Feudal America - A super-power RP in modern day America (Game Thread)

[CJ1145]

The Arab was an angry man. But he was not unreasonable. A lot of bluster ultimately meant little, when these negotiations were so important to his master. But he had to put on his show. He'd let things heat up a bit, and cool them down, hopefully with no more interruptions. Sadly...

"Suck my diiiiiiiiccck!"

"Sir, look out!"

The negotiator was saved from the first blast by one of his soldiers leaping in front of it. His armor sizzled and blew away. Wilbur was a quick thinker, and made a sound that almost seemed like a man trying to talk while breathing in. The deceased guard's armor was brought to life, yanking him up to take another hit. Then he took another. And that was all; the next blast blew clean through a previous wound and struck the Arab in his chest. His shirt and layers of flesh were peeled away as he was flung into the side of the pickup truck. And then the attacker, Charles, flew straight into him, denting the side and cracking several of his visible ribs.

The soldiers stood for a moment, in stunned silence. They shared a look.

Guns were pointed at the clone speaking, and a thousand bullets ripped him to a bloody pulp. Shotguns were pumped and unloaded at the others standing close by, and marksmen took aim at those who had attempted to surround the convoy. Pinpoint shots came at all not standing within thirty feet, aiming to take them down quickly.

The two men closest to the back of the semi shared a glance.

"Jonesy?" one asked.

"Jonesy." the other replied.

They each grabbed a door on the back, and pulled it open. "Jonesy!" one called. "They're hostile!"

A voice came from inside, youthful and grating, but distorted. Deep.

"About TIME!"

A shadow jolted out from inside, every motion shaking the truck and threatening to tear it apart. He leaped out, and charged the man who had just brutalized the Arab. A gray-skinned, meaty fist wrapped tight around his torso and lifted him up into the air.

The man who grabbed him was at least ten feet tall, bare-chested and in blue jeans. His face was ludicrously square-jawed, but underneath could be seen the hints of what was once a teenaged boy. Strange, dull brown eyes stared at him in cold fury. His head was shaved bald, only hints of stubble were left. His torso was disproportionately large, being made of bulky, sinewy muscle that looked ready to pop out of his skin at the slightest provocation. His legs were stocky, but gigantic, and barefoot. All in all, a machine of pure power and death, ready to begin its work.

This was Jonesy.

"You." he growled at Charles. "You made an enemy of the god, Mercury. That was a mistake."

He began to squeeze, a pressure like a bulldozer was crushing him coming in from all sides.

 

[drmigit2]

Fromanzio had managed to get a nurse while Grav sobbed on the roof. Something was clearly wrong with the guy and Fromanzio was wondering if the guy was crazy or something. That would suck. In the meantime, those shrapnel weren't going to be removing themselves. The nurse worked quickly and within a few minutes, the other half of the shrapnel had been removed. She put antiseptic, a gel that helped the healing process and avoided scars, sewed the bigger cuts shut and finally bandaged up Fromanizo to hopefully get him out as soon as humanly possible.

"Okay sir, I have finished your bandaging. Try not to move too-"

"Quiet woman! Listen!"

The radio was going absolutely crazy. Someone else had killed that one guy it seemed and the entire army was less than pleased. Also, Grav had just wasted the bombs on the hospital. Good one.

Fromanzio tapped the radio and said "Ahem. Ladies and gents, this is Fromanzio." Jonesy could hear the clown directly due to how close Charles's radio was to him.

"Apparently someone else has killed the Arab asshole guy. Good job! Well, maybe if you could fly anyway. From what Fromanzio has heard, it seems you can't. Oh well. Fromanzio shall be there as soon as possible and by the way, Jonesy, whatever you are, Fromanzio missed out on killing one of you two already, he isn't missing out on the second."

Fromanzio dropped his radio and flew over to his gun storage facility. This was getting fun.

 

[TheNaut131]

Gavin stood on the roof, crying a bit, not really saying anything. He'd gone down to help some people and move some wreckage, before floating back up to the roof. They'd all been so confused, asking him what happened, who was attacking, why had this happened to them. He didn't know honestly. Gavin knew he fucked up, but Fromanzio was the one who pulled the fucking guns on him with a group of people behind him. Yeah, so what if you kinda wanted to kill him...

"What the fuck was I thinking?" He sobbed. "Goddammit, Warez..." Tito Warez was the name of another super he'd known back in the military. He could create concussive blast in varying degrees. Went by Boomer. He believed he could use his power for any situation and that he knew best in every situation. Ended up killing dozens of civilians, allies, and himself due to one rash decision. And that's what Fromanzio nearly did. He'd endangered the city and those around him by using his bomb. He'd endangered those in the hospital by trying to fire at Gavin. But at the end of the day, no matter how it was worded, Gavin knew the truth. Gavin had been the one who'd acted rashly, and he'd been the one to actually kill people.

