and keep you two hidden, but I have to head back." If the group were to survive the battle they need Jake. He has easily the best defensive power out of all of them. He can provide cover and distractions to allow the group to get closer to them.

"Lily, I know you are scared, but you have to keep it together. Even if I cannot directly help the group I will be there." Lin pleads with Lily, making it clear that she had no further intentions of babysitting Lily. She can help the group in some way with her Telepathy.

"Alright... I'm going too..." Lily moans. Swallowing her fear and choose to head back towards the group.

With that, Jake made all of them invisible and headed towards the distant chaos. By the time the three had made it back to the battle, Drake was landing the final blows upon the Regenerator.

[Continued below]



Drake and Victoria vs. Regenerator.

Spoiler:

Kicking off the fight, Drake Blackmore swung his right, plasma-infused, claw in a graceful slashing motion at it's throat. His claw dug into the Regenerator's throat, the plasma around his claws made the slash more effective. The heat from the plasma allowed him to burn deeper into it's flesh, and thus, regenerate it slower. However, in the long run it was quickly regenerated.

Meanwhile, Victoria was trying to remove the unconscious Charles from out of the way of the fight. She telekinetically lifted him out of the way. At the same time she was constantly trying to keep one eye on Drake. She never knew when she had to give him a bit of support. Since this monster is near unstoppable, and while she was confident in Drake's fighting abilities and power, she knew that one slip up and he'd be dead. And Drake makes plenty of slip-ups. Victoria gently rested Charles on the ground on the far side of the room. She turned her attention to Drake. She was going to stay here and give Drake support from here in the back. Victoria started off by lifting up a few rocks Telekinetic-ally and sending them at the Regenerator high speed. "Drake, duck!" She shouted.

Which he quickly did, and dropped to his knees, with a clawed hand on the ground. The Regenerator was hit in the face with rocks, which instantly shattered on impact, and a stream of black blood came forth. Drake quickly pointed both of his hands at the wound and fired off a stream of plasma. Not as strong and powerful as it would be if he was fully formed, but it burnt the wound shut. The Regenerator quickly healed the wound and punched Drake directly in the face. He responded by firing off as much plasma as he could. Which wasn't enough since the Regenerator was barely slowed down. He was knocked on to his back, and quickly tried to get back up. Before he could Victoria sent the Regenerator flying with another blast, which allowed him to safely raise back up to his feet. Drake darted back around. Which gave him the perfect opportunity to deal the Regenerator heavy damage. He charged the creature both hands pointed at it, shooting off streams of Plasma. Which burned the creature badly as he got close. The Regenerator slashed him across the chest, through his clothes. Slicing off something else in the process. His left nipple.

"Oh hell no!" Drake roared as he realized that the Regenerator removed something else. Now he was set alight with anger. Because first he lost his dangalang, and now he just lost one of his nipples. Blood dripped down from his chest, as he continued his assault. Even more pissed off than before. He pointed both of his hands at the Regenerator and fired off as much plasma as he could. But, it didn't stop. It just kept walking slowly, like it was mocking him. It raised a claw high up for a slash, but Drake saw it coming and grabbed the Regenerator by it's wrist, halting the attack. Drake took this opportunity to punch the Regenerator several times on it's chest. With his strength increase from Dragonfly's form, and plasma enshrouded fist, these punches were pretty damn damaging. However, the Regenerator quickly retaliated by punching Drake in the face again. Throwing him off.

Victoria intervened again. Slinging several more rocks into the Regenerator. Knocking it off balance too. While she was given the opportunity, she called out to her younger brother, "Drake! Transform back into that other form you had! It's a lot more powerful than the one you have now."

"Oh right." Drake quickly regained his composure standing up straight. He still has no idea what exactly he just did with this combination crap - But it's best that he saves it for later, when he gets a good idea of what this even does. He quickly closed his eyes and focused. Tried his best to access that Plasma form (And prayed that he didn't break it). Then he triggered the transformation. In less than a few moments, he was back to his fully formed Plasma form. A lot quicker than he normally does. Because he was already half-way in that form when he merged, so it was the simple process of completing that transformation. Drake's lizard features disappeared and were replaced with his normal body-parts - Albeit, enshrouded in super heated plasma. He nodded his head and clenched hands into tight fists. Drake didn't waste a second in enshrouding the Regenerator in a thick wave of Plasma.

This time, however, the wounds took a much longer for the Regenerator to heal. Because it was reaching it's limits. It was low on energy, which was essential in it's healing process, and it wouldn't get the opportunity to regain some energy with Drake around. In other words, it was close to death.

When the Plasma faded, the Regenerator was just about cooked. It was covered in sickly black burns. It's limbs were burnt off, completely missing several of them, as ash dripped off from it's being. Even in it's last moments, the Regenerator was still desperately clawing towards them on the ground with a barely half formed arm. This was nothing to Drake at this point. Drake wasted no time in finishing off the wounded beast before it got back on it's feet. He pointed one hand at the Regenerator as it got close enough. Then at point blank, he unleashed a hellish wave of plasma, that completely engulfed the Regenerator. Incinerating it faster than it could possibly heal. Until there was nothing left but a smoldering black ash covered corpse.

The Regenerator was finished.


Stasis Escapees.



The Stasis Escapees hunkered together on the other side of the room opposite of the group. They were losing this fight, the way they've been fighting it. They had one plan: bombard the group from a distance. From the other side of the room, the escapees formed a line, those who have ranged attacks fired upon the group from a distance. With melee attacks behind them, ready to tear anyone who gets close to them to pieces. In less than a few moments, the room was being filled with various elements. Lasers, shockwaves, fire, ice, rocks, gas, energy... One guy was even throwing the body parts of his dead allies.

However, the Group would return the favor in their own special way.


Drake, Victoria, Lily, Lin, & Jake vs. Stasis Douchebags

Spoiler:

With the Regenerator burnt to ashes, there was one thing on Drake Blackmore's mind;

Tear the rest of these motherfuckers to pieces.

That plan had to go on hold when they started shooting at him. His plasma form gave him no resistance against such attacks. He was hit in the shoulder with a rock. He felt the rush of pain as a bruise formed under all that plasma. Drake was reaching his limit here. He was getting pretty beaten and he would have to stop at one point. That "one point" is definitely not now. He yelled at the top of his lungs, "I'll show you motherf*ckers!" As he unleashed his manly battle cry. They were shooting at the group, and Drake decided to shoot at them. He was firing off massive blasts of plasma at them. Some were blocked/ineffective, some missed and some connected. That didn't matter in Drake's case since he was on one hell of a battle rush, and he was going to stop once they met the end of him. He took a few more hits and ignored the pain.

Meanwhile, Victoria was gathering rocks and debris and made a shield around herself and the unconscious Charles. "Drake, get behind this!" She shouted the very moment the shield was complete and blocking them from harm.

"Oh yeah!" Drake took a few more pot shots at the escapees as he went behind the shield. Only to use it as cover while he fired off more blasts of Plasma at them. Victoria tried to speak to him, only to get ignored.

"Hmph. Simpletons, you are no match for me." This is when Jake went into action. His timing was perfect in this case, since the group would have been devastated if he didn't do anything. With one snap of his fingers, he crafted several identical illusions of a solid titanium wall around several members of the group, angled so that they are blocked from the bombardment. He made a barrier for Frillerfang, Toby, Bones, Tom, Marie, Sandy, Crystal, Faith (And the deceased Jack), Lexy, Seth. It would be impossible to make an effective illusion for Pedro and Nicole because they fly, and should be able to dodge mostly everything that comes their way. He didn't make an illusion around the Blackmores, since they already have a barrier. It is straining keeping all these illusions up, so the group would have to take this opportunity to take them out, or stop the hail of long ranged attacks. A few illusions were probably going to get destroyed if an energy-type starts. He would quickly replenish them. It was in his best interest to get over to Drake and Victoria, along-with Lin and Lily, fast as possible. However, before he went over to them, he turned to Faith and Jack. He saw the dead Jack, and Faith sobbing over him. While Jack was a pain in the @ss and a fool, Jake knew that he didn't deserve to die. Only the truly wicked earn that right. Jake did feel legitimately bad for Faith, since she's taking it rather hard. Jake spoke through the illusory wall, his voice came from no discernible area of the wall, "... Sorry for your loss, Faith. I don't know what happened, but you seriously can't give up. You have to move forward, for him." Not the best speech, but it was the only thing he could come up with in short term. With that, Jake ran at full speed towards the Blackmores.

Someone's going have to tell him a speech twenty times better than that in a few...

Lin was the first to get behind the barrier with the Blackmores, then Lily, then Jake.

