ic Bulls on Parade

[angrydurf]

With a clatter of hooves on concrete the Jersey Devil bounded after Woodsman with a furious bellow of outrage at the insolent attack.  The misshapen mutant leapt from barricade to barricade peering menacingly into the shadows as he sought out his quarry.  Long wicked claws scraped ominously along the concrete leaving small furrows in their wake as the demonic visage cast back and forth in the Devils search.  As the monster grew closer a creeping dread picked at the young archers mind, a nameless faceless dread of something standing just out of sight behind you, or the eerie quiet of the deep woods, an otherworldly terror scraping lightly at the teens honed will.  Searching low and high he crept among the barricades a low constant murmured prayer spoken barely audible as he passed Riley's hiding place looking nearly right at the young Woodsman before stalking away with a wrathful curse.

 

 

[alderwitch]

Alex's hazel eyes flicked around the scene, rapidly playing the odds. There was nothing more that she wanted at the moment to round up these terrorists and enlighten them to how very wrong they were but there were wounded and dying in front of her skyscraper and Claremont teenagers who deserved her protection. The greater good. She flicked her wrist, the gesture absent and the concrete mixer moved - not hurtling towards the ringleader but smoothly flying from the ground to wedge itself into the still open portal. 

 

"You have perhaps a minute - very likely less - before Phalanx arrives. Only slightly more before one of the very many super teams that call Freedom City home follow suite and the cement mixer there is approximately fifty thousand pounds." Alex said as she dropped closer to the ground, one knee slightly bent where she hovered. "I presume you've kept the portal open as your primary escape route in the probable event that allies arrive. I also imagine you have a second escape route planned. My security team informs me that they've shut down the hack to my databases that I imagine was your actual primary goal. If you'd like to spend the next... forty-five seconds monologuing, by all means." She tipped her head to the side then, examining the erstwhile leader with an almost too-thoughtful expression on her features, "I somehow doubt that you're actually all that eager to face other trained adults with powers just yet."

 

Alex's chin tipped down then and her gaze shifted to the Alkahest very briefly as the mentalist planned ahead. Her gaze flicked back to Providence, almost unnaturally calm, "You really should run."

[Gizmo]

The Alkahest roared in anger as Fury's running tackle sent it toppling backward, any traces of surprise or trepidation washed away by the tide of undiluted rage. The twisted hulk of muscle balled up a fist with audible pops of impossible tendons and tried to swing at the smaller woman only to have its whole arm pushed back into the street by strength far in excess even of its own. The Alkahest didn't waste time reflecting that Fury was outpouring some form of exotic energy rather than exerting physical muscle, didn't consider how it might adjust strategy to overcome an opponent who could best it in its own arena. The Alkahest simply trashed with its other arm, then kicked against the pavement with both legs, undeterred by the crushing power of the Terminus powered fighter. Finally with a roar that sent bileous spittle flying everywhere the monster tensed its tree trunk-like neck and smashed its head forward into the face of its opponent.  "RRRAUUUUGH!" 

 

As Fury was sent stumbling off of her target's chest the Alkahest clamoured to its feet, shoulders heaving up and down beneath its coat, the white smudged and strained by rolling about in the wreckage. It was only a momentary advantage and the creature had clearly spent much of its energy managing the feat but it was equally clear that regardless of the odds there was nothing that would convince it to stop advancing against the current target of its wrath while it was still able to stand.

[angrydurf]

Fury recoiled in shock as the bestial thing struggled free from her grasp and struck her hard enough to set her ears ringing.  Taking a step back she shook her head and growled low in her throat the entropic flames glinting in her eyes flaring as her burning rage bubbled ever closer to the surface.  There were few in this world who could best her in a contest of strength and she was genuinely surprised to have encountered one here of all places.  With a determined grimace she stalked back several steps to the portal and grasped the frame of the truck Psyche had blocked their escape with.  Metal screeched under the strain and the terminus energized powerhouse flexed her athletic form as bands of red orange energy radiated from her frame.  With a final groan of protest the truck lifted free from the ground as the woman lifted the heavy construction vehicle over her head with a triumphant laugh and turned heavy footed to face Alkahest once more her intent now clear.