"Goddammit, letting the stress get to you." But Gavin still knew something was off about Fromanzio. Everyone knew. He didn't seem to bothered by the fact that Gavin had just slaughtered dozens or the fact that he'd tried to kill him. Maybe that's just how Fromanzio was.

But still...

Gavin heard his radio going absolutely bonkers. The Arab was dead and apparently Jonesy had reared his ugly face. Gavin was ready to take off when he heard Fromanzio's voice over the radio.

"Apparently someone else has killed the Arab asshole guy. Good job! Well, maybe if you could fly anyway. From what Fromanzio has heard, it seems you can't. Oh well. Fromanzio shall be there as soon as possible and by the way, Jonesy, whatever you are, Fromanzio missed out on killing one of you two already, he isn't missing out on the second." He said, before Gavin saw him take off out a window...in the opposite direction.

"Where the hell is he going?" Gavin muttered, he walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down to see Ottis entering the hospital. He stepped off the roof and landed gently behind him.

"Gavin, what the hell happened here?" Ottis asked. Gavin looked down to hide his face in his hood.

"Uh, something terrible..." He simply said. "Look, there isn't much we can do here. We've got to get back to the others. Someone fucked up the negotiations, a guy named Jonesy is tearing things up at city hall, and one of Darryl's clones may be down so he's probably not doing to good either." Gavin said, walking out of the hospital.

"Wait, what happened to Fromznio and how'd he get shot? Wait, how'd you get shot?!" Ottis asked slightly alarmed. Gavin suddenly remembered his thigh. The bullet hadn't hit anything important but it stung like hell. Gavin nullified the gravity around it before smacking his leg. It drifted out of the exit wound and Gavin grabbed a bundle of bandages that nurse was carrying. Ottis stared at him and Gavin simply shrugged half-heartily. Ottis eyed him for a second. Gavin had the ability to reduce gravity and Ottis had seen him flying around or simply adjusting his weight plenty of times before. It made it obvious to tell when things were a bit too "heavy" for the guy. Yet he didn't question him.

"We'll worry about Fromanzio later, have a little chat with John even." Gavin figured he couldn't hide what had happened from John anyway.

"Get ready Ottis." Gavin said, reducing the gravity around them and remembering what Fromanzio had said earlier. "Hell's knocking on our door again."

 

[rigabear]

Grav had tried to kill Fromanzio, and had blown a hole in the hospital as a consequence.

"Shit! Call him in! Find out what on earth he had been thinking! Get Martin there as soon as possible!" John was now barking these orders at the men around; "And lets get back to the communications centre!"

But before they had covered much ground something even more worrying happened; Darryl cried out in agony:

"Aaargh! They killed him! They killed Darryl!"

"Fuck! Why? What happened?"

"All I saw were energy blasts! I think the arab man is dead!"

"Christ, George!" leaving him unaccounted had become an unaffordable mistake; "With the Arab dead, we can't salvage this. Someone give me a sitrep!"

"Sir, they've got a hulk!" A young man quickly relayed the situation as it unfolded. It was dire; Mercury's men had killed the anyone who had been standing nearby, and worse Jonesy was a hulk type thing and was crushing George. The only good news was that the hospital situation seemed to be over, although that was a very small silver lining against the gigantic storm cloud that was the violent end to negotiations. However that had been an eventuality that had been extensively prepared for; the trap would be sprung after all.

This was it, war was being declared on Mercury; he wished it could have ended another way, but no. The Palm Bay republic would have to carve out it's existence from the corpses of tyrants.

John took a second to breathe and gather his thoughts before speaking as clearly and calmly into the radio as his beating heart would allow.

"All units, we have hostiles in the square in front of city hall. All small arms fire is to be directed at the armed men. All heavy weapons fire is to be directed at Jonesy as soon as George either manages to get clear or is killed. Ottis, use the cables and pour as much electricity as you can into Jonesy. Rico, Sarah, do what you can to keep him in the killzone. Matthew, pick off any stragglers that manage to escape, but keep well clear of Jonesy." and turning to James' frequency; "Mobilise Warren, get him to slow down Jonesy in any way he can!"

On rooftops and in windows overlooking the square the men and women that made up the armed forces of Palm Bay revealed themselves and trained their guns on the armed men in the centre. The first shot fired by this fledgling army was from an M16A4, held in the trained hands of an ex-US military soldier by the name of Richard. The bullet; lacking any understanding of it's historical significance; whistled harmlessly past the head of one of Mercury's men, a miss.

