[center] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/290977655627448341/292171024986800128/coollogo_com-163531103.png[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/217175409903534080/310907722625318914/cooltext243099446643387.png[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/315998304305545227/315998637735936004/coollogo_com-39941120.png[/img] [/center] [hr] [center][h3][b][Part 3][/b][/h3][h1][i]Herald the Strangers[/i][/h1][/center] [b]Location: Lost Haven University, Lost Haven Time: Present Day - Morning[/b] The graceful arc of a smoke grenade soared through the air, popping and snapping with light. “[i]Grenade![/i]” In brilliant light the alchemically charged smoke grenade set off the most impressive show of fireworks Charlie had made to date. The Hounds shouted diving out of the way, sparklers spattered and within a few feet all hues came forth. Reds, blues, yellows, greens shot out in every direction. Screamers whistled in a fountain of sparks. An absolutely brilliant light show had it only been at night. A bright light shot across David’s vision, like someone shining a disco ball by his face. [color=Red]”What the hell, firecrackers?”[/color] David mumbled out as he threw up his arms to help block out the excess light. Glancing over he saw someone else, presumably the one who just tossed that ‘grenade’. [i]What the hell is someone like her doing out here, is she crazy? But it seemed like she was shouting at me, maybe there’s something more to these towers than I thought.[/i] Charlie pointed to the distracted Hounds then shouted at Pantheon, “[color=honeydew]Go![/color]” [color=yellow]”Did you presume I was just going to stand here?”[/color] He jolted into battle! One could hear the impact of his punches grating and cracking against the armor of the Hounds’ gear. He made quick work of one by pulling his arm out of its joint and snapping his fibula in two. He stripped his rifle from his good arm and gave it an inquisitive glare. With the first Hound felled, he made use of the present smoke from the Alchemyst’s lightshow and turned the assault rifle on the other Hounds. He figured he would try his luck with one of these guns these humans were so adamant on using. He had seen the way they operated these weapons beforehand, and so when he pressed the trigger and shot one of the Hounds in his body armor but saw no blood, he turned the muzzle toward his own face. [color=yellow]”Is there something wrong with this one?”[/color] His finger slipped, and he ejected a round at his own head. The dense impact at close range gave him a minor headache. [color=yellow]”I suppose this one is working after all.”[/color] He turned the rifle back on the rest of the Hounds and just let loose with reckless abandon. Some shots were on target, bullets lodged in the helmets and legs and necks of the other seven hounds present. A few were dangerously close to hitting the Alchemyst as well. He had not known the rifle was out of bullets until it ceased to fire. He kept pressing the trigger and nothing happened! He snapped the machinery in half with both hands and discarded the remnants. [color=yellow]”I do not understand your mortal infatuation with these unreliable machines.”[/color] David had turned around to face the Hounds along with the other meta, he swung and swiped a them, throwing them down and around him. Although David was fighting on his own end, he was able to spare a glance at the other meta and his brand of brutality. Personally, he felt as if he shouldn’t stop this other man from ripping apart the Hounds, even as gruesome as it was. These men were cowards, attacking a place of learning, gunning down defenseless people, it was sickening. David didn’t plan on killing, and he certainly wasn’t going to save them, but he still felt as if he had to say something. [color=Red]”You really think they’re worth that much trouble?”[/color] David said as he swung at another group. As the battle went on David took instant notice of the other man picking up a gun, and, play with it? [color=Red]”What the hell are you doing?[/color] David asked, unable to keep the confusion out of his voice, especially after he just saw the man shoot himself. At least he knew this man was bulletproof for sure now. Charlie shook her head at Pantheon’s terrible gun safety, when the new meta crashed into help Pantheon she made a run for the tower. Shouting above the fight, “[color=honeydew]He’s a bit of an idiot, don’t mind him![/color]” She cleared some of the dust away from the monitor screen for the tower, it was emitting some weird readings, figures she had no context for. The majority of the rig was made of steel, wires crisscrossing the ways up it. A satellite dish was nestled at the top, welded to the frame. While control boards sat at it’s base for use of its operators, Charlie pulled a flat headed screwdriver free from her backpack wedging it under the control panel’s seal. “[color=honeydew]Give me a few, and I’ll dismantle it. Cover my back, I ain’t bulletproof![/color]” Charlie shouted at Terra Firma. “[color=red]Sure thing, but, you’re not just some girl in a costume are you? And on that note, call me Terra Firma, you two?[/color] David asked as he quickly floated to her side, raising a rounded rock wall around her, it’d help protect her from the occasional bullet, but anything else and he’d have to handle it. She jostled the panel open, staring down at its inner workings, “[color=honeydew]You can call me Alchemyst, gun-dope flying brick over there is Pantheon. I just met him. These towers disrupt metas with sound. These ones aren’t as strong as the big one they’re using in the center of the campus.