"Alright, things aren't too pretty here..." Lily moans, again. She wasn't in the best emotional state right now, "We're going to need a plan, guys." Lily states the obvious.

"No sh*t!" Both Drake and Victoria shouted at the same time. While Drake was still shooting Plasma.

"We're going to need one fast. I can't keep this up for too long." Jake comes.

"I gotta plan right here." Drake says as he relented, and turned around towards the group. He then powered down. Shifting out of his plasma form, and back into his human form. The plasma faded away as his body cooled down. It revealed the extensive bodily damage that was done to him. He was coated in bruises, cuts and was just oozing blood. But still appeared to be still standing, and ready to get some more. Drake then put out his hand to Lily, "Charge me. I can roast them all."

Now, Lily was hesitant - No, downright reluctant - to use her powers to begin with... One time it went horribly wrong and she ended up quite scarred. Afraid to use her powers to begin with... Drake helped her with that, and without her powers, the group may have been defeated by the Oozium. Then again, Drake was exhausted and dangerously close to getting sucked into that black hole. If it wasn't for Toby, he would be pretty dead. Now, she knew that Drake wasn't in the best of all shapes. She theorized that he would either pass out immediately after using his powers, or ash. Both weren't good options. "Whoa, there... You're not in the best of shapes right now, and I don't think we should risk you dying..." Lily, with the help of a friend, can turn the tides of just about any battle with her super-charging. Then again, if it wasn't Drake, then there are several more people here who can be charged. These are her friends. "... I cannot, will not, charge you Drake... But, I can charge one of you. You're powers will be like... Amazingly strong and stuff! Stronger than you have ever been."

Jake raised an eyebrow, interested. Before Lily told them that her only power was sensing Meta-humans, and scaling how powerful they were... But charging, that's a bit interesting. Though, he did guess that there was some risk or cost here. "... What's the catch?" He curiously asked, before diverting his attention back to keeping the Illusions going.

"Well you could turn into ash... Or run out of steam really quick." Lily tells him.

"Pass." Jake blankly says. He rather use the strength he has now to keep the group safe, than risk ashing or using up his energy and getting fatigued.

This gave Lin a good idea, however. She thought that she will be the one to get super-charged. She heard stories of other Cerebral type Meta-humans overloading people's heads with thoughts. Lin raised her head and turned to Lily and spoke, "I have an idea. Some Telepaths have overloaded the minds of enemies by sending them more thoughts than their mind can possibly handle. Knocking them unconscious." Then she felt like she was talking way too here, and just cut to the chase. "... I'll just get to the point. Charge me."

"You sure about this." Lily hesitantly asks, as she grabbed on to Lin's wrist. Ready to super-charge all of her abilities.

"Yes, I am well aware of the risks that may be carried, and I am ready for them." Lin blankly says, full of confident and devoid of fear. Hopefully she won't kill herself.

Getting the approval of Lin, Lily started charging Lin. A bright-red energy traveled out of Lily's hands into Lin's. Illuminating the nervous systems of both of them with a bright red light, it had a similar appearance to electricity. She charged Lin with more and more of her false Meta-human energy, until she stopped. She didn't wish to charge Lin any further in risk of causing Lin to ash. Lily then took a few steps back.

Lin felt powerful. Like the most powerful Telepath in the universe. Who can read the minds of every last human being on the planet. She wasn't going to try that hard. Lin was going to take slow steps. She closed her eyes and tilted her head down. Then she started reading the minds of everyone here. Strangely, her mind can handle all these thoughts, and discern them, without getting overloaded in the slightest. Perhaps it's apart of getting super-charged. She had hoped no one on their side would mind. Lin then stopped reading the group's minds, and started reading the minds of the Stasis Escapees... She learned something distressing, going off their combined thoughts. They were fooled by the Traitor, who has lied to them in an attempt to get both sides to kill each other. She was distressed for a second - Before she realized that she can possibly end this by revealing the disception. Lin transmitted the thoughts into the heads of all of the Stasis Escapees, in an attempt to plead to them; Listen, you must stop this senseless bloodshed now. You have been deceived. We have not killed anyone and we are truly in the same situation as you all. This Kingston Nash is merely a liar who have filled you with false hope. He is the Traitor and seeks nothing less than our utter annihilation. He will NOT give you an easy exit if you kill us... It is not too late for us to stop this and together, we can make something new out of this.

They all stopped for a moment to listen to the voice intruding in their collective heads. Then they either thought it was a trick, a lie, or just didn't want to stop trying to kill them. Either way, they ignored Lin's plead. Then started right back up.

I am sorry it has to come to this... Lin sent the first thought to the Escapees. Which was going to be the last thought their minds will be able to discern from the rest. Lin started mentally bombarded them with an incredible amount of random thoughts all at once. Causing them insane amounts of mental/brain pain. They halted their attack to clench their heads in pain, and they all screamed in agony. Soon enough, they started dropping like flies. This mental assault lasted a few moments, and in this time, Lin has successfully taken out half the escapees. Plenty were still standing. Some were either not affected at all, immune to mental powers, or weren't effected long enough to fall unconscious. Among them was Eliza. Whoever was still standing weren't going to stop now. They restarted the bombardment. However, at this point, plenty of them were losing hope in this fight, and many of them fled.

However, Lin had strained her body until she was fatigued by the time the charging wore off. She had fallen over, barely conscious.

"Whoa, there, got you." Jake caught Lin before she fallen. He gracefully stuck his arms out and caught her with both arms. He held her in his arms, as they shared gentle gazes. Some could interpret this as romantic.

"Now..." Drake ran took a step forward out of the barrier seeing that Lin's grand attack took half of them out of the picture in one well swoop. He raised his fist in the air, with the most dramatic pose possible, as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "... EVERYONE GO FORWARD! WE ARE ENDING THIS HERE AND NOW!" He was going to sit this one out for a bit. He needs to get healed before he jumps back into the fight. Then he shouted out for Crystal, "Um, Crystal, I could use a hand here!"

Faith n' Crystal
---

Faith was startled by Jake speaking up. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, but some of Jack's blood had found its way towards her and covered the bottom halved of her legs. She opened her mouth, managing to speak, "B-but, he..." died protecting her. It combined with another fact greatly troubled Faith- she hadn't ever thought of Jack as someone that would do such a thing. She never noticed any small kind deeds he did until he had died.

Even so, she knew Jake was right, no matter how suckish his speech was. She nodded, standing up and having a few eyes take hold of Jack's lifeless body and sent them on a task to try to find a way outside with him. Afterwards, Faith decided, everyone dead- whether allies or not- is going to be buried. She nervously sent a few eyes charging for the stasis escapees.

When Crystal heard Drake say he needed her help, she spun around a bit over-enthusiastically, "Finally someone who needs my help!" She had been surviving by everyone else's protection- in fact, Lexy was now currently with her, and had willingly offered help. The fight that is currently going on had definately changed the girl- she was still her happy self, yet had some sadness to her, now.

Stepping towards him, she spoke up, "So what do you need me to heal fir-... oh." Crystal could only look at Drake's bleeding chest, a blush forming on her face as she stared at the wound. She had a feeling thatvwas one of the main wounds Drake wanted healed. Her right hand twitched, unsure what to do. After an awkward moment of silence, Crystal placed her hands on the center of his chest to avoid making the situation any more awkward when it didn't have to be. "You have the worst luck," was all she said, a blush still on her face as she began healing. This was, by far, the strangest, most awkward wound she ever had to heal... ever.

Luciana "La Cordera" Rojas

Luciana, for her flaws, wasn't a woman who killed without a damned good reason.

Emily had just given her one. Her insolent comments were tolerable-especially given that the superheated metal hole keeping her from walking out would eventually cool, so Emily's ultimatum was on a time limit. But the girl's unnecessary aggression towards her-enacting the barrier in the first place-and now, a death threat: it may have been cheeky backtalk to her, but it was a real, grave threat to Luciana. When it came to threats, you set a precedent: they'd better damned well have weight.

Luce's threats had weight.

Luce was confident she'd be able to catch Emily off guard: she assumed the girl would throw up some sort of barrier similar to the one she'd placed over the door, and unless the girl had the same supernatural reflexes that Luce had, Emily was going to be starting this fight with a severe detriment. Luce spun, her power letting her whip her body around with uncanny quickness, and drew in less than half a second, hands beginning to work the triggers and hammers of the two Peacemakers before she'd even raised them fully. Thunder filled the room as the acrid stench of gunpowder puffed out of the guns, Luce quickly putting her strategy to work.

What the girl may not know of Luce's gift was that she was not only incredibly accurate, she was rather good with trick shots. Luce aimed her right hand's weapon towards the girl, center-mass (there was no point in going for a headshot when the salvo she was firing would kill her within moments anyways) and aimed her left hand as a contingency plan: she fired up and to the left of Emily's head by a considerable distance, at least ten or fifteen feet away. As the bullets hit the wall and ricocheted off, Luce curled the rounds to come straight at Emily's spine.