[Avenger Assembled]

Woodsman snapped up out of the shelter of the concrete barricades and fired - this time an explosive flat-tipped arrow that detonated against Jersey Devil's back with a hard bang, staggering the abomination without actually knocking him down. His hand to his lips, Riley thought of separation, of taunting, of keeping the creatures from cooperating against his friends. He couldn't see Sparkler anymore and it looked liked the Alkahest thing was getting the worst of the fight with Fury - which meant the latter must be some kind of damned unstoppable brute. Gotta keep 'em busy. "Hey, you inbred-lookin' piece of red trash, come getta taste!" He moved with those words, jumping back behind an abandoned police car parked at the edge of the barricade barrier he'd been using as cover. He was acutely aware he was running out of options. Really hope what's her name up there starts hitting bad guys soon!

[angrydurf]

The scaled fiend staggered back several steps as the arrow detonated against his armored hide boney plates cracking under the power of the blast.  The telling blow left the creature's head swimming and he swayed on his feet as he tried to shake off the concussive blasts effects.

 

Providence smiled as Fury hefted the truck and swung his gaze back to Psyche, "I came here as courtesy."  he bellowed, "A kindness for a fellow higher being."  he spat angrily as he gestured at the crowd of injured and unconscious protesters and the backs of the fleeing terrified mob.  "They came for you and yours today and we come to your aid."  he spoke in dire fervor, "These insects thinking to sting at the hands of gods!"  he boomed angrily and growled low a final threat, "And you repay us with this."  he pointed at the attacks upon him and his cohorts, "If you wish an enemy you shall have it."

 

His speech complete he turned away in disgust and shouted over the din of battle to Jersey Devil, "Come Anthony leave the fools to their fate."  the sharp commanding tone snapping the demonic Jersey Devil back to the here and now.  He paused next to Fury for a moment as he headed for the portal, "Leave them something to remember us by yes?"  he drawled with a laugh and moments later vanished through the swirling rift in space.

[Electra]

"Well, that sounds great," Sparkler muttered, still invisible behind her tree. She was relieved to see the back of Providence, but he was hardly the last of their troubles. The entire scene was still pretty much a disaster, and she suspected that she didn't want to see whatever parting gifts Fury had planned. With a quick hum under her breath, she formed up another fireball between her hands and winged it through the air towards the petite woman with the big truck. "What I really need to do for gym class is take up softball," she mused under her breath. "Way more useful than powers training." 

[angrydurf]

The blast took Fury full in the chest charing her clothes and blistering skin beneath.  She let out a howl of pain but was unflagging in her intent to cause as much mayhem as possible.  The demonic visaged Jersey Devil shook off the last effects of Riley's concussive bolt and peered into the shadows where the young woodsman hid seeking the frustrating archer for a long moment, "You can't kind forever boy," he growled, "We'll find you."  he promised viciously and spun on one cloven hoof leaping and scrambling with alarming speed away from the concealing barricades and through the portal in a clatter of hoof and scale.

[angrydurf]

Glancing back at the last of her cohorts fleeing through the portal Fury let out a maniacal laugh and swung from the hips, the cement mixer in her grasp groaning with the strain as she set it in motion once more.  "Should have listened to Providence, Now I get to have some fun!"  she bellowed at Psyche mistaking the metalist's concentration and focus for fear or inaction.  With a screech of rending metal she swung the immense piece of construction equipment in a deadly arc releasing it to sail and tumble through the air towards the Alkahest and the crowd still fleeing behind the creature.  The clumsy throw was easily evaded by the transmogrified teen, though it was as likely as not that was half the villains intention as it continued to tumble and bounce along the pavement toward the crowds clustered at the lobby entrance.

[alderwitch]

Psyche continued to float, a patient sentinel above the carnage - apparently waiting. It became crystal clear exactly what she was waiting for as in order to flee through the portal, the cluster of Terminus Terrorists had to head to the same location; away from the wounded and helpless. As the cement mixer went hurtling through the air, Psyche lifted up one hand- palm outward. With nothing more than that simple gesture, the cement truck rebounded in mid air, snapping back towards the portal and Fury standing in front of it.

