RoflsMazoy

Epic City: Starburst

Alto's difficulty in breathing was because of being too close to fire. At least the Vice Claw didn't usually make too much smoke, but it still burned the oxygen he needed to breathe. He didn't even know why it did that, it burned fine without air or oxygen for that matter. The healing was welcome though. He shot a look backwards, but the person who had healed him seemed to be fine. Wounds kept appearing on all of the Swarm approaching her so they were hesitating. Swarm Rats continued to run at him as well. He needed a vantage point right now.

Alto slammed the ground to launch himself into the air. While above, he saw the Rat King. If the Rat King died, it wasn't exactly a guarantee that the Swarm would stop their attack. Regardless Alto didn't have many other options. He hit the ground running, the Vice Claw blazing at his side. The Swarm surged to meet this new threat. He swung up from below decimating the crowd in front of him and sending rats flying. What Alto couldn't see right now was Comet coming at the Rat King from the other direction.

Alto raised his arm like a lance as the Vice Claw grew. He jumped as Comet's super-sonic punch connected, aiming to spear the Rat King with the Vice Claw.
@Lord Orgasmo@bluetommy2

Epic City: Starburst

@Polaris North
It seems like she's sort of in the swarm but they're distracted right now so she can kind of slip through a little bit. The rat king probably wouldn't be near the medic team because they'd be running away from it.

Epic City: Starburst

@Regitnui
Now that I think about it, are there Epics that name signature moves and all that kind of stuff? None of us do that kind of thing but I feel like the news dudes or the tabloids would have for someone like Dragon at some point.

Epic City: Starburst

Alto wound the silver necklace around his arm as the floodgates opened again. The Vice Claw disappeared back into his left arm and he took a deep breath. To suppress the Vice Claw while it was shut off was kind of an odd thing to explain. There was no real 'feel' to it but he sort of just knew when it worked. There certainly were a lot of things no one could explain about Epics, and even throughout all of the years they'd been around most of those questions never got an answer. Nowadays though, those questions didn't really matter when it came to situations like this. It was a mystery how something like the Swarm could've come into existence, but if left alone they'd be done with the city block once you were finished trying to figure it out.

He released the Vice Claw once again, normal size this time. His preemptive strike was good, but he was no where near finished yet. The Vice Claw grew again, but nowhere near as large as last time. Flaming claws gripped the edge of the building, and Alto drew back catapulting himself forward. The Vice Claw's strength worked like it was completely separate from Alto. If he started pulling something rooted to the ground he'd end up pulling himself instead, which worked wonders for moving vertically. It also launched him pretty well.

He was aiming for the impact crater he had made right in the center of the swarm. It was a risky move, but with his abilities, he was pretty sure he could make enough time for the other Epics to come through or for someone to fish him out if he was too deep. Just before he landed he hit the ground with the Vice Claw, clearing out a little bit of space amongst the charred bodies.

Ash swirling up from the heat, wild snarls and shouts filling the air, he felt strangely at home. The Swarm rushed in to collapse on him, and Alto drew the Vice Claw back around his body to protect it from any projectiles coming his way. The Vice Claw grew and fireballs formed over the tip of each claw as the enemies started drawing closer. One more flame formed in the palm of the Vice Claw signalling the end of his preparation.

Just as the first Swarm Rat got close enough to jump, he unleashed his attack. In one smooth motion he swung the Vice Claw in a huge circle around him, instantly incinerating any Swarm Rat in the way of the Vice Claw, and releasing each fireball in a different direction. The flame in his palm released as the Vice Claw swung creating a large vortex of flame. It wasn't an actual vortex, as in a vortex that could actually suck people in kind of vortex, but it still put out considerable heat and the Vice Claw's speed helped it to suck the air out of everything nearby.

The fireballs exploded when they struck the Swarm, and the vortex would keep raging for another couple of seconds. With a little more work, Alto could keep it going for longer but the thing was Alto needed to breathe, and even now it was like there was only heat in the air. His attack would've destroyed a fair amount of the Swarm from the center but those on the sides and those who ran away from the center in his initial attack would be relatively unscathed. He also hadn't touched the Rat King at all, in a few seconds he'd be in a tight spot.

Now would be a perfect time for someone else to make a dramatic entrance and the fight could start for real. Otherwise he was going to have to burn his way out by himself.

Epic City: Starburst

Vice left a trail of ash in his wake. There was no need to hold back against the Swarm Rats, and ashes were much easier to clear than bodies were after it was all over. And by the looks of things, it would be over pretty soon. All nearby civilians had been evacuated and the rat king had showed himself, one big move and this could all be over.