Very few people on earth can take a scorching hot bullet the size of one of those fingers and maintain the concentration to keep up their power: if this street rat could, Luce would be rather surprised indeed. Luce began to roar the same battle-prayer she always did, taking a step back and steadying her posture. Unless the same God Luce was praying to was watching out for this particular girl as well, she was very, very certain she'd be dead within the minute.

Drake, Jake, Victoria, Lin & Lily.

Celo wrote:

"You have the worst luck,"

It didn't take emotion reading to tell that Crystal was less than comfortable with healing him. It was probably that she was healing his nipple wound. He wasn't too concerned about his wound. More about kicking these guy's @ss before anymore of them get away, or they manage to kill someone. After he was fully healed by Crystal, there was one thing on his mind. A battle plan. He looked ahead and saw Seth and the others are rushing. He wasn't going to miss this for anything. Drake spotted his quarry among the escapees; Eliza. She was in a state of panic, from Lin's mental attack, and pretty beaten from their last fight... Well, this will be their last fight. He will see through this. "I'd rather it be me taking these hits than anyone else... And you should see the other guy." Drake spoke to Crystal, peering at the incinerated Regenerator for a moment. The wounds on Drake's body were quickly being healed, which was perfect. In less than a few moments, he was completely healed. He nodded his eyes, and closed his eyes, "Now, stay with Victoria, Jake, and the others. They'll keep you safe." Drake took a few steps forward away from Crystal, because he didn't want her to be burnt. Before activating his power, he was going to use his plasma form for this. Drake's body started getting hotter and hotter, as his skin started glowing a bright bluish-green color. Then his entire body exploded into a thick sheathe of burning plasma. His body underneath was barely visible, but his eyes glowed brightly through the chaos. His clothing was even incorporated into the transformation. "'Toria I see the b*tch I wanna take out. But I think I'll need a little bit of help getting there."

With a nod of her head in acknowledgement, Victoria came up with a plan. She quickly took apart her barrier of scraps from the battle and raised it in the air, pointing it at the Escapees. She was preparing to launch them at just about anyone who got close to either them or Drake. "Alright, I'll provide cover for you from back here, just charge in, they won't touch you if I say something about it. Jake, you think you can put a shield in front of us?"

Fortunately, as more and more people charged forward, there weren't too much need to keep the illusions there protecting them. Jake dispelled the illusions that were protecting the people who left the cover of them. So, he created a large curved wall of boron carbide around his group. This wall was transparent and allowed him to see through it. From here, he could cast illusions, protecting those who really needed it. But he was going to focus on keeping the illusions protecting the noncombatants going above all else. "I can hold down the fort from here. If you need a cover, holler at me."

"... And If it came down to it, I'll charge someone and maybe, uh, help beat them..." After helping Lin onto the ground, Lily speaks to the trio. Crossing her arms and looking away hesitantly. While it could easily turn the tide of the battle, Lily was the least bit comfortable with using her super-charging like this. She wanted to just keep this a secret. But it's necessary for them to survive. She'll throw away her reluctance if it meant saving them.

Strained because she used her powers too much, Lin rested on the ground, tired. She would have to wait a few moments before she's back up on her feet. She wanted to tell the group about what she learned from the minds of the Stasis escapees, but she was going to wait. Lin knew that sharing this information with the group would only cloud their judgement, and lead. The group needs to finish this fight with a clear head. Then she'll tell them after they've finished this. For now, Lin's going to place her faith in the group and hope they can protect her while she's down.

With that, Drake nodded his head. His plasma form sent a searing heat to the area around him. He was ready to fight. He didn't have his favorite tinted goggles on his forehead, but he'll survive. They would have been destroyed (Or done him harm) anyway because of Eliza's vibrations. Drake charged at the escapees, with every last one of his steps coordinated as possible. He was ready to kick some monster @ss and nobody was going to stop him.


Drake, Victoria, & Jake vs. Eliza and the Stasis Faglords.

Spoiler:

During Drake's charge towards Eliza, several Metas tried to stop him. They weren't nearly as strong as Drake, so they would be easy to take down. But, Drake wasn't the one who landed the finished blows on them. It was Victoria. The very second they turned towards Drake, Victoria had debris flying towards them at deadly speeds. They each were hit in the head with such force that they were killed, or heavily injured. There was one, a male who could coat his body in a strange flexible metal, that was durable as Titanium. He walked over to Drake, fists balled, and ready to put up one hell of a fight. However, that armor would betray him. Horribly. Drake pointed both hands at the metal-man and fired off a thick stream of plasma that engulfed his foe. The super-heated nature of Plasma dealt electrical and heat based damage to foes. That armor was merely a conductor for this. Shortly, after a few moments of contact, the armor turned into the man's heated prison. The metal started to cook the man from the outside in, shortly boiling his skin and killing him. He dropped to the ground with a metallic clang, turning into an actual statue. With that out of the way, Drake stopped the plasma bombardment and turned his attention towards Eliza. Who was still trying to figure out what she should do.

"You!" Drake shouted as he took steps towards her, walking badassily as he possibly can. He tightened his fists into tight balls as orbs of plasma encompassed his hands. "I know one thing's for certain! I will be the one to defeat you!" Drake shouted, and the very moment he finished, he launched his offensive against Eliza. He sent several large blasts of plasma towards Eliza out of his hands. Randomly fired, and in a wide girth, so that she would have a hard time dodging. Eliza panicked and tried to dodge and only got hit by Drake's volley of plasma. Drake stopped to get ready for another, stronger attack, now that he had Eliza on the robes. He had the definite advantage since Eliza is still wounded from their last fight, and was thrown off from Lin's mental attack. But, both made her all the more desperate and reckless. She growled and let out a screech as she went berserk. She pointed both hands at Drake, screaming her battle cry. Eliza fired off a torrent of shock-waves at Drake. She fired off one vibration shock-wave after another, that had crushing force behind them. Fortunately, Jake was looking out for Drake. He erected a wide titanium wall between Drake and Eliza, and absorbed the force behind every last shock-wave. Potentially saving Drake's life. The wall of titanium wall collapsed once it was damaged enough for it to destroyed - By then, though, Eliza had tired herself out. So all Eliza did was waste her energy.

For a moment, Drake turned his head back and gave Jake a warm smile, before activating beast-mode. The Plasma around him heated up and glowed an even brighter color. He turned back to his look of determination before launching an all out offensive against Eliza. He released the strongest blast of plasma yet. A deadly wave that heated up the area around him and would kill anyone unfortunate enough to be the target. Eliza had quickly dashed out of the way, firing off a wave of vibrations behind her to give her propulsion. She had managed to dodge Drake's attack, but she knew that this was a fight that she would lose. He's at full strength, and she's still injured from their last battle. There was a look of hopelessness in her eyes as she did one last thing.

Using the last few ounces of her strength, Eliza prepared a terrifying attack. She made the entire room around her vibrate very violently. The ground and air vibrated throughout the entire room. Everyone, friend and foe, would be horribly disoriented. The already fragile ceiling started to destabilize even further. All the while Eliza screamed at the top of her lungs, as tears ran down her face.

She was certain.

That she would kill everyone here.

And she was fine with that.

Taylor

Taylor woke up half-suspended in the murky waters of the lake. When she first awoke, Taylor began to panic. She flailed around aimlessly for a few moments, her lungs burning as they filled up by the buckets with water. She tried to scream, but all that came out were a few bubbles of air. Then, Taylor remembered her powers. Her eyes glowed blue, and the water blasted out of her lungs, causing a few bubbles at the surface. She slowed her breathing, and looked around, her senses now super sharp from the drowning sensation. She could sense vibrations on the surface of the water; a fight was breaking out. But right now, Taylor had not a single care in the world for fights. She was extremely tired, and for some reason felt incredibly distracted. She swam to the top of the water slowly, and broke the surface. Her hair for the first time in years was wet, and her makeup was running down her face in black streaks. She quickly repaired her look, and swam over to the shore in slow strokes. Taylor clambered up onto the beach, and crawled up the sand as if she didn't remember how to walk. She slowly rose to her feet, and cried out as the heel on her right shoe snapped, rolling her ankle and sending her falling face-first into the sand. She rolled onto her back, and gingerly touched her ankle. Already it was flushed red and began to swell. She took her shoes off and slowly rose to her feet again, limping. She began to hobble down the sidewalk, dragging her leg behind her.

