AKA Nixer
Holiday – Foundation Ruins (Squad 2)
“YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT!”
Only the sound of screaming air forewarned Holiday's almost supersonic intercept. Fist first she shot forward; no attempts at pulling her punch left in her. It was a strike with all her physical might and momentum—one that if successful in impact would likely rock the very earth beneath them under strain. The blowback from her movement was enough to induce cutting winds. And her face was ferocious now—after recovering from the blast, she was in no way letting up.
If the strike had managed to hit, she would attempt another with her off hand directly to Messiah's throat. Unlike before, she wouldn't bother in lessening the strength behind it. She honestly couldn't care less at this point.
Sleep, Martin. And cease.
bork
Viv-Aboard Liam's Ship
Vivian rolled her eyes as she effortlessly dodged blades and bolts. The Thopters were annoying, no doubt, and at one point might have been a challenge. That was before she'd died. Nowadays, they were just a nice warm-up.
Crushing another little bot in her reinforced gloves, Viv wondered if Ma/Son was doing all right. Liam was very annoying and a sick bastard, but she had faith that her classmate could handle whatever was going to be dished out. Then she saw the growing bubble of light out of the side of her eye.
Uh oh. THAT doesn't look good. The deck beneath her feet rocked and shook as if it was going to fall apart, and she felt small explosions race through it. Ducking behind a bulkhead, she hoped the flagship could survive the blast. What the shiny bedazzled f*ck was that?
Three more Thopters were buzzing in for the kill. Viv snapped out an easy kick for one, then flung its parts into the other two. Her quick steps led her deeper into the ship. Faith in her teammates was one thing, but she'd bet he wouldn't object to a little backup. And besides, maybe she could find out more about her other self.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Squad 2
Ryuu couldn't say much as the gravity itself turned against him. He growled as he looked at Martin. He could barely turn his head.
"Time for some plan, isn't it?" He got out. Of course, Holiday attacking seemed to draw his attention. If he only could...
Ryuu focused all his will to push the air away from Messiah. He didn't know if the guy needed to breathe, but if they could get an opening...
Guys, take advantage of this one
Wake me up at your own risk.
Mason vs Liam
"Well." Liam noted dryly as he walked down a large pair of staircases leading up to a podium device at the center of the room. Mason actually made it through the hallway and didn't get fried to pieces. What a surprise.
"Welcome...to the Plant Room. It's where you'll be spending the rest of your life, however long that ends up being."
Mason now in the room would be able to see that there were innumerable large tear drop shaped light blue devices seeming to be planted in the wall and connected to odd "vines" leading up and out of the room. The Plants seemed totally translucent - but Mason might be able to see it looked like there were slim objects in a few of them.
Liam shook his head and pressed a button on his wrist, forming a barrier at the hallway entrance. "Now, just in case we have any other guests...I want them to see, but not be able to help, you in your circumstances..."
The ceiling opened up, and a pair of robots suddenly leaped down, one seemingly made of gold and silver armor, the other dark red and silver. Both had a somewhat insectile look to them, a mono-eye visor present at the head, which seemed to somewhat resemble Liam's thopters in design.
The red one seemed slightly heavier armored than the gold one.
Breath of the Sun
Squad 1 - Vs Messiah - Nariko
Even as Holiday was moving for the intercept, Marcus was already gone. Not because he'd moved, but because Nariko had dashed in, awkwardly picked him up, and pulled him out of the path of Messiah's attack. All within an instant.
She was actually breathing heavy, from the exertion. Carrying someone while using her speed was always much harder than moving by herself, especially when she pushed herself like that.
"You okay, baby?" Nariko managed, as she set him down. He was taller and bulkier than her, so the carry had probably been uncomfortable for him. "Sorry if that was rough. I kind of panicked. But I'm here now; Evil Sam is down."
She extended her tail blade, flicking her tail through the air. Her face was grim but determined. "I don't think I'll be able to hurt him, but I can at least pull you guys out of the way. I'm not gonna just stand by while you guys risk your lives fighting this monster."
Warpath - Vs Liam - Mikael
As Mason charged further into Liam's fortress, Mikael stood fast.
He swapped his RPG for a pair of oversized knives, to conserve on energy. No need to make more bullets when simply smashing these things would do.
