Gods Among Us 8 - First Earth Battalion [IC|Meta RP|Open]

[Dyelli Beybi]

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Chapter One
Oh brave new world that has such people in 't!

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9:30am -First Brooklyn Savings Bank
The armoured man slammed the security guard against the wall, holding him by the throat, barely able to breathe. The eye holes of the armoured man's face mask glowed ominously like gateways to Hades. As the guard watched, the man's free hand burst into flames... "Hey, Hellgate, chuck that guy in with the rest of the hostages and stop pissing around?"

The iron mask swivelled to the other masked meta-human who had appeared at the bank, along with two dozen or so armed assailants, "This man shot me." he growled, his voice clanging metallically from behind his mask.

"Yeah and it did..." the woman looked him up and down, "Approximately nothing. Now stop wasting everybody's time and do your job." She had an athletic build and pretty hazel eyes behind the domino mask. She was also a speedster who had entered the bank like a whirlwind, if a whirlwind carried a pair of tonfas.

The man in the mask, 'Hellgate' growled angrily, then hurled the guard across the floor, towards the huddled mass of employees and customers, watched over by one of the unpowered, but heavily armed troopers who made up the bulk of the robbery team. They wore black combat gear, body armour and matching balaclavas; they did not look like run-of-the-mill bank robbers, but run-of-the-mill bank robbers weren't usually headed by meta-humans, "You are lucky that the boss likes you or I would roast that smirk right off that pretty face of yours." Hellgate growled.

"He thinks I'm pretty! Sets my heart all aflutter." the woman replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. She seemed to be performing to the hostages, as if they were an audience to her play, "You know he likes me best because I'm the smart one though... being better looking and endowed with a rapier sharp wit is really just the Universe's way of rubbing it in." that drew a dark glower from Hellgate, though she didn't give him a chance to reply, "Anyway my hot-headed friend, I am going to go outside to await our inevitable visitors. Catch you out there?"

She was off as soon as she spoke, again not giving Hellgate time to respond. The First Brooklyn Savings Bank was only three blocks from the Headquarters of the First Earth Battalion. A meta-human robbery that close to the centre of the city was bound to draw attention...

---

Meanwhile at First Earth Battalion HQ...

The siren sounded. Red lights flashed in the corridors and a synthetic female voice spoke over the intercom, "Robbery in progress at First Brooklyn Savings Bank. Super-criminals known as 'Blur' and 'Hellgate' spotted at the scene. All available personnel please respond."

That was the queue for the engines on the cars and helicopters to fire up, though the First Brooklyn Savings Bank was so close that you could probably run (or fly) to it faster than you could get a vehicle there. There was a square out the front, about 20 by forty yards, filled with ornamental trees whose planters gave good shelter for the suspiciously large number of black-clad robbers. The robbers looked more like SWAT officers and were mostly armed with a variety of submachine gun. By the time anyone from the FEB arrived they had already fanned out around the square, taking up positions where they could cover their leaders. As for what the leaders were up to, Hellgate paced the middle of the square, a mass of muscle under thick layers of armour. Blur, meanwhile, seemed to be running laps, zipping around the square at high speed - far too fast for a sniper to target.

It didn't take much to figure out that there were easier ways for a pair of meta-human criminals to make money than by robbing a bank right on the FEB's doorstep. This pair had come here expecting a fight.

[Demencia]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Manhattan

Zinnia lounged on the sofa, her dress barely hanging on to her body as flashbulbs ignited around her. Every few clicks from the shutters she changed positions, and someone told her how marvelous the pose was. After the thirtieth or so pose- they always blended together for her- her manager walked up to her and leaned in to whisper something into her ear. She passed Zinnia a tablet, and the winged woman looked down at it. She nodded and stood up, putting on the overcoat handed to her. "I hate to cut it short, but duty calls!" she announced, walking out of the room.

She went back to her dressing room and grabbed the bag with her flight suit in it. She quickly changed into it, and rest her goggles on her forehead. "Cancel my plans for now, I'll be back." she said to her manager, who just nodded and started dialing on her phone. Zinnia made her way to the roof of the building, slid her goggles down over her eyes, and took off.

Brooklyn

She wondered how stupid a pair of crooks would have to be to rob a bank down the street from the FEB headquarters, then to not run from said headquarters, just wait around for a fight. Even if it was part of a bigger plan and the whole team was just bait, they were still stupid enough to be the ones talked into it.

Zinnia flew in a holding pattern above the square, watching the team below her. Two of them were dressed differently than the others, meaning they were likely the ones in charge of this operation. She stayed in the air for now, providing aerial recon for the others.

[Atkemri]

Midtown, Manhattan

"Camron, where are you going?" Camron's wife, Anastasia called as he readied his Executioner suit for battle. "The FEB called me out, there's a bank robbery or something in the city. I have to go." He got into the suit and began moving outside to his car, Anastasia grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him "Please Camron be careful." Camron looked back and continued walking forwards. "I always am Anna." He got in his car and began driving to the bank. He regretted having to go again, between missions given by the CIA and FEB he had no time to spend with Anastasia and that was very, very annoying. Especially when the two give him missions back to back which wasn't uncommon. He knew the FEB didn't know about his deal with the CIA, but still it irked him to no end.

