[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/6zc773j.jpg[/img][/center] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img][/center][hr][center][color=silver]𝕄: π•Šπ•–π•‘π•₯. πŸ™πŸœ, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / π•Žπ•šπ•€π•—π• π•£π••, 𝕄𝕒𝕣π•ͺπ•π•’π•Ÿπ•• / / π•‹π• π•¨π•Ÿ / / ~πŸ™πŸ πŸ˜πŸ˜[/color][/center][hr] [center][url=http://imgur.com/GByCMZg][img]http://i.imgur.com/GByCMZgl.jpg[/img][/url][/center] [center][hider=Structural Damage Map (for reference)][url=http://i.imgur.com/Pv7DDrx.jpg][img]http://i.imgur.com/Pv7DDrxl.jpg[/img][/url][/hider][/center] [center][h3][color f7976a]π”Όπ•Ÿπ•–π•žπ•ͺ π•Šπ•¦π•“π•Ÿπ•’π•₯𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕀: π”Ύπ•£π•’π•§π•šπ•₯π•ͺ π•’π•Ÿπ•• π•Šπ•‘π•šπ•œπ•–π•€[/color][/h3][/center][hr] Siena's teleport with the blonde-haired Aberration took the enemy a hair's distance from the tree-like thorns below Lawrence and the girl screamed, willing her spikes to break down and retract. But not quite fast enough. She plunged into several of the thicker spikes that jutted out horizontally, breaking apart the thinner ones in her forward stumble and screaming again as her pincushioned body registered every puncture and laceration. The branching asphalt steeples crumbled and collapsed as she tried to brush off several of the needles piercing her arms and face. It was the sort of instinctive response that made everything worse. Most of them broke off, leaving the tips embedded in her skin. The points cutting into her eyelids and mouth sank deeper into the soft flesh there the harder she tried to clear them off. Blinded and bleeding as much as the ally she had planned to abandon earlier, the girl took a leaf from the gravity manipulator's book and screeched--a sound that was hate and desperation rolled into one. The ground below her roiled, then burst, as if the road itself had frozen in an angular explosion. A forest of peaks shot out from the ground, obscuring sight for over 40 meters and mindlessly bursting into needles and thorns, the configuration nowhere near as controlled and steady as before. The field looked like modern artwork decorated in the red wisping strands and droplets of the dead and dying. Several spikes tilted at odd angles while others broke as they grew into one another. Within the deranged architecture, the deadly flooring elevated any grounded student further up, breaking any grip to solid ground in the process. A spike shot past Siena's forearm, narrowly missing it and skidding past the protection of the wishalloy instead while other spikes knocked her off balance against and lifted her. The blonde Aberration girl now surrounded herself with several criss-crossing layers of angled spears, forming both a ceiling and rough floor in midair. While the students caught in the sudden burst of magic were mostly unharmed thanks to the wishalloy, the same couldn't be said for the gravity mage. The girl gibbered uselessly in response to Zoe's demand, one arm and stomach impaled through. She was whimpering and wailing in breathless alternation and her power's effect seemed to decrease with her fading life, the field flickering like a broken lightbulb. In effect, it lifted and dropped the people in its radius carelessly and randomly, raising them up far faster than before and dropping them again before the levitation resumed. What remained of the gargoyle Aberration and the frost mage were pulverized further while the dead bodies of Savannah, the unfortunate soldier, and the brave citizen floated far above the rest, thankfully free of the potential mutilation. For the moment, the wishalloy held steady against the impacts as several students fell against them repeatedly--once, twice, thrice before the field finally stabilized at a much lower intensity, letting a fraction of regular gravity slip through. But someone aware would notice the slight rippling in the material--how it shifted for brief instants into that watery state of transition. After a spear of asphalt larger than his body shattered against Lawrence's frozen state and not a second too soon after the gravity field steadied itself, Marcus's time freeze wore off and the Arbiter fell slowly towards a V-shaped pocket of intersecting shafts mercifully free of stray points, coming to a rest face up. He wasn't seeing anything at the moment, more focused on keeping his consciousness intact and his hand against the sucking chest wound as much as possible. The only thing Lawrence kept in