Chronicler of Ko-Koro

IC:Fade tried to back away from his double to give Plasmafire a clear shot; the fire couldn't kill him, but third-degree burns were still pretty hard to walk off. Unfortunately, Otherfade seemed to realize this as well, and was putting up a relentless assault just to keep the two of them as close together as possible. Blades glanced off armor, Fade throwing up his arms to block Otherfade as he slashed over and over.Then, slowly and ominously, a low creaking filled the room. Up above them, cracks started to appear in the roof; the energy cascade from the Supercharger had burnt a hole through the ceiling, and the heat from the fires had only worsened its condition. The creaking grew to a rumble, and suddenly a hundred tons of steel and concrete came crashing down towards the group...[For Science!]

OOC: Looks like; hadn't really been paying much attention to that. It should work now.[For Science!]

IC:The shock hit Otherfade and knocked him over a table, scattering a few half-built rayguns across the floor. He rolled once and shot to his feet, seemingly unaffected by the lightning. Otherfade turned to Fade, slashing at him with his wristblades."Lightning? The man's trying to kill me with lightning? Can you believe this guy?" he asked. "I mean, how many half-rate villains have tried that over the years? I mean, there was Zap, Spark, and a whole bunch of others I can't even remember. But of course, lightning is just a quick shock, maybe a few burns. None of that I can't handle these days.""Lucky you," Fade muttered, responding with a wristblade of his own. It cut a deep gash across Otherfade's face, albeit one that healed and vanished mere moments later.---Mystic tried to pull herself deeper into Aquarius's memory. She could see them discussing their plans with Grand Cross; which, if nothing else, confirmed the team in DC had been working on his orders. But they were only talking about planning, how they were going to kidnap Danielle. Absolutely nothing about where Danielle was being taken afterwards. Mystic tried winding the memories back, maybe she could see Aquarius arriving, get some clue to this headquarter's location.But while the combined efforts of her and Ultionus had startled Aquarius enough to make his mind more accessible, it was also more... jumbled. It was already slipping away, no matter how hard Mystic tried. She desperately spiraled his memory backwards, but... no... it was already gone. Mystic lashed out into Aquarius's mind, trying in desperation to get the memory back. She was not about to lose control of the situation now.---"Well, remember that whole alien invasion? Oh, of course you do; it's not like it's something you just forget. Anyway, I managed to make off from a raid with some of their tech, lucky me," Hivemind explained. "Afterwards, I did a bit of research to try and figure it out how it works... erm, before I handed it off to my Coalition superiors for further study, because that was the responsible thing for me to do, yeah."Hivemind held up the eye-cam and waved it about, waiting until it started blinking faster."Point is, I picked up a few things trying to work it out. Can't say I understand complex extraterrestrial gizmos yet, but I know a few basics about wiring," said Hivemind. "We're getting closer, and Tornado's probably knows it, too. Storm's getting stronger outside too, so try and keep away from the windows."[For Science!]

OOC: If no one minds, I'll add a few of my Coalition NPCs to fill out the ranks in the mansion attack.IC:"I am always ready."A man marched forwards out of the shadows. He was clad in heady metallic armor, colored a deep black swirled with hints of a sickly green. His face was concealed behind a menacing looking helmet, covered in spikes with a pair of deadly-looking horns extending from the sides, but a heartless, piercing glare gazed out of the eye sockets. Dread marched towards the car, seemingly unconcerned by the fact he was getting into a sentient automobile. He saw stranger things on a daily basis; in fact, he was usually the one creating them.A woman followed after, only giving a quick, nervous nod as her response to whether she was ready. Her hair was an unnatural shade of green, and she was clad in a sky blue robes and a pair of sandals. Clenched tightly in her grip, as if she was afraid of losing it, was an ornately carved longstaff, the occasional crackle of energy flashing along it as she clung to it. Archmage hurried towards the car, only glancing at it quickly and keeping her opinions on riding in a talking car to herself. She quietly took her seat in the back of the car, doing her best not to accidentally smack one of her teammates in the head with her staff.---Otherfade jumped and dodged as more fireballs started to rain down. They couldn't kill him, of course, but he couldn't do anything to hurt Plasmafire at this range either. So he ducked in between Kaname and Fade as he ran, trying to get either of them struck down by a stray fireball as he ran past.---Oh, so Mystery's still in the game, then? Good to know, thank you. Now, where was I...Mystic returned to pounding Aquarius's mind with questions. She could tell he was starting to crack, and hopefully it would only be a little more time before he slipped up and revealed something. Mystic could almost feel that memory in her grasp, she just needed to keep it up a little longer...---"Hang on... just one more moment... GOT IT!" Hivemind said, switching about a few wires.She held up what remained of the hidden camera. The glass eyeball lit up briefly as the wires inside sparked before going dark, only to flash once more about twenty seconds later."Just a trick I picked up. This stuff's wireless, so it has to pick up a signal from the source. I just fiddled with the wires a bit so it lights up when it recieves the signal. The closer we get to Tornado, the faster this thing will blink. Ignoring the fact he'll be trying to murder us the entire time, we've got a way to get directly to him."[For Science!]

