Aurora winced a little as her opponent struck the building.    She didn't really know anything about Speed Demon, or how resilient she was.    Anyone that moved at hyper-velocity had to be more so than a normal person.   But, she had no real experience in fighting, and didn't want to be responsible for anyone ending up with a cracked skull.    Even if the other side didn't extend the same grace.    It looked like SD was really none worse for the wear, however.

Glancing toward Hammerhead --  who lived up to his rep, crumpling a car with his cranium --  she spotted the tommy gun, decided it might be best to take that little toy, before SD got back in action.    She hurtled toward the head-honcho (pun intended), and tried to disarm him, the same way she had his goons...

In reply to GM (msg # 67):

"If you want to get some sense knocked into that thick head of yours then I'll do just that!" Spider-Man said in an annoyed tone, using his webs to pull off a nearby storm drain, and throw it at Hammerhead as he jumped back into the air.  He spoke into his communicator, "Wow, Hammerhead is not happy to see me, and being friendly is not working right now. I'll check back in when I'm not in the middle of this."

Getting stepped on wasn't fun at the best of times, but in this form at least she barely noticed it. Once out from under foot, she hopped into the room easily enough.

Now the idea was to get out of sight and find what they were looking for. So she ducked back into the room and found herself a spot to shift again. A mouse worked easily enough, small but faster than the flea. And they were decent little climbers too.

So now that she was out of the way, it was time for search and retrieval. If she found anything that was small enough to be carried or tucked in pockets she figured she'd do a quick shift, grab whatever it was, and shift back to animal form to hide it and keep it safe. She always could try and get out through an air duct or something if she needed to...

In reply to GM (msg # 67):

Bloodrager snarled, "RRAARRRGGHHH!" at the units surrounding him, brandishing Woundhealer menacingly but not trying to strike anyone with the sword of mercy at the moment. Inwardly, he braced for pain and magical power. After all, he was the Russian in the Blood Red Swordsmen, the one expected to suffer the most.

The ring continued to glow and sing.

“... Copy that, Ow. I’m ok.”

Lois lay on the ground for a few moments, shaking off the surprise of being flung across the room.  Her recent training had helped a little (a good idea that was already paying off).  Crawling to her feet, Lois began to evacuate civilians as she had been instructed to do.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have to leave... or those freaks will get us killed.  The guns have stopped outside, so let’s make a break for it.  Stay low and follow me.”

Trusting Dee Dee to scout the lab safely (with Darkstar and Taskmistress to beat up the ‘freaks’), Lois pointed to an exit and shooed a few people towards it.  Then she scampered her way to other pockets of civilians...to repeat her evacuation attempts.

*****
<Inside the casino>
*****

With the group recovering and message sent Williams came on the comes.
  Working on it. Their security is something special but Jocasta should be through shortly. came a reply back to Kevin.
William tried to reach Clockwork’s Comms but there seemed to either be interference or no answer.

Darkstar managed to make his way into position giving a quick glance for a backside shot.

Eel wasn’t expecting the blast but it hit him square in the back and sent him flying towards the front.

Cyclone turns to Darkstar, Were the hell did you…Doesn’t matter Let me help you out! He says his legs spinning fast and now his arms his right arms was towards Darkstar creating a vacuum and started to suck the air out from in front of him. The other in Lois’s direction not at her but Cyclone was gathering the tables and debris almost sucking Lois in with mix… He swung the debris towards Darkstar nailing him with a few Roulette tables, poker chips and a few other items, Thankfully his shield protected him form a good portion of the damage but that may leave a bruise tomorrow.



As Taskmistress shimmied back a little Hydroman smiled, Payback is gonna be a bitch! He said reaching a liquefied arm towards TM and graping her by the head surrounding her head in water and picking her up off the ground. TM held her breath but could feel Hydroman attempting to force his way into he nose and mouth to drown her.



Lois lead the charge to escort the Civilians outside, Although panicked it looked like many were happy to get some guidance and turned in the direction she motioned to and a surge of people headed towards the front….


