ic Bulls on Parade

[angrydurf]

AEON Institute, Downtown Freedom

10:30 AM February 3rd 2016

 

Though the late January blizzard had for a time dampened the fervor of the ongoing 'Humans First' protests outside the Aeon Institute with the city emerging from it's blanket of snow they had returned with renewed spite for all the institute and it's 'Terminus Spawn' CEO.  AEON security maintained a safety corridor for those seeking AEONs services but beyond the barricades the protesters had grown ten deep chanting and waving their signs proclaiming humanities preeminence over the earth and unkind variations on 'Go Home Freaks!' and worse.  Pictures of the mangled bodies from the last Terminus Invasion as well as some few victims of recent super violence often attributed to those afflicted with Terminus Energy Mutation Syndrome were shaken in the faces of executive and frightened petitioner alike while slurs and occasional threats were lobbed at those making their way to the main entrance of the Institute.  Thus far violence had been avoided thanks in large part to the restraint of the well trained security team deployed along the barricade and the help of the FCPD who were quick to remove any protesters who crossed the line from peaceful protest.  None the less the air was electric with the tension and for those with insight into such things it was clear the situation was unsustainable without something snapping soon.

 

The young group from Claremont made their way to the cordon where a security agent and a well bundled receptionist took down their names before beginning to escort them down the gauntlet of hateful people and their signs.  The youth of these particular petitioners it seemed inflamed the protesting crowd yet further with the screams of "Freak!", "Devil Spawn!", and worse rising over the general din as the protesters pressed angrily against the barrier despite the nearby securities warnings to back away.

[Gizmo]

"Well. Which of us do you suppose is the 'freak' and which the 'devil spawn'?" Winifred asked Raina lightly under her breath as she followed behind the receptionist, back straight and shoulders squared as she looked straight ahead. With her immaculate posture the teenager seemed to occupy a little more space than her petite frame justified but she was still small against the size of the jeering crowd. She didn't include Smith in the exchange - remarkably he'd had less exposure to toxic hate of that sort and was far less likely to turn the other cheek - and the taller girl noticed Winifred's chest rising and falling in the careful rhythm that meant she was very consciously forcing herself to remain calm. This was the last place she needed to have an 'episode'.

 

Her condition was what brought them there to begin with. AEON specialized in biological mutations, as it had been explained to her, and had ties to Claremont. Rather than send the displaced Victorian out into the city by herself Raina had agreed to accompany her for the consolation and after a video of the hollering mob had been brought up on someone's portable computer within Smith's earshot he'd insisted on coming along as well. She wasn't at all sorry to have either of them along; it felt as though the corridor of relative calm would be swept away in a riot at any moment and she hated to think what the Alkahest could do to the masses, vile as they were.

[Avenger Assembled]

The baying crowd, with the anger and lust for violence in their eyes, made Riley tense with remembered stress and pain - but he was under instruction to be on his best behavior here. So instead he did his best to impose his 5'6" frame between Raina, Fred, and the crowd, pacing like a caged tiger as he glared at the crowd from under his hood. He paused a moment, like a dog scenting prey, and then said clearly, "Hey Fred, gonna yella...hey!" he did yell, pointing to a group moving with some purpose through the mob, like wolves moving through so many wild dogs. "Hey, I see you over there! Whaddya think yer doin?" As usual, his voice went up when he shouted, though even that contralto had been deepening in the last several months of hormone therapy. Warning off smaller predators by showing them just how big he was had been an early lesson in the woods of Freedom City. It worked most of the time - except with Ferals, of course. But then, the monsters that looked like people were always the worst kind. "You gonna start something with all these cops here?!" 

[alderwitch]

Alex was monitoring the situation from her office when her attention was caught by the small group moving against the crowd. With a small frown, the slim redhead stood from her desk, her thoughts already finding the familiar mind of the head of the security. Employees that weren't comfortable with a psychic employer generally didn't last too long. There's a group moving in the crowd that I don't much care for the look of. I'm coming down to the lobby.