But the other hundred guns overlooking the square that followed a split second later did not. Mercury's men were had been completely surrounded, and there was nowhere for them to hide from the torrent of lead that erupted from all sides.

The few stray rifle rounds that did hit Jonesy bounced harmlessly off his thick skin; for Jonesy, the army was saving it's heavier weapons. The big ugly barrels of .50 cal machine guns lay quiet in darkness; despite the deafening roar made by their smaller cousins; waiting for the opportunity to fire everything they could at the monster of a man. Whether or not they would be enough remained to be seen, but perhaps they could bide enough time for the supers of Palm Bay to come to it's rescue.

 

[lacktheknack]

Rico lay off to the side, recovering.

A blast...

The Arab now had his guts pouring out of holes in his skin. He saw Charles tackle him.

Shit.

Darryl-Clone barely had the time to put his hands up before he dissolved in metal and noise.

SHIT!

Rico clumsily pawed at his radio. "GODDAMMIT, THEY KILLED THE ARAB AND DARRYL! THEY KILLED -"

His radio had somehow gone off.

Ffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

He managed to switch it back on, stunned that none of the soldiers had noticed him lying to the side yet. His scream had been covered by a horrible monstrous... thing... climbing out of its box and attacking Charles.

"-pour as much electricity as you can into Jonesy. Rico, Sarah, do what you can to keep him in the killzone. Matthew, pick off any stragglers that manage to escape, but keep well clear of Jonesy."

Rico slowly rose into a crouching position. Two soldiers were near him, standing away from the killzone where "Jonesy" was. Rico charged and knocked out one of them. The other soldier turned and fired his rifle. The bullets simply bounced off his face. Head met head with a sickening crack, and the soldier went down.

Rico ran towards the monstrosity, armed soldiers falling to bullets left and right. Rico felt a few bounce off him, making him nearly lose his balance. He successfully made it to "Jonesy", and, at loss for any real plan, simply howled "HEY! YOU WITH THE HORRIFIC FACE!"

Jonesy turned a bit and regarded him the same way Rico would regard a cockroach. Charles' face was nearly completely blue, and likely had dozens of broken body parts by now. A trip to Doc Martin looked good right about now.

First things first: Get Charles out of the killzone, no matter how much he deserved to stay in it right now. How to make Jonesy let go of Charles?

Seeing the vague remnants of teenagerdom in the hulk, he prayed to God for clarity of insult and forgiveness for what he was about to say.

"YOU KNOW, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU'VE SLEPT WITH YOUR MOTHER, THAT DOESN'T MAKE THAT STRANGLEHOLD ON THAT DUDE ANY LESS GAAAAAAAAYYYY!"

Oh God. Rico made a very poor homophobe.

Seizing a rather uncomfortable moment of opportunity, he added "I MEAN, DUDE. YOUR PINKY IS FONDLING HIS BALLS. YOU GONNA STOP ENJOYING THAT ANYTIME SOON?"

To no one's surprise, Jonesy did not drop Charles, but instead turned and swung at Rico. Rico tried to dodge, but Jonesy was too fast, and Rico hit the ground at frankly surreal speed. Before he could even twitch, Jonesy struck again, stunned that Rico hadn't been turned into marinara sauce already.

In between blows, Rico could see a broken Charles still in the clutch of Jonesy, but not in such a tight grip as before. Maybe he stood a chance. Rico hoped that Sarah would be by quickly.

 

[drmigit2]

Fromanzio landed on a roof in a secluded part of town. Anyone who had lived here was killed in the uprising and any attempts to bring it back would be occurring in the far future. The only thing that made Fromanzio want to go there, was that his good old pal Henry stored a huge stash of weaponry there. Fromanzio was one of the two people now who knew its location. The kid was presumed dead by the masses and Fromanzio was happy with that. He unlocked the door, tumblers rolling and clicking until the whole door swung open.

"It's show time kid!"

Fromanzio was yelling into the general blackness before lights turned on in a violent switching. Soon, rows of guns, boxes and other weapons were illuminated before Fromanzio, who was in his version of heaven.

"It's...glorious!"

The child from the police station, Henry's cousin stepped out and said "Glad you like it. I set up my computer in the corner and have been keeping myself busy like you said. By the way, next time be more careful when delivering food, you bruised-"

"Yes yes, hush now. Fromanzio needs help."

"What do you need boss?"

"Fromanzio requires...guns! Oh and something to take care of an army with...hmmm....what did Henry have for crowd control?"

"Well, I took inventory and it seems we have a variety of tear gas canisters, Flashbangs and stun grenades."

"No real grenades?"

"We have dynamite sir."