 

It hit the Terminus empowered strong house with the resounding ker-runch of steel bending around an unnaturally tough body. "Foolish man," Psyche said, the words unusually cool from the generally cheerful redhead. "We were enemies the moment you hurt someone helpless and afraid on my doorstep."

[Gizmo]

The sound of warping, breaking steel only briefly drowned out the roar of inarticulate rage from the Alkahest as it sloughed off its exhaustion to charge across the blighted street, directly into the mass of wreckage and toward Fury. A piece of mixing drum was send flying to the left with one thoughtless swat, a mass of burning rubber skidded to the right until the alchemical behemoth spotted its target.  "RRAAUUUUUGH!"  The Alkahest brought both fist to bear against the disoriented Terminus mutant, pounding away relentlessly. At first Fury stood rigid like a cement beam in the face of the onslaught but she stumbled backward a half step and as she lost her balance a massive fist crashed into her again. Uprooted, the terrorist was flung backward, through the portal behind her.

[angrydurf]

As scrap metal and broken concrete skidded and rolled aside under the Alkahests single minded pursuit of the inhumanly potent Terminus Mutant the scattered crowd and injured or unconscious bystanders, security officers and police all came together in startling if small displays of humanity.  Groups moments earlier bitterly divided enough to open fire on one another came now to each others aid in their collective flight from the enraged powerhouses terrifying and destructive battle in their midst.  A protester pulling an injured Aeon worker from the path of the tumbling mixing drum, a battered police officer pulling the protester recently attacking him to her feet and together limping away from the epicenter of this madness.  

 

Fury's indomitable defenses slowly gave way before the Alkahests onslaught the portal winking closed the moment the T-Baby supremacist flew through it's rippling threshold leaving the battered, tired, but unbowed Alkahest with no clear target.  Police and protesters and security alike gathered injured and unconscious bystanders as they scrabbled to some sort of safety before the terrifying apparition turned upon them once more now that it was denied the object of its ire.  The first officers of the FCPD backup arrived on scene sirens blaring and lights flashing casting the alchemicals monstrosities twisted shadow on the walls of hte surrounding building in a dance of shifting light as officers drew weapons they knew would be ineffectual at best and put themselves between the rampaging metahuman and the injured and fleeing crowd.

[Avenger Assembled]

There was no time to exult the retreat of their enemies - not when there was still a very real monster on the field. 

 

C'mon, Fred, c'mon. 

 

From his sniper's position, Woodsman snapped open his crossbow and slapped a bladed bolt into place, an impervium-tipped projectile that could penetrate three inches of oak, and wound up his crossbow. He took careful aim at the Alkahest's left eye, bow balanced on the concrete barricade in front of him, crouched and ready in a firing position. He didn't really think he could hurt the Alkahest, not like this - but he could sure as hell get its attention if he had to. 

 

Or maybe she's tore up more than she looks - and putting a bolt through her eye's gonna kill her. 

He held his position, and his firing angle, watching the monster like the mouse watches the eagle. 

 

C'mon...

[Electra]

Raina watched from safe behind her tree as the bad guys were dispatched into the portal they'd come through. She made a mental note never to mess with the little bitty CEO of AEON, then wondered briefly if Psyche could read that mental note as it was written. Something to wonder about later. She started to breathe a sigh of relief, till she realized that there was still one extremely dangerous combatant left on the battlefield. The fight was over, but clearly nobody had told Fred's worser half, and now the police were preparing to face off with the monster. There was no way this was going to end well. 

 

Gripping her broom with white knuckles, Raina flew out from behind the tree, arcing around to float just a few feet from Alkahest at eye level. She swallowed hard, trying to get some saliva back in her dry mouth, and gave the monstrous humanoid a smile with no teeth. "Hey, Fred," she called out quietly, her words just loud enough to travel the distance between them. "Fred, the fight's over! We won, and you did a great job. Look, all the bad guys are gone, and nobody else is gonna get hurt. Everything's gonna be fine now, and you can still keep your appointment at AEON. They've got a lot of great science labs there, you don't want to miss it!"  She moved very slowly through the air as she spoke, trying to draw the Alkahest's attention away from the crowd and the officers, keep it focused on the witch so nearly within reach. "It's time to change back now." 

