[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/iyJuAe0.png [/img][/center] [center][b]Aubrey Adkins[/b] | [b]Emily Prichert[/b][/center] The sound of hundreds of panicked bystanders filled the 5th Street Promenade while enhanced metahumans, driven crazy by a device the Hounds had invented, wreaked havoc on the popular Pacific Point social scene. In the distance, smoke from the fires caused by these metahumans drifted up towards the heavens. Considering the ruckus, heroes from all over the city must have heard about what was going on. Otherwise, there’s going to be one giant mess in the morning. I was at lost of what I should do now. While this giant ice metahuman posed a definite threat to the crowd of bystanders, who were running for their lives, she was also a victim of the Hounds, who had warped her metahuman powers into a weapon of mass destruction. How was I supposed to keep this ice meta from harming innocent people while at the same time not harming it? “Hey, Web-Spinner,” Pin-up interrupted my trail of thought, “Could you distract this second-rate ice titan? I think I can give it one major headache. There’s a reason why I’m said to make people’s [i]dreams[/i] come true.” [color=b22222]“You better make it quick, then. There’s got to be dozens of these things from the sound of this commotion,”[/color] I replied before leaping into the fray. However, even though I approached the roided out metahuman, it did not heed me any attention. Instead, it was still focused on a few nearby civilians. Therefore, I shot two web strands from my wrists at the metahuman’s ankles. [color=b22222]“Hey! Eyes over here!”[/color] I shouted at it. I then yanked on the web strands, pulling its feet out from under it. I could tell I had gotten its attention when it slammed its fists against the ground before it leaped up into the air and landed right next to me. At this moment, I really wished that Kyra was here right now. Her fire abilities would be quite useful in this situation. [color=b22222]“I’m sorry about this, but this is going to hurt me way more than it’s going to hurt you,”[/color] I said, even though I had no idea if this metahuman could comprehend what I was saying. Probably would not matter either way. I wound up a punch and slammed the creature in the face. The impact of the punch forced the ice-meta to stumble backwards by a few steps. However, almost immediately after I landed the punch, I felt an excruciating pain on the hand that had made contact. It felt as if my knuckles were on fire, yet at the same time there was a numbness. I therefore ripped off my glove and, to my surprise, I discovered that the contact with the metahuman, even with a glove on, gave me a severe case of frost bite. I did not mean it literally when I said this punch was going hurt me more. At least I could tell that my healing factor was already tending to this injury. But this new discovery was going to give us trouble while dealing with this metahuman. [color=b22222]“Don’t make contact with it!”[/color] I called out to Emily as I winced at the pain in my hand, [color=b22222]“It’s skin is freezing cold!”[/color] Blinded by its tunnel vision, the ice metahuman continued to come after me. I had to push through the pain of my frost-bitten knuckle to keep out of this meta’s clutches. Even though my metahuman powers would soon heal my affliction, I sure did not want to feel that pain again. Unfortunately, this also meant that, unless I wanted to damage my hands some more, I would not be able to make any physical contact with it to somehow slow it down. I had to figure out some other alternative. If there were some sort of small object, like a baseball bat, I might be able to use that. The real issue was finding something like that on the street. [color=b22222]“How’s that plan coming along?”[/color] “Something’s wrong,” Pinup responded, “I can’t seem to draw out its fear. Either it can only focus on one thing at a time and just ignoring my powers, or there’s just not enough left in its noggin to have any fears.” [color=b22222]“Great,”[/color] I answered back Pinup’s not so encouraging news. I guess it’s time for plan B. The small device that that Hound goon attached to this meta must be the thing that’s driving it crazy. But how am I going to remove it? The frostbite issue will not allow me to rip it off. Or will it? I was able to grab its attention with my web lines without causing any harm to myself. Maybe I could use my spider silk as an extension of my body. I then sprayed the ice meta in the face with some web fluid, hoping that it would at least momentarily distract the enraged metahuman for just enough time to try to remove the Hounds’ device. I shot a web line at the device and started yanking on it. I applied all of my strength on this task, yet the device would not budge. I kept trying and trying, but it just would not come loose. And because I could not remove the device in a quick fashion, the ice meta had enough time to remove the spider silk I used to temporarily distract it. Time was up. The ice metahuman tried to yank back on the web line, but I had braced myself against this move. A tug of war seemed to be at a stalemate, so the victim of the Hounds started to inch towards me while still pulling back on the web line. I only had so much slack on my web line, so I could not back up without letting go and giving up on my plan B. In my desperation, I tried to incapacitate the ice meta with another web spray to the face. However, unlike last time, the metahuman was prepared for my trick. Although the webbing hit its mark, the ice-powered creature continued approaching, using my web line as a guide. The momentary pause I took to try to blind the meta provided an opening to close the gap between us. Now that I was in arms reach of the ice metahuman, it grabbed hold of me and lifted me above its head. I felt a freezing sensation where its hands made contact with my body. Nevertheless, since it had to drop my web line to pick me up, I was had an opportunity to yank off the Hounds’ device. I just had to power through the temporary pain. While I continued to pull on the web line, the ice metahuman turned towards Pinup. Although it was blinded by my webbing, it could still hear Pinup’s shocked voice when she saw the ice metahuman pick me up. When the ice metahuman had its bearings on Pinup, it hurled me at her. Since I was airborne, I could not do much to affect my trajectory. Therefore, I collided with Pinup before rolling a few feet across the street. I was dazed for a moment from the impact, but I was relieved when I checked the end of my web line, which I managed to take with me. The device the Hounds had planted on that metahuman had come off. When I glanced back at where the ice meta had been standing, I found a young woman sprawled on the ground, evidentially warn out by the transformation. [color=b22222]“Are you alright?”[/color] I called out to Pinup, who was trying to pull herself off the ground after we had collided. “I’ve seen better days, but I’ll make it,” Pinup replied back. “No thanks to you, monster,” I heard a man’s voice shout out towards me. Right after he spoke, laughter broke out all around me. I found myself surrounded by dozens of bystanders, all inching closer and closer towards me. Why were they not trying to escape? By remaining, they were putting themselves at risk. [color=b22222]“Are you seeing this?”[/color] I asked Pinup. “See what?” [color=b22222]“This crowd that came out of nowhere!”[/color] “Oh shit,” Pinup exclaimed, “Stay calm. They’re not real!” Suddenly, a tomato pelted me straight in the face. Somehow, it did not sense the red fruit coming. Something was definitely not making any sense right now. [color=b22222]“It definitely [b]feels[/b] real.”[/color] “It’s your mind playing tricks on you,” Pinup tried to explain, “I think when that ice meta tossed you at me, I inadvertently used my powers. I’ll try to dissipate it as quickly as I can!” [color=b22222]“Please hurry!”[/color] I pleaded, [color=b22222]“I got a feeling this is about to take a turn for the worst.”[/color]