[center][h1][b][color=dodgerblue]Wards and Other Heroes:[/color] Charity Event Brawl[/b][/h1]
[@Old Amsterdam][@Gardevoiran][@Lugubrious][@solokolos][@yoshua171][@BCTheEntity][@t2wave][@LemonZest1337][/center]

The concert hall was an absolute madhouse as everyone scrambled in one way or another to apprehend either Ceramix or Shatterpoint. The appearance of the combat thinker had seemingly turned the tide of the battle in favor of the Rockers as he weaved in and out of their formations, breaking combat strategies before they could even be fully implemented, and taking small shots at the heroes. He avoided the biggest threats, like Outsider and Inkscape, and thankfully had avoided the Wards as a whole as well. The villain had just springboarded off of G4M3R's shoulders (breaking them in the process) in order to reach Noble up in the air. For the first time one of the hero strategies worked out in their favor. Just before his fist connected with the gas-hero, hyper-compressed air pushed him back and Noble drifted the opposite direction, narrowly avoiding what could have been a career-ending injury.

[color=yellow]"My turn!"[/color] Noble cried out, firing containment foam from her compressed air guns. Having just landed, Shatterpoint had no time to run away, but his power proved that a battlefield is a three dimensional space, not two dimensional. Before hitting the floor, Shatter spun in the air and slammed his fist below where he was about to hit. The concert stage cracked into hundreds of pieces for two meters around the point of impact, and Shatterpoint vanished beneath the stage.

[color=yellow]"Stay alert, heroes!"[/color] Inkscape ordered. [color=yellow]"Overlook, we're counting on you here!"[/color]

[color=lightgreen]"What can I do, Ink?"[/color] asked Protean, already melting down into protein ooze, preparing to change forms.

[color=yellow]"Be ready to restrain him wherever he crops up, then we'll trust Messiah's plan. If that fails, I'll end this myself."[/color]

What was likely Protean's head at some point nodded in agreement, as the protein mass took form and solidified. He possessed the torso and legs of a gorilla, mixed with the head of a dragonfly for perfect 360 degree visibility, and a mass of writhing tentacles quickly growing out from where he would normally have gorilla arms.

"Help m-ommf!" Overlook called out for help, but before anybody could react the stage beneath him cracked and collapsed, the crippled precog hero falling through. Shatterpoint emerged from down below, ready to continue the fight. He charged straight for Tiger Lily, Messiah, and Mastar as the three girl began to enact their own plan, only to be interrupted by the Protectorate's own personal Maverick.

[color=ed145b][b]"3 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi."[/b][/color] At this point Hermes appeared directly behind Shatterpoint, casually tossing a grenade of containment foam at the enemy from behind. Shatter barely heard the grenade bounce against the floor before he reacted, turning his head to see what exactly had just happened... And then the grenade erupted in gooey foam, enveloping his body. With no room to move or gain leverage, even a brute like Shatterpoint couldn't break free from this containment and his power to target weaknesses was completely useless.

[color=burlywood]"SHATTER!"[/color] bellowed out the husky, deep voice of Ceramix, the first time he had spoken since crashing the party. But he had his own problems to deal with, as he was getting ganged up on by all the heaviest hitters in the room... But not for long. Just as the chest piece of the golem suit exploded off when Shatterpoint emerged, so too did another piece of the golem break away from the rest. Or rather, two pieces. Ceramix moved through the stone that made up his giant like a fish through water, leaping from his protection, but the giant stone arms came with him, attached to his own arms like comically oversized pillars, like Popeye the sailor man if his already unnatural and grotesque arms had been inflated twenty times over. With the brain of the golem gone, it slumped over harmlessly, and the heroes' attacks struck a completely harmless stone.

[color=burlywood]"LET GO OF HIM!"[/color] With his massive stone arms, Ceramix took hold of a few of his own unconscious men that hadn't yet been cleared from the battlefield. With two in his left hand and one in the right, he clenched them in fists. [color=burlywood]"Let Shatterpoint go. [i]Now.[/i] He is the only person that means a [i]damn[/i] to me and I [i]will[/i] squeeze these men until they pop if you don't release him. It wouldn't even take much effort."[/color]

All the heroes stopped in their tracks, gauging the situation, examining the battlefield. Inkscape in particular looked absolutely furious, his rage quite evident despite having no human features. [color=yellow]"Hermes. My orders were [i]crystal clear[/i] and this is exactly why. We [i]will[/i] talk once this is over."[/color]

Ceramix gave just the slightest hint of a squeeze in his right hand, just to prove he wasn't bluffing. A loud [i]crack[/i] echoed through the concert hall, but just what bone had broken in the unconscious Rocker thug wasn't clear. [color=burlywood]"You have five seconds."[/color]

Inkscape frowned, then glanced to Protean. [color=yellow]"Retrieve Overlook. Make sure he's ok."[/color] The dragonfly head nodded and clicked in response, before moving toward the hole Overlook had been pulled through.

