Scene #8095: Agents of BUILD

Owner	Pose
Operator	Vegas has always been called the city of vice and the den of sin, but looking at it today, it seems more like the literal fourth circle of hell than anything metaphorical. Demons stride the streets, unleashing fiery blasts or just crushing the fleeing vacationers and locals underfoot. And if that's not bad enough, flying saucers hover menacingly overhead, occasionally firing down tractor beams to abduct a human, and lasers at humans they deem unfit for abductions. They also seem to take special offence at the kitschy neon signs that depict aliens, pyramids, and cowboys for some reason. As people flee, a message blares over the myriad sound systems throughout the city, a rallying cry for those willing to fight this incursion. A cry made in a voice that oozes machismo, even with the tinny crackle of ancient speakers corrupting it. "Those alien bastards have teamed up with the bastards from hell! But don't you worry. The Agents of BUILD have been keeping an eye on them. We got a plan, but we need help. Come on down to the Strip and find our offices. If you can fight through those packs and reach me, then you've passed the test, a BUILD-certified ass-kicker. We'll stop 'em both, together!" The nearest warpgate to the Strip is surrounded by the ruins of gift booths and scattered racks of city maps. Right from the start, interdimensional visitors would have been getting bilked for cash, that's Vegas baby. Mercifully, you are all spared that, but not the traffic. The Strip is absolutely choked with cars, which now basically serve as canned food for the demons, and free pickings for the aliens. Navigating it would be a nightmare, so the best bet would be to cut through a nearby casino to reach the source of the voice. The sound of screams from within indicate it might be worth a visit no matter what.
Timespace Riders	Sougo's first visit to Vegas isn't what he'd hoped it would be. Emerging from the warpgate, his concerned expression is soon hidden behind the watch-themed faceplate of his armor. Zi-O's silver straight sword is brandished in one hand, and he strides through the packed Strip purposefully. "Run for it!" Knocking on the windows of cars, the pink-and-silver armored hero urges those trying for ill-advised travel to abandon their cars and run for it on foot, defending with superhuman slashes of that sword. Each strike creates an explosive arc of pink energy at the point of impact--more than enough force to give fleeing motorists-turned-pedestrians a fighting chance at escape. <J-IC-Scene> Hellwarming Duo \| Utsuho says, "You know anything about this BUILD... Thing?" <J-IC-Scene> Ozhira says, "We do not know." <J-IC-Scene> Sougo Tokiwa says, "I thought I did, but this seems different than the Build I know. Still..." Fighting his way to the casino, Zi-O procures--Build!--a red and blue pocketwatch. "I've got a good feeling about this!" It's slotted into the left side of the Driver around his waist as he leaps from car to car. The LCD chronometer on the belt reads AU25. The frantic ticking of a clock is heard, before Zi-O spins the Driver. ARMOR TIME! A disembodied suit of armor, split red and blue down the middle. Pauldrons resemble chemical storage canisters, while the helmet's face has clock hands resembling a tank's cannon and a rabbit's ear. The disembodied armor mimics Zi-o's motions, before breaking apart in pieces to snap into place over him. o/` BUILD-O! o/` Best Match! Running a finger up the side of the tank-cannon-clock-hand on his helmet, he gets Build's catchphrase wrong, with a flick of his index. "The laws of victory have been set!" His sword has changed into a drill with black-yellow caution stripes. The now red-and-blue rider brandishes the drill-sword, revving it up to pierce through anything in his way with the power of science he really doesn't understand at all, and also, brute strength.
