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War Witch     The Terra Volta nuclear reactor is right located on a small island right in the middle of Independence Port. It has been the target of villains since the first attack, which occurred a mere 14 hours after it went online in 1959. This isn't the first time the Rikti have clashed with the people of Paragon City over it, but if they have a bunch of explosives they've been manufacturing and stock-piling, it might be the last.

    However, there is a Task Force that is seeking to stop the Rikti's plans. After making their way through the veritable maze of high walls, streets, pipes, smoke stacks, and buildings, and bypassing as many of the enemies crowding these areas as possible (because unlike the civilians of Paragon City, most of them aren't evacuating. Abandoning their "turf" just because another villain is planning something would reveal weakness and anyway, the heroes are going to fix it all, right?) they will be inside of a huge reactor plant, that has clearly seen forced entry despite the security measures in place that tend to keep out the bad guys that fight constantly amongst themselves outside.

    That's why the Freakshow are still here anyway. Those crazy cyborg punks with knock-off super soldier serum injectors are staying. The Sky Raiders, jetpacking mercenaries with their own agenda, have decided it really isn't worth it and gotten out of here. Because they're not stupid or insane, and the advantage afforded by their jetpacks means they can come back any time if the heroes DO solve the problem.

    There seem to be fewer numbers of the Lost, homeless people who have shown signs of mutation, hyper-aggression, and cult-like behavior, and even seem to be developing psychic powers and wielding high-tech weaponry. But there's still some out in the streets fighting the other groups or ambushing any heroes who try to get close to the reactor.

    One other group seems to have not made any effort to flee, and is actually here in GREATER number than usual. The Devouring Earth. Anti-human walking bio-weapons. Why would they suddenly be more present in an area about to face a nuclear melt-down? Would they benefit from all the pollution somehow? Isn't that the exact thing they seem to want to REMOVE from the world? ...Are they trying to stop it as well? They certainly seem to be in a frenzy as they attack anything and everything in their way. Mushroom people launch spore bombs, plant monsters slash with thorny fingers sharp as blades, rock monsters throw boulders into crowds of Freakshow, and crystalline monsters scatter living shards of themselves in shrapnel-like sprays, seemingly aimed to shred delicate human bodies and sense organs. They're practically targetting the faces of their victims to the exclusion of all else, in their mad push to reach the reactor.

    And once inside, the huge facility will no doubt have other obstacles and horrors in place for the Task Force trying to save the city.

    This is a very busy zone.
Silica     The nearest Warpgate comes alive as Silica flies through it. She's got to be honest with herself, she's scared... after what happened to Kirito. No. Push that out of your mind Silica. You've got a job to do!

    The Cait Sith flies over the area, trying to avoid the all-out war going on below, and link up with the others. "This is Silica... I'm in the zone, where is everyone? She should converge and try to break through as a group. Going alone is dangerous." She glances aside as Pina makes a soft chirrup. "I know Pina, I'm not alone with you here, but it's still safer if we're with the others too!" she says, reaching over to gently pet her friend.
Alexis Or you could be a real rebel and just sequence break past all the random obstacle mobs. The beauty of travel powers. Or in this case, travel pokemon.

After a quick pitstop to potion up her injured pokemon from the last fight, Alexis once again took wing on her shiny Flygon to make a beeline for Terra Volta. While avoiding going too high to not tip off their arrival, having the agility of a dragonfly coupled with the right speed to cause small Sonic Booms makes swooping past walls and winding around industrial pipework to take the quickest route possible a bit easier. Every so often Mirage lives up to her name, casting a Double Team to fly off in different directions before fading, just long enough to distract any mobs that she might not be able to just blaze past on speed alone.
X X joins up with the group last. He ended up teleporting straight to the island, appearing in a column of blue light. It's a good thing at least, because he just has to trust his allies to handle the organic troublemakers in the streets... if any of them are CRAZY enough to get in the way of heroes going to protect a nuclear power plant from destruction. That would be just wildly crazy of anyone who lives here, villain or no!

