Justice League: The New Wave (IC)

[LuckyVic]

Calling the reddish darkness and the crackling green-gold lightning that illuminated The Gem Cities under the dome "daylight" was perhaps a joke that Helia would find bitterly bemusing. But nevertheless, The Son of The Bat was uniquely predisposed to making a non-frontal incursion.

He would find within the united stadiums that the residents of Central and Keystone City had all been crammed in en masse with zero regard for comfort.

"Huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

The air was oppressive. The stink of warm humanity wedged together in fear and loathing. Their worst fears and panics and claustrophobias and agoraphobias spilling up and over, flooding their blood with dread that The Bestowed could use to anchor and magnify their power and transmit it out across the continent to their fellow bloodmages.

No doubt Damian's strength of will was second to none, and he had been trained by his mother and grandfather and father and birdboy brothers to resist mesmerism and psionic influences. But even he would feel the horror creeping in around the edges of his mask.

And even the all-concealing shadows are permeable to those whose scrying eyes rely on more than five conventional senses.

One of The Bestowed shimmered into space before him, levitating above him, leering down at him, robe billowing.

"What have we here? Your blood is interesting indeed-- a legendary bloodline."

She thrust out her hand and exerted her will on the blood in his veins.

"Let's see how legendary it is when I force it out of your every orafice."

"NO GOD BUT GOD!"

Nightwing usually would have had something witty or even sarcastic to say to the mage. However the sheer pain the bestowed was putting him through was keeping him silent except for the grunt as he fought through it. All those years of training that he had been put through taught him how deal with pain, but continue to push through it. He willed himself to attempt to retrieve a flashbang pellet. He wasn't even sure if it would work, but if he didn't try he'd be dead.

 

[TertiusHuman]

See me lumber, see me come

Of course the fact that at least one of the group could talk to him, set him at ease. Just for the heck of it, he unleashed a roar and started his forward momentum. The body was awkward, more adapted for swamps and water than dry land, but once he figured out the locomotion of the animal, it went forward, picking up speed. He knew that he was getting into range, they sure as heck had to see him coming.

But they were slow to react and he took full advantage of that, as he came thundering into range of one of the lowered mages, he snapped at him with jaws which held enough power to break concrete.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Up. Up. Down. Down. Left. Right. Left. Right. B. A...

Cold had given his warning and then the two Rogues went into it. Arrow's last victim waved and the Rogues wavered. With his wave at the Rogues he exposed that arrow laden gut. Thea threw herself up and into a flip. One foot hit each shaft and drove them fletching deep. She back flipped off his gut popping her claws, clawing from the arrows to under the mage's chin savaging his throat.

The Bestowed was dead before he could finish gurgling, which was about half a second before he hit the ground below.

Snart and Rory gasped instantly as the blood stopped pounding in their veins and in their brains, the clutching grip on their hearts releasing like they had been clenched in fists that had been severed at the wrists.

But a display of skill like that-- she had called attention to herself.

Hitting the ground she flung herself backwards doing her best to distract the mages from the Rogues. Bad call. Two of the mage's brought their blood boiling fury on her.

One bloodmage's boil-spell could be survived, if briefly, depending on the ferocity of the caster. Ruby had experienced that earlier today before Aquaman had saved her.

Snart and Rory had perhaps survived a little longer because one Bestowed's attention and potency had been divided between them.

But two casters fully focused on one bloodstream?

She had but seconds.

And seconds passed.

Her blood boiled and her heart cooked. Thea's scream was horrifying as she fell lifeless at Cold and Heatwave's feet.

Cold wheezed, grabbed his gun even as he shot Thea's corpse a glower of regret. "Damn."

Heatwave's cheek twitched, he hissed through his teeth. "Liked her. She had fire. Not like The Rider. But... fire."

"She went out like a Rogue," Cold snarled, "like Dillon, like Scudder. She was our crew too. We do her proud." He hauled himself to his feet, and ripped the Missouri air with a thunderblast of cryonic force. "We unleash Hell."

Beside him, Heatwave surged up to one knee and cannoned out flamestrike after flamestrike. "Home sweet home."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Aquamancy.

No, he was surprised that Kaldur had failed to counter the magics. Kiz wasn't surprised, but he was disappointed. He was used to being disappointed. At least the Rogue's were fine.

No doubt Kaldur would be disappointed, too.

But despite his bold run into the heart of battle, his cry of command, he had swiftly come under the gaze of The Bestowed.

Raven had kept her distance.

The Rider was transfigured and without blood to command.

