Divine Theft (IC)

[Ari]

GM

Glow's powerful shield blazed like a green sun, forcing the inhuman limbs away inch by painstaking inch from her, getting a surprised grunt from Nephilim, who hadn't expected such a powerful mind in somebody so young. Casting aside a moment of doubt he narrowed his warm eyes, set his jaw and focused all his strength and the flawless bronzed body that housed it into regaining his monstrous grip!

 

"You're nowhere near strong enough to beat me" he growled "How about you surrender? You can even stay in one piece..."

---

Meanwhile, at the top of the Branson Building...

"It's really quite simple, Miss Hawthorne" the bald man said monotonously, examining the unconscious form of the mistress of Rhoseus's secretary "While my superiors have been busy causing mayhem down below, searching for a piece of paper like the rank amateurs that they are, I decided that you would be the best bet of our finding it. You have..." he glanced out the window "...until Nephilim beats up that teenaged girl to tell me where those records are." Nikki Hawthorne remained perfectly compsed as she stared down the impeccably-dressed man, watching his eyes closely and ignoring the flames that slid between his fingers."I know where it is" she replied at last, cooly cutting his smile short by adding "but it will take me a little while to find it among the rest of the clutter" she waved a hand at her filing cabinets and the reams of paper that bulged out of them.

 

The man pursed his lips, then nodded "Very well..."
 

---

 

"Ha! Good effort!" with a shout of triumph the Australian heroine's shield collapsed back around her, once again the only thing between her and the godling's power! Leaping up into the air, Nephilim cried "Here's your reward, Glow!" as he brought his foot slamming into a space right over her sternum, the tentacles squirming aside right at the last second! As the impact's pain washed through her, he landed with a crack as the pavement broke beneath him. "Hey, this is fun!" he said with a vicious grin as the air crackled with madness "How about some more?!"

 

---

The Freedom Leaguers visibly winced as the thudding noises rang out, racing past the news helicopter as the soared to the rescue!

"Get ready Freedom League. I'll take the left!" Called the leader, an athletic young man in a form-fitting white and red bodysuit with a staff clenched in one hand and balancing on the back of a flying woman who looked like a living statue.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Arichamus

[Scuffles]

Glow cursed as the tentacles wrapped tightly around her once more, and her eyes widened as Nephilim launched himself at her. Unable to do more than strengthen her her telekinetic barriers at the point of impact she braced for the kick as best she could. The air blasted from her lungs in a loud "oof!" as the kick struck home, and without the villain's tight grip she would surely have collapsed to the pavement.

 

It felt like her chest had been caved in, and for a moment it was all the Australian heroine could do to stay conscious as she gasped desperately for breath. The moment passed and her eyes refocused, then narrowed as she caught sight of movement in the sky that must surely be the backup she desperately needed.

 

Despite her injuries the looked back at Nephilim, determined to keep his attention squarely on her to give whoever was coming the best possible shot at taking him down quickly. "Is that all you got?" she wheezed at him through clenched teeth, well aware that she was practically inviting more pain. "You hit like a girl!"

[Curious Key]

It took far too long for them to get assembled in Warp's estimation, though it was barely any time at all. Warp was leaning forward, chewing on her lip and insisting on expediency until they turned the corner and saw the little god throw Glow at the pavement.

Warp made an awful, strangled sound in the back of her throat and dove forward into the weave of the world, crossing the distance in an instant. She appeared behind and above him, plummeting from the sky with one foot stretched out in a devastating kick.

It took him square in the back and Anya grimaced as pain shot up her leg; it was like hitting concrete. She landed nimbly, her mouth twisted into a grimace of effort, eyes flaring. "Stay the hell away from her!"

Edited April 21, 2013 by Freely Seek

[Ari]

GM

 

Nephilim was, for all of a second, truly surprised as Kat's foot slammed into him and her yell of fury rang through the air. Glancing back at her, Kat saw the strange, inviting gleam in his eyes flicker before he snickered at her in contempt. "Well, all right" he said in a voice dripping sarcasm as the towering small god removed one hand from the bundle of tentacles that covered Glow.