Soon enough, she came upon the dorms. She limped up to the door, and threw it open to find Johnny and Sylvia leaning against the wall, crying. The memories came flooding back to her; she was supposed to be helping them catch the traitor. Johnny told her to go off to the cafeteria, and a day later she found herself at the bottom of the lake. He was going to kill her.

"Johnny..." She said quietly "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what...I just woke up in the lake and...what happened?" Someone must have died, because Johnny never cried like this. Taylor couldn't help but feel like this was all her fault. Maybe if she would have been there she could have helped.

Ryan

Ryan was always watching these days. He looked down on the rest of the campus from the roof of the dorms with a look of disgust on his face. These people had become nothing less than mindless animals smashing each other. He felt like the sole hero above this menagerie of pathetic teenagers. If he hadn't taken out Johnny's crew, then more lives would have been lost. He sensed that Taylor had woken up, though. He got back into her head the moment she awoke and attempted to make her forget about her powers, with the intent of drowning her. Dead women tell no tales. But Taylor's mind was strong, and soon she crawled out of the water. He hacked her again, causing her to roll her ankle. Yet, that didn't stop her either. He tried a third time to hack her mind, but he couldn't break through. Her mind was buzzing with too many thoughts for him to navigate. He groaned and clutched his head as his mind was filled with thoughts. He fell to his knees on the roof, and began to slide, only catching the gutter at the last second to keep himself from falling to his death. Ryan pulled himself up, and decided to go inside. Johnny would get angry with Taylor, he was sure, and then all this would be done with.

Johnny Valos, & Sylvia Bertoose.

Sadness:

That very image haunted him.

That f*cking monster...

That f*cking monster just impaling her...

That... Just...

Isn't fair. There were a million people trapped in this hell-hole that deserved death more than Gabriela. Like Johnny himself, all he really wanted was to get his siblings the hell out of here and be done with this place. But sh*t's just that not simple enough to allow that. It has never been. Ever since that sh*tstorm that molded him into a monster, has Johnny ever felt so helpless. If only he was just one second earlier, then the three of them could just be getting out of here. Yes. That's it. They'd be one big happy family... Sadly. As hard as Johnny wished it wasn't true, he had to face the music about what happened.

After they split off from the scene, both Sylvia and Johnny ran away from the Eye Factory. They ran fast as they could. Which was pretty damn fast by their standards. Then they stopped. They just had to. Johnny reverted out of his Emotional Energy form, and let the pain from the fight rush through him. Strangely, he ignored it. It was nothing to what he's really feeling! The pain he's feeling was emotional pain. Something his power set made him understand greatly. So both of them just walked, Johnny had his hands over his face. "Gabriela..." He constantly muttered to himself over and over again with every passing step. They weren't going anywhere in particular. They were just going. Away from that place.

Eventually, they somehow made it to the dorms. Johnny didn't know how, but maybe it was just... Nevermind. Both of them just sat against the wall. Johnny just slumped up against the wall, and threw his hat off into the distance. It was the least bit important right now. Sylvia quickly curled up, tight as possible, in the fetal position. As tears ran down her eyes. She had lost her sunglasses in their fleeing, showing her weird eyes. Honestly, she didn't care if anyone saw. There was much more important things going on than that.

Maxx wrote:

"Johnny..." She said quietly "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what...I just woke up in the lake and...what happened?"

... A pretty face shows up in my time of need. Johnny thought to himself as he was slumped up against the wall. He turned his head towards Taylor and stared at her with a frown on his face. He hasn't seen her since last night. She left during his meeting with Luce. Normally, he would be a bit irritated, but Johnny couldn't give a f*ck. This woman was the very person he wanted to see. "... I failed, god dammit.... That's what f*cking happened...!" Johnny sobbed, before pointing his face forward. "I... f*ck... I..." More tears began rushing down his face as he tried to tell Taylor what happened. The more he thought about the Colossus impaling Gabe with it's massive arm, the more it made him feel like sh*t. It was going to be ages before Taylor figures out exactly what happened. If she was perceptive as he was; she would know that there were few things that would provoke such emotions in him. Then he just decided to throw it all out the window and tell her, "Gabriela M. Valos s f*cking dead! She got impaled through the f*cking chest, by a monster right in f*cking front of us! It has been years since I felt like this. It just isn't f*cking fair. I just wanted to get the f*ck out of here and be done with this god damn place, but no... I have to lose one of the few f*cking people I care about." Johnny ranted on and on. Not even sure where to go or what he was even talking about. Then he remembered something else. Something equally important. He forgot about the other half of Gabriela, Jake. He was still in there, doing whatever. Now he felt stupid for just forgetting about Jake. "Taylor... I know we don't know each other that much... Look... You're the only real person I have by my side right now..."  Johnny started off, "... But, I need to go find Jake... He's in that f*cking place... Gabe is his twin... He has to know this. C-can... you come with me?"

Taylor

oh dear Taylor thought. She had never seen Johnny this visibly emotional before. Normally he was cool and collected with no hint of emotions whatsoever, but now... he was his own polar opposite. Taylor felt her heart melt when she saw his tears. Suddenly, the pain in her leg numbed. She looked down at her feet to see that they were now clothed in a pair of flats made entirely out of ice. Okay, now that is cool! She thought to herself.

"Of course, I'll come with you, ma cherie." Taylor said, stepping closer to Johnny "We will avenge her". Remembering the night she killed pestilence, Taylor held her hand out as summoned a long jagged spear made of ice. She twirled the six-foot weapon in her hands, familiarizing herself with it again, and then looked back at Johnny's sobbing face. She remembered the moment just a day or two before when she found that her own sister had died in a room they were standing right next to. She knew how it felt to lose someone you loved. She was sure that wherever they were about to go would involve combat, so she readied herself to fight. She didn't have any water bottles on her, but she could manage with the spear and whatever water she could find when they got to Jake.

"Well, then," Taylor said after a pause "Allons-y! Let's go!"

Drake Deltori Blackmore vs. Eliza.

Spoiler:

The immediate rumbling from Eliza nearly threw Drake Blackmore off his feet. He almost fell over on the ground, but he managed to accommodate quite well. He was inadvertently floating a few feet in the air, realizing that he can fly. Oh sh*t I can fly too! Drake thought to himself as he focused on one thing alone. Eliza was going to kill everyone here if she wasn't stopped now. And there was no one else who could be the one to slay Eliza other than him. He was the only one close to her. So why not? Drake charged up a powerful blast of plasma. His entire plasma infused/enshrouded being started burning much much brighter. Plasma flicked off his being, and started forming a thin orb around him. He tried his best to point both hands at Eliza, it was hard with all this shaking going on, but he's managed to point himself in her general direction. He then fired off a terrifyingly large beam of plasma that was far larger than him. The beam lit up the area with a bluish-green light. The beam quickly flew through and hit Eliza directly. Drake kept the beam continuously going as he gently landed on his. The vibrations stopped then and there as Eliza was roasted. She screamed in utter agony as she was engulfed in the beam. The screams really... Disheartened him, but, he wasn't going to stop until she was dead. It was too late to stop this now. Both Drake and Eliza know full and well that there was only one way this fight was going to end... And hell, it's already ending.

The moment when the screams stopped, Drake stopped himself. He relented as the beam got thinner and thinner. The beam of plasma disappeared to reveal a smoldering Eliza. She was burnt to a charred black crisp. She was utterly incinerated. She fell over and collapsed into a pile of ash. It was a terrible thing to do, but it had to be this way. Eliza would have killed everyone. For a moment, Drake zoned out, and just stared at Eliza's corpse (or what's left of it). Wondering if he's done the right thing here. Was this really necessary? I mean... I... Cannot hope to put this into words. Drake watched Eliza's smoldering corpse for a few moments.

The ominous cracking above him broke his reverie... He quickly looked up to see...

The ceiling was on the verge of caving in. That's bad.


Carmen "Lily" Santo, & Victoria Erin Blackmore.


Okay, even after the shaking subsided, there was one major issue. Those enormous cracks in the ceiling. Eliza had managed to destabilized the ceiling much much further than before. The entire ceiling (and a major of the walls) was on the verge of collapsing in them. That wasn't a good sign. In less than a few moments the entire group would have to do some running. Unless... Victoria had one idea on how to save the group from harm. She had Telekinesis, an ability that she has been using the whole time, and has been useful in providing the group with barriers and long ranged harm. In theory, she could put all the falling derbies into one big neat pile. But, she just needs a boost... Which was standing at her side. "Santo, I'm just about the only person in here who can stop us from getting crushed, charge me."