 

She used the elevator in the back of her office that was for such emergencies as she rode down swiftly. If something did happen, it would be easier to address any emergencies directly. Alex wasn't yet concerned enough to prod Mike, or her other teammates on the Liberty League. Her heels clicked on the polished floor as she stepped out of the elevator and into the well lit lobby. 

[Electra]

"Go on inside, they're just a bunch of assholes," Raina told Fred encouragingly, giving the other girl a nudge towards the front door that was getting closer all the time. Her own heart was pounding in her chest, but she'd be damned if she was going to give in to the intimidation of a crowd of thugs. "You hear that, morons?" she added, raising her voice to a shout. "I was born in 1999 in Angel Mounds, Indiana! I'm no T-Baby, and you're all ignorant hicks!" She flicked her lighter, and suddenly tongues of flame danced at the tips of her fingers, none more than six inches long, but highly visible nonetheless. The flames whirled together into a ball the size of her head, cradled just above her hand as she glared at the crowd and kept walking. 

[angrydurf]

The cluster Riley had called out seemed unconcerned with either his scrutiny nor that of the security and police along the line they continued to shadow the teens though their angle of advance would intercept the claremont students well clear of hte approaching lobby doors.  Thier demeanor did little to assuage concerns and already police and security were aiming to intercept and hopefully diffuse the situation before things grew out of hand.  The crowds shouting seemed only to intensify as the students moved through the narrow cordon slurs and ambiguous threats as well as blame for any number of the world's ills were laid at the feet of the 'inhuman spawn of omega' the administrative assistant escorting them tried to calm the teens with guarantees that the protesters were vile but not violent.

 

Rainas display fanned the flames as it were as the ostentatious display of superhuman power embolden and outraged the protesters who surged against the barricades their rhetoric growing more dire as they responded to hte implicit threat some physically shoving against the rails and officers manning the cordon.  The police rounded on the protesters demanding they stand down the already tense situation rapidly spiralling out of the authorities control the crowd on the edge of rioting.  Whirling the students escort's eyes were wide at Rainas action, "Ma'am please do not taunt or threaten the protestors it serves only to inflame the situation."  she scolded though her voice was steady there was real fear in her eyes, of raina or the crowd was less clear.

 

The temporary barricades that had been erected began to buckle under the angry crush of humanity the police distracted from the band of too purposeful protesters by the crowd's response.  Even Riley had lost sight of them briefly as the mob shifted around them though he could make them out when they emerged from the crowd beginning to pull something from inside their heavy coats as they pressed against the barricades threateningly.

[alderwitch]

It was at Raina's taunt that the petite CEO started to head for the doors, taking two steps before her third sent her floating into the air. Despite the erupting chaos, Alex projected an aura of calm determination, "I shall present a more appealing target. Primary priority is keeping the Claremont students safe, then diffusing the situation." She instructed as she flew for the doors and the chaos of the street outside. 

[Gizmo]

Stone-faced, Winifred told their guide, "Should you believe that line of reasoning might dampen her enthusiasm we have perhaps misrepresented Raina's fondness for both fire and aggravating those she dislikes." The young alchemist even managed to get through the whole sentence without cracking a smile. Certainly there seemed little benefit in antagonizing the mob but it was still nice to hear the witch say the sort of thing she would have liked to herself if not for the dire consequences of letting herself get worked up. She wasn't yet clear how 'T-Babies' were differentiated from the many varied individuals with extra-human abilities to whom she'd been introduced since awaking in the future but slurs and prejudice she was able to parse well enough. 

 

"What did you see, Smith?" she asked Riley just loudly enough to be heard over the noise of the protestors. He was just as likely as Raina to make the situation worse before it got better, she suspected, but she had nothing but respect for the marksman's keen perception. If there was a hidden danger lurking among the obvious threat of the mob she trusted him to spot it. As a figure appeared inside the building levitating toward them she smoothed the folds of her stately white coat. "I believe that would be our hostess, yes? Could I convince you two to allow me to handle the first impressions?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Pinned down on the plaza floor without cover, Riley felt naked, exposed, trapped by the baying crowd and its bloodlust, acutely aware of the predators closing in on them from the other side of the barricade. Can't be this many people on the street every day, how'd anybody ever get into this damn building? Of course, in regular Freedom City, seeing a crowd didn't mean you needed to come with heavy artillery and bladed weapons to get through. 

