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Blake would normally marvel at Jamie's power as she caused the Roman building to crumble on top of the ogres, crushing tons of them with ease and impunity. He would normally give a cheer, a hoot of victory, but instead he found himself cursing while hopping in a circle. [color=CC5500]"Oww, holy fuck, it hurts...”[/color] Blake stopped hopping and extended his ankle towards Rumi, who took a look at the wound. [color=CC5500]"Alright...good to know, good to know,”[/color] Blake said as the pain subsided a little bit. He rested his foot down on the ground, testing it, before taking a couple steps. [color=CC5500]"It's a little better now!”[/color] Blake said confidently, one hand resting against his head as he looked over to where Jamie had collapsed the building. The unfortunate ogres inside had been totally and completely flattened by the building. If they hadn't been trying to eat them alive earlier, Blake might've felt sorry for them, but what was done was done. Blake looked back over to the Vermile, who was inching around him curiously. [color=CC5500]"Awww, I bet the little critter was just scared! Well, it's OK! I'm not gonna hurt you, little guy, why don't you just c'mere-”[/color]

Blake was stopped mid-sentence as the Vermile promptly lunged for his [i]other[/i] ankle and found its target, his teeth sinking into Blake's flesh and causing him to curse loudly once again. [color=CC5500]"FUCK, YOU LITTLE BASTARD, YOU FUCKING-...OWWW, HOLY SHIT, IT HURTS, JESUS, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE MOTHERFUCKER, YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!”[/color] Blake turned around in anger and pain as he faced the Vermile, who had scuttled away, over to Joseph, and cowered behind him. Blake glared at the creature. [color=CC5500]"I'm going to fucking [i]cook[/i] this little piece of shit...”[/color] Blake said, glowering at the creature, but his thoughts of vengeance were cut off by a loud war cry near the basilica.

Jamie had done a number on the ogres with the building, but it seemed the sound and great deal of vibrations had drawn the rest of them nearby, and they stood there, forming a large semicircle in front of the basilica, all hooting and beating their chest as they stared down the gang, eyes filled with hunger and bloodlust. Blake decided to put aside his murder plan for the Vermile and instead shift his attention to the ogres. Blake knew next to nothing about them, but he knew that they didn't seem to like fire. Well, as it happened, Blake had a lot of that in store, and he was ready to use it. [color=CC5500]"Guys, guys, get back, I'm going to deal with this...”[/color] Blake said as he lifted his palms, and began to channel energy.

The temperature near Blake began to rise drastically as the entire forum began to tangibly heat up, and soon some crimson flickers began to sparkle in the air. The fiery glistening in the air began to intensify as flames began to materialize, serpents of fire wrapping around Blake's arms and palms, a fluid blaze encircling him. The ogres, though, seemed to have grown somewhat immune to Blake's fire, and were still closing in on the gang, hooting and hollering and looking menacing as ever. Blake closed his eyes as the fire began to glow brighter and burn hotter, before the ropes of flame began to all condense in the air in front of Blake, forming a large sphere of fire, like a sun, that was expanding, larger and larger, and once again re-shaping. The ogres now were full of trepidation, stepping back, and witnessing the new flaming shape before them. A phoenix.

Blake's fire had taken the form of an actual firebird, emanating blistering heat, its crimson wings flapping threatening, its head cocked and glaring at the ogres, who were now [i]very[/i] afraid and [i]very[/i] blind. The flaming bird was very bright, and looking at it too long was not a good idea. On top of that, it was [i]very[/i] hot. It was already a hot day out, being almost mid-day in July, but this actual bird of fire raised the temperature to a stupidly hot degree. Even people across the movie set could feel a raise in the temperature, and any sort of temperature detectors or anomaly investigators would certainly pick up on this development. 

The bird, whose mouth was literally emanating with smoke, cawed at the ogres (alright, it might've been Blake's sound effects, fine), before then charging directly at them. The remaining ogres gave a bunch of frantic grunting noises before turning on heel and trying to scatter. Some of them managed to get out of the way, but a good chunk of the ogres were plowed down by the massive bird and its equally impressive wingspan, the flaming construct blasting through a good group of ogres and leaving them scorched like ants under a magnifying glass. As the bird took to the sky again, the rest of the lucky surviving ogres did not attempt a rematch, instead fleeing from the area and cowering away. The phoenix dove back down to the ground again, flapping its wings once more, before vanishing into a large pile of ash in front of Blake that was releasing a thick, constant plume of black smoke, much like a chimney. 

