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Grace shook her head frantically, folding her arms and looking down solemnly.  [color=DarkOrchid]"This is all looking really bad,"[/color] Grace said with a hearty amount of pessimism. She tapped her foot against the ground. [color=DarkOrchid]"Well, we ought to stay on the move and re-group with them, make sure everybody is OK,"[/color] Grace said, thinking, stroking her chin as she thought. [color=DarkOrchid]"Well, we ought to stay on the move and re-group with them, make sure everybody is OK,"[/color] she said, moving towards the doorway, when all of a sudden the door swung open, revealing an angry blonde sight. Priestess.

[color=#fff44f]"You bi-"[/color] Priestess started, her wings folded behind her as she made a beeline towards Grace, but the violet-haired heroine reacted quickly, her arm springing up and causing a swirling portal to open behind Priestess. The winged woman was sucked backwards towards the portal like a speck of dust into a vacuum. She flapped her wings in vain, but it was no use as she was pulled into the portal, entirely helpless. The sounds of loud cawing and squawking resonated throughout the room, echoing from the portal, as Priestess was pulled back. She could only give the pair a nasty look before being pulled all the way through, shrieking before vanishing entirely from sight. The portal promptly closed, though not before a couple tropical birds fluttered out of the portal, flying into the rafters of the room. Grace grinned, a touch of an evil look in her eyes. 

[color=DarkOrchid]"She’s in a more fitting place now,"[/color] she explained to Tom, a smirk on her face, as she enveloped him in a hug from the side. [color=DarkOrchid]"You know..."[/color] she said quietly, looking up at Tom, still tightly wrapped around him. [color=DarkOrchid]"...you’re just the best. Really. I mean, me over Priestess..."[/color] she sighed, closing her eyes, a circle of tearwater forming on the edge of her eyelids. [color=DarkOrchid]"You’re incredible. And I wanted...to let you know..."[/color]

It was at that moment that Grace fell asleep. She slumped over, falling into Tom’s arms, her body limp but most certainly alive, as evidenced by the quiet, subdued snores coming out of her mouth. A man had silently entered the room, through the same entrance Priestess had just burst into the moment before. The man was tall, even taller than Powers and Will, and could’ve given Samson a run for his money. The huge man’s body was covered in a thick black cloak that shrouded nearly every inch of his body, the exception being his armored legs and his masked face. His eyes were bright red and, if Tom was paying attention, he would notice that the man’s eyes had vertical slits instead of pupils, making him look like some sort of reptile. 

[color=DimGray]"Thomas Rees. Spacewalker, as you’ve been referred to as well. A pleasure.” [/color] The man had a deep voice, ominous overtones dripping from each word that came out of his mouth. [color=DimGray]"It appears that you have developed a romantic attraction to Grace Mok, or Bypass. Interesting. I will keep that in mind for later..."[/color] the man said, as thought he was speaking to himself. He then looked up again. [color=DimGray]"Apologies for the mental intrusion to your significant other, but it was necessary for her to be subdued in order to tamper with her mind. She will be of great use to me and my allies at Zero. As for you, however...well, I only have a limited demand for brute strength. Still, it could be useful to keep one of you on retainer...it is settled. I will have the two fight it out,"[/color] the man said, hovering between talking to Tom and talking to nobody. The man then stepped aside, revealing a very familiar face to Tom.

Blake looked different; there was no denying that. He still had the same figure, obviously, and the same scarlet hair, but everything else was totally foreign. His casual, spry posture was now rigid and formal; his regular, casual, slightly beaten-up clothes were replaced with a black, threatening-looking costume, complete with a flapping black cape. His eyes had the same unnatural reddish tinge to them, but his irises were jet black. An alien crimson glow emanated from each eye, and his pupils were strangely ragged, with sharp edges instead of a smooth circle. A familiar but oddly menacing heat was radiating from his body. 

The cloaked figure stepped back. [color=DimGray]"We will see which one of you proves superior,"[/color] he said again, gesturing with a gloved hand towards Blake. [color=DimGray]"Firebird, do what you do best.”[/color]

Blake nodded mindlessly, lifting his own gloved hands, two spheres of fire swirling in each palm. [color=CC5500]"Kill,"[/color] he droned, before sending the fireballs hurtling right at Tom, scorching everything in its path to cinders. 


[@KaijuBaragon]
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[color=CadetBlue]"Ah, fuck me..."[/color]

The poor Wings of Law goon looked at the OMNI, then at the taser, then at the robot again, before finally squealing like a pig. “Listen, I dunno anything! I swear! I just got hired to work here, and this job paid much better than working the kitchen at Bloopers, OK?! I just heard a TV ad from Seraph and I thought, ‘cool!’ I didn’t do anything illegal, I swear!”

Cora lifted her hands from the steel door. [color=CadetBlue]"Not worth it,"[/color] she said dismissively as the metal door slid open effortlessly. Cora smiled at her handiwork- before the accident, opening locked doors was her specialty, and she was glad the talent had stuck around (unlike some other things). [color=CadetBlue]"Leave him be. We have to catch up with the rest of the group...knowing Jamie, she’s probably gotten herself into a bad situation."[/color] Cora stepped into the hallway, and as soon as she cleared the doorway, a series of rapid, high-pitched beeps echoed through the area. [color=CadetBlue]"Oh shit, get back-"[/color] she started, her arms spread out by instinct, right before the bomb went off.