"Oh what's this?"

"I think you will like it, Henry loved it."

"Ohohohohohohohohohohoh, this will be fun!"

"I will help you load it up."

"Excellent."

Fromanzio gathered all of his equipment and loaded the armaments into various bags, he seemed to be more cloth than man when he left, struggling to move.

"You going to be alright?"

"Don't worry, Fromanzio has taken heavier."

Indeed he had, and he flew off at max speed towards a roof near the action. Setup would take some time, but

 

[Lunar Templar]

Mean while, inside city hall....

A couple was sitting in the waiting area, fairly normal looking save the woman had a Foxes ears and tail. They where waiting to speak to some one about how much progress was being made on getting the schools back up and running.

Her meeting was postponed due to people from another district, under the command of a 'Mercury' arrived, which understandably took priority, so the pair waited. Then gun shoots rang out, and the man pulled his wife down, unsure if the shoots where directed at the building or not, they also heard shouting, how ever could not make out what was being said. The man, crawled over to the door and cracked it enough to see out side.

Things where not going well, people on both sides lay dead, and now a some kinda of monster was loose and attacking the supers the freed Palm Bay from the Mc Niels. He shook his head a crawled back to his wife. "Rae, we need to go, things are getting bad out there and it's looking like our 'heroes' are going to be dead before long." the woman, well 'fox girl' technically, just looked at him, well, 'look' was some what subjective, she was not just legally blind, but totally blind, the only saving grace, her powers, through their awakening she regain a bit of her lost sight in the form of seeing heat sources though in monochrome.

"How bad is it?" "Well, there's a monster is some kind out there, looks like it used to be human at one point, but he's pretty much destroying every one out there" She though on this a few moments "What can be done to help?" She said finally "We can not allow our selves to fall under tyrants again, if we can do something, we should, Staff Sargent" he smiled, and nodded "Your right, I'll be your eyes, you take the shot" He said, helping her up and guiding her to the door.

"I see sever heat sources out side, one is huge, the 'monster' I take?"
"Yeah, and he's holding on to some one to, unconfirmed it they're dead or not, you should probably do that compression thing."
She winced "Love, you know that hurts when I do that to much"
"I know, but its the best option we have" He said
She nodded and set her self up "Aim me, and I'll start" He moved her arm, down and to the left a little before moving "Your all set, he's not moving around a lot and i have you lined up for a head shot, quick and clean" She nodded as a bright Blue Flame manifested in her palm, grew bigger, then started to shrink, slowly growing bigger to about the size of a coconut, as the temperature around her spiked, after about a minute what she had in her hand looked more like energy then fire, though the peeling and discoloring wall paper said differently.

He made one final check to make sure she was still on target "Nail him love" He said. With out a second though, she 'ball' shot forward into a beam, burning through the door like it wasn't even there and toward the 'monster' known as Jonesy, who turned toward the bright blue light speeding toward him in time to catch a face full of compressed blue Napalm.

what ever compressed flames that blew around Jonesy's head hit the truck behind him, the armor turning to a liquid almost instantly

Spoiler: OOC

and cause i must!
guess who's back [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RScYA_fBqKY]
25-45 seconds XD

 

[rigabear]

Spoiler: FLASHBACK: OOC

Seeing as Viking has left, but we are going to need him I've filled out the negotiations we had back when the 'team' was getting together. This is based on the conversation I had with him over skype. Sorry about my attempt at Haitian.

-----5 DAYS PRIOR TO THE ARRIVAL OF MERCURY'S ENVOYS-----

"You will recognize de 'ospital as my turf. You can have your people der, but you can nevah have dem out-numbah my people. Aneh decisions about de 'ospital will have to go trew me first, and none of you can give ordahs to my bruddahs and sistahs. De Children of Samedi will be your allies, no your cronies. Do we 'ave a deal?"

John's mind was probing the storm's of Saturday's minds for signs of deceit, but he struggled to find any. On the surface, this was a man who cared about his people but even from his position on the outskirts of his mind, John could sense that this was built on a selfish foundation. They were his people; Loa's people. As a result, John was not willing to let him and his gang keep a base of operations completely unsupervised in the middle of the city.

"This is going in the right direction. Do you have somewhere private we can continue these negotiations?"

Rico shouted his objections before John cut him off; "I'm sure we can trust Saturday. And, if he kills me, he'll have all of you to deal with..." Matthew emitted a lizardly hiss at Saturday's henchmen, who looked visibly shaken. The clown started cackling maniacally.

"Very well. Come wit me."