[color=burlywood]"I ain't playin', fools!"[/color]

[hr][hr]

[center][h1][b][color=red]The Jacks[/color] and Other Less-Than-Legal Individuals[/b][/h1]
[@yoshua171][@BCTheEntity][@Eklispe][@Old Amsterdam][@solokolos][@PlatinumSkink][@Gardevoiran][@Xandrya][@Spiffy][@AngelofOctober][/center]

The tuxedo man smiled and grinned as each of the villain groups agreed to lay claim to their vials. Everything had been progressing swimmingly. The mafia, Sabotage, Reflections, Lethal Force, and the Rockers all agreed to receiving a vial. That was five out of six, and all that remained in the room was Retcon, who had yet to speak up about the matter, and Macavity, who had remained completely silent and to himself the entire meeting, blending into the background and easily forgotten. It didn't look like Macavity was interested in procuring a partner for himself, but still he said nothing. 

[color=salmon]"I'll have to say that I'm not interested,"[/color] Retcon spoke with a shrug. [color=salmon]"You can say that I'm throwing away a perfect opportunity, but I do what I do at my own whim for the entertainment. I don't need, or want, a partner to watch my back. But I agree the Community needs to be taken down, so you can count on my participation."[/color]

The tuxedo man nodded. [color=slateblue]"Very well, mate. I guess that means we've got another one up for grabs, eh?"[/color] Soon as he finished speaking, the lights flickered, but only for a moment. He scrunched his eyes, then looked back at the bartender, gesturing with his hand and making a face that practically screamed, "wtf?" The bartender merely shrugged in response, so the man calling himself Broker sighed and continued to address the villains.

[color=slateblue]"Who wouldn't mind doubling up, eh? I'd hate to leave here without offloading all my inventory."[/color] He held up the briefcase for everyone to see, like a man dangling candy in front of a room full of children. The lights flickered again. [color=slateblue]"Bloody Hell, someone needs to fix this shit."[/color]

[color=darkgreen]"Don't worry, you won't be leaving with any of those vials,"[/color] [i]Pop! Pop! Pop![/i] A distorted, static-like voice spoke across the room as lights began to overload and bust apart, one by one. [color=darkgreen]"Nobody will be leaving here alive!"[/color]

With a crack of thunder deafening the entire room, a bolt of lightning surged from the busted lights and onto the center of the floor. The plasma took form and solidified into the image of [url=https://orig14.deviantart.net/0c96/f/2014/246/2/7/myl_xolotl_by_brolo-d7xvec9.jpg]a man[/url] wearing an ornate headdress with a very Mezoamerican inspiration. There could be no doubt as to this man's identity. This was Xolotl, the Community's number one enforcer. [color=darkgreen]"It would appear that your stolen tinker technology does not affect me, [i]thief.[/i] But why would it? I am a [i]God.[/i] Above the machines and machinations of pitiful men as yourself. Now prepare to die... Every single one of you!"[/color]

Xolotl jumped toward the Broker, but midway through his flight tumbled down awkwardly, as though he were expecting something else entirely to happen. He hit the tile floor hard, skinning some of his exposed skin. [color=darkgreen]"What [i]is[/i] this?!"[/color] he demanded, pushing up to his knees. Xolotl took the opportunity to adjust his headdress. [color=darkgreen]"Your God demands answers!"[/color]

The man set the briefcase aside, back atop the bar where he had it stowed away before, then turned back to Xolotl, a look of superiority plastered across his face. [color=slateblue]"It's unbecoming of a god to kneel, isn't it? But I digress, I am a man of business and there is no room for faith in commerce. A thousand to whomever knocks this arsehole out first, then have the bartender tie him up. I have... [i]Uses[/i] for him."[/color]

He took a moment to straighten his tie, then addressed everyone once again with a chipper tone. [color=slateblue]"Back to business, then? Everyone who has laid claim to a vial can come collect theirs, and we shall hammer out who gets the spare, yes?"[/color]