"Let's rock!" His knives ignited, becoming searing blades as he rocketed towards the nearest thopter with a beat of his wings, slicing it in twain as he past, before kicking off another thopter - destroying it in the process - and bouncing back into the fray.
He began to hack and slash through the thopter hordes, attempting to draw their attention entirely on him as Vivian went to Mason's aid.
Warpath - With Sam - Ellie
As Sam fell unconscious in her arms, Ellie could only sigh.
"What am I going to do with you?" She smiled, stroking Sam's hair. "Let's get you somewhere safe."
Taking wing and with a surge of energy, she vanished in a crackle of lightning, bringing Sam to the safety of the Abyss.
Edited by kagescorpionakki on Mar 17th 2020 at 11:57:05 AM
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Foundation Ruins
Messiah had been so intent on smashing Marcus to bits that he failed to notice Holiday rocketing towards him in full force. The result was like two train bullets bouncing off of each other midshot. Holiday was sent flying through the nearest building, while Messiah was sent careening through a church, landing at the foot of a statue of Jesus Christ himself. This also had the effect of breaking his concentration enough to free Marcus and the others. Not that he noticed.
Nor did he notice the irony. By now, nearly all thoughts of righting the world, of creating a glorious paradise had vanished from his mind. All he cared about was annihilating those infernal gnats that had made him hurt.
He let loose a howl of righteous fury, unleashing a blast of energy and reducing the entire church to rubble before letting it consolidate into an golden aura. Nearly everyone could sense the sheer power that it radiated. He soared above the heroes before hovering in mid-air, his gaze filled with nothing but sheer contempt.
"I tried to be merciful. I tried to give you a chance. A chance to acknowledge the futility of your struggle. But instead? You hurt me. No-one has ever hurt me. No-one has ever dared! NO-ONE... no-one..."
He took a deep breath. Couldn't let this get to him. He was better than that. Better than them. He had to be. "As I said. No-one has ever hurt me. So that was your first and last mistake." He let loose a barrage of golden fireballs, each one with enough raw power to level a mountain. And yet, if one looked closely, they would notice one very important thing.
He was sweating.
Perhaps they had a chance after all.
AKA Nixer
Holiday – Squad 2
Holiday was literally smoking as she crawled her way out from the apartment block she had crashed into. She was glad she hadn't ended up in a children's orphanage, at least. If not for principle alone. She wanted to preserve at least some reputation after this.
Key word being some. She was like an inhuman, decrepit creature as she stood at an odd angle out from the wreckage, trudging steadily towards where the self-proclaimed Messiah had been decked. And promptly barked with laughter as she saw where he'd ended up. Though the ensuing destruction of the church behind him snapped her back into focus.
She had the expression of a deranged animal—far removed from her usual demeanour. Nitram was sweating. Strain. Weakness. A chance. She hit her metallic chest with her fist, standing up straight as she roared out loud to her allies and ran quick algorithms for the trajectory of the blasts heading their way.
“CRUSH HIM INTO PULP!”
...Perhaps she was overeager. But she didn't delay. She crouched down and leapt, uncaring of the fireball she was going to be crashing into. Or through. She hoped. Her drones ejected and promptly aimed to flee the area just as a precaution. The energy output was ridiculous. But she'd been built for this. She could power through. She had to. Surely.
Even if it was for one last hit.
She was beelining. Pure power. No tricks. It may have been her last mistake. In this iteration anyway. She didn't particularly care. She was kicking into overdrive even as her external layers melted into slag or just plain evaporated from the sheer radiant heat. Even before she'd fully reached the fireball itself she was little more than a grotesquely grimacing endoskeleton. She prayed that she'd even make it through to hit him.
She could be rebuilt. Her allies could not. Even if she failed she'd delay at least for a second. They'd work it out. She trusted them. They wouldn't let their world fall to a chump playing God.
She wouldn't be doing this otherwise.
Edited by Enirboreh on Mar 18th 2020 at 12:08:25 PM
bork
Up on Melancholy hill.
Zach
Zach found the gravity was more than enough to keep him down and out for a moment, forced down to his hands and knees with no chance of coming back from this-
And then Holiday came in and decked him in the face and he had to admit, that sight alone he would have paid for admission ten times over.
The gravity no longer keeping him down, he picked himself up and his body flickered, adjusting any straight visible slights the sudden shift of gravity had done on him, and he immediately rushed off after Holiday since, hell, she seemed to be more in control of this than even he thought she would.
