My Superhero City: Brand New Day

Foundation HQ?

Between getting their joints gummed up, having their missiles thrown back in their faces, or just having the crap beaten out of them, the mechs were soundly incapacitated and beaten to a pulp in short order. The fronts of their helmets having been cut off, it was clear there were people inside those machines. Not that it made them any less defiant.

"Damn you! Don't toy with us you Goddamn bastards! If you're gonna end us then just do it! Fucking Savior scum."

Saint grimaced at the sight of Marky and Martin, though his expression soon changed to grim determination. "I used to think there was. Everything I told you was true, you know. I did want to make a difference. To change things for the better. And for a while, I thought I could. That I could not only save people's lives, but give them something to live for. But I suppose I was only fooling myself. "

He glanced around to make sure there weren't any cameras before pinching his neck, right over the scar at the base. "As terrible and abominable as Gaea was, it was a wake-up call. For all the effort I put into changing things, for all the trouble I went through, someone like Gaea still came this close to bringing everything crashing down. And me with it. And I realized just how fragile it all was. Everything I made, everything I built up could be gone just like that. Like tearing off a band-aid. And I guess I was right. After coming over here, I saw how things would've turned out if they had managed to kill me. And it's exactly what I thought it'd be."

He gestured around him. "Either way, I couldn't risk letting everything come crashing down around me like a house of cards. I needed to make something that would last. Something that would keep people safe. Regardless of the consequences. So don't you tell me there's a better way. Because as far as protecting innocents goes, there isn't one. And that's the only thing that matters."

Squad 3 - Cole (57)

Cole walked over to the guys on the ground, their mechs currently quite out of order. "Saviors? We sure as hell aren't Saviors, whatever those are..." Considering these guys were not exactly on the up and up, and had assaulted them outta the blue, Cole felt he could go ahead and do this.

He promptly scanned their minds in depth with his psychic powers, trying to find some hint of who the Saviors are and what the deal is with everything.

Observing this was of course Liam's thopter, which promptly reported that the fight was done.

Liam, back over in the Darksteel Obelisk frowned and cupped his chin in one metallic hand, "Damn, they just don't make mech wielding rebels like they used to..." He sighed, and realized what this meant about his report. He'd have to do that now, and most likely due to proximity be called into action instead of getting to resume his experiments and personal projects.

"...This. This is gonna suck. So incredibly much."

He sent off the footage and information gathered by his Thopter Scans to the other Saviors, and then waited for any notice back from them about this.

"M-M-Master..." The chief servitor rasped out, "I think-think-think that one..." One long, thin mechanical nail pointed at Cole, "...has an unusual energy sig-sig-signature."

Liam turned and looked at the servitor, "Thank you, Barnett, you always kind of surprise me with how useful you are as of now."

Barnett nodded quickly, mechanical hinges on his neck attached to his head whirring, "Th-th-thank you, Master..."

Liam gave the little thing a pat on the head, which Barnett much appreciated.

Included in the email was a picture of the people who had just defeated those mechs and relevant information about their powers and skills, while noting that there was an auspicious energy signature that matched world travel.

Now it was just a matter of waiting to receive any notice from the other Saviors.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Dec 9th 2019 at 2:11:45 AM

Squad 1

Sam raised an eyebrow to the words of the just defeated.

"Even if you tried to blow us up a literal minute after we arrived" He said, calmly, but there was a slight edge of annoyance to his voice. If they tried anything else, they'll need to be carried away unconscious "Trying not to kill people when not at literal war, anyway" And there are an unknown but considerable number of casualties hanging over his head, but that's another thing.

Still, there are way too many things to think about. Why people seemed to run from them? Why did they shoot the group when they arrived? Why did they expect them to execute them? Who are the Saviors? Just what did they jump into?

"Guys" He said out loud "I have a bad feeling about this"

—-

In a city this big, finding a quiet corner is difficult at best to find some silence during the day. But when you do what you do properly, sooner or later, it becomes simpler to silence pretty much every part of the city. So, as a man stood tall, running a hand through his head. There was something strange, as a glowing red mark took his right arm.

After another moment of peace after finishing some troublemaker, a message arrived. Sighing, he simply checked whatever that was, but paused as he saw so many familiar faces. Especially pausing at seeing the familiar faces, and a pair of familiar blue eyes. They looked... alive, compared to the burned out look of his own.

Time always gets you

"On my way" He said, simply.

Squad 2

Ryuu just stood with a cold look at the fake Saint in front of him.

"So, you changed something flawed for something worse" He said, crossing his arms.

"Guess there isn't gonna be a non-violent end to this one, isn't it?"

Ryuu got ready, and hoped everyone else just got ready with the gun.