****
Downstairs
****
As Dee Dee was making her way down she noticed a couple of rooms one looked like an office but the 2nd one was a lab, As she got to the corner she could see the lab tech that had been upstairs speaking to someone.
As per the boss it’s time to activate Silvermane Strauss.
The older man turns to the lab tech.
About time! He says hooking up a few wires to a rather large metallic thing.
It humms for a second and turns there is a large Cyborg with an old man’s head attached to it.
Good Work Strauss. I think Sovereign Six is now ready to make their appearance!
Off to the side is a man dressed in an orange top and Green helm with a sort of barrel in the front middle of it.
Unicorn, Let’s go great our new guests!
You got it Silvermane.
He says and the two start to head up the stairs to join the fight…


****
Outside
****
Aurora was able to move quickly enough to grab the tommy gum from HH and when he realized it, it got him even more angry, He turned to shout more orders to Speed Demon but as he Spiderman had lunged the storm drain at Hammerhead. The impact would have been something to see however as the Cover was to hit hammerhead it suddenly launched up and grazed Aurora’s cheek. From below Speed demon’s arms were spinning fast as she sent a wind funnel to block the hit.

Hammerhead launched a grenade towards Spidey and some of the crowd. Where are the others? he said knowing he wasn’t a match for this other speedster that seemed to be a little quicker then Speed Demon.


Bloodrager Growled but to no avail The Maggia we soon all over him with Blows that struck him in the face and in the gut. The impact took his breath away for a second, Not expecting them to be so forceful. The impact wasn’t from a regular human but felt like it would match the strength of an Ogre.

Taskmistress couldn't fight back she wasn't even sure how he could physically lift her using water. She tested trying to push herself out of the hand by leveraging the near solid psi of the arm. But that failed so she held up her fist and pretended she was cranking a jack in the box and brought up her middle finger on the opposite hand perhaps she should have panicked but being virtually unarmed in this stupid dress with no escape. She was keeping calm. The sensation of drowning felt almost familiar.

Kevin decided that the next bit of equipment he needed to acquire was some kind of re-breather.  His force field was highly effective, sparing him all but relatively minor injury from Tornado-boy attack, but it was also airtight and skintight, so there wasn't much air to breathe inside it.

And speaking of not being able to breathe... Taskmistress was in trouble.  Again.  Kevin decided to drop a Darkforce box on the water guy, hoping to break the link between him and the arm attempting to drown her.  The fucker would likely slide under it soon enough, but it might buy a little time for Clockwork Knight to get his clunky ass in here first.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:16, Tue 29 Jan 2019.

Having evacuated all the people, Lois looked around for something else to do.  There was an inside and an outside brawl, both dangerous for her to join in.  Then she noticed a bleeding man dressed in a Maggia uniform.  He'd been shot and mostly forgotten in the chaos.  Lois tore up bits of discarded clothing and attempted to patch his wounds.

"Hey, you hang in there mister."

It also allowed Lois access to the man's radio and whatever other weapons he had.  A taser would be handy, if he had one.  Such an item might be useful against the water man inside... she'd just need to throw it to Taskmistress.

Deedee paused for a moment. The cyborg was likely out of her league. Claws and teeth don't usually hold up against armor plate and who knows what weaponry could be inside that thing. Funny, some of those parts might have been made by her father's company...

The feral side ached to morph, to barge in with claw and fang and tear them apart. But her human side knew that alone, against the cyborg and the costumed guy she'd likely fail. Plus, she was infiltration in this mission. That meant that she was better off not being noticed. So she pulled back to let them pass, the mouse form able to easily find places to hide out of sight.

"Ugh!" Alison exclaimed as she was struck, glad it wasn't a harder blow that would have cost her teeth.     The whirlwind bit was a neat little trick --  one she mentally noted to try out sometime.     She had her own, however...

"Bloodrager, it's going to get bright," she said softly to her teammate on the comm.    "Shut your eyes for a second on three...1..2..3!"   

Instantly, Ali was above the Maggia men, and flooded them with glaring, blinding light.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Tue 05 Feb 2019.

The big red man ignored the warning about the incoming light, if he'd heard it at all. Instead, he was snarling a spell at one of those pounding on him, converting the pain and punishment they had inflicted into magical force.

"No place to hide, so slip and slide!"

*****
<Inside the casino>
*****
Naslund came on the Comms:
Clockwork is no longer active Jocasta confirms his system has shut down. Not sure what is happening… The security is a little tough we’re almost there… .


As Lois leaned down to bandage the Maggia enforcer she saw the modified tommy gun by his side,  she rifled through his jacket and on the inside she found the radio with the earpiece still in the Maggia’s ear and as luck would have it she found herself a taser and a smoke grenade.



Hydroman looked a little confused at the lack of struggling from TM but it turned into a grin when he realized he had the upper hand and was succeeding in drowning her…. Well that was until the darkforce blocked out the ceiling lights as a box suddenly came down on him! Sending a splash of water all over, Taskmistress fell to the floor coughing out the water and able to breath again.

The water was moving on it’s own and started reforming….

