Avenger Assembled Posted June 14, 2012 Posted June 14, 2012 Blood Diamond fell bonelessly to the ground, gems falling from her body in a rain of shimmering blood. Nightmare Doom wrinkled her nose in irritation as yet another comrade fell, then cocked her head as if in silent communion with her boss and the others of the Hounds before she spoke. "Very well, Midnight," she said consideringly after a time, "your proposal is accepted. The Hounds will withdraw, and allow you to be killed by the Madrigal Martinet as you request. However, since your party has attacked even neutrals like Spiegel, a show of good faith is required from all your allies." She began chanting, and portals began opening in the sky, first one, then more; not disgorging Omegadrones as Edge (who had casually walked over to pick up Spiegel's fallen microphone, if the shining gold badge at the reptile man's midsection was that) had first feared, but instead showing scenes at once familiar and terribly alien. "If you fail, each will be given over to their own dooms." Over Wander's head, a scene of grim devastation appeared; a Freedom City of decaying ruins and shattered buildings, shambling humanoids crawling among each. "For Erin White, exile on a world where the immortal Ace Danger spread a walking death that could never be broken." Over Edge's, an image of a face that reminded him of Hex's, but somehow even more twisted, black wings of energy rising up behind 'his' snarling visage. "For Mark Lucas, our own Shadowhawk has long wanted a playmate. Perhaps he'll even let you keep your face afterwards, he does love his own so well." She smirked, and went on, more and more portals opening up. Seen from space, a world of red shapeless forms, twisting in a vast obscene ocean, and metal that ran among it like ice on a stove, "For Indira Singh; a world where the Grue Arcane haven't had an uncorrupted Kinigosi in a very long time. They're hungry. For Etain Maher," she said as an all-too-familiar realm sprang to life near Etain, its sky cast a fierce autumn red, "we have an Avalon of our own, you know, and I think you will find their sport a delightful change of pace." The same portal opened near Eve, as Nightmare Doom went on, "Especially when Eve Martel plays. They know such fine games." Near Corbin, a palpable image: Superior in gold armor, a black-haired woman he knew as Sa-Ur dressed to match, and beside them his own Quo-Dis in red, sitting on a triple throne cast from something black and ancient, "For Corbin Hughes, a world where the daughter of the Emperor of Man will be very...displeased to learn that there is a mortal who has dared touch her sister-in-dimension." And finally, over Midnight's head, a horror in metal, glass, and other things; visible through that last portal a great sphere against a burning sky, big enough to accommodate dozens at once. "And for Midnight, no grand death, no valorous torture, no last breaking. The singular man will become just another Omegadrone." She looked from her boss to the others again, and said, "This, and no less, will be the price of cheating by Young Freedom in this contest. You may fight us, you may even fight me if you find that...prudent, but you may not aid Midnight. You may not attack the Madrigal. Some of you may live if you lose fairly; you may even live well. You might live if you cheat. I wouldn't recommend it. What is your answer, Young Freedom?"
Aoiroo Posted June 14, 2012 Posted June 14, 2012 Etain's eyes narrowed at the portal as she looked at Madrigal then Nightmare Doom, before Custos brought her to the ground to face the spellcaster, "How can we have cheated in a game with no rules? You who used dark magics to enslave and used the slaves to take a man here against his will, your group whom attacked a rescue party for said man hoping to get the advantage by surprise and overpowerment, only to find yourselves both surprised and overpowered. This mockery of a trial you are offering is no different, and I will not give an answer or word to it." She drew her sword as she spoke and kept it level as she glared at Nightmare Doom, "However, I will also not likely interfer with the fight of the holder of your chains vile sorcereress, because like yourself she has entered this battle of wits unarmed."