    X boots up his weapon systems and combat software the instant he materializes, left hand shifting to the X-Buster in record time!
War Witch     Having gotten past the crazies and the monsters fighting outside, the heroes entering the facility find themselves faced with an immediate problem. That problem being 'where most of the Lost that were outside relocated to'. It seems they have no intention of abandoning the zone. Infact, they're here to oppose anyone trying to save the reactor. Because in their mind, this is the 'Promised Day' when their saviors will finally purge the unclean (un-altered humans) from the world.

    In essence, they're willing to become 'martyrs' by being disposable obstacles for any heroes who have come to stop the Rikti. A mix of towering, inhuman-looking figures, bedraggled homeless men, hulking men in hoodies and football helmets and stocking caps with mutated hands and faces... There are even some smaller, hooded beings that look veritably alien. Almost like the Rikti might without their armor.

    They are assembled in a solid wall before the heroes. A scream echoes through the halls. It sounds like the Rikti are already here. Major Richard Flagg contacts the heroes over the radio, and instructs them on what they have to do. "In order to get into the reactor core, you'll need a key card. There's civilians on-site, so rescuing them is also a priority. The scientists and the guards protecting them likely have the key card as well, so you'll be opening the way and saving lives at the same time. Hurry, Task Force! You don't have a lot of time!"

    Easier said than done looking at the Lost before them, yelling, jeering, readying their weapons, or in the case of the powerful psychics among them, probing the minds of the heroes in menacing silence, testing their psi-defenses, to more easily rend them to shreds.

    "THE FLOOD WILL WASH AWAY THE UNBELIEVERS!" an Aberrant Rector yells.

    A towering Pariah Anchorite, pale-skinned, black eyed, simply stands over him, bulky arms folded. A hooded Pariah Prelate seems to be surrounded by whispering sounds that drift across the room to the heroes despite the much louder yelling and clashing of glowing blades as the Lost prepare to take on the 'invaders'.

    In a wall of enemies, the two that remain silent when all the others are threatening and ranting are generally the scarier ones.
Silica     Silica lands outside, and follows the others in. "Right, hold on a second... let me get us buffed up." She closes her eyes, holding her hands up in front of her and begins to chant in that odd not-norse. Fields of protection, a minor strength boost, a mild regeneration effect and some assorted minor elemental resistances(Not that they'll help, probably) come out one after another. The Cait Sith expending her whole Mana bar, before pulling a blue potion from her Inventory, and chugging it to replenish for healing duty. "I'll hang back and try to keep everyone healed. Don't push too hard though, I'm not an Undine."
Alexis This time Alexis doesn't recall the Flygon upon reaching their destination, as the bug-like dragon is also the quickest way out if things go so bad they need to make a hasty withdrawl. But we're all hoping it's not going to come to that and this small band of heroes can pull through. At least they've got someone here that can provide some beneficial aid. Thanks Silica!

Though even on the first steps into the facility it shows just how much they're going to need that help, with high the odds are stacked. Enough that Alexis has to resist smacking her palm to her face as they come face to face with deranged mutant zealots instead of deranged aliens. "Oh you have GOT to be kidding me! We don't have time for this shit."

With the snarl Alexis brings up her Ageislash strapped to her arm in Defense Forme. Good thing too, because that's exactly what she wants. The ghost weapon glows briefly as it uses a high priority move, which spreads from the pokemon in a shimmering field to shield the other heroes.

Wide Guard.

The reason is apparent a moment later as soon as the shimmer settles Alexis yells to her Flygon "DROP THE BOMB!" Flygon hunchs forward a bit, her insect like wings beating to the point that they become a blurred motion. A whine not unlike the sound effect used for a falling bomb is produced by them, up until the point it almost literally explodes into a deafening sonic blastwave surging towards the Lost, a combination of sound and concussive force that's pretty close to and just as powerful as being too close to a detonation

Normally Boomburst would hit allies as well as enemies... But that's what the Wide Guard was for, to shield Alexis and her allies from the bombastic attack.
X X goes barreling into the facility! He's ready to force his way through if he has to! Or at least...

    That's as long as everyone in their way is some kind of monster like the Devouring Earth.

    "WHAT THE?!" The creatures he comes across aren't quite... human... but they're definitely thinking, feeling beings. He backpedals in alarm... but at the same time... At the same time...

    These few people or the entire city?