 

"She needs some space. But you don't" he went on as he abruptly stepped backwards and slammed his powerful free arm into Warp's mouth, smashing the young mutant into the pavement! The impact cracked through the air, and turning to look at her fully the white-clad man thundered, the thin voices in her head shrieking echoes "You can't hurt me! You can't even fight me, and those peop-wait.You're too rattled for that to work" he said with a weary sigh as he passed a now blood-spattered hand over his face.

 

His gloved fingers cracked open as a gray eye stared out at the telekinetic. It dropped away as Nephilim looked fondly at her "Now, where were we...ah yes! I was beating you to a pulp!"

 

---

 

"Oh, looks like that other one came back" the fiery speedster paused to observe his boss for a moment, a faint clicking sound sent his attention right back to Nikki Hawthorne, who had paused with her hand on a drawer, smiled pleasantly up at him and offered "Stuck"

 

"Get it open" the bald man snapped, leaning against the desk, ignoring everything but the woman searching through her files, unaware of what the click really had been.

Mz. Hawthorne had retrieved a stun gun.

 

---

 

Raising Glow high above him, Nephilim's gray eyes sparkled in the light reflecting from the shattered windows. "I can feel within you the grinding of bone, the slow leak of cut flesh. It is painful, isn't it?" he asked with an almost kindly look at the captive telekinetic "I know how that feels, let me ease that for you". The tentacles wound tightly around her suddenly shifted, loosening ever so little.

 

As the inhuman limbs moved against Glow's shielded form, the deadening sensation of anesthesia began settling over her, the iron grip of the little god's arms fading along with the pain throbbing from her injuries. At the same moment, light around the three of them began to shrivel into a gray twilight that was swiftly turned to inky darkness. Something that suffocated and consumed the light blazing down from the pale winter sun.

 

"Better you don't feel it, can't have you distracted from what's about to happen." the lovely man said as he glanced up at the incoming members of the FLI. A sudden look of irritation passed over his face "Marduk, you better not have forgotten how to cross dimensions again" he grumbled, crossing his arms and tapping a white-shod foot on the broken Plaza...

Edited April 17, 2013 by Arichamus

[Scuffles]

Glow shuddered in Nephilim's tight grip as her body began to go numb. 

 

Am I dying? was the curious thought that crossed her mind as the pain faded away, and for a moment it was tempting to relax, to quit the fight.

 

The moment passed and she fixed her assailant with a furious gaze as the power of her mind gathered and began to pry at the powerful limbs that held her in place. "I told you to get out of my head!" the defiant teenager snarled as she focussed, then lashed out with another enormous burst of telekinetic energy. The pure force that she put forth was too much for even the might of Nephilim to contain, and suddenly she was free. As she dropped into a crouch her eyes flicked skyward to measure the approach of the incoming leaguers. 

 

Just a few seconds more...

[Ari]

GM

 

The telekinetic explosion flashed within the cloud of darkness and ripped the girl clean out of Nephilim's many-armed embrace, sending several of his limbs whirling across the Plaza. They didn't spill so much as a drop of blood. Taken by surprise, the unnaturally beautiful man was perfectly quiet and still for several seconds. Then, from the dark very close to her, Glow heard him say "I hear your thoughts. Can't hide from me. You're more trouble than you're worth. If your friend here wasn't so skittish I'd use her instead. Be still!" he  snapped, a fist slamming out of nowhere into her gut and sending her sprawling across the pavement, a surviving tentacle pointing at the sky just barely visible above "Looks like some of my pals are back in business! Marduk, Maria, took you two long enough!"

