KnightDisciple

Corbin smiled and walked forward, gently clapping Blake on the shoulder. "Looks like you're good to go, buddy. Looks like you've got a bit of "homework" to do. Guess you'll be a few minutes? Um..." He glanced at Quo-Dis, sending a thought over their link. "<Hey darlin'. I'm gonna go to Jessica's place and talk to her about getting Blake's stuff before she dumps it out the top window or something. You've got work anyways, so not like we could enjoy the time right now. I know there's a bit of tension between you and Blake, but could you maybe keep an eye on him while I go play middle-man?>" Corbin then turned to Blake, his expression serious. "No time like the present for this. I'm going over to Jessica's. I'll arrange for your stuff to come to my house, and then we'll ship most of it here. We've got space for anything extra, okay? I promise we won't throw it in the shed, either."

Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not changing. This whole outfit, every stitch, thread, and scrap of metal is quite literally made in Heaven. I cannot part and parcel it away. More than that, I do not trust any of you with my true face. I barely know any of you. I am more than happy to assist. But I am not changing my clothing and exposing my face. What if our target slips away, learns of where we come from, and goes there, knowing my face? I am not the only one to consider in my life, Carrie. You may not mind these people knowing who you are. I do." He shook his head. "So no. Besides. I'm sure I can smooth any ruffled feathers that come along."

"The Ten Commandments are actually pretty simple, but that's not really the focus of the conversation at the moment." Gabriel's voice was like an armored hand wrapped in silk; on the surface, they were gentle and polite, but there was an undercurrent of firm strength that worked to direct the conversation. He shook his head when Carrie spoke of pretending to be from Spain. "Putting aside the risk of a Spanish Catholic revealing your lie after just a couple of minutes, I'm not entirely comfortable dealing that dishonestly with the Church. I realize this is a delicate situation, but it seems to me that using as much honesty as possible can only help. If we are caught, and only a few small details are "fudged", it may keep things from escalating more than necessary. I'm sure all of you love your spy games, but this may not be the time for them. Is there some place in particular in the Vatican we were intending to examine? Or were we simply going to look around for clues? If nothing else, I can walk about and just ask the locals some questions. It might just work, after all. And if they ask who I am, I'll just tell them I'm originally from Ireland, but I've been travelling further, doing the Lord's work. It's 100% true, after all. Not like they need my life story." He gave everyone present a small smile before growing serious again. "So do we have any further information on the actual problem situation, or simply more lists of how horrible the Vatican is compared to the British Empire?"

"Mm. I'm sure England wouldn't have much trouble picking out strong-armed brute enforcers. As for the nature of the Inquisition in our world, Carrie, it's in no way that simple. Especially since there were several distinct movements and groups involved, some of them run by entirely secular groups. Questionable practices were undertaken, but the Vatican has, rightfully, abandoned the cruder aspects of those days. As for the source of your worries...hm. That is odd, that they would disappear so rapidly and thoroughly. Offhand, it suggests a kidnapper with unusual means of getting in and out." He turned a careful gaze to Q. "Should I-we-expect trouble from this world's Inquisition?"

Gabriel maintained a neutral expression as M spoke, and gave Q a polite nod as he entered. He considered the map of the world, frowning a bit as he saw that the Church was such a large world power. 'Holding secular power should not be the duty of the church. I fear this world is a shadowed reflection in many ways..I shudder to think of the condition of Ireland herself.' He frowned still more as something about this whole situation didn't quite add up. Then something M had said a moment ago clicked. "You think there's something abnormal at work, somehow. That's the only reason the "Ministry of Extraordinary Affairs" would be on this case, and likely one of the few reasons your Empire would be working with the Vatican, if the nature of this map is true. Mr. Q here clearly believes there's something more at work. Something greater than a band of serial killers, organized crime, or even just one very active psychopathic killer." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table as his hands tented in front of his face, obscuring his mouth somewhat and leaving mostly his eyes exposed. "So what has the two most powerful secular powers on this entire planet in such a nervous state? What brings you together, what made you call Carrie here, and what made the Lord send me such a strong indicator I had to come here? What is so dire about these kidnappings? The kidnappers? The methods? The kidnapped?"

