Chronicler of Ko-Koro

IC:“Didn’t I just say ‘I’ll explain it when we get back to base’? Come on, it’s like Christmas: it’s no fun if you know the surprise,” Fade said to Kaname. “When these flames die down there’ll be nothing holding Frigid back, and I doubt she’ll be happy with what she finds down here. Which reminds me...”Fade swung his foot around, kicking over a shelf and raining debris down over Otherfade and neatly hiding his corpse. Amidst all the destruction, he was likely to be overlooked entirely. Fade knelt down, draping his double’s heavy fur cloak over his arm. Longshot approached her compatriots.“Look... I know what yeh’ must be thinkin’. I know it’s seemed like we ‘aven’t had a chance” she said. “But me an’ Fade got to talkin’... an’ I belive it kin work. It’s wha’ X-Calibur would’ve wanted.”The others were silent, but Bolt gave Fade a quiet nod.“Alright, that settles it, then,” said Fade. “Jake, kindly get us out of here, would’ya?”Jacob nodded, clenching his fists as he concentrated. Ribbons of energy swirled around the group, wisking them far away from the ruins of the hidden lab...---“Really? Are you sure? You don’t look too good right now,” Tornado called out. “Sure you can take much more? You’d be doing the both of us a favor if you just gave up now, you know. Unless you think you’ll be just as valuable to Grand Cross minus a limb or two...”The winds whipped dangerously, and a trio of miniature tornadoes peeled their way across the wine cellar. Racks were torn to shreds when the twisters grew close, and they would likely do the same to Gap if she got to close to one...---Archmage’s eyes darted back and forth, moving from Shard to his disembodied arms to the ever-present threat of Loadstone hovering literally overhead. Fortunately for her, at least two of those threats had one source, one that was easily disposed off. Archmage blasted at Shard with as much power as she could muster, aiming to strike where her previous attacks had already weakened. If she pulled this off, it ought to weaken his concentration enough for him to lose control over his floating hands.[For Science!]

OOC: That does sound cool, but I'd rather not include an alt version of Omega. It's just that including a character who draws power from Omega radiation in a fight against one likely to be a massive source of said radiation would probably make fighting Frigid a lot easier. Plus, pretty much everyone present at what was supposed to be the final battle of the Frigid arc supposedly died in this universe, so it doesn't look good for altverse!Omega.IC:Archmage glanced back in Shard's direction, tilting her head slightly in confusion."Well... yeah. It was supposed to hurt you," she said. "That was the intended outcome of me shooting you. Don't act so suprised,"Shard had been right about one thing: Archmage hadn't seen that trick coming. With barely enough time to react, Archmage ducked and slid underneath the flying hands, twisting her staff out of their grasp. Not wanting to risk them getting another chance at grabbing her staff, Archmage fired a volley of shots at the hands as they flew past, trying to destroy them before Shard could turn them around for a second shot.[For Science!]