[Gizmo]

The Alkahest didn't respond to the name Raina was calling, only turning its attention to her as the witch grew closer. It's great shoulders rose and fell visibly under the stained and smeared lab coat while milky white eyes focused intently on the source of the soft voice.  "GRAAAUGH!"  the beast roared directly at the teenager's face, spittle flecking its uneven lips as it shook its head vigorously like a dog. Still, gradually the Alkahest unclenched its fists, huffing short, hot breaths as it sank to its knees. It pawed at the torn up pavement with one hand before trying to put weight down on the other, only to have the limb give out from exhaustion, leaving the twisted mass of muscle to collapse loudly, twitching and distorting as it began to shrink. Soon a young woman lay curled up under the tattered coat in its place, groaning softly through the last of the spasms wracking her body.

[angrydurf]

As alkahest shrinks down to her human proportions the crowd is slowly brought under control by the freshly arrived FCPD response teams.  As the last danger on the field is neutralized the devastation of the battle becomes clear, injured and trampled protesters, security officers, and Police are scattered amongst the twisted wreckage of the cement truck and scattered barricades.  Cracked pavement and sidewalk jut from the ground at treacherous angles and broken glass litters the front lobby of the AEON building where panic and shrapnel shattered tempered panes.  EMTs run amid the wreckage triaging the worst of the injured the shooters lie nearby though there weapons are not easily located.  Providences victim lies in the center of it all eyes staring blank and glassy at the sky his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

[alderwitch]

Alex floated down to the ground slowly, the glass crunching beneath her sensible heels. Part of her processed that the young woman was being settled down and she added her to the mental list of priorities shuffled and reshuffled in the back of her mind but the bulk of Alex's attention was on the dead man on the ground. Yes, he'd been a protester - and yes, he wasn't without blame but no one deserved to die for their admittedly stupid beliefs.

 

Kneeling down amidst the glass, she ignored the protest in the back of her mind from Mike as she reached for the limits of her abilities and pushed past them. Without flinching, Alex reached out with gentle hands to right the man's next as a palpable wave of pure power formed around the young psychic before blowing through the crowd with a palpable 'whomph' of pressure and marked by the sparkling corona that so rarely manifested around Alex these days. Pulling on the very essence of the cosmic mutation that made Alex what she was, she focused. Technically, she was juggling both telekinetic manipulation at a molecular level as well as grabbing for the fragments of the man's psyche that had not yet fled to restore him to himself once more. 

 

When he coughed and sputtered beneath her fingertips, the rest of the energy rushed out in a wave, restoring all the bodies that it touched to their peak potential. Then, finally, the pint size redhead looked tired. Standing once more, she brushed the glass from her palms. 

 

"Well, let's get you three inside. I am so sorry about this." She said as she turned finally towards the teenagers from Claremont. "I'm Alex, by the way. Welcome to AEON."

[Electra]

Raina dropped from her broom as soon as Alkahest transformed, leaving it hanging in the air as she crouched next to Fred's crumpled body.  She gave the police cordon a careful study, relaxing only when it became pretty clear they weren't interested in Fred now that she wasn't tearing up the block. A quickly sung glamour painted the illusion of clothes where they were lacking, but that did nothing to provide actual protection from the cold and broken pavement of the street. "Hey, good to have you back," she told Fred, reaching out to help her sit up. "Bet you feel like nine kinds of hell. Wanna get inside?" 

[Avenger Assembled]

At the sight of a super-being raising the dead back to the living, Riley went completely silent in his hiding place, his mind casting back to the cruelly betrayed promises of his homeworld - the gods and heroes who had become monsters and predators. He closed his eyes and unbidden, an image of the dead raised back to a parody of life to be eaten alive again and again and again came roiling through his mind. The anger, and the sense of betrayal, he felt at that hard reality of life in his homeworld, pushed him to his feet and out of his awed silence. "Who the hell were those guys?" he demanded to know as he slipped out of his hiding place and ran to join the others. "What the hell was all that crap about the new world and crap?" Figuring Fred would prefer he not comment on what had happened to her, he kept his attention on the floating psychic lady.