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[sub][@Ponn][@ERode][@Izurich][/sub]

Had the tiger overestimated his abilities? Or had he underestimated his prey? The whole plan fell apart with a swing of a scabbard redirecting Loki's momentum upwards. He wouldn't be able to land back on his feet, not when the Angel took her chance and filled him with a rain of lead. The weretiger hit the ground with a thud, painting the floor red. As it was with the rest of the human guards. At least, what was left of them. Whether or not he somehow survived [i]this[/i] attack too? It was clear he wouldn't be a hindrance any further. Such was the law of the jungle.

Spades on the other hand wouldn't have been able to reach cover in time. With a swift kick in the ribs from Angel knocking the wind out of him, Estelle disarmed him and… Wait a damn second, she was [i]sparing him?[/i] The fuzzy cuffs were humiliating but he was moreso processing her warning before she rushed off. With a grunt the mobster rolled off his stomach and sat up. 

Eh. Should've known he'd be arrested sooner or later. But he had to respect the moxie of his opponent.

Unlike his recklessly dead teammate, Lorenzo leapt from side to side to evade Ashley's energy bolt as he closed in. The potent bolt [i]did[/i] however strike him dead in the shoulder. The tiger collided against the shield, rammed his unwounded shoulder against it. Just as long as Ashley can keep it raised Lorenzo wouldn't have an opening. But how long could she hold him off?

But there was still the issue of the elevator password. Mika decided to pursue the only one that managed to slip away in order to get it. The subtlest of blood trails lead to a sideroom door, and down a hallway.

[b]"I ain't getting my ass kicked by Tony just cause the feds trashed his stomping grounds, so quit your fuckin' squirming!"[/b]

[b]"Go to hell!"[/b]

Cerberus could hear Honey Badger and the wounded teller arguing with each other, the latter struggling to free herself from the former's grip. Despite her bleeding from her torso, the rush of adrenaline gave him enough trouble for Mika to catch up.

When the two spotted her approaching, Honey Badger forced the teller in front of him.

[b]"Not another step, girlie! You don't want me to break her neck now, would ya'?!"[/b]

[hr]

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[sub][@The World][@Nyahahameha][@Nakushita][@TaintedMushroom][@FamishedPants][/sub]

It was once said that the definition of insanity was performing the same action over and over again while expecting different results. 

Himiko ran and shot, ran and shot. She even got a sexy dive and slide in there. But it didn’t change the fact that she was being hunted by three [i]abominations[/i] that were resilient to her attacks. Getting hit by one of Himiko’s bullets would have been a death sentence to a normal human. A shot to the head should have scattered his cranium and brain matter to the four winds. The same result as if he had been hit by a round from a Barrett. Instead, his head was very much intact, as was every other part of his body that she shot. He was getting weaker, sure, but the extra holes in his flesh didn’t slow him down enough. His two companions made ground where he couldn’t. Himiko was running out of room, and her pursuers showed no signs of slowing down. The pile of rubble she was hiding behind exploded when it was struck by a flying boulder. The golden gunslinger was thrown along with the scattered stones. When your opponents were undead wraiths imbued with the ivory of a dragon’s horns, seconds were the difference between life and death. 

As was how much help you had. 

A lightning bolt struck the rebar thrower’s leg, detonating his leg below the knee. The creature fell onto its chest and continued to convulse as the electric magic interfered with its ability to move. The stone thrower continued to rush towards Himiko, but the shopping cart “Zombie bum” changed course and was running towards Justin like a Walmart shopper would rush a BOGO deal on black friday.

Not far away, another blast of electric magic rocked the homeless mob. Nobody caught in the blast radius had a good day. Some were cooked through and through, with the more fortunate ones only partially harmed by the spell. Many dropped to the ground without uttering as much as a scream. But the inverse was true for Marrie, who felt rejuvenated by the melody. It was as if someone had turned back the clock on the beating. Not all the way, as a minor healing spell spread so thin over the body can only do so much. The mob distanced itself from Marrie as she flew out of the ground, which was distancing itself from her position.

But not the pole dancer, who seemed to have no fear of Finn’s magic. They were too far away to get caught in the blast zone, but they had changed their focus to the new arrival. Baiting out an attack was not difficult. She thrust her pipe at Finn’s chest as soon as she had an opportunity. The much heavier weapon was difficult for the thin fencing blade to affect, but he managed to shove the pole off course so that it didn’t hit him. This was all Marrie needed to swoop in and land a stab without getting batted out of the sky. But once the knife sunk into its flesh, right up to the hilt, Marrie would discover what Himiko had failed to realize: These guys really don’t mind being full of holes. The paleguard reached over its shoulder and flung Marrie into Finn. 

