”... ngh…” Farce was the sibling that awoke in the smoke and dust first, pushing up to her knees and looking around at everything she could see, which was heavily limited to her allies and one mysterious figure.
”Is everyone okay?”Mantis came to and got on one knee. He thought to himself,
”More triggers?!” Mantis nodded at Farce’s question. Then he attempted to gather some information on the triggered being. He quietly spoke to his team,
”No one approach. I'm getting some information first..” Mantis focused his attention and empath ability on the one who stood up. He waited to see how they would react. What powers they had. This was a risky endeavour, but it didn't look like they could escape now.
“Wait...is that what happened to you guys earlier? And...does this mean one of the bad guys got a superpower?” Allison said to the others, still behind the barrier as she spoke, a distinct hint of concern in her voice.
The figure became noticeable and the sight that met them was disturbing. One of the goons stood, his body covered in a shiny metal not unlike what Excal's blades seemed to be made of, the material seeming to stab into them. As they watched more of the metal grew from the injuries, some falling to the ground.
With an idle curiosity he picked it up, a small blade not unlike a shiv, before he threw it at the group. It embedded into the barrier as he let out a laugh.
And then, before their very eyes, he seemed to shimmer and shift before he was replaced with another man who was covered in a multicolored thread from the waist down. He looked at it, running a hand along it, and his hand began to bleed. Quickly it stopped, blood replaced with more of the material.
He said something, quiet, and then the other was back in his place.
He took a step forward, grinning at Lethal Force, as the metal continued to spread and grow and fall off into little weapons.
Mantis, during all of this, could feel the triumph and confidence growing, the surprise and wonder, and above all the anger.
It was clear: this Cape, these two men, were out for blood.
Whip swung her string, cutting deep into his chest. The same thing happened again, the very same string she just used growing and coating the wound.
She hesitated, glancing at the others. Was that… Fear?
Mantis looked on in amazement. Their powers seemed to complement one another within the same body. The feeling of confidence flowed through them. This was a real problem. Whipstitch's razor sharp string seemed to have no effect.
Different scenarios ran through Mantis’ head. They could try to run. They would have to move the barrier or escape another route. They could throw everything they got at it and pray that
something affected them. One of their bodies wasn't harmed by physical damage. However, that was no guarantee their minds wouldn't succumb to repeated emotional and thought manipulation.
Since they were members of The Community, Mantis already knew that they were brainwashed into following Patriarch. Trying to get them to change their ways was a lost cause. He decided to play into their confidence, making them
overconfident. That way, they would become foolhardy with no regard for themselves. At that point, he would possibly be able to get them to focus in on Limbo and how hideous she was. She was still considered a lieutenant and in command of them. If he played into this superiority complex he could turn them against her. What need would a super powered being have for a weak and disgusting lieutenant? He could even get them to think they could take her place if she died..
Mantis began putting his plan into action by sending the thought to his allies,
”Throwing a flashbang. Try not to engage them directly, I have a plan.” With that he released enormous swells of confidence toward the two enemies. More than they experienced already by far. Then he targeted their thoughts by imparting,
”They have nothing on me. Time to step forward and destroy them.”. While he did this he threw his second flashbang at that very area in order to blind them. It would help Lethal Force buy some time..
”This isn’t going to go well, is it?”Not at all.”Dammit.” Farce turned her eyes away from the flashbang as she heard Mantis put his plan into action. Her gun was grabbed from the ground, and it was prepped and ready to fire, though how many bullets it had was up to chance. She didn’t know the exact amount, and that’s one of the scarier things here.
The other scary thing had just occurred to her, and she couldn’t help but speak out loud.
”... where’s Limbo? She’d have made a snarky comment by now... right?”Allison felt the fear of death creeping into her upon seeing what these two…”new” parahumans could do. She’d only heard of such sorts of things as they could do in the textbooks or other matters and theories her professors talked about when it came to parahumans. If she had to place a guess, an educated one at that, this was what was called a “multi-trigger”. Or in layman’s terms, people developing powers in the middle of a giant clusterfuck of superpower usage. This could happen at Endbringer events, but….shit, to see this right now was far more terrifying than exciting to her mind.