IC:“Can she freeze plasma?” Skyra asked, glancing over at Plas with his good eye. “Well, let’s see, she froze you, so...”There was the sound of sliding rubble, turning their attention away from the discussion. Fade was hurrying down the slope of debris, Longshot following just slightly behind.“Alright, listen up,” said Fade. “I’ve got a plan, and it just might work, but if there’s even a chance of it working we need to leave now.”Forcefield had been keeping silent most of the conversation, mostly because he really didn’t care if a bunch of heroes wanted to go off and get killed by Frigid, but turned and glared down at Fade.“Really? You do?” he asked. “I’ve heard a lot of talk about killing Frigid, but not much that’s gone anywhere. What makes you think you could have come up with a better plan.”“Because it’s crazy, and it’s suicidal, and there’s a good chance it’ll get us all killed, so of course you wouldn’t think about it,” said Fade. “But if I can pull it off, Frigid won’t be a problem any more. I’ll explain it after Jacob teleports us back to your base; this lab isn’t going to be safe once the heat dies down...”---“Are you trying to make me angry?” asked Tornado with a chuckle. “Did you expect my emotions to drive me to some kind of fatal error? I worked with superheroes for decades; trust me, I’ve seen that trick before.The winds began to pick up, swirling faster and faster in a circle around them. A few nearby wine racks were ripped to shreds by the force, sending bits of wood and glass spinning towards Gap.“If it seems I’ve gone easy for you, it’s only because of some value to me alive. But, if you wish, we could always find out just how much you can live through...”---The piercing sound of gunshots rang in Mystic’s ears; it appeared Ultionis was shooting down the corridor at the fleeing villains. Figuring all she could do was try and keep out of his line of fire while hoping Ultionis wouldn’t mistake her for a target, she pressed forwards after the villains. She reached out with her mind at Aquarius, trying to drag him back towards her as he made his retreat.---“Oh, you’d be amazed what wonders you can find when you open your narrow worldview just a bit. Can’t help you with the politicians, though. None of the ones I’ve robbed seemed very honest,” Archmage called out to Loadstone. “Say... there’s no chance you’d wanna be the second sane member of the Coalition, is there? I mean, I can’t imagine the position’s been filled...”Archmage was in the exact conflict she’d wanted to avoid - namely, fighting two superheroes at once - and she was very much aware of that fact. Just as she started moving a little close to Shard she swung about, firing two disintegration bolts in quick succession. If his diamond shield had been any indication, she doubted it would kill him if he couldn’t dodge it, but it ought to hurt enough to give him second thoughts about his “try and grab the stick” plan.Archmage was very much aware of her weaknesses - or, at least, her colleagues in the Coalition saw fit to remind her at every opportunity of her failings - and was doing her best to plan her strategy around them. She sprinted quickly to the side, trying to keep herself at a distance from both her attacks, making it difficult for one to sneak up without taking a disintegration beam to the face.[For Science!]

OOC: There is a robotic car covered in machine guns running about the place that hasn't gotten a lot of mention. For all we know, it's probably occupying at least some of the other heroes' attention. Plus, others might be occupied keeping other sensitive areas locked down like Mystic and company did when the attack happened (mansion's gotta be filled with all kinds of crazy junk no supervillain should get their hands on).IC:Mystic coughed, smoke from the grenade choking at her lungs. Tendrils of psychic energy whipped around her, trying to clear the air as she dragged herself back up. Mystic wasn't sure she could take much more of this, but she decided that was a problem she'd consider once she'd dealt with all the others first. Namely, the grenade had flooded the tiny corridor - or whatever was left after that blast, it was hard to be sure - with smoke, and she wasn't getting a clear view off anyone's eyesight. She could hone in on their minds still, but that didn't help her if she tripped over some bit of rubble on her way after them.Then a shard of ice cut through the smoke, slicing a deep cut across her cheek. Recoiling and wincing, Mystic threw up her arms in defence, slashing the air with telekinetic force to crush the ice shards before they struck again. With that threat clear, Mystic spread her arms and let the telekinetic force act as her hands, feeling every inch of the corridor. It was a technique Mystic used when her usual eyesight trick was no use, like a kind of psychic sonar, but it had the drawback of requiring much focus and concentration to maintain. Enough that she had to redirect attention from elsewhere, like her assault on Aquarius's mind. Drawing an image of the bomb-scarred corridor in her mind, Mystic darted off through the smoke in hot persuit of the fleeing villains.---Archmage flipped backwards to avoid getting fried. Loadstone's attack had her on the run to stay ahead, but she was still able to hurl disintegration bolts his way to hamper his progress."Lunatic? That's a bit uncalled for! Antisocial? Sure... kleptomaniac? Definitely... but lunatic? You've got me mistaken; I'm not crazy, I just work with it," she said, firing a bolt from her staff mid-vault aimed for Loadstone's head. "As for disadvantaged... just try getting hit by one of my beams and see what happens to you. Seems to me that's far more of a disadvantage..."[For Science!]

OOC: I understand now that I made a big mistake in not giving either Gadgeteer or Gap ranged attacks. Luckily I still have an Equipment Upgrade for Viktor that I haven't yet used...

