Heroes: Shadows over Millenium

[Charon]

Legacies spotted Sonic as he came up. The silver figure briefly considered him before continuing with his task of herding up the hostages for Argent, or someone with teleporting capabilities. Then the sound hit.

Tendrils scrunched up, depositing screaming people on the floor again where they quickly rushed for the nearest cover. Legacies himself staggered backwards from the blow, the silver casing ripping itself away from him, revealing flesh as the tendrils swung wildly. The suit itself let out an inhuman scream of pain as Legacies moved away from the sound waves, trying desperately to get away.

[LadyTevar]

The scream and the sudden feeling of *Pain/Fear* woke Argent out of her hestitation. She redirected the emotions, throwing them at the hovering meta in front of her and dove for the opening he'd so helpfully provided. One of the the team was in trouble, bad trouble. As the shadowdragon climbed her way up/down the gravity inversion, it was horrifying to realize the one in trouble was Legacies.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart ripped his earpiece out. Comms compromised and half his team stuck inside with bad guys who knew they were there. He had seconds to make a decision.

Gravitas was a powerhouse and could take care of himself. He flew the window in best "hey, look at me" manner. That should give Argent and the rest some breathing room and give them an opportunity to get some hostages out.

[B4UTRUST]

Sonic's ear twitched as he heard Ryan move. He heard the gun being slid around, the sound of frabric on skin moving. When the bullets reached him they hit a wall of sound. It resounded like a deep bass vibration that held the bullets suspended for a brief instant as they lost forward momentum before they were flung back towards Ryan.

The ground in front of Blackheart liquified and rose up, forming into a second golem. It solidified then began its attack on Blackheart.

Quake screamed as the pain and fear overwhelmed him. He began to claw at his face, trying to get to the source of the pain to no avail. His fingernails dug into his flesh, gouging strips out. Blood ran like rivers from his clawmarks and still he screamed. He clenched and unclenched his fists spasmatically, feeling at least two of them break in the process of wrenching them so hard. He screamed till it felt like his throat was being raked with hot nails, burning and ripping at the same time. And he continued to scream, the scream of the dying and the damned, one of untold agony and torment. This went on for a minute or two, then his vocal cords, raw and abused, went hoarse. And yet he continued to scream.

[SirNitram]

"Should probably tranq him before he goes insane." Gravitas said, still avoiding the first golem as the second appeared. "These things really irritate me.. Hey! Puppetmaster! Want to show yourself?" The cores of the artificial warriors shuddered under horrific tidal forces, and then imploded. The stone beings were hurled at Quake; more an attempt to mercifully knock him out than anything else.

"Now, if someone can locate whoever's been making my comm uncomfortable, there's just one person left..." The Nova murmured, tracing the connections between the two defeated(For now, at least) golems, and individuals, searching for the controller..

[Cynical Cat]

"Last chance to surrender," said Blackheart. "Then I start playing real hard ball." He saw the golem take shape in front of him. Intense beams of blue light flashed from his eyes struck the golem's thigh. The rock cracked and then exploded, the construct toppling under its own weight and destroyed balance.

[LadyTevar]

Argent was more interested in rescuing people. The great shadow-dragon seemed to grow in size as it absorbed the shadows lying around the bank lobby, stretching her wings to brush every hostage she could see.

The wings entered the area of the sonic affect, and seemed to ruffle slightly, as if in a breeze. The shadow wasn't fully corporeal; like fog, it had just enough presence to move under the atmospheric effects produced by the soundwaves in the air. The silver eyes narrowed in concentration, the wingtip stretching for one last target ... Legacies.

One ripple touched him, and he was absorbed into the shadows as the dragon dove and teleported out of the bank.

[Agent Fisher]

Ryan saw the bullets slow down and then stop. He figured out what was coming next and dove behind cover as the bullets reversed their flight, heading back towards him.

[Charon]

Legacies tripped himself up and fell to the ground as tendrils lashed out, just short of reaching Sonic before the pain and sound pulled the tendrils back as Legacies curled up into a ball, still screaming as his arms tried to scratch off the symbiote. Through the pain Legacies reached out, trying to stop the pain.

As a tendril reached out the black shadow covered over him and Legacies disappeared along with the hostages.

[LadyTevar]

Behind the line of cop and ESU cars, the shadows started to gather. First the dragon's head, on the long graceful neck, then the inky-black wings emerged. Finally the snakelike body and tail pulled itself free of the morning shadows, and hovered in the air, before frightened hostages were carefully lowered out of the wings. "Argent ... Agent of Ultima," the shadowy figure identified herself to the cops, trying to send out emotions of *calm/peace/all's well*. "I believe this is all the hostages, but I will be returning to make sure. Three known metas are still within the building... Agent Blackheart will keep you informed."