First Earth Battalion HQ

He arrive day the scene of the soon to be battle and walked out of his Ford Fiesta, fully prepared for a battle with his M16 graciously given to him by the U.S government and his suit he began walking towards the robbers and noticed how heavily armed they all were. Camron knew he couldn't take on all of them at once, but also knew that it was probably best not to let Blur and Hellgate idle around in the FEB HQ. He turned on his com and his voice distorter deepening his voice by several octaves "Death-Bullet here, need backup at the HQ if you're around get here as fast as you can" Death-Bullet ran out of his cover and began firing pot shots at the robbers surrounding the HQ

[Dyelli Beybi]

Outside First Brooklyn Savings Bank

The police were also relatively quick to the scene, though, aware that there were meta-humans on both sides of the engagement, had decided to pull back a block and set up a perimeter. Years of experience had taught the NYPD that getting involved in the business end of this kind of confrontation meant officers dying. Better to leave it to the FEB.

The robbers had also formed a perimeter around the bank. If they had an escape plan it wasn't immediately obvious.

He arrive day the scene of the soon to be battle and walked out of his Ford Fiesta, fully prepared for a battle with his M16 graciously given to him by the U.S government and his suit he began walking towards the robbers and noticed how heavily armed they all were. Camron knew he couldn't take on all of them at once, but also knew that it was probably best not to let Blur and Hellgate idle around in the FEB HQ. He turned on his com and his voice distorter deepening his voice by several octaves "Death-Bullet here, need backup at the HQ if you're around get here as fast as you can" Death-Bullet ran out of his cover and began firing pot shots at the robbers surrounding the HQ

"I'm on my way, hold your horses!" the distinctly British voice of Imogen Vaughan, aka 'Kaleidoscope' came through the ear piece. She actually lived at the Headquarters so it wasn't that much of a surprise that she would be one of the first on the scene, "Oh, just so you are all aware, we the whole Council back at base today in a meeting with a Russian delegation. If things go totally to pot we can probably radio in for the big guns."

Meanwhile the robbers returned fire, laying down an awful lot of fire in Death-Bullet's direction, trying to keep him pinned down. Out of the corner of his eye he would probably see the black streak that was Blur, circle around, behind him. If the FEB's intelligence on her was correct, she preferred to engage in hand-to-hand combat, overpowering opponents with a blitz attack.

Hellgate, on the other hand, had chosen to ignore Death-Bullet and instead was scanning the scene for other heroes who might be inclined to join the melee. His masked face swivelled back and forth, then up, where burning eyes alighted on the distant figure of Icarus. There was a slight pause, then his hand shot out in her direction, sending a ball of flame tumbling towards her on a collision course.

[Atkemri]

Outside the Bank

"They're talking to the Russians?" Death-Bullet basically yelled while taking heavy fire and all the while still returning it to the goons. "Let's try not to get them involved, I..... Don't have the best reputation with them and I would not like that they get involved." He ran into cover while still shooting at the goons and to make the situation worse he could see Blur from the corner of his eyes. He threw one Flash-bang at the group of goons, and rolled another near the feet of Blur. Once the robbers were stunned he would quickly open fire at them and when Blur's Flash-bang went off he would hastily turn around and tried to shoot at her legs.

[Demencia]

Zinnia Howard
Icarus
Brooklyn

Zinnia kept circling the area, maintaining overwatch from her position in the sky. She saw a ball of fire headed for her, and quickly rolled to the right and changed course, also gaining more altitude just in case. "Rude!" she yelled, knowing only she would hear herself. She radioed in. "One of them just threw fire at me, and frankly I don't appreciate it." she said. "I hope at least someone down there is fireproof, I really don't want to find out if I taste like chicken."

[Anowa]

Ingrid Grimsdottir
Amateur biologist and cellular researcher
Subway, 2nd Avenue, Bowery, Lower Manhattan

By 2019, subways had become somewhat of a decent restaurant. Ingrid remembered when they first started in Connecticut. While many would say they had declined in quality, Ingrid honestly couldn't tell. Either because her palette had been all but wiped away from her own mucking about with her biology or if they genuinely were bland, she couldn't tell. Still, she thought they tasted alright enough to be a part of her nigh 6500 calorie a day diet.

Also by 2019, the only people you'd see using pagers were either doctors, nurses, or surgeons working in a hospital, or hipsters who held the devices of yesteryear to a nigh fanatical standard. Ingrid fit into neither of those categories, but she still had a pager. Granted the only people who could contact it were the FEB, which made it incredibly easy to figure out what the reasoning was:

[Meta-Robbery First Brooklyn Savings Bank]

With a sigh, Ingrid remained seated. There were a lot of things she'd do to help... Fighting crime on an empty stomach was not one of them.