The destruction of the church was ironic and Holiday's ragged appearance was frightening but god help her, she was still going, and she was still barking commands with ADMITTEDLY some worrisome bloodlust but honestly with the current situation? It was warranted.
So when that screeching demand of crushing to a pulp came through the roar of the golden fireballs, he couldn't exactly just not.
His form turned black and he rushed forward, slipping into various puddles and shapes in order to avoid the various barrage of fireballs cause he could tell that despite his durability that would incinerate him in seconds. And once he was close enough after melting into a puddle on the ground and barely managing to avoid a fireball (But not without some tail end damage, that stung like fuck), he erupted from his puddle, a humanoid abomination of ink-
And dipped immediately to the side. He brought both hands together and held them above his head where in a blink of an eye, they combined into an impressive sized hammer headed mallet, about the size of a car and swung it behind him.
Either this would distract him enough to let Holiday get another blow, or they would effectively sandwich him between an almost literal rock and a hard place.
Either way, it was gonna be great.
Ma/Son
"You're a weasely little fuck, you know that right?" The Dark Half asked with a little bitter glare, the booming sound of the strange machines from behind giving him a touch of worried energy, not so much for him, but for his friends should they have shown up to help.
"Ignore them, our target is straight ahead. Now, I believe that using the Earth Chip would be beneficial. It adds extra defenses on top of everything and we would be able to get close to him and-"
And before he could finish that sentence, his body erupted into fire, and he was standing there in his fire armor. Before he had a chance to fight back, Ma/Son shouted and charged forward, fire trailing behind him as he beelined for Liam, much to the sputtering shock of his light half.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHAT ABOUT THE PLAN!?"
"I'M ENDING THIS BEFORE HE GETS OUR FRIENDS HURT!" He shouted, the flames kicking up at his heels as he twisted his body and aimed a kick directly at his neck.
This was...not going to go the way he wanted to, he could tell.
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
IW - M3 Model Vac-O-Matic 2021
"Oh, more terrifying than me? To be fair though," She took a moment to pinpoint each of her other allies and appreciate Nitram's burn from here. "I haven't forgotten how well you're made to f*ck me." Jacqueline had better appreciate that one.
More seriously, Mahvash had to gather and destroy a plume of radioactive material that would make the city uninhabitable, keep Holiday alive and remind her that frontal assault is not on the list of the Thirty Six Strategems, and support the rest of the team who at least weren't currently suicidal. Through a heavenly firestorm. Hahahahaha. Oh, and enforce her claim to this bit of turf.
"Dearest," she told Martin, quickly sprouting wings and trailing aura. "Could we separate Nitram from Love? I mean we have to keep a literal hard head alive and keep the city from becoming Pripyat Jr. right this moment, but give me your thoughts. I did do something similar before with Rosalinda." Left unsaid was that whatever worked on Nitram could be turned on Martin, but after she found it, well they would patch the vulnerability. Or at least be aware of it.
Mahvash made a darting, far less graceful than usual flight to a nice height at an angle from both Holiday and Zachariah. Incoming, severe air pressure. Watch your breathing and your surroundings for debris. She 'broadcasted' the brief warning to her allies and then... "I see your firestorm, dear Nitram, and I raise you cosmic vacuum."
It looked simple, she erased a sphere of spacetime between her hands and kept it gone. And the hole growing. Air and space itself sucked into the empty sphere along with radioactive debris, and the vacuum would put alot of drag on the fireballs that weren't just pulled around her allies. Mahvash might have trouble weaving a whirlwind around all this fire, but she could certainly let physics do it for her. While it meant pulling more fire in her direction and being an obvious target in the middle of an unsubtle windstorm, it just meant it took the responsibility of dodging off of Holiday, who wasn't capable at the moment.
Fire at will would work for the rest, for now. Or well, 'CRUSH HIM INTO PULP!'. Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Surrounded by weirdoes
Squad 2
Ryuu could use the distraction to get up again. And as he could tell, the heretic was trying to fry them.
Mahvash arriving and making a weird void, made him think.
"Thinking what I am thinking?"
"Is it dangerous, stupid and poorly thought out?"
"You know it"'
Making a pose, he shot himself forward feet first, spinning like a drill, using the wind to take as many flames as he could. It was like a flaming tornado.