IC:Otherfade spotted Plasmafire's approach as he turned to face where Fade had landed, and cast his heavy cloak to the side. The tough fur had survived both sword and flame alike, but he could use the extra mobility. He turned intangible, dodging the seering-hot flames around him, then swung a fist at Plasmafire as he approached, ready to put a hole through his chest when he unphased...---Mystic continued forcing the questions into Aquarius's thoughts, louder and more forceful with each time. His false answers were not fooling her; she could sense by his thought patterns they were the answers of a man trying to lie. Perhaps, if she got him to rule out every other place in the world Mystic could narrow it down, but she didn't have the time for that. Mystic spread her influence out into other parts of his mind, seeing what parts of his psyche she could alter before he caught on. She wanted to put him into a more agreeable state of mind; if she couldn't get him to give up a little information, then she'd just have to make him think he wanted to.[For Science!]

IC:Where is Daniel Thomas? Where are your headquarters? Where is she? If she is not in your headquarters, then where is she? What other bases could serve to hold her? Where are your headquarters? Where does the Coalition maintain active bases? Where is she? Are there any Coalition safehouses she could have been taken to? Where is...Mystic let these and questions like it flow into Aquarius's mind like opening a floodgate. She'd felt him almost slip there; just put a bit more pressure on him and he might reveal something important. She also projected the imagery she'd seen in his memory, the cold steel corridors. She wanted to get him thinking about that memory again, potentially opening up more like it.[For Science!]

OOC: Mystic was kinda actually saying not to do that, since if his brain is oxygen-starved she's not gonna get much useful information. Sorry if that wasn't clear.[For Science!]

IC:"I'd guess not. The surveillance device is bound to be pretty small and simple, probably just a camera in the eyeball, wireless transmitter and battery. Of course, Typhoon is an old-school villain, so for all I know he's stuck an entire tape recorder inside that tiger," Hivemind responded. "However, this does give me an idea..."Hivemind leaned against the wall, staring at a exquisitely glazed vase on a pedestal next to her. By her estimate, probably Chinese, Ming Dynasty around... oh, 15th century-ish. Its value was probably incalculable. And them, with a casual brush of her hand, Hivemind knocked it from its stand, crashing into a nearby display case."Oh my goodness I am just so clumsy," Hivemind said, slow and deadpan enough that it would be unmistakable on camera to anyone who could read lips. At the very least, she wanted a bitWith that, she sifted through the broken glass, drawing a knife ornately decorated with gold trim. Hivemind stepped across the hall towards the spy-tiger, before mock-tripping and planting the blade into the stuffed beast's eye socket."Dear god why I am I such a klutz," she added for effect.With a twist of the knife the fake eye popped out, revealing a silver box on the end of some wires. Hivemind popped the cover off with the tip of the knife, then tucked the weapon away on her belt. She crouched down, fiddling around with the circuitry inside."Alrighty, then... let's see what we've got here..."---"That would probably not be the best course of action," Mystic replied to Skyra. "The brain needs oxygen to function, after all."So Aquarius had finally noticed her, and was trying to throw up mental blocks to stop her. Fortunately for her, she'd been limiting her influence to avoid detection; with that no longer a concern, there wasn't anything holding her back. Mystic clung on to the last fading traces of the memory before a wall of useless formulas started to obscure it, trying to draw it back to the surface. She also started to bombard his mind with questions of the fortress. Hopefully he'd probably end up answering one despite himself; the easiest way to start thinking about something was to try not thinking about it.[For Science!]