John walked side by side with the red suited Haitian doctor into the hospital, down to the basement floor and into a small office. Something was off... he could sense many, many minds nearby, but they were just shadows of the tempests that were each full human mind. Their storms barely registered; normally in such proximity to so many John's mind would be buffeted by waves of thought and emotion; but these were just ripples on the great ocean on which all minds roamed. He redoubled his efforts to explore Saturday's mind, but was shocked out of it when he spoke;

"So wat is your powah?"

"What?!"

"Yes, your powah. I can see it cleahly on you... you 'ave da juju of a supah."
John was shocked in to silence; he had to think of something quickly. He stopped walking; "Are you serious? Christ..." Feigning shock John propped himself up on the wall.
"You did not know?"
"No..." John was silent for a minute, appearing to absorb this 'new' information, this 'revelation', while he poured his energy into his mind which trying to delve into Saturday's storm and search for a way out of this predicament. There was suspicion, and while he could not see an easy route out of this position he quickly realised that Saturday was hiding something...

He'd been quiet for long enough; "Can you tell me what it is?"

"No. Only dat you 'ave one." John closed his eyes and leant his head back on the wall. More silence.

And now John chuckled; "It's probably something shit, like water breathing."

"Wat?"
"My power, it's probably something useless, like water breathing or growing imaginary trees." Saturday laughed, warming somewhat, "Or maybe every time I sneeze a mountain in China explodes... those poor Chinese villages."

"Oh well... no point getting hung up on it right now. Who knows, maybe it'll come in handy at some point."

"Maybe. Maybe as part of dis deahl, if deh basement fluds you will come an' fix it"
"Hah!" But the mention of the deal refocused their minds to business. Soon they were in a small office, that looked like it had been hastily re-purposed and was now serving as Saturday's HQ. Saturday's henchmen waited outside as John and Saturday sat in large leather chairs that had weathered the collapse remarkably well.

"So, in exchange for use of the hospital you will retain control of it and it's inhabitants, totally independent of the rest of the city?"
"Yes, dat is right"
"I'm sorry, but that is not acceptable."
"An' why not? You will get wat you need will you not?"
"You understand that having it is not workable to have the only hospital in the city a rogue agent?"
"Are dere not otha 'ospitals you can use?"
"No, we need the medical personnel to get them up and running. And they are all here.
"I can 'ave my people 'elp you wid d-"
"The city doesn't need your people!" John voice was raised now; "There are plenty of thugs around! I need the medical personnel!"
Saturday leant back; John didn't need mind reading to sense a smugness; "Think of it like 'dis, de 'ospital is an unassailable bridge, an aye am 'de lord. You 'ave no choice."

John paused and steeled himself. Now he spoke with icy cold; "One difference. This is place is not unassailable. We will storm this place and take it by force if we need to."
"You would not. Many innocents would die. You would destroy de trust of de people."

"The people did not trust the McNeils." The words chilled the air.

In a lowered tone, and sharp enough to draw blood, John continued; "I will do what it takes to protect this city."

Saturday calm demeanour broke, and his mind was maelstrom; "You are de bully 'ere; you come 'ere wid 'dese supahs, demanding things, comparing yo'self to dah McNeils!" Saturday was now on his feet, almost shouting; "I 'ave done nothing but 'elp people since dis began, and you claim tah be acting on be'alf of da citeh? Do you take me for a fool?"

"By controlling the only hospital, you have the city's balls in a vice. Sure you make the right noises now, but who can tell if you will always? Who knows what you could be planning?" John's mind rode these words deep into the head of Saturday. He was hiding something, something big, and his voodoo was central to it. A picture was forming. "I will do everything I can to make sure we do not become the McNeils. But we cannot build a good future for Palm Bay on shaky foundations. And it doesn't get more shaky than a rogue hospital."

There was a silence, as the two men stared at each other, each sizing up the other. John broke it with a sigh; "Look, I am not trying to take the hospital from you, but how can we trust you if you refuse to let us build new ones?"

Again a silence. John felt Saturday weigh his options.

"Fine. You can 'ave de people you need. The city needs more 'ospitals, 'an I will not stand in de way of dat."

"Thank you. This will not be forgotten." The two of them collapsed back into their chairs. Saturday's pervious alarm was fading, but it would take more than words to convince him that John had no ill intnetions. And vice versa.

Now matters turned to the mundane, such as the number of personnel, and the number of people that John would be allowed to have inside the hospital. But really, John was buying time, trying delve deeper into the mind Saturday to figure out exactly what it was that he was hiding. But eventually there was no more to be said, and in order not to draw suspicion John brought things to a close; "Thank you Saturday. We need your help, this city cannot afford more dead." Dead. Death. The dead. These words ricocheted around Saturday's mind.