Then it seemed that Mantis was going to be trying something, a plan of sorts to deal with them. But would they be able to resist his efforts or deflect them? That she didn’t know for sure. If Mantis’ power had been at play, or even potentially just influenced, what these two guys had gotten in powers that could be a bad sign...er, potentially that is.
“This is why we need a damn escape plan…,” Allison mumbled to herself under her breath, not wanting to distract the others but also wanting to somewhat vent the frustrations within her at how things had gone thus far. They needed to think of an escape no matter how it went down, have some plan of some sort (in her mind) to try to bolt.
Looking upwards, through the gaps in the upper barrier part she had made, Allison tried to briefly analyze what it was like in hopes that...well, something could be done. Even caving a bit of the place in could help, right? At least if it was possible...
As Allison looked up, looking for anything that could be helpful, she would be disappointed. There were no obvious flaws to the cave roof here, and it would obviously take some effort to create any form of collapse. She could try, though.
Farce's thought was a solid realization, but still Limbo didn't reappear and it didn't seem like she was planning on doing so anytime soon.
Mantis' impulse, however, worked as planned. The man started walking forward, a grin on his face, right into the flashbang. He staggered, blinded, before he shimmered and the other was in his place, moving forward slowly and picking up one of the metal shivs from the ground.
”You just had to fucking come after us. You couldn't just fucking fuck off.” The man growled the words, walking forward and engaging with Whip. The blade went through her body, as normal, over the course of several swift stab attempts. Whip, unused to fighting in close combat and having a fit of wanting to attack and run at the same time, was slow to react as he grabbed her by the neck and forced her head up.
The next stab didn't phase through and her shocked gasp seemed to almost echo through the cavern. In a second her body exploded with string, shoving him back and cutting into his skin. Again it seemed that he grew that odd mimicking armor, and several more metal bits fell down and pooled together into a small shield shape.
”I'll kill you all for what you did to us.”Whip, now on the ground, pushed herself back with a grimace as she held her stomach.
Seeing Whip get stabbed for the first time was shocking to Mantis. If they were to take this thing down it would be through their concentrated efforts. Mantis imparted the thought to their enemies,
”These characters are sooo weak. We are strong. What need do we have for our lieutenant now? She is hideous..” Even though Limbo had disappeared, Mantis hoped he could compromise their actions through getting them to think on her. Mantis stepped out of cover and fired another burst from his submachine gun at the shiv they picked up.
Farce sprung up as well and shot her revolver at the two thugs, thinking Mantis’ SMG firing was an opener for her to attack. It wasn’t entirely that, either. The girl genuinely cared for the well-being of Whipstitch, and seeing her get hurt like that was alarming to say the least. She wasn’t a fan of that at all.
”You asked for this!” Farce shouted in response to the thugs.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this.Allison mentally noted how the situation was turning out, taking side glances at Mantis and wondering if he was trying to do some work on the guys with some emotional manipulation. Internally she was panicking, but as she took some controlled breaths and began to think. This was bad. Possibly blocked escape, not obvious points to cause a collapse that could provide an escape chance, floating mutilated looking ghost thing floating in the air before them, and two thugs who had apparently multi-triggered….well, at least triggered in general. Taking in one last, long, deep breath, Allison steeled herself for what was to come….what she would do.
”Ah...when in doubt, see what shit sticks to the wall.”Before she could wait for a response, she popped up and began to fire streams of blades….at the cave ceiling...trying to create a circle of forceful, wide, thick blades to crack up the ceiling as badly and deeply as possible, all in order to collapse a circle of cave roof down on the enemies below. She would keep an eye out to move back down as needed, but even if so she would pop up again to try to continue carving out her plan as time went on. Even so, she attempted to embrace the fear of death coursing in her veins right now, generated by the intense fight or flight response that so desperately wanted to kick into full “flight” mode right now.
Whip was leaving a trail, thick and slippery, of blood as she slowly moved backwards. Her breathing was shallow and labored and it looked like she was using all her willpower to not just fall over. With almost careless ease the goon kicked her wound, bringing about a pathetic whimper from Whip.
“Pathetic." He turned away, his boot grinding against her wound, as the others opened fire. Mantis knocked the blade from their hand, bullets tearing into flesh, as Farce fired several rounds that landed in his shoulders and chest.