We all walk toward death He thought No need to run to meet it

Edited by Blueace on Dec 9th 2019 at 12:24:23 PM

Squad 1 - Foundation HQ? - Nariko

Dodging the missiles was easy, but also proved unnecessary - her teammates dealt with them in short order. Nariko had experimentally struck the mechs a few times with her blades, but found them too durable to be cut. She'd definitely need to improve them after this, somehow. Maybe she'd ask Mason to work on them, or get Reinbach to replace them with lightsabers. Or she could see if Gloria could infuse them with holy power.

That was later, though. Now, they needed answers. And the mech pilot had unintentionally given them some.

Savior, she thought, mulling over the word. He was clearly not using the word literally. So it must be a name. For a group, it would seem, since he wasn't addressing any of them specifically. And given he thought that all (or at least most) of them were part of this group, that would imply that they looked like members of the group. Since none of them were wearing standardized uniforms, that meant... she clicked her tongue.

In an instant, Nariko was in front of the man, her hands up in a complacent gesture. "We aren't Saviors. We're counterparts from another world, if you can believe it. And we don't intend you any harm." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're here to collect intelligence on this world's version of the Saint Foundation - or whatever it's currently called. If you could tell us about that, and about who exactly these Saviors are, and why you're so dead set on attacking them, it'd be much appreciated."

Squad 1, Gloria

“Saviors?” Gloria asked, visibly confused. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand what’s going on...”

She didn’t really expect an answer to that question, but she had to at least bring it up.

“As she said, we don’t want to hurt people. We want answers.”

Cain (2)

Cain didn't have much to say in this situation. His emotions were in turmoil. On one hand, that was (not) the man that ushered in an era of prosperity for his "children," however much they did or did not deserve it—and on the other, that was clearly a cold-blooded murderer. Or at least a person willing to kill for a small slight such as a stolen wallet.

He simply settled for scowling up at the un-Saint, itching for a battle already. "Hey! Look at me, the oldest murderer in existence! If you're such a paragon, why don't you come over here and end me yourself!" he bellowed, trying to draw the un-Saint's attention away from his younger compatriots. The brand on his forehead—the mark of Cain—was distinctive enough. Surely it was in some sort of database somewhere.

His hand twitched towards his hip flask, but there was no time for that now.

Wilma (3)

"Ditto that..." Wilma murmured. "I can...feel it in my bones. There is no other version of me in this world."

She looked up.

"We might be able to join up with these people, at least for a while," she suggested softly.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Dec 9th 2019 at 5:08:24 AM

Vivian-Otherworld-Tres Weird

At first, she'd been interested in seeing a new world. A fan of science-fiction for years (where do you think the idea of transferring her brain came from?), alternate realities were a tested idea. Sometimes good, sometimes horrible (or just horribly written). Yes, there was an excellent chance they'd see twisted versions of their friends and families, but they weren't real (or so she told herself).

After that, things seemed to happen in a rush: the jump to the new world, an attack by people in mechs, and her squadmates easily defeating them, and a weird tower in the distance. Oh, I really hope that's not where the other me is hiding. I have more subtlety, right? Right?

As she moved forward to get a better look at the mechs, a muffled noise and movement caught her sensors. A very familiar shape gestured from a nearby doorway. Is that...aw hell it is. It's me. Well, I might as well get this over with. Worst comes to worst, I downloaded before I left. She slipped away from the others. They can handle things here. I can do the most good by...talking to myself.

Foundation HQ?

The pilots blinked in mutual confusion, as though they weren't quite sure what was coming out of the hero's mouths. Though before long, they both resorted to old fashioned stubbornness. "Quit trying to fool us! Don't even know why you're tryin' anyway. Any of you wanted to, you could just call up one of your big guns and pound us into paste."

The other one spoke up, a bit more open, but still not too keen on working with the Squads. "I mean, maybe that's why they haven't? Maybe they really are trying to show they're not the same as—"

"SHUT IT! Sides, there's no way they can prove they're from some other world or whatever they're tryin' to cook up."

As they were babbling on, Cole did his best to reach into their minds, but sadly, he turned up bubkus. Both of them seemed to have some sort of artificial mental block, protecting them from any psychic intrusions. There was a chance he could get what he was after if he attempted to breach their defenses and dig deeper, but any successful attempt could serious brain damage. If he was going to go any further, then that was what he'd have to consider.

Saint barely argued the point, instead wearily shaking his head in agreement. "Maybe it is. But it also gets results. Ever since we took control, the amount of crime in our world has dropped dramatically. It's practically night and day. Granted, it's not perfect. But it's better than what we had. If there's anything I learned from being the Saint, it's that the system doesn't work. If it did, there wouldn't be a need for the Saint. Or any heroes at all. So the only thing we can do is ignore it altogether."