---

Ingrid Grimsdottir
No longer hungry, a bit thirsty
Police Cordon, Near First Brooklyn Savings Bank, Brooklyn

The sound of a two stroke engine filled the scene, a Ducati motorcycle pulling to a stop, as a few of the officers at the cordon gave the woman riding it a few odd looks, namely due to the lack of any safety gear.

With the engine shutting down and the woman stepping off the vehicle, the sight of some form of gas wafting off of her forming into a set of leather rigging around her belt, and an underarm holster containing a sword and Browning Hi-Power respectively. Walking towards the cordon, a few officers looked confused, relenting as the badge on her belt gave an indication that she wasn't about to gun people down indiscriminately.

Ingrid quipped as she slid over the hood of one of the Chargers present, "Keep us save folks, this likely won't be long."

Even from the cordon, the sounds of gunfire could be heard, as was expected. Some hotshot, either with a CCW, first responder, -in which case Ingrid gave them credit in keeping on for this long- or one of the FEBs on the scene -in which case she'd berate them later for not waiting for her before starting the scuffle- had decided to kick things off early. Fine by her, though at least there would be some excitement.

Approaching the scene, Ingrid noticed Death-Bullet -In her opinion a totally uninspired name- taking most of the heat, and giving most of it out. From where she was, the concussive effects of the M84s he tossed out still had somewhat of an effect on her hearing, though not a lot more than the gunfire. Taking cover behind the engine block of one of the sedans parked on the street, Ingrid took in what she could, big man in heavy armor, speedster zipping around like a rabbit on PCP, and a lot of mooks. Taking advantage of Death-Bullet's attempt to stun them, she popped out of cover, took aim at a suspect, his background being the thick concrete walls of the bank, and fired a duo of rounds, putting two new holes in his chest cavity and dropping him like a sack of hammers.

Backup had arrived.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Outside the Bank

... He threw one Flash-bang at the group of goons, and rolled another near the feet of Blur. Once the robbers were stunned he would quickly open fire at them and when Blur's Flash-bang went off he would hastily turn around and tried to shoot at her legs.

The black smudge that was the speedster in motion swerved unexpectedly, veering away from the flashbang and accompanying bullets, though it must have phased her somewhat for she swerved in the direction of a Starbucks (all patrons having already fled the scene)... and didn't stop, ploughing straight through the front door in a shower of safety glass, before hitting a table and bouncing up and over the shop counter in a flailing wheel of limbs. The reports on her, it seemed, were accurate: Blur bounced. If they were accurate in other descriptions of her though, the accident wouldn't keep her down for long.

It was enough, however, along with the loss of one of their number to Ingrid's fire, to cause the morale of the robbers to falter. A few of the ones near the front began to fall back towards the safety of the bank. This, though, seemed to be the signal for Hellgate to step forward, turning his attention away from Icarus as he crunched across the square, both arms outstretched, one pointing at Death-Bullet, the other at Ingrid. As he did two huge, billowing jets of flame burst forth, scorching the ground in a long streak towards where the two heroes were, threatening to burn them to a crisp if they didn't get out of the way. He didn't try to take cover, didn't try to do anything to avoid incoming fire, just slowly advanced, his hands spewing fire.

"That's a lot of fire." a crisp British voice remarked over the comms system, signalling that Kaleidoscope had appeared on the scene and cleared the police cordon. She hadn't rushed in though and right now was peeking from behind the corner of a nearby building. She hated going into situations like this, without a plan and without knowing exactly what they were up against, "Need me to create a distraction? Oh... and Cuttlefish is here as well but she isn't wearing a radio."

As events unfolded in the square, the police presence at the cordon was building up. Uniformed officers were pushing curious civilians back, back to a second line a further block back, while SWAT officers took up position on the main line, ready to sweep up any robbers who tried to escape from the scene. The noose was slowly tightening on Hellgate, Blur and their crew.

[Atkemri]

Death-Bullet rolled out of the way of the fireball hurled at him by Hellgate barely moving fast enough to get out of the way. Death-Bullet would've liked to try and get back at Hellgate but he knew that if he didn't capitalize on her disorientation she could cause problems. 2 metahumans are substantially worse than 1. Death-Bullet sprinted towards the Starbucks hopefully not drawing the attention of Hellgate. Once he was close enough to the Starbucks Blur was in he threw a grenade into the building hopefully putting Blur out of commission.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Along with the usual blast of shrapnel, the grenade blew the door behind the counter back in spectacular fashion. There was, however, no sign of the speedster who had, for all intents and purposes, vanished. There was only one way she could have scurried though - through the door.

The door opened up into a hallway that doubled up as a fire evacuation route. She could have gone out the back, but the door on the first floor, which led into an office, was also, suspiciously, ajar. It looked like someone had taken a hammer to the handle and locking mechanism... Or possibly a tonfa. If that was her work (and not some previous burglar) the noise of the shootout in the square must have covered her breaking and entering.