Cobalt Templar's eyes widened as things went from "calm happy parade" to "dangerous hostage situation" in the blink of an eye. In an instant, he was in "fight mode", his face expressionless as he sent a quick thought burst to Sage, and thus hopefully the rest of the team. "<Sharl has Devil Ray. I'm moving on Medea. Can't let her risk the crowd.>" He flew out over the middle of the street, lining up a shot even as he ended up leaving himself a bit open to attack. An idle thought crossed his mind. 'Well, that's 2 more members of the Crime League. Do they enjoy getting taken down piecemeal?' He then called out to Medea, his voice booming as he raise his right hand and gripped (at first) empty air. The words he spoke were not English, but Ancient Greek! "~Foul sorceress! Clinging to your dusty past! You made a mistake coming here, caster of spells and enchanter of the innocent!~" Suddenly, what looked like a lightning bolt made of blue fire appeared in his hand, and was just as quickly tossed at her, striking the witch head on. "~Petty witch! Go run to your Olympian masters! Despoilers of the innocent!~" A second bolt of lightning joined the first almost before it finished striking. "~Also, you're actually kind of ugly up close, and that toga does nothing for your likely plain figure.~"

Hm. Medea's somewhat defense-shifted.... Right then. Free Action: Switch Holy Fire Control to Blast power. Move Action: Fly to a point closer to the struggle, while still maintaining some distance. Free Action: All-Out Attack 5: Defense is 1, Attack is 16. Standard Action: Ranged Attack against Medea. 32 is pretty solidly a hit. DC 26 Toughness Save! Free Action: Extra Effort! Getting another Standard Action, for a second attack! (If the first one drops her and isn't fiated, this does not go off.) Standard Action: Ranged Attack against Medea. 26 should hit, I believe. I think she's only got Defense 23 or 24. DC 26 Toughness Save! I'll reinforce this next round, but I'll be spending an HP to avoid Fatigue.

Gabriel himself didn't seem much bothered by the spinning, though not being in control meant it was a touch disorienting. When they landed, he waited several moments until she seemed done being sick. At that point, he calmly stepped form the pod and whisked his coat back onto his shoulders with an unconsciously dramatic flair. He listened as Carrie and "M" conversed, before frowning at his last comment. He stepped forward, minding the floor as he did so, and held out his hand at this M fellow. When he spoke, there was a light Irish twinge to his voice that Carrie would swear hadn't been there before. Perhaps also she would see more clearly the various heavenly designs on the armor, as well as the Celtic crosses on the border of his coat. "You can call me Gabriel, Mister...M, I suppose it seems to be. You said we were in Rome, in the Vatican?" He looked around, a pensive expression on his face, before turning his full and undivided attention to M. "Perhaps you can explain what's going on. In plain words, without the deception and doublespeak you national agents seem fond of in England." There was no anger in his voice, but it was clear he didn't fully trust this group just yet. That he could, mostly likely, take out this entire room without breaking a sweat probably helped the confident tone and posture he assumed.

Init: 16

Everyone else had decided to go incognito in the crowd; they could all get changed quickly enough, or had ways of hiding themselves even with so many people around. But when you're as big as a professional football player, people might remember you even without the added bit of you happening to disappear just as a big blue armored hero appeared. Besides, he didn't like getting stuck in the middle of crowds. Not enough room. So instead, he'd volunteered to fly over-watch, in costume. To keep a modicum of discretion, he tried to stick to the airspace above rooftops, and only a few feet above them. He quickly established a pattern that kept him mostly out of sight while he performed a circuit of the parade's floats and such. He kept his eyes both inwards and outwards, ready for something to pop up in the crowd, or try to come flying in from the outside. 'Maybe with me up here, they'll aim for the big blue guy instead of the squishy bystanders. Hopefully they don't hit too hard...' Truthfully, it was kind of nice. He was close enough to hear all the music and so forth, and he could see all the floats and marching bands and so forth. It was the best of both worlds for him, really. He purposefully didn't try to seek his teammates out in the crowd, in case someone was watching him without his knowledge. Best not to tip their hand...

Gabriel was observant enough to note her discomfort, and sighed. "Hm. Yeah, hitchhiking on the outside doesn't sound like a good idea. Let me get in and get arranged. I think we can make this work." With that, he moved to the pod, opening the door. However, before climbing inside, he removed the heavy leather coat he was wearing, revealing his heavenly armor and base clothing more easily. If observant enough, Carrie might notice the metal seemed to flex when Gabriel moved. Once inside, he got himself settled into the seat, strapping in if possible, then arranged the coat in front of him. "Not ideal, but hopefully this will provide a bit of cushion."