 

As he spoke, a red light suddenly lashed through the air a few feet above Warp's head, and without further ado the familiar red-robed magician and the blue-costumed speedster topped onto the pavement, Marduk barking in pain as the blonde woman landed heavily on his leg, kicking her off him with a furious motion. Just as she was about to round on him Nephilim's voice rolled from the cloud of darkness "Stop. Make the shield, keep them" he pointed at the incoming Leagers with a swaying tentacle "from interrupting us!"

 

Looking sheepish for a moment, the pair nodded and dashed into action. With a sonorous word Marduk raised his hand, causing a sphere of golden force to softly and smoothly rush from him to encompass most of the Branson Plaza and its Building. It was covered with cuneiform writing and wavered in the air only to turn to a sheet of glassy material at a snap of the magician's fingers. "Reinforce it Rapids!" he called out, the speedster nodding an darting into action, running on the sphere like it was a road and leaving a trail of condensed water behind her, the blurring woman turning it into a secondary shield that was probably just as powerful!

 

---

 

"These are the financial records?"

 

Nicki Hawthorne nodded slowly, keeping a close eye on the man with the burning eyes as he scanned the sheaf of documents hurriedly, sighing and slumping his shoulders as he caught the telltale name at the dotted line. The leader of Roseus stiffened as a burning hand was suddenly turned in her direction. Fire seemed to steal behind the man's eyes, and flicker on his tongue.

 

"I have what I want, and you know too much. Prepare yourself"

 

Suddenly, that stun gun was so much more comforting!

[Curious Key]

The tiny's gods tentacle smote Warp, sent her sprawling across the pavement. There was a taste of iron in her mouth, and a wetness trickling down the side of her scalp. She spat blood onto the ground, thought about pushing herself back up . . . thought better of it, staying down and pretending senselessness as she felt the lackeys tear their way out of her hole. She peered up, saw Glow slapped down again and breathed in, sharp, but stayed down.

 

She waited until Marduk stepped through the portal, waited until he had turned away from her and raised his hands to conjure the barrier before she kicked off the ground, power shining through her eyes as she molded it to her will. "Bring that shield down," Warp hissed, with no intention of giving him a choice. She ripped through Marduk's barrier like rotten wood and drove a hand clad in black-red power that spread over his body like cracks in stressed glass, burrowing deep into his core.

[Ari]

GM

 

Marduk cried out in pain, arching his back and gritting his teeth at the entropy that lanced through him. The shield rippled and collapsed into golden shards, the rumble of it crashing to the Plaza followed by a furious "Hey! You leave him alone!" as the aquatic speedster raced down the wall, eyes narrowed and face set grimly as she dashed by, a cannon-blast of water cascading several feet past the young mutant. "Dammit, gotta make sure to aim at her head next time" she muttered savagely, glancing back as she raced up the side of the Branson Building and then came running back down for another try.

 

Inside the throbbing haze of red-tinged darkness, Glow heard Nephilim hiss sharply in frustration, felt the air rush past her as the towering man swung around and shouted "Cease your struggling! You're beaten Warp, admit it and run!" As he spoke the tentacles on his right arm suddenly lashed out of the darkness, and the entropic mutant felt the same sensation of bloat, of gluttony and vastness that she had felt when the man had weathered her strongest attack. They flailed just past her, only to swing back around and crash into her like swung whips thick as her legs!

 

The distant shouts of the incoming Freedom League International were now very audible, and for an instant Warp saw Marduk glance over at the rapidly-approaching heroes with real terror...

 

Taking advantage of the mutant's disarray, Rapidsfire raced past her again to fire a cannon-blast of water into the girl's stomach. The attack was like a handful of needles hitting her at once, leaving a deep and painful bruise.

 

"Alright, this should be enough" Nephilim said crisply, and with a roar slammed his foot into the ground, causing powerful limbs to suddenly rip free of the pavement and thrash about at the two heroines, one catching Glow around the legs, but even in her dizzied state Warp managed to jump, flip and swing around the arms trying to catch her.

Edited April 25, 2013 by Arichamus