"Eat this!"
That'll probably hurt like hell later, but he needs to work hard to even have a 'later'.
Wake me up at your own risk.
I.W.-Martin
Martin closed his eyes and considered Mahvash's question, running through the possibilities and giving a small sigh. "There is one thing, but its going to be a bit more difficult then it sounds. The power we gained from Love comes at a price, nothing is ever totally for free in this world after all." he put a hand against his chest, a small light appearing over his body. "We need to know we are right, thats how this works. Most gods don't do much self reflection, even when faced with something caused by their own power they just destroy it or ignore it and leave it for someone else. In other words, we need to show him beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is wrong, in a way that he can't deny. And then force him to accept that fact."
It would be easier just to kill him, that was what went unsaid. Martin knew how stubborn he could be, even if the world was set aflame so long as there was even a minor bit of hope he could save a single person he would walk through it in order to do so. Even through he was a different being all together he was sure that in a twisted way Messiah thought the same thing. "If we could prove what he wanted was impossible, or that at the very least he can't do it, his power will be reduced enough to beat him."
Marcus + Nariko
Just when it seemed that he was being locked into place for that demented dictator to just rocket right at, Marcus was in movement...and he looked up to see Nariko holding on to him and bringing him out of the line of impact. If worst came to worst, he'd had an idea to use his proximity telekinesis against Messiah, but he doubted on looking back that such would work very well.
And he wasn't in much of a mood to end up with more scars and wounds.
"Thanks babe, I'm fine." Marcus dusted himself off, "It seems the bastard is using some of Cole's powers or something. Couldn't move there on my own..."
He looked back at where the action was going on and heard Holiday's declaration...and honestly, he agreed. With the kind of damage Messiah was doing around here, he'd need to fight to kill the guy. And these recent events gave Marcus an idea.
Whispering to Nariko, he said, "I've got something. I think. Cole's tutored me a bit. And I can really affect things close by me, or that I touch. If you can help the others distract Messiah and make him really expend his power outside of himself, I can go in and snap his goddamned back like a twig."
Liam just nodded and said, "Comes with the territory it seems. Keep in mind, weasels are known for killing much larger animals. If I'm a weasel, you're the rabbit whose neck I'm gonna crack. But enough metaphors, it seems."
As Mason rocketed right for him, there was an opposing blur as the bright gold and silver robot intercepted Mason's strike and held it in place. The machine slowly looked at Mason, and it would become clear its body had some kind of forcefield tight to its chassis.
Then the dark red and silver one darted in and readied its own arm, a large number of glowing blue circles proceeding down its arm to its clenched fist lighting up...and then it threw a punch right at the center of Mason's back, with an overwhelming force.
Liam didn't even move, simply checking and looking around.
The Plants were glowing brighter than before, and seemed to churn oddly enough. It would be clear there were...things inside of the Plants. Possibly.
Vivian-Liam's Airship
As she edged through a narrow service corridor, Vivian pondered what their next step might be here. After all, they couldn't very well let him get away. All of these insane bastards had to die if that other world was to have a chance, right? And they didn't need another threat lurking around. Hell, she'd just gotten reports that a big ship with the words LL was buzzing about, which surely filled everyone's hearts with warm fuzzy feelings.
More Thopters and grunts tried to stop her and met the same fate as the others. Two more just ran and she did not pursue. It was a damned weird situation. Another big room. Maybe a power room? No, a workshop. Pieces of robots and Thopters. On a nearby monitor she had a glimpse of Liam, Mas/Son and two weird 'bots in some kind of confrontation.
Turning about, Vivian made her way towards their location at top speed. She knew Ma/Son had to be Liam on his own, but three on one just seemed unfair. As she ran, she did her best to keep Mikael abreast of everything And hey, if the bad guys could cheat.....
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
IW - 𝅘𝅥𝅮You Got What You Wanted... But You Lost What You Had𝅘𝅥𝅮
"...Ouch." Mahvash put a hand over her own where-a-heart-would be, pouting excessively even as she knew Martin would not see it. "Nothing is ever 'right', dearest," she sent her voice softly. "And the tulpas that run around this planet can't self-reflect any more than purpose built robots can. As for us..." She briefly dissolved into laughter. "We'd be extinct if that was our weakness. Being wrong is deadly but it happened. Alot. See Iran. And we had to be. There are other forces trying to steer fate and none of us is human. If he can't accept and work with being wrong than he's fantasizing not divinity."