As John walked out of the hospital, side by side with the red suited Haitian the words plagued him.What was Saturday doing? What did the dead and voodoo have to with it? He knew of Haitian lore, and that there was a small section whose beliefs revolved around the... undead... but that was all nonsense, right?

At least it had been before the collapse...

 

[rigabear]

-----1 DAY PRIOR TO THE ARRIVAL OF MERCURY'S ENVOYS-----

A nervous looking secretary stood awkwardly at the doorway, griping a file tightly and debating whether or not to enter or draw attention to herself. John was sitting on the desk talking to James, discussing the progress of the education system in Palm Bay when he spotted her; "One second James." Now he smiled at her; "Yes? What is it?"

Composing herself, she spoke with a confidence that John had not been expecting; "Sir; I have a report for you."

"Ok, bring it here." She handed him the document, and he put it down on the desk without even opening it. "Thank you." Slightly confused, the secretary left.

"Aren't you going to look at that?" James asked,

"Eh, consider it added to the backlog. You're a busy man so we can finish this first. And besides I've got many reports to read." They resumed their discussion.

-----1.32 AM THE DAY OF THE ARRIVAL OF MERCURY'S ENVOYS-----

Despite the time, city hall was still busy when John finally picked up that report. As soon as he opened it he knew he should have read it should not have been labelled as a mere report; it was news from the watch he had posted on Saturday's hospital, and their findings went some way to confirming John's worst fears.

For the last week, not a single body had been disposed of.

At the other hospitals, in the event someone died (a frequent occurrence in the aftermath of the uprising) they were taken to small gardens that had grown in the back of each to be returned to the earth, or in this case Warren. At Saturday's however, this was not happening; he was doing something with the bodies. This could be anything, but there was a certain conclusion which made everything John had seen in Saturday's mind and hospital add up.

However John would not get a chance to act before reports of a more pressing kind, the kind regarding an incoming armed convoy, became to trickle, then flood in.

 

[CJ1145]

Bullets rained down from above, peppering the soldiers that had arrived with the Arab. A few fell to the bullets, but the training and experience of war kicked in. They knew what to do. Two men pulled the body of the Arab out of the line of fire, placing him beside one of the trucks after a man hopped into the driver's seat and pulled it around. They managed to form a small circle of barricades using the vehicles. Small arms fire managed to ping off the trucks helplessly, while the soldiers began to return fire.

They were outnumbered and outgunned, but not outskilled. Their precision shots were well coordinated, knocking men in fives or more out of their cover, clutching their bleeding wounds before they lost their grip on life.

One man pulled a cell phone from his pocket, frantically dialing the number he'd been ordered to dial in an emergency.

When it clicked, telling him someone was listening he yelled into it, "Sir! Palm Bay's new leaders: hostile! Extremely, extremely hostile! We are outnumbered, Wilbur is heavily wounded! Bleeding out fast, sir... Yes, sir, I understand. We'll hold."

He flipped the phone shut, and told the others "This is your grave, boys! Dig in and make 'em rue the second you entered their city!"

The soldiers gave a forlorn cheer, switching from self-preservation to utter annihilation. They kept up their fire, well over two dozen militia were dead before the next of the remaining eight invaders fell.

Jonesy, meanwhile, was moments from squeezing the last iota of life out of his target, when a large dose of some churning blue liquid came hurtling towards him. In surprise, he brought his forearms up to shield him from the blast, his sweating palms losing their grip on Charles long enough to accidentally fling him away, some ten meters to his right.

Jonesy took the blow, the strange flames avoiding his face, and singing his gray skin black where it impacted. Smoke rose from it, and the behemoth grimaced in discomfort; he didn't seem heavily injured. Rather, he was busy scheming. A good counter-shot was actually well within reach.

His hand shot out and grabbed ahold of Rico; the thought process was clever, but simple: an indestructible bullet was a perfect bullet.

With a heavy grunt, he tossed his foe at the ones who had fired the napalm at him, making sure to give the throw a little spin for maximum effect.

 

[lacktheknack]

"GAH-"

Rico was hurtling through the air towards the City Hall.

"CRA-"

He was hurtling towards the door, which had a large hole in it. He braced his arm, aiming to go through the hole.

He missed.

The door blew off its hinges with a sickening crack, slowing Rico down, as well as ricocheting him off the door frame. He spun a bit further as he flopped very heavily through the door onto a very surprised large fox, knocking it clean over, before skidding across the floor to the feet of a very surprised man.

Rico was no longer surprised by these turns of events. He just groaned loudly and sat up, wondering if the fox was all right.

 

[Lunar Templar]

"RAECHEL!" The man shouted, and rushed over to her, stepping on Rico in the process.