Cobalt Templar gave a sigh of relief as the clearly insane fire-controller finally went unconscious. He dismissed the hand-construct and shook his head. "Man, that's some serious crazy right there...Give me just a sec here, Glowstar." With that, he unceremoniously picked the woman up by the back of her uniform and flew her to a spot out in the open, before moving back to the crates. He glanced at the manifest, and sighed. "Yeah. I'll start at the front of the container group, you start at the back. The others pitch in as they can. Sound good?" If Glowstar agreed, CT would move to the bow and then begin systematically checking containers one by one, hoping to free more captives...

"Hm. Like flying, but with less personal control. Too bad you get motion sickness, though." He pondered the situation a bit, but was about to bid Carrie goodbye when he felt a warm spot on his chest. He moved a hand to his neck, and pulled out his rosary for just a moment. It was glowing. Somehow, he knew what needed to be done, at least on his part. He tucked the rosary away and took a step toward Carrie and the pod. "Do you think you might need some help? Let's just say I get the impression I ought to help you out."

Gabriel took a half-step back at the rush of information, blinking as he processed it all. He nodded slowly as she spoke, and shook her hand when she offered it. "So, basically, you've been working with an alternate-dimension version of Britain. Fair enough. Explains the phone call." He eyed the pod. "I take it this is your ride over there?"

Gabriel frowned and tilted his head to one side. "Have we met before?" Why was this girl talking about his costume like she knew him? Yes, he had changed it recently, but what difference did it make? Then something clicked. "Look, just because-" That was as far as he got before he had to nimbly fly to one side as a pod slammed into the ground. His eyes were just a bit wider as he considered the contraption. "Just what is going on here?"

15 on the dot.

He heard them, but same effect. Auto-35 Intimidate.

Gabriel had done a quick patrol of Southside and turned up very little. It seemed like the various long-standing criminal groups were getting ever more paranoid, because he was having trouble even getting word of mouth information about them. So he'd resorted to positioning himself a few hundred feet above the city and just floating (well away from airport approach lanes) as he listened to the city. Several times he'd started to move to help someone, only to hear another hero intervene. Just his moment, he focused on the sound of a mugging about to happen, one that had a target that seemed entirely too calm for the situation. He opened his eyes and frowned, and then was gone from his perch, rushing air following his wake. Carrie might notice the sudden appearance of a man in silver armor and white clothing floating in the air behind the would-be muggers. He simply floated there, arms over his chest, glaring at the criminals. "Ahem. Gentlemen, perhaps you should leave the lady alone. It sounds like she's on an important call." Despite the polite words, there was a menacing promise of force behind them, and there was only a displeased expression on Gabriel's face, what they could see of it between the helmet, hood, and mask. "I'll be generous and not call the police if you leave now and don't mug someone else. Ever."

Corbin couldn't help but smile when he saw Quo-Dis. It just wasn't in his nature to deny something like that. "<I can't decide if I like this outfit, or your hero costume better.>" As she explained he had to stay outside, his smile faded a bit, before he turned to Blake and clapped him on the shoulder. "One way or another, you'll be fine, Blake." He watched his friend walk into the office, and sigh. "<I hope I'm right...>"

Corbin nodded mutely and led Blake to the garage, where they quickly set out on the road. Corbin didn't push the speed limit; it seemed he was taking the time to compose his thoughts before eventually speaking up. "While I'm sure you're annoyed about Quo-Dis telling Summers, it's not like she didn't warn us about doing just that. Again, honesty is going to be the best policy going forward. Because of course you weren't going to march over there at 1 in the morning and tell him. Now you're rested, and can talk things over with a clear head." He glanced at his friend. "I hope. Point is, let's just go in there and talk to him. Answer his questions. He's probably going to be blunt and aggressive about it; you've seen how he gets sometimes. We have to roll with it." It was almost like he was talking to himself as much as he was Blake... It wasn't much longer before they pulled up at the school and Corbin drove to the student parking. He hopped out of the car, glancing around. "Time to face the music, brother-man."

