[center][h1][color=dodgerblue]The Wards[/color] and [color=red]The Jacks[/color] - Time to Get Gone![/h1]
[@yoshua171][@BCTheEntity][@Eklispe][@floodtalon][@Old Amsterdam][@Gardevoiran][@Lugubrious][@solokolos][/center]

There was no beating around the bush: shit was falling apart and [i]fast.[/i] No matter the number of clones that were killed off, more kept coming to replace them in a neverending wave. Old ones that weren't shot, stabbed, baked, crunched, or otherwise killed off ended up melting into flesh goop, as new ones came in to replace them. By now the Wards and the Jacks had gone through at least four different waves of the things, and it was starting to show with the sheer amount of offal that had now been flooding the warehouse. The situation was taking its toll on the young parahumans too. Epsilon had discovered Dean's horrifying secret. Lillian's fragile self-esteem had been utterly crushed. Messiah couldn't even stop to think about what was going on or she wouldn't be able to finish the mission. Even the normally unflappable Margrave had been completely taken aback by the situation, and the Wards weren't the only ones affected by what was going on. Sofia dared not to even open her eyes in pure fear, her imagination undoubtedly inflating the very real and horrible danger around her. Chatterbox was face to face with a copy of himself, complete with the exact same power. It was troubling, to put it mildly. Heartless had to act contrary to his moniker and had almost been overwhelmed by clones for doing do, saved only by their short lifespan. And of course Overlook had made himself into a liability by abandoning his post to come to the field in person, and paid the price for such reckless behavior. At the very least, he had saved the life of Private Skeetz.

[color=cyan]<"I understand the situation is... Pretty fucked up">[/color] Decoy continued speaking exclusively to Epsilon. [color=cyan]<"Just get through this and we can talk about it. In person. Face to face, no holograms. Now get yourself and the others out of there alive!">[/color]

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a large explosion occurred in the middle of the warehouse. The fire from Messiah's wrath had spread and ignited [i]something[/i] the Community had kept locked up in the crates and boxes. Nobody was close enough to get injured save for a few of the Dean duplicates, but it certainly did not bode well. Thankfully all of the Wards were already in the process of vacating the building. All of the Deans that were capable of stopping them had already been killed, or their time limit expired, leaving Heartless, Thunderbolt, Chatterbox, and Sofia alone in the raging inferno.

The duplicate Chatterbox stared lazily as the original killed off the Dean that had summoned him. Strangely enough, neither he nor the second Sofia were removed. Killing the source did not stop their persisting existence. [color=#357302]"Well that was certainly a waste, but at least now I only have one person to compete with."[/color] Chatter could still feel this copycat's words digging deep into his skull. [color=#357302]"Or perhaps not? My creator is kind of, you know, dead, and my greatest loyalty is to myself after all. Why don't we paint the town red together? Make this a two-person act? Regardless, come along Sofia. We needn't stay here in danger any longer. Perchance we can negotiate a partnership with these other Jacks?"[/color]

Eyes still closed, the duplicate Sofia nodded and the two began heading toward the exit, out of danger. If Chatterbox were perceptive enough, he might notice that they were heading directly for the nearest escape car he had setup by his "fans." Still, there wasn't enough time to mull the details over. Another explosion shook the very walls of the building, and an errant rocket shot upward into the ceiling, causing a collapse. The remaining Deans chased after who they could, but most were caught up in the flames, or struck by falling debris. In a matter of only a small handful of seconds the entire building came crashing down on itself, burying any who didn't make it out on time. Not a single Dean survived.

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[center][h2]The Minutemen, Reflections, and Swarm[/h2]
[@Spiffy][@yoshua171][@Gardevoiran][@TheRedWatcher][@AngelofOctober][/center]

The child parahuman could barely react to the sudden onslaught, showing how despite his stupendous amount of raw power, he was incredibly out of his depth. Still, his natural defensive power worked wonders. As Swarm tossed a car his way, an opposing explosion canceled out the vehicle's momentum. Even so that prevented him from seeing what came next in the way of Kyoshi's assault. The earth itself attacked him, getting in at least one good hit before he came aware of the situation, and all further attacks were nullified by his automated explosion defense. Of course he was still thrown up in the air, and before he could propel himself elsewhere with an explosion he had been caught by surprise by none other than Outsider. Caught in a tendril, the two put up quite a back and forth until Blastmaster found himself lying down on the pavement.

"You're not playing right!" the kid shouted, getting up from a small crater in the ground. Those automatic defensive explosions were utterly [i]ridiculous[/i] in protecting him. He prepared himself for a counterattack, but found himself cut off.

[color=orange]"We've got to stop meeting like this, Minutemen,"[/color] bellowed a proud voice from off the side. It belonged to none other than Furnace, swooping in on his glider and rolling along the pavement right up to Masterblaster.

"[i]Another[/i] one?" the kid complained. He didn't hesitate this time, unleashing an explosion centered on Furnace's body... Which was near instantly dissipated by the change in air pressures as the hero flicked on his body temperature change. His left hand glowed with a white hot intensity that everyone present could feel, while his right hand was near pitch black with an absolute cold. These two extremes in such close proximity was wreaking havoc with the air. Masterblaster looked between each fist, shocked beneath his mask.

[color=orange]"Sorry kid."[/color] The hero promptly clocked the boy in the face, the natural explosion defense neutralized just as his previous explosion had been. With that one strike the boy fell unconscious like a rag doll. Furnace promptly returned to normal, turned back round to everyone, and addressed them. [color=orange]"Good work. Sorry I jumped in, but I figured that wince my powers could cancel out his, it'd be better to cut things short and prevent any collateral damage. But he's your collar, Minutemen. You can call it in to the PRT. I'm just happy to help."[/color]