"The not human thing is important. Remember how many in your old squad rejected those gods' heaven?" She held her void, scanning the field and feeling between Holiday and Nitram in the chaos. "We satisfice and enjoy our flesh and bone collection today and the next day and can plan the future. We have time. Until we don't. Grand sweeping reality warp fever dreams happening right now is a human thing."
"And we're very replaceable. There's no happy ever after because our time scale isn't decades. And the challenges are still there. And even if there were chosen ones that decided the fate of universes more so than random rocks in space, the chief sent me to Shirin. I'm kind of committed."
She tilted her head. "Oh look at me going off topic. Just let Nitram actually go back through Love's experiences. I mean actually experience her work. He's in way over his head. Like all of us. And working toward the opposite of his goal. Like some of us. And could not handle his responsibility and took refuge in a fantasy future unlike you. Love better have had experiences on that."
PS: If you tell any of the kids I said any of that, I'll summon a cloud that will follow you without a break and rain blood and toads for a week. But no lightning, dearest. Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Martin-I.W.
Martin listened carefully to Mahvash, absorbing everything she was saying and couldn't help but feel the need to laugh. She was right, after all despite his own view of the world he had come to accept all of the mistakes he made. Moving on his own in heaven, not trying to actually talk to Mikeal and save whatever friendship they had, the incident with the Gaea centers that should have been handled more delicately, so many times where he assumed he was in the right only to be brought down to cruel reality. He wasn't perfect, that was just the way of things.
And that in and of itself gave him an idea, just slightly modified of Mahvash's own suggestion. "I have a very stupid idea, but you will have to get me close enough to touch him. Then I'm going to shove my memories down his throat." every detail of what happened after the Gaea fight was different in his reality, but it wouldn't matter. Messiah would have only bothered to view the world from his own perspective, creating a perfect world where he could never fail. To see time and again how often Martin had failed, how often he could fail would allow others to drive that small bit of doubt in. And a small bit of doubt was all that they would need.
"After that, well honestly I don't know what will happen. But I would put money on him being open for a takedown."
Foundation Ruins
Messiah kept on hurling fireballs like it was going out of style, only stopping once he realized they were being sucked into some sort of vortex. This also had the effect of sucking in Ryu's winds and making his valiant attack moot, but that was a small price to pay for rendering Messiah's assault null and void. He was so stunned that he almost didn't notice Holiday and Zach coming at him from opposite sides for a pincer attack.
Almost.
He let out another blast of gravity, slamming Holiday and Zach to the ground. But from the way he was pressing his temples, it was clearly something of a strain. With any luck, that was all he could do.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on their side.
"You know, I've tried. Tried to be lenient. Tried to be merciful. But you simply refuse to give in. So." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. As if preparing himself for one final mighty salvo. "Time to end this."
He opened them, his eyes flashing a bright grey, ready to bring this to an end.
And that's when the Saint made his move.
He knew what Messiah was going to do. Knew what he was capable of. Knew that if he didn't act now, they were finished. So he did the only thing he could. Summoning all his strength, hand outstretched, screaming at the top of his lungs, he rocketed towards Messiah with everything he had.
Only to be stopped stone dead in his tracks.
Literally.
He had managed to get within a hair's breath of Messiah's face, trying his best to cover it and prevent his gaze from falling upon anyone else. And in a way, it worked. Having gotten so close so quickly, the Saint was the only thing he could see.
And so it was only the Saint that fell to the hard concrete below. Smashing into a million pieces like candy.
Even Messiah was shocked. Not that he had any pity for him. Nor did he mourn for the man. The days he worshipped him or anyone else like a God were long behind him.
And yet.
He had cost him. Cost him complete and absolute victory in one stroke. He could had ended it right there. Turned everyone and everything into stone and smash it all to rubble. But the Saint had cost him that. And it was such a powerful ability, such a mighty feat that he could only use it once before having to wait a whole other day to use it again.
He. Had. COST HIM.
He had had enough. His eyes glowing red, he set his sights on the nearest living thing he could find and rocketed towards it, intent on smashing it to a pulp.
And that just happened to be Martin.