Squad 1, Gloria

“I know it sounds very difficult to believe,” Gloria admitted. “That we all came here from another universe. I don’t know if I’d believe that either. And from my perspective, I’m not sure if this stuff you’re saying about the Saviors is true either. It’s not like I have any proof to back up what you’re telling me.”

“In spite of that... I’m going to choose to believe in you. Sometimes you have to rely on faith to choose the right path, and this feels like one of those times. So I’m asking all of you this one request. If we are willing to put our faith in you, can you return the favor? Give us the chance to show you that trusting in us isn’t a waste.”

She wasn't sure if this was going to work, but all she could do now was wait and see how they respond.

Foundation HQ?-???

"Faith, that is a beautiful word," a metal disc descended from the top of the building, blocking out the light for a moment from above as it made its way down. "But it doesn't really spend all to well anymore," the voice was familiar, and yet at the same time much different then they would have heard it before. When the disc finally touched the ground the assembled groups of Squads 1 and 3 would see a familiar face, even more so for those who had meet him before the end of university. A harsh burn covered an otherwise rather handsome face, a blue and white uniform covered most of the body, but rather then a number of charities only one word dominated the front of the outfit 'Prophet'. His red cape trailed behind him as the man stepped forward. "Why ask for faith when you can act? Faith doesn't feed the hungry, heal the sick, or keep the law. In other words, its pointless."

Martin looked over the assembled squads with a smile, through it didn't even touch his eyes. "You're all a long way from home." he turned his eyes toward the defeated mech suits and shook his head. "And a rough welcome, we'll take care of these criminals from here." Normally when Martin spoke there was a certain quality to his speech, a warmness that cascaded off of him even in the darkest of times. This person however was the exact opposite, like the feeling of a mountain crushing you, as if any attempt to deny it would be met by pain.

Vs. Saint

Martin had quite enough of listening to the Saint, after all further attempts at talking wouldn't get them anywhere, and this person wasn't going to be willing to listen to reason or turn himself in. So he did the exact thing he always did when the villain started monologueing about how just and correct they were.

He looked to Marky and the rest of the close range team and nodded, leaping into the air and bringing down a dropkick that would put a dent in a car directly at Saint, knowing that his teammates would be leaping into action themselves.

Squad 1

Sam could only roll his eyes, but the new arrival made him pause. Ok, first counterpart and it's a scary one

But whatever thoughts he might have had were interrupted by a strange chill in the air. It was similar to what his family produced, but it felt...wrong somehow. Less calming and more... tense somehow. Sam turned around, trying to find the source.

A path of frost appeared as another man entered the scene. Taller, handsome and eerily pale, with piercing, cold blue eyes. A white beard and longer, neatly combed hair. A white suit with the symbol of snow completed the ensemble. But the strangest thing was how the strangely thinner right arm had strange, glowing red lines running through it. Slipping in like a ghost, he stood over the scene, just looking at the ones in place, particularly the Squad 1's more senior members.

Not a good sign

"Not much of a philosopher, are you?" The younger Sam said, nervously, trying to act more confident than he felt "Just came here to find out about an uninvited guest from around here"

He looked at the others for a second, leaving an obvious question.

What do we do?

Squad 2

Ryuu saw Martin's move and did his thing, taking off to the air and aiming a few of his air bullets aimed at major joints. He knew the plan, he just had to keep out of range for a bit and distract the impostor Saint until the one with the gun gets a clear shot (he hopes it's Holiday, what he heard of her power source makes one wary of her getting anywhere too close).

They had to win this one.

Lily – Foundation HQ? (Squad 1)

Maybe someone should remind him what ‘faith’ means.

Lily kept a wary eye on the (now two) new arrivals who had decided to interrupt their attempted interrogation, and she idly noted that they had arrived extremely quickly. Were they waiting for them? Or monitoring the area. Either way, it wasn't good news—especially if there were more of them on the way.

She made no move to speak; instead she discreetly shifted into a more defensive stance and stuck by her Squad. Sam's questioning gaze caught her eye, and she met it with a look that seemed unsure but also determined—indicating that whatever would happen she was ready to put her all into it. She was even prepared to slip into her Divine Form if necessary, but first she'd ascertain how powerful they were.

Judging by her own personal estimations, frighteningly so.

Holiday – Tall Building (Squad 2)

As Ryuu had correctly guessed, Holiday lay prone with the specialized weapon on a building top a fair distance away—her lack of need to breathe and her ability to lock her joints in place meaning that her aim was as steady as it could possibly be.