 

"Cantcha see 'em?" he demanded, even as he reached behind him and unfastened his crossbow, pulling it out and ready into his arms. "Hey! You stupid asses!" he declared, his eyes fixed on the would-be gunmen, his weapon obviously readied. "You pull those things out, I'm gonna shoot you! What the hell is the matter with you - whaddya think is gonna happen here today?" 

[angrydurf]

The apparent leader of the small cluster of protesters seemed unswayed by Rileys threats, "Our lives are small price to rid the world of you monsters!"  he shouted and met Rileys eyes with the crazed fervor Riley had seen only on the eyes of some of the few survivors of the forests arrival that had lost everything when the Ferals first came, the look of a survivor staring down a pack running at the fences.  The mans cold blue eyes were empty of any fear in the moment only hatred remained as he pulled the heavy silver revolver from a shoulder holster and slowly brought it to bear on Riley.  Next to him the others hesitated a moment longer but they too drew firearms and prepared to open fire on the students and their escort.  The police and Security forces reached for weapons as the guns came out but they were going to be too slow, "Gun!" went up the shout among the protectors as the panicked and angry crowd bowed and toppled the barricades in a surge of fear or rage, they'd be all around the Claremont students in seconds.

Edited January 29, 2016 by angrydurf

[Avenger Assembled]

Woodsman fired from the hip, a wooden shaft flying out and impaling the lead gunman through the hand. Choking in pain, the shooter fell backwards amid the hail of bullets, the fentatyl laced inside the hollow shaft pumping into his system, sending him collapsing to the pavement. For his part, Woodsman ducked and rolled as the shots rang out, and as the assistant fell to the ground, he found himself wishing he'd shot the gunman through the head, 

[angrydurf]

As Woodsmans bolt found it's mark the rest of the fanatics let out a howl, "For Humanity!" and opened fire wildly into the clustered students.  These were no trained soldiers or even enthusiasts and the shots sprayed wildly pelting the pavement and barricades behind the students.  The noise was deafening and the smell of burnt sulfur hung acrid in the air as the light smoke from the automatic pistols drifted in the air.  None of the students were hit despite the intense fusilade, next to Raina and Fred their escort let out a fearful yelp and cowered down near the ground though it did her little good as bullets tore into the slight woman sending her pitching to the ground as a spray of arterial blood arced up to slash Freds coat with a bright line of deep red.  She lay in a pool of crimson at their feet glassy eyed and hyperventilating as she slid into shock.

 

The police drew their sidearms and Security their batons as they tried to press through the now rioting crowd toward the gunmen but to no avail the crowd pressed back and as calls went out for backup over the radio it looked as if the conscious gunmen may yet flee into the crowd and escape.  The barricades strained and toppled and the crowd surged forth  a security officer dived to cover the wounded receptionist before she was trampled while others drew in close calling out what words of encouragement they could to what they assumed must be frightened teens as they tried to draw up a protective huddle with their own bodies between the students and the crowd of angry and frightened protesters.

 

 

[Electra]

Raina was more than ready to argue that if people were allowed to scream death threats at her, she ought to be allowed to scream death threats back, when suddenly everything went to hell all at once. She didn't even understand at first what the noises were, those loud and echoey pop-pop-pops, but when the woman who'd been chastising her a moment ago fell down, bleeding, reality fell down on her like a ton of bricks. Raina screamed, her little fireball evaporating as she watched the chaos unfolding around them. Fred was still near her, but from the look on her face, she probably wouldn't be Fred for very much longer. And Raina did not want to be in arm's reach when that happened. 