OOC: Just to clarify, Kenpachi, X-Calibur's attack had nothing to do with electricity. It hurt Otherfade because an uncontrolled energy field just hacked up about half his shoulder.IC:Kaname's attack struck Otherfade from behind; his armor absorbed most of the force from the blade, but electricity still surged through his body. Unfortunately, since Kaname had timed his attack exactly when Fade was swinging a wristblade at Otherfade, the voltage shot through the blade and hit him as well. The surge blew Fade backwards, sending him crashing through a nearby shelf. Otherfade staggered slightly but quickly recovered once he got past the initial pain, swinging about to try and drive a wristblade through whoever had just attacked him."Hey... could you be a little more careful with that next time?" Fade groaned as he pulled himself up. "I mean, I'm all for you electrocuting the guy, but try not to get me as well, okay?"Meanwhile, Plasmfire's efforts hadn't fully extinguished the fire, but at least they were more manageable now. The blaze was almost a blessing in disguise; the heat and flames had been enough to convince Frigid to keep her icy claws at bay.---"I... I think... that I might have stumbled across... a memory... a facility... could be where they'be taken Miss Thomas..." Mystic muttered, hearing Skyra talking. "But I'm losing it... it's slipping away, I can't quite grasp it... not without him sensing me in his mind... I can try to go deeper, if Ultionis can keep him occupied..."---"Got it. Course, it'd be useful if we knew what the hidden cameras actually are..."Hivemind had broken into a number of high-tech facilities over the years, usually looking for some component or serum she'd thought at the time might aid her research. Over that time, she'd picked up thing or two about security systems."Well, they're probably not connected to any of those wires, otherwise they'd get fried when Tornado pulls his little lightning trick," Hivemind said. "There probably wireless anyway; harder to track back to the source. Of course, he'd need to... hide... it... somewhere..."Her voice trailed off as she looked around the hall at all the antiquities surrounding them. You could hide a camera anywhere in here. Then her gaze fell upon the stuffed remains of a tiger, posed in a triumphant leap just across the hall. A tiger with ever-so-slightly mismatched glass eyes."Dude... don't look just yet..." whispered Hivemind, "but I think he's watching us right now."[For Science!]

IC:Otherfade muttered a few choice words under his breath as he clutched his shoulder. A deep gash had been torn through his armor; inside muscles and tendons could be seen knitting themselves back together, but it was a slow process for such a major wound. He was lucky his arm was even still attached."What does it matter? Your little plan failed," Otherfade snarled. "Your Supercharger is gone, and the gal you wanted to stick in there doesn't look long for this world either. You can die out in this freezing waste for all I care."He ducked out, vanishing through the quickly spreading flames. X-Calibur groaned, pulling off his helmet and letting it drop to the ground. He coughed, a small stream of blood trickling from his lips. Wincing slightly, he gazed upwards towards Plasmafire."You... you go after him. I'll take care of Stella... do what I can..." he wheezed, despite the fact he didn't look in much better condition than Stella. "Don't worry about me... she's the important one... she's our future... I'm not gonna let her die. Not like I'd be much good in a fight now, anyway..."---Fade charged down another row of shelves, only to stagger back as more flames spewed up in front of him. His eyes scanned the lab for any other safe routes; there were fewer with every second the fires continued to spread. Just as Fade was about to double back and try again, Otherfade came out of nowhere and clocked him in the jaw."It's just about time for me to blow this joint, and you're the only one of us with a working grappler," he said. "I can take this the easy way or the... actually, I think we both know you're gonna choose the hard way, right?""You know me so well," Fade replied, swinging a wristblade at his double.[For Science!]