Tom and Adam had not yet been deployed—the target could spot them and figure out that she was nearby. She also lay under a heavy cloak, to further distort her silhouette. Plus, she was ready to burst herself through the roof if she needed to move quickly. She'd already worked on evacuating it quickly and discreetly. Several ACPs had found (or stealthily made) multiple back doors to get the civilians out. Not to mention, the rest were stationed either amongst the unsuspecting crowd surrounding the area or also in hiding elsewhere the same as her—ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

The rest of Team Dynamo wisely remained at base, but were monitoring the situation through the drones. Alex had by now jury-rigged what could only be described as a nightmarish mechanical spider-monster out of a collection of computers and monitors modern and old. Holiday was glad she was out on the field just so she didn't have to see the thing. Even Kaylee had seemed unnerved by it.

The lengths her creator went to both astounded and worried her.

Speaking of worry. Though precautions had been taken, she couldn't help but do so. This was the Saint. She had her finger on the trigger, but this was the Saint. She had plenty of backup, but this was the Saint. She didn't fear death, but this was the Saint. She could evacuate herself if her core was made critical, but this was the Saint.

Now granted, this wasn't their Saint.

But still. Anything could happen.

So she continued to hold her nonexistent breath, and waited for the perfect opportunity. She couldn't waste her shot. It would have to be at a moment where he was overconfident or caught off-guard.

...But just in case, she still prepared to fire at a microsecond's notice.

Edited by Enirboreh on Dec 12th 2019 at 2:16:24 PM

Foundation HQ?

The first man spit at Martin's feet, struggling to get up in spite of his injuries. "Criminals?! You're the damn criminal here!" He turned to the others. "If for some Godforsaken reason you really aren't with him, then don't believe his damn lies! Ask anyone just who and what he is, what they all are, and they'll paint you a helluva picture."

As for the second man, he was too busy pushing himself away in fear, wishing for nothing else but to get away with his skin intact. "Please, you can't leave us with him! We'll tell you anything you want, just keep that bastard away! For the love of God, I'm begging you! Please!"

Saint simply shrugged as he dodged Martin's blow and Ryuu's bullets at the last minute, dashing to the side in the blink of an eye before seizing Martin's leg and slamming him straight against the roof. And again. And again and again and again, all in the blink of an eye before finally hurling him at Ryuu like a missile. "Heads up!"

As the fight unfolded, a girl with dark skin in a butterfly shirt watched the fight from atop another rooftop in a distance. Black tattoos covered her body from head to toe, and her red shoulder-length hair dovetailed into two large black ponytails, floating in the wind. Most of this would seem at the very least a tad peculiar if not outright incriminating, but her eyes told a different story. They were like piercing yellow orbs, capable of burning through even the blackest of nights, and they were observing the battle with a level of detail and intensity rarely seen.

Though truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure why she was here. She had just come home after a long trip abroad, but as soon as she did, she felt herself drawn to this place. Almost as if she sensed that she would be needed. To be honest, she hadn't quite felt anything like this before. Her instincts had nearly gotten the better of her more than once. Other times they warned her of various threats and dangers on more than one occasion. But this was the first time they acted in such a way. Then again, up until a year ago, she had been actively resisting her senses as often as possible. She still wasn't too crazy about them. Or any number of things about herself. But as she learned the hard way, denying them was an exercise in futility.

Still, for now, her chief concern was seeing how this all played out. Part of her wanted to just jump into the fray. Partly to help, and partly because this looked like the fight of her life. But those same senses that led her here were banging at the back of her skull, screaming at her to stay away. That the time was not yet right. And that she would know when it was. She almost wanted to tell her senses to go fuck themselves and jump straight in, but just as she knew it wasn't yet time, she also knew that they knew what they were talking about. For now, all she could do was wait for the right moment to strike. And hope that everyone else wasn't slaughtered beforehand.

Edited by kkhohoho on Dec 12th 2019 at 10:08:09 AM

Gloria, Squad 1

The sudden appearance of "Martin" was confusing at first. Not only because he was saying some very strange things and even looked different, but because he was supposed to be off fighting the Saint. But given the conversation about Saviors earlier and the fact that she and the others were mistaken for being part of their group, it didn't take long for her to put two and two together. She stepped in between Savior!Martin and the rebel group, raising her shield in front of her.

"I'm not going to let you take them," she said, standing resolutely. "If that makes me a criminal as well... so be it."

"They're arriving...without even sending me so much as a message..." Liam sighed as he saw what was starting to go on down at the former Foundation building. He guessed they were expecting him, so he got up from his chair and gathered about three of his personal Thopters to him. He then gestured for Barnett to follow.

"M-M-Master are-are-are we heading out?" The diminutive skeletal Igor asked.

Liam nodded and said, "They'll only get pissy with me if I sit back and continue observing. And that is a level of bother I am not willing to countenance. To the Gigantothopter, Barnett."