Kiz had obfuscated himself.

But the Champion's Trident glowed like a pillar of fire in the horizons of their minds. ...and a blond Atlantean. Oh, these were rare and precious indeed, however muddied his bloodline had been by miscegenation with a mutate human.

They swarmed him. A dozen of them.

He blasted them back with the power of The Trident, golden light splitting the air--

--but one of them teleported behind him, and kept teleporting.

Kept flickering like a candleflame in the wind of a storm.

And plunged his hand in through the center of his chest, teleporting over and over again, forcing himself into a state of quantum uncertainty, basically phasing himself...

...and as that arm danced between the picoseconds, its half-presence in Kaldur's chest unleashed spaciotemporal agony throughout his body.

"NYAAAAARRRHHH!" Kaldur roared, his fingers going numb, The Trident tumbling from his grasp.

"No God but God," the bloodmage hissed.

Kaldur stared to nowhere, wracked with agonies beyond even his impressive tolerance.

But somewhere in the field of battle there was a semi-aquatic lifeform lumbering forward-- a beast of impressive strength even out of its element. That Spinosaurus.

And to feel the thoughts of that brain-- of Beast Boy's shapeshifted brain --that raw power and ferocity--

--it danced with whispered thunder in the marine-attuned centers of Kaldur's paracortex--

--and gave him a new rush of awareness--

--a new center of strength from which to draw--

--and with a roar, he awoke, his tattoos searing to light and to life and electricity pouring through his body and through--

--the arm that half-phased into his chest--

--roasting the bloodmage's nervous system from the inside out, driving him back from Kaldur with a scream of agony, surprise, and, heh, disappointment.

Kaldur's elbow came up in a crash of force, slamming into the bloodmage's chin, breaking it in three places. And without pausing, Kaldur whirled, drew one of his waterbearers, the flowing liquid from his pack spilling out and forming, at Kaldur's will, into the shape of a broadsword, solid and sharp--

--and he plunged it through The Bestowed's chest the way that The Bestowed had plunged his arm through Kaldur's heart.

"Father Neptune begs to differ," Kaldur intoned grimly as the life went out of The Bestowed's eyes. He dispersed the water-construct blade and the body dropped in a heap, but immediately, with scarcely a whim, the water reshaped into a tendril whip and it lashed out to grab The Champion's Trident and flick it to Kaldur's waiting free hand.

It lit up once more, suffused with golden light, and with a roar of the agony of a shattered conscience, he summoned a bolt of lightning the girth of a sequoia, striking down around him as it might strike down around a Captain of SHAZAM.

Those dozen Bestowed blew to vapor ash in less than an eyeblink, leaving Kaldur standing by himself in a crater of his own making.

"My god is still with me. And... he is wrathful."

As the afterimages cleared from his sight, Kaldur swept the battlefield-- more Bestowed were approaching him with a fury, but he had moments to gain intel--

--Wildcat had fallen.

Kaldur grieved for the pain of her transition. But she would be back. He would make certain that she would be the only one of their number to fall.

Holding up his waterbearer, he unleashed bursts of water with more pressure than a fire-hose to keep the encroaching bloodmages at bay, to keep them disrupted.

And with the other hand, he pointed The Trident to the sky.

And unleashed the power over the tides that had saved Ruby earlier that day, that had disarmed the blood-bomb traps lain in wait across the city, spreading this effect out over a wider area still--

--preventing the Bestowed from boiling the blood of his friends and allies, at least as long as he could hold his position and maintain the flow of power. He would not be good for much else for that time being.

But he would not see his friends murdered before him.

Not like Tula.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Bestowing.

Staying back as far as she could Raven used her magic to stir up dust and mayhem, doing what she could to hamper breathing and vision around the Magi, aiding her allies where she could.

The League and its allies had begun to drive the snakes out of their nest-- the powerblasts, the physical attacks, the wind-whipped sandstorm.

And thus they were not staying as close to their power-nexus as perhaps they would prefer.

And thus--

--three of them materialized near Raven, latching onto her powers, onto the blood of Trigon and the power of Azaroth in her veins--

--two of them fought to steady the winds she had unleashed, diminishing those disruptions, undoing the good that Raven was doing. And the other-- still attuned to Raven's blood-- went after The Rider.

******

Khaos writhed and battled around her as she walked, chains and sword lashed, the shotgun in her left hand bellowing with each pull of the trigger. This was like battling in hell. No quarter, only death.

Without blood to attach to she was effectively immune to the touch of the Magi. Unless the found a way around it.