Cobalt Templar The Good, The Bad, and The Eldritch: 3 IC Posts Confessions of a Teenage Superhero: 1 IC Post A Friend in Need: 8 IC Posts Animal Control: Breakout: 8 IC Posts World Tour: In a Detroit Minute: 4 IC Posts Gorgon: Latchkey Kids: 9 IC Posts Total: 33 IC Posts September Viginette: Hard Burn Gabriel Faith Protects, Kevlar Helps: 4 IC Posts Total: 4 IC Posts September Viginette: Words of Passion and Serenity

4:30pm, September 27th, 2011 Skies Above Freedom City This whole week had really been quite horrible. At least, that's what the teenager dressed in blue armor thought as he raced ever-higher into the atmosphere directly above Freedom City. Part of him kept repeating a mantra to himself about the questionable nature of his self-appointed task. 'This is crazy. This is totally crazy. I'm crazy. Crap I'm crazy. This is going to hurt. Is this going to work?' So went his thoughts for several seconds that seemed to stretch into infinity. Until he saw his objective, that is. “That's...a lot of space junk.†His eyes flickered about as he viewed a veritable cloud of debris that was quickly falling from orbit (and beyond). Others were even now working to drive the Gorgon herself away, be it from special facilities on the ground, or from strategic positions far above. Unfortunately, that meant none of them were immediately available to stop this debris; most of it seemed to be heading for the ocean, and in small enough chunks to cause no damaging waves. But one cluster of it was headed straight for his home of just about a year now. Some were even now disintegrating on their own, the friction of re-entry proving too much for them. Friction wasn't going to get enough of them, though. So Cobalt Templar had come to take out the orbital trash. Finally he slowed his descent, his body encased in a blue flame just as his face was partly hidden behind a mostly-clear visor that closed off his helmet. For just a moment, he just looked at the task before him, seemingly doing some mental calculations. Then, suddenly, he put both arms forward and manifested large, boxy missile launchers on each arm that he pointed toward the debris. His eyes danced across the pieces of junk before he began unloading missiles one by one. Each projectile of solid flame tore across the sky before slamming into another target, almost always blasting it into small enough pieces that they burned up. A few chunks took two or three hits, but after thirty grueling minutes of destruction in low earth orbit (just a few dozen miles below where Sputnik I orbited the Earth), he seemed to be done. The weapons on his arms dissolved, and Templar heaved a sigh of relief. For the 60 seconds or so that it took for him to see it. The asteroid, heading straight for the very heart of Freedom City. It was huge; Corbin couldn't tell exactly how large, but some part of him knew it was enough to wipe out Freedom City and the surrounding suburbs. He narrowed his eyes and set his mouth in a grim, determined line. “Not on my watch.†With that, he took off like a rocket, quickly achieving his max speed. He put both arms in front of him, and a cone of flickering, swirling fire formed. This cone acted like a drill when he impacted a few moments later, which meant that instead of breaking half his bones, he burrowed about a quarter of the way into the rocky missile. “Ugh. Must have gotten dragged along with the snake-headed bitch...†The drill of fire ceases, and instead Cobalt Templar shifts, now putting both of his shoulders up against the asteroid's inner bulk, almost as if he was trying to lift it. The flames at his feet flare up, and energy ripples around his body as he pours everything he can into pushing the huge rock up. He can't afford to let it hit anywhere; the impact would devastate wherever it struck on land, and in the ocean it would cause too much of a wave. No, he had to get it going in the opposite direction. So he pushed. He put everything he had into it, sweat pouring down his brow. Slowly, slowly he managed to lessen the velocity of the huge rock; he was thankful it seemed to be composed of a conglomerate of materials, rather than being solid iron. But it was still horribly heavy; only his incredible powers let him push it as well as he did. It was back-breaking work; he felt all his muscles burning in protest, and for years to come he'd swear he felt half his bones moaning and creaking under the strain. Finally, the rock stopped for a precarious second, still almost three hundred miles above the ground. Then, after almost a minute that probably left more than a few people in the city below rather nervous, the rock began to move the other way. It inched skyward, growing smaller and smaller from the ground. Finally, only those with telescopes could see it. CT himself was working hard to give the rock enough momentum to ensure it didn't turn right back around to hit the Earth again; he knew he didn't have the energy to do this twice. So he pushed himself now, one last final huge burn that nearly turned him into a rocket. The space rock picked up velocity until it was moving out faster than it had been moving in. Templar let up for a moment so he could fly outside; he gauged the angle, flew back inside, and made a few corrections. 'Now it'll just go sailing into..the sun...' Exhaustion latched onto his mind and body, and he slowly pulled himself toward Terra. His eyes were half-closed by the time he started to make re-entry, and he barely slowed himself in time to avoid a severe tan. He got himself within sight of the city, then sent out a weak telepathic signal. “<Darlin'...I love you. So tired...>†He embraced the lure of sleep, and began to plummet like the rock he had just stopped. Thankfully, Ultiteen had heard his mind-speech; a few heroes rushing about caught a glimpse of her as she rocketed up in the nick of time to catch the blue-clad hero's unconscious form. She smiled down and gave him a quick kiss, an action that earned a faint grin from his face as his eyes fluttered for a moment. “<Pretty...>†And then he slept, and his lover carried him gently to his home so that he could sleep a hero's sleep in his bed.