It wasn’t just the ground where there was a fight, things continued up in the sky. The palemancer soared into the sky with frightening speed, but it was an attack that Kira could see coming. She successfully kicked the scythe’s edge, and his accent stopped rising. But that momentum that carried him into the sky was still there, and he spun in place. This would make grabbing his ankle more difficult. 

But Kira was so preoccupied with her own strategy, so preoccupied with how she was going to humiliate this guy, that she hadn’t considered that he may have thrown himself into the sky because he had a way of dealing with her. 

[color=gray]"You got some nerve, takin' advantage of the most vulnerable period a' these people's lives..."[/color]

His bony hand shot off of his elbow and slammed into Kira’s shoulder. Its fingers gripped her tightly, and a spine-like tether bound the arm to the palemancer’s elbow. 

[b]”So says the privileged celebrity?”[/b]

How could Kira even fathom what any of them had gone through? Had she ever made a home out of a cardboard box? Had she ever needed to beg from strangers? Did she even know what it was like to get beat by people that looked at you like garbage? Or was she just a freelancer that thought her actions were just so long as someone was putting money in her hand? 

The palemancer released his scythe, and the tether pulled him towards his arm with such speed that he could slam his knee into Kira’s stomach. Even if she didn’t mean too, the impact would launch her hand towards the palemancer, which would pull him into her further. Though this was something he had less control over, and the two of them flailed through the air. Kira’s back landed flat against the top of the semi, and the palemancer tumbled further down. He eventually rolled onto his feet, but remained on one knee. 

And then there was a disturbance.

Kira had initially spotted a far off group of people when surveying the area. She had decided to put it out of her mind, figuring if the group was hostile it would take them some time to arrive. That was based on the assumption that they didn’t have an esper with them that could help them travel faster. However…

A snake flew from the distant group and smashed into the back of the MicroMart. Rather than spreading its gore everywhere, the creature flattened out like a pancake, elongating and stretching until it was the size of a doorway. When it opened its mouth, which was the size of the entire snake at this point, its mouth led to the grassy hill where everyone had been waiting. But who had been waiting there? 

Everyone found out when they rushed around the corner.

What spilled out of the portal was several figures in white robes. Each one wore a mask depicting some creature with six eyes, sharp teeth, and tusks. They were also brandishing daggers and shouting.

[b]”Interlopers!”[/b]

[b]”This cargo belongs to the one beyond reality!”[/b]

[b]”Sacrifices for the sky whale!”[/b]

[b]”Purge the filth that steals from the unborn one!”[/b]

[b]”Glory for Aigorost!”[/b]

The [i]cultists[/i] had come back for their water.

But the cultists weren’t just a mob, there were special members within its ranks. One included a lanky creature with green skin. He was dressed similar to everyone else, but the addition of gold accessories made his [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1190691865641627749/1208425530135678987/Arbitrator_Marcellus_artwork.png?ex=65e33cf9&is=65d0c7f9&hm=37a861318d815c0ac752ce212b91432c50f431dff3758a2b662789d08d0bd201&]grand wizard lookin’ ass[/url] stand out. That and he could touch the ground without bending over. His dagger would have been a sword in a human’s hands. There was also a [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1190691865641627749/1208427420231663646/OpheliaPortrait3.jpg?ex=65e33ebc&is=65d0c9bc&hm=c3c326ce4913c015653659ba31df7857ede7702519b4031981909875ccb5558d&]woman with pink hair[/url], the only one without a mask. She also wasn’t brandishing a weapon, and was content to just watch the chaos unfold around her.

The newly arrived mob wasted no time in mowing down the homeless. At the end of the day, they were broken men that were emboldened by one of their own getting incredible powers. Even against a few espers they felt like they might have had a chance. But a cult needed to be delusional. To be able to believe in a cause, regardless of its absurdity, with enough conviction that they would die for it. How could the homeless possibly match that fervor? If any of the homeless stuck around, it was to defend themselves. This was an especially unfortunate situation for the homeless Kira had trapped earlier. If they survived falling out of her melody, they didn’t survive the cultist mob. They took no prisoners, they showed no mercy. 

Something the driver was fully aware of.

The semi roared to life and drove forward, nearly rolling Kira and the pale master off the top of it, and driving over anyone that didn’t get out of the way. The leader of the homeless extended his hand and caught his scythe just as Kira’s melody wore off. His two pale guards who waited on the roof hopped onto the truck and landed behind Kira. 

Kira looked like she was going to get carted away on the truck, but it wasn’t too late for other espers to hitch a ride too. But they needed to decide what was more important: dealing with the cultists or recovering the water. They wouldn’t have long to decide. The truck was steadily building speed, and the cultists would be upon them before long.