Staying as close to the Rider as she could, and drawing power from that infernal fire, Wondergirl used beams of fire lancing from her eyes to spear/slash at enemies, and setting fire to anything that could burn, as long as it slowed them down.

She even went so far as to take a long deep breath, and pursing her lips blew out a thin stream of air. Almost a whistle it was more a slice of cold, ice forming on everything it touched, even as the eyefire burned.

Dozens of Bestowed fell against the Hellfire and Raofire and Cythonna-ice unleashed by The Rider and The Wonder, they fell like wheat beneath the thresher.

But then a Bestowed shimmered into place with the power of Raven, throwing up a blood-red telekinetic forcefield, stopping the spearing flames and the billowing ice, holding them back from destroying The Bestowed...

...and with that moment's respite, a couple of The Bestowed were able to begin to attune to the solar power contained in Wonder Girl's blood, gleaning great strength, the power to leap impossible distances...

...and they leaped over that blood-red telekinetic forcefield and brought their strength crashing down on Wonder Girl and The Rider...

...fists raining down...

*****

Laying on the rooftop, she shifted from target to target, occasionally aiming for an allies head, of lower spine.

A Bestowed shimmered into place beside Renegade on the rooftop, hand outstretched, ready to turn Renegade's blood into steam in her arteries.

When nothing happened, when Aquaman's power kept Renegade's blood steady-- the Bestowed grimaced, and changed tactics.

Instead she tried to turn Renegade's guts into snakes and make them crawl out through Renegade's esophagus.

Flashy. But it usually did the trick.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rising.

Still she kept pushing herself. So far she had rescued over a hundred people, but there were millions inside. At this rate it was going to take too long. She needed to think of a faster way to get more people out at once.

Martian Manhuntress was trying to link the minds of her people even as she swooped down towards the stadia to start helping Velocity--

--and at that moment she hit the wall of fear and dread and fostered phobia like a ton of bricks, and she clutched her skull and almost dropped from the sky.

AHHHHH!

But then a rush of warmth came out of her chest and out into her bloodstream and with it came a nameless voice-- Rose. I'm here. Keep it together. I can help you, I promise, but you have to be strong.

I. What. Okay? Who are you? I-- I'll try--

I'm... your paracortical subconscious. Martian brains have lots of lobes and function on many levels at once. You can help lessen their burden. You can help give them hope. They're languishing in interior hells of personal terror. Show them they're not alone. You can... link their minds the way that Kaldur wanted you to do with The New Justice League... but you have to be... careful.

Okay, I'll... I'll do my best.

And with that, with the gentle instinctual guidance of this... presence...

She hovered over the huddled crowd, closed her eyes, extended her arms with her fingers spread...

...and reached out with her brain...

...tenderly gingerly tip-toed across the surface of the clustered miasma of human agonies...

...and one by one by one she opened links between those minds.

Invited them to embrace each other, to find solidarity.

Leaked in hope like sunlight in a shuttered room.

You Are Not Alone.

It was almost... easy.

Easier than she could immediately explain.

Opening doors between the dreaming minds, even though those dreams were forcibly induced.

Like she herself had once done this in a dream...

Careful. Careful. Don't overdo it.

But slowly, slowly, the miasmic pall began to fracture and diminish, lowering The Bestowed's control over the people.

And easing the psychic pressure on the people entering the nexus-- like Nightwing, and Velocity-- and Glider--

--Glider, Lisa Snart, swooped in beside Velocity looking strained by the psychic influence but less so now.

"You're fast," she couldn't help but observe, even though she was managing to keep up with Carin. "Almost as fast as Red. Hope you're less of an eagle scout than he was."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Hunting.

At that he fires a concussive Missile at one of the Bestowed, hitting it square in the chest, knocking it back about 10 ft. and leaving quite the dent in it.

The Bestowed skidded back in the air, managed to exert her will to... stay aloft...

...and glared furiously at G.R.I.D., wheezing under the injury of her deformed rib cage.

"You have an interesting bloodline. Human and celestial all at once. Enhanced."

She held out her hand, harnessed the power of G.R.I.D.'s blood, the equivalent physical capabilities of a metagenetic super-soldier...

...and used that power to heal herself, to regenerate at impossible speed...

...her rib cage popped back into shape, the bruising and hemorrhaging of her internal organs immediately clearing up...

"You're going to have to do better than that."

In a blur of spacetime, she teleported closer to G.R.I.D. and exerted her powers on G.R.I.D.'s innards... trying to twist his guts into snakes...