KnightDisciple Posted June 14, 2012 Posted June 14, 2012 Cobalt Templar's face was angry as Nightmare Doom wove her magics and issued her ultimatum. He glanced around at the others as she spoke of their individual dooms. When she pronounced his, he gave it only a cursory glance at first. 'This witch has another thing coming if she thinks this'll scare me much; I faced down a zombie version of my girlfriend before, how could-' His gaze shot back to the portal, his eyes wide in shock. He recognized the man who was apparently Quo-Dis's father. 'I...I'm dating the daughter of Superior?!?' For a moment, he couldn't think straight, the sheer weight of that revelation grinding his mind to a halt. Then, he shook his head and gazed at the remaining Hounds as he shrank back down to his normal size. "Fine. I'm okay with not jumping in while Midnight kicks your boss's rear end. Any of you ladies feel like taking a whooping from me?" He eyed each of the conscious Hounds, trying to decide which to strike, before sending a thought out over the link. --Who wants which Hound? I'm up for tackling any of them.--
Electra Posted June 14, 2012 Posted June 14, 2012 Wander glared at Nightmare Doom as she spoke, looking as though she wished she had eye lasers with which to incinerate the portal creator. She had little interest in looking through the portal that purported to lead to her personal hell; she was already conversant with what that would look like. Instead, she looked to Midnight, trying to meet his eyes. --I can't let her hurt you,-- she thought fiercely in his direction. With her hands white-knuckled on the bat and agony written on her face, it was clear Wander wasn't happy with the terms of the deal. --Say the word and we'll tear this place down on their heads. Screw their bargain!--
Fox Posted June 15, 2012 Posted June 15, 2012 Wraith craned her head up to look into 'her' portal, and when her gaze came back down the alien's three black eyes were narrow, offended slits. "You are insisting on new rules because we are beating you at a game we did not even wish to play," she coldly pointed out, shifting her attention from one foe to another. Her bladed tail melted back into the rest of her body as she got back onto two feet, bottom legs remaining oddly multi-jointed as her arms formed two lashing, maul-tipped tendrils. "It is the sign of an unworthy hunter. But if you wish you change the rules, we shall beat you at the new game, too - and then you shall be worth even less."
April Posted June 16, 2012 Author Posted June 16, 2012 Sage gave the various portals a cursory glance and then ignored them, filing the details Nightmare Doom provided under the heading of 'places to visit and clean up.' Not that she particularly wanted to start dimension hopping again but there were worlds with an obvious clear need, more so than her own world. One obstacle at a time girl, the telepath thought. Her gaze rested on Changeling for a moment, did a quick assessment and felt satisfied that the illusionist was no worse for wear. She turned her attention back to her friends, listening to them respond to the Hounds; anything she could have said they already gave voice to. So she casually flicked out her middle finger, the small gesture summing up her feelings on the matter. --Your call, Midnight.-- Sage thought to her friend and one-time teammate.
Avenger Assembled Posted June 16, 2012 Posted June 16, 2012 Microphone in his hand, Edge stared up at the image of himself as an Annihilist, briefly mesmerized by that unfamiliar sneer on that too-familiar face. It was disheartening at first, and he certainly didn't relish the idea of being tortured forever by an evil version of himself (and who would, really?), but after a moment's pause he gathered himself. It's a big multiverse, so there's got to be some version of me out there that's that evil. And sure he's probably really powerful and has done lots of bad stuff, but I've dealt with people like that before. Besides, Midnight will be fine. "No cheating here. Let's put an end to this." Raising the microphone to his lips, Mark said aloud, "Here we are, sports fans, and Round 2 will be between our greatest champions: Midnight, the dark and mysterious, the brilliant and beautiful, the master planner whose genius brought down no less than Omega, if only for a time, and the Madrigal Martinet, general of Omega's armies. Today," he said with total assurance, "you're going to watch Midnight beat the Madrigal. We've done this before. We can do it again. If you see anything else, if you see the transmission cut off, you'll know that your leaders aren't just monsters. You'll know they lack conviction." He smiled a hard smile, and went on. "this is Freedom TV, Terminus edition, on the air, everywhere."