Eel: Started to get up again not happy with the hit from behind, things were not good but they somewhat seem to have the upper-hand he thought, His finger went to his ear. Get rid of these idiot’s I’m going to help the Boss. Eel said turning and heading to the entrance. Unicorn Get upstairs He said turning….


Cyclone turned his attention to Hydroman for a second, Then to Eel as he mentioned to get rid of everyone.
With pleasure.   he said starting to spin even faster now.





****
Downstairs
****

Unicorn nodded Already on our way! he replied into his helmet.
Looks like the guys upstairs have their hands full He said to Silvermane.

The large metallic figure clucked past the mouse that was hiding under a large metal table paying it no heed.
Leave it to Hammerhead to mess things up! He said as they made their way up the stairs to the door.


****
Outside
****


Bloodrager casts his spell as now 4 Maggia’s are pounding on him, As he finished casting the maggia suddenly seem to slip and slide as their feet suddenly loose any traction from under them. Soon the 4 of them are all laying flat on their backs.
As the Maggia fell to the floor the area outside suddenly went extremely bright Blinding everyone in the area including Hammerhead.

Spidey was able to swing in front of the bystanders and spun a web to the grenade giving it a quick spin and sending it skyward. It managed to just clear the top of the building exploding and sending slight debris raining down on the people with minimal damage.

Speed Demon was partially blinded, her goggles offered protection but not from anything this bright. Between this much faster woman, Spiderman and the red oaf Speed demon tapped her comms.  Some help out here would be nice!! Not away that Eel was on his way.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:21, Fri 15 Feb 2019.

Taskmistress coughed violently stumbling back grabbing a hold of an electrical cord and stripped the wires leaving the exposed end in the puddle reforming at The Water Wizard's feet then plugging it in leaping back hopefully the entire power grid would be going through the son of a bitch including whatever generators were installed for the secret lair. She avoided the electricfied puddle being soaked herself. She coughed a few more times.

Seeing Speed Demon at a disadvantage, by herself for the moment, Aurora decided to make a try at intimidation, to get information.    She approached the other speedstress:

"We're pissed off!  You're on the losing side!    If you don't want to be fed to the red, blood drinking guy over there, you better realize it, and help us out!  What do you know about Strauss and his technology?   Is that how you got your powers?"   

"Heads-up outside," Kevin said to Spidey, Aurora and those outside.  "You got Eel incoming."

Then he shook his head and just blinked at what had happened.  He'd meant to encase the water dude in a box.  Presumably he'd gotten distracted, formed a solid cube of Darkforce and just dropped it on the guy.  "Fuck it, works for me," he muttered to himself.

He also saw Taskmistress jam the wiring into the Water dude's puddle.  He wasn't sure what the point of that was, but it gave him an idea.

"Go inside and upstairs to take care of Unicorn and get what we came for," Kevin called to Taskmistress.  "I got these assholes."

So saying, he dissolved the box and formed a Darkforce ramming shield, then grew his wings.  With all the destruction, there was now a big open area that would let him fly.  So he did fly at full speed riding Cyclone's wind currents and flying right at the guy's upper (and non-spinning) body, planning to smash into him and knock him into the now electrified puddle that was his team mate.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:11, Mon 18 Feb 2019.

While tending the Maggia man, Lois was aware of a blinding light outside the casino... how fortunate her gaze had been elsewhere!  She wiped the man's earpiece off and then inserted it onto one of her free ears... just to eavesdrop on the conversations.  A glance back to Task Mistress showed that she had things in hand.  It didn't leave her much to do, so Lois dragged her patient out of further harm's way.  The tommygun & grenade, she didn't intend to use... the taser however was pocketed for later.

"It's not safe, you all need to get out of here now!" Spider-Man Spider-Man shouted to the crowd, directing them to leave the area of the casino. "I'll cover you guys so you won't get hurt!" He was sure that Hammerhead would try another stunt like the grenade from before, and didn't want anyone getting hurt because of it.