Barnett squealed with glee, "O-O-Oh boy-boy-boy, I l-love the Gig-gig-gigantothopter!"

Heading down from the command chamber into a personal hangar, the two stood before an entirely enormous version of Liam's regular thopters, roughly the size of a singular Californian Bart car. It had six fast moving wings instead of four, to accommodate its size, and four mechanical arms equipped to the over and undercarriage, each one ending in four prongs. It was of course heavily armed as befitting personal transportation for the Head of Surveillance.

The frontal red orb slid open, revealing a singular command seat and a smaller seat to the side equipped almost like a tricked out child's seat.

Liam got into the command seat, while Barnett got into the seat to the side, the Darksteel Obelisk beginning to open its level 76 doors and letting out the Gigantothopter.

"Engage Hyperspeed Drive." Liam said as he interfaced with the Gigantothopter.

"I-I-I love-love-love Hyperspeed!!"

And with that, the Gigantothopter was off.

Cole - Squad 3 (42)

Cole almost very well rolled his eyes when Gloria went on her shpiel about faith and belief, and even as shit started to go down he remarked, "You know, I kinda agree on faith not being worth very much without evidence. Thoughts and prayers are about as useful as a two wheeled car."

Even as Cole said this all, he looked at the newcomer...Martin? Was that...yes. Yes, it truly was. Cole didn't need to do a psychic check to see that was Martin. As Martin landed and delivered his own announcement on these guys behind them, Cole tightened one finger after another into a fist.

Seeing Gloria try and step forward to defend them, he whispered to her, "We gotta pick our battles. Look around you, Gloria."

He added in a telepathic message to her, "I'll see if I can rescue em once we got a moment. I'm not about to let this go."

He then turned his head to see another new arrival...Sam? Yeah, it seemed this was another of those dimensions. Where there were alternate versions of familiar people. And then a new one arrived...a gigantic, black and silver fucking armored aircraft of some kind.

Looked like it was the scope of some train cars.

It landed just to the side, and the wings ceased moving.

Bright red orb at the front. The front of the thing opened up and well within Sam's sight, Liam Eckart got out of the flying machine. He muttered something back into the machine, and it quickly closed up behind him.

What was truly striking about the appearance of this "Other" Liam was not the increase in age - he didn't look that different from the Liam Sam knew at least facially.

What was different was that his head neck and torso were the only biological components left of him. The rest of him was composed of mercury colored shifting metal keeping to a human structure. Each finger was roughly the same size as a human finger, but somewhat knife-shaped.

He wore a hooded coat and a white shirt, black dress pants - even mostly machine, modesty was still a thing.

He was followed by three of the smaller instances of the black and silver flying machines, each one buzzing a bit by his side.

Liam seemed to stare for a moment at the new Sam, and then looked between the new Sam and the Sam he knew. "...Huh..."

Marky - Squad 2

Marky had been hoping to be able to rely on Martin and Ryuu occupying the Saint long enough for him to be able to jump in at the right time...but then this all happened. He grit his teeth as he saw Martin thrashed around like the Saint was some sort of enormous toddler throwing a tantrum with Martin as the poor misfortunate toy on the end of it.

He couldn't well stop himself at this rate.

Darting to the side, Marky propelled himself up, super fast and moving using a combination of his speed and strength, throwing an axe kick right at The Saint's neck while he seemed to be looking away.

He glared daggers into the Saint as he went to strike.

No rest.

He remembered the death of Leon and the betrayal of their foundation.

No mercy.

He remembered what just happened to Martin.

No matter what.

He threw the kick at the Saint as hard as he could.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Dec 12th 2019 at 8:53:54 AM

Gloria, Squad 1

For a brief moment, Cole’s remark about faith got under her skin a little.

“I’m not just someone who says empty words, you know. I came down to Earth because I wasn’t satisfied just sitting around hoping the world would become a better place all on its own. I understand your skepticism, but I intend to prove to you and everyone else that my convictions are stronger than mere ‘thoughts and prayers’.”

“...”

But the gathered Saviors were a much more important issue right now, obviously.

“But this really isn’t the appropriate time for this.”

Upon receiving a psychic message, she gave a mental response of her own.

”Very well. I don’t intend to truly try to defeat them anyway – merely to buy some time so that these people aren’t executed immediately and we can come up with an escape plan.”

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Dec 13th 2019 at 6:29:41 AM

Squad 1 - Foundation HQ? - Nariko

Nariko tensed as the alternate Martin showed up. She could tell immediately that he was not the man from Squad 2. That the pilots were terrified of him only confirmed it. No villain would be afraid of Paragon. But this other Martin - Prophet, apparently - radiated a cold feeling, and his smile was clearly fake, never reaching his eyes.