Gizmo Posted June 16, 2012 Posted June 16, 2012 A small, grim smile formed behind Midnight's mask. --This is good. Changing rules because they're on the run,-- he observed, confirming the conclusions some of the others had already drawn. --Leash a couple Hounds for me, ladies. I'll try to make this quick.-- The black clad hero took a moment to apprize Martinet's reaction to everything before a low echoing sound came through the filter in his mask. It took a few beats for the guttural noise to become recognizable as a dark, humourless laugh. "So much research. So little idea who, what you're fighting." The cloud of midnight mist behind him had begun to dissipate on its own as he circled the Madrigal. "Threaten my people? Just showed them five new targets. Furions were right." He raised an inviting hand toward his opponent, beckoning her to come try her luck. "You are 'the stupid general'."
Avenger Assembled Posted June 18, 2012 Posted June 18, 2012 "Bold words," sneered the Madrigal as she faced off against Midnight, matching his stance with her own as she sussed out the smoky costumed adventurer for any sign of weakness. "Something you have in common with the dozen Midnights I've fought before, on a hundred worlds as dead as this one. Man, woman, robot or Grue, another thing you all have in common is that you die like anyone else with my hands around your throat." Midnight caught a smile beneath that helmet as the whirling vortexes overhead continued to spin, a thousand torturous fates played out in intimate detail for all to see, again and again and again. "I don't need to threaten you, boy. You will die in agony for what you've done. Today, tomorrow, it doesn't really matter; I'm going to win, and you're going to die. Now. Let's finish this."
Avenger Assembled Posted June 18, 2012 Posted June 18, 2012 "All right, sports fans," said Edge into the microphone, "this is going to be a tough one. Not because of the enemy so much, though they're pretty scary, but because we can be sure they're going to cheat. Are we going to see evil twins from another dimension? Random blasts from orbit by whatever fortress is doing the filming of this little spectacle? I don't know, but somehow I'm guessing the embodiments of ultimate evil aren't going to fight heroes fair! Who knew!" He added, sneering at the bad guys, for all that he was careful not to gaze too deeply into those dimensional rifts. "All I know is, I'm no longer tied up, I'm standing here with the finest superheroes in the world, and we're about to fight for freedom! Young Freedom, let's go!"
Aoiroo Posted June 19, 2012 Posted June 19, 2012 Custos took the skies, Etain seemed to stake her claim in a fight against Nightmare Doom and Madrigal was off limits as Midnight had her, but he could take out any of the others. Sweeping down from the sky he looked for a suitable opponent and found one rather quickly winged in the trees. The one who was facing Erin earlier. He dove and held a claw out ready to strike but missed by a few inches short of making contact to the only other winged creature. Flying passed he tried to regain a favorable position as he carefully watched and waited for another opportunity to strike.
Electra Posted June 19, 2012 Posted June 19, 2012 Erin kept her eyes locked on Trevor as he spoke to the Madrigal Martinet, even as the mental command echoed in her head. The visible pain leached away from her face, leaving her blank and impassive and ready to work. Even so, she didn't go far from the main event. Razorwhip had the singular bad fortune to have been set down just a few hundred feet away, whipless and looking worse for wear. In the space of a heartbeat Wander was in motion, the edge of her skirt fluttering silently behind her as she raced across the island towards the ludicrously-dressed Hound, who obviously saw her coming and was already bracing for a fight. Raising her bat with one hand, Wander launched it like a javelin, saw Razorwhip move to dive out of the way. Her run became a series of impossibly fast aerial flips, each one delineated only by a puff of sand where her feet touched. She closed the distance with Razorwhip just in time to grab the bat from flight, whip it around, and smash it across the luckless woman's head. "Not today," Wander repeated in a mutter as Razorwhip fell to the ground.