Raechel groaned as she sat up "I'm ok ... oww ... Don't think anything is broken" Wrapping her arms around her ribs "Fucking feels like it though" She said as her husband helped away from the door "I didn't get him did I?" Raechel asked around a groan, her husband tucking her behind cover, and close enough for Rico to get a look at her

 

[TheNaut131]

Gavin was letting gravity take hold again, Ottis near by, still getting use to the sensation of "flying." They could make out the behemoth known as Jonesy, currently engulfed in blue flames. He didn't look to bad, a bit brutish, but nothing a few jolts and falls couldn't handle. He wondered where Darryl and Rico were in the heart of all this. Rico would be perfectly fine, but Darryl...

"Alright Blitzkrieg, get ready to bop em!" Gavin yelled as Ottis charged up. Jonesy picked something off the ground and flung it in their general direction. What the hell is that? It whizzed by and Gavin could barely make out Rico's alarmed face before he collided with whatever fired the napalm. Gavin and Ottis simply landed, Jonesy fixing his sights on them. Lighting arced between Ottis's hands and Gavin stayed light on his feet. He didn't want to get hit by one of those meat slabs. Jonesy started walking towards them, picking up speed.

"...how much do you figure he weighs?" Gavin asked, hearing a loud "THUD" everytime Jonesy took a step closer.

 

[SkullKing84]

" Pretty damn heavy! Ever try centering someone's gravity and imploding the fucker? Ya know. Like, making his chest the center focal point and increasing it by ten fold." Ottis said in one long breathe.

Jonesy already over half way to them.

"BOP!"

The air smelled like ozone as point blank thunder crack broke the white noise of fighting. Ottis never had such power roar out of him in the blink of an eye. But, he felt as if his battery was still fully charged. Unbeknownst to him his eye color permanently changed to white and his body hair burnt off; never to return.

 

[TheNaut131]

"BOP!" Ottis yelled, as the surge of electricity exited his body.

Gavin was used to Ottis blasting away and found that any resulting static in the area was mostly harmless. But something about this blast was different. Gavin felt his feet leave the ground and quickly grappled himself to the ground. When it was over, Jonesy was seen twitching, static on bouncing off his body as he hunched over in pain. It hadn't killed him, but it slowed him down,overloading his nervous system. Gavin turned to Ottis, reflecting on their game plan.

"Well, as interesting a prospect that is, I can't make things heavier. I can merely reduce gravity, not enhance it. Though there is something I've been working on..." Gavin said, trailing off as he noticed Ottis's slightly changed appearance. Gavin wasn't exactly sure now was a good time to point it out.

"My power works like a...'negation field', I guess. I reduce the gravity in the area around me and wallah. I can apply a negation field around a specific object but that takes more effort than you'd think. I usually just get within range of someone and use the field around me to send them flying. Oddly enough, it's easier just to affect multiple objects around me. But I've been thinking what if I made the field in...halves, or bubbles. Tiny negation fields around an area. So at one point, one part of body may feel extremely light, while another is affected by normal gravity." Jonesy focused on them once again, a hint of fury glistening in his eyes. Jonesy let out a yell and started charging at them, faster than before.

"Though, I'm not exactly sure how that would help us in a situation like this!" Gavin screeched, just barely clearing Jonesy's head as attempted to ram Ottis. Ottis jumped to the side, firing a second bolt of lighting, not as powerful as the first but still devastating. The air crackled once more but Jonesy seemed more prepared for this strike, standing his ground. He turned to Ottis, watching the static dance between his fingers.

He turned to Ottis, raising a giant meat slab of fist, only to have Gavin grab it from behind. Jonesy swung his arm downwards and pulled Gavin down with it, slamming him into the ground. Gavin groaned slightly, his power slightly dampening the blow, but concrete was still concrete. He attempted to step on Gavin but Ottis grabbed him by the chest, attempting to perhaps stop his heart. It didn't work. Jonsey deflected Ottis's hand, discharging the electricity harmlessly before backhanding him. He brought his leg down on Gavin, but as he did so, Gavin grabbed his leg and pushed upwards, sending Jonesy flying. Gavin rolled to his side and over to Ottis, just as Jonesy landed, a loud crunch coming from the ground and hopefully some of Jonesy's bones. Gavin grabbed his radio.

"Okay, as much as I hope he'll stay down, I think we all know that's not going to happen. With that being said, we could use some back up!"

 

[lacktheknack]

Rico was up and running. The fox-woman seemed to be OK, and the man with her clearly didn't care about his existence one way or another, so Rico ditched them.

He was running back towards Jonesy, who lay flat, and saw Gavin radioing someone. "Hey guys! Can I be of assistance?" Rico yelled. Jonesy was getting back up.