Blur had used one route or the other and was, doubtless, looking to circle around and ambush one of the FEB... Probably Death-Bullet; he had thrown a grenade at her. While she treated most conflicts as a game, someone actively trying to kill her was personal!

[New Aeyariss]

***Initializing***
***REACTOR: ONLINE***
***VISION: ONLINE***
***MOTORS: ONLINE***
***WEAPONRY: ONLINE***
***LAUNCH CHECK: COMPLETE***
***GLORY TO EL'EYLON***

Alien symbols flashed in front of his eyes as the familiar feeling of becoming one with metal came to his senses again. He loved that - becoming one with steel, feeling the servomotors installed in this majestic bio-mechanical machine of war and terror as if they were his, glyphs that once again flashed in front of his eyes, written in language that no human except him could read. It was intriguing that he, of all the people, could become the Tar'Yahs - the one whom a Malakian warrior called "master" and whose commands he obeyed.

"Welcome back, master. I hope that you had a pleasant trip." came the mechanical, guttural voice inside his head. Over the years, Wikus had grown accustomed to his presence and the fact that due to bond they shared, they could communicate telepathically. Here, inside Eprahel's control chamber, the voice was far clearer.

"I could not have complained, if it wasn't for those god damned abominations once again stirring smoke in this city!" complained loudly Wikus, as he performed the start checks - moving first left hand, then right, then his legs, then turning the head around and checking the sensors "And worst of all, the police won't even gun them down as they should. I wonder if after I am through with those abominations, I am going to hear yet another lecture about how killing them makes us like them, when the last one I stomped was about to kill dozens of human beings. The nerve of those people..."

Another set of glyphs flashed in front of his eyes, indicating the status of the plasma cannon and Eprahel's sensors.

"I would advise caution, Master." spoke worried Eprahel "As much as I know that The Code demands us to act in order to prevent those... monsters from harming humanity we swore to protect... At this point a failure is set to endanger a lot of human lives. And that, master, is against the code."

It could not be denied that the thought of screwing up this action on purpose to ensure that public opinion of First Earth Battalion will waver had crossed Wikus's mind, yet he could not bring himself to do so. The cost of doing that would endanger a lot of human beings, and though Wikus had no issue with killing metahumans of all statuses and sizes, he was not going to endanger normal human lives. Thus, he collected himself.

"I know..." he sighed "Looks like today I will have to play the role of Hero they perceive me to be. And when the time is right, and the Strom had come, we shall strike."

"And I shall fight at your side that day, master" he could hear joy and eagerness for a battle in Ephrael's voice "But until then, let's pour wrath of El-Eylon on those who dare to threaten innocents."

The legs sprung to action, and the gigantic figure of size of a flat cruised the streets of New York, carefully avoiding stepping on cars as it ran through the busy streets. Luckily, due to the ongoing chaos, most of the citizens hid themselves and the only cars going back and forth were various emergency sevices, quickly market by Ephrael's sensors to avoid being crushed under the massive feet of the war machine.

Arriving on place, Wikus directed Ephrael to take cover behind a nearby building, which shielded it's massive silhouette from eventual attack. While small arms were in no way a threat to the Malakian warrior, those criminals were too well armed not to have at least some kind of surprise in their pocket - and in addition, you could never be sure with metahumans around.

"This is E-0 Actual" announced Wikus on radio, using his First Earth Battalion call sign, speaking quickly and to the point, as he was taught in the military "I am requesting a sitrep, over."

What irritated him to no end was just how disorganized First Earth Battalion was. Most of those so called heroes have outright leaped into combat, avoiding any kind of planning beforehand, and he wasn't going to follow their mistakes - ones which were most likely going to result in a lot of deaths, of innocent people at that (about metahuman deaths he did not mind). Still, this battle could be useful to assess first Earth Battalion's reaction time and combat capabilities - though so far, he was not impressed by his time in the organization.

As he spoke, Ephrael sent a message to the local building administration, requesting plans of the bank that was taken over, and downloaded an image from Google Earth to let Wikus see the entire area from the bird's eye.

Now all that remained... was to get the data he needed to plan.

And then, the criminals were going to be turned into bloody stains.

[Talion Union]

Something dark and formless twisted and writhed across the cold concrete in the adjacent alley.

It moved with strange purpose, a serpent of inky, choking smoke twisting it's way down the alley.

It began crawling across the ground, making it's way towards the rear door.

[Atkemri]

Death-Bullet rushed inside to check for a body, a habit picked up from his time as a Hitman and found nothing. "Crap." He began going through the building finding the pathways Blur had carved out. He went on to his comm "Does anyone have Blur in sight? She got away from me and I don't want her blitzing me later."

[Dyelli Beybi]

"This is E-0 Actual" announced Wikus on radio, using his First Earth Battalion call sign, speaking quickly and to the point, as he was taught in the military "I am requesting a sitrep, over."