KnightDisciple Posted June 19, 2012 Posted June 19, 2012 --Flier is mine.-- Cobalt Templar's "voice" echoed over the mental network the teens had formed as he turned to face Hellstorm's position, taking a moment to make some mental calculations. He caught Wander's efforts out of the corner of his eye, and smiled slightly as his aura became a visible corona of blue flame. While it had disappeared when he grew large enough to toss Sage at the sadistic flier, his hands once more grasped that same weapon, and it burned with the same intensity as before. The young man in blue armor shifted his feet just a bit on the sand, tightened his grip... And suddenly he was right next to Hellstorm, a trail of fire searing the sky in his wake, marking his inerrant path to his foe. His burning blade was already swinging forward in a powerful blow. "No one hurts my friends! No one threatens my friends!" The blow struck true, and he wound up for another strike, the blade blending into the now-expert pattern he wove for a moment before it lashed again against the rainbow-colored Hound. "So it's time someone clipped your wings!" Cobalt Templar's fury burned around him, searing the air with the blade of raw, fiery magic and willpower in his grasp. He was a hero on a mission, and he would not be denied.
Gizmo Posted June 19, 2012 Posted June 19, 2012 It might have been Madrigal's words that caused Midnight to clench his teeth tightly and narrow his discoloured eyes. As a legacy hero, he was used to thinking of himself as a part of something larger, a tradition of service to a higher ideal. The Madrigal was going to pay for every member of that fraternity who had met their end living up to those tenets. Then again, it might have been the electrical shock his morphic armor was delivering across his body, ionizing the midnight mist coursing through his veins and supersaturating his muscle tissue. Beneath the costume his flesh took on a dull onyx tone as the gas catalyzed within him. "Slow learner," he observed flatly as he burst suddenly into motion, spurred on by the surge of strength, shattering the calm before the storm. He moved faster than the startled Martinet's eyes could follow, ducking out of her field of vision before abruptly reappearing with a brutal two-handed haymaker that caught the Annihilist under her chin and lifted her off the ground as the force of the block crashed into her. "Another Midnight is never more than a day away."
Aoiroo Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 Changeling watched from Custos back as he hovered by Omnibeast. She watched with a light smile as Midnight got a clear strike on Madrigal before she turned her attentions back to the airborn villain. Cobalt Templar had taken care of Hellstorm, which meant that if she took her out then the others could easily dispatch the rest of the ones on the ground. She wanted greatly to take out Nightmare Doom, but she was sure she was not the only one, and honestly she did not want to look at the twisted magics that surrounded the sorceress anymore then she had too. Custos got the high ground, climbing up like they were going elsewhere before diving. In Changelings hand a large jousting lance appeared and with the downward momentum they caught Omnibeast by surprise with the speed as she dug the lance into her adomen. It wasn't real, and it faded with the lights of her eyes, but the surprise on the villains face was, and the fall that followed was as well.
Fox Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 Wraith was almost starting to feel a little left out; not that she was any kind of glory hound, but the portals - not to mention the posturing - had put her in a mood to go hit something, and there wasn't a whole lot left to hit as the assembled superhumans picked their targets and attacked. But there was at least Nightmare Doom, unhurt and distracted, and that would have to do. Wraith ran low along the ground, one arm swinging around before she'd even arrived to crash against her enemy's side, followed a fraction of a moment later by a second that came right down onto her head. "You are very rapidly running out of allies," she observed. "I am not sure you thought this strategy all the way through."
Avenger Assembled Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 "Wait, no, you-!" The mage's cry was cut off as she hit the ground hard, barely conscious after Wraith's well-placed hammerblows. As she fell, the portals over everyone's heads warped and swirled like soap suds in a drain, pulling away from their 'targets' as they circled together into one rapidly-growing dimensional vortex circled around the edges with celestial white fire. The vortex rose higher and higher into the air, nearly clipping Cobalt Templar and Custos and Changeling, the various hell-dimensions glimpsed inside transforming into one glimpse of burning cities and blackened skies before a great and terrible thing came plummeting through it: it looked like a mutated Gigantosaur, a massive purple abomination that might once have been a dinosaur, one that towered some sixty feet high, tentacles writhing from its putrescent purple flesh at obscene angles that had no place in the geometry of any real world. Looking around, it gave a great terrible roar, tentacles waving in the air, as it studied the heroes with something foul glittering in its too-many green and grey eyes. Across the way, as she faced down with Midnight, Madrigal Martinet staggered back, holding a hand against her body where Midnight had struck her. "By the Coil's flames," she swore, "I told Nightmare to stop using the chaos magic! Cursed Yog-Sothoth. Oh well." She grinned fiercely at Midnight. "You see, boy? Tampering with other dimensions _will_ be the death of you. Now, come at me again."