 

Unstrapping her broom from its velcro sheath on her back, Raina pushed her way through the security guards and scooped up the wounded woman, her own considerable height the only thing that made lifting the assistant at all feasible. She'd have called to Riley to run for the building, to run away from Fred, but it was too noisy for anybody to hear a damn thing. Instead she hummed a desperate few bars of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and shot into the air on her broom, cradling the woman in her arms. They arced over the heads of the rioters, shooting down the street faster than most cars would've tried taking a Freedom City road. One of the security guards opened the door in the nick of time to let them into the lobby. 

 

"This woman needs a doctor!" Raina yelled before she'd even landed. "And an ambulance, or something! Somebody help her!" 

[alderwitch]

Trusting that her staff would see to the woman - and let her know if they could not - Alex floated over to the knot of students as she spread her hands outward. There was very little to tell that the powerful psychic was exerting herself, save for the disturbance where protestors, or their weapons, hit the shield instead of reaching the students. In her business suit, Alex didn't cut quite the same figure as she did when in uniform but her voice was steady and carried clear and high over the disturbance.

 

"Go home," Alex said, her tone neither frightened nor angry. No, the only emotion in her calm tones was a quiet sort of sadness, "This isn't going to give you any peace - just more burdens to carry. Go home. No one wants this, really, not even you. These are children. There is nothing worth killing children."

[Gizmo]

Blood from the gunshot wound splattered across a shocked Winifred, faint pink mist spreading out in a fine pattern against her coat. For a moment she thought the droplets on her cheek were scalding like a chemical burn before she realized that the searing pain was coming from within her own veins, pumped through her trembling frame by a heart beating too quickly and too powerfully for a human body.

 

The first spasm wracked through her leg and brought her down to one knee, fingernails from one hand scraping into the sidewalk while the other desperately tore the scarf from her throat as she gasped for air. Dimly she tried to remember the exercises she'd been learning at Claremont, tried to recite the modern table of elements her instructors had been quite pleased to show her but her thoughts were inarticulate roars of primal rage. "G-guh-get AWAY!" she forced out with her last scrap of coherency over the sound of tearing fabric. Even the morphic molecules of her coat struggled to keep up with the violence of the changes and twisted ropes of sickly grey muscle erupted from her limbs and reformed her body into something monstrous.

 

The thing that stood back up was barely recognizable as having been human, a lumbering mass of misshapen meat that towered over the crowded mob. The Alkahest slouched within its torn coat for a moment, milky white eyes flicking forward with instinctive focus to the closest gunman. Then without warning the beast surged forward with a savage, unnatural howl or fury.  "RAAAUUUGH!" 

 

Terrified protestors scrambled to get out of the rampaging monster's way but it paid them no attention at all, neither to grab at them nor avoid breaking bones as it passed. Instead it focused single-mindedly on its target, reaching the shooter in the span of a breath. A hand the size of a manhole cover backhanded the gunman with a thunderous crack, sending him flying through the air like a rag doll. The Alkahest didn't bother to watch to see what he eventually collided with, instead turning immediately to the next attacker with undiminished intensity.

[Avenger Assembled]

Riley watched his friend charge into the terrorists, her mighty fists knocking them aside like bowling pins. 

 

Woodsman saw a monster charging at powerless humans, heard their screams of terror as bullets ricocheted off its blasphemously invulnerable flesh! 

 

Riley had secured a detailed tactical analysis of the Alkahest from Robin once he understood exactly what Fred turned into - he knew as much as he could have learned about its strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities, and more importantly, about the targets it attacked and it didn't. 

 

Woodsman knew what to do - multiple shots into those big eyes from a distance, weakening the creature, then a blow to its exhausted head to make sure no one could be threatened again. 