At this point, Lily was just verging on absolutely losing her sh*t. She wasn't doing much thinking, more of grabbing her head and looking around in the most panicked way possible. It didn't take too much for her to throw her reluctance completely out the window. She quickly latched on to Victoria's arm tight as possible and transferred some of her pseudo Meta-human energy into Victoria. Both of their nervous systems were illuminated through their skin with a bright red glow. She quickly let go after she was done charging, and said, "Do your stuff! We don't have too much time!" It denounced that she was barely keeping her cool. She had completely forgotten to warn Victoria of the risks.

Then it happened. The entire ceiling above the group, that was being destabilized as they fought, just collapsed in with a crash that echoed throughout the room. The entire floor above them just fell down. Massive chunks of concrete and metal fell down with crushing force. Anyone caught under it would surely be crushed/buried. The barriers that Jake had created would have done nothing, because they were set up to defend the group from the escapees's constant fire, not a collapsing roof. Many of the contents of the above floor came crashing down along-with the floor they formerly stood on.

Because of Lily's super-charging, Victoria felt powerful. Powerful like Drake, and Lin felt before when Lily charged them in the past. Capable of impressive feats. The only "impressive feat" that Victoria had on her mind was keeping everyone from getting crushed. As the debris came crashing down, they all suddenly stopped with a jolt and idly floated in the air for a few moments. A thick blue aura surrounded them, as Victoria used her telekinesis to safely move all the crashing debris to a safe distance. She moved them all to the first pile that was formed when Eliza first started her attack. Forming a massive, but neat, pile in the center of the room. She felt tired, like this was all too much, but the least bit of her concerns were straining herself. It was saving her little brothers and the group at the same time. Then the charging wore off. Before a few chunks of concrete and metal were moved. They fell crashing to the ground and landed, shattering into a million pieces. Creating a thick cloud of dust, and sending scraps in every direction. If no one was near them, then everyone will be fine.

While there were a few slip ups, she saved the group from being crushed. Victoria was immediately fatigued, and instead of just collapsing, she just gently sat on her behind. Putting her arm over her head, thinking, Is this over, yet?


Jake Vin Valos, & Lin Chai Kentt.


When the shaking started, Jake's concentration was immediately thrown off. The illusions that he had created were destroyed, because his illusions were heavily concentration based. That wasn't his concern however, Lin was resting on the ground and could easily bash her head in if she's not careful. He quickly dove down and attempted to lift her up. It was hard as hell since he could barely stand up. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up. Only to realize something strange - Jake was definitely doing something strange. He felt like he was in her head... Jake could read her thoughts. Because at this very moment, when he made contact with Lin, he unlocked a new ability. Tactile-Telepathy. A form of telepathy that can only allow him to access the minds of others when he touches them. The vibrations had subsided by then, but now he had something else on his mind: what the hell did he just do?

Because of Lin's telepathy, she always got a signal whenever a Cerebral-type tries to access a function of her mind. It was an alert, an alarm. It was like a pull in the back of her skull pointing her at whoever is doing. In this case, the person was Jake. Jake you... What are you doing? Lin thought to herself. She knew this wasn't one of Jake's abilities, his illusions don't access the mind, they manifest in reality. Normally, Lin would just put up several barriers that would keep Jake out, but she was curious.

Jake then brought Lin by her feet and broke contact with her when he took a step back. "Um... Should I be able to hear that...?" Jake curiously asked Lin out loud. Having read her thoughts. Knowing full and well that the situation may get awkward.

Curiously, Lin asked Jake a simple question, "Jake, what did you do... Did you...? Jake, can you hear 'that' now?" When Jake stopped touching her, she stopped getting the Cerebral-type alert.

"Nope." Jake answers blankly.

At this point, Lin grabbed Jake's hand. Allowing him to read her thoughts again, then she got the alert again. Then she smiled, Jake must have unlocked the ability to read minds by touching them. A strange power for an illusionist to have, but she was actually kinda glad he has it. Now they have something else in common, and she can train him in his new mind reading power. But first, Lin figured that she'd tell him. Lin sent the thought to Jake, You can read minds now, Jake... I believe you do so by touching. Perhaps we can explore them a little further after this, yes?

Taken a bit back, Jake stopped to think about this. Which was strange since he was already reading Lin's thoughts. He narrowed his eyes and gave her a smile. Before thinking, So, now I evened the little playing field between us, yes?

Yes, you have. Your abilities continue to amaze me as you show me more and more of them. We can now have conversations in our mind, among many other things... And we can help you quash any doubts you have about me. Lin sent the thought to Jake.

With a simple nod, Jake thought, "I'll definitely look into this."

The battle was already over by the time their conversation went, so they had little to worry about anyway. When Lily asked about the status of the group, they both nodded at each other with a warm smile. With that, both Jake Valos and Lin Kentt walked towards Lily. Holding their hands tightly with every step.


Lily, Jake, Drake, Victoria, & Lin.

Spoiler:

The battle is finally over, the Group have proven themselves victorious over the Stasis escapees. There were only a handful of Stasis Escapees left after Eliza's earth shaking freak-out and they have long since departed (Either during Drake slaying Eliza or the ceiling caving in). With no combatants, there can be no. All that was left were an entire room full of dead bodies and unconscious warriors - Both of which served a haunting image of what is the result when teenagers forced to become murderers to survive. This has easily been the group's biggest and most costly fight yet. This fight has seen the most members of their own group killed yet. However, whoever they fought in the future, whether it's the Stasis Escapees or themselves, they will survive for one more day. One more day to get them closer to the point where they don't have to fight. The day where they escape here. The room was calm, peaceful... It would be if there wasn't for all the dead or unconscious people.

Seeing that the fight has finally been won, Drake powered down. The plasma around his being faded away as he took steps. Him walking forward made the effect that he was walking out the aura of plasma. Which looked cool. Drake had face of hopelessness, or something less than uplifting. This fight has... Changed him, in a way. After the fighting stopped, the weight of his actions started to weigh down hard as f*ck. He's killed several people here. He turned from a cool and carefree teenager, to a battle-crazed monster that'd chase down people just to kill them for little reason... He didn't like that. No. Not at all. He wanted to go back to the way he should used to be. Drake let out a disappointed sigh as he closed his eyes. He just wants to finish up his business here and crawl back up the tower to reflect/wallow some more. Drake then realized that he had the massive urge to smoke cigarettes, which was temporarily suppressed because of the battle-rush. Drake then reached into his pocket to pull out the carton... Only to find it crushed and mangled. During his fight against Eliza, and the various shock-waves he's received, his cigarettes were crushed. F*ck me. Drake then selectively transformed, his entire right hand was enshrouded in super-hot plasma. Which incinerated the cigarette carton. "Eugh, I smoke too much anyway...." Drake muttered to himself as he depowered and let the ashes idly fall out of his hand. Maybe he should stop smoking now. It'll make his life better and improve his lifespan... Then again, there's way more important things to worry about other than his lungs. Either way, the cigarette deprivation put him in a less than good mood.

If only he had one more to carry him through this. A distraction will probably help him. Drake quickly looked around for a distraction. Someone to talk to. Something to beat up. Any-f*cking-thing will be of use here. All these clashing emotions raging on inside of Drake, with cigarette deprivation on top of that, were really killing him. He massaged his temples, roughly. Holding completely still like a statue, other than his hands, nothing moved. Keep it the f*ck together, Drake. You can't lose it here, of all places. It's all over, just find some more cigarettes - No, I'm going to quit now... Jesus. I just want to crawl up to that tower and never come down again... Drake thought to himself. Honestly, he needs someone else to talk to him more than anything.

Meanwhile, Lily calmed down seeing that the battle was over. But, all this death was quite a horrifying sight. It made her sick to her stomach and the image was firmly bolted into her head. Something that will haunt more than anything. She tried to ignore it, but just couldn't. Unlike Drake, she could easily distract herself with her leadership complex. She walked to the center of the room. She then climbed up the pile of rubble halfway. Until she was standing firmly above the group. Like a leader should. "Alright! Everyone... Jesus... Are you all okay?" The situation was making it hard to concentrate, she needs to focus. Lily then finished her speech, "I know this was crazy and all, but I want an immediate headcount now! Everyone tell me who came in with us?!" Lily tried to say in the most leader-like tone possible.

"Ugh, I'm still here..." Drake shouted back at Lily. Still reflecting on his actions here. I'm here, but for how long.

"A little tired... But I'm fine." Victoria said to Lily. She too was having similar emotions to Drake and was too busy contemplating her actions as well. She turned to the side and saw that Charles was still knocked unconscious. The Regenerator gave him one hell of a kick. He's still alive, Victoria can tell by just reading his brain-wave activity. Knowing that he's fine is all she needs to know. But she was worried about Drake more than Charles. He seems to be... Depressed. To say the least. She was going to talk to him in a few.

