Invasion! - Danger Mansion (IC)

[Warmonger]

The world hurt. Opening his eyes was like stabbing them with rusty syringes, but All-Star did it anyway. He flexed his muscles, and pain shot up to his brain. But he clamped down and staggerd to his feet. He almost passed out again. Had he just gotten his ass kicked? He snorted. Unlikely. He found he had the strength to fly and floated a little to get his orientation right. He saw Grim and Colt going towards the demons. Were they the only two Interceptors who made it? God, he had thought he would save the world. But it just looked like he would get a front row seat to the end. He didn't have much strength left but he would use what little he had left. He shot directly towards the horde. I hope you bastards choke on me.

[Cyroa]

The heroes stood together, a final stand, as the hordes charged forward. The wave of fear they created rolled off of them, preceding them, almost a palatable wave. Despair, hopelessness and fear were overwhelming. But these were the heroes of Freedom City. If their lives would buy people even one more minute or second of life, then they were willing to make their stand.

The horde was almost upon them when things changed. At first, it was something only the mystically inclined could see. There was a ripple, a wave of magical and dimensional energy that washed over the area and past them. There was a long pause before something more visible to all could be seen. The demons reaching for them began to fade. Their claws and and teeth inches away as they faded from existence. Starting nearest the heroes and rippling outward, the horde quickly went from terrifying and solid, to being ghost and apparitions to simply disappearing. The bodies of the fallen, demon and hero alike also faded away. But it was clear to everyone that the battle was over. The heroes had persevered, and despite their injuries and losses, they had remained true. They had won. Those who could feel the energies could tell there was more changes going on. The changes were continuing, spreading outward but hadn't quite reached them yet...

[alderwitch]

Phantom froze as the horde vanished. She was battered from toe to throat, covered with livid bruises and slowly healing wounds under her tattered costume. As if unbelieving, she pushed her hood back from her face slowly, all senses scanning the horizon to make sure that it wasn't false hope. Or one last cruel trick.

"It's allunravelling,"

It was a hoarse whisper of wonder. Phantom reached out for Avenger, almost giddy with relief, as she turned bright eyes up to him, "It's all being undone." She threw herself into his arms, her face buried against his chest. She could have cried with relief. Her desperate gamble had payed off and better than she could have even prayed for, "It worked. We won!"

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack leaned down and gave Taylor a hard kiss, the two of them poised for a moment like a sailor and nurse in Times Square. "I never doubted it for a minute," he lied with a smile on his face. "Not with you around. I love you so much," he said honestly. "And when this is over, I'm going to keep my promise," he added in a murmur.

[Heritage]

"I love you too, Grim."

Grim's cheeks and the tips of her pointed ears go a bit pink, and she flashes Colt an amazing smile just before charging in the fray behind him; she leaps high in the air, claws out, and lands...on the lawn. Bewildered, she rises to one knee and sweeps her talons back and forth through the air. She looks around the battlefield, too stunned to speak, then looks back at Colt.

"Is that...is it over? Did we win?"

Then she sees Avenger kissing Phantom out of the corner of her eye, and the realization hits her like a bolt of lightening.

"We won! WE WON! Ha-hah!"

Leaping up to her feet, all her injuries for the moment forgetten, Grim starts running in circles with her arms stretched out, like a little kid playing out in the park, too deleriously happy to even realize quite what she's doing.

"We won we won we won we won we WE WON!"

The tiny shapeshifter does a pretty impressive set of gymnastic backflips, cartwheels and handspings before landing next to Colt at last, doing the splits.

"Honey, we won! We did it, or at least someone did, someone who's getting free pizza everyday for the rest of their life, if I have anything to say about it!"

Then her face shifts for but a moment from joy to anguish.

"Ow! Oh my god, this hurts like hell! I should stop all this cavorting before I do something permanent!"

She falls back on the grass, arms and legs splayed out to make lawn angels, and just continues giggling out of mind-numbing relief.

"We're not dead..we made it..."