...snakes that would just thrash around inside G.R.I.D. forever because they couldn't escape through his helmet...

 

[ChasNicollette]

Nightwing usually would have had something witty or even sarcastic to say to the mage. However the sheer pain the bestowed was putting him through was keeping him silent except for the grunt as he fought through it. All those years of training that he had been put through taught him how deal with pain, but continue to push through it. He willed himself to attempt to retrieve a flashbang pellet. He wasn't even sure if it would work, but if he didn't try he'd be dead.

The flashbang went off like a gunshot in that place, catching The Bestowed off-guard, throwing a ringing into his ears and blurring his vision, disrupting his concentration...

...he could still perceive Nightwing, despite his occluded physical senses, because of his power to scry, but he was clearly unhappy...

...and at the same time, outside in the parking lot, Kaldur'ahm used the mighty powers of Neptune to turn the tide of The League's blood back to the natural flow.

The agony of the pain that The Bestowed exerted on Nightwing silenced in an instant, his blood returning to its undiverted course.

And this Bestowed was vulnerable, vision clouded and skull pierced by tinnitus.

 

[Wyldfire]

*PAIN, AGONY*

*DISCONTINUITY*

Her body mended, repairing the damage, making the body whole again and then......

"She went out like a Rogue," Cold snarled, "like Dillon, like Scudder. She was our crew too. We do her proud." He hauled himself to his feet, and ripped the Missouri air with a thunderblast of cryonic force. "We unleash Hell."

Beside him, Heatwave surged up to one knee and cannoned out flamestrike after flamestrike. "Home sweet home."

*REBOOT*

Wildcat's body writhed and convulsed, her back arching to the point that only her heels and the top of her head were in contact with the ground. Breath dragging into her lungs. Her eyes flew open as the air that just went in came out with a howl. Thea slumped back to the ground before rolling over and gaining her hands and knees. Her voice ragged she said "This shit never gets any damned easier..."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Bleeding.

Of course the fact that at least one of the group could talk to him, set him at ease. Just for the heck of it, he unleashed a roar and started his forward momentum. The body was awkward, more adapted for swamps and water than dry land, but once he figured out the locomotion of the animal, it went forward, picking up speed. He knew that he was getting into range, they sure as heck had to see him coming.

And not just them. And not just see.

Aquaman could have died, languishing in agony, had the spinosaurus' semi-aquatic brain not brushed up against his awareness.

But yes. They saw him coming.

But they-- they thought it was an illusion, surely, a conjuring?

Where could a beast have come from larger even than Tyrannosaurus Rex?

And yet.

And yet-- it coursed with much blood-- and not just the blood of conventional biology--

--flowing into the Spinosaurus was the power of The Red, the blood-pool of all Animal Life, on this planet and beyond. And the power of that... that was overwhelming... mouthwatering...

...a feast for all sanguimancers, to be able to reach beyond the confines of human flesh and truly harness the power of the serpents they held in awe...

But they were slow to react and he took full advantage of that, as he came thundering into range of one of the lowered mages, he snapped at him with jaws which held enough power to break concrete.

Beast Boy crunched that bloodmage like a crouton. It exploded in his teeth in a burst of red and gristle and fluid.

They could not boil his blood in his body because of the protection of Aquaman.

But they could attune to the power in his blood and the blood beyond.

To the Red.

Three of The Bestowed began to change... and grow...

...sprouting scales...

...becoming fearsome, powerful reptilian hybrids...

...and lunging with jagged claws and dripping fangs for the Spinosaur.

They did not yet match Beast Boy in size and weight and power, but they had speed and numbers.

 

[ChasNicollette]

...Start!

*REBOOT*

Wildcat's body writhed and convulsed, her back arching to the point that only her heels and the top of her head were in contact with the ground. Breath dragging into her lungs. Her eyes flew open as the air that just went in came out with a howl. Thea slumped back to the ground before rolling over and gaining her hands and knees. Her voice ragged she said "This shit never gets any damned easier..."

The seething wheezing shrieking autoresurrection of one Wildcat Grant was enough of a distraction that even seasoned pros Heatwave and Captain Cold both missed clean shots.

"Damn!" Heatwave roared. "Welcome back, kit-kat, always did prefer a warm body, now keep it down, daddy's working!"

Cold dropped to one knee beside Thea, providing covering fire.

"You were done. You were out. You were dead. You're back?"

He shook his head.

"Lot of that going around. You and my sister should get along great."

Another blast, another miss, another hiss and curse and gritted teeth.

"Can you get it together? Can you fight? We could use those claws again out here."