AKA Nixer
Holiday – Foundation Ruins
Holiday barely registered the change in her velocity until she'd actually impacted with the ground. She initially rebounded, but the gravity immediately smashed her back into place—the charred remains of her external layers shattering like porcelain as even some of the more fragile sections of her endoskeleton cracked and disintegrated. She tried with all her might to lift her head, but she could feel her mechanical muscles snapping strand by individual strand like rubber bands under stress. She couldn't move an inch. And she knew that Zach was in the same situation.
At least the drones had evacuated. Though not exactly far by this point Messiah seemed to be too distracted to even care. He wanted them all dead. Saint was now scattered rubble intermingled with the dust and ruin already present. She didn't know what to feel.
Hatred?
She already hated him.
Anger?
She was already angry.
Failure.
They hadn't failed yet.
Martin was being targeted. She prayed that he had something planned. She at least took comfort in the fact that she'd fought with all of her power and desperation. In the end, she'd been a great distraction.
So why did she keep clawing forward?
Her arms were failing—her HUD wouldn't shut up about it. Every lift was less than a millimetre, and the actual distance she coveted with each weak pull was abysmal. She'd never make it in time. Even if her processor was going into overdrive, rapid calculations meant nothing if she wasn't fast enough. It was all on him.
She left it to him.
They'd do it.
They'd win.
Something wet was dragged out from the corner of her eyes, and she felt the urge to smile for some reason. Eventually, she let herself fall completely limp.
She felt her spinal column creaking under strain.
Everything would be fine.
Edited by Enirboreh on Mar 28th 2020 at 3:51:33 PM
bork
Breath of the Sun
Squad 1 - Vs Messiah - Nariko
Nariko's ear twitched as Marcus whispered into it. She nodded, and her determined expression didn't waver. Even as, in the distance, Mahvash sucked up Messiah's oversized fireballs.
"Can do." She tensed her legs.
She dashed towards Messiah, but too late - he was already charging something. She readied a kunai to fling at Messiah's eyes (not that it would probably do anything), but in that instant, the Saint was somehow even faster, jumping in front of the attack.
And it killed him.
Nariko backpedaled purely on instinct, her mind pausing for a moment to understand what had just happened. Another Saint was dead. Was that just his fate? Was that what happened to those who stood for hope?
...No. She told herself. She realized, shortly after, that Messiah wasn't using the attack again. And he was sweating. That Saint sacrificed himself to stop that. He may have been a monster in his world, but I won't let that sacrifice be in vain.
She was moving again. Messiah was close enough now that Nariko doubted she could pull Martin out of the way in time, but she was just fast enough to cut across Messiah's path, flinging several kunai at him in the process. Though she couldn't throw them hard enough to hurt him, there was the possibility that Messiah might hurt himself by running into them at full speed.
At the very least, it would serve as a distraction for Marky. To that end, she circled around, drawing more kunai and preparing to throw once the dust cleared between Martin and Messiah.
Edited by kagescorpionakki on Mar 28th 2020 at 12:32:44 PM
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
I.W.-Martin
Martin turned to face Messiah as he pushed forward, his eyes hardening. Saint's death, all of the other people he had killed, this was going to end here and now. "If this doesn't work, its been the best part of my life," he flashed Mahvash a smile and encircled the area around himself and Messiah with pure white flames, preparing for the big hit. So much had changed since the day he first walked down this road. The people he met, the friends he had gained, the losses he suffered, each and every point of his history, the trails that had got him to this point. It wasn't for nothing, after all.
So long as you can save one more life, a heroes job isn't done.
"One Hundred Percent Divinity: Union" his body glowed white for a moment, the sheer force of the divinity given to him by Love all that time ago focused into his fist. This one attack would force feed his memories and life right down Messiah's throat, beyond a shadow of a doubt fusing their experiences. At its heart real love was about connecting two people past any point, but that also came with risks. But he would accept the price after paying for the service.
With one foot slamming into the ground beneath him Martin reared back and met Messiah's charge with his fist.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Squad 2
Ryuu could only hold on to all that happened. Even when his body told him to move, he couldn't do much at this point.
So, when the Saint came and stopped them from turning into stone, and breaking on the ground, he couldn't move. Ryuu for a moment felt like a ton of bricks, and when he realized what was going on, the bastard was going to attack Martin, who seemed to have something ready for him.