[/color]” Charlie said quickly storing the screwdriver in her back pocket then pulling free the wire cutters. “[color=honeydew]I’m not some costumed hero, christ who would pick a bloodied university sweater for their disguise?[/color]” She cut through two wires, pulling free a circuit board revealing more beneath it hard drives, compressor fans and power routers. “[color=red]Fair enough, it’s an ugly sweater anyways.[/color]” David said as he whisked around to quickly toss back a grenade someone tried to sneak in. He continued to strike at Hound after Hound, making sure not to stray too far from Alchemyst. The Hounds began to push harder at the tower, so David responded with something he’d been itching to try. He extended his weapons by turning them into ‘arms’ that whipped around him, grabbing those at the other end and swung them around the field, hitting other Hounds along the way. Pantheon let out a yawn as droves of Hounds continued to press their assault with all futility. He had resorted to swatting them aside with backhands. He grabbed one by his helmet with a hand before he turned to Terra Firma and issued a reply. “[color=yellow]”Trouble? This is no trouble. They wish to treat other humans like trinkets, they will be given the same treatment. It is only fair.[/color]” The streets had become littered with vehicles of varying size. He streamed toward one of the LHPD’s armored cars and clasped its front grill. He lifted it up with some minor effort, twisted, and pushed it to the rear of another of the Hounds armored vehicles to create some extra protection against the hail of gunfire. The more Hounds Firma and Pantheon took down, there were four to replace them. There had to be more encompassing means of dealing with the growing number of Hounds present. And there was his idea. He zoomed toward one of the LHPD vehicles and with both hands he lifted it above his head. Then he elevated skyward well above the streets where the Hounds had began to set up a flank on either sides of Alchemyst and Firma. He whirred in a circle to gain some momentum before hurling the entire cop car down on the crowd of Hounds and their reinforcements who began to arrive on the scene. The alchemist flinched away from the console a bullet ricocheting off the tower. The hail of gunfire all around them. Sweat plastering her hair around her face while she worked, gaining what she needed to know quickly from examining it’s set up. They depended on emitting a unique frequency generated by a prerecorded sound, the towers were remotely controlled but linked to the one in the center. What they were fighting to defend now was simply a projector and not the originating sound. Once she realized there was nothing to dig out, she poured her bottle of whisky over it bending down beneath it to write with a sharpie the next formulas. The wires jumped to life the plastic casing around them melding to the electronics around it. The gold in the circuit boards seemingly crawling away, the copper in the wires formed into smoothed spheres in her hand. Only enough material for beads but she stowed them away, then with her flint and steel lit the console on fire. She touched the tower, in real time rust overtook the steel spider webbing up to the satellite dish aging before their very eyes. Ruining it with no chance of scavenging remains. As she stepped away back against the wall, holding her staff close to her, she peeked around one spying a Hound with his back to her focusing his fire on Pantheon. Anger, fear, and adrenaline gave her a shot of unadulterated energy. “[color=honeydew]Hey! Shithead![/color]” He turned at her shout retraining his sights on her, redirecting the weight of tin, copper and gold in her staff to the end, forming a long smoothed hook of various metal taking the rough shape of a crowbar. She hooked his vest tugging him off balance then into the ground. “[color=honeydew][i]Murderers![/i][/color]” She stomped her heel against his elbow, he screeched as his bones broke. “[color=honeydew][i]Motherfuckers![/i][/color]” She brought the hook down over the visor of the helmet, shattering it. With a final satisfying kick into his gut. She unloaded his gun removing the clip storing it in her back pocket. She snapped the gun over her knee using alchemy to collapse steel, iron and titanium into a ball, the way she worked with it made it seem as if it were playdoh. She left a small port hole at the top of it. No bigger than a baseball. He began to move groaning where he lay. She poured gasoline and bits of styrofoam into the small hole. With a few seconds she lit it on fire then tossed it into a line of Hounds the crude napalm splashing at their feet. Their shrieks of pain and terror. Watching Alchemyst vent on that man made David worry, not for him, but for her. He’d probably have some nightmares himself, seeing so many men and women lying dead all over campus, and from Pantheon’s demonstration of force. But he was bullet proof, at least like this, and she wasn’t. “[color=red]Are you going to be alright, Alchemyst?[/color]” David asked, he was worried, but seeing her like this caused him to think of his own daughter. Adding the fact that this Alchemyst had some kind of power, meant that her life would be going through so much more than anybody else's. She dragged the Hound behind the wall, propping him up glaring at the broken jaw and plastic shards of the visor embedded in his face. His head lolled to the side, she moved her mask to spit. This wasn’t the time nor place, they were surrounded and she began yelling at his unconscious heap. Emotions spiraling out of control, “[color=honeydew]Bastards! You think we’re just animals to be put to slaughter! Innocent people! High school kids![/color]” She brought her fist down over his face jolting him back awake. He sputtered she flinched away, shaking her hand out his blood speckled across her knuckles. He coughed, choking on air and resounding pain she had dealt him. Charlie’s fists clenched and with a roar she brought her staff up under his chin launching the helmet clear. He was out again. She backed away, stumbling a little. He was only a man. She finally mumbled a reply to Terra Firma, hoarse, “[color=honeydew]Probably not.