 

[Wyldfire]

"Damn!" Heatwave roared. "Welcome back, kit-kat, always did prefer a warm body, now keep it down, daddy's working!"

Cold dropped to one knee beside Thea, providing covering fire.

"You were done. You were out. You were dead. You're back?"

He shook his head.

"Lot of that going around. You and my sister should get along great."

Another blast, another miss, another hiss and curse and gritted teeth.

"Can you get it together? Can you fight? We could use those claws again out here."

Wildcat looked up at Snart, her once human green eyes, now slit like a cat's. "Oh, yeah baby, I can fight," she stood triggering the claws and with a glance at Heatwave, her tongue licked her dry lips. "Daddy needs quiet to work? We'll have to see if that holds true when this is over and Mommy gets ahold of him."

And with that she launched into the fray once more. She charged and flung herself at one of the two that had killed her, intent to rip his throat out.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Continue? ROUND TWO!

Wildcat looked up at Snart, her once human green eyes, now slit like a cat's. "Oh, yeah baby, I can fight," she stood triggering the claws and with a glance at Heatwave, her tongue licked her dry lips. "Daddy needs quiet to work? We'll have to see if that holds true when this is over and Mommy gets ahold of him."

"Promises, promises!" Rory bellowed, but beneath the fires reflected in the lenses of his goggles, a slow-burn grin curled his lips.

Cold's eyebrows arched at the sight of those felinoid eyes-- but then, he had no reason to suspect this wasn't a normal side effect of Wildcat's extraordinary abilities.

And with that she launched into the fray once more. She charged and flung herself at one of the two that had killed her, intent to rip his throat out.

It is the hallmark of religious extremists that they are so convinced of their victory it cannot even occur to them that they will fail-- instead they believe that their deity will protect them from all harm.

In the instances where they believe that individually they may fall in advent of an inevitable collective victory-- even if they may die, they do not fear it.

In either case, when Wildcat's claws cleaved trachea and jugular out of that Bestowed's neck, his expression was one of surprise.

Whether this was surprise at his individual failure or surprise that he truly did feel fear as death claimed him was not evident, but it was surprise nevertheless. And it was death nevertheless; he toppled like a sapling beneath a bulldozer.

The other Bestowed that had killed her swooped in to avenge their fallen bloodmate...

...only to be caught in the intersect of a blue-white blast and a saffron-gold storm...

...Heatwave and Captain Cold caught it with both their weapons at once, and the crossing of streams ignited furiously, a massive mid-air explosion.

The Bestowed vaporized in an instant, in a fireworks display of vengeance.

And yet the fight was far from over.

 

[Zet_Cross]

The Bestowed skidded back in the air, managed to exert her will to... stay aloft...

...and glared furiously at G.R.I.D., wheezing under the injury of her deformed rib cage.

"You have an interesting bloodline. Human and celestial all at once. Enhanced."

She held out her hand, harnessed the power of G.R.I.D.'s blood, the equivalent physical capabilities of a metagenetic super-soldier...

...and used that power to heal herself, to regenerate at impossible speed...

...her rib cage popped back into shape, the bruising and hemorrhaging of her internal organs immediately clearing up...

"You're going to have to do better than that."

In a blur of spacetime, she teleported closer to G.R.I.D. and exerted her powers on G.R.I.D.'s innards... trying to twist his guts into snakes...

...snakes that would just thrash around inside G.R.I.D. forever because they couldn't escape through his helmet...

Systems critical! It seems your own intestines are attacking your organs. Healing Factor aside you can't stand a prolonged condition such as this.

Coughing up blood inside his helmet GRID dropped to one knee in pain. "I can tell that much on my own Lysl. Time to change tactics, how is Wave functionality?"

Lysl Dox calculated possibilities and simulations at speeds only an 11th level intellect could possibly go. Understood. If you can disrupt the electrical pathways of his brain it should stop whatever power his is exerting over you. I will attempt to bolster your Healing Factor long enough to get a shot out.

Feeling the pain in his body lessen slightly GRID stood up as his Cannon underwent another change, the barrel returned to normal while the rest of the Cannon opened expanded slightly revealing glowing purple conduits running through-out. To any sensitive to electrical charges it could be seen that massive amounts of electrical energy was gathering inside the Cannon. "Lets see how you like a fist full of this!"

Placing his Arm Cannon inches from the Bestowed he fired a Charged Wave Beam point blank, sending all that energy directing at it.

 

[LuckyVic]

Nightwing

The flashbang went off like a gunshot in that place, catching The Bestowed off-guard, throwing a ringing into his ears and blurring his vision, disrupting his concentration...