OOC: Pah, what you call "a big mistake," I just call "added challenge." :biggrin:IC:Mystic caught Ultionus's mental message; she was about to voice her many concerns about this plan, but the agent had seen fit to hurl the grenade before she could do so. There wasn't much Mystic could do in this situation besides desperately throwing herself out of the way, throwing a psychic shield up behind her as she hit the ground to protect herself from the blast.---Archmage lunged backwards, spinning out of the way to bring her staff out of Shard's grasp. She brought her stave about to face Shard as she spun around again, firing some disintegration bursts his way."Wow, try and take the staff away?" said Archmage, mockingly congradulatory. "Good job! No one's ever thought of that before!"---A flutter of golden cloth glinted in Gap's vision for a second, barely visible in the dark. Then Tornado shot out of the darkness, gusts of wind twirling around his arm like a miniature twister before he slammed them into Gap."I'm not going to pretend this hasn't been amusing," said Tornado before vanishing into the darkness. "But I must ask: how much longer do you think you can keep this up?"The winds kicked up once again as Tornado reappeared, striking from behind to try and knock Gap of balance."I admire your efforts, but do you really expect to hide from the winds?" he asked. "Can you really hide from the air itself?"OOC: Fade IC later.[For Science!]

OOC: I dunno 'bout the rest of you, but I think I've always been beating up Fade this much. Maybe the rest of you just finally caught up. IC:With the current frozen solid, Mystic had no more need to shape it with her mind. Without a single outward motion she spun the barrier to the side, bringing it about to her defense against the ice needles. A few got past her defenses and cut tiny slashes along her arm; Mystic winced but did her best to hide the pain from the villains present. She always strove to keep her emotions to herself in conversation; why should that change in battle?Next problem: the ice barrier Aquarius was trying to put between her and the villains. Mystic marched after them, letting her own barricade dissolve into ribbons of silvery-white energy. She let them swirl around her, then, one by one, sent them slamming against the ice. Cracks shot through the ice construct as it was slammed with telekinetic force, each blow threatening to crack clean through...---It did appear that Archmage had a few magnetic objects on her, as a few ornate and glittering necklaces and bracelets tore loose and followed after the magnetic orb. Unfortunately for Loadstone, her staff was not one of those things. She fired off a few disintegration bolts - albeit only to stop a few of Meltdown’s stray plasma bursts heading towards her - and grinned sideways towards Loadstone.“Hey, stealing fancy jewelery is usually my thing, not you Lea- Uhoh.”Realizing there was also a bolt of electricity streaking towards her, Archmage sprung to evade. Planting her staff on the ground, Archmage used it for a bit of extra leverage to flip backwards and slide out of the way. She landed catlike on the ground nearby and sprung to her feet, leaving only a burning scorch on the carpet where she’d been seconds before.[For Science!]

