The Battle of the Bands (IC)

[Ecalsneerg]

"LIZ!" roared Chris as she went down. Summoning up all his reserves of speed, he ran towards her so fast he blurred slightly. "C'mon, just hold on, c'mon..."

A dangerous glint in his eyes, Chris aimed at the Maestro and threw the Geckorang which had suddenly appeared in his hands with a practiced speed.

[quotemyname]

The only reaction to the explosive blast of sound that Eddie showed was a stare as cold as deepest levels of hell. For possibly the first time, that any of his friends had seen, Eddie was actually frowning a scowl so sharp it could have cut glass.

"So that's how you want to play, huh?" His voice was low and menacing. "Well, I'm not gonna hear it. In fact, nobody is. I am going to make sure that nothing you do ever makes even a decibel of sound again." Eddie stood on the broken remnants of the stage as still as stone staring daggers at Maestro. "I hope you like silence Maestro, because you are going to be hearing a lot of it from now on! This is what happens when you RUIN MY SHOW!!!" Suddenly, the air around Maestro exploded with sound. The volume alone would have been enough to deafen him, let alone the force of the sound waves damaging his ear drums.

[Cyroa]

James merely stepped to one side, shrapnel from the stage just missing him. He sighed, shaking his head. And the performance had been going to darn well too! He gently put his guitar down, out of the way. He murmured the words to a spell and he vanished from sight, sound and smell. The concealment was a handy spell indeed. Grinning, he looked at and pulled his arm back. These guys never learn, he thought. He swung his arm forward releasing a volley of fireballs at the musical villain.

[Darksider42]

"Aw damnit. You again!?" Warren shouted as soon as the Maestro made his speech about what is music and what was not. He managed to get his ears covered before the sounds of the Conductor of Crime could affect him, but he wasn't fast enough to escape the coming explosion from the stage. Wood and electrical equipment assaulted him and got smacked in the jaw by a hunk of the stage floor.

"Like I'm gonna let you pull that mind control trick again." He muttered as he switched on his guitars personal sound systems and played a discordant note across the area, shattering the vragle face plate on his guitar and showing the regular black and blue pattern. His own will allowed it to break the twisted commands planted in the remaining audiences minds. Better end this quick somehow... He thought as things started to fall further into anarchy.

[N/A]

The Maestro stood firm in the face of everything the heroes threw at him. Be they waves of pure sound or balls of fire, they all crashed harmlessly against his sonic force field. His immediate surroundings appeared to blur and bleed for a moment, like heat ripples, and each blow and blast sounded like a gong or a church bell as it struck the field, but they didn't so much as muss The Maestro's hair. "HAH! Is that the best you can do? The culture war is over before it starts!"

Then Breakdown unleashed his sonic boom. Basil Fatherton pressed his palms against his ears as he screamed in agony, nearly dropping his sonic rod. Blood from his ears leaked out between his fingers, and twin trails poured down his nose, leaving spots on his tuxedo. He stumbled. "No...I can't hear...I can't hear anything...no...NOOO!!!" He clenched his hands into fists, waving them in the air. "You have stolen from me music itself! You shall rue this day, you insolent brats! You shall rue the very day you were BORN!!!"

Breakdown knew enough about the limits of his own powers, and how far he could push them, to know that the hearing loss he'd inflicted upon Fatherton was only temporary. But he didn't feel any pressing need to share that information with the villain, either.

The crowd of concert-goers, their faces twisted with hatred, continued to swarm over the ruined stage and the booths, until Rift, with one mighty strum of his guitar, broke The Maestro's spell. As his single discordant note squealed across the park, grimaces of determination and loathing faded to mere confusion and uncertainty, followed by blind panic as bursts of energy sailed over their heads back and forth between the Crime League's resident composer emeritus and the next scions of rock music.

[Darksider42]

Without thinking much about what he was doing, Warren struck another cord on his guitar, sending another wave of sound at the Maestro. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was sure he was forgetting something important, but among the crowd of confused and screaming civilians and a insane conductor with a technological sonic device, he didn't realize he was doing this all out of costume.