Avenger Assembled Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 "Oh, wow, that's not good," said Edge, backing away slowly from the blind-idiot monster as it sniffed the air, tentacles where its eyes and face should have been feeling around in the air like a molerat's whiskers. The vortex above its head was closing fast, a good thing as bizarre as that sight beyond the portal was. Even it did give them new problems. "That looks like somebody melted Gigantosaur. Hey, lady, can't you put your own toys away?" he called to Nightmare Doom, but the battered evil mystic was still too dazed to respond. "Stupid evil mystics. Hey, Cobalt Templar and Changeling," he called, "keep circling it! Try and split apart as you go, keep it confused and off-balance! Wraith, see if you can shake some sense into what's her face! Sage and Wander...let's see if we can't take this thing out!" "Now as I was saying, sports fans," he added smoothly into the microphone he carried, "let's show the worlds what Young Freedom can really do!"
April Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 "Now as I was saying, sports fans," he added smoothly into the microphone he carried, "let's show the worlds what Young Freedom can really do!" Sage burst from cover at that moment, the sandy ground of the arena not hindering her in the slightest as she charged headlong into the now settling dust cloud the mutated Gigantosaur's entrance kicked up. Her stride lengthened as she accelerated, soon transforming into a bounding leap, the tiny telepathy vaulting toward the dinosaur. Sage landed against Gigantosaur's thigh where she telekinetically anchored herself. She took a brief moment to examine the situation before scrambling the rest of the way up onto the creatures back. Once there, the telepath sprinted up to the monster's head and in an uncustomary display of insanity grabbed a hold of one of it's tentacles.
Avenger Assembled Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 With his friend blinded by the hellish eldritch energies pouring off the hideous pseudonatural monster from beyond the depths of space and time, Custos swooped downward and made a landing on the sand out of the twisted parody of Gigantosaur's reach for the moment, putting Etain far out of harm's way. Removing Etain from his back and depositing her on the sand, he put his massive paws on her shoulders and roared, not out of fear, but in protection, and as he did so Changeling's vision returned like fog melting away and she found herself looking into the familiar face of her guardian gargoyle. "Portal's closed; energy's gone. Creature can't hurt you...except if it steps on you." Exhausted by the effort of curing Changeling's supernatural blindness, Custos butted her affectionately with his massive stone head. "Go fight with your friends. I'll be fine."
Electra Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 As loathe as Erin was to leave the vicinity of Midnight's fight to the death, she couldn't exactly leave the others to fight the giant mutant creature without her. She was already in motion by the time Sage dashed up the creature's back, distracting and distressing it to give the others a better shot. Wander wasn't one to let an opportunity like that pass her by. Leaping into the air, she landed on the monster's head and delivered a blow right where she thought its ear would be, but the thing shook it off as though she were nothing more than a fly. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her bat in both hands and jabbed it straight into the scaly beast's eye,missing the eyeball but stabbing into the sinus cavity in a way it obviously found very disturbing. As it roared and shook its massive head, she yanked back the bat and held it ready for the next attack. "It's tough!" she called to the others. "Look for weak spots or attacks that aren't going to just hit its scales!"