"The only thing I can think of we really need help with is making sure Blackstar's secure. And maybe getting power back up here." He frowned and nodded his head toward the robo-Stratos. "I get that Miss Americana's good with tech, but maybe we should stow that here and, oh, maybe work on keeping this place secure? There's mroe than 3 people in the Crime League, you know. We can't just all split off now. Can't you call her, maybe have her swing by here to pick it up?" It was clear Corbin wasn't fond of the idea of splitting up. -I'm in a generally sour mood myself, Eve. Let's not be too hasty, though. I think right now we need to stick together. Then later we can pin Sharl down and make him give us the whole truth. Because I don't appreciate a teammate lying to me.- He sighed and shook his head. "Look, if I can't convince you to stay, fine. Leave with the sample. But we had better get some sort of report on that when she's had a chance to look at it. Something's going on here. My gut says we're gonna have further difficulties by the time this is done."

11:15am, September 27th, 2011 Southside, Freedom City Chaos. Everything in this section of the city seemed to be nothing but pure, unmitigated chaos. With healthy doses of fear, anger, and a whole host of other emotions. The air itself seemed thick with it all. People in Southside were milling on the streets; many stared up at the looming head of the Gorgon, “Preserver†of worlds, killer of uncountable innocents. Some wept, others prayed, and still others paced irritably. It was a virtual powder keg. And then someone lit the fuse. A man in a wrinkled, dirty suit cried out suddenly, his voice bitter. “Hey! That thing's still up there! Why haven't the heroes gotten rid of it, huh? What use are those costumed clowns? Shoot, what about those fancy-pants UNISON folks over at Freedom College? I bet they're holding on to some thing that'll let them get out of here when things go south. Well I say forget them! Let's go grab it! They can stay here with the capes and fight the big head in the sky!†The crowds seemed uneasy at first, but slowly the man seemed to work them up into more and more of a frenzy. Random individuals and groups in the crowds started all but chanting the man's seemingly insane rantings. But then, facing seemingly certain death made people act a bit crazier in general. Soon the mob of a couple thousand was marching down the street. Atypical of other mobs and riots, they weren't focused on breaking windows, stealing food and goods, or anything of the sort. Instead, the man in the suit at the front kept yelling out madness-inducing words to the crowd, keeping them focused on the goal of Freedom College. Almost like he had a sort of power over the mob... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, in the gymnasium of Freedom College, Sonya Sokolova was working hard to make sure people injured in this week of madness were put back in proper shape. She was thankful her work had slacked off some at this temporary UNISON outpost; she knew the comparatively worst cases went to the overtaxed hospitals, but it was still tiring dealing with those injured by riots, random violence, villain attacks, and so on. No one incident generated a lot of injuries. But there were so many, it piled up. As the only UNISON agent in Freedom City with meta-human healing powers, a lot of the injured were routed to Sonya's current location. She must have treated something like 400 people in the last week. Suddenly, there was a cry of alarm from one of the perimeter guards, all three of them. The outpost was fairly bare-bones, all things considered, but the non-combat personnel needed at least a bit of protection. But with less than 20 people on-site in total, they weren't set up to deal with a crowd of (now) 500 angry people. Especially with only 6 of them being fully trained for combat; Sonya herself could help due to how her powers worked, but even she couldn't disable so many. As the crowd drew closer, they heard the angry shouts, the calls for UNISON to “give the people the evacuation they deserveâ€. A shiver of fear went down her spine; she knew there was no such means available. “Everyone, inside, now! Lock up and start getting what patients we can mobile!†There was a flurry of activity, even as Sonya and the guards stood at the windows, watching the crowd draw near... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the mob, the leader stopped the procession perhaps 50 feet away from the Freedom College gym. It had been easy for them all to get on the campus; it didn't really have a closed fence, and a lot of the security was tied up keeping an eye on the kids stuck on-campus. So now they stood in front of a hastily-locked gym; there were about 20 UNISON personnel and about that many patients currently inside. The inciter turned to the mob, a slight smile on his face, and raised his hands in the air. “You want safety for your families, right? To get away from this mess, this thing in orbit? Well, it's in there! You've all heard about the evacuations to another planet that some “select†people got to do. Well I say we're select people! All of us deserve a chance to get away from here too, and I think we're going to-†Suddenly, an astonishingly calm voice rings out, heard by everyone inside and outside the gym, like the speaker was casually standing next to them. “Go back to your homes and be with your family and/or friends. If you feel so moved, perhaps go to a church, temple, or so on, and offer up a few prayers for the men and women working hard to keep Earth from turning into a silent monument for eternity. Because that's where most all of the heroes are; either on Earth or in space, working hard even now to keep this wonderful planet from being cast in iron. I know it's hard to grasp that when they seem to have simply run away, but consider where the Gorgon is located, and it makes more sense.†Everyone looked around for several moments, trying to find the voice. Suddenly, a silver-and-white blur shot down from the sky and landed gently on the grass, directly between the mob and the gymnasium. It turned out to be Gabriel, a hero now well-known throughout Southside. He stood there, his metallic armor shining in the sunlight, his white coat flapping a bit in the breeze, arms clasped behind his back, and a friendly smile on his face. He looked at the crowd, actually recognizing a few people here and there and giving them quick nods of acknowledgement. The crowd as a whole began to murmur; it was losing momentum, and fast. The man in front frowned and spoke again. “Bah! As if prayers could do anything! And if the heroes haven't fixed things yet, there's no way they will now! We want that escape route! We deserve it!†“Unfortunately, it's not here. Or anywhere, really. I'm sorry, but there's no more places to evacuate to, not in time. We've already done what we can in those regards. This gym has nothing but an emergency clinic for people injured. In riots like this one, I believe. The closest thing to an “escape route†might be a few emergency short-range teleporters or the like. Those won't get you past city limits at best. So, you see, there's no point in barging in there and potentially hurting people who have done nothing to you folks. Why don't you all head on home. I know it's tough right now, feeling powerless in the face of all of this. I may be a hero, but there's really nothing I can do. I can't fly in space or move mountains. And I'm pretty sure I couldn't negotiate the Gorgon down from her motives. So I'm left doing what I can around the city.†“ARGH! You keep ruining my plans! Meddlesome mortal! You and your stinking faith! You will all BURN!†The ringleader was suddenly screeching in a voice that in no way matched his body. Everyone around him was stepping back, clearly frightened of what was going on. Or at least most everyone was; a half-dozen individuals stepped forward to stand next to him; they were some of the people who had cried out earlier, helping incite the crowd's temporary madness. Now, all seven of them leered at Gabriel, who simply stood there, seemingly unconcerned. Even as the seven started up a chant in a horrific-sounding language that had Sonya and the others in the gym covering their ears in pain, Gabriel simply stood there, unflappable. He frowned a bit as he saw the crowd suddenly tense, before all their faces went slack, and their eyes were robbed of their spark of reasoning. This was the trigger for his hands to fall to his side, and a deep frown to crease his face. He raised his right arm up, palm facing the crowd, and suddenly his voice seemed to boom out over all of them. “No. I forbid it.†And just like that, the “spell was broken, and the people started to panic. But even then, Gabriel's voice rolled over them like the calming waves of the ocean. “Please do not panic; please escort yourselves home as calmly as you can, and make sure no one is left.†Despite the obvious calm, the crowd moved quickly, and within a minute, it was well away from the gym area. But the leader and his six lackeys remained. Sonya gasped as her gaze settled on their forms. Forms that were even now rippling and changing before their eyes, until they saw not men and women, but demons standing on the lawn. Gabriel himself seemed unsurprised. The ringleader turned out to be, not a male demon, but an “alluring†succubus, clad in enticing clothing, bearing horns on her head and wings on her back, and wielding a pair of weapons; in her right hand was a flaming sword, and in her left a flaming flail. The six others with her transformed less drastically; they seemed to be fairly human-like demons, barring the horns on their foreheads, red skin, and pointy teeth and claws; none of their outfits changed, and they conjured no weapons or magic to enter battle with. Gabriel himself was moving around a bit in place, seemingly loosening up for the fight. Then, the succubus smiled viciously and pointed at him. “Kill him. Then the rest inside. Let's see if we can drag the holy man's soul down with us; him and everyone inside. This is going to be so much-†“Of a failure for you. None of you shall pass. I stand in the gap, and none shall pass. You're welcome to try, demons.