She debated attacking then and there, but she remembered how powerful, and how fast, Martin could be. The two Squads still outnumbered these 'Saviors', but the Saviors had the home field advantage.

"You call them criminals, but the way these guys reacted makes you sound like the bad guys." Nariko replied to Prophet. She tensed, still debating whether to try and fight when a terrible chill ran up her spine.

"They're fuckin' villains." A deep, but decidedly feminine voice called out. "Of course they'd be panicking when the heroes show up."

Those looking up would see a demoness descend from overhead, touching down near the Squads. A demoness that would be very familiar to some of them; eight feet tall, statuesque, and nude, her modesty preserved by the blue-grey scales that covered her body. Long white hair spilled down her back almost to her thighs, and a single, unicorn-like horn sprouted from her forehead.

It was Ellie, most certainly. But not the one they'd known. This Ellie had numerous black metallic bands woven into her hair, and on her lower abdomen, above her groin, was tattooed the same 'S' symbol that was on the building.

Her wings folded in as she landed, and she grinned at the assembled Squads. Her crimson eyes looked over them, and where Martin's presence was oppressive, hers radiated terror, a demonic aura so strong that one didn't need supernatural ability to feel it. Like she was a predator, and everyone else her prey.

"Well, looks like we have a few clones on our hands." Ellie grinned. "Why don't we get these guys into jail, and then we can all get... acquainted."

She licked her lips, and Nariko barely resisted the urge to throw a knife at the demon on impulse. Nariko took a step closer to Cole, looking over to him and Gloria for guidance. She really didn't want to fight both Martin and a demon, but if the others chose to attack, she wouldn't hesitate.

Vivian-Reflection-Alternate Universe

"Well, I suppose the guys have gathered by now. I could just kill you and join them, but..."

Vivian grinned. "But this is just too weird, right? I mean, you get to meet another you and it's too tempting? I'd feel the exact same way. Quick question: Have you died yet?"

Alt!Viv grinned back. "Yes, it is too damned weird to just start slugging. I actually do want to talk to you. And murder gets too boring. For all of their pomp and drama, the rest of them never got their hands dirty before the Saint....changed his ways, I guess you'd say. They jumped in quickly, but there's a difference between killing someone with their powers and using a knife. You remember what that felt like, don't you? The fight and the sweat and the blood?"

Viv stared at her. She did remember. She'd woken up at night often with the memory still fresh. That man's face. The handle slick in her grip. The feeling of...accomplishment followed by sickness and vomiting. In her darker moments, she wondered if that had been because she was horrified by what had happened...or just adrenaline.

The inside of the warehouse was dim, but she could see her double clearly enough. The other woman really didn't look that different. Slightly taller and bulkier, but not the mechanized mountain she'd expected. The face looking back at her had some extra sensors built-in and she had added a thin, flexible arm ending in a multi-tool that could rotate around the torso on a track before moving to her back and curling up into a resting position, but those were the only obvious differences. Internally, however?

Alt!Viv waved her hands at her shining body. "I know. You expected something dramatic. Chrome and death lasers, maybe some black leather. But why fix what isn't broken? I've upgraded myself, of course. Armada has been ever so helpful. There was a point where I considered avoiding her after my transference, but I quickly realized I was being stupid, and working together we made several improvements. And no, I've never died. That would be silly. I've worked so hard to gain this body, why throw it away?" Then she launched herself at Vivian with all her speed, fists clenched.

Zach - Squad 1

What the fuck am I looking at right now?

Quick glances back and forth between the two groups told Zach that, yes, this was not some kind of hallucination effect like back with Pact. They saw them too. They saw another Martin. Another Ellie. Another Sam. Another...well, okay, he didn't know one of those faces but it seemed, at the very least, SAM knew who it was.

Immediately the blades grew on his as he watched the talks between the groups, waiting for someone to strike. Right now they were waxing the lyrical, philophsing among other things and no one was thankfully jumping to start murdering people.

Yet.

Huh. I wonder if there's another Zac-Oh boy.

His attention turned to the image of black liquid that began to creep up the sides of the weird ship that had dropped off the unfamiliar one in. It coalesced into something atop the ship, crouching down low with one hand on the windshield and eyeing them down. Well...he ASSUMED he was eyeing them down. Once his humanoid form finally shifted, he remained in the black ink state and stayed there but with...well, to Zach it didn't seem right. When he went Ink mode, he at least looked like a human. This one...this one looked like some kind of strange, otherworldly predator.

Wordlessly, three lines of ink rose from the back of the creatures back and quickly ended in serrated points, like some sort of deranged, demonic stinger of a Scorpion. It sat there, and it watched. And waited.

Waiting for a reason.

...