KnightDisciple Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 The satisfaction of having downed Hellstorm was short-lived as he nearly lost his left arm to a portal gone wild. He glanced to the ground, noticing the rather dire state of the mage, before looking up as the portals converged. "What's going on up-" And then the portal spat out a 100-foot-tall monstrous thing that should not be. The beast was huge, dwarfing them all, and from Nightmare Doom's reaction, she had no leash on it. Which normally was good, but in this case, was likely not good. He took in its enormous bulk, its undulating flesh, the twisting tentacles, and he heard its twice-over unearthly roar. "Aw, nuts." He saw Sage run up the creature's body and work to give them an opening, especially Wander. He saw Wander charge in and stab the thing in an eye (one of several) with her bat. That was about the time his body-numbing fear was washed away in the fires of determination, and his body was quickly wrapped in the same layers of hyper-dense fiery energy. He flew through the air, a giant cape-less version of himself, his skin replaced by sculpted flames, and he was quickly on the opposite side of the creature's head from Wander. He drew back a fist, aiming at a cluster of smaller eyes, a couple tentacles, and what he thought might be an ear-like structure. "Yeah, like right here. Maybe this'll give it something to think about." At the word "think", Corbin's fist, drawn back in a classic haymaker position, slammed forward in a blue blur. The blow struck with enough force to crack Impervium, and gave off a sound like a small artillery shell exploding.
Gizmo Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 Midnight watched warily as Martinet's regenerative capabilities visibly went to work mending the injuries caused by his attack. Within seconds there was no evidence that he had ever laid a hand on her but he knew he'd slowed her down if only momentarily, forcing her on the defensive for all her mocking bravado. The momentum of the fight had shifted ever so slightly to his advantage. "Tampering? Percussive maintenance." In a blur of movement the black clad detective was upon the monstrous general once again, dropping low and sweeping he legs out from under her before she even had time to register his attack. Continuing the arcing motion into an upward corkscrew, he followed up with a snap kick that caught the falling Madrigal squarely in the stomach, supersaturated muscle tissue driving into ribs with piston force. The opposite leg kicked downward, propelling Midnight forward along the same trajectory as his target where he placed all of his momentum and strength into a single punch that struck her in her startled face, arresting her horizontal fall and knocking her straight into the ground hard enough to send out ripples of displaced dirt. Landing in a loose, ready stance and breathing heavily, Midnight waited a beat, then another until it became clear that Martinet wasn't going to be getting back up. Straightening, he reached up to adjust his fedora. "Broadcast that." Turning the attention back to the rest of the chaos and the gargantuan abomination looming overhead, he rejoined the telepathic link between the young heroes. --Done. Let's finish mopping up.--
Aoiroo Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 The world went dark for a second, but then there was Custos, and she smiled and hugged the gargoyle. Her arms were rather awkward around his neck as she turned towards the monster. The disgust was still there but the problem was as well. Such a large creature, reaching out she tried a quick flick of lightning to the back but the creature did not see or respond, which made it troublesome. If it could catch her, it could squash her like a bug, not that it would ever look at its feet after the blows it had been hit with during the last rounds it was angry, it was looking to lash out, and in fact that she could use. Surveying the area she found an excellant place spot, Everyone clear out the area around the monster. He will be going down, and doing so very hard. Pulling her sword out she sprinted down and under the monster. His tail and legs easily several stories taller then herself. Even so, she took the blade and skimmed it against his heel. It did not real damage, being shallow, but it caught the beasts attention even after the pain he'd been dealt. She darted forward running as fast as she knew even a single step in the right place would overtake her, but a single step in the right place was all she needed, and as she ran she game to the edge of a particular steep dune before changing directions in time to avoid the oncoming foot, hopefully displacing the beasts weight enough to let gravity do the rest.
Avenger Assembled Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 "Not...not finished yet..." said Nightmare Doom, bloody but unbowed as she pulled herself to her feet amid the unconscious bodies of her friends and allies. "Chaos has only begun to fight." She laughed, a terrible laugh as clouds of black and red energy began swarming around her hands like angry bees, a poisonous, killing magic that was disgusting even to look at. "The unspeakable power of my old master will stop you dead, Cobalt Templar." She fired the deadly blast at the all-too-vulnerable Corbin. "DIE FOR OMEGA! AND DIE FOR THE ONE WHOSE NAME YOU MAY NOT SPEAK!"
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