IC:"The warmest part of Frigid's domain? Why not ask for the driest part of the ocean while you're at it?" asked Bolt. "There might be some place on Earth untouched by Frigid's conquest, but we don't have nearly the resources to find it. Not that Frigid has any reason to ever come out of her tower; not when she can materialize out of the frost anywhere in the world..."---Fade slipped upstairs, taking a step out into what had once been the living room. The fighting had taken an even greater toll on the house; the walls were cracked and crumbling under the weight of snow shifting overhead, bits of the ceiling had caved in, and debris was scattered just about everywhere. Fade leaned against the wall, head slumped, and extended an arm. Flecks of orange light crackled in his palm, sizzling with power and bathing the room in its glow."So... running out on us, are we?"Fade glanced up. The light of the portal cast deep shadows where it could not go, and from one of those shadows shapes were emerging, The shapes formed into a silhouette, revealing itself to be Longshot.“The others are still bickerin’ downstairs. Tha’s usually yer specialty, so I couldn’ help but worry when I noticed yah weren’t chimin’ in,” she said. "So... plannin' to tell yer friends 'fore you abscond into tha' night? I'd say abandonin' yer friends didn't seem like your style, but... well, you are...""If I leave, I'll be taking Plas with me. Provided I can convince him, of course, but since I'm his ride home I imagine that won't be hard," said Fade, refusing to make eye contact. "Kaname... I suppose I'll end up dragging him along too. This universe has enough problems without him in it.""Then this is a goodbye?" asked Longshot. "Nah' even gonna stick around to help?""Help how?" Fade said simply. "This isn't my world. This isn't my fight.""Don't you dare give me tha'. I know how yeh are; yer not nearly as hard to figure out as ya' like ta' think yeh are," Longshot said. "Yer the sorta person who'll fight to tha' bitter end fer someone you just met. The sort who'll stand against the entire world for somethin' he believes is right. The sort who wants to save everyone. Definitely not the sort to say this isn't their fight. Am I gettin' warm?"Fade chose not to say anything."Let me venture another guess. It ain't tha' this isn't yer fight. It's that it's too much yer fight," continued Longshot. "You don't wanna confont it, an' now that you have a way out, yer gonna take it. But, really... I'd say that makes all tha' argument to face that fight all tha' more compelling."Fade turned to Longshot, glaring down at her."If you're going to be so persistant about this... I've confronted this more than enough. Back in my universe I had to watch Frigid go mad and die, and if it wasn't enough I had to do it all over again. Then there's her madman of a father out to ruin my life, and he's warped an innocent woman into some sick imitation of her just to mess with me," he said. "I've got enough to deal with without dealing with her in alternate realities as well. And even if I stop her here, there's still an infinite number of realities out there. Infinite Frigid's just waiting to twist the knife a little further. Infinite worlds where I'm just a coin flip away from betraying the entire world. Why should I care about any of them?"Longshot let the room stand silent for a few moments. Then her fist swung out, striking Fade in the jaw."Alright... which part was that for?" asked Fade as he picked himself up off the floor."First, 'cause you really deserved it. Second, fer thinking yer imput's got nothing on these realities," Longshot said. "Want me to let ya in on a secret? Your reality, tha' one where Frigid became a zombie? There's a world out there where you've have said yes there. But there's also one where our Fade would'a told 'er no. Those realities don't make the choices fer yeh. It's yer choices that make them. An' right now, you need to make a choice..."Fade stopped. Wheels began turning in his head, plans were starting to form."...I think you've got a point, actually," he finally said, making a run for the stairs. "Alright, let's do this."---Gap's plan worked perfectly; Tornado sent a gust of wind barreling forwards at where he'd assumed Gap would be... not expecting it to strike him in the back and send him flying. He landed in the tangle of wires, sending sparks flying as they tangled and snapped. The glow of the computer monitors flickered, casting the entire room into an inky black void. A few enraged shouts could be heard as Tornado pulled himself free... then silence. The darkness was still concealing Gap, but now finding Tornado would be just as difficult. The sound of glass clinking broke the silence, Tornado's winds sweeping the cellar as he searched for Gap again...---Mystic heard Ultionis's psychic shout and, unfortunately for her, since she was still linked mentally to him it was like shouting with a megaphone into her mind. She tried not to let it distract her, however. Slowly, inch by inch, Mystic began altering the dimentions of her barrier, trying to force the whirlpool up higher until it could become a wave that came crashing over Dirge's defences...[For Science!]

IC:"Well, it's a gamble, and we'll be lucky to even hit Frigid. Strike at her at range, and she'll freeze it in midair. Strike up close... well, then she'll just freeze you instead. It's not going to be as simple as plugging a bolt through her skull. Just because we know what could kill Frigid doesn't mean that suddenly we magically can," said Bolt. "Not to mention, fighting her in her tower is going to be close to suicide.. We've never been able to risk a close enough look at the tower to know its layout, and heights like that are not ideal for fighting her in an entire structure carved out of ice..."---Having lost sight of Gap behind the rows of wine racks, Tornado launched a sweeping arc of electricity through the air, sending shards of broken glass and burnt wood flying as he tried to flush her out. When he stopped this assault, however, the electricity surging across his body dissipated. Tornado paused for one moment, calling down another lightning strike to recharge himself for another attack...Further away, Hivemind rolled over and groaned. If she’d been in a bad state before, it had only gotten worse. She could barely stand, but since there were currently hurricane-force winds and bolts of lightning shooting overhead, not being able to stand up was probably for the best. Hivemind dragged herself up against a nearby wine rack, being careful not to rattle any bottles. By the looks of things Gap was in some serious danger, but there wasn’t much Hivemind could do. She’d be squashed instantly in a direct confrontation with Tornado; all she could do was wait to see if an opportunity presented itself...---Mystic could sense Skyra’s mind slipping into unconsciousness, and started turning her focus towards forcing him back awake. She quickly stopped herself, however, and allowed his mind to go dark. Skyra was already badly hurt, and forcing him to stay in the fight would probably kill him. As much as Mystic might have preferred some backup here - especially since Aquarius seemed determined to paint a target on her back - she realized it would only do more harm in the long run.More pressingly, there was the matter of the wave Aquarius was slamming down the corridor at her. Mystic ducked sideways, psychic energy forming a curving barrier at her command. With any luck, this would redirect the current away from herself and send it slamming right into Dirge.Dread, despite ignoring Ultionus’s warnings, had enough common sense to try and get out of the way of a man with a gun. At Ultionus fired he ducked out of the way, the bullet just barely missing his leg. Unfortunately, with the ice ruining the mobility of this suit, Dread was unable to balance himself and nearly crashed to the ground. As he sought to regain balance, Dread shot out a fear beam at Ultionus, hoping another rush of fear would occupy his mind long enough for Aquarius’s wave to hit.“Hey, you control ice, yeah?” Dread asked as he moved a little closer to Aquarius, motioning to the ice coating his armor. “Care to do something about all this, then?”---Archmage ducked and rolled out of the way of Shard, and swung her staff about to fire at Loadstone’s magna-board. Ideally, she just wanted to reduce his mobility by destroying his main form of transportation, but if it took off his legs as well Archmage wasn’t going to complain.[For Science!]

