[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ktlhhm5.png[/img][/center] [color=8A3DFF]“Sorry, but…I’m out of power. I can’t do anything.”[/color] Out of power? His eyes turned towards the situation that had steadily become more and more complicated, Kusari joining the fray while somehow, Callan managed to disable the anti-gravity effects with…black shadow? In what appeared to be an instant, the superhuman seaweed sent Zoe flying towards the anti-gravity girl, while Kusari’s monstrous body served to secure Marcus and Emma. It looked like even Chris’s arrival was more or less unnecessary now, the draconic roar that followed his presence serving to do nothing in particular. Out of power? He recalled. Emma running in, the first to arrive from Offensive Support, arriving upon her tank’s back. And yet, what happened to the tank afterwards? What else did she even do after arriving? His mind churned, and he grimaced. It had disappeared, crumbled away, and she did not, could not, resummon it. Out of power when she arrived. A rash decision made in the heat of the moment? He didn’t understand the principle of her amazing power. She never explained any of her limits when they were strategizing. Back then, it had sounded like she could summon them constantly. Maybe that’s still the case. But now… Out of power? In the final minutes of the Flag and Seek fight, had Hazel’s presence and attack stunned her enough that she was unable to utilize her power? Or had she, upon witnessing her strongest summon turned into nothing with a casual swipe, given up? In the face of the death and carnage that occurred before her very eyes, had she simply ran out of power by recklessly charging on the back of the dark humanoid or had she gone into shock, turning towards despondency as opposed to his own outrage? In a world where she fell into the sky, was she incapable of pushing out even the fumes of power she had left, or was she resigned to her fate, realizing that if she didn’t die now, no doubt she’d just die a horrible death on another battlefield? Had she pushed out all the power left within her just by arriving at the scene? Or had her emotions crippled her instead of elevated her, leaving a pessimistic husk that could only be saved by others? Brent let out a breath. Perhaps that was ‘normal’. Emma looked like she had been a well-adjusted member of society. Made friends real fast and formed a lunchtime clique before he even realized it. Actually enjoyed ‘school’, even though she wasn’t obsessed with studying or training. Probably…she wasn’t accustomed to this. Hadn’t adapted. Had no intention on adapting. Maybe he shouldn’t be trying to ‘support’ her in this way then. Mayb- A scream ringed through the area, and he hardly had the time to turn before the ground below him rolled like mud, turning into a living thing. Spikes sprouted up all around, and it was all he could do to curl up, a strange ‘pinging’ sensation as sharp points struck, yet didn’t pierce him. The wishalloy was doing its work, but the force the spikes still launched him upwards, an architect’s avant garde nightmare realized by the ponytailed subnatural’s power. Bouncing up and down with every spike that rose beneath him, he reached out and managed to grasp the tip of one of the larger spikes as it attempted to bore through his chest, shredding his bullet-resistant body armor like nothing. Grip tightening, the arbiter rose with the spike, his forearm bulging with exertion. He did one-armed pull ups before, to challenge himself. This was even easier! He just had to hang on! [color=B0C4DE]“SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!”[/color] It shook underneath his grasp, but he managed to hold on still, a desperate climber using all his strength to hang on. The combat knife had long fallen off somewhere, and his vest was riddled with enough holes that it wasn’t bullet proof in any part of it. The growth of the spikes had stopped though, and he could breathe again. Silver blood and red blood intermingled as his free hand grasped the climbing gear that he had brought along. The first overclock gave it a propulsion method, turning it into a grappling gun that was attached to his lower body by various leather harnesses. The second overclock improved the actual ‘grasping’ abilities of the climbing gear, replacing the barbed hook with a hand-shaped glob that pulsed blue. Manually attaching the glob of sticky ‘something’, Brent released his other hand carefully, sliding down the slanted side of the spike before stopping, suspended midair by the translucent wire. It held his own weight. Probably could hold way more than that. [color=B0C4DE]“Hahaha…”[/color] A smile reflexively emerged on his face, as his amethyst eyes found their focus once more. Thank god his bottle of pepper spray hadn’t burst. His machete was more or less in decent shape as well, though his clothes were a mess. And his radio phone…Brent clicked his tongue. It must have been turned into plastic bits within the forest of spikes. Blood continued to run from his left hand, but he hardly noticed. The pain could come later. [hider=Cliffnotes] Climbing Gear First Clock: It's a grapple gun! Second Clock: It's hook is a super sticky hand instead! Chilling on a spike outside of gravity range. [/hider]