...he could still perceive Nightwing, despite his occluded physical senses, because of his power to scry, but he was clearly unhappy...

...and at the same time, outside in the parking lot, Kaldur'ahm used the mighty powers of Neptune to turn the tide of The League's blood back to the natural flow.

The agony of the pain that The Bestowed exerted on Nightwing silenced in an instant, his blood returning to its undiverted course.

And this Bestowed was vulnerable, vision clouded and skull pierced by tinnitus.

Nightwing's body was on automatic, now free of the pain that was hampering him from being able to do anything before. He was free to act, immediately his escrima sticks came out and after a few selct shots he activated the taser aspect and saw when the stick with the charge hit the bestowed and watched with a bit of satisfaction as it struggled in pain.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Nightwing's body was on automatic, now free of the pain that was hampering him from being able to do anything before. He was free to act, immediately his escrima sticks came out and after a few selct shots he activated the taser aspect and saw when the stick with the charge hit the bestowed and watched with a bit of satisfaction as it struggled in pain.

If the broken nose, cracked ribs, dislocated knee, and blown kidney hadn't knocked this Bestowed from the air, the taser shocks sure did. The bloodmage crumpled in a twitching, drooling heap, fingers helplessly clutching at nowhere.

Far too scrambled to even begin to mount another assault on Nightwing's bloodstream, only conscious because of the raw power available to him this close to the honeypot of tortured souls, he instead turned his power inward. He started to heal rapidly, restoring seared nerves and spasming muscles...

"You... bastard..." he snuffled just before his nose popped back into shape.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Lets see how you like a fist full of this!"

Placing his Arm Cannon inches from the Bestowed he fired a Charged Wave Beam point blank, sending all that energy directing at it.

The Wave Beam's phased-energy matrix did not do overall as much damage as the Plasma Shot or a fully loaded-out Missile, but it did specifically damage organic targets-- even if it had to phase through material obstacles to get there.

Fully charged against a mid-powered living thing, it did more than disrupt neural pathways, it basically carbonized the woman's nervous system and stopped her heart mid-tick.

She ragdolled to the deck. The forcible transmutation of G.R.I.D.'s innards immediately stopped, and his healing factor quickly reasserted the integrity of his physiology. It would still take a few moments for him to get back up to full strength, however.

I shall reserve the right to say 'I told you so' at a later junction. You have more targets inbound.

Recommend continued application of lethal force, Milton.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Velocity felt the pain and sickness in her head start to fade away and she began to speed up again. She was surprised at just how slow she had been going. Now that Glider had joined her they were able to pull people out a lot faster. In fact she was surprised the woman could keep up with her. She had never met anyone that could.

"You're fast," she couldn't help but observe, even though she was managing to keep up with Carin. "Almost as fast as Red. Hope you're less of an eagle scout than he was."

Carin wondered who this Red guy was, but she was definitely no eagle scout, not with her upbringing. Still if this woman thought she was going to keep up with her she better put it into high gear.

As the fog cleared from her brain Carin stepped it up another notch. To anyone standing and observing the people in the stadium it looked like whole sections were starting to disappear in seconds. The combined effort of her and Glider was having an effect. The only problem was it was still not enough. Doing it one at a time was just not efficient enough. They needed some way to transport a lot of people at once.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor had been moving and shooting at targets as they presented themselves. Since he had seen the two rogues go down and poor cat he had tried to keep out of sight and picked his targets with care. Still it felt wrong, but what could he do.

Then he saw Cold and Heatwave stand up again just as Aquaman blasted a huge crater in the ground and then hold his trident to the sky. It did not take a genius to put two and two together. Kaldur was using his water magic to counteract the bloodmages magic. By the way they were trying to surround him they knew it too.

Deciding it would be beneficial to keep his own blood from boiling, Connor charged towards Kaldur. Not being stupid he did not call out or shout any battlecry. Instead he simply knocked arrow after arrow and let fly at the bloodmages surrounding him. If he was lucky they would not hear him coming and his arrows would strike true. Well at least the ones that he was approaching from behind should.

The ones behind Kaldur could see him of course but they had their own problems.

 

[TertiusHuman]

Battle of the reptiles

The Spinosaurus were an alpha predator, due to its size it was no contest. Of course getting attacked by smaller predators was nothing new as The Red fed the power of transformation, it also gave Garfield memories, just enough to make him function.