IC:It wouls have seemed as though Mystic was at more of a disadvantage than the others, unable to see them and barely able to hear after those sonic booms. But she still had one advantage: she was seeing through Dirge's eyes, and could see the direction he was launching his sound bursts. She threw up a shield to protect herself, then moved it slightly to deflect a few headed for Skyra.Try and keep Aquarius occupied, she thought into Skyra's mind, figuring neither of them had the best hearing at the moment. I'll see if I can't deal with this one.Mystic turned away, bringing herself about to face Dirge. She extended her hands forwards, pushing force outwards down the corridor to slam against Dirge.Dread, meanwhile, continued to move a little further back down the hall. He'd heard Ultionis, but didn't particularly care. He didn't see much reason to surrender, and it wasn't like he'd never been threatened with death before; heck, sometimes by people who didn't work in the Coalition. Still, he launched a few stray fear beams into the air, not particularly caring if they hit anyone. Mostly, they were just there as a deterrent to anyone wishing to follow him.---Tornado spun about as Gap tried to vanish into the darkness, hurling more electricity after her. The cellar flashed with light as it sizzled by, illuminating Gap as she ran. If nothing else, the lightning would make hiding a bit harder. At the same time Tornado was hurling lightning from one hand, he raised the other and clenched his fist. The winds picked up once again, trying to drag Gap into the path of the crackling electricity...[For Science!]

IC:"She's lucky to even be alive after that blast," Bolt said to Kaname. "I couldn't hope to tell you when she's gonna wake up..."Meanwhile, Fade saw fit to make himself scarce from the group. He had a few things he needed to think over first...---Tornado's hand went up in a blur, calling forth a gust of wind that shattered the bottle before it could even hit him. Unfortunately, at least for him, this proved enough of a distraction that he was left unprepared when Gap came flying into him seconds later. Her kick drove straight into his gut, slamming Tornado against his bank of computer screens. Tornado groaned as he pulled himself out of the sparking mess then, with rage in his eyes, pointed an arm skyward. There was a clap of thunder overhead as lightning struck the roof, surging down through the wires into the basement. The electricity leapt through the air, crackling across his body. He swept his arm downwards, letting lightning leap from his fingertips towards Gap...---Dread struggled to shake loose the frost that had formed on his armor, smacking it against the wall to scrape it off. He quickly caught sight of Ultionis, and decided it would be best to do something about his rather bothersome presence. Dread launched a volley of fear-bolts in his direction; his mobility might be impaired, but he didn't need to be at the top of his game for his powers to work. At the same time he started backing down the hallway; Aquarius was free, no sense in risking his neck any more than he already had.Mystic covered her ears to shield herself from Dirge's sonic attack, for what little good it did. She did her best to ignore him; Aquarius was her primary concern, and she didn't want to split her focus between two targets. Aquarius was shielding himself with a crudely constructed ice wall, but it did very little to protect his mind. Mystic tried to fill his mind with blinding pain; he'd been dangerously close to cracking back in that interrogation room, so she couldn't imagine his mental defenses being much better now that she wasn't holding back...[For Science!]