Mason - Squad 3

Mason was well versed in other dimensions, though, say, not as much as Cole would be. But he knew of the possibility of alternate universes, and worlds, and infinite amount of Mason's.

Hence, he saw alternates of his friends but, and lord knew, he was happy to see there was no Alternator Masons'.

...Yet.

Still, he silently eyed the oppression before him and mused that this was what they would look like if it all went wrong. Just...so, so, so wrong. Normally he'd be jumping forward. Starting a fight. Making a big deal about it. But there were civilians, or rather, criminals as these guys were saying, and he knew it'd be dangerous to get them in the crossfire.

He slipped one hand over his Genesis Driver and kept his hand on the trigger, and his eyes scanned over each one.

He didn't know one of them, the guy with all the drones but something about him didn't sit right...even in the back of his mind, deep, deep down in his passions and fierceness, he felt indignant.

I'm supposed to be the tech hero around here, dammit.

Cole - Squad 3

Cole looked around and honestly he felt a little bit overwhelmed. He was used to seeing some familiar faces in his dimensional travels, but this was a bit much. It was like everybody who had ever been involved with Saint Academy...University...whatever, was now here and involved with these...Saviors. And looking back to the guys who'd attacked Cole's squad, he didn't blame em for being piss scared.

Still, really shit thing to do just rampantly attacking someone with freaking missiles and you're not even sure they're your enemies.

And then Cole looked around to his own side and saw a very conspicuous absence.

"...Where'd Viv go?"

As the Vivs charged at each other, behind a few boxes a number of Thopters emerged and started to observe what was going on.

Liam was not surprised that everybody turned up, what he was kind of disappointed by was the fact everybody just came here and didn't even bother sending an email back saying they were on route. He murmured to himself, "I'm...not even surprised but I am kinda disappointed. Would've kiiiiinda made me feel a little warm maybe fuzzy inside...eh, don't care too much."

He then shrugged and forgot about that minor little detail.

He waved at Ellie and then said, "And a good day to you too, Zach."

And that was when he got a notice, one of his thopters by his side flying in front of him and displaying what was going on between the Vivs.

Liam visibly groaned and let out an outright resigned sigh - it was way, way, way too often that shit like this happened with her. "I'll...try and handle this."

This is reminding me of the Libya thing again...

Liam's arm shaped into some sort of computer screen and keyboard at the forearm and he started typing away...

At the confrontation between the Vivs, a series of Thopters intruded upon the fight, the flying black and silver machines circling around Savior world Vivian, "This is distinctly frowned upon. Cease and desist at once."

Some of the small flying machines were distinctly armed looking.

Tall Building

Having just lobbed Martin at Ryuu like a javelin, Saint had barely any time to dodge or react before Marky threw out a devasting kick that could decimate anyone who didn't have an ounce of endurance. Thankfully, Saint had plenty. He turned just quickly enough to face it head on, standing tall as he braced for impact. The kick landed straight on Saint's cheek, turning it to the side as it dug straight in. And yet, it seemed only to annoy him more than anything else. Not that it hadn't hurt him. The bruise on his cheek was evidence of that. But it would take far more than that to bring him down.

In any case, Saint could have seized Marky's leg the same way he had Martin's, but he didn't want to repeat himself. Instead, he took one step as fast as lightning towards Marky, grabbed him by the shoulder, and kneed him straight in the groin. "Stand down, son. Believe it or not, that is not as bad as it's gonna get if you keep this up."

At the sight of Ellie, the second rebel started shaking in fear. "Oh God." He pulled on Gloria's sleeve, almost trembling in terror. "Please, you can't leave us with her! The Paragon is one thing, but she's a Goddamned demon! In both senses of the word. Do you know what she does to any of us she gets her hands on? And that's before they hand us our sentence."

As for the first man, he was just as defiant as ever. Perhaps more so. "Oh, grow some balls, Eugene! You're just giving them what they want! As for me, I'm never gonna bow down before some crazy demon chick who won't even bother to put on some fucking pants!" He spit at Ellie's feet, almost daring her to have her way with him. "You Goddamn slut."

Edited by kkhohoho on Dec 14th 2019 at 5:35:23 AM

Holiday – Tall Building TAKE THE SHOT (Squad 2)

The shot to the groin looked incredibly nasty, but it was just the kind of opening Holiday was looking for. She made a mental note to buy Marky a box of apologetic chocolates for his involuntary assistance. Better than a pat on the back and a ‘job well done’. Extensive studies had indicated that a knee to the balls was not to be taken lightly in the pain department.

Plus, Saint seemed to be talking. And his demeanour demonstrated that he knew he would be able to ruthlessly beat them down. He was still relatively relaxed. If he wanted to kill them all instantly, he would have done. He was still holding back.