What irritated him to no end was just how disorganized First Earth Battalion was. Most of those so called heroes have outright leaped into combat, avoiding any kind of planning beforehand, and he wasn't going to follow their mistakes - ones which were most likely going to result in a lot of deaths, of innocent people at that (about metahuman deaths he did not mind). Still, this battle could be useful to assess first Earth Battalion's reaction time and combat capabilities - though so far, he was not impressed by his time in the organization.

As he spoke, Ephrael sent a message to the local building administration, requesting plans of the bank that was taken over, and downloaded an image from Google Earth to let Wikus see the entire area from the bird's eye.

Now all that remained... was to get the data he needed to plan.

And then, the criminals were going to be turned into bloody stains.

The British voice came over the radio, "Approximately a score of enemies in the square, spread out in cover around the First Brooklyn Savings Bank which appears to be a potential avenue of retreat. Assume hostages in the bank, otherwise the area is free of civilians. Assailants are armed with a variety of submachine guns - some of which appear to be have been customised. They also appear to have a degree of training - probably ex military. Leaders are the meta-humans known as Blur and Hellgate. Blur may be out of action... Hellgate is very much still alive."

Kaleidoscope was something of an anomaly in that she wasn't actually a meta-human... though if Ephrahel had figured that out he would probably dislike her all the more vigorously. Behind the pretty face, Imogen Vaughan was a monster straight out of medieval legend, "Hey big guy." she added, "Mind boosting me up to one of the windows? I reckon if I get up there I can get a shot on the enemy from above. If you can take out the human flamethrower we might be able to get the whole lot of them to surrender without any more bloodshed."

Monster she might be, but Kaleidoscope was also averse to using lethal force (when it could be avoided). It was in sharp contrast to Cuttlefish, her close friend and fellow FEB member, "Say... do you find it odd to have so many professional looking fighters going after a bank? I mean, there must be easier ways to make money."

Something dark and formless twisted and writhed across the cold concrete in the adjacent alley.

It moved with strange purpose, a serpent of inky, choking smoke twisting it's way down the alley.

It began crawling across the ground, making it's way towards the rear door.

The adjacent alley was also home to a surprise find... the still-warm corpse of a short, white male. He appeared to have been killed by someone stabbing him through the throat and there was, predictably, a lot of blood. Unusually, whoever had done that had also stripped him of his clothing, leaving the body in nothing but his underwear, though it wasn't a robbery as his wallet, with all its money had been thrown carelessly to one side - his name was Lee Stacey and he had an Australian driver's licence. He was a fairly indistinct looking man with brown hair, brown eyes and a perfectly average looking face, though he did have an unusual crown and scorpion tattoo on his right bicep.

Depending upon how long he had been there he might have caught sight of a woman in black edge the door open, then bolt up the stairs a few moments earlier... but even if the Shadow hadn't seen her, the fact that none of the assembling FEB members had caught sight of Blur would be all that Death-Bullet would need to know she had headed for the first floor.

[Talion Union]

It observed the strange woman making her way inside, following behind her in a coiling trail, the vague shapes of human hands darting out of the intangible form.

It moved with purpose, near totally silent. Whoever it was, this darkness followed with determination, keeping itself out of sight.

[Atkemri]

Death-Bullet

Death-Bullet continued to move through the building looking for Blur. He moved up the stairs into the first floor and began scanning the area for any sign of Blur. "Come on Blur! Come out, you're either leaving in cuffs or in a body-bag and I prefer the body-bag for your gremlin looking ass!" Death-Bullet got another Flash-bang ready as he hoped his provocation had got Blur ready to fight.

[Dyelli Beybi]

"Come see the violence inherant in the system!" a husky voice responded over the PA system, sounding slightly amused by the whole exchange, "You know you FEB boys leave quite the body-count behind you. If you were police officers you'd need to prove you were justified, but you guys have less oversight than a KGB Death Squad. Anyway, as much as I enjoy handcuffs, I'm going to go with option C where we both walk away from here and you get to go back to your favourite dive bar and drink away your crippling psychological angst... or whatever it is your type do when you're off the clock. Why don't you put your guns and grenades down? We can do this like Kung Fu masters. You know it would be much more fun!"

As much as the PA system masked where her voice was coming from, they were nearly always manned from the reception, and indeed the unit was there, the speaker hung by a curling cable, swinging back and forth where it was stretched over the desk. Blur was very close, though it wasn't clear which direction she had bolted.

[Anowa]

Ingrid Grimsdottir
Uncomfortably warm
Police Cordon, Near First Brooklyn Savings Bank, Brooklyn

He didn't try to take cover, didn't try to do anything to avoid incoming fire, just slowly advanced, his hands spewing fire.

Ingrid's eyes widened marginally as she ducked back below the car. Flames washing over it, tires burst as heat washed over her. She shifted herself and moved out of the washing bath of hellfire to a different location in a nearby alleyway. Taking stock of herself, she raised her right arm, shaking, blistered, but generally fine. Her left arm followed... in a much worse state. Skin was black, cracking, and the muscle underneath was exposed. 3rd degree burns. Nerve endings had all but been erased, and cellular repairs were already underway. Normally the human body took a while before starting to do something like this in earnest. Ingrid would;d have a new layer of protective covering by the end of the day. Platelettes and killer-T cells flooded her system as did epinephrine and a multitude of endiorphins. Mainly for the next bit.