    PSI powers that require biology will see X for what he is: a robot. No grey matter to ping! But those that are more spiritual will find his spirit is insanely strong, far stronger than it appears. Like a floodlight constrained through a pinhole. The core is unyielding, even as the shell wavers uncertainly. Or so is the image they might get. What does it mean though?

    X faces down the... THINGS in their way. But after a few seconds of splitting agony and fret tearing across all his face... he decides he'll just have to champion the many over the few. His free hand balls into a fist. This will hurt him just as much as them...

    Above all other things, he HATES the sinking in his gut everytime he's forced to deal with biological criminals. The only saving grace here is Paragon City's teleport grid... and the fact that these guys look tough enough to take a beating and spring right back up from it!

    "I'm not holding back this time! Not if you're threatening the WHOLE CITY!!" Horror and fierce determination backs his words... and X quickly raises the buster, his sole weapon!

    There's only a few moments of hesitation... then he opens fire with streams of shots for the cretins!
War Witch     The explosion takes out the various lesser Minion-class Lost fairly readily, and X's barrage of buster fire nails various others, and even takes down a couple Lieutenants. Which just leaves a bunch of injured and angry Lieutenants, some dinged Bosses, and two who still haven't moved from their starting positions even after taking a sonic explosion to the face. Green energy blasts start flying at the heroes in turn, as other Lost charge forward with melee weapons in hand, and the psychics among them start blasting away at the minds of the Elites. But there is a world of difference in psychic potential between the powerful psychics of the Lost, and the two leaders.

    This is demonstrated when the Pariah Anchorite leans forward, focusing his mind, and unleashes a target mentally-induced sleep effect on the entire hero group at once. Anything they're presently doing, any attacks they're preparing, any spells they're casting, if they succumb to the Anchorite punching their sleep centers with the force of a battering ram, it gets interrupted.

    And then they'd wake back up from their slumber, whether actual sleep or a computer-based power-saving shutdown, or whatever, when they take damage from the continuing bombardment or the huge two-handed blades that come swinging towards them with enough force to hurl a human-sized target across the room.

    The Prelate, the smaller, hooded one, seems not to have the same area-of-effect powers as the Anchorite. But it seems to have a lot more individual power. Because it raises a hand with the wrong number of fingers and directs an individualized hold effect towards Alexis's flygon, trying to overwhelm its mind and make its awareness become lost within its own pained thoughts and memories.

    The whispers surrounding the Prelate seem to be saying, "No more noise." Noise. No more. "You will not roar again." Not ever again. "You will fall." And then the whispers echo that last word in a number of voices of various pitches and intonations. Fall. Fall. You will fall. Fall. Fall. Fall. Fall...



    Its thoughts intrude upon the thoughts of those around it. The Prelate, more than any other Lost, is attuned to the Rikti collective consciousness. The minds of they and the Lost alike bolster its own will.

    "You can not stop The Flood."

    Flood.

                Flood.

You can not stop it.        The Flood you can't--

        Can't.            Can't.

You CAN NOT.

            Stop the...

    Flood.
Silica     Silica huddles toward the back of the group... and is fairly easy prey for the massed psychic 'go to sleep' effect. She wobbles, attempts to fight it briefly, before clumpling over in a heap. Pina chirps, and curls up atop the Cait Sith's chest in much the same manner.

    That is, until one of the green energy bolts comes through and hits her in the leg, waking her up with a sharp yelp of pain.

    Okay, the pain inhibitors are less effective now. Good to know.

    She hops back to her feet, and with a bit of a snarl, begins incanting a return spell. "Ek skýt fjórir ískaldur ör!" the Words of Power slotting in around her, and with the last one, her eyes lock onto the Prelate. The spell manifests four large ice spears, which then lash outwards, aiming to impale the short, hooded psychic. "Stop this!" she quips, after the spell pause finishes.
Alexis The Hold power interacts with Pokemon in a strange but unfortunately effective way. Mirage's wings abruptly lock stiff and the Flygon drops heavily to the ground, as if the move Gravity had been used to cancel out her Levitate ability. Without her midair agility she's a pretty easy target, grabbing her head in her forepaws and hunkering down on the ground too overwhelmed to do much else at the moment.

"Mirage!" But before Alexis can move to help her, she's got her own problems. Aegislash can handle the actual attacks well enough, Steel types are resistant to psychic attacks, so it can still defend her on that front. It's when the whispering chorus of haunting voices rattle through her head that she lets out a string of curses. Alexis and psychics do not get along on the best of terms, especially when it's psychic -mutants-.