 

When the Alkahest went for the terrorist, a part of Riley fully expected to watch her bite off the man's head and chew down on the meat. When that didn't happen, Riley's brief hesitation came to an end. Running forward, his hatchet snapped into his free hand. "Lie down! Lie down!" he yelled at one of the shooters, who was far too gone with terror to listen - not that RIley would have under similar circumstances. He smashed the man in the side of the head with his hatchet, then stepped forward and shoved the other man to the ground, sending him sprawling to join his friend. "It's doin' dominance! Won't hit you if yer too weak!" That wasn't exactly right, he knew, but it was the closest parallel he could think of. The Alkahest wasn't like a Feral - it was more like one of the great alpha grizzlies that lived in the West End. 

 

Of course, bears ate people too, when they were hungry.

 

"Dammit, whaddya think shootin' it's gonna do!" he yelled at the man with the AR-15 who was desperately reloading, and not even trying to flee, like a dumbass. "Just lie-ahhh!" Riley brought his bow up and fired it from the hip, hitting the last man center-mass with a concussive charge that sent him flying away too. 

 

Leaving Woodsman alone with the Alkahest. 

[angrydurf]

The untrained terrorists were no match for the brutish strength of the Alkahest the backhand sent the man flying to crumple against a wall hundreds of yards away cracking the brick and masonry with his impact and collapsing to the ground in a shattered heap.  The others raised weapons they were barely familiar with to open fire wildly on the creature to no avail.  Woodsman's charge took another off his feet and a third was easily thrown to the ground where both writhed barely conscious as they tried ineffectually to move away from the terrifying apparitions their assault had awakened.    

 

Inside the AEON Lobby EMTs and security helped the injured woman to the floor and began desperate first aid though it seemed rather touch and go.  The woman needed a hospital but with the crowds outside and the danger on the streets it was uncertain how soon she'd be able to get to one.  One of the in house doctors suggested moving her to one of the AEON facilities deeper in the building and lively debate between her and the EMTS commenced.

 

Directly behind where the shooters had opened fire in the first place the air was sliced by a shimmering line unfolding like a door to somewhere else, beyond the portal glimpses of a darkened room, spartan, military perhaps but in poor repair could be seen.  There was movement in the portal as well though hard to make out details.  Then a form tall and broad of shoulder emerged from the portal, the olive drab tank top revealed glinting metal arms that hummed as he moved, his step resounding with a weight beyond what seemed possible for his side the paving stones cracking where he stepped.  In his eye Riley could catch a glint of laser light as the half machine half man surveyed the panicked crowd from beneath a glinting silver helm traced with a fine filigree, perhaps some sort of circuitry.  Strapped to his back were a pair of enormous pistols of some sort, like the energy weapons from some science fiction movie.  

 

He made no move towards the weapons however as he smirked at the addled shooter on the ground before him blearily trying to shake off the effects of Woodsmans fentanyl laced arrow.  His voice cut above the crowd, amplified perhaps by his obvious cybernetic enhancements and flowing across a broad swath of the radio frequencies at the same time, "These insects!"  he spat vitriolically, "Think to make war on their betters."  His imperious gaze swept over the crowd, "They fear us, they fear our power and they fear what we represent."  he boomed regally, "They fear their own growing obsolescence, they see in us the future and their small minds can see they have no place within it!"  he bellowed arms raised, "And they are right to fear."  he said slightly more softly, "I have seen the coming war and We shall stop it before it can begin."  He stared out at the police ans security officers and protesters in kind, "This is your final warning,"  He cried in outrage, "Kneel or face your demise."  At his final word he brought one foot down hard on the neck of the unconscious man before him snuffing the life from him in one brutal movement.

 

He waved to the portal beckoning forth his cohorts it seemed and looked out over the crowd toward Psyche where she hovered and spoke his tone friendly despite his recent brutality, "They'll never accept you you know, they know only fear and death, Give up this fool task, join the winning side."