Surviving in a fight was dedicated to keeping mobile in nearly every case. And mobility of her arm was hampered by the skin, now solid, carbonized and generally immobile, keeping it in a sort of boxer's flex. Just snapped it outwards, straightening it. Pain flared, threatening to turn into a screech billowing from her lungs, but the only sound that came was the cracking and splitting of skin.

Looking down, she took note that her bottom half was mostly fine sans e a few blisters. Her head, well, she could tell the left side of it was burnt to the bone, and the eye on that side had ruptured from the heat. She prioritized sealing that and refilling it's fluid. The radio bead she usually kept in that ear was also turned into a molten mass dripping down her blackened neck.

"And here I was thinking this would be a nice day."

Looking at the mouth of the alleyway, she noticed, and heard that the man who had nearly incinerated her was approaching where she was. So she would be required to loop around and regroup with someone. Death-Bullet, wherever he was, would need to fight on for the time being.

Walking was somewhat irritating given her wounded state, but soon enough and after going through enough store and alleys, she would find herself popping out of an alleyway across the street from the trio of younger fellows.

Crossing the street, she approached, catching the tail end of a snippet from Cuttlefish, something about easier ways to get money, Ingrid disregarded it. "You know, I always wondered why the boys from the 42nd never just swarmed situations like this with Blackhawks and Apaches." Her pistol, sword, and rigging disappeared in a flash of light, forming into a vapour that seamlessly integrated into her body. "I don't suppose any of you have any Tylenol handy because that asshole is not entertaining at all, and the nerve endings in my arm, neck and head are starting to regain function."

[Atkemri]

Death-Bullet

Death-Bullet began running to the source of the PA unit and reached the reception desk once again finding nothing of Blur and even less information on where she had went. "Blur! Show yourself! This is only going to end one way and I think we both know what that ending is!" He starting moving down a hallway to the left of him.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Ingrid Grimsdottir

Crossing the street, she approached, catching the tail end of a snippet from Cuttlefish, something about easier ways to get money, Ingrid disregarded it. "You know, I always wondered why the boys from the 42nd never just swarmed situations like this with Blackhawks and Apaches." Her pistol, sword, and rigging disappeared in a flash of light, forming into a vapour that seamlessly integrated into her body. "I don't suppose any of you have any Tylenol handy because that asshole is not entertaining at all, and the nerve endings in my arm, neck and head are starting to regain function."

A ragged cheer went up from the square as the last hero engaging the group in the square retreated.

"Sure you don't need something stronger?" Kaleidoscope looked appalled at the state Ingrid was in, though she didn't try to mollycoddle, "Sorry I don't. I think you should stay back for a bit while you heal up. As for the rest of us. Big guy, do you think you can boost me up into a window?" she suggested again.

"If we get the heavy machinery...." she waved a hand at Eprahel, "... heading down the road, take a shot at Hellfire and see if that takes him off the board. I'll try to throw down some fire from above. If we had a couple more people come in behind Eprahel, and maybe someone like Icarus laying down fire from above, I think we should be able to sweep those guys out of the square. Does that make sense?"

She reached down, pressing the button on her comms unit. Unlike some of the others she wore a police-style two-way radio, "If there is anyone hearing this who isn't already at the incident at the First Brooklyn Savings Bank, please respond." Kaleidoscope said. She sounded calm and collected, but that was her default state, "We need one or two more Battalion members to break the deadlock here. Otherwise I can request support from SWAT, though from a PR perspective I would rather not have to do that."

---

[b]Death-Bullet

Death-Bullet began running to the source of the PA unit and reached the reception desk once again finding nothing of Blur and even less information on where she had went. "Blur! Show yourself! This is only going to end one way and I think we both know what that ending is!" He starting moving down a hallway to the left of him.

It was a trap. As Death-Bullet advanced into the hallway, Blur came hurtling through a glass wall to his right, swinging both tonfas at her target's wrists, fast enough to cause some serious damage, or at the very least disarm. Her left elbow was extended just enough to connect with his neck as it went past, to add further potential for injury to the mix.

While Blur had been pretty easy to chase off earlier, she was much more in her element here, up close, where lightning fast reactions made all the difference.

It was also, the first proper look anyone in the group had had of the speedster. She wasn't particularly big, though the speed made her hit much harder than someone of her size and build ought to. She only wore a domino mask for anonymity, which really wasn't the best way to hide who you were. She had dark hair, held back in a wildly swinging ponytail and hazel eyes. Death-Bullet would probably come away with the nagging feeling he'd seen her before somewhere...