"A little shaken, but we're still in one piece." Jake says to Lily as he approached her. Holding Lin's hand romantically. He can't wait to practice this mind-reading ability he's just unlocked. He wasn't too badly emotionally effected by the battle. Because it's given him a lot more of hope. They can truly take down. For a moment he wondered a little bit about Johnny, Sylvia, Gabe, Luce and Hunter. None of them were spotted in the battle. That means one of two things: they either captured Hunter and left, or just downright left the battle. Jake knows them well enough to safely say that if they don't have a reason for fighting, then they'll cut and run faster than Usain Bolt. Maybe he'll go meet up with them in a moment... Or spend a little bit of time with Lin. Screw them. He was actually starting to develop feeling for the Telepath he's been spending so much time around. You light up my eyes. He was still unaware of the death of his twin sister.

While Lin walked alongside Jake, hands held, she was comfortable with him having access to her thoughts with one simple touch. She has been reading the minds of just about everyone. After they approached Lily, Lin remembered what she had extracted out of the minds of the Stasis Escapees. About them being deceived by the Traitor into attacking them... Now that they have finished the battle, she feels as if they need to know. Going off their thoughts, they all don't appear to be in the best of moods, so does it really matter? "Everyone," Lin started off, "I have acquired some new and fairly disturbing information about these people... They have not choose to just randomly attack us... They have been deceived by the Traitor with false hope that they will get an easy exit if they kill us. They weren't the same monsters that have been attacking... Some of them were, yes, but many of them were just really desperate... I tried to reason with them, but they didn't listen, they were too far gone or desperate... So we had no choice. They had to be put down because they refused to give up... That doesn't make it sound any better, does it?"



Johnny Valos, and Sylvia Bertoose.

Maxx wrote:

"Of course, I'll come with you, ma cherie." Taylor said, stepping closer to Johnny "We will avenge her"

While they were hesitant, they figured that it was high time that they stop moping for a second to find Jake. They have to make sure that he's alright. While he's extremely capable of handling himself... Just to be sure. With a swift motion Johnny was back up on his feet. He was a little bit impressed by Taylor's demonstration of cryomancery. He had the feeling that he had cryomancery before, maybe in a past life. He ignored the feeling because he was too depressed to dwell on them. The only thing on his mind was finding Jake. "... Let's go." The tears running down his scarred face hadn't stopped. He sprinted off towards the Eye Factory, deciding to save any transformations for when he arrives. He was no were no as fast as he would be in his emotional-energy form, so this may take a little while. He also didn't want to leave Taylor behind. "Taylor... It is a bloodbath in there," Johnny spoke as he ran, "... It is not too late for you to turn back and leave if you want to. I will understand if you do. I do not expect you to fight these battles."

Sylvia followed behind him, this time on foot for once.

When they stopped at the front door to the factor, Taylor turned and addressed Johnny.

"Johnny, why do you think I'm carrying a spear?" Taylor inquired, spinning the large weapon in his fingers "I'm here to fight. Whatever killed your sister is about to pay dearly for it. It was my choice to come here and I'm not leaving until you get your revenge." Taylor was surrounded in a bright light as the water particles in the air froze around her, creating an intricate set of ice armor. It was more for show than it was protection as ice wasn't exactly metal, but it looked awesome. She turned towards the door, and, looking to her left at Johnny, took his hand. She was suddenly filled with this intense courage, like none she had ever felt before. Was this how warriors felt when they were about to go to war, she wondered? That was a philisophical question for another day. She turned to the door, and pushed it open.

(You can describe what's going on inside, Lone).

Faith
-----

When the rumbling subsided and everything calmed, Faith let herself collapse to her knees, disbelief of what had happened. The battle was now over, so she could grieve as she pleased.

"Jack, h-he..." she was talking to no one in particular, but she felt the need for the announcement. "H-he died. He, um... h-he jumped between me and an attack, dying in the process. H-he also apologized before his death." her voice was louder then her normal tone and shakey, on the verge of tears. "I-I just... wanted everyone to know he was better then he seemed... I'm sorry," she finally stopped holding in tears, silntly crying as one Eye came beside her. Somehow, her original pet eye had survived. It had a few damaged wires, but was otherwise okay.

---
Lexy
---

Lexy looked at the sobbing Faith, feeling like doing the same but deciding against it. There was a large gash on her forehead but she was still fine. She looked at everyone dead. She had helped cause this... Lexy's face for once held no smile.

"We're going to bury everyone that's dead. Every single person had someone who cared about them- had a home. It would only be right to, like, have a proper burial." she sighed, pasting a smile to her face, though the thought of her being a murderer was still echoing through her mind. She killed someone... now a mother or father, sister, brother, friend... someone wasn't going to see someone they loved ever again because of her. Lexy chose to smile, though. Everyone else was so sad... they needed something to cheer them up, and a smile- though only a small everyday thing- can still encourage people.

---
Crystal
---

Crystal looked at Seth in shock, who had collapsed. "Could I help?" she questioned as he stood up. She, like everyone else, found the dead bodies discouraging but chose not to let the thoughts get to her- she was focussing on those alive.

Drake, Lily, Lin, & Jake


With the revelation that the Traitor being the one behind this attack, this made Drake feel even worse. Because they've all been tricked into doing this. Suddenly, as he stared at the charred corpse of Eliza, he felt even worse than before. The war inside of him never has raged harder now than it has ever been before. Maybe they could have prevented this. Maybe they could have stopped and talked. He didn't listen to the peace in him talking, only thing he did was fight. He put his hands over his face and tears were almost about to rush out. Near perfect paradise.... Near perfect paradise.... Near perfect paradise.... The thoughts rushed through his head over and over again. He was nearing the verge of a breakdown.

True Night wrote:

"We can't dwell on it. In the end it was us or them despite how tragic this is." His tone was strong, but not remorseless. "If what you say is true then the traitor is still about. Right now we're vuln-" Seth collapsed to the floor clutching his head. His body had reverted to it's normal state and he was having some muscle spasms. He grunted and stood up unsteadily. "I'll be fine- ow dammit!" It happened again and he replaced his hand on his skull. "Just side effects, this always happens."

"You're right..." Drake says to Seth. They can't dwell on this, it'll only work against them. Even then, he didn't feel too much better. Perhaps he'll just crawl back up the Sparrowdale tower or find some other isolated place until he feels better. When Seth collapsed, Drake almost gave him a 'Are you okay?' but choose not to say anything after he said that it was a side effect. Probably something that has to do with using his powers too much. Drake had noticed that Seth was fighting the hardest in all of this, maybe it does makes sense that he's a little strained here. Drake isn't too tired physically, he's taken his wounds emotionally however. Damn he needs that distraction.

Then it came to him; he had the distraction he's been looking for all along. The six people that are missing. Drake had initially glossed over the six people Seth mentioned. He looked down the passage at Seth was pointing down and saw the massive cracks on the foot that took the appearance of footsteps (Caused by the Colossus). Of course, he wasn't there to see what happened since he was just arriving then, but he'll find out soon enough. It didn't take Drake too much thinking about it to decide that he's going to go see what happened. Whether it turns out to be nothing or not, it'll distract him from the stress that this fight has brought him. Drake wasn't worried about getting ambushed or attacked, that was the least of his concerns. "I'll go find them."  Drake says as he walks over towards the path. Fists balled and stressed/pissed off as ever. All he wanted to find at the end of his pathway was some good news or a dead lead. Nothing less, nothing more.

"Wait... I'll come to." Jake decided to go with Drake for a few reasons. For starters, he didn't want Drake going alone. While he is strong there's only so much he can two. And two, Jake had a feeling that Seth was referring to his siblings. He was just going to go look, just to see what those @ssholes gotten themselves into now. In either case, anything happens and the two of them can handle it. Drake has insane offensive power, Jake has immense defensive power. It's the perfect combination. When he tried to take off, he was stopped by a tightened grip around his hand. Jake and Lin were still holding hands and reading each other's thoughts. Jake stopped to look back at Lin. "You should stay here." It did make the most sense for him to go without Lin. She was tired because of Lily's super-charge and if they get into a fight, then she's an easy target. Jake on the other hand, while a bit drained, was at full strength. It would be easy for him to handle most situations alone actually.

"Okay." Lin softly says, giving him a worried look. Then they broke hand contact with each other as Jake went towards Drake to follow. Jake and Drake then marched down the hallway out of sight.

We shouldn't dwell on this, indeed. Lily thought to herself. Honestly, it was hard actually getting through it... Perhaps if they go through a change of environment, then maybe the mood will get better. Speaking of which, they should get along with this mission instead of standing here mulling about it. "Alright, we need to finish up here before they get back."