Sheer stubborness manages to avoid falling asleep entirely, but finding that powerful Anchorite to be much too similar to goddamn MEWTWO has the normally courageous trainer backing up a few steps, her mind going sluggish from the assault and her own typically stifled anxieties. Why did it have to be psychics? Goddamn PSYCHIC MUTANTS.

However, tormenting the Trainer tends to bring an entirely different wrath upon the one(s) doing so. Even as Alexis is huddling in a angry, confused mess behind her ghost shield, her closest pokemon sense her torment through their bond and deploy themselves. Two flashes of energy consolidate at her sides. One being her Typhlosion, neck collar already a blazing fury. Thermal abilities cause his body temperature to skyrocket, generating a powerful Heat Wave rippling outward towards the mutants.

The other flash materializes with a thunderous roar, and a very pissed off looking Entei. Give a lion the bulk and size of a bear, stick rock spikes and ash smoke on its back, and you get the idea. The chanting of "fall fall fall" rings in his head, but the volcanic legend just narrows his eyes within his mask-like facial features, with a simple yet potent reply.
NO
His response to the Anchorite is much for furious in return for terrorizing the one human that respected him as an actual being rather than a weapon. Another roar, this time to form a massive ball of flames, glowing with ripples of divine gold within the fire, and hurtling the orb of SACRED FIRE at the towering monster.
X X is making progress! Shots for all of those standing in their way... but then.

    Then he staggers, and eyes - said to be the window into the soul by many - fill with static. The template of all Reploids topples down to his knees in a lopsided fashion, but it's pretty clear that he's putting forth gargantuan effort to recalibrate. His limbs twitch and Buster sputters...

    And then... CRUNCH!! Blades hack into his side and knock him into a wall from the sheer momentum. He comes back to his full senses and gathers himself up quickly, but a strange red-brown fluid's leaking from the sizzling and sparking break in his side. The leaking and sparking quickly halts, but it'll be a while before self-repair can really DEAl with that.

    "These... these... are these beings anything at all like humans...?! What are they?!"

    Can they even be reasoned with? Why are his thoughts disjointed and being invaded?! X clutches his own head, teeth clenching. "RrrrrrruuuuuuuuAAAAAGHH!!" UP he vaults, straight to his feet, and LEAPS! X springs off a wall and transitions into a freakish hook-kick for the Anchorite's neck, aiming to not just take him down but plant a series of point blank shots along his body throughout the manuever. If that's not enough, the combo doesn't end there. He displays a BRUTAL and targeted assault on the being, aiming to snap the knees with his full robotic strength and force the thing out of the fight!

    "That settles it! I'm taking all of you down!!"
War Witch     Ice spears rain down on the Prelate, stabbing it, and making it stagger even as it waves one hand and sends a blast of directed psychic energy at Silica. "Die." Die. Die. Die. "Let your mind melt." Melt. Dissolve. Your brain will run out your ears and nose and eyes...

    Waves of fire pour over the others from two different sources, taking down the remaining Headmen Lieutenants, and severely damaging the bosses. Even the Prelate seems staggered by all the flames searing its flesh. The Anchorite roars and leaps up into the air, as X leaps towards it, Rikti sword in hand. The huge mutant clashes with the android in mid-air, as dramatic as an action movie... But unlike in a movie, there are real lives depending on their success here. Even with the evacuation ongoing, if they fail to stop the Rikti, the good guys WILL NOT get all the civilians out of the city in time. They just can't. There isn't enough time, and there's too many people.

    Thankfully, X's body proves to be faster and stronger than the huge Pariah Anchorite's, he succeeds in slamming a metal foot into the mutant's neck, and then blasting his bulky 10 or 12 foot form with plasma shots at point-blank range. When he lands, staggering, and then gets his legs taken out as well, the giant finally goes down.

    That leaves only the injured Prelate, stabbed through with ice, burnt, and with the sonic barrage earlier, he is only still in the fight out of that collective will that pushes its way out of him through his mind, a force greater than the body that channels it.