[Atkemri]

Death-Bullet was knocked on to his back with a loud thud; his increased endurance kept it from being too damaging to himself; his suit also did fine for the most part. It seemed like little internal damage was suffered, but externally dents could be seen littering the outside. Death-Bullet got up, pulled out the flash-bang he was readying before and dropped it to the ground. After doing that he got out his wrist blades and went to slash at Blur's feet.

[New Aeyariss]

While the rest of so called "heroes" - or so did Wikus think of them - continued their chatter, the former South African mercenary remained silent. All that time, he listened t their conversations, assessing planning skills, tactical capabilities and potential weaknesses the FEB members had. Their conversations have given him a considerable amount of intelligence already, the kind which his superiors in "The Storm" would obviously appreciate. Still, so far he was less focused on his upcoming report, and far more on actually saved average human beings that were held in the giant cage of concentrate that formerly formed a bank, now occupied by a group of metahuman terrorists.

"Something is not right. The bank is far better defensive position, yet they chose to abandon it and remain in the open." said Wikus in emotion-less, professional tone "There is either some kind of surprise awaiting us inside. Another option involves a diversion of some kind. Make sure that at least some FEB members are on standby if something pops up elsewhere, over."

He finished speaking, as the massive machine knelt down, extending it's arm to the superheroine below, letting her step on it. For a second, Wikus entertained the thought of squishing her like a bug, but doing so would have revealed his real identity and goals - so the thought had to be delayed for now. Slowly, the giant machine rose from it's knee and lifted Kaleidoscope to one of the windows on an upper floor of her choosing, letting her take a proper position.

"I don't know what is inside the building. They could have some kind of nasty weaponry inside, and when it comes to metas, you never know. I am not going to charge as of yet, until I am certain that I have sufficient cover" continued Wikus "I could use the cannon, but I risk harming the hostages, over..."

"Suggestion:" every FEB member now could hear the mechanical voice of the Malakian warrior speaking on the channel "Engage from a range. Use elements of the environment, over."

Wikus, looking at the street, smiled widely.

Turning around, the massive hand of the Malakian war machine grabbed a particularly large lorry. Extending his body just for a split second to be seen, he moved his lorry-holding hand backwards, to give the car more keinetic energy upon landing:

"Break, break, break, over!" shouted Wikus, informing other FEB members to avoid getting in close distance with the villain known as hellfire.

And then, an ear splitting roar tore the air around them, as the Malakian warrior, his jaws opened widely, tossed the massive lorry directly at the metahuman criminal. Instantly afterwards, it retreated the exposed part of it's body behind the massive building shielding it from the line of fire; instantly grabbing a car like it was a small stone, and once again extending itself narrowly from behind it's cover, only to throw and return behind it again. No matter weather the car was going to hit, such a strategy would force hellfire into either wild runs to avoid flying cars, or to constantly shoot fireballs to engage them in the air - which meant a distraction long enough for other heroes to somehow get him from the range.

And of course, a chance to get some of the public opinion mad at FEB for collateral damage caused to their cars. Wikus was going to shrug it off with "necessity" anyway.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Death-Bullet was knocked on to his back with a loud thud; his increased endurance kept it from being too damaging to himself; his suit also did fine for the most part. It seemed like little internal damage was suffered, but externally dents could be seen littering the outside. Death-Bullet got up, pulled out the flash-bang he was readying before and dropped it to the ground. After doing that he got out his wrist blades and went to slash at Blur's feet.

The flashbang was Blur's queue to get moving again, this time though, she sprang straight over the flashing blades, smashing through a window back into the main square below. The fall should have done major damage, but Blur seemed to be pretty resilient to blunt trauma. She seemed pretty frightened of the flashbangs. That knowledge would almost certainly come in handy later...

While the rest of so called "heroes" - or so did Wikus think of them - continued their chatter, the former South African mercenary remained silent. All that time, he listened t their conversations, assessing planning skills, tactical capabilities and potential weaknesses the FEB members had. Their conversations have given him a considerable amount of intelligence already, the kind which his superiors in "The Storm" would obviously appreciate. Still, so far he was less focused on his upcoming report, and far more on actually saved average human beings that were held in the giant cage of concentrate that formerly formed a bank, now occupied by a group of metahuman terrorists.

"Something is not right. The bank is far better defensive position, yet they chose to abandon it and remain in the open." said Wikus in emotion-less, professional tone "There is either some kind of surprise awaiting us inside. Another option involves a diversion of some kind. Make sure that at least some FEB members are on standby if something pops up elsewhere, over."

He finished speaking, as the massive machine knelt down, extending it's arm to the superheroine below, letting her step on it. For a second, Wikus entertained the thought of squishing her like a bug, but doing so would have revealed his real identity and goals - so the thought had to be delayed for now. Slowly, the giant machine rose from it's knee and lifted Kaleidoscope to one of the windows on an upper floor of her choosing, letting her take a proper position.

"I don't know what is inside the building. They could have some kind of nasty weaponry inside, and when it comes to metas, you never know. I am not going to charge as of yet, until I am certain that I have sufficient cover" continued Wikus "I could use the cannon, but I risk harming the hostages, over..."