Celo wrote:

"Jack, h-he..." she was talking to no one in particular, but she felt the need for the announcement. "H-he died. He, um... h-he jumped between me and an attack, dying in the process. H-he also apologized before his death." her voice was louder then her normal tone and shakey, on the verge of tears. "I-I just... wanted everyone to know he was better then he seemed... I'm sorry,"

"Look girl," While Lily didn't think too highly of Jack, she did feel a little bad for her loss. She felt even worse that he was killed under her leadership - And what kind of leader lets people get killed under their watch? "If you need anything, chica, anything, come to me and I'll do the best I can." Lily had little to no idea who this girl even is, but the inner kindness is more than willing to put that aside to help someone. "We will try our best to get him a proper burial."

Celo wrote:

"We're going to bury everyone that's dead. Every single person had someone who cared about them- had a home. It would only be right to, like, have a proper burial."

While Lexy's kindness was greatly appreciated, it was more of idealism than anything. "Look, Lex..." Lily hesitantly says, she was unsure of how she should say this. While they may have been tricked into attacking them, and not all of them may. "I know this may make me sound like a colossal b*tch, but..." Lily then decided to say something else. Lexy is clearly younger and more idealistic than Lily is, she just doesn't understand what. "... I don't think we can really do that. I mean, these people may have people who cared about them..." Lily didn't know what to say. "There's just so many... And it's so messy... It'll be so hard to do so."


Johnny Valos, & Sylvia Bertoose.


Coming soon...

Lexy and Crystal
--------------------

MrAllenJ wrote:

"... I don't think we can really do that. I mean, these people may have people who cared about them..." Lily didn't know what to say. "There's just so many... And it's so messy... It'll be so hard to do so."

I figured you would say that," Lexy went back to frowning with sadness, her shoulders slumped. "Can we at least bury him, him, and her," she pointed at each of the three dead bodies as she mentioned them, each of which happened to be missing eyes that appeared to be freshly removed and had large bruises on their head from what appeared to be large rocks that had hit them. These were the three Lexy had killed. She at least felt a need to bury these. She had shut off their lives, after all. It was only right, right?

Crystal looked from the dead bodies to Lexy, slowly connecting the facts. Crystal sighed, turning her attention away from Seth and walking up to Lexy, placing her hand on the girl's forehead- an act one would find motherly, as if taking one's temperature, which it appeared to be if it weren't for the fact that Crystal had merely placed her hand on Lexy's forehead to heal the wound. "You feel guilty, don't you?" Crystal questioned, sighing as she asked this.

Lexy was quiet, looking at the ground as if it was suddenly interesting. Crystal had hit home with her. That's exactly how she had felt.

As the wound continued to heal, Crystal continued talking, "I know you feel bad about killing someone, but look, I gotta speak my mind, here. You did this to save others' lives, didn't you? If you hadn't have stepped in, you would've died, leaving your friends missing you. You saved me, didn't you? I have friends and family who love me, as well. These people would've died by someone else here, anyways. It's fine, okay?" Crystal finished healing the wound and pulled Lexy in for a hug, this time the act truly being in attempt to be motherly, "Just don't beat yourself up for it, 'kay?" Crystal stopped giving Lexy a hug and smiled before returning to Seth. "So do you want me to heal you or not?" she questioned, as if the previous discussion with Lexy had never happened. This act was SO the act of corny speeches.

Lexy just watched Crystal, her face shocked as if she had just been slapped in the face with the truth, which was, in a way, what had just happened. Lexy slowly grinned, herself returning to normal as Crystal had helped cheer her up. She looked around the room, "Weeeeeeeeeeell, then, how about we all go outside and get out of here? I, for one, think everything will seem much better outside, riiiiiiight?"

-----------
Faith
-----------

MrAllenJ wrote:

"If you need anything, chica, anything, come to me and I'll do the best I can." Lily had little to no idea who this girl even is, but the inner kindness is more than willing to put that aside to help someone. "We will try our best to get him a proper burial."

Thank you," Faith sighed, standing up. She watched Crystal give a rather encouraging speech to Lexy. The speech, while not directed at her, uplifted her spirits, as well. Faith may have only killed one person (the one who killed Jack) but she knew she would've felt guilty later for it. She wouldn't feel as guilty with Crystal's words in mind.

celo wrote:

"Weeeeeeeeeeell, then, how about we all go outside and get out of here? I, for one, think everything will seem much better outside, riiiiiiight?"

"I-I, um, agree. Th-that would be good," Faith said, her voice now back to its normal, shy tone.

Johnny Valos, & Sylvia Bertoose.



For a moment, Johnny stopped and gave Taylor a glare. Perhaps she does care about him and really understands. He was unsure of what he was feeling right now. Maybe he was getting feelings for Taylor. All he saw her before... But now he sees her in a slightly different. What broke him out of this reverie was the large footsteps approaching them from down the hall fast. He was immediately snapped out of the brief moment of kindness, and turned back what he really is, a sociopathic teenaged monster. Johnny walked in the middle of the doorway, being the one standing between them and whoever's coming. He grasped the top of his hat and slanted it downwards over his eyes. Doing his trademark stance/pose. Johnny shouted at them as they got closer, "I don't have time for this bullshit..." Johnny says as he transforms.  A white light enshrouded his being, as lines of several different colors pulsed across his being. "... You stay out of our way or die, the choice is yours." Johnny was dead serious. No more jokes, no more sarcastic or witty remarks, no bullshit. This is the most serious he's ever been since he's stepped in this sh*thole of a school.

The group that was quickly approaching were one of the many people who fled away from the battle when it got too intense. The Meta approached and came to a screeching stop once he saw Johnny the living light show. He was a large Meta-human that appeared to have animal traits of bulls. He appeared to be a minotaur, with reddish-pink skin. The Minotaur had a normal human face. He had massive horns that were very similar to Hercules beetles, and was very muscular. He had hooves for feet. Obviously battered and beaten from the fight that he was trying to flee from. He had several large cuts on his body, likely from Charles's glass barrage, or maybe a stray shot. Upon seeing Johnny, the Minotaur balled his fists up as his skin started sizzling. Suddenly his entire body burst into a thick sheathe of flames as he took slow steps towards them.

Spoiler:

"You'll regret that decision..." Johnny said to them in a low tone. Now he knows what must be done, he must get even more. If you are fleeing then you, among others, are obviously losing this fight. That means they're giving you way more than you can handle... Instead of just standing aside, you just come towards me. Johnny monologues to himself as his right eye started glowing bright red. In an impression display of power; in one leap, Johnny jumped straight at the Minotaur, appearing like a colorful blur. Johnny smashed his kneecap into the Minotaur's face, the Minotaur took quite the hit and stumbled back a few feet. All while Johnny was shouting, "I'LL MAKE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU MOTHERFUCKERS PAY!" Then Johnny pushed off of the Minotaur's chest with both legs, landing back where he started with the grace of a an exotic bird. All this took was a  seconds. Yes, one second for him to close the (short) distance between himself and his target to attack. Once again showing yet another example of his speed.

The very moment his feet touched the ground he got right back into action. Taking one step forward. Then... Something different happened. Instead of his usual dash, he just appeared right in front of the Minotaur, in an immense burst of speed that not even those with the best reaction timing could track him. Leaving behind a bright trail of various colors. He has never done anything like this - Never gone fast as that ever before. Johnny has unlocked his flash-step technique, an immense burst of speed unlike any other, making him the single fastest person here. Johnny would be stroking his ego about what he just did, but there was one thing on his mind: killing this b*stard. He had taken the Minotaur off guard with his flash step. Johnny jumped up with an aerial spin, and kicked the Minotaur in the face. His high-speed kick managed to knock out several of the Minotaur's . Unlike the Colossus, the Minotaur doesn't seem to have any armor. His fire-y shroud is less than useless against Johnny's durable new form.

The Minotaur attempted to punch Johnny with one wide and powerful swing. Which backfired against him, since Johnny saw it coming, and came up with a useful plan. Johnny quickly pressed both of his legs against the Minotaur's chest and pushed off a few feet and landed on the ground, as the punched went into the wall cracking the concrete with a crash. Johnny then leaped over the Minotaur, in a truly cool flip. The Minotaur blindly swung at Johnny but missed every time. Once in reach, Johnny firmly grasped on to the Minotaur's horn and made his other hand into a finger gun. He then pointed the gun into his eye and fired off a Devil Kiss straight into his eye. The kiss pierced through his eyeball, cauterizing the wound, so there wasn't too much blood. Unlike the last two opponents that Johnny did that to, the Minotaur survived. The Minotaur grabbed onto his eye and yelled in pair. While Johnny pushed off the Minotaur's back with his feet again, and went through the air. All the fire around the Minotaur completely vanished as he bucked around in agony.