mind then was the beating of his heart. For now, weak as it was, he was alive. The black-haired girl's free hand fumbled to find Zoe's arms, attempting to weakly pull her off while unable to see and barely able to hear past the sensations of pain washing out noises in favor of her own hammering pulse. [center][h3][color f7976a]𝔸ℙℂ[/color][/h3][/center][hr] Dean's fingers tapped quickly against the APC's steering wheel as he drove, first to just get away from the fighting between magically gifted teenagers and then to get away from the worst sections of town that had been obliterated by the fighting. When he finally found a relatively quiet street, he turned the car down a smaller road and let it idle while he prodded the various buttons on the touch screen display to his right. "Navigation" opened into a map where markers and warnings flashed and alternated like strobe lights. He stared blankly at the display for a moment before catching several smaller buttons in the corner and eventually figuring out the various letters and numerical codes corresponding to the correct filters after several long minutes of trial and error. Once a cleaner map flashed at him with ally markers, he looked towards the back of the vehicle, catching through the thin slit in the metal partition the wide open back doors. A quick check in the sideview mirrors for anything out of place and he was out, dashing quickly around to close the doors before returning to the driver's seat, adrenaline still humming in his ears as loud as the car's engine. The nearest group of students weren't far, from the map's designations, and the markers moved at a snail's pace. The title of "Healer" in front of two names also caught his attention. If he could bring another healer back to the glowing pillar of light where the USARILN kids were fending off people who didn't mind snapping a little girl's neck, perhaps the "good" subnaturals could win this without worry. And perhaps his grandfather would be fine, as well. Dean wasn't an optimist, and he knew what that kind of injury foretold, but maybe someone had saved--he let the crackle of manageable rubble underneath the APC's wheels drown out the thoughts lining up for panic in his head, wondering in "if"s and "but"s about making the decisions in place of any real authority. The kids, at least, were following orders. What was a civilian like him doing when he should rightly be driving this car back towards the main military presence in the area? The indecision nagged at him and it wasn't the time. His grandfather had taught him by word and deed to stay calm, especially in this day and age when danger often came on unexpected wings and clawed feet. But, in what appeared to his younger thoughts as a paradox, the senior-turned-militia member had always been the first to take action--against crime in the neighborhood, against Dreamcatcher monsters, against marked teenagers before the USARILN soldiers pulled the trigger preemptively. During those moments, the old man had never seemed calm. It had taken Dean years to understand. [color f7976a]"You can't force it when the blood's already pumping."[/color] His grandfather had pointed at a nearby target on the practice range then. [color f7976a]"Sometimes, you just need to act and hope it's the right thing."[/color] When the APC pulled to a stop beside Grant, Ernie, and the three unconscious students, Dean put aside surprise for relief. Whatever else could be said about the situation, it certainly [i]felt[/i] right to be here at that moment. [color f7976a]"Which one's the healer?"[/color] he asked quickly, stepping out of the truck in case they needed help. Another decision that hit just the right notes of "correct" to him, because two of the students suddenly dropped off the strange chains extending from one of the subnaturals' backs. [center][h3][color f7976a]π•Žπ•šπ•€π•—π• π•£π•• 𝕆𝕦π•₯π•€π•œπ•šπ•£π•₯𝕀[/color][/h3][/center][hr] Troubled eyes squinted through the sights of the military-issue binoculars, stolen of course. Aside from Whisper, none of the others had bothered asking for a peek. The gargantuan silhouettes of brass golem and the yellow beacon had told them more than enough. Fracture was still dangerous and those kids would be lucky to have even half of their squad make it out alive. It seemed that Donovan was the only one that at least tried to give a damn about this incident, as usual. Nico and the others had only stayed because of the right hand man’s insistence. Fracture was in the area, that continent-spanning organisation that housed Aberration psychopaths comparable to their own so obviously, Donovan had been adamant on staying. It was quite an impressive achievement these days, to have one of the most senior members of Cat’s Cradle think of you as depraved trash. Nico might have been able to overlook the giant robot and its massacre, but this faction, with its intentions directly clashing with Cat’s Cradle’s, were [i]right there[/i]. They needed to do something, anything. [color f7976a]β€œNico, come on. We don't have to chase her down, but we should at least stop [i]this[/i]."