Ryuu knew that there was not much he could do right now beyond trust Martin, but he tossed his coat over the remains of the Saint, and tried to aim higher with his wind. Maybe a bit of lightning could help, but that needed to be done discretely. It'll take time to set it up, so it's all up to the team now.
Please, survive
Wake me up at your own risk.
Foundation Ruins
Messiah didn't let up even as he saw Martin meeting his attack head-on. He stretched out his fist, putting every single iota of strength he had into one mighty strike. Against anybody else, it would have shattered every bone in their body. Not that Martin was anybody else.
Whatever. He didn't care. All he cared about was turning every single imbecile who dared stand against him into paste. Starting with him.
And then it happened.
Suddenly, a wave of power surged through his body, almost like an electric current. It flowed through him, flooding him with emotions that he hadn't felt for the longest time. Of sadness. Of loss. Of hope, of kindness, of pure and overwhelming happiness. All things he had either done away with or hadn't had the privilege of encountering again.
And then came the memories. Memories flooded through his mind. Memories of another life. A life he could have experienced first hand if he chose another path. A life of fulfillment. A life of joy. And a life of failure. Of failing to save everyone he wanted to save. Of not being there for everyone who needed him. Of not being able to do enough.
And none of that meant a damn.
His eyes flashed like burning flames of indigo. A blast of wind erupted from his fist, severing the connection and slamming Martin against the nearest building. Which also blew away Nariko's knives in the process.
Not that Messiah was faring better. He was standing, but only just. He was ragged and winded despite barely having a scratch on him. He held his shoulder, as though his arm was burning in agony. And yet, none of that deterred him.
"YOU THINK I HAVEN'T FAILED?! OF COURSE I'VE FAILED! Why do you think I'm doing all this!? You think there aren't those I couldn't save!? That I haven't made any mistakes!? That there's nothing I regret? Of course there is! I do what I do so that I'll never fail again! So that I can create a world without failure! Where the word 'failure' doesn't even exist! I won't pretend as though I haven't caused innocents to suffer, but the end justifies the means! And the means justifies the intent! And my intent is completely and utterly pure. And that is why I am just. And What could you possibly say or do that could make me doubt that for a moment?"
At this point, it was clear that Martin's plan wasn't working as he intended. But that didn't mean it was a failure. He may not have been able to take him down, but he'd still weakened him. And even if he hadn't made him doubt himself, he had still lowered his guard.
Perhaps they had a chance after all.
Edited by kkhohoho on Mar 31st 2020 at 6:03:06 AM
Marcus - Squad 1
Gotta take advantage of this distraction!
Nariko and now Martin had provided a lot of distraction against Messiah, and while Marcus was leaping around, building up momentum and force, he saw what became of the Anti-Saint. He wished he could mourn, wished he could bring himself to say something, but...he had bigger things to worry about. He had a whole damn self proclaimed messiah to take down.
The method that Martin evidently hoped to use to talk down Messiah had not worked at all, and now it seemed he was whipping up a storm against Martin...
...But it seemed the attack had weakened him, battered him down. Maybe now they had a chance. Maybe now...he had a chance. All the while Messiah was focused in on Martin, Marcus built up an insane amount of force, using both his innate superpowers, and the amplification from his new psionic powers.
He jetted in, taking the opening Martin had provided.
Throwing literally every single piece of rage, determination and force into his attack, Marcus struck - willing with his psionic powers for Messiah's whole being to break asunder, pouring enough effort into his powers that Marcus knew he was going to be having the mother of all psychic nosebleeds after this exertion.
With all that behind his coming kick, Marcus struck at Messiah's back from the side, aiming to sever him to pieces. Power thrumming through his leg and giving it almost a sheath of hostile, severing, sundering energy. Marcus felt a burning sensation throughout himself from exerting it this far.
But it would be worth it. He needed to win this! He could deal with it afterwards. After Messiah's damned invasion was done!!
Foundation Ruins
If it had been any other day of the week, Messiah would have seen it coming. If it had been an hour earlier, he would have seen it coming. If it had even been half a minute earlier, he would have seen it fucking coming.
But now? Now he was furious. Now he distraught. Now he was spent. And now, he was vulnerable.
He didn't so much as scream. Didn't shout. Didn't fight back. Because he didn't have the chance. Instead, Marcus did exactly what he set out to do. And Messiah was sundered and split into a million little pieces like a bussaw on turbo.