Overall it seemed… Ineffective. More metal was spreading across his skin, pooling into a larger looking shield at his feet. Almost casually he switched to the other form, picking up a knife that had formed on the ground. It was larger than the shiv and he started moving towards the group behind the defensive cover.
Above some rubble and dust fell…
Their weapons were ineffective. They would have to kill it in one move or at least immobilize it with something. That's when he saw the rubble above. Excal was trying collapse the ceiling on their foe. Mantis sprung into action, heading for the fiend. He shot his remaining rounds from his submachine gun. Mantis aimed at the head and weapon in their hand. Hopefully a good hit to the brain would kill them immediately or at least disarm it.
When he ran out of ammunition, Mantis dropped his gun and drew his combat knife. It was apparent he was going in hand to hand. He angled himself appropriately in order to maneuver them right underneath Excal’s cave in. Mantis also implanted the thought,
”I’ll end him there.” Referring to the area in question.
Once he got in close, right outside the falling rubble, Mantis would unleash a flurry of slashes, kicks and elbows at them. If one replaced another he would continue his onslaught on the other. Years of training in Krav Maga made him more comfortable in situations like these..
Farce noticed the rubble above her fall down.
”Uh… guys? This place is coming down I think…!” She immediately went into a panic as she ran over and grabbed Whip, struggling to keep her up in her arms.
”Forget them, Mantis! We’ve gotta go!” With that, she ran in a direction she thought was the way out, and didn’t look behind her as she moved.
”C’mon Whip! We’re getting you out of here.”Allison continued to fire off blades of the same style as before at the cavern roof, aiming for vulnerable weight-bearing points as well now, seeking to collapse the entire cavern roof in upon everything….and everyone. Maybe the group could escape if this gave them a chance, perhaps the new bad guys might be buried in the rubble temporarily so they could get out. This was a dangerous development overall, and the fact they had walked into this was a terrible idea. If enough of them lived beyond this, she was going to give them a piece of her mind-.....oh.
The idea of potentially most of them dying shook her a bit. She hadn’t gone through a trigger event for any of this….what if….what if this event potentially complicated her situation? Could a parahuman have a secondary trigger if they used, well, whatever vial thing she had acquired from these people? Or had her brain chemistry and body been altered to not be able to “evolve” her current state any more?
Wait…...why was she considering this in the first place? She was trying to help them all get out of here!
“Mantis, get the fuck away from there ya’ damn pancake!“ Allison yelled at him as she continued to play out her plan as teammates scrambled to get away and Mantis seemed to be outright getting into her line of fire.
Mantis’ shots went wide, but that wasn't what he was looking for anyways. He came into close combat, and while this cape had the basics… Mantis was well above his skill level. Soon he was bleeding, and bad, before he switched to the other. Their little duel continued, Mantis being hit several times by the metal on the guy's fist, but Mantis was undeniably winning.
And that's was when there was an ear splitting crack above them. As the roof started to collapse down, bits of Excal's blades coming with, Whip hooked Mantis with her string - cutting into his waist a little - and pulled. As rock and metal fell, there was only the new cape underneath.
The cave in was thunderous, shaking the ground, before it was over. Mantis, Whip, and Farce were on the opposite side of the crash as Excal, but the blade shooting girl could crawl over the rocks to reach them if she felt so inclined.
Whip, meanwhile, was limp in Farce's hands. She looked up at the other woman in concern, her lips moving without making a sound. And then…. The light in her eyes faded and Whip was no more.
”Guys! We’ve got to go NOW!” Farce didn’t care if Whip was limp and lifeless, she wasn’t leaving her there to be buried by rubble. She was gonna get Whip out or die trying!
”COME ON-WAUGH!”Farce fell forward with Whip, a sudden uttering of
”Sparce!” coming into play as the twins kept running. Sparce could more easily carry Whip’s body, but he couldn’t do it for long.
Mantis jumped up as quickly as his bruised and cut body could. He reached for his weapon on the ground as an afterthought. Then he yelled out,
”Limbo is in here and I'm going to find her! Follow me or get out! We can regroup at my place!”With that said, Mantis ran deeper into the tunnels. He sensed for any emotions that he could identify as a human being. It wasn't a stretch to assume Limbo's body was close to her projection. Anyone who wished would be able to follow Mantis deeper into the tunnels. Limbo's time had come…
”Hey! Er, Farce! Are you guys alive over there? Whip, you ok?” Allison shouted from her side of the rock wall now blocking her from the others. Albeit, she knew the way they had come in was just behind her.