IC:"Well, naturally. I concern myself with the safety of all League members, of course."Deciding not to question Skyra's martial arts credentials - from her experience, most of the "dojos" people claimed to train in were usually in strip malls - Mystic turned her attention towards the wall of water barrelling towards them. She crossed her arms, raising a barrier of pyschic energy in front of herself. The wave split like it was striking a rock, flowing around her and Skyra - and, hopefully, some of the other combatants, but Mystic could only do so much at the moment. Then, outstretching her arms, Mystic launched the shield down the corridor back at Aquarius, intending to slam it against him as hard as she could.[For Science!]

IC:"Jus' tellin' you not to expect cheers an' adulations until we've come up with a plan," said Longshot. "Which you do have a point about, by tha' way. We need ta' start planning, 'fore Frigid gets angry at us fer killin' her boyfriend."---"...Flattered, honestly," Mystic muttered. "Not that I can see how getting yourself killed helps us in anyway. If you think you can help you're welcome, but... just don't die is what I'm trying to say, I guess."[For Science!]

IC:Longshot stepped in between Plasmafire and the group, motioning him out of their hearing range."Listen... there isn't a single person 'ere who doesn't wanna see Frigid dead, but there's somethin' you've gotta understand," she whispered. "But they've lost so much... Frigid has prob'ly killed half their friends personally. They're not gonna be gearin' up to take down Frigid wit'out more of a plan..."---"What are you doing?" Mystic asked Skyra, edging closer so she could be heard without the villains listening in. "You've been hurt badly; I mean, you can hardly even stand. If you remain in this fight, I don't know if you can handle further injuries."[For Science!]

IC:Instead of what really should have been the response for a speech like that - namely, cheering and clapping - all Plasmafire got from the group was a lot of blank stares. Even if they had a slim chance of killing Frigid, none of them felt confident they could possibly take her on.--Mystic pulled herself to her feet, whimpering as she stifled a cry of pain. Mystic did her best to ignore how much she was hurting, instead focusing on the villains still running loose in the facility. She honed in on Aquarius's mind, deciding keeping him from escaping to be the most important priority. She lashed out at his mind, stabbing into his thoughts with sharp bursts of pain.[For Science!]

IC:X-Calibur coughed, spitting a few drops of blood onto the cold steel floor, and stared up at Plasmafire."No... I think I ought to be thanking you," he gasped weakly. "I... I'd almost given up the fight. I... I wanted to help, I just didn't know if I could. Then you folks showed up, and suddenly anything is possible. There are worlds out there were Frigid was stopped... where none of this ever happened... (cough) worlds where I could've made the slightest difference. So, thanks. You gave be... (coughcough) ...hope..."X-Calibur let out one last breath and fell silent, slumping down against the wall...[For Science!]

OOC: Is that armor Dread's wearing as good as kevlar, or is it more along the lines of the armor medieval knights would wear?

OOC: Well, it's got a sorta knightish look to it, but it's reinforced enough that it'll stop a bullet (otherwise he'd just be weighing himself down with with all that clunky armor for no good reason ).IC:Bolt lead Fade and Plasmafire across the lab, where X-Calibur and Stella lay. Stella was laid out on a workbench; her breathing was slow, but at least she was alive. Meanwhile, Jacob was kneeling over X-Calibur, who was lying slumped against the wall with his jacket stained crimson."X-Calibur... he did everything he could to save Stella..." said Bolt quietly. "She... She'll probably pull through, but... I don't think the same could be said for him..."---Mystic's ears were filled with an awful ringing; she couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything. She felt completely lost. Then Impact's first shockwave struck her and knocked her off her feet, then the second sent her spinning through the air. Mystic hit the ground hard, skidding backwards along the floor. She groaned as she tried to pull herself back off the ground, fighting the painful aches shooting throughout her entire body...Dread, dodging shots from two angles, started retreating further back down the hallway, instead launching fear beams from a relatively safe distance. With all the shockwaves pouring down that hallway, sticking behind Dirge and Impact was a wise decision.---Sensing Gap through his wind patterns, Tornado wasted not a second before striking. The light breeze around Gap grew into a whirlwind, trying to drag her back towards where Tornado was waiting...[For Science!]

