A series of bullets shot around Atsuko's body, but none were as damaging as the one that went straight into her eye, knocking her head backwards with the force of the impact... and that part of her head almost exploded outwards as a dozen eyeballs, three tiny hands, and ten pounds of oozing flesh surrounded the injury site, looking for all the world like some kind of completely out-of-control growth. There was no sense or reason or form - a part that popped up one second was gone.
As her head snapped back downwards, the tendrils withered and vanished since the hostages had gotten clear... and her good eye fixated on the figure that had shot her. There was no thrumming in the air, no glow of power or bolt of light... just pure willpower, focused on her enemy and determined to make him stop threatening people.
"Ah, it seems you've chosen the foolish route. So be it." and he follows that up with a blast o psychokinetic energy at one of the ones who isn't being targeted yet.
The knife jams itself into the shoulder of the sniper. You can tell, even from here, that he's on his last leg, about to go down.
The man's face goes pale white, his eyes dead straight as his body goes limp. The man Atsuko aimed her will at lost his own nerve, his gun fell to the floor and ducking into a form of vegatative surrender.
The Ravager's blow whips past the lucky gunman. There was a wild, fear-induced look in his eyes as he raised his gun and fired, point-blank range.
The psychokinetic blast clips the man in the side, spinning him around in a loop, he trips, smacking his head against the marble fountain. One more out.
Two men aim their weapons, firing at Felix.
And another at the Doctor.
The sight of Atsuko being shot in the face like she had before, and then what happened after was somehow both fascinating and frightening beyond measure. The vision granted by the inialtizer allowed her to see it from all angles, which dosn't help any matters. Neither does the fact that her stupid brain will remember how that looked forever. She could already feel the nightmares coming on. A gun going off in front of her brings her back to reality, luckily.
From the gunman's perspective, the bullet obviously sticks, in fact it'd likely have been an almost fatal blow to most people. But in this case, the bullet just... falls off. Right onto his face, as she bears town on him. A tingling fear beyond what he's felt already starts to crawl up his spine as her voice comes out in a deep hiss. 'I'm really sorry about this... Uh, stay here!'
She only lightly scratches his face, but the whole area feels numb...
The twisting flesh on Atsuko's face subsided a few seconds after it began, leaving the girl looking like she had never been hurt at all once the last of the pus-filled swellings and extra eyeballs had gone away. She paused for just a moment to ensure that the man really had surrendered, before turning to one of the men firing at Felix and teleporting to a better position. A moment later, she sent a blast of willpower his way as well. These people had threatened innocents, and they needed to be stopped - not killed, not necessarily even hurt, just stopped before someone less durable than a hero got hit. She was here to protect people, but unfortunately, sometimes the best way to protect people was to take down the bad guys before they got the opportunity to hurt people... and these people were clearly willing to shoot to kill.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Felix was pretty sure his knife hit home, and it seemed as if the group was pushing through the initial attack. Still he had to be careful. One slip and...wait... was that a twenty on the ground?
Felix bends over to pick up the twenty as two bullets go through the space he was previously occupying.
Felix tosses another knife at the sniper if he's still active, or one of his shooters.
The doctor does not dodge the bullets. He simply lets them pass through his body without harm. "You need to shoot me better than that. Put some effort into it, boys!" Hopefully encouraging them will lead to them not choosing a target that can be harmed by this.
He will target the next in line with his telekinetic blast.
Over the comms, he'll say "This is too easy. Something is wrong."
The man Masumi struck with her paralysis freezes and falls in the ground like a sack-doll, still blinking, but limbs spasmed about in the throes of unconciousness.
Mimfferr fmffer!He mumbles.
The thug Masumi afflicts her will upon appears to have a quick brain aneurism before he falls to the ground, gripping at his temples.
The sniper takes one more to the shoulder, falling to the ground, barely moving.
Another thug drops to the ground with the blast. With that strike, the remaining robbers, noticing their highly trained leader is down, drop their weapons and raise their hands in the air. Three of them.
She lightly pat's the spazztastic man's shoulder. 'Thanks, I really didn't want to hurt you too badly...' While not moving her head, she takes a quick check around at the downed criminals to see if they'll be alright... or actually unconscious.
Felix peek over the car, he's been taking cover behind, the fresh twenty stashed in his pocket.
"Did we win?" he mutters over the coms.
"Everyone okay?"