[/color] Donovan had been given an hour to stay, twenty-five minutes of which had been wasted on watching an empty mine entrance and another thirty spent on observing the efforts of a squad of incompetent child soldiers. USARILN kids. They looked young, only a year or two older than he and the Lehmanns when they had first set out, before the sky came crashing down on their backs and before they had enough blood on their hands to fill an Olympic swimming pool. Those kids were sloppy, inexperienced and, most worryingly, very scared. Donovan didn’t need to have them in his radius to deduce that. They were in no shape to be fighting a situation of this stature. The last straw had fallen when the Fracture agents revealed themselves. As expected, Donovan’s angered pleas to support had been coldly shut down. He couldn’t even blame Nico for that. No matter how much the he trained his body and mind, it was always his heart that would let him down. Perhaps the burden of an emotion-based power was taking its toll on him. That’s why he needed his scrawny companion to rein him back. A long time had passed since they were able to make appearances to their hearts’ content, almost five years if you wanted to keep track. With increasing USARILN pressure, they'd had to scale back any attempts to engage in notable fights or risk death while they were distracted, so Nico almost always elected to ignore pressing concerns of towns and cities besieged by Dreamcatcher's creatures even if their help would have easily turned the tides of battle. The first few times Nico had made those calls were quiet nights and quieter responses. Fast forward five years since their first public appearance and Nico could yawn and doze while not a mile away kids were dying. A part of him knew it was just a front--knew that almost everything about Nico now was just a front to hide the crumbling person underneath--but he still couldn't help the twang of resentment at the behavior. He doubted any of the others would have spoken up to agree with his call to help anyway. A handful of lives being lost would just be another drop in that bottomless pool, negligible and forgettable to the point where it might have been funny to even care about it, depending on which team member you asked. To Donovan, it was just a tragic reminder of how far he had fallen since those days on the road with the two people he cherished the most. Those sprawling skies and landscapes that had belonged to just the three of them. Before Nico’s--no, don’t say that--[i]their[/i] greater purpose had called to them. He knew it was foolish to believe that Nico’s transformation had been a stark white and black. He knew it was foolish to think of it at all, considering how much it always pained him. There was no sole person to blame here, not even Nico. They had all chosen this path of endless bloodshed. It was something Donovan wanted to believe, needed to. Even without his powers he would have felt those eyes trained on his face, a gaze as troubled as his own. Vanessa was worrying about him again. He had been too focused on the town battle, his internal strife, and hadn’t been guarding his expression closely enough. The Aussie immediately morphed his gritted frown into a forced yawn. A show of nonchalance, one that didn’t convince her in the slightest. Crap. Damn girl was too sharp for her own good. With an annoyed click of his tongue, Donovan turned from the town and stowed away the binoculars. He’d seen enough to confirm that nothing good had come of this watch. The Fracture agents, excluding the expendables sent after the child soldiers, were nowhere to be seen. The town was damaged beyond repair, its civilians too far to help, not that Nico would have allowed it anyway. But at least the USARILN squad were going to make it through. Hopefully. Maybe. Probably not. Looked like it was an appropriate time to leave