He snapped at one of the hybrids, not killing it, but stepped to the side and with a seemingly clumsy stumble twisted his body. His tail whipping out at another hybrid and whipping his head around, he tossed the one in his mouth at the nearest wall.

By sheer luck this move brought him face-to-face with the third hybrid and he ROARed loud enough to shudder the ground, rattle windows and topple any nearby object not secured to the ground.

 

[kizkiz]

A serpent's kiss. A tender caress. Death is soft, and she is oh so sweet.

Kiz watched. He waited. The Key Dagger whirled above his head, adding more sigils at irregular intervals along not just the plane it was rotating around but others. The Key Dagger twisted in mid-air and moved along a different path like a three-dimensional compass.

Kiz stroked the broad head of Shanker as he watched the heroes and Rogues battle. He sampled the Bestowed with a degree of subtlety akin to a master sommelier assessing the qualities of decanted wine with just a whiff and sip. He didn't need much, and they were giving him plenty.

His Void leaking eyes saw creation but also so many other spectrums and frequencies upon which the arcane and soul operated that what he processed wasn't sight so much as a firehouse of raw sensory data. He manipulated the harmonic resonance of the Key Dagger like a singer might explore and then push their vocal cords into the registries required to shatter glass.

He could cheat. His task was made easier by the virtue of having faced off against Ravana in the past. He had comparables from then and now a the new oath.

>>Great Primus, why are we here, if not to nip and swallow?<<

>>Is not my company enough to satisfy you, my love?<<

>>Nothing satisfies us, Primus of a High House Void.<<

Velocity and Liz blurred past him, but he paid them little heed. Well he paid Liz more heed than he should. Too much heed, but still, he was watching the Atlantian. Kiz was tempted to let Kaldur fall. The Time Lords wanted the Champion's Trident. They'd wanted it for centuries. It was a ridiculously overpowered artifact, lifting up ants to rival gods. His attention strayed back to Liz. If it was possible to prevent a Deathless from sliding into darkness and rot, he had a duty to act. If Kaldur fell, Liz's brother and friend would follow soon. If they fell before Rose did, it also jeopardized his plans there as well. Kiz could recall the pair or let the whole lot fall back and consolidate, perhaps convince them to retreat. The Nadeau needed to feed. Liz blurred past again, tendril stroking his cheek before she was gone again.

>>If the Champion's Trident wielder should fall, you may devour it as you did to the Moon Blade. <<

>>Yes! We will swallow; we will feast.<<

Shanker's body slithered down along Kiz's body. Her head disappeared into his shadow.

>>No, sweetness. Only those bearing Ravana's taint.<<

>>As our great master wills.<<

>>You remember कलि? Principal गन्धर्व upon whom resided in the hollow of Nala, Great King of Niśāda?<<

>>We do not, great one, but there is much we do not know.<<

>>Taste of those around the Trident's Champion. You will remember.<<

>>Our great lord and master is ever kind and all seeing in his wisdom. Benevolent in his kindnesses that he deems fit to allow us. We shall go remember. Such grand gifts as these can not be left unopened.<<

Shanker disappeared into Kiz's shadow, reappearing in the congealed pool of shadow around Kaldur and the Bestowed. With the same casualness shown by a bored student when they yawn in class, Shanker emerged from the shadows and sunk her teeth into the Achilles heel of a Bestowed and then dove back into the shadows only to emerge again in another Bestowed's shadows and again pump a lethal dose of its God killing venom. Venom that was as reduced at she was in her present form, but even still as watered down and diluted as it was, the venom of Śeṣanāga was ridiculous. And it was potent not only in its own right, but it was also a reminder and a warning that Ravana was sure -- despite all its boasting -- would feel as both Childe and Aspect of the Kali Yuga. The rememberance would not be kind upon the Bestowed who served now not only as vessel of an aspect portion of Ravana, but now also as a vessel of what that God killing venom could do...to gods and their fallen siblings.

 

[LuckyVic]

If the broken nose, cracked ribs, dislocated knee, and blown kidney hadn't knocked this Bestowed from the air, the taser shocks sure did. The bloodmage crumpled in a twitching, drooling heap, fingers helplessly clutching at nowhere.

Far too scrambled to even begin to mount another assault on Nightwing's bloodstream, only conscious because of the raw power available to him this close to the honeypot of tortured souls, he instead turned his power inward. He started to heal rapidly, restoring seared nerves and spasming muscles...

"You... bastard..." he snuffled just before his nose popped back into shape.