Later when all was said and done, he was going to enjoy several minutes of smashing his head against a wall followed by hours of questioning his actions.

[N/A]

Zephyr raced back and forth across the battlefield, a blue an orange blur that seemed to be everywhere at once. She pushed and carried innocent bystanders out of the lines of fire, cleared away debris nanoseconds before people tripped over them, and most of all, made herself a nuisance of The Maestro. She scooped up grass and mud from the ground and pelted him with it, staining his tuxedo even further beyond the possibility of repair. She tapped on his right shoulder, then when he turned, flicked her fingers across his left ear. She grabbed the arm holding his sonic rod and pulled his sleeve up, down, and all around, spoiling his aim. He turned to swat at her, only for her to slip around to his back, shove her (thankfully gloved) hands down the back of his pants, and yanked up his boxer shorts, giving him the mother of all "wedgies."

"Dude, red polka-dots? Really? Shoulda guessed even your fashion sense is older than TV. Forget Blackstone - we better get you back to the nursing home, Grandpa. Don't wanna miss dinner - it's meatloaf night!"

"HARLOT!" The Maestro sputtered and spat and swatted at Zephyr with his sonic rod, but he just couldn't keep up with her.

"Hey, speaking of Meatloaf - What's that tearing out of your body, and flying away, like a bat outta hell? Right, it's your dignity! Oh, too late to wave, 'cause it's gone."

[quotemyname]

Chicken Sticks growled a low throaty growl, but otherwise remained his usual silent self. Aware of the lack of threats immediately near him, Chicken Sticks put his all behind his next attack, not concentrating on defending himself in the least. He was still sweating from exertion as he once again swung his drumsticks through the air. A visible wave of force shot forward, headed straight for Maestro! Unlike his last pitiful attack, this one seemed to be right on target.

[N/A]

The wave of force from Chicken-Sticks slammed into The Maestro, pushing him up off his feet and sending him flying across the park. He tumbled through the air head-over-feet before slamming into a tree and slumping to the ground. He wobbled to his feet, steadying himself against the tree trunk as he pulled a silk hankerchief from his breast pocket and wiped the blood from his nose. "CHILDREN! The POWER of MUSIC is NOT A TOY!" He raised his sonic rod once again, and pressed down on one of the glowing LED buttons as he slashed it through the air. Another church bell echoed across the park as the air in front of The Maestro rippled, sending leaves and concert leaflets flying. The ripple raced toward Breakdown, carving a trench in the grass, slicing through the air...

[quotemyname]

With a relaxed grace and an expression on his face so determined that it bordered on scary, Eddie waved his hand through the air between him and the oncoming concussive sound wave. The visible waves of sound splattered and dissipated harmlessly, and Eddie met them with the exact frequency to produce enough resonance to completely cancel the attack.

"No!" Eddie spoke through both his normal voice, and the radio waves he was capable of producing with his mind. If there was even the slightest chance of Maestro hearing this speech, he wanted to make sure it got through. "You couldn't be more wrong. Music IS a toy. Specifically fit to be the plaything of children, adults, men, and women. Music is the substance that produces the light of inspiration in the darkest times of human depression. Music is a gift from the Gods, given to humanity through sheer grace. Music is a right and a privilege; it is meant for use by everyone! Though, like all privelages, it can be taken from those that do not deserve it." Eddie dropped down off the front of the stage and began a very slow walk in Maestro's direction. "Today your tyranny has lost you that privilege, Maestro. That is why, I have taken from you your hearing. You are no longer fit to receive the gift of music, and if you keep this up, you will no longer be fit to give it! Surrender now, or your hearing will be the least of your worries. I will take from you your voice so that you cannot sing. I will take from you your fingers so that you cannot play. I will take from you your mind so that you cannot compose. Surrender, Maestro, or I will reduce you to the most pitiful of existences imaginable: Completely. Devoid. Of music."