    "It is coming." it utters as it draws its Rikti sword and charges, regardless of if its mental blast worked on Silica or not. It is the last one among all the allies scattered around on the ground. But it charges anyway.

            It is coming.

                    You can not stop it...

    "You will all be purged!" the Prelate yells. But one more hit from anyone will take it down. And then they can advance beyond the entrance, and start fighting their way through the corridors, the rooms full of machinery, the walk ways overhead, and cleaning up the mess that the Rikti have caused here by taking them out and rescuing the civlians.

    Among them, they will find a key card.

    Meaning it's time to go for the core.
Silica     Silica winces a bit, but thankfully, the Dive buffers her mind against such direct assaults to kill. It still isn't pleasant, an aching throb running through her head as the Prelate tries to melt her brain out. "Melt this you big meanie jerkface!" she crows immaturely, before drawing her dagger to meet the Prelate's sword.

    She charges in, quick as a flash, ducking under the swing of the larger blade, then releasing a kiai-like cry, as her dagger glows with blue-white radiance.

    With rapid motions no normal human should be able to manage, she stabs into the Prelate's back four times, making a diamond-like formation, which then erupts into large ice crystals. She pauses at the end of the motion, as if held in place for a few moments.
Alexis As more of the mutants drop from the combined assaults and X pummels their leader into the ground, Alexis manages to get her wits back in order. Though by the time she's getting fully to her feet with a helpful paw up from Scorch this fight is thankfully pretty much over. "It just had to be fucking psychics." Sure she's acting like usual, but now it's a little more apparent that she's suppressing something deeper there.

There's too many lives depending on them to let her own issues take hold for long though.

After a quick recap she recalls the still cowering Flygon, and the Aegislash as well. He did a good job shielding her while she was discombobulated, but even as a Steel type the battering of so many assaults wore it down.

"Okay you two, we've gotta find that core. Clean out any other trash that gets in our way." Without the ghost weapons to fend herself with, Alexis pulls out her trademark weaponized hockey stick from her pack instead. "No holding back. Too much depending on it." Her two remaining pokemon nod in agreement. A stomp of the heels deploys the rollerblades from her boots, and the trio take off into the corridors.

If this -was- an action movie, this would be the point where there's a montage of things getting beat with a hockey stick, checked into walls rollerderby style, or set on fire in various ways between Entei's geothermal power and Typhlosion being able to make a big fiery ball of hurt out of himself.
X DOWN goes the Anchorite! X rises to a more relaxed position briefly, though he looks FAR from relaxed. He's being forced to inflict considerable injury on organics here, one thing he should never, ever, EVER do.... but he's doing it, because NOT doing so is like telling everyone he's not going to do ANYTHING to protect their livelihoods...

    "Not by you." He replies heatedly to the Prelate... and just starts strolling on forward, seeing Silica about to deliver a coup de grace. Which is disturbing as heck in its own right, but he doesn't have time to afford more than a little FLINCH at the vicious knifing.

    That little girl's fearsome!

    "Where in all of this do you suppose the civilians are TRAPPED?!"
War Witch     After they finish making it to the reactor core following defeating the enemies in the rest of the facility and rescuing the scientists, they are able to unlock it. Inside, there's Rikti assembled, including one in fancy black and silver armor, another in blue and silver, and a whole lot of others.

    They notice almost immediately when the doors open. But it seems they were expecting allies to be bringing them explosives to use on the reactor, so there are a couple seconds of surprise as they see distinctly not-Rikti intruders. Then the rifles, pistols, power armor weapons, swords, and more FREAKING psychic attacks from the one in blue-and-silver come their way, as Rikti monkeys swarm out of the ventilation system and into the hallway behind them, trapping them between hordes of tiny, lethal creatures that create poison gas clouds when they're defeated, and a bunch of aliens with high-tech weapons and mind-blasts in front of them.

    A curse upon whoever came up with competent bad guys!

    "Exclamation:You:Not who we expected!" the Chief Soldier declares as he pulls out one of those big curved Rikti swords with the circulating plasma along the edge... And then pulls an identical sword off of it, and wields them both. Then the Boss charges alongside a half dozen of his men, while they're all bathed in the glow of the reactor, bombarding them with who knows what kind of radiation.
Alexis Down side? That is a WHOLE lot of enemies. Not only in front of them, but swarming into the corridor behind them as well.