"I hate magic." he thought to himself. Nightwing wasn't going to give this individual the time to recover. He knew that skill wise he had a much greater advantage. Not just that but he knew that he could be disoriented. So he began to do just that. His blows were designed to disorient, he went after his eyes by raking at them (he had seen in that in wrestling shows and always wanted to try it), he went at his nose and throat. After he landed his blows he'd follow up with a shock from the escirma sticks. His movements were crisp and short as to not waist energy on this person. In the mean time he observed to see if he could see any sign of weakness.

 

[Varshanka]

Hell Hath No Fury....

And thus--

--three of them materialized near Raven, latching onto her powers, onto the blood of Trigon and the power of Azaroth in her veins--

--two of them fought to steady the winds she had unleashed, diminishing those disruptions, undoing the good that Raven was doing. And the other-- still attuned to Raven's blood-- went after The Rider.

*****

But then a Bestowed shimmered into place with the power of Raven, throwing up a blood-red telekinetic forcefield, stopping the spearing flames and the billowing ice, holding them back from destroying The Bestowed...

...and with that moment's respite, a couple of The Bestowed were able to begin to attune to the solar power contained in Wonder Girl's blood, gleaning great strength, the power to leap impossible distances...

...and they leaped over that blood-red telekinetic forcefield and brought their strength crashing down on Wonder Girl and The Rider...

...fists raining down...

The Wonder felt the impact of fist and arm driving her to the ground. She heard the wind screaming past fists as they pounded her flesh. She had a feeling the Bestowed would use her powers against her. But were they ready for the full brunt of her powers?

Ducking low she inhaled as deep as she could, and then screamed. Not the scream of an adult man bellowing in rage. No this was as high pitched as she could get, and that was an admirable pitch. This had to work, or she was well and truly fucked.

The strength of twenty tons slammed into Xarothos’ armor, driving the creature of Hell into the hard packed stone and concrete. And this was it had been waiting for….

Grabbing it’s attacker as it’s helm opened up the Divine Word spoke. “Vengeance is MINE!! So Sayeth The LORD!!!”

Eyes flared as Hellfire poured forth.

*****

With her attackers focused more on stopping her powers, and less on attacking her, Raven unleashed her own spell even as she relocated next to The Rider. As the spell released she sent it cascading through the Rider, augmenting and funneling her power through the Rider. The Rider simply had to hold out for a few minutes at the most.

The magic that bound the Bestowed together would – if all went well – be a conduit to royally thrash them to Hell.

*****

“GUILTY!” it stated, pronouncing judgment as no other creature of Earth could.

 

[WiredIn]

Broken Am I, The Shattered Toy Soldier

Static froze as they approached the stadium, he knew the plan. He understood what they wanted him to do but they asked the impossible. He was a hero. The greater good was one thing. Mutilating, maiming, breaking. But killing? Taking lives was not why he put on the mask.

He continued to lull behind the group even as they charged into battle, unable to decide where is heart would lead him. He glanced back towards the river again and back at the battlefield that was forming in front of him just in time to see Thea struck down, her limp body hitting the pavement.

Virgil's mind went blank, even as he calmly walked forward and stepped onto his flight disc. His mind was blank even as he flew wordlessly towards the bestowed. His mind was blank, even as he began to launch bolts of energy and chunks of metallic rubble at the bestowed. He was calm and focused, oblivious to all around him. Working in an eerie silence as he began his surgical assault. He aimed speeding rubble at heads and crackling energy at hearts. All the while his mind was blank, he was calm, and the world seemed silent.

The ends justify the means. An evil to combat evil. A sin that could be washed away.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Methods to Madness. (tag Velocity)

As the fog cleared from her brain Carin stepped it up another notch. To anyone standing and observing the people in the stadium it looked like whole sections were starting to disappear in seconds. The combined effort of her and Glider was having an effect. The only problem was it was still not enough. Doing it one at a time was just not efficient enough. They needed some way to transport a lot of people at once.

As Velocity ran faster, Glider had to push even harder to keep up--

--but as she pulled even with Carin again, Lisa called out:

"HEY! GREEN!"

"This is going to take all day, and I don't think we've got much more than minutes before our people get overwhelmed out there, I was hoping for a couple more speedsters and a teleporter, but you don't always get what you want--"

She flared her tendrils out around her like a starburst.

"I can... I can scoop people up. Make them intangible with me. Bunches at a time. I think... I think I can pick up more. But if I spread myself too thin, I lose myself a bit. I get... unfocused. If I pick up a big scoop of people... can you tow me with you like a kite? Drag me to the magic warp zone thing so we can drop people off and go back for another scoop?"