†Three rushed him at once, but he was faster. His left hand whipped up, and in an instant, all three were blasted back by twisting lines of sound, flying through the air before slamming to the ground. They did not stir from their positions, not even when the ground beneath them split into a fiery crack that consumed all three of them. The hero in white simply gave a humorous smile. “Looks like they've been sent home like bad boys and girls. Guess I need to send the rest of you to your homes, too. Oh, and you, with the black jacket...BOO!†Somehow, it seemed to frighten the demon enough that it started sprinting away, clawing at the air until it actually created a portal of fire that it dove through. The last two thugs were so occupied watching their fellow that they never felt the twin blasts take them in the back of the neck, leaving only the succubus. She smirked, and without speaking swung her sword right at Gabriel's face. But instead of dodging, he raised his right hand...which suddenly held a shining spear that he used to parry the sword. He flew up for a few brief moments to avoid the flail, which he subsequently blasted away with his left hand, leaving the demon shaking its hand in pain. The burning weapon winked out of existence without the she-devil keeping it going. “Hm. Good to know. Guess we're even on weapons now. Not that I needed one to beat you before. Don't need one now. Time to send you packing to your boss's lakeside retreat.†With that, he dove at the creature from the Pit, both hands on his spear. As he dove, he suddenly opened his mouth and let out a silent-to-humans scream that blasted away dirt around the succubus and left her reeling, her scaly skin cracked and bleeding. It was all the opening he needed to send the spear right through her blackened heart. Sonya was the only one who saw him flinch as the sword of hellfire jabbed up under his coat, apparently striking his left armpit in a glancing blow. For a moment, they stayed there, locked in a lethal embrace, before the holy hero lifted his spear to point generally toward the sky, and gave a shout that sent her flying up and out, and then through one last portal. Gabriel himself dismissed the holy spear and floated down to the door of the gym. Sonya was there to greet him, ushering him off to one side, behind a privacy curtain that was partly closed. She wasted no time shoving her hands up onto his armpit, an action that made his eyes cross in pain as he groaned. Sonya herself merely gave a disapproving “tsk tsk†as a gentle glow came up around her hands, speeding up the healing of his sliced flesh such that he should be fine in about a minute. “Ugh. That hurt. Thanks, I guess.†“You'd have bled to death you fool-headed Yankee. But you're welcome.†He gave her a mock-hurt expression. “Hey now. I'm no Yankee. Not even from...uh. Not from around here, yeah.†She narrowed her eyes, but didn't press him. “She acted like she knew you.†“Sorta. I've run across her a few times already. I kept stopping this plot or that. Not sure what exactly she wanted today, but it's not really important now. She's gone, all of you are safe...and hey, my arm's all better. Nice healing touch there.†“It's a gift.†“From God himself, I'd say.†“Something like that.†“Well. Um. That's that, I suppose. You lot take care of yourselves. I'll be hanging around the neighborhood. If I get shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, or otherwise harmed, I think I'll swing by here. Good staff.†“Thank you, I suppose. Try not to do any of those things. It's...bad enough today.†“Yeah. God bless...†“Lieutenant Sonya Sokolova of UNISON.†“God Bless, Sonya. Name's Gabriel. I'm sure we'll see each other around.†Before she could respond, there was a quick wind, and he was already out the door and up in the sky. After all, there might be more people that needed talked out of doing something foolish...

Templar had audibly growled when Stratos started disparaging his team, especially the "circus freak" comment about Sage. He'd taken a step toward the weather controller, blue flame swirling around him, rain sizzling on his armor...when Sharl blasted his head right off. He stood there in a bit of shock, unsure of what just happened. Then, a sudden thought came to him, and he flew to the edge of the roof, making a quick circle before touching down next to the others. "Hiroshima Shadow ran. Coward's nowhere in sight." He walked over to Sharl, gently laying a hand on the bulky suit's shoulders. "It's okay, Sharl. The important thing is, we stopped the bad guys. We showed them we aren't just a bunch of kids. And they didn't get a hold of this thing." He frowned. "Though...Does Stratos normally use robots like that?"