Darkstorm comes out from being invisible his wound slightly healed
Atsuko panted slightly as the power of will was no longer being exerted upon their minds. It could be fatal if she kept it up, of course, but short bursts were easily survivable. As her pounding heartrate started to slow, she carefully looked over the area, checking to see if anyone else needed help... or if any more threats were about to rear up and call attention to themselves.
Doc, are you there?
The Phantom greets the group, still breathing heavily, but his posture straighter.
You did well. He looked to the inside of the bank.One man left. He muttered, meaning the sniper still inside the building.
Doc will fly up, searching for the sniper. As he does so, he's not particualrly trying to avoid getting hit.
Masumi, likely able to tell the man was faking his unconsciousness, has her suspicions confirmed by the Phantom. She suddenly lunges for the sniper, claws extended to swipe at a potential weak spot in his armor and distribute the paralytic venom.
Felix goes up to congratulate the others on a job well done. He also realizes that the twenty he found may have flown out of the bank that was being robbed and sheepishly slides it out of his pocket and back onto the ground.
"Ready to head back Phantom?" he asks, offering him his shoulder. "Unless there's clean-up we need to assist with.."
With a few quick hops to scope out the area first, Atsuko moved over to where the sniper had been, checked his vitals, then started dragging him out for the police to round up. She left his things where they were - the professionals could take care of that, and she knew better than to mess with crime scenes that way.
Before Atsuko could begin dragging out the snipers, he coughed out, laughing. You really did me in there, didn't you guys? He asked. You think... You think that's all? You've just assured your death... And mine. A blaze of glory, one last tango. He laughs harder. Just a... Just a matter of time, now.
"...I'm more worried about paying the bills." Atsuko noted. She did, however, convey his words to the others. It certainly wouldn't hurt to scan the place for signs of any, say, ticking time bombs.
"Uh-oh." he frowns at the Phantom. "We might have a bit of a bomb situation..."
Felix will start informing the police to begin vacating the area of spectators and pedestrians.
"Doc? Got a bomb detector on you? Or Darkstorm? Think you could try some flybys?"
"I don't think we have the time for me to whip something up." He says as he slips ingot he building and begins to search.
You hear something ticking underneath the sniper's body. :)
"Okay everybody, the bomb in under the sniper. Please get the civilians away. I'm going in." He sounds confident.
He will first lay down and shift the body to be able to see and feel the bomb. He s not going to pull all of the weight off until he's sure that there's no pressure detonator. And then he will disarm it.
[ooc]Compressed memory engrams half into perception and half into technology. Variable Neurology into enhanced intellect
Darkstorm perks up at the mention of a bomb. He stares quietly as Dr. Apocalypse tries to disarm it, ready to try and fly it out of the building before it explodes if the Doctor fails.
Atsuko waited... rather nervously as Dr. Apocalypse worked to disarm the device.
'A bomb‽ Wha-what if I throw it? Would that keep it from exploding?' She rambles mentally, though she keeps careful watch as Apocalypse works. What he was doing to that thing was clearly beyond her own skills, but maybe if she payed enough attention, she could learn something... It'd be memorized forever at least.
The bomb shuts out without a hitch. The sniper starts to laugh again. You guys, heroes, idiots. He said. You think that's it? He asked. You think you're heroes. He spat out blood on the floor, by the heroes feet. He knows you. He said.
And just like that, you hear an explosion, emanating from the police cars. Sirens sound. Screams sound off. Smoke rises.
'Oh no...' She hesitates for just a few moments, before launching herself directly into the fray. Her sight pierces through the smoke, and her alien lungs breath easily as she searches for the injured. She prioritizes those closest to the blast, scooping them up in her claws before laying them out of harms way.
For an instant, he knows just how easy it would be to silence this one forever. There are even more ways to put him into excruciating pain. These urges don't come from parts of his brain that made him act evilly before. Even as a hero there is the temptation to do this the easy way.
Instead he speaks to himself, "Note that the suspect showed awareness of the further explosions before the fact. Whatever plan his master is involved in, he's not seeing the fruits of it." He will head down to help, telekinetically carrying the suspect. It is in a way that avoids exacerbating his wounds, but due to the need for haste, there is no particular effort to avoid pain.
Even heroes have limits.
Darkstorm flies out fading through the wall to check out the explosion.
Atsuko didn't hesitate, teleporting straight over to the site of the explosion - heedless of the danger of any more bombs that might have been planted. Her goal right now was keeping people as safe as possible, either by disrupting devices or helping medical personnel as she could.