Up side? This is at least the enemies Alexis was expecting, so to speak. Time to see if what they've learned about dealing with Rikti holds up any.
"So," Alexis quips even as she reaches one hand for her belt. "Are we trapped in here with them, or are they trapped in here with us?" Because someone has to provide the action one-liners.

As soon as the aliens draw their weapons and charge, Wildfire at her aside doesn't spare a moment in reacting. The Entei throws his head up with a roar, and while it doesn't create volcanos it does carry his embodiment in such that causes the ground to shake and rumble with Earth Power, possibly throwing some of that charging horde violently off their feet.

Alexis flicks a third pokeball free, bringing her Mawile back into the fight. At first it's strange that the 'mon would actually turn her back towards the charging attack, but it becomes apparent why when she opens the 'mouth' of the pinchers hanging off her head and a billowing spew of sparkling pink and silver Fairy Wind blasts out of it.

Scorch on the other hand is the one to turn around, and make a face at the alien munkkys swarming out of the air ducts. His flames ignite again, but this time instead of a volatile blast the Typhlosion goes for strategic and exhales flames into a hot wall of fire around the alien pests, trying to keep them and their poison cloud deaths away from the others with Fire Spin.
X There's a strange clarity and certainty in X's eyes. He's not even of a mood to TRY negotiation or talking. He doesn't wait a moment, taking stock of the situation the instant the door wooshes open. A decision's made, a tactical decision to FLOOR these invaders as quickly and efficiently as possible!

    His armor-skin shimmers, shades of blue exchanging for a primary of silver-grey and crimson trim! "Barrier Field!"

    X reaches out with the Buster, and a number of PANELS open across its circumference that didn't EXIST a few moments ago. The weapon reconfigured itself?!

    Raw energy crackles and sizzles, quickly forming into a translucent blue energy field that's hovering out twice arm's length in front of X, wide enough to protect an approaching tank... and definitely all of his allies! Unless they choose to abandon its protection.

    High-tech blasts slam into the barrier, making it glow and ripple at the points of impact... but it'll take a bit to bring THAT down!

    Either that, or when X's Weapon Energy fails. Which won't take long...

    But for now, he CHARGES forward as fast as he can... using the barrier like a RAM to force the Rikti against a wall if they can't pierce it in time!
Silica     Silica yelps as those monkey things start swarming out of the vents. Looks like she can't hang back and heal after all! "Pina! Bubble Breath!" she commands her companion, pointing at the hoard of monkey aliens. In between the spiralling flames, little bubbles appear, and those that aren't roasted by the flames, find a bubble popping on their nose, or somewhere on their face. The skill is mean to be a short-term temporary stun.

    The Cait Sith, meanwhile, lifts her hands again, invoking a different spell. "Þeír fylla heilagr austr, brott svalr bani." If she's not interrupted, Alexis and her 'mon, as well as X, would find themselves bathed in a soft green light, a 'film' of 'water' covering their wounds and helping speed the healing process. It also mildly reinvigorates energy. "I'll stay on support! Most of my strong attacks are in close quaters and I'd get gunned down before I could get close!" she says to her allies... though keeps her Dagger drawn and ready.
War Witch     The battle that follows is hard fought. Rikti battle armor is more advanced than anything found on Primal Earth. While the rank and file soldiers' armor is not quite as high quality, the bosses like the Chief Mesmerist and Chief Soldier take damage as though they were main battle tanks on two legs. The psychic is even resistant to control effects thanks to his prodigious mental powers. The heroes probably should have had more allies with them when they took on this mission, but they are holding their own, and gradually, between the lethal claws and fangs of agile little alien monkeys with poison blood, energy weapons and plasma-edged swords, psychic attacks, flame blasts and stunning bubbles, force field rams... And when the Rikti Monkeys fall during combat, it's only for Rikti Portals to open and reinforcements to start pouring out, because of COURSE there would be.

    The Rikti don't fight fair. Why fight fair when you can fight like player characters after all? Through three waves of reinforcements, AND the forces that were already here, and two Bosses, one of whom is taken down and then revived by another Rikti with healing powers at one point...

    Silica's healing and X's early efforts at shielding them from that first, withering barrage of fire, are what keep them going. That and their determination to not let a whole city die.