The moment Johnny touched the ground, he flash-stepped away in the other direction, covering twenty feet. The moment he stopped, he turned back towards the Minotaur. Ready to kick even more @ss.

Victoria, Lily, Lin, & Charles.

Celo wrote:

"I figured you would say that," Lexy went back to frowning with sadness, her shoulders slumped. "Can we at least bury him, him, and her,"

It was painful to watch to say the least. Lily felt a bit cold on the inside for having to deny the girl with. But it's about the group at large now. Burying everyone of these b*stards that tried to kill them would take too much time and basically serves no purpose. While Lily hadn't killed anyone herself... The sight was still chilling, and she can understand that people are feeling guilt about it too. But burying these people serve no real purpose to the group - Even though the thought made her feel cold as the arctic on the inside. Lily does have to consider the needs of the group here, and other than the emotional conflict, burying anyone here would be a waste of effort. "Look, we can bury these three later." Lily lied to Lexy. She took advantage of Lexy's naivety and lack of intelligence, which made Lily seem even colder.

"Jesus..." Charles moaned as he regained consciousness. Charles tried to raise to his feet, but failed. So he went with the next best thing and just raised his body up and sat down on his behind. His head - And well, all of his face - still hurts like hell. He's dizzy, light-headed and in a shitload of pain right now. He wasn't exactly at his best right now. Charles was generally unaware of what's even going on. Given that. Since people aren't actively trying to kill him, and the dust seems to have settled, he was going to assume that everything was great. Charles was rubbing his temples, and took off his glasses (Which were merely cracked by the Regenerator's attack) and gently placed them at his side. "God d*mn my face hurts like hell..." There was a massive bruise on the side of his face.

"Charles are you okay?" Victoria says with a pant.

"... No, I got my @ss kicked." Charles hissed at Victoria in response.

"... Don't be an..." Victoria choose to keep her comments to herself. She wasn't in the best mood to be arguing with Charles about proper behavior, all she wanted to do was finish up here and put herself to bed for the rest of the night.

Celo wrote:

"Weeeeeeeeeeell, then, how about we all go outside and get out of here? I, for one, think everything will seem much better outside, riiiiiiight?"

It wasn't a good idea to just leave. They all came in here for a reason, to see if they can get anything out of the Eye Factory, and the fight was only a detour they had to take. Lin looked down towards the hallway that Drake and Jake went down. She figured that she'd be the one to detest this idea. Lin spoke to Lexy, and to an extent, the group at large, "While the scene in here seems bleak we do have business here to conclude." Lin then focused her gaze onto Lexy, "... We didn't come in here for no reason. I believe we may have a lead on the exit if we find the Eye mainframe." Then Lin started taking steps forward towards Lily, "The scene will be a bit better there. I wholly suggest that the group doesn't split up any further, many of them got away. Could be a few lurking. But, if you really wish to to leave, then there's nothing stopping you. The exit is that way." Lin then pointed towards the hallway that they first arrived in.

"She's right." Victoria started off, standing straight up. Just to test if her telekinesis is still functional, she lifted up a random rock telekinetically. A random piece of debris was enshrouded in a blue aura, it went up a few inches into the air. Before it gracefully landed on the ground and the aura disappeared. Victoria then finished her "Our work isn't over. But I don't want to leave Drake and Jake behind..." Victoria spoke out her opinion too. Then again, despite his actions sometimes, Drake is wholly capable of handling himself without her or the group at large. All he'd really do is. While she is tired, she is a pretty fair heavy hitters, they would do more good with the group here than there. Besides, it's best that she brings Charles with the group since he doesn't seem to be in the best of all shapes.

At this point, Lily took steps off the pile of debris that she had found herself on. She slowly climbed down and stood straight up on her feet. She then came up with a plan of action for the group. She announced, "Alright, I have decided what we'll do; we'll head to the mainframe, see what we can find there, and leave this place for good."

"Fine." Victoria says as she turned her attention on to Charles. She grasped him by the shoulders and helped him up to his feet. Softly speaking to him, "Look, take it slow, don't want you to fall over." Victoria walked alongside him with her arms wrapped around him.

"... I'll lead the way, it's this way. The mainframe should be in the uppermost floor, hopefully it won't be too damaged" Lin says. Before she walked towards the stairs. Leading the group towards the upper floors.

Spoiler:

(I'm gonna assume I can autohit this b*tch)

The monster came barreling down the hallway. At first, Taylor stepped back, seeing the gargantuan size of the beast. She remembered how tough the fight with Pestilence was; it was absolutely horrifying when it had attacked with that horde of flies. This monster boasted massive horns and flaming fists. Taylor was about to set up a wall of water to protect herself when Johnny took off at the monster's chest. He moved so blindingly fast that several times Taylor lost track of where he was. The minotaur hadn't a chance at stopping this new faster Johnny. The monster lost an eye then, and its burning fists went out. This gave Taylor the okay to wreck the demon.

"Celui-ci est pour Marissa!" Taylor yelled out. Her eyes lit up light blue, and Taylor charged, her icy shoes freezing the ground under her and allowing her to ice skate towards the monster. It flailed at her angrily and punched a massive crater in the concrete wall. Taylor gracefully skated around the monster in a circle, and readied her ice javelin. She leapt off the ground gracefully, the light catching her ice armor and causing her to glow. She spun the javelin over her head, and brought it down in the monster's shoulder. It roared out in rage as she hit the ground and slid back a few feet. Blood trickled down the monster's shoulder from the wound and froze. Taylor summoned a second ice javelin, and skated at the monster again, head-on. It roared in pain and attempted to charge at her, but the ground was slippery and it tripped, falling forward towards Taylor. She skated out of the way, letting the javelin go point-up. The minotaur landed on the ice spear, and roared out in pain as it pierced the monster's thick hide. The spear broke in two, one half embedding itself in the minotaur's gut, and the other breaking into several fragments which cut the skin on its chest and stomach. The monster rose again slowly, making sure not to slip on the ice. It stood upright, bent over clutching its stomach, and cried out again. It slowly began to move towards the door to escape.

"He's all your's, Johnny." Taylor yelled out "Finish him off!"

Luciana "La Cordera" Rojas

Emily made two mistakes-the first, moving slowly. The second, opening her mouth.

In a real fight there was no advancing slowly and steadily, no somber threats issued while you inched closer; it keyed Luce in to the fact that this girl was either woefully inexperienced or woefully arrogant. Either way, hers was not going to end well. Luce wasn't fully expecting her bullets to have next to no effect, but she wasn't entirely surprised: a school full of supernatural children, such things are to be expected.

Luce may not have been particularly well-educated, but she knew the basics of physics: the bigger guy running faster beats the smaller guy running slower. You can't make something from nothing, and all your energy's gotta come from somewhere. The latter two were of utmost importance as Luce grinned wickedly, hoping to throw off her opponent's confidence: darling, how many of those tentacles can you reform before you simply run out? Your body will run dry before my sixguns do. Focusing her supernaturally accurate fire; and at this close a range, there was no chance of missing, Luce put the next two shots straight at Emily's eyes and the a third down Emily's throat as the girl opened her mouth to talk trash. Quietly murmuring her prayer, Luce focused the reaminder of her bullets on each of the tentacles: seven shots lead to two in three of the tentacles and one left unscathed. Luce sent two rounds at once, spiraling several hundred times faster than normal bullets should go and curving towards their target as they moved in: they hit the base of the tentacles with overwhelming effect. That much force, placed so accurately and so quickly, would surely slice the tentacles off-and that was assuming Emily took three .45 rounds to the head without being knocked out.

Luce wasn't about to take chances.

Backtracking steadily while keeping her eye open for sudden movements by Emily (she figured the girl would try something when she reloaded, which was why she'd left one bullet just in case), she began to eject the spent, smoking shells from her guns while flipping new rounds into them. The same unerring quickness and practiced motions accompanied this, and within a matter of seconds, the guns were reloaded fully: however, seconds could be an eternity in a fight, and Luce was ready to pistol whip (and Luce's pistol whips left nothing but a rather morbid story behind) the tentacled girl away. Luce felt her back begin to heat up from the superheated steel behind her, and readied herself to roll to one side or another. As a last resort, she'd roll straight into this dumb b*tch and catch her off guard. Luce pulled the hammers back and aimed them straight at Emily, readying to unleash another volley.

Her lips moved in a near-silent plea to God, but the rest of her face told a different story; a manic, wild eye pleaded for Emily to keep going, lit up with an orgasmic combat-high while the subtle twitches of her face and body conveyed confidence, the cold experience of a veteran, and the callous nature of someone who didn't care whether Emily's family ever found out what happened to her. I would tell you to pray to God for help, darling, but I'm afraid He's on my side.