IC:Dread, having seen the two agents popping in and out of cover, had been expecting one of them to try and take a shot at him. As Ultionis appeared and fired his tranq gun, he swung about to launch his charged fear-beam in the agent's direction, in the process unintentionally moving the weak spot on his armor out of the gun's trajectory. Mystic saw fit to take advantage of his momentary distraction, slamming Dread with telekinetic force and launching him backwards at the other two villains.[For Science!]

IC:"Well... there is a medical center down here," suggested Mystic, "but we can't get through it without going through... well, them."Dread, who had been thrown back by the uncontrolled explosion of Skyra's air orb, had just gotten back to his feet and was again advancing on the group. He fired a fear beam, which Mystic reflected off her psychic shield. For a few brief seconds, Mystic felt some of the effects of Dread's fear beam reverberating off her mental barricade into her own mind. Images flashed in her mind - maggots... darkness... closed spaces... - before vanishing nearly as quickly. Shaken, Mystic stumbled back and let her shield drop. Sensing an opportunity, Dread stepped forwards towards them, charging another fear beam in his hands...[For Science!]

IC:"Well, I can help make sure you remain conscious. I'm afraid I can't do much more than that; I'm not much a medic,” said Mystic. “You should probably find something to stop the bleeding. I know that much.”Mystic considered trying to keep Skyra's blood inside him using telekinesis, but quickly decided against it. It would be too tricky to perform under fire, and even in the best of circumstances Mystic didn't think she could do it without the risk of flattening Skyra's skull. Best she could do was try to keep him safe until he could get proper help.[For Science!]

IC:Skyra's voice was like a godsend to Mystic. It gave her something she could pinpoint, something her mind could lock onto. She looked through his eyesight to get a better view, only to see his vision starting to blur. Mystic started to pour her focus into Skyra's mind, trying to keep him from losing consiousness."Skyra? Are you alright?" she asked, throwing a psychic shield up in front of herself to protect the two. "Where are you hurt?"[For Science!]

IC:Mystic heard the warning call, but since she was busy trying to influence two minds at once she was unable to redirect her focus towards her own safety in time. Mystic could feel herself be launched off her feet, felt the wall of the corridor slam against her as she struck it, then plunged down to land roughly on the floor nearby. She'd lost her focus; she was no longer affecting Dirge's mind, and she no longer had the aid of everyone else's eyesight. Mystic scrambled to grab hold of something, get a grasp on her environment, all while she tried to reassert her psychic field. She lashed out with telekinetic force where she estimated the villains to be, trying to buy herself a little time to recover...---Longshot merely scowled and walked away. Clearly, she wasn't flattered by the comparisons between herself and Kaname.[For Science!]

IC:Tornado's arms spun in a blur, winds slicing apart the bottles as they came. He was silent for a moment, turning slowly as he looked for any sign of Gap. Unable to detect her movements, Tornado instead opted for another strategy, extending a palm and letting a light breeze flow between the lines of wine racks. At first this seemed like an ususual tactic, but as the winds slipped in between the shelves, almost like a hand moving across their surfaces, it became clear what he was doing. If he couldn't see Gap, he could still sense her out with wind currents.---Mystic had, in fact, attempted to stablize Skyra's mind slightly, half motivated by an attempt to maintain team stability, half by the fact she didn't know whether Dread's fear-powers could spread across a psychic link. Even still, there was only so much she could do to help him while she was still focused on Dirge's mind. She'd succeeded in influencing his mind, but there was potential for him to cause even more harm at the moment. Mystic sent a sharp stabbing pain into Dirge's mind, hoping it would have more of a crippling effect.Dread, meanwhile, saw the orb coming. Things like this, they were exactly why he liked to stay on the sidelines in a fight. Knowing he couldn't dodge this, Dread launched more intense fear-bolts Skyra's way to try and force him to lose control of his powers. Even if he had overcome the initial effects, his mind was still excitable at the moment, increasing the chance further fear-beams would take hold in his subconsious...---Longshot, who had been making her way over to the rest of the group, shot Kaname a glance. She was fairly certain in her ability to be right in most situations, and wasn't exactly in desperate need to have her opinions validated... especially by someone who she particularly disliked."Yer not workin' up to a point wit' all this, are ya?" she asked, suspciously.[For Science!]