[/color]” “[color=red]There isn’t much justice in this world, so maybe that’s why people like us exist, to balance the scales. We’ll make them pay for every drop, a different way, you don’t have to do this again, ever.[/color]” David said, he brought his hand softly down onto the Alchemyst’s shoulders to reassure her that she was fine. “[color=red]Did you learn something about those towers, with your powers?[/color]” David asked, in an attempt to help Alchemyst down, to focus her mind. She let Terra Firma’s words sink in, she squeezed her eyes shut trying to rein herself in. The weight of his hands, helping to anchor her thoughts in the present. “[color=honeydew]Thanks for saying that.[/color]” She dug under her eye focusing on what was happening right in front of her was easier, “[color=honeydew]The tower, is just a projector. It’s emitting a weird sound but doesn’t house the actual piece where the frequency is being emitted. It’s essentially a fancy speaker. Remote controlled.[/color]” She stepped out of his hands and patted him appreciatively. While Charlie had stepped back down into reality again Pantheon’s violence was sobering. To rip a man apart only satiated Pantheon’s frenzy periodically. Eventually, he stopped fighting altogether. None of these men were true threats to him in their present state, and he knew well that in war, even the mightiest beast could become the dog if the collar was tightened enough. He knew not of true mercy, only sparing those he deemed worthy. None of these men were worthy necessarily, but there was no true use in toying with them any longer. [color=yellow]”I am not one who breaks promises, and these men are beginning to annoy me. I suggest we get on with destroying these devices.”[/color] He stood, arms folded, and continued to be pelted with bullets. Though short, he had spent enough time around the Alchemyst to gather that she had far more attachment to these men than he did. Even this ‘Terra Firma’ character maintained a certain level of compassion foreign to Pantheon. Pantheon [i]knew[/i] of these essential human traits: love, humility, compassion, mercy. He felt none of them. He twisted around while slightly elevated off the ground. “[color=yellow]Are you saying that we have done all of this for naught? This was all in vain?[/color]” If there was one thing he [i]did[/i] understand and loathe in equal parts, it was absurdity. In his view, people lived and died all the time--the cycle was endless and warranted. But at least people lived and died for a purpose, their [i]own[/i] purpose and not at the whim of another. His entire mood switched, the indifference turned cold. “[color=yellow]Tell me, Alchemyst,”[/color] his eyes fell upon the Hounds, some of whom had realized the futility of their efforts toward defeating the trio, “[color=yellow]was this all some fanciful ruse these men have constructed?[/color]” He fell ominously silent in waiting for her answer. She took a few seconds to think, Pantheon’s icy comments crept over Charlie. He was restraining himself. Like the scientist she was the conclusion came easy, give this man a focal point, ground him. “[color=honeydew]Experimenting. They’re testing their weapons out on normal people and metas alike. They’re going to push this as long as they can, gather their data and then fuck off. They’re throwing resources at this because whatever they’re testing needs real figures.[/color]” Charlie spoke evenly gesturing at Pantheon to emphasize her point, “[color=honeydew]We need to shut it down, destroy these prototypes and whatever data they’ve collected. Force them to start from scratch. [i]Something[/i] to slow them down, give the authorities someone to arrest.[/color]” Injecting some humour, eliciting a silly accent to parrot his words, “[color=honeydew]All is knot for naught.[/color]” “[color=yellow]My patience thins. Where do we need to go?[/color]” She licked her lips, walking on eggshells. They were allies, for now. “[color=honeydew]Then dig deep and find some patience, grasshopper. I’m [i]assuming[/i] they have a couple more towers set up on the east and south ends of the campus. Maybe the north too, if I wanted to get some decent coverage I’d cover the compass points yeah? Get me to those towers and I’ll do the same to what I did to this one.[/color]” She kicked its support legs, toppling it over crumpling with a screech of steel wrenching. “[color=honeydew]Sound like a plan?[/color]” “[color=yellow][i]Well[/i], do you suggest we [i]take the stairs?[/i][/color]” Hassan was always there in the background, no matter how minimal. He went to swoop her up again, and sought to bring Firma along as well, though Firma was several inches taller than himself. He deigned to respect his more economical judgement and take Charlie only. She was prepared this time, offering her crooked elbow. Relieved she was able to convince him to go along with a plan. “[color=honeydew]Don’t drop me again, dick.[/color]” “[color=red]Won’t you carry me too?[/color]” David jokingly said, letting out a small chuckle at the end as he lifted off as well.