 

[PlastikBulb]

Everything was happening so fast. And it Warren wasn?t used to it. He didn?t like rapid change, it made him queasy. It was why he didn?t travel much. He got carsick easily, as well as air sick and seasick. That movement made him feel off. Made him feel out of control.

It was the same for events surrounding him. He didn?t like not being able to take a long look at something and say, ?this doesn?t work here, let?s move it somewhere else and try again.?

It was unfortunate for him then, that everything about the current situation demanded quick action.

It had started smoothly. Warren had been one of the first to notice the convoy approaching thanks to the burgeoning wall and his sunflower watchers, but his decision to message John about it came too late, and by then everything was being set up to greet them and begin negotiations.

That was fine, Warren could deal with that. Make a tent? Yeah, sure. Hide in the back, obscured and direct, act as a control, a funnel. That?s how Warren worked. Letting others take the heavy hits while he could distract and disarm.

And now those skills were necessary. After the clown had acted very questionably in regards to his state of mind and attitude towards what John had organised them all to do for the city Warren was all prepared to drag him down and tear his arms off. But he couldn?t, because he had to deal with the armed men, and the rather large grey-skinned behemoth of a man who stepped out of the truck.

Everything was going to hell and Warren was having trouble keeping up. Rico had been catapulted away after being crushed for a bit. The gravity-warping guy and the electric man were going toe to toe with the hulk while the militia were being gunned down by the better trained men from the convoy.

Warren?s indecision was palpable. His roots thrashed in uncertainty, making great furrows in the soil where he was ingrained, connected to the fauna of Palm Bay. He could see the situation from all angles. His sunflowers relayed whatever they could to him. Painting a picture of smells and sounds and everything else that a flower might possibly be able to detect.

Finally, after another crucial moment in which the hulk-thing was tossed away thanks to the gravity man, Warren acted.

His thorn-covered roots erupted from the ground around the surviving convoy gunmen and tore their weapons from their fingers, lacerating their forearms and pinning them to their sides as the vines began to constrict their chests.

 

[SkullKing84]

Ottis getting to his feet looking right at Gav.

"Time to make the incredible Bulk's knees be anti gravity?"

 

[Lunar Templar]

Raechel's husband was checking her over to make sure, nothing was in fact broken "Robert, I'm fine, just sore" She said with an 'ah' as he found a couple broken ribs "Liar" He said with a smirk "You just don't want me worried" she smiled, he had her there.

"Doesn't change that the 'Lance' didn't work" Raechel said, leaning back a little "only one other thing i could try, may just piss him off more though ..."

Robert gave her a funny look "Oh? What did you have in mind?" "'Cooking' him. Surround him with my flames, and raise the temperature high as i can, his breaking point is not likely to be as high as mine, I'll ether burn him alive, or rob him of any air to breath"

Robert looked at his wife with concern. This was a rare, brutal side he'd seen only once or twice before, and it always bothered him when she went to this place. But he also knew the only reason the monster wasn't up her yet was cause of the others "What do you need?" "something big to light up, with lots of flammable stuff"

He thought for a moment "There that old copy supply store across the street." Raechel nodded "Perfect, lets go" she said, Robert helped her up and the pair exited through a side door and headed across the street.

 

[TheNaut131]

Ottis looked between Rico and Ottis, trying to figure out his next move. Jonesy was getting up, trying to stop the world from spinning around him. Gavin could pick him up and drop him a few thousand times, but eventually Gavin would get tired or he'd figure a way out of it and come roaring towards them again. No, he needed to keep him off balance, constantly disoriented, and this "trick" might be able to do it...but Gavin had never tried it before. He needed to keep Jonesy in a relative space and distracted. Gavin doubted his grappling hook could keep him in place. Ottis's electrical blast were nerve racking but weren't taking him down and apparently Rico made a fun "play thing."

"Rico," Gavin said pulling some of the steel cable from his grappling hook and handing it off to Rico. "Wrap some of that around you and let the sharp end trail off. That's for Jonesy. Now, have you ever seen a rodeo." Rico stared at Gavin and slowly nodded his head. "Good, now how does your power fair against electricity?" Ottis turned to Gavin and then to Rico, getting a sense of what he was planning.

Gavin opened his hand and stared at it, a negation in around it. He let little bubbles of normal gravity enter it but the negation field gradually diminished entirely. He tried again, holding it for a few seconds longer before it diminished again.

"This might take me awhile. Just keep him here and don't let him move around too much. Maybe whoever fired those flames can hel-" He heard a side door close with a slight bang.

"Nevermind..." He muttered as Jonesy finally regained his wits and sneered at them.