    The fight lasts about twenty minutes but it feels like they've been fighting for their lives for hours by the time it's over. The walls and flooring are damaged from a mix of weapons fire, blades, ACTUAL fire, and who knows what else. But finally, likely battered, bruised, sparking and torn, but able to recover if Silica has magic left to spend at the end of it...

    They stand victorious.

    The Rikti are a dangerous, clever, resourceful enemy. And with an entire spaceship full of them back at the Crash Site, there's no way this is the last they've seen of them. But today, for certain, they've put an end to the plan to blow up the nuclear reactor.

    Today, at least, the heroes won. And millions of lives beyond their own were saved as a direct result of their actions, and the help of other heroes who were part of the Task Force assisting in an orderly evacuation, to prevent people from dying in a panicked exodus. Other heroes around the city stayed here, holding out hope that this Task Force would succeed, while stopping looters, looking for anyone trapped or unable to escape, even knowing that if the Task Force failed, they themselves would not get out of the city in time.

    Their faith was rewarded. But it was not faith that won this day. It was the ability and willingness to fight for the sake of others, and catching wind of the plan in the first place.

    And now, it's time to rest, and report in their success.
Silica     Silica, by the end of it all, is covered in red 'Damage' decals, some slash marks, other 'radial' marks from plasma blasts. She's panting softly, but lifts her hands one last time, incanting the Healing spell once more, before collapsing down onto her backside. "Whew... good job... that, was a tough fight." she chirps, leaning back on her hands, and splaying her legs out in front of her.
Alexis Sometimes the answer to life's problems is just a purpose, a lot of guts, and being too damn stubborn for one's own good.

We've got metric loads of fire in various ways, to the point that Scorch even cranks up to give one of the big bosses a face full of Blast Burn, and manages to soak through the stallout after the ultimate attack mainly thanks to Silica's healing support.

A great fiery beast gets pummeled from all sides by lasers and swords and psychic blasts, but dishes it out in return just as hard with unrelenting volcanic fury. Not only great plumes of almost divine fire, but massive crushing paws and flaming fangs as well.

Mawile spends most of the fight being a little gremlin, remembering last time and having Stealth Rock up before the portals even start spewing out more reinforcements, and occasionally interrupting an attack with Sucker Punch or getting underfoot with Play Rough to trip them up.

Alexis is no stranger to fighting herself, though she mainly uses her hockey stick to trip legs and check aliens against the wall, leaving them dazed for her more powerful compatriots to finish off. The kinetic amplifier of the weaponized stick does give it some extra ump in getting through that armor, though.

For what seems like forever the waves after waves of enemies continue. But in the end it trickles off, and one stubborn angry Trainer and her trio of critter combantants are the ones, despite being battered and bruised and hanging on because of the healing and strategic support in the fight, still standing. Or at the least, leaning on each other for support from exhaustion.

Hurt and exhausted isn't quite enough to keep Alexis from grabbing one of the last remaining Rikti and yanking it forward... only to go t'hell about the armor and put a fist right into it's what passes for a head. "WELCOME TO EARTH!"

Because I've been waiting all damn night to use that reference. Deal with it.
X It's finally over.

    X collapses into a heap of sorts, dropping down onto one knee. He's covered in sparking gashes and nasty-looking rents in his armor, and the crimson gem mounted in his helmet's throbbing with light, clearly some kind of warning. TOUCHING HIM is probably a bad idea, for the robot's heat dissipation is clearly compromised and not safe for biologicals at the moment. The air around him ripples and getting too close is like sticking your face into an oven.

    "For some of that... I didn't think we'd win." It feels almost like a miracle that they DID win, what with so many reinforcements constantly pouring through...
War Witch     Once they've reported in, the heroes get the following message.

    "Well, well, Task Force. Congratulations! You pulled off the biggest save Paragon City has seen since the days of the first Rikti Invasion! All of Paragon City owes you a debt of gratitude today, my friends. Let me be the first to say thank you." says Major Richard Flagg over the radio. "If I were you, I'd get over to Freedom Corps headquarters in Galaxy City. There's a man there named James Wolfe who specializes in understanding the effects of radiation. After a day like this one, it wouldn't hurt to have him check you out."

    Badge Earned: Transmogrified