IC:The cord burned red as Plasmafire scorched at it, but refused to break. His thrashing didn't seem to dissuade Otherfade much either; he knew he could survive most of what Plasmafire could dish out, and was determined to make sure the opposite wouldn't be true. He pulled the cord tighter, determined to squeeze the last ounce of life out of Plasmafire..."Yaaaargh!"A shout cut through the roar of destruction and explosions, loud enough to catch Otherfade's attention. X-Calibur staggered forwards, his jacket soaked with blood. One arm clutching his energy machete, the other was clutched tightly against his chest. With all of his strength X-Calibur heaved the blade forwards, driving it through the gaps in Otherfade's shoulder armor. He winced but otherwise looked uninterested in the blade sticking through his chest, and still refused to release his grip on Plasmafire."Really?" asked Otherfade. "What was that supposed to do-"X-Calibur flipped a switch, and the energy field surrounding his machete roared to life. Otherfade screamed in pain as the flickering energy cut effortlessly through flesh and bone. He staggered backwards, losing his grip on Plasmafire as he tore the blade free and clutched at his wounded arm. X-Calibur stumbled back a bit, dropping his blade, and collapsed against the wall, wincing as he did.[For Science!]

IC:Stella didn't respond. She didn't even move. Obviously the flames couldn't hurt her, but the shrapnel of the disintegrating Supercharger had cut deep slashes and gashes where they struck. To say nothing of the raw, uncontrolled energy that had just surged through Stella's body and the unimaginable damage that might have caused; if she was even still alive after all that, it was just barely.But Otherfade wasn't about to give Plasmafire a chance to check her condition any further. While he was distracted by the unmoving Stella, Otherfade leapt onto his back, dragging the cord of his grappler around Plasmafire's neck in an attempt to strangle him. Even fire couldn't survive without oxygen...Meanwhile, black smoke continued to belch out of the remains of the Supercharger as it died. White-hot molten metal dripped from the ceiling where the energy plume had burnt through it, and fires were spreading across the lab as the burning debris landed. Fade threw up his arms to shield his face as a wall of flame roared up in front of him. He could see Plasmafire was in trouble, but he'd need to get find an alternate route through the burning lab if he wanted to help him.[For Science!]

IC:Otherfade went intangible, shimmering out of sight as the flames left scorch marks on the floor around him. Fade pulled himself up off the ground, wristblades sliding into place as he watched to see where Otherfade would reappear."I'll give our Dad one thing... he really knew how to build," Otherfade's voice rang across empty air. Fade tried to determine its origin, but over the whir of the Supercharger it was impossible to pinpoint. "Even for a prototype, this Supercharger is masterfully constructed. There's just one flaw, though."Otherfade blinked back into existence, just short of the Supercharger. A smoke grenade was clutched in his palm. The pin dropped to the floor."It's very fragile."He tossed the smoke grenade behind him, letting it roll into the maelstrom of energy swirling at the heart of the Supercharger. It detonated, even the small spark it made enough to turn dynamo of raw power into an inferno. A shockwave resounded through the lab, smashing computers and flipping tables, the walls crumbling and cracking under the stress. The energy flared upwards, burning clean through the ceiling into the house above.Burning hot shards of metal shot in every direction, the Supercharger's own inertia tearing itself apart. As its prongs disintegrated into a wave of shrapnel, smoke and electricity poured from the central power core until finally it could take no more. A second explosion ripped what was left of the Supercharger to shreds, black smoke and tongues of flames spewing across the room. The sheer force flung Stella across the room, crashing right through a bank of computers. She rolled to the ground, smoke and wisps of orange light rising off her body where she lay...[For Science!]

IC:Fade broke into a run, diving and rolling through the hole Plasmafire had cut in the lift. He crashed to the ground, groaning as he slid to a stop. The lift continued to cut a path of destruction across the lab, finally crashing against the reinforced walls and crumbling into a heap of debris. Moments later Otherfade emerged from the wreckage, shimmering as he returned into phase, and made a run for the whirling and glowing Supercharger.[For Science!]

OOC: Well, it's a much larger chamber under the basement, not to mention the fact people have been trying to kill her the entire time.IC:The plasma bomb exploded, the shockwave flinging Stella out of the path of the out-of-control lift. She landed just short of the Supercharger, and glared over at Plasmafire; Stella understood why he'd done it, but she was certain there were better ways to have done it. Regardless, she pulled herself back up to her feet, ducking in between the spinning prongs of the Supercharger. Energy crackled around the whirling blades, bathing Stella in an aura of light...But the others still had plenty of problems to deal with. The lift was still sliding out of control across the lab, and Fade and Plasmafire were directly in its path.[For Science!]