Just like that, it was over.
AKA Nixer
Holiday – Foundation Ruins
...It was over.
Holiday's broken body slumped once it had fully registered in her head. They'd done it. She could detect no further life signs from Messiah. Or rather, his remains. After a painstaking struggle, they'd finally managed to overcome him—Marcus throwing the final punch and obliterating him in an instant.
Her motors screamed in protest as she forced herself up into a kneeling position, no longer forced down by the false god's gravity. She looked like little more than a skeleton. Her core housing was exposed; a little dented but thankfully not breached. Nearly all of her stored items had been ejected to conserve weight, revealing just how spindly her actual frame and electronics were. Her black, fibrous muscles were ripped and torn in places, and she doubted she could stand up. Only one of her grey eyes remained dangling limply on a loose cable outside of its socket; the red retinas of her optical sensors visible as occasionally flickering lights.
She didn't move much.
Gears were clicking away in her head as she stared blankly into space, reviewing the most recent events. No expression crossed her skinless face—it was as if she'd returned to a state of pure machinery and logic. After what felt like an age, she looked up—staring at the scattered remains of Messiah with an unreadable look in her eye.
Then to the dust and rubble that once was the other Saint. He'd died a hero after all, sacrificing his life for them. She felt proud. Honoured. But it still didn't reach her face.
Finally, she turned to her allies, to which her expression finally softened into something recognizably satisfied. Saddened, somewhat. But at least relishing in their wellbeing.
The remaining scraps of muscle around her lips twitched, before she deployed her remaining weapon from her right arm with a resounding clack.
“Mission accomplished.”
And with only a shuddering of her arm to act as warning, the barrel of her gun was suddenly turned around so as to press itself deliberately beneath her chin.
Edited by Enirboreh on Mar 31st 2020 at 3:52:05 PM
bork
Foundation Ruins
Messiah breathed in the irradiated air as it slowly cleared, gradually revealing the charred remains of the city block as it lifted like a veil. Any buildings still standing were reduced to rubble. And everything else had been charred to a crisp. And if the sheer force of the blast hadn't already decimated every speck of life caught in its wake, the fallout would.
He took a deep breath as he gazed upon his wonders. It was hard to tell, but he was sure he'd gotten all of them in one stroke. Even the Saint wouldn't have been able to survive such a blast that close. Of course, his corpse was nowhere to be seen, but...
Wait. Where was his corpse? There should have been a corpse! The smoke was making it hard to see, but he'd been close enough it shouldn't have mattered. Except now he was gone. Which meant either he miraculously survived the blast, or it never touched him in the first place.
His eye began to twitch. First these maggots had dared to lay a finger on him, to harm him, and now one of the only beings who could take him in a fair fight was loose. He almost had a mind to unleash another blast if he hadn't already blown his reserves a minute ago. As soon as he found him and those other insects, he'd make them pay for all the indignities they had made him suffer.
And then Marcus smashed him in the face.
In a rare act of complacency, he'd been so lost in thought that he couldn't hear the march of footsteps trudging through the mushroom cloud, charging towards him until he smashed him clean through a building. The building already weakened by the blast, it caved in, toppling over Marcus like a Jenga puzzle.
There was a moment where it seemed like that was enough, but of course, it was just the start. A clenched fist shot out of the rubble before it was cleared away in a small burst. Messiah was still there, still standing. But it was about all he could take with popping a gasket. "Alright, that's—"
Before he could say another word, Ryuu unleashed his own corkscrew punch and blasted him through yet another building. More collapsing, more jenga, more Messiah being completely and totally done. "THAT IS—''"
And then Zach tossed a bunch of razer-sharp spikes right in his back. He hunched over and gasped from the pain. He cursed himself for not getting a force-field up in time, though it was hard to defend against something he couldn't see. Not that it mattered.
"ENOUGH!" For a brief moment, the winds around Messiah seemed to cease, briefly coming to a halt before he exploded in a burst of energy. His eyes gleamed with a golden sheen, and suddenly Marky, Ryuu, and Zach were all held down by an incredible force of gravity.
"THIS. ENDS."
He glared at Marky, his eyes filled with a deathly cold fury. And then, hovering into the air, fist outstretched, he flung himself at him like a missile.
Edited by kkhohoho on Mar 14th 2020 at 11:00:06 AM