Edited January 31, 2016 by angrydurf

[Electra]

With the paramedics on the way, Raina headed back towards the door, her flight wobbling for just a moment when she realized how bloody her sweater and slacks now were. How much blood did one person have in them? Her hands, wrapped around the handle of the broom, were all but saturated with the stuff, and the sharp copper smell mixed with screams and sirens to give the whole scene an air of nightmare unreality. Maybe if it had seemed more real, she wouldn't have been so quick to go back outside where it was dangerous, but it seemed like something she ought to do. She flew out the door, and wound up just a few yards from where Providence was making his speech. The sharp, sickening crack as his foot came down threw the world back into focus. 

 

Raina screamed again, terror mixing with pure outrage. How could that even have happened? That was _not_ supposed to happen! Fire leapt suddenly to her bloody fingertips, which probably meant something nearby was already burning, but she didn't care. The flames were tipped red, as though they, too, were stained with the innocent blood already shed. It only made them hotter. "You want fear and death?" she shouted defiantly. "Eat this!" Fire roared from her fingertips and shot through the air, covering him in brilliant red burning light. 

[angrydurf]

Providence raised one metallic arm shielding himself as the young witches gout of flame washed over him.  As the flare died away he stood still, blackened scorch marks marring his cybernetic limb and clothes, "You vent your rage at the wrong enemy young one, Next time I may be less forgiving."  he warned voice booming over the panicked crowd.   He glanced with a smile to the portal as a dark form bound through the rent in space.  The creature that joined him was a twisted almost demonic mockery of humanity read leathery flesh with glinting black scales and plates of twisted bone covering the misshapen body all of wrong proportion, loping on elongated ape like arms ending in oversize hands tipped with vicious claws the creature stood back on stunted legs ending in cloven hooves as its inhuman tooth filled maw let out a keening cry, reptilian nostrils flaring as it hissed viciously at the terrified crowd and shook a malformed head capped by large curving rams horns in black and red.  The nightmare creatures chilling display sent the crowd already on the edge of panic into chaos.  Protesters and police alike trampled and fought as they ran in terror in all directions, the mass of civilians providing easy cover for the murderous cyborg and his monstrous cohort. 

[alderwitch]

Psyche wasn't known for her speeches - she was generally, after all, on a team with Edge whose rallying battle cries was, quiet literally, a finely honed weapon. The sorrow for the protester's emotions faded from her expressive features, leaving something far cooler than rage and more implacable than fury. It was easy to assume that the generally sunny psychic was above the more negative emotions but the fact of the matter was Alex felt emotions, they were just very, very well controlled. The needless death drew her attention in the midst of the chaos and she focused.

 

A small line creased her brow as she focused her formidable will into a razor sharp lance... only to have it bent out of the way, not unlike a diverted stream. It wasn't psychic resistance - Alex had encountered other formidable minds before. This was different. New. 

 

"You have no idea what I want - who I am." Alex said from where she floated above the chaos. She spread her hands wide at her sides and along the street, cars began to rise into the air. As a large cement truck turned over to cast its shadow over the crowd scattering, Alex added in a low voice, "-What I am. If you think that I'm going to let you hurt another person, you have vastly miss-planned your battle today."

[Gizmo]

The Alkahest's head swivelled away from Woodsman as the cyborg made his presence know, the cords in the misshapen monster's neck standing out like steel cables at the sound of bone snapping under an armoured boot. The beast paused for a moment in animalistic consideration as the similarly twisted, horned enemy stepped through the portal before refocusing on Providence, ignoring the devil with singleminded focus.

 

Eyes wide and teeth gritted silently it crossed the distance in short order and brought each barrel sized fist down toward the aggrandizing malcontent in an artless overhead blow. Providence avoided the attack with little difficulty, letting it strike the pavement instead with a reverberating crash, chunks of the street cracking and tilting up at jagged angles.

[angrydurf]

The strange helm atop Providences head was lit for a moment as the inscribed circuitry flashed with a deep purple light in response to Psyches attempted mental attack.  The terminus mutant supremacist smug grin was almost palpable as the potent psychic energy flowed around him like he wasn't even there.  Beckoning from the portal he called still more of his followers to the field though his eyes widened as the vehicles lining the street lifted into the air, "That's not possible."  he said with a  shake of his head barely audible above the din of the panicked crowd.  Sidestepping the Alkahests wild attack letting the beast pulverize the pavement where he had stood he called out, "FURY, take care of this, Thing."  he demanded not to be swayed from his plan by rampaging monsters not under his command.