Blake grinned dumbly as he looked at his handiwork. [color=CC5500]"I've been working on that one,”[/color] he said as he stepped around the ash pile uncertainly, a bit wobbly on his feet, and he definitely sounded out of breath. He looked inside the basilica. [color=CC5500]"I think there's an [i]elevator[/i] in there...it looks kinda locked, though,”[/color] Blake said, scratching his head as he wobbled on his feet, before starting to tip over. The combination of being hungover, poisoned by a Vermile twice, and then overexerting himself was too much for his body to handle, and he promptly fell over, planting himself face-first in the pavement. 

[color=CC5500]"Angie~,”[/color] Blake muttered deliriously, his words muffled by the fact that he was practically kissing the stone walkway. [color=CC5500]"You look so [i]pretty,[/i] muffin,”[/color] he added sweetly as the Vermile's toxins got to his brain, and then his eyes fluttered shut as he laid in the middle of the walkway, standing right before the massive basilica. 

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Meanwhile, Grace was experiencing the worst torture of her life.

After analyzing the CCTV footage and recording a few elaborate-sounding introductions, Nero had taken to discussing his personal life with his prisoners, considering that there wasn't really much else to do. For the last however long, Nero had rested his feet up on the desk and was currently talking about his strained relationship with his girlfriend, who was also a villain, and who was very disappointed with his lack of success in the villainy field. [color=YellowGreen]”So she tells me, 'Nero, I thought you were a strong, feared villain. Why are you working for these dinky villain companies?' And I always tell her, 'baby, this is my path to the big leagues of villainy!' She just doesn't understand me!”[/color] Nero said frustrated, folding his armor-clad arms over his chest. [color=YellowGreen]"But this thing is going to be my big break! Once I collect the money from this and send Seraph his check, I'll definitely crack into that top tier of Castleburg villains! I can already hear my name on the TV reports..."[/color]

Grace tested her restraints for what felt like the millionth time. [color=DarkOrchid]"Right, right, so, listen, can we maybe talk about what Seraph wants here? I mean, considering that I'm definitely going to die, tied up on this rack, it can't hurt, right?"[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]"I told you already, he wants you to die, slowly and painfully, and in distress, and I'm arranging that. Now, where was I? Oh, right, so..."[/color]

As Nero began to ramble on, now about politics, Grace snuck a glance over at Eliza. Poor girl. Grace couldn't imagine what she was going through right now, being held hostage by this psycho right now. Grace would've portaled at least her out if she could, but the device electrocuted her every time she tried to concentrate and create a portal, and so she was stuck here, listening to Nero rant to his very bored, very unamused audience. It was actual hell. Grace was genuinely starting to believe that the electroshock torture was [i]better[/i] than listening to Nero's speech. 

[color=YellowGreen]"...I'm just saying, right, Amazon pays [i]zero[/i] dollars in federal taxes. I mean, imagine how much revenue the United States government could make if they could actually get money out of them! If we could get them to pay a tax at a 35% rate, or hell, even at 21%, we could actually implement real social change and expand the welfare net! I mean, this is basic economics!"[/color]

[color=DarkOrchid]"Listen, listen, I totally agree with you, probably [i]too[/i] much considering you're evil, but can we, uhh, have this discussion while I'm unrestrained, maybe? Then we can talk about big business and all that in an open, free, environment. "[/color]

Nero seemed to be considering this prospect when his computer began to flash red, and he quickly rushed over. [color=YellowGreen]"Noooo, they killed my Swampjaws!"[/color] Nero exclaimed, devastated, as he gestured to the screen, which showed a low-res image of Brie and William standing in what seemed to be a Roman bathhouse, standing in front of a pool full of floating Swampjaws. Dangling from the center of the room, on a string, was what appeared to be a keycard with a word covered in whiteout on it, though anybody with half a brain could tell that, through the terrible whiteout job, it read 'basilica.' Grace smiled confidently. They seemed to be doing pretty well. Obviously, Nero had not thought this through enough. 

[color=YellowGreen]"Damnit!"[/color] Nero cursed, storming around the office with his head hung. As he walked around, Grace took a glance out the window to look at their surroundings. She saw a large stone wall that was wrapped around the entire set. To the outside world, it looked like just a massive walled-off area. Grace looked above the wall to see a barber shop and a beat-up Italian restaurant. It looked to her like Brookside. Great. Brookside. 

As Nero began to talk about Swampjaws enthusiastically, Grace tugged at the zipties for the 1,000,001st time. Her friends had better come and save her soon. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. 
 
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