She flapped her wings, leaving the hostages for the cops to deal with, diving in/thru a shadow-lapped window of the bank before releasing Legacies. After all... she did not think he'd want to be seen by the cops. "Legacies...? Are you badly hurt?"

[Charon]

Legacies roled up to be on all fours. The mask openned up around the human mouth, allowing the silver figure to cough up blood, which it did. The mouth closed again and Legacies slowly got up on his knees.

"Give us a minute and we will be ready once more. Now that we know what is there we can prepare for it. Make certain all the hostages are out of the building and get the cops out of here. This fight is likely to spread."

Slowly, Legacies got to his feet, still looking shaken and somewhat weak.

[LadyTevar]

Shadows had hovered around him as he'd coughed up blood, and even as he rose to his feet, they were there, unconscious creations of her concern for him. "I got all of the ones around you. You were the last one I grabbed." she stated plainly.

"There is one meta on the second floor... I redirected some of your pain to him. The golem-maker is still around, as is the sonic screamer." Even as she tried to be professional, thinking that was what he wanted, the shadows were there to catch him if he fell.

[Charon]

Legacies listened carefully to the sounds of fighting below him, a nearby shattered window reveiled that the police outside were being buffeted around by the fighting. "The concern is not our safety, but the people. Make certain they're out of the building. We shall rejoin the battle shortly." Legacies stepped away from the ledge, still shakey.

"Go."

[B4UTRUST]

The destroyed rock constructs flowed back into the floor once more. A moment later large protruding spikes began to spear up from the floor at odd angles around the heroes, striking and sinking just as quickly back into the ground.

The rocks that were thrown up at Quake struck his tremor field and broke into smaller chunks, which still struck him, but with less impact. He was thrown out of Gravitas' gravity well and onto the second floor's floor. He rolled with the impact, laying flat on his back, his arms spread. Blood pooled under his head from various cuts and scrapes from the rocks, and it flowed freely from the deep runnels he had scared into himself in his empathy induced fear. His chest heaved as he fought to catch his breath and bring his emotions in check. Below him the sounds of battled raged on, but it would have to continue without him for the moment. What a shitty way to start the day.

"Rock, if you would be so kind as to be elsewhere for a moment..."
Rock, who was hiding behind the counter stood and created a large impression beneath him. He dropped into it, concrete flowing to cover the opening. He would have enough air for a few minutes at least, which was enough time for what Sonic had planned.

He took a deep breath, deadening sound around his ears for this attack. He yelled, rage-filled and angry. The scream echoed and reverberated, growing in strength and decibels with each bounce from a surface. He easily surpassed the 300db range. After a few seconds of that he dampened the sound around him and dropped the entire agonizingly loud noise into the subsonic range. It would be felt as a really low deep bass, vibrating the air in the bank on an nearly unprecedented scale. A few of the missed hostages that were hidden behind desks and under furniture felt their heartbeats begin to fluctuate rapidly, nearly causing it to skip beats. They almost immediatly felt sick, vomiting as their guts churned from the sonic onslaught. Their eyes burned and their minds felt like they'd been on an allnight bender.

[Cynical Cat]

A churning stomach didn't tend to make Blackheart feel lenient. Incinerator beams flashed from his eyes, heat rays powerful enough to turn a man instantly to ash. Sonic was the target.

[LadyTevar]

"Do you know how many were left? I grabbed more than just the ones near you." Argent replied. Absently she hoped those near Legacies weren't permanently harmed by the sonic attack used on him. "Unless some were hiding. I can't search under every desk, Legacies."

She didn't want to tell him how rough he looked. "The sonics were disrupting my shadows, where the wings are like fog. If it hits the dragon's body or head, the shadows can't protect me." Then she felt it, a low vibration. "... I think the screamer's screaming again."

[SirNitram]

Gravitas had no chance to stop waves in the air itself; the medium was too loose, too thin, and too changing. But for it to become a danger to him, it would have to interact with a medium that was intensely familiar to him.

As the waves of sound broke against the Nova, a perfect cancellation wave met them, binding up the sonic energy without an erg left over. His Mazarin-Rashoud node was acting in pure self-defense, which made it signifigantly easier to bear the load of working out the cancellation wave. The massive wave escaped through his feet, into the planet. Earth wasn't going to be upset by this.