[Ecalsneerg]

Eddie seemed to be... dealing with Maestro quite efficiently, so Chris knelt down beside Liz, reaching into his belt for something. "Ok, honey..." he said quietly. "Just hang on in there." With that, he tore the wrapping off the item with his teeth.

Then rammed the syringe into her chest, pushing down hard to force the shot full of adrenaline straight into her system. "COME ON!" he yelled, giving her mouth-to-mouth and hoping it was working.

With a gasp, Liz's eyes shot open as she gasped. "Jesus, Chris! ... why is there a needle in me?" Geckoman pondered for a second, then decided that...

"I'll tell you later. Get up and help us fight a supervillain. Who kinda mind-controlled then exploded you. Details."

[N/A]

[floatr][/floatr]The assembled heroes heard a rumbling in the distance. The ground began to shake, and the rumbling became an earthquake. Suddenly, they were surrounded on all sides by green. Every tree in the park, from the smallest sapling to the mightiest oak, moved of its own accord, ripping its roots free from the ground, waving its branches around like arms or tentacles. Hundreds of other recently-animated trees moved in behind them, forming a phalanx around the entire park.

The grass and mud in front of the line of trees shook and bubbled, then exploded. A giant rose, clawing his way up out of the ground. A giant of branches and weeds and logs and leaves, his eyes burning yellow with hatred. A plant-man. A green man.

"MAMMALS. YOU STILL HAVEN'T LEARNED YOUR PLACE IN THIS WORLD. YOU DARE DISTURB MY CHILDREN WITH YOUR NOISE? THEY GIVE YOU FOOD AND SHELTER AND YOU REPAY THEM WITH NOISE? THEY OFFER YOU SANCTUARY WITHIN THEIR BRANCHES FROM THE PREDATORS UPON THE GROUND, AND YOU CHOP THEM DOWN TO MAKE ROOM FOR THIS NOISE? NOW IT IS THE TREES WHOSE VOICES SHALL RING OUT ACROSS THE LAND. PREPARE TO BE SILENCED."

Now fully boxed-in, by the ocean on one side and an army of hostile plant life on all others, the crowd of concert-goers truly began to panic.

[quotemyname]

[groove]21816622[/groove]

Eddie's purposeful gait from the stage continued. Then suddenly, as the air raid siren at the beginning of Disturbed's "Indesctructible" ended, and the song began in earnest, Eddie rushed Maestro. In the space of a split second, he crossed the 100 feet between the broken stage, and Maestro's broken body.

"And every broken enemy will know

that their opponent had to be invincible!"

Eddie hoisted Maestro by the collar of his now practically shredded tuxedo and slammed his fist into the man's gut, practically nailing him to the tree.

"And now, my unfortunate friend, you'll discover a war you're unable to win." Eddie held Maestro's limp form pined to the tree with both arms, staring up at him. He had just proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was the more formidable master of music.

His fight won, Eddie calmed significantly almost instantly. Attention Freedom City Emergency Services: Eddie used his radio communication to contact the city's police force. This is Breakdown of Young Freedom. I am currently holding Maestro, who is unconscious, captive in Riverside Park. Any assistance you can offer in his apprehension would be greatly appreciated. There are also several civilians present. Some of which may be injured. Please send medical ai-

The Green Man picked that specific moment to make his appearance. This day just keeps getting worse and worse! Eddie thought to himself. The tree in front of Eddie that he had been pinning maestro to suddenly came to life. Eddie recoiled a step in shock, Pulling Maestro from the tree as he did. Eddie looked from the tree, to Maestro and back again. He then unceremoniously dumped Maestro's unconscious form on the ground behind him. He dropped into a fighting stance as he faced the trees.

Attention Freedom City Emergency Services: The Green Man has just arrived on the scene. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENTER THE PARK! He has brought with him what looks to be an army of trees in the hundreds! Myself and the other assembled heroes will deal with this threat. I repeat: Do not attempt to enter Riverside Park!

"Hey, Green Man! You want noise? I'LL GIVE YOU NOISE!"