The trip mine was not large, and as such the explosion hardly resonated throughout the facility, but the explosive was enough to pack a serious punch, and it sent Cora whirling back, slamming roughly into the wall, moaning. Cora’s new body had some significant modifications over the regular human body, and her exoskeleton not only provided significant defensive capabilities to the cyborg girl, but also dulled her nervous system significantly. That being said, the explosion still hurt like a motherfucker, and while Cora was not dead, she had sustained a bit of damage. Her jacket was somewhat scorched, and some of her right forearm and hand were badly damaged, the synthetic skin having been blasted clean off, showing Cora’s metallic, skeletal hands. The right side of her face had also sustained some damage, with the fake skin on her lower right jaw having been cracked, but overall, Cora was fine. At the very least, she was much more fine than she would’ve been if she had been organic. 

Cora dislodged herself from the wall. [color=CadetBlue]”You OK? I mean, well, you’re a fucking robot, but still..."[/color] She dusted herself off, noticing the damaged arm. She clenched her right fist. [color=CadetBlue]"Flesh wound,"[/color] she said meekly, before quickly taking a different course of topic. [color=CadetBlue]"Well, it looks like somebody installed some defensive measures in this hallway. Maybe you could have your robot here scan it? Or, alternatively, you could use it as a decoy, trip as many mines as possible, and maybe show up in the flesh. Two humans are better than one, after all,"[/color] Cora said to the OMNI. 

[color=CadetBlue][i]Not two humans, [b]one[/b] human.[/i][/color]

Cora looked down at her metal fist. [color=CadetBlue]"That’s just my suggestion, but a plan would be nice. We have to get out of this booby-trapped hallway, and if I remember correctly, you’re the brains here. So get that brain working."[/color]

[@Scarifar]
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To say the guards put up a very bad fight would still feel like an overstatement. The guards were scattered across the lobby like leaves blown by the wind, landing in all manner of awkward positions and groaning almost as a collective. Only one of the ten guards even bothered to stand up again, but as soon as he realized the rest of his squad was downed, he just decided to play dead, falling limp to the ground again. 

A sudden cold began to fill the room, as if somebody had very abruptly smashed the thermostat down to zero, and the elevator dinged to reveal an interesting character. He was tall and gaunt, with handsome looks but a cruel facial expression. He had a sharp chin and bleach-blonde, almost white, hair that was swept to the side of his face to avoid covering up his electric-blue steely eyes. He was wearing a black turtleneck and a white lab coat and pants, and looked for all the world like some sort of hot scientist. Moving quickly and deliberately, he removed his square glasses from his face, tucking them into his breast pocket as he stepped forwards. He then swiftly spread his arms and, with a spiteful, stern voice that belonged to a Disney villain, said coolly, [color=MediumTurquoise]"Winterfall."[/color]

As soon as the words escaped his lips, a harsh cold fell upon the entire room, enveloping all of the lobby in a nail-biting cold. Frost began to form on the walls as the temperature went from cold to colder. Winterfall seemed to not be perturbed by the cold in the slightest; if anything, he seemed to relish in it. He lifted both his arms dramatically, pointing one finger across the lobby and drawing one arm back like he was nocking an invisible arrow on an invisible bow. He then added, with a specialty cruelty in his voice, [color=MediumTurquoise]"Rime."[/color]

A shard of ice, thin but sharp, launched from his hands and shot across the lobby at breakneck speeds. The small shard of ice was only just larger than a sewing needle, and the frozen construct glistened brightly as it shot through the air. It hit Jamie with the force of a bullet, piercing through her torso and ripping out the other side, the blue crystals of ice now splattered with the crimson droplets of blood as the projectile smashed into the opposite wall and shattered. A splash of blood splattered into the air on contact, leaving a large puddle on the linoleum tiles, as Winterfall stepped forwards. [color=MediumTurquoise]"An easy target,"[/color] the man said, holding his hands up as the air around him condensed. A sabre of ice formed in his hands, and Winterfall twirled it a few times before assuming a fencing stance. 

[color=MediumTurquoise]"I’m afraid I don’t have all day, and doing this sort of grunt work does bore me, so I recommend making your dying action useful and simply falling on my sword,"[/color] Winterfall said coldly. [color=MediumTurquoise]"At least then, I can finish you all quickly. Or I suppose you could try and fight to the death...but I warn you that I will make it hurt much more than a shard of ice to the side. Now..."[/color] His eyes danced from Terra to Joseph. [color=MediumTurquoise]"What shall it be? Volunteers? Or victims?"[/color]

[@rabidporcupine][@canaryrose][@DarkRecon]
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Sea Serpent acted like she was pondering Starbright’s comment for a moment, before smiling cruelly, her hand stopping just short of taking Starbright’s. [color=0047AB]”How about...never!”[/color] she suddenly snapped, an evil smile on her face, as water suddenly rushed out behind her like a broken dam. The water, like it had a mind of its own, smashed into Starbright, knocking him out of the way like a bowling ball would a bowling pin, before targeting Chad, the person that Sea Serpent knew less about. She was positive that Starbright was an incompotent from experience, and she assumed that his sidekick would be just as much so, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and so Yama decided to neutralize him quickly. The water quickly formed Sea Serpent’s signature move, the Breathing Bubble, and formed a massive sphere around Chad. Of course, this sphere was full of water, and as such Chad would most definitely not be able to breath. The Breathing Bubble was actually quite an ironic name, actually. Which is why it was so perfect.

[color=0047AB]”The Great Starbright, huh?”[/color] Sea Serpent said, gesturing with her hand. The Breathing Bubble, with a drowning Chad in tow, moved towards the edge of the helipad. Chad was now floating, suspended in a bubble of water, thousands of yards over the rough sea. [color=0047AB]”What’s the Great Starbright going to do to save his protege? Leave him to drown or fall to his demise? Cry like a little girl? Beg to save his sidekick? Or, most likely, would it be to secure mercy for yourself at the expense of your little friend?”[/color] Sea Serpent smiled cruelly. [color=0047AB]”Choose wisely, you so-called ‘celebrity.’”[/color]

[@Jumbus][@Duoya]
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