after all. There was only so much inaction he could take before he had to look away. Donovan made a big show of stretching, cringing internally as Vanessa’s worry turned into annoyance. Damn girl. Before either of them could speak up, a handful of presences that just [i]appeared[/i] out of thin air and were now traversing the outer third of his range made the Aussie’s head turn sharply. Hostile presences, very hostile. And they either had a way of hiding from his detection or they had just teleported there. Quick strides were taken towards the general direction of the readings to get a better lead, broad shoulders pushing past Jon and Cece without much thought. His hand extended automatically to tap Nico twice on the shoulder. Their usual, non-verbal signal for amplification. Trouble nearby. Nico was up within seconds, sleep falling away with the habitual alacrity they'd all developed being on the run so long. [color f7976a]"How far?"[/color] he asked, red rings appearing on both his and Donovan's hands. [color f7976a]" 'Bout a kilomet--right, bloody Americans--three-fifths of a mile northeast of us, heading straight. They just popped up on my radar, so worst-case watch out for teleporters."[/color] [color f7976a]"Hold them there and scramble focus,"[/color] Nico replied, turning to throw a sigil on Jonathan as well. [color f7976a]"Take us ahead of their path by a quarter mile, Jon. If Don's detected them, they've probably detected us. Fracture doesn't go anywhere without a fight, so we'll bring one to them."[/color] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img][/center][hr] [hider=OOC Interaction Tags/Notes] [@VarionusNW] [@Lasrever] [@ERode] [@VampireOracle] [@Zombehs] [@GreenGoat] [@Diggerton] [@banjoanjo] [@Baklava] [@RedDusk] [@Piercing Light] [@Dragonmancer] [@Riffus Maximus] [@Deathmyster] [@Chasers115] [@PapiTan] [@Kyrisse] [@January] >>Marcus, Emma, Callan, Kusari, and Allison are being repeatedly dropped towards the spikes. If Zoe didn't lose her death hug in the lift, she's dropping and rising mere inches, so she's fine. Otherwise she's slamming into the spikes like everyone else. >>Assuming Siena didn't BAMF somewhere safe, the same happens to her. >>Sander is high enough that he's rose and fell without impacting the spike nest below. >>After the field stabilizes, everyone slowly drifts downwards. Like walking on the moon. >>Lawrence's cuff is still constantly transmitting. As is Angel's apparently. >>Xmas and Hazel flopped off Grant's chain because magical lube is intense. [center][u][h3][color=f7976a]π•Šπ•”π• π•£π•–π•“π• π•’π•£π••[/color][/h3][/u][/center] [center][table=bordered][row][cell]Enemy Type[/cell][cell]Enemies Dead[/cell][cell]Enemies Injured[/cell][cell]Enemies Left[/cell][/row][row][cell]Canines[/cell][cell]17[/cell][cell]0[/cell][cell]0[/cell][/row][row][cell]Spiders[/cell][cell]13[/cell][cell]0[/cell][cell]0[/cell][/row][row][cell]Centipedes[/cell][cell]3[/cell][cell]0[/cell][cell]0[/cell][/row][row][cell]Avians[/cell][cell]7[/cell][cell]0[/cell][cell]0[/cell][/row][row][cell]Collectors[/cell][cell]3[/cell][cell]0[/cell][cell]1[/cell][/row][row][cell]Winged Snake[/cell][cell]1[/cell][cell][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell]Factory[/cell][cell]1[/cell][cell][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][/table][/center] [hr] [u]Previous notes:[/u] Three day timers (and then another two/three days for GMs to read moves and respond), but given that rate of posting the GMs will be much more lenient on players shafting responses and moves onto more available people to write. For particular cases, just ping the GMs on Discord/the forum and let them know so your character won't suffer anything too serious as a result. Maps show destinations for each group with the exception of Evac (since the car is being driven by a soldier at the moment and location is technically under GM control for now). [hr] A map is available for collaborative effort [url=https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1lU_hWojq1JEbbTYD3Xk6FPCxTCudGdqPSiTfL8Q_AeE/edit?usp=sharing]here[/url]. Please keep positions updated for other players to refer to. If you're unavailable, have a GM or another player make the changes. (I recommend just selecting Insert > Shape > A circle or a rectangle > Resize > Color it in and move it around.) For those who wrote without specifying a map location (and only if your location is different from the set destinations), the GMs will set one for you. [/hider]