But him gripping Marky's shoulder made him a steady target. So after a moment of reorientation, she took the shot. Her steadiness was absolute to a mathematical degree, so she didn't stick around. As soon as she had pulled the trigger she picked up the weapon, rolled away from the ledge, and darted towards the edge of the rooftop opposite from her sniping position. Though not before clicking something in her palm—which caused something akin to a flare to launch up from the rooftop she had just fired from.

And so, as Holiday vaulted over the edge of the roof and let herself go sailing down towards the ground, a gigantic middle finger exploded in a glorious display of colours above her sniper's nest; formed from an array of fireworks and accompanied by the last few cannon-accompanied seconds of the 1812 Overture. As she impacted and dented in the concrete below—aiming to take brief solitude by flanking behind the buildings to the side before she made her move to intervene directly—a further message of fireworks was launched up to frame the slowly falling middle finger of colourful sparks in a curved fashion: a colossal "F$&% YOU" in both literal message and figurative. It lingered for a few moments longer, before gradually beginning to fade away—by which time Holiday had long made her move.

She'd laugh about it later. She could've missed, after all. But at least she tried.

Edited by Enirboreh on Dec 14th 2019 at 11:56:12 AM

Marky - Squad 2

Marky fell to the ground seeing nothing but white. He felt an enormous pain from his groin where the Saint had struck him - and only barely managed on sheer instinct to force himself to move away while the world came back into focus around him. Seeing Holiday take the shot opened up by his moment there made him choke out, "Get...fucked, Saint...you...fff—-son of a bitch."

Marky thankfully had a wellspring of endurance and toughness, and while it still hurt like fucking hell, he wasn't entirely damaged down there. Thankfully. He still felt like it'd take him a while to do anything. Hopefully...hopefully that fucker was gonna feel the pain from that shot.

Even though he was damaged, Marky managed to get back up on two feet, gritting his teeth to avoid screaming and glaring at the Saint.

Squad 1

Sam could only stare at the people in front of him, looking increasingly tense. He tried to study all the people in front of him, looking at Liam somewhat confused for a second.

"Wait, Liam?" He asked "Man, years fly" He might have tried to keep on contact, or at least tabs on a few of the people that have left so far, but he would lie if he said he saw most of them in person all that often. Particularly given how some left the academy or the university.

Note to self, call Ellie when things stop hitting me in the face

But once the other him arrived, a powerful glare that got reciprocated by the older man. It was strange, but it felt like there wasn't much life on that stare.

"So, we came here to check on a few things" He commented, not dropping the look. "But you remind me of someone we met and saw the true colors, so handing them over would become a burden on my soul"

The Savior Samuel just looked uninterested.

"Self serving as ever" He said, his voice lacking emotion. Sam trembled.

"Not the best idea to piss off someone ready to fry you unless you have a plan" Sam whispered to the rebels.

Squad 2

Ryuu could only slightly move at the charge, crashing hard against the wall. He managed to not compromise major organs, but he could tell he broke something. The feeling of being suddenly underwater, the world fading, he was concussed too, probably.

One second

Tall Building

Unfortunately for the Saint, he was too distracted by Holiday's sheer audacious spectacle to notice she had him right where she wanted him. With the Saint dumbfounded, she aimed, pulled the trigger, and fired one dazzling white beam straight at his chest. The blast sent volts of energy rippling throughout Saint's body, causing him to grunt with pain as he fell to his knees. Leaving him momentarily vulnerable. If the heroes were going to turn the tables, it was now or never.

Meanwhile, the girl in the butterfly shirt continued to watch the battle from a distance. Up to this point, the battle had largely been in the Saint's favor, but now it seemed as though there was a chance to turn the tides. And yet, something seemed off. She could sense a great power within Saint, even with his abilities momentarily weakened. Of the nature of that power, she still couldn't say. Not without getting closer. But from what she could tell, he had barely used any of it. And it wasn't just his power output. Part of her hoped she was wrong, but there was a fair chance he possessed powers and abilities that he was just waiting to use.

Of course, the other part of her hoped she was right. Wouldn't be as fun if he was a wuss.

But with all that said, it was time. Her senses were finally telling her to get her ass in gear. That soon, she would be needed. And that she'd really be able to cut loose. Part of her barely wanted anything to do with it. This entire thing was a nuisance, albeit one that needed to be dealt with before anyone else got hurt. The sooner it was taken care of, the better.

And the other part couldn't have been happier.

Regardless, she needed to move. With one yellow flash from her eyes, she was surrounded by a dark vortex. And when the smoke cleared, she was nowhere to be seen. One could only hope she'd make it before anyone else got kneed in their unmentionables.

Edited by kkhohoho on Dec 14th 2019 at 11:19:41 AM