 

A  compact and athletic young woman of chinese descent burst forth from the portal with a mad grin and eyes burning like twin entropic fires, "About time!"  she cheered as she charged at Alkahest with startling speed knocking aside frightened bystanders like bowling pins.  Posting from the curb at the last moment her final leap shattered the pavement as she launched herself into Alkahests side colliding with the huge creature with the force of a freight train in a flying tackle flares of entropic power radiating from her as she attempted to wrestle the alchemical horror away from her patron.

[Avenger Assembled]

Woodsman shot Jersey Devil in the ass, a from-the-hip shot that whizzed out and struck the monster right in his muscular buttocks, the barbed arrow digging deep into entropically-enhanced muscle. He was running on pure instinct and adrenaline, the necksnap of the dead man at Providence's feet ringing in his ears. All-too-human people, pitted against monsters out for their blood. A Woodsman had only one job when that was happening. To get the monsters chasing them instead. 

 

He put his hand to his mouth and yelled, "Hey, you gonna hide behind humans the whole fight, freak? Come on and f*ck me up if you think you can!" He turned and ran like hell, vanishing not towards the crowd (which he was sure that the Jersey Devil would try and eat his way through), but into a tangle of overturned concrete barricades, dropping and rolling, putting layers of artificial stone between himself and the monsters. 

 

 

[angrydurf]

The bolt from the Woodsmans crossbow flew true lodging in one scaled buttock of the monstrous terminus mutant earning a furious howl from the creature as it whirled looking for the offending human as the wily teen vanished into the tumble of barricades and let out vile string of curses as it looked to Providence for direction.  This one as monstrous as it seemed was perhaps more obedient than the ferals Woodsman normally fought. 

 

At the questioning look Providence nodded, "Take care of the whelp."  the cyborg commanded and raised an arm Sparkers direction, "You have been warned girl."  he growled voice full of malice, "I'll not forgive a second offense."  the words were heavy with implied violence and his eyes swam with the madness of the truly fanatical.  

 

Slowly lowering his arm he let his voice carry once more as he prolestisyzed to the news cameras still rolling on the unfolding carnage.  "These human dogs would see us driven from our homes, stamped, imprisoned, shackled like animals"  he boomed vigorously.  "They fear us but worse they think their pathetic throwback nature makes them our superiors."  he roared with a shake of his head, "I have seen the road they would walk us down, the road these appeasing coward would have us walk."  he spat angrily, "I have seen the tortures they would heap upon us and I shall not let it come to pass!"  he bellowed, "All of us have to stand together and put a stop to this madness before it takes hold, we must stand united to rule where our superior ability rightfully puts us."  He raised his arms in a victorious stance, "We are the giants among them and those that serve will be rewarded."  he dropped his arms dramatically as he looked down, "And those who would see us chained will pay for their insolence."

[Electra]

There were a thousand possible responses on the tip of Raina's tongue. Good ones too, witty and sarcastic, just the sort of defiance she wanted to project in front of a bad guy. But then he looked at her, and there was something in his eyes. Empty cold, like what sat behind his skin was not flesh and blood, but some kind of malevolent void. There was more death in him than the death he'd just caused, and it was aiming her way. Raina pulled the mirror from her pocket and scrubbed her bloody fingers over its surface. "As I was walking up the stair, I met a man who wasn't there," she chanted under her breath. "He wasn't there again today, oh how I wish he'd go away!" On the last word, she disappeared from sight. 

 

Invisibility was a start, anyway. Feeling slightly embolded, Raina squeezed off another shot, though her aim was not quite as lucky this time and didn't catch Providence at all. It seemed like a good idea to find better cover. Taking off once again on her broom, she zoomed up and into the cover of a large tree.