[Cyroa]

It looked like Eddie had Maestro well in hand when things suddenly got crazy again. The horde of trees and their master was actually more familiar than the first clown. "Hey Mulch Man! Long time no fry! If you wanted seconds, you just had to say so!" James grinned as he summed a stream of fire to his hand and launched it directly at the Green Man.

[Darksider42]

"Dammit! More villains!?" Warren said in exasperation as as he summoned his sonic shield and started flying off the stage and over the crowd of people. He had no experience with the Green Man before, but he guessed that if they somehow took him down the rampaging trees might stop. It was how it usually worked. Unless I'm getting castle comics logic mixed up again... He shook his head as he hovered Several feet out of reach of the giant tree man himself. "Stop being such a sap." He deadpanned as he launched a full force sonic blast at the wooden reject.

[N/A]

The sound wave from Rift's guitar broke a chunk out of the Green Man's "trunk" larger than Rift himself. He growled and stumbled a step backward, then reached down and grabbed one of his animated tree minions. He shoved the tree against his chest, and the branches and vines of his body lashed out like tentacles to envelop it. The tree's own branches bent and twisted to meet them, intertwining in some sort of strange embrace. The tree's bark splintered, its own trunk torn into pieces as it melded with the Green Man. "A necessary sacrifice for the greater good. You will be remembered, my child." His deep intonations resonated across the park.

The Green Man raised his massive arms in the air. "Wreak your vengeance upon the mammals, my children! Reclaim the world they stole from you, and put an end to their NOISE!" The earth beneath the mosh pit flew into the air as roots burst forth, reaching out at anyone and everyone in their path. Although most of the heroes were quick enough on their feet to avoid the whipping tendrils, they managed to ensare over a hundred panicked spectators.

Geckoman and Spellbound grabbed each other as the roots poked up out of the ground by their side, and acted as one, rolling out of the way as a rapid succession of cellulose tentacles broke out of the ground where she'd lain less than a half-second before.

Weighed down by the very villain he was now trying to save from the wrath of the plant kingdom, Eddie couldn't move as fast as his comrades, and the roots dragged at his heels, threatening to pull him to his knees.

Rift had managed to fly high enough to remain out of reach of both the roots and the trees. But the Maestro's assault had left the stage in pieces, and when the trees started hefting those broken chunks at him, one got in a lucky shot, with enough force to penetrate his sonic field. The impact knocked him several feet higher into the air, sending him into a head-over-feet tailspin before he plummeted to the ground. For a few moments, the entire world went black. When Rift came to, he was laying face-first in the trampled mud, under the flickering shade provided by the trees closing in on him.

[N/A]

[bg=#0000BF]"That's it. I'm never going camping again. In fact, when I grow up, I'm getting an apartment, 'cause I'm never even sleeping near a tree again. Fark trees, Dude."[/bg]

As the trees closed in and the roots burst out of the ground and the chaotic scene descended to an entire new level of pandemonium, Zephyr took off running once again, this time too fast to be seen by the naked eye. Everyone else seemed to be standing still as she slipped between the trees and their targets, yanking and snapping small branches with her hands, pulling on larger branches to send them whipping into other trees, tearing bark free from trunks with savage kicks of her boots, even picking up rocks and throwing them at the trees, anything to confuse them, distract them, and leave them off-balance.

When the line of wood and foliage advanced too far and too thickly for her to dance between, she wrenched herself free from the space-time continuum, leaving herself a fraction of a second removed from the point on the timestream where everyone else existed. As with every other time she'd pulled this stunt, still ignorant of her true nature, Zephyr assumed she was merely "vibrating her molecules fast enough to pass through solid matter." The army of trees put up less resistance than a summer breeze as she passed through them.