Hellwarming Trio	"That's... Bad, right?" "Yeah, that's pretty bad alright." "But what's wrong with being from Hell?" "That's just humans being humans. There's dumb ones with them, too!" The hell raven and the kasha with a suspicious cart both have their hands on their chins in feigned thought as they look over the ruins of Vegas, watching the various demons and saucers running/floating amok while causing quite a stir among the people trying to escape. Helping those people out is certainly part of the plan, and shooting their assailants down would probably be the most straightforward option, but... "You know anything about this BUILD... Thing?" "Never heard of 'em! Looks like we might get a clearer shot to wherever those guys are if we get in there, though." Rin points at the many cars being wrenched open, and she hesitates from actually committing to heading for the casinos right away. "There sure are a lotta humans bitin' it, though... We could snatch up all sortsa bodies, y'know?" "Yeah, but you know everyone else would get mad." Utsuho gives her friend a light prod with her rod, then takes off with a flap of her wings towards the nearest casino. Rin, letting out all sorts of irritated and troubled noises at not being able to go body-snatching, relents eventually and takes off while seated upon her cart. The pair blast away at whatever demons and saucers are in their path as they move, swinging around each other in midair while firing off colorful bursts of white and blue fire along the way. A third figure in a gray cloak trails further along behind the pair, alternating between hiding in alleyways and just straight up flying at them when they're busy shooting things further ahead.
Ozhira	With people evacuating through the warp gate and others big and small arriving through it to confront the incident, it's rather easy to miss a relatively small, teenaged-looking black haired girl emerging and scurring to one side, slipping through the crowd in ways that doesn't really disturb them, no matter how tightly packed the evacuees get in their panic. This same girl emerges from the crowd into the casino itself, pausing and looking up with her mouth slightly agape-- shark-like teeth showing, "Ah..." Her body stretches in an awkward way until it separates; producing an identical double with a black tie instead of a red tie. Black Tie Ozhira dips back and ascends suddenly to the ceiling on crimson threads while Red Tie Ozhira trots after Zi-O. Demons and Aliens who attempt to attack the Red-Tie Ozhira are attacked from above by spines or acid or yanked up by scarlet tendrils into gaping maws of teeth belonging to a misshapen nightmare horror slithering across the ceiling, having adopted the same color as the ceiling tiles. Red-Tie doesn't seem to notice this, calling out to Sougo as she approaches with one hand raised, "We are. Here. We hunt Bastards. Do we move forward?"
Hiromi	Even if alien and demonic invasions weren't enough battle to attract Hiromi on their own, the clear challenge posed by the mystery voice would be enough to seal the deal. A test of might isn't something from which she can easily back down. It's certainly hotter here than she'd like, her size being better suited for retaining heat in colder environments, but dressing lightly and keeping to her two-legged form makes that easy enough to endure. 'You know anything about this BUILD... Thing?' Hiromi doesn't, but... "One posing tests. 'Certified.' Recognized, guaranteed. A judge of strength. Is theirs wise judgment? I will see." The gift booths are a mystery to her, much as any old ruin (even if this one isn't old), and a curious one. Moments after stepping through the warpgate, she stops to lean in and collect large fistfuls of comically oversized dice, scattered from their packaging. She puzzles over the plastic cubes for a bit before glancing over the other overpriced souvenirs, and some memory clicks. Ah. "I see. A city of games. Understanding, now. Poor for war, yes?" Her approach toward the indicated destination is an unhurried one, but neither is it likely for anything to slow her down. Energy bolts from flying craft hit around her, or strike directly for smoking results without fire, and no blood shed. In return, she spins and hurls three of her still-carried dice, held between her fingers, with a thundercrack of a broken sound barrier and enough force to take them through a target and into high orbit. That they have been made durable enough to survive such use is an ability she's never seen cause to explain. 'Demons' are more fun, from Hiromi's perspective. 'Ground-bound predators' are her field, as well as a heavy point of her personal nature. She leaps in with a wolf's grin, making testing strikes that allow for one attempt at a return each, but immediately punishing any failure to move or wound her with either a cannon-like punch or a limb-grab that ends in spine-shattering flailing against nearby surfaces. It's a frantic, gruesome, messy, and largely effective form of combat, save that it opens her for plenty of retaliation, a fact she accepts and expects. Along the way, she does look for humans caught in the middle. To each, she growls an order. The meaning is inescapably understandable, and enforced by the strength of her will. "If you think yourself a fighter, or if