Kaleidoscope was actually somewhat worried that she wouldn't find a window she could easily get through. She needed to start carrying a few things on her to make this kind of job easier... though thankfully there was one that was open just wide enough for her to squeeze through (she wasn't very big). Once on the far side she gave the machine a salute of thanks before replying to his comment about the bank, "Well if I were to guess I'd say they are holding open an avenue of escape. I'm guessing they have some kind of plan for afterwards."

"Suggestion:" every FEB member now could hear the mechanical voice of the Malakian warrior speaking on the channel "Engage from a range. Use elements of the environment, over."

Wikus, looking at the street, smiled widely.

Turning around, the massive hand of the Malakian war machine grabbed a particularly large lorry. Extending his body just for a split second to be seen, he moved his lorry-holding hand backwards, to give the car more keinetic energy upon landing:

"Break, break, break, over!" shouted Wikus, informing other FEB members to avoid getting in close distance with the villain known as hellfire.

And then, an ear splitting roar tore the air around them, as the Malakian warrior, his jaws opened widely, tossed the massive lorry directly at the metahuman criminal. Instantly afterwards, it retreated the exposed part of it's body behind the massive building shielding it from the line of fire; instantly grabbing a car like it was a small stone, and once again extending itself narrowly from behind it's cover, only to throw and return behind it again. No matter weather the car was going to hit, such a strategy would force hellfire into either wild runs to avoid flying cars, or to constantly shoot fireballs to engage them in the air - which meant a distraction long enough for other heroes to somehow get him from the range.

And of course, a chance to get some of the public opinion mad at FEB for collateral damage caused to their cars. Wikus was going to shrug it off with "necessity" anyway.

The lorry, as it happened, landed straight on top of Hellfire with a thuderous crash of warping and splintering metal. Blur, who had never stopped moving, skidded to a brief halt a few feet away. She looked at the lorry, then back at the towering Malakian warrior, "Everybody, inside!" she yelled, then was off again, running a zig-zagging route through the square, heading in the general direction of the bank, but clearly trying to draw some fire in the process. In the brief moment she had stopped, there were quite a few visible cuts and scratches on her along with a noticeably large shard of glass embedded in her left flank. It didn't seem to be slowing her down at the moment, though it must have been hurting her.

Kaleisdoscope did not attempt to fire on Blur, she was changing course too often to make an easy target, instead she focused on the retreating normal humans, throwing a couple of quick energy bolts, one of which found its mark, dropping the target like a sack of potatoes. In the process of doing that though, her aura lit up, like a psychedelic disco ball radiating from behind her head, marking her position for anyone returning fir. As soon as the retreating robbers reached the cover of the bank lobby, that was exactly what they did, opening fire on the window she was crouched behind, forcing her to hit the ground in search of cover. The aura sputtered out again, though it sounded like she wasn't hit, "Hey big fella'." she called over the comms, "Good job on Captain Barbecue, but do you want to stop throwing so many cars? It won't do anything good for our insurance premiums."

Meanwhile, down in the square, the lorry abruptly caught fire.

[Atkemri]

Death-Bullet

Death-Bullet went in pursuit of Blur taking the exit via the way he had originally came from; he may be have more endurance than the average person he didn't feel like throwing himself through a window across glass. That sounded too painful for the normal bank robbery. He ran outside to join the others and saw that a few people had came to join the other FEB members; Kaleidoscope and Ebrael specifically. He began shooting at the retreating grunts and turnt to the heros next to him. "So what's next? Frontal assault or do we find another way in. I have somewhere to be and I don't want this to take too long."

[Anowa]

Ingrid Grimsdottir
Feeling marginally better
Brooklyn Savings Bank, Brooklyn, NYC

Ingrid looked at her arm, focusing more on not having her body override everything and make her either black out or vomit from the pain. She hard something metal get shifted, then shifted more violently compared to the first, and cracked open her eye to find a lorry having been flung the better part of a block into where she last saw the pyromaniac in an EOD suit. While normally she'd protest the disregard for collateral damage, it got results... and arguing with a man in a massive suit of armor probably wasn't the best idea.

Behind them footsteps, every so often you'd come across someone who's gait and footfall was unique in such a way that you could know who it was based on the pattern and sound. That along with the fact it sounded like he was wearing about 80 pounds of stuff, meant it could only be one of a very select group of people.

She spoke up, not even turning as the man sidled up alongside her, "Bill, how nice of you to make it."

The man shook his head, "Sorry, traffic was a bitch and a half." he looked down at her arm, "You look like you stepped in it."

The woman gave a sigh, "Feels like it."

"So what's next? Frontal assault or do we find another way in. I have somewhere to be and I don't want this to take too long."

Both individuals looked at Death-Bullet as if he'd grown a second head, Ingrid electing to speak up, "As much as I abhor rushing things, the kid's right. I doubt they're gonna be sticking around much longer, especially since we've shown up in force."