When she reached the Green Man, she pulled herself back into normal time and space. Still moving to fast to be seen, Zephyr ran circles around the giant tree-man, pondering her next move in the space between nanoseconds. [bg=#0000BF]He's three times my height, like fifty times my weight. Punching him in the face isn't gonna do much more than bloody my knuckles. I'm David, he's Goliath, and I left my slingshot in my other tights. Guess I just gotta hope one of these guys can hit the broad side of a barn when I give 'em the opening.[/bg]

[bg=#0000BF]"Hey Jolly Green! You got the wrong table! Nobody ordered the salad! We're all on Atkins!"[/bg] Zephyr darted to and fro, running half-circles around the Green Man. At the sound of her voice, he'd turn left, and she'd dash right. She pulled at the many vines and branches wrapping around and extending from his legs, tearing off leaves as she did (which she assumed to be the equivalent of pulling hair, and judging from the Green Man's growing consternation, she was right). He bent over to lunge at her several times, but his colossal wooden fists and claws pounded and rended only the grass and mud where she'd been standing a second before. [bg=#0000BF]"Too slow! C'mon, how do you Green Party guys ever expect to take on the Democrats if you can't even take out one teenage girl?"[/bg] Being a girl out of time, Zephyr didn't always make the most topical cultural references in conversation.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Chris, move!" shouted Liz suddenly, diving forward in a roll as a plant tendril shot from the ground where she'd been seconds before. Pushing Geckoman back from another grasping green grapevine, the two started rolling, dodging shoots as they shot from the soil. Soon they lay in a tangled heap, the barrage of plants having apparently stopped for now.

But there was no time to rest as four trees lumbered in to surround them, Geckoman shooting to his feet swiftly. As he squared up to fight the fiendish foliage, he heard Zephyr shout.

[bg=#0000BF]"Hey Jolly Green! You got the wrong table! Nobody ordered the salad! We're all on Atkins!"[/bg]

"Really?" shouted Geckoman, leaping into the air. As he did so, he kicked off his pants and tore off his shirt, his green-and-yellow costume completed as he pulled on his mask. "Because a carbohydrate rich diet is how I get the energy to..." Landing on one foot, he quickly spun and leapt head-first towards a tree. "... do THIS!"

[quotemyname]

"Sticks! Rift!" Eddie called out as his friends got hammered. He was distracted enough that he didn't notice all the vines in the area. They succeeded in wrapping him up and pinning him to the spot. Luckily, however Eddie was able to weather the beatings from the surrounding trees rather well.

As soon as there was a lull in the assault, Eddie called out. "You know, Green Man, the funny thing about music, is that you can't tie it down, or keep it bound."

[groove]21885686[/groove]

Suddenly, as the music played, the vines simply seemed to drop away from Eddie's arms and legs. He was no longer bound. With that, he floated away on the wings of his music to defend his fallen friends. "You can't control our music, any more than you can control a bird's song." Eddie said as he dropped lightly to the ground between Rift and Chicken Sticks.

Eddie spread his legs wide, to stabilize himself, "And this bird you cannot change!" He threw his arms out to the sides as an enourmous wave of pressure spread through the surrounding area, generated by the sudden vibration of Eddie's body. The massive drop in pressure weakened all the trees in the surrounding area, before the the air pressure suddenly returned, slamming into each of the tree's trunks in the surrounding area.

[Cyroa]

James chuckled wryly, shaking his head. "Aw, did wittle greenie weenie's plans get blown away?" He shook his head, laughing. "Man, I bet a bunch of teenagers kicking yer rear really burns you up. And if not, I sure hope this does!" He gestured, sending a wave of fire to slam into the Greenman, right over the heads of the other heroes. "Turns out it does!"

[Darksider42]

Rift managed to get back up, wiping mud off his face as quickly as his dazed mine could command his limbs. Note to self, be careful at what I taunt next time. He shook his head and focused on his surroundings. While his vision was a little blurry, he could make out James blasting the Green Man with fire. And the trees seem to have stopped their advance. "Huh. Well, some help I was." He muttered before his sight focused and he could see several people still trapped in the green mans roots. "Ok, maybe I have something useful to do after all." The Guitarist though as he rose from the grown, sound forcing him into the air. Doing a quick look over his guitar, he flew into the the mess of thorns, metalheads and the rest of the audience and started send directed sonic blasts towards. I'm gonna need some ice after this, my head is killing me.