Yet…
She was worried. It didn’t sound like Mantis was going to stop this “mission” anytime soon. What….what an idiot! The brand-new parahuman couldn’t believe that this mission was worth potentially throwing everyone’s lives away at. Allison noted to herself how she had thought this would be a proper heroic mission, albeit not with the same blind idealism a comic book character might show. She hadn’t heard Whip calling out though…..she could hear Farce and Sparce talking though. Mantis had said something about them being able to leave and regroup at his place, but then again she had no idea where the place was. She knew where the car was, at least, but could she even use the thing if she got that far and ran?
But if she stayed….was Mantis going to sacrifice them all for this shit revenge?! A pang of frustrations suddenly washed over her, albeit briefly. Sure one could say they needed to get things done no matter what, but at the same time was it worth being the Captain Ahab of all of this? She had no idea if the two other superhuman multi-trigger guys were alive or dead, and at that there had been that ghostly gross looking chick from before...wait, where had that woman gone to anywho? That was another potential worry. Plus if one ambush had seemingly been waiting for them…..ah hell it could be worse.
Mantis yelled back to Excal,
”No! Everything is not fine and we need your help NOW!” He continued his way into the tunnels. Hopefully the others would follow him in.
“Excaliblast”....no, Allison had followed along with all of this….she chose to stay instead of run. Despite her anger at Mantis for sounding like a madman, with this….Captain Ahab sounding pursuit! She couldn’t leave them behind. Sparce and Farce had sounded desperate, she couldn’t hear Whip, and Mantis…..dammit even that damned idiot might need help too! They’d walked into what seemed like a trap...and been ambushed in a bad spot. They’d gotten into a firefight, the first in her entire life, and the reality of death had begun to sink in. She’d desperately sought to do something to save them….but she had no idea what effect it had been on them even. She’d experienced being in the presence of a trigger, a multi-trigger at that, and seen a terrifying couple of powers approaching them like monsters emerging from the ether into this world. She’d even seen a ghastly looking monstrosity of a...a phantom floating in the air.
She had witnessed something incredible not too long ago, as if waking up from real life and moving into a dream. She, fulfilling that childhood dream, had gotten powers. She had become a parahuman, the type of people she had sought to understood, been studying for a good time by now. All of that time and money spent, all of the parties and sexy times with cuties….all of the stress and the struggle over tests and projects even. And as she had climbed over that rock barrier, as she had desperately followed the group with adrenaline pumping through her system, she had even so hoped….hoped for the best.
Even without an immature idealism clinging to her heart, wasn’t that one thing humans and parahumans had in common? Hope. The one thing that had clung inside Pandora’s Box whilst all the evils had left it to swarm about the Earth. A force that could move gods, as it had during the tale of Orpheus in the Underworld, and something that even poor Oedipus clung to as he had sought to defy his fate. It was something even the common man in all walks seemed to cling to even in this day and age.
She had, in this line of thought, placed her hopes into this. On taking the dive, seeking to become a hero...and why so? To merely fulfill a childhood dream or some fancy? Had she done it out of the best goodwill of her heart, with the best possible intentions? Or...had she impulsively done it to escape the loops her life had become? To remove herself from the monotony of rising debt and increasing stress, and the nagging of some family who didn’t like her choice of future already? Perhaps it was to get away from the pressure to succeed, or financial support from home might cut out despite its limited nature?
Whatever it was, it wasn’t all altruistic. In a sense….it had always been a selfish desire, hadn’t it?
Mantis, Sparce, Excal and the body of Whip headed further into the cave, following a small tunnel. Excal could now either follow… Or abandon them and try to escape the way they had entered originally.
It came to an end fairly quickly, Mantis able to pick up hints of anger, and as they stepped into a small room Limbo's ghost appeared directly in Mantis’ face and several gunshots went off. Surprisingly none of them hit Mantis, who was in front.
Even more surprisingly, however, was the bullet that planted itself directly between Sparce’s eyes, causing Farce to immediately appear, falling forward with Whip’s body underneath her immediately limp form.