But they were dying. Innocents were dying to this sonic apocalypse. Gravitas' last self-control snapped.

Inside Sonic's superhuman body, somehow containing the waves of sound and not destroying itself, forces took hold. Without the slightest sign of remorse or hesitation from Gravitas, he gripped the mass of Sonic's body, and snapped it like a twig. The spine doubled over, the heart collapsed under it's own weight, and the brain turned to goo under acceleration.

As the reverberations died away, Gravitas spoke. It was his God-voice, that which showed he wasn't playing nice anymore.

Anyone else care to die at my hands for hurting innocents?

[LadyTevar]

Now it was Lei who reached out for Legacies' support, as she *FELT* Gravitas snap. "Ohshitohshitohshit..."

[Charon]

Legacies looked over at Lei as the floor beneath them continued to shake from the low tones. He himself had begun to feel nauseous, though likely not as much as Argent now was. His main concern though was that the floor would collapse. Then she started freaking out.

"What? What's wrong?"

[Cynical Cat]

Eyes blazing with power, Blackheart turned away from the ashes that were all that remained of Sonic. The meta had been convulsing before he had been blown to ash, probably courtesy of Gravitas. He rose through the hole to the second story, the fires of Hell blazing in his eyes. Quake was next.

[LadyTevar]

Legacies looked over at Lei as the floor beneath them continued to shake from the low tones. He himself had begun to feel nauseous, though likely not as much as Argent now was. His main concern though was that the floor would collapse. Then she started freaking out.

"What? What's wrong?"

The sonic vibrations had stopped, suddenly, as if cut off brutally, and Lei paled. "Gravitas...." she said softly, ominously. "The screamer killed the mortals, and Gravitas just ... snapped." Her eyes were so wide, Legacies could see that there *was* a ring of white at the extreme edges of the blackness. "He killed him. God himself delievering punishment for the crime. All because Gravitas couldn't save them first." And she wondered if Legacies would understand.....

[B4UTRUST]

Ashes to ashes, mush to mush.

Sonic was dead. No two ways about it. Between having his body nearly turned inside out from gravity acceleration and being flash fried he was dead.

He was already dead when the blast took him. He was dead on his feet. Lights were on, but no one was answering. When the fire spread across his body, incinerating it to ashes, he felt nothing. He wasn't there to feel it. His ashes floated down into a pile spread across a five foot area around him.

Quake rolled over, nauceous as the vibrations hit him. Damn Sonic. Vomit and blood spewed forth from his lips, burning his already tortured throat. His eyes rolled wildly as he regained focus. He turned his head towards the hole in the floor as Gravitas spoke. He noticed one of the money bags laying nearby.

Wisely he decided to cut his losses and run. He reached for the bag, dragging it closer to him. He rolled onto his stomach and brought himself up on all fours. He clambered to his feet and using the wall as support made his way towards the back of the bank. He found a fire escape and began his descent on it. He stumbled and rolled down half a flight of stairs before coming to stop on the landing, having hit his head again. Moaning in pain he managed to get down safely and make his escape.

Rock felt his earthen home vibrate horribly under the mutal onslaught of Sonic and Gravitas. He molded the rock around him like a living armor, a flowing stone suit. He rose forth from the ground along with half a dozen of his stone golems. They all attacked en masse and he ran, moving his suit rather then his body and charged through the back walls of the bank in an effort to get away.

[Agent Fisher]

Ryan was laying on the ground. He had felt the vibrations and then they had stopped. He sat up and as he sat, his rifle fell to the floor. Without a sound. Ryan lifted the gun again and dropped it, still no sound.

Oh. Fuck. He picked up his rifle and leaned his back against the wall of the room he was in. He made sure he was cloaked and then just waited.

[SirNitram]

Gravitas' bizarre internal physiology was worse for wear; were he not so high on adrenaline and fury, he'd be aware of the damage. But for now, there was only the Metas who dared spill innocent blood. How dare they. How dare they.

The charging golems were noticed, and he simply inverted gravity for them, the golems falling towards the walls and getting stuck there, unable to walk on the floor. He strode forward, his feet not touching the ground. He was staring at the rock-encased 'golem' ran like hell. Halt and I will not kill you. Was the simple command. Run and die like your friend. You get precisely one chance. Go on. Bet on if I'm a 'hero'.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart saw Quake rabbit down the stairs and flew after him. The meta had just enough time to get to his feet on the landing below before Blackheart was upon him. A super powered fist crashed into Quake's face. "You don't get to walk away," Blackheart snarled as he pulled back his fist to strike again.