The Phantom aids you in getting the injured and the civiliansout of the area. The police cars leave with the perpetrators, and at the end, the Phantom looks to you.
Four officers and two civilians dead. Twelve more injured. He said. I assure you, all of you, there was no way that any of you could have known about that. You notice him still gripping at his side, a dark stain standing out even amidst the black of his outfit. We should... We should head back to base, quick. We've had a long day, all of us.
Felix is mostly silent on the way back, his usual chipper attitude a but dulled. He was fine after the incident with snipers, explosions, and armed gunmen. Completely fine. But people were hurt. Some had been killed. It felt off.
I got out without a scratch. But I don't feel very lucky tonight..."
She dosn't want to leave the injurred, hoping to instead help provide aid with her own meager skills. But the looks on those paramedics when she steps close instead make her turn away, and leap into the night. This was a disaster. A complete and utter disaster. This wasn't a bank heist, not a real one, no. It was act of terror, one that they executed almost perfectly.
The way she got shot tonight and at the docks, she thought that was the worst pain one could endure. But the bomb victims... The state of, just, everything... She knew that of the horrors she witnessed tonight, it wouldn't be Atsuko's regeneration she'd truly fear having to live with for the rest of her life. That crisp, clear imagery of how the victims look would always be there. That was real horror.
Ravager ends up the last one returning to base.
The Doctor makes sure that the sniper gets medical attention and will help with triage before heading home.
Rather than sticking around, Atsuko quietly made herself scarce, warping back to the base with her talents. This... wasn't the kind of event she really wanted to be associated with. Unfortunately, her talents didn't include the ability to heal others - and she had no training, either. To put it bluntly, she would only have been in the way... and while she felt a little guilty for that, there was really nothing she could have done. But... maybe... maybe she could learn to help others...
No music is playing at the base when you enter. Only the Phantom joins you in the room, his hand on his head.
I'm sorry, guys. He said. I feel useless. Had no idea what the hell was even going on. No one did. He looks over the group.
I have to go over with you on what today means. He said, his voice ragged. I'm hurt. Bad. I'm going to need a few weeks to recover, where I'll be of little use to you all. You'll be fighting this war against the Cardinal alone, and now we know he's willing to let collateral damage happen to make a point against us. It's not going to be easy, but today proved you can work as one. He slumps lower. I get the bad feeling, you'll need each and every one of you for the coming days.
Felix has already finished his thinking by the time they reached the base.
"There are certain rules that must be followed in order for good and evil to coexist, in any capacity. Dragging in civilians and the police like this is a challenge of the highest order, one that must be met with just as much ferocity. I'll be sticking around to see the scales are tipped back into place. Besides..."
Felix gives a half smirk.
"My folks would put me in the gallows if I let some small-time gangster insult the Capricornious name and get away with it."
We will take this guy down, but we should strategize. I say this because I'm used to working alone, and have no idea what you guys are all capable of. If we can get a team structure in place and come up with a plan this should be a piece of cake.
It doesn't take a genius to see that Darkstorm is on the edge of going after Cardinal on his own. His hands are clenched in fists, his eyes are visible glowing with bio-energy, and he looks ready to attack.
Atsuko looked at Darkstorm for a few moments, then quietly slid a little further away. She wasn't too worried about being hurt - not the way her body worked - but it wasn't like she enjoyed pain. She looked towards Felix a moment later, dithering over whether or not she should actually speak up... then sighed. "Don't be too eager for retribution." she said quietly. "If you do to others what they've done to you, then you're no better than they are. I don't want to let people like that determine how I'll live my life."
Masumi's hands were held in her lap, as she sat on the couch in silence. Which, didn't really mean that much, but if she even could speak right now it was unlikely she would. Could she really do what it took? Going after these people, these... murderers? Maybe it would be easier if she just went home and pretended. Acted like she never saw anything. Like she never saw those men who killed her father. Or the image of him laying amidst broken glass, bleeding out because she couldn't stop shaking long enough to call a hospital.
Clenching her hands together, she pushed those thoughts out of her head. This couldn't be forgotten, they can't just let these criminals go unpunished. They needed to stop them. To stop other families from loosing their loved ones because they're caught in the crossfire. The Cardinal will be stopped.
I want him to rot in jail for what he did, even if I have to put him there myself. I want to work with you because AI am not all powerful