And then Limbo, Excal, and Mantis collapsed…
Allison had darted into the room. She bore witness to the horror as a bullet rang true, and….Farce’s body collapsed to the floor. Similarly, she too collapsed to the floor….only to arise shortly after as the other two in the room had. And in doing this, she felt a cold sweat on her back, certain realizations hitting her mind, glancing at Mantis and then Limbo and then at Mantis again as if she had seen a ghost. Then she looked to her side...at the limp bodies in the room...lying atop each other.
’Oh no. Nonono. NONONONONONONON!!! her mind seemed to say aloud within itself, the sound growing louder and louder until it was like a scream ringing between her ears.
Allison crawled in the dirt and grime over to where Farce’s body lay limp over Whip. Frantically, desperately the new parahuman tried to check for vital signs, first on Whip, and….cold. Lingering warmth seemed to be there, but...ah. Whip wasn’t alive...not anymore. That glazed look in the body’s eyes, the lack of a pulse... And that bullet, and Sparce….and now Farce was limp like this. She felt she didn’t even need to check the other “body” right now.
Her face felt numb, or perhaps hot, her mind like a live wire of the worst kind. Her pulse raced more than before, and before she could speak her guts lurched and her head turned to the side….as vile green vomit poured out of her lips and splatted wet on the ground next to her and the bodies. Her eyes were too glazed over a bit, disbelief and a mix of emotions writhing within her. Her stomach couldn’t handle this, the contents of it emptying as the realization of things hit her. This was her fault. She, that damn fool of a girl who had thought herself a potential hero….this was HER FAULT.
She had collapsed the cavern, and now Whip was….dead. She had followed these people in, but….she couldn’t prevent Sparce and Farce from dying. She had taken on the responsibility to go with these people, but what if she had refused? Might they have come anyways to die here? Might they have gone back home safely, if they merely hadn’t acquired another number to come along for this...this SUICIDE MISSION?!
When Mantis came to, he had tears welling up in his eyes. He slowly got on his hands and knees. Liquid began to dot the cold, damp floor. Steadily, emotion began to fill the entirety of the room.
Rage, anger, and fear. Mantis reached for his balaclava with one swift motion and pulled it down off of his mouth. He looked toward the ceiling and screamed at the top of his lungs in agony,
”AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” The sheer intensity of the feelings were overpowering. Pure dread fell upon whomever had the misfortune of being in the wave that crashed over the room.
Suddenly, Mantis jumped to his feet as he lunged at Limbo's true form. He had no regard for his own safety as he charged at the armed woman. She stood behind a metal desk with her gun in hand. Mantis leapt over the desk with a flying kick. A steel toed boot made contact with Limbo's torso. She flew backwards and crashed into a bulletin board. She lost her grip on her weapon as it clattered to the floor. Papers scattered everywhere.
Mantis stepped forward, staring right into her eyes with the intensity of a ferocious predator. Limbo trembled from the
fear. Her hands went up to protect her face from whatever came next. It would not be enough.
When he got within range, Mantis began to throw violent punches at her torso. Limbo keeled over, gasping for air. Then he took her head in his hands and used it as leverage to deliver a devastating knee to her face. A loud crack could be heard as her nose broke from the impact. Blood gushed on Mantis and the floor below. He didn't even notice. It was like his combat instincts had fully taken control.
Then Mantis slammed his elbow down upon the back of her head. She crashed to the floor as her blood splattered around. Limbo groaned in agony and pleaded,
”Please...don’t kill me...I was only defending myself..” Seeing her apart from her apparition made her seem like a normal woman. Groveling and frail. But Mantis wasn't finished with her yet.
He began to kick her repeatedly in the ribs. One by one they cracked from the blunt trauma. Finally, he stomped her right arm which snapped backwards. She cried out in horrible pain as Mantis looked on, breathing heavily. He stared for some time while Limbo quietly whimpered in a pool of her own blood. Then he finally asked in a strangely calm voice,
”Give me one good reason why I should keep you alive.” Turning her head to the side, as if feeling stuck in a dream, Allison watched in pale horror as Mantis went to work. Pure dread coming from him washed over her like a tidal wave, and his rage, his anger, his fear as well in turn came into her mind. She could see the terror of Limbo as this”enemy” was pummeled into a bloody pulp on the ground, and began to torture her with ribs blows and breaking her arm in front of her. Almost poetically, this person looked as frail as those bodies did next to Allison herself….and Mantis as vengeful as the multi-trigger monsters that had attacked them all not too long prior.