He was standing on a nearby rooftop looking down on the scene. Helicopters whirred on, high above, the swarm trying and failing to throw something that would hit them. They were completely trapped, but by the looks of things the other Epics couldn't attack them while their containment was still active. If they were high up like Alto was right now, an Epic with more range probably could but there was a lot of swarm down there. Any average ranged attack probably wouldn't have made much of a difference, it would be better to wait out the containment and prepare for what was coming. Numbers didn't matter to the Vice Claw, though.

The building he was on was already evacuated so there was no need to worry about collateral for now. He set down his suit jacket which he'd been carrying this whole time, because he was going to need to focus for this one.

A wave of fire washed over the Vice Claw starting from the base of his arm, triggering a reaction. Where the wave passed, more flames surged from within and the Vice Claw swelled in size. Alto could make it as large as he wanted, and this would be the largest he had ever made the Vice Claw. As soon as the containment lifted he would have to suppress it. For now though, he had the time.

"...Go down." He said as he brought the gigantic Vice Claw down, straight down onto the center of the Swarm.

Epic City: Starburst

Hey... guys...

^{Dragon VS Marching House}

Epic City: Starburst

Jumping out of a window was one of the primary ways of getting into action as an Epic these days. The High Island would repair them after you, and if you were able to then it was good fun. Alto fell into that category, and there were a lot of ways he could do it. He could land on his Vice Claw, and no matter what size it was it'd be able to take the fall. He could also hold on to the side of the building and scrape his way down the wall, which would also end up being fixed by the High Island. Right now though, he wasn't doing any of that, he was just taking the stairs.

Reason being that he needed to get his suit-jacket off, and he couldn't do while he was running all that well. As for why he was taking it off, it was because it'd probably look cooler. Jerry had told him to start watching his appearance and while initially he hadn't cared so much, he sort of understood why. There was a certain image Epics gave off, and the public was certainly attached to that image. It was sort of like old-world celebrities which Alto hadn't been alive for, but he'd seen comparisons.

Luckily for Alto, the main part of Vice was the Vice Claw so having relatively plain clothes was alright. But now that he was wearing a suit, he had to look good in it. Him fighting would probably look the best without the suit jacket on and he didn't need to hurry so much. He pledged to help the people all that time ago, but in events like this even he had to consider what would be the most efficient route of action. There had been big events like this before, and he'd seen that it was entirely possible to go without casualties.

But still, a Swarm Rat event was the kind of event that had a higher risk for the Normals in the city. Swarm Rats were fast, resourceful, and sneaky. There was a always a chance one could slip past you, but Alto wouldn't let that happen.

"Fire's good for extermination after all..." He muttered.

He took the necklace off of his left arm and the Vice Claw roared to life.

Epic City: Starburst

Right, so, finally finished exams but I'm getting sick. I'll have a post up soon but I gotta rest a little bit.

Epic City: Starburst

Alto took the brownie and nodded. Nothing too crazy had happened to him either, although that did just make him worry a bit for the future. Murphy probably turned in his grave when the High Prescient appeared, but you could still say Murphy's law applied on smaller scale events. Actually, now that he thought about it, this rescuers event was probably a prime target for something to go wrong. If someone mounted an attack successfully, they'd hit a lot of rescue workers and Epics which actually do good around here. Well, such a thing would've probably been seen by the High Prescient already and prevented. But there was still a chance that an attack would come, but it just probably wouldn't be big enough to make some serious trouble.

And even in that case, they had some powerful Epics here like Dragon Heart. And also to a certain extent, the majority of them could be considered emergency workers. They probably had a lot of adaptable people who would be well prepared in the event that something did happen. He was probably just thinking too much in the end, but it never hurt to be prepared.

"Pretty sure we have a lot of time left until the event's over," He said, shoving the brownie in his mouth. "I'm probably going to go eat some more, see you around."

He walked off while taking a sip of his champagne.

@Polaris North

Epic City: Starburst

"It's been pretty much what I expected," Alto replied coolly. "A little bit tough, a little bit dangerous... I haven't been involved in a major incident yet so I don't really know the extent of it."

When you made the decision to become a public Epic, there was obviously a lot to keep in mind. Alto had a bit more to worry about than some other Epics, not just because of his power but also because of who he was without it. Physically he was a completely average person. His mutation started and stopped with his left arm, so the rest of his body was quite weak in comparison. He had to tread carefully when it came to any encounter, which was why he'd waited a few years in-between deciding to become a hero and actually doing it.

Going in blind was a recipe for disaster, and he had the time. He wanted to help people, and when you helped people you needed to help them well or else their problems might just happen again. He started when he felt he was absolutely ready for it, and it going as expected was just about the best outcome he could've hoped for.

"You done anything big recently besides the Fitch building?" He asked.
@Polaris North