*****
<Inside the casino>
*****

As Lois helped and cleaned out the Maggia Thug, She could hear Unicorn in the Earpiece. She was about to give the warning when…

TM quickly pulled out a larger 4” plug exposed several active wires as it was ripped from the wall, and planted it in a larger puddle on the wet carpet…

Using the air current from Cyclone who was starting to build up momentum and speed, Did not expect Darkstar to manoeuver as he did, The winds were blowing hard, Lois almost got sent flying, she could feel the breeze pushing against her causing her to rock involuntary almost tipping her over, Tables, cards, Chips, and various other items started flying through the room. TM Ducked in time to avoid a chair coming at her,

Darkstar twisted and turned with the shield before him and managed to position himself just enough to come full force into Cyclone.
The impact was heavy sending Cyclone off to the side cutting all the wind from the room,
Hydroman was just reforming…
With the impact of Cyclone now into a partially reformed Hydroman causing him to be part water, part man, and Cyclone now going through Hyroman’s watery chest. It allowed for the circuit to finish it’s flow.
A fairly loud Tzzzzzzzzz could be heard as lights flicked and the 2 men suddenly screamed from the shock and each collapsed to the ground, the current was amplified by Hydroman’s transformation. Some of the lights blew out from the surge but enough stayed lit to still be able to see.

TM stands as Darkstar lands the door in the back opens and Out steps Unicorn and A large robot with the head of an old man on top of it. Unicorn Smiles as the top of his helmet lights up and he sends a blast of energy throughout the room at no one in particular along with throwing two grenades to the ground near the hero’s.



****
Outside
****
Eel Exits the casino looking around to see the trio of Heroes and his counterparts.
As Aurora shouts down at Speed Demon and asks her question. She hears Darkstar’s warning over the comm’s And Spidey’s senses catch the new comer, but it’s too late, Looking for answers through intimidation she catches sight of Eel to late and Get’s hit in the back with a blast of electricity, the shock causes her nerves to twitch and causes Aurora to Convulse for a second as she drops to the ground.
There wasn’t much pain from the shock itself but more pain from her muscles having seized for a few seconds

Strauss’s tech and project is just fine my dear. And I’m not sure about the loosing side! Eel Says letting out a large electrical surge as Spidey was trying to steer the crowds clear,

The power surge causes the lights of the casino’s front sign and bill boards along with the street lights to Blow there is yet another flash of light as they blow once the sparks settle the street to fall into Darkness, The crowd had just enough time to see where Spiderman was pointing and were well on their way away from the scene but the darkness added to some confusion as a couple fell to the ground getting showered with falling glass.

Kevin let his wings and ramming shield fade as he dropped to the floor.  He also let his force field drop briefly to replenish his air supply then brought it back up as he created a barrier between the grenades and himself and the others.  Drawing on his experience with explosions, which tended to go up and out, he shaped the barrier as a tall, wide, Darkforce-tough right angle.  Hopefully the explosion would be directed at least partly back at Unicorn and his cyborg buddy.

"Get to it, get the info," he told Taskmistress quietly over the comms.  "Figure the fuckers are as distracted as they're gonna be."

Then, for the benefit of Unicorn or any later footage he yelled out loud (not over the comms) to Lois, "Lady, quit playing doctor and get the hell out of here before you get killed!"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:19, Mon 18 Feb 2019.

Now that everyone had left, it was time for a bit of good old larceny.

So she bounded into the room and started looking for anything that looked important, or at least portable. A pop into monkey form to gather up what she could and then a quick shift into another form to escape would get any evidence or whatever she could grab into... well... wherever things she carried went when she shifted.

She'd let other people worry about the laws of physics and whatnot. And someone else could sort through the stuff. She was there to grab what she could and get the heck out of Dodge while everyone was distracted.

Note to self:   Don't speak to the bad guys till you are sure it's all over..

Aurora gasped from where she'd fallen, striving to get her muscles under control and to clear her senses.   She was more resilient than a normal person to some things, but had no real clue with electricity.    She was grateful she wasn't dead, but didn't fancy learning any more by direct experience...

The couple.   The glass!       She reacted in seeing that, spurring herself to action.  Instantly she was moving for them, to try and move each one out of the deadly hail.

In reply to GM (msg # 88):

Spider-Man, still managed to be quick enough to turn himself around and attempt to form a sort of net to catch most of the glass as it fell. "Great," He said to no one as he did his work. "Anyone else that has superpowers that wants to join in over here?"

Lois scrambled to weather the forces that that Cyclone was casually throwing around.  When Darkstar yelled at her to leave (all for show), she didn't hesitate.  Lois booked it on out of there.  The problem was that the street was just as dangerous.  She dived under cover to avoid falling glass... while staying as far from the Eel as she could manage.

"Darwin, if you can hear me... get out now.  There's trouble and explosions everywhere so be careful."  She said through the team's channel.

Blinded by Aurora's flash and seeing blots of glare everywhere, Bloodrager swung Woundhealer wildly at anyone he heard nearby, regardless of who they might be.

He heard chatter over the 'magic amulet', but it wasn't making much sense beyond Spiderman being Spiderman as only he can.