Heh….so easily the roles could reverse, the victim becomes the monster. The monster becomes the victim. These weren’t Endbringers, beasts of an entirely different scale and might level, but merely….humans. Humans beating each other into a pulp, releasing their anger and emotions, seeking to slay each other for some reason or another like animals.
It made her sick….sick to her stomach, though dry heaves were all she might get now. But as she watched this, a now wave of something rose within her, as if spurred on by whatever Mantis had been emanating. Angry. No….hated, fury, pure spite of the deepest kind, all darkened by the color of the blood spilt here into a shade of tainted crimson.
Mantis, no better than what he had perhaps sought to destroy or bring vengeance upon here. “Limbo”, as this one was called, no better than a murderer trying to tap into the emotions, the closing curtain upon them as they tried to in their weakest state beg for a mercy they perhaps never would give...if she had to make some inferences here.
…..this was no dream, though. This was a darkened nightmare, the more vile side of the world made manifest. Not all the world’s evils, but merely a fragment of them.
“Stop...Mantis…..please stop…..i…...i……we’re supposed to be…...“ Her voice felt weak, her throat hoarse as if she had been screaming. Her body as if about to collapse from it all. Yet right then, as if a fine rope had at last been cut….something snapped. Her arms silently raised up, hands and wrists in the right position, pointed at the two individuals as Mantis merely stood there over Limbo at the time. She felt the emotions surge through her towards those wrists of hers, the pain, the shame, the guilt, the fury, and everything that was roaring within her right now.
“BOTH OF YOU FUCKING STOP ALREADY!!!“ At the same moment, blades began to pour forth out of her wrists like a stream….like a raging river unleashed from behind the wall of a dam. At the speed of bullets, like a true machine gun firing off on the battlefield, they flew to their marks….towards mainly one of the two figures. Several sunk into the neck and skull of Limbo, those in the neck cutting off the head of the snake…...but those aimed for the head being so large they were gruesomely splitting open the skull of the “villain” and splattering brains and bone splinters and blood all over the ground in front of Mantis. Other embedded themselves in the corpse of the woman, exerting a level of overkill as they cut and maimed it horridly.
Then again, several blades landed around Mantis as well, embedded into the ground around him as if like a...fence.
Slowly rising to her feet, slightly shaky at first but eventually gaining some strength, Allison stood tall, her wrists still aimed in Mantis’ direction, her eyes keeping track of the man’s movements. Several tears were running down her face….no, it was more like a cascade of rain in effect really, as they streamed down her face. Was she some naieve baby? She didn’t think so….but regardless of that she knew she wasn’t one right now.
”I just want answers. But if you even try any of your mind tricks on me, and even if i just suspect it, i will shoot you and this entire underground until it is nothing but a solid steel cemetery for the three of us. It’s as natural as breathing to do this, so do not fucking try me.
Now….answer me this…..was this worth it? Was it worth all their lives…...just for this?! Was it all worth this bitch’s death, just to watch her squirm like an ant underneath you? You look like a monster, Mantis, just as ugly as that damn ghost we saw in the other room. No different than what i’ve seen people call parahumans more than enough times in my life to be sick of it, and what people describe cold-blooded killers as being at that.
This isn’t some idealistic bullshit, i just want to know, Mantis!!! Answer me dammit!!!”As Excaliblast impaled Limbo with her blades, Mantis simply stared down at her lifeless body. Then he quietly muttered,
”Nice work..” Suddenly, more blades surrounded him in a makeshift cage. He slowly turned his head toward Alison as she interrogated him, tears in her eyes. She was so...innocent. So human. She reminded Mantis of his early days on the police force. Ready to change the world, one call at a time.
The longer she continued the more his mind became clear. The rage had subsided. Replaced with a soberness. Mantis looked back at Limbo's corpse. When Alison had finished he quietly replied,
”Was it worth it..? I've been asking myself that question ever since I lost my friends and gained these powers...I'm too far in this to go back now, Alison..” Then he looked up at her with a solemn resolve in his eyes and stated,
”So are you.” 
Member
Samara
Fetzen
Timemaster