IC:A gust of wind whipped about with a sweep of Tornado's palm, spinning the wine bottle out of his way and sending it smashing against a nearby monitor."Worst mistake of my life? Oh, I'm scared now, girl," said Tornado, letting the winds carry his voice across the entire cellar. "Why, I'm practically shaking in my boots, what with all the running away you're presently doing..."Tornado stormed off after Gap into the darkness. It was unlikely he'd be able to see Gap amidst both the darkness and what was practically a labyrinth of wine racks, but he was also confident in the fact she wouldn't be able to see him. With a few waves of his arm, more intense bursts of air rattled through the cellar. Bottles were blown off shelves, smashing against each other and throwing shards of glass in every direction. A few wine racks were lifted up into the air by the winds, only to come crashing back down with deafening sound. Tornado's eyes cautiously scanned the cellar for any sign of movement, waiting to see if his efforts had succeeded in flushing Gap out.---Mystic focused her attention into Dirge's mind, lashing out at him with thoughts of pain, thoughts strong enough to almost feel real. If it wasn't enough to force him down, it might at least keep him distracted while Ultionis was firing at him.Dread, meanwhile, had chosen to stick closer to the back and let his teammates take the brunt of the initial attack. Now that the heroes were engaging them in combat, Dread slipped into the fray, firing a few fear bolts down the corridor. It wasn't particularly wide, so Dread was counting on them not having much room to dodge...[For Science!]

IC:"I've gotta be honest, neither have I. Really, I can't even say I gave the concept of crossing dimensions much thought until... well, it happened," said Fade. "But yeah, I can probably get us back home. As for helping these guys out... god, I don't even know. I can't bring anyone from our universe over to help, they'll be slaughtered. That's not blood I want on my hands. I just don't think there's anything I can do-"He quickly fell silent as Bolt approached. The others who'd been fighting above had joined them down in the lab, and appeared to be gathered where Plasmafire had last left X-Calibur and Stella."You... you'd probably better come,' Bolt said quietly. "It... it doesn't look good..."[For Science!]

IC:"Honestly, I'm still trying to work that out. Lot of unknown variables here, actually," said Fade. "But what I have got is a theory. Thankfully, it's a pretty good theory..."Alright, first things first, there's something you ought to know about me. The reason I know so much about the Supercharger, how Frigid found out about in the first place... is because I was one of the first people it ever worked on. It's a long story that I don't want to talk about now - or possibly ever, no offense - but let's just say once upon a time there was scared child running from some bad men, who tried to hide inside one of his fathers machines without know it had been keyed to his family's genetic signature. Fast forward roughly a decade, and here we are.“Point is, the machine had to alter my body, my basic genetic code, to give me my powers. If there's any truth to the Twister's old research, I shouldn't even have been to get superpowers, but the Supercharger altered my DNA so I could. Anyway, my powers are more artificial than most, more temperamental. This isn't the first time my powers have gone screwy on me; I drained them once fighting Frigid – the real Frigid, mind you – and it took a while before I was able to get them back.“But here's the thing... they might also be a bit more malleable. When my powers stopped working this time, it was right after I got hit by a surge from The Technician's machine while I was trying to phase. Best as I can guess, all that energy must have overloaded by abilities until it burnt out, and I couldn't use them until the particles died down a bit. But I was being hit with an energy discharge from a hole in the fabric of the universe... there had to be all sorts of exotic particles, ones that couldn't have existed otherwise... ones science hasn't even discovered yet... it must have shifted the way my powers work... …anyway, long story short, I can jump dimensions now.”---Mystic had sensed Impact's approach, and when he rounded the corner she was at least a little prepared for his attack. She raised her hands, and a barrier of psychic energy appeared in front of the group, wisps of glowing white energy surrounding the shield. The barrier absorbed most of the force from the concussive burst, although Mystic still staggered slightly as it struck. She held off on a return attack; she was waiting until Skyra launched the attack he'd prepared before moving into the fray...[For Science!]