[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]𝕊𝕦𝕟: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟘, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘   / /   𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ.   / /   ℂ𝕚𝕥𝕪   / /  ~𝟙𝟚𝟜𝟘[/color][/center][hr]

Chris’s approach didn’t proceed unnoticed by the feminine shape in the flickering light. He reached her and before he could fire, she extended a hand, turning it supine before the same beam of light that had drained the river shot him point blank, originating from a space inches above her palm and scattering the wisps of ice around Chris. 

[color f7976a]”Why?”[/color] a flat, androgynous voice asked in the brief second before the flakes of white detonated. If there was any emotion to glean from the passive face that--upon closer inspection--only vaguely looked human, it was confusion. Consternation, even. As if it couldn't understand why the dragon was turning on it.

The sparks of ice snapped and froze Chris’s dragon body, ready to send him plummeting back down to earth in a trip he likely wouldn’t survive intact. Unlike the ice statues of dead humans below, the dragon form’s durability stymied the ice’s effects, its damage freezing just the outer layer of scales and skin and trapping Chris in a molded prison. 

He fell two meters before colliding with a clear, glassy platform that spread quickly around him as his frozen form tumbled and slid before finally coming to a stop. In the distance, a sharp scream cut through the air and then through the ice maiden’s arm, severing it clean at the elbow. The lost arm exploded into tufts of deadly white wisps that returned to the owner and reformed her whole.

But Whisper had simply been testing the waters.

Trial and error and close shaves had made clear for the group that, with very few—and very terrifying—exceptions, regenerators often needed a portion of their original body to reform. Mere inches away from the reptilian ice sculpture that was Chris sprawled across Scaffold’s saving platform, a horizontal column of heat flashed away all air in its range, becoming a thick beam of light that engulfed the entirety of the ice girl. The light cut across the skyline like a blade, but anyone who was familiar with the effects knew what they were looking at: Firestarter, heavily amped by Refrain.

The attack lasted only a second and originated from a point towards the southwest end of the city, across the river, and at an even elevation with the ice manipulator and converter. When the heat flash faded, there was nothing left of the ice girl or her light and the golem she had created in the distance stilled, its body crumbling slowly even as Hazel’s attack bisected it vertically. Callan’s charge towards the body continued and the supergirl pounded through the breaking points, making sure death would be a permanent affair.

With the ice creature gone, however, the slime and the crusher were free to proceed. Gray lines warped and broke around Scaffold’s platform and the frozen dragon, the same phenomenon that had practically disintegrated the fighter jet earlier. Not a millisecond too soon, a blunt force shout fired at Chris, knocking him out of the targeted location and shattering the ice, tearing off large swatches of scales and skin as the cost for saving him from annihilation. Scaffold’s platform was crushed to a fine dust by the power and the material dissipated soon afterwards. Chris collided with a building that had fallen sideways, chunks of ice still clinging to much of his back and tail, flash frozen with the skin there as well. A hindleg had been broken by the shout’s impact and one wing bent uselessly at his side. The dragon lay atop the fallen building, bleeding heavily from where Whisper’s shout had torn away both ice and flesh.

With the notice that Cat’s Cradle was in the area, what was already a screaming, mindless evacuation turned into utter pandemonium. People had pushed and shoved at each other earlier as they made their way to the escape routes. Now they trampled over one another, some abandoning children and loved ones to flee while others shook off the pleading injured to escape unburdened. The military, frazzled already with the combined attack, decided the ten subnatural terrorists were of bigger concern than the slime and the crusher, redirecting a large portion of their forces towards the direction of the attack just as Perfume’s signature golden cloud bloomed into life in the far distance as a blurry mist, the sphere of deadly gas buying time while a large, elongated Tumor circled around the group, swallowing up bullets fired in their general direction. Kadabra raced towards the group on his floating platform, throwing the full brunt of everything he had used against the ice giant towards the infamous subnaturals.

A tear in time and space appeared, its tip peeking just over the rim of Tumor’s massive body like a spearhead, the lining of its existence ragged at the edges and an abyssal black within. Backdoor. They were running.

By the time the broken buildings and cars collided with the ground, Cat’s Cradle was gone, their one opportunity to attack safely used up to defeat the Dreamcatcher creature that had appeared above the city in tandem with the second awakening of two new Animi. Nico had chosen the most accessible target to assuage lingering sentiments that the group could (and Donovan would have argued [i]should[/i]) help, but there was little chance to remain if Kadabra was present. They weren’t in this for another relentless fight and it was too late to engage the two new Animi regardless. Too deep in the city. Too mired in Washington’s hatred and military. And conspiracy.

Too many forces were at play and even Donovan didn’t protest when the [i]de facto[/i] leader called for a retreat. The past year they had noticed more frequent monster attacks, along with more activity from Fracture. What one had to do with the other, they had never bothered trying to find out, but it didn't take a sociologist to understand that something was shifting in the climate for both humans and monsters alike and something or other reeked of desperation. More than one something. And with strengths like theirs it was only a matter of time before the Precursors organized a search and destroy on Cat's Cradle as well--a serious one, on the level of the operation that turned Garrote into little more than a long, red stretch across the ground. If the monsters were ever dealt with, Nico was certain a reckoning was due. And for that moment, he already had plans.

In that time, the slime had appeared to hesitate, the presence of the infamous group of Animi slowing its spread to a feeble crawl. When the danger seemed to pass, however, it surged forward again, veins and organs pulsing rhythmically beneath its casing of digestive liquid. With newfound vigor, it rushed down the street, mere minutes away from where Zoe had briefly fallen.

[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] [@RedDusk] [@Piercing Light] [@Dragonmancer] [@Riffus Maximus] [@Deathmyster] [@Chasers115] [@PapiTan] [@Kyrisse] [@January]
    
    Just gonna fudge the time here and say 10 minutes have passed since the last post to account for all the talking and planning. Again, no fuss if you think your actions way exceeded 5 minutes so long as almost everyone's doing it. GMs can and will adjust time to match better.
    
    As a reminder, Drag, Chris's injuries do not transfer between states. If he reverts to human form, he'll be naked, but the ice will lose its grip on him.
    
    Zoe/Allison movement can be designated by players. For reference, original location remains on the map.
    
    This still applies for the current update: Anyone who was able to catch it will note the last appearance of the crushing attack occurred around the aforementioned convention center. (The question mark on the map.)
    
    Main city section map:[hr]
    [url=http://imgur.com/rcMB6jw][img]http://i.imgur.com/rcMB6jwh.png[/img][/url]
    
    Evac path map:[hr]
    [url=http://imgur.com/oZSxa7o][img]http://i.imgur.com/oZSxa7oh.png[/img][/url]
    [/hider]