IC:Otherfade took a few steps back; he might be unable to die, but he wasn't invulnerable by any means. He could shrug off most of the fireballs, but he wasn't about to endure the pain of being set on fire if he didn't have to. As he fled, there was a loud creaking and groaning overhead. The icy claws that had grabbed the lift had succeeded in tearing it loose from the shaft, and were now lifting it overhead. They flung it forwards, sending tables, shelves, and gadgets flying as it tumbled across the room towards Stella as she ran for the Supercharger.[For Science!]

IC:The burst of flame struck Otherfade in the chest and he recoiled from the impact, but in the end it left little more than a scorch mark on his chest plating. Sensing he'd caused Plasmafire some pain even if the heat couldn't harm him Otherfade advanced on him, whipping the cord at him repeatedly.[For Science!]

IC:With a hiss the grappler snapped in half, showing sparks and plasma globs as it did. Stella continued to run for the Supercharger, untangling the cord off her arms. Otherfade started to run after her, only for Fade to swoop in and knock him to the ground. Otherfade kicked him aside and rolled to his feet. swinging the red-hot end of his grappling line at Fade like a whip.[For Science!]

IC:The plasma beam sliced across the grappling cord, sizzling and sending off a shower of sparks. The section glowed red hot, but remained largely intact; the nanofibers that made up the cord were tough, but they likely wouldn't survive a more sustained attack...[For Science!]

OOC: Well, there's no point in being competent if everyone knows exactly how competent you really are. It keeps them on their toes. :)IC:Otherfade rolled to the side, the fireballs singing a nearby shelf. Stella was making a break for the machine, but thanks to Plasmafire's shout Otherfade knew it too. He leapt up on the workbench and chased after Stella. He hurled out his grappler, wrapping around Stella's arm and slowing her down. She hurled flames at Otherfade in retaliation, but it did little to disuade him as he started dragging her away from the Supercharger.[For Science!]

IC:"Armor go zappy, got it. Now, as for finding Tornado... he's using his powers to project his voice on the wind, so he could potentially be anywhere in the building," she said. "Of course, if he wants to be effective, he's probably hiding out in a centralized location to distribute his abilities best. Plus, he seems to have seen us coming without actually being here, so the place is probably bugged somehow. Wherever his monitoring equipment is, that's probably also where he's hiding."[For Science!]

IC:"Alright... but no splitting up this time! I'm not letting this guy pick us off one by one or anything like that," said Hivemind. She took a glance towards the shattered windows. "Well, good news is, we'll probably be able to see him if he makes a break for it. Let's start searching."[For Science!]

IC:Just when she thought she thought she was done for, Hivemind was sucked up by the wormhole. She tumbled out the other hand and crashed into a terracotta vase, reducing it to a fine orange dust on the floor. Hivemind scrambled to her feet, taking cover next to Gap behind the wall."Ohgodthankyouthankyou!" she exclaimed, still trying to catch her breath. "So... I think Tornado knows we're here, and I also don't think he likes us. As much as I like the idea of making a wormhole far, far away from here, I don't think our bosses will see it the same way. So, that leaves Plan B: go find Tornado and kick the snot out of him. He can still rejoin the Coalition with a broken ribcage, right?"[For Science!]

IC:"Well, look who finally decided to show up again. Oh well, wouldn't mind an audience," said Otherfade, raising an arm to block Fade's wristblades, then quickly shoving him aside. "What's the matter, couldn't take the cold?"As Plasmafire swooped down, Otherfade suddenly shimmered out of sight. As he rocketed past, the cloaked figure reappeared behind him and brought his wrisblades down, ready to drive them into the hero's back.[For Science!]

IC:Fade ducked Otherfade's wristblades, the edge glancing off his shoulder armor. He lunged forwards and slammed into Otherfade, sending the both of them crashing against the wall. He extended a wristblade, but Otherfade grabbed hold of his arm and flung him against a workbench. Fade rolled out of the way just before a pair of wristblades came down, slashing two neat gashes through the table below.Meanwhile, Stella followed down after Plasmafire, surrounding herself in jets of flame to slow her descent.[For Science]