[Electra]

Stesha teleported back into the yard, stepping out of one of the few bushes that hadn't been torn up, burnt out or trampled in the fighting. Hugging her arms to her chest, she looked at the empty space that had been a killing field just moments ago, then to the hint of sunlight finally visible again in the eastern sky. "They went away," she murmured softly, through lips that seemed numb and slow. "We're going to live." Folding her legs under her, she dropped to the battered earth and wept, her face in her hands.

[Geez3r]

Atlas swung a vicious right hook, and then fell on his butt because he hit nothing. Quickly getting to his feet, Atlas looked around and saw the horde fading away. Atlas was simply too stunned to do anything else than drop to his knees. Relief swam over him, clouding his senses. He was vaguely aware of everyone else celebrating all around him, but there was something nagging at the back of his head that kept him from doing likewise. Then it struck him. Looking down at his hands, he saw that they were still red. Like they had been for a long while. He wasn't transforming back...

[quotemyname]

All through Grim's antics, Colt simply stood and shook his head. Too bewildered to even say anything. When she flopped down next to him, he pulled his hat off his head and tossed it so it covered her head. "Calm down, silly goose." He said to her, hoping for a moment that wouldn't actually cause her to turn into a goose.

He flopped down next to her and stared up at the sky for a moment. "Well would ya look'it that?" He asked taking the hat off her face so she could see. "Reckon that's the best sun rise I ever saw."

[angrydurf]

Aces mad charge toward the waiting demon hoard slowed to a stroll as the demons faded from sight.

"Yea! and don't you come back!" He shouted to the now empty space.

He smiled and turned dusting his hands, "Well that was a little anti-climactic." He said and actually seemed mildly disappointed. "Usually we get over run before the bad guys turn tail and run." Perhaps in Aces world that made more sense though to anyone else he was talking pure madness.

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum heard the horde approaching, or more aptly, she felt the horde approaching. Sighing one last time, she forced herself up to one knee, then upright. By this time the horde was virtually upon them. Maneuvering didn't matter at that point. She didn't have time to talk. Taking up a boxing stance, Fulcrum braced for the first victim.

A surprise kick to a demon's groin turned into a clumsy stumble. The monsters vanished. She stood there slack jawed and unmoving. Finally Grimalkin's cheers broke her out of the brain lock. A huge smile broke over her battered face. What to do? Cheer? Weep? All she could think of doing was run and she run did. She took off, yelling victoriously as loud as she could manage, fists high above her head. Round and round she went.

She snatched up Ace in a bear hug, spun him around, sat him down and was gone in a flash. She patted shoulders, gave thumbs up and generally made a wonderful nuisance of herself. Finally she leaped into Atlas' arms, or barring a catch, threw an arm around his neck and hovered next to him.

"I love this job."

She may love her job, but you couldn't tell from how she looked.

[ex3lev3n]

There wasn't much he could make out. He could feel the trembling of the earth against his prone body, the demonic legions rushing in for the killing blow. He could feel his right leg and arm, ablaze in agaony from broken bones and deep lacerations. And he could feel the determination of Freedom City's heroes as they stood against the horde in one final act of sacrifice. Then everything went black...

[Ecalsneerg]

Geckoman somehow managed to find the energy to punch the air and grin. "They did it!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOT!" Then he slumped to the ground, exhausted. "I'm gonna need a coupla hours and enough chocolate to stuff a horse..."

[Cyroa]

The heroes stood, sat or lay there on the ruined lawn, marveling at the success. Behind them, Fluer’s flowers and the citizen (or maybe survivors) of Freedom City stumbled out as the red sky faded to be replaced by the late afternoon sun. They cheered their heroes, hugged and kissed one another as well as those weary warriors who stood on the final line.

There were many that had fallen and were lost. Their bodies not even present. But life needed to be celebrated. Hope, faith and the good people of Freedom City had triumphed once more against impossible odds.

But their cheers and celebrations began to fade, becoming muted and silent. Looking at the crowd, they could see the people fading away, becoming transparent and then simply gone. Looking at one another, whatever was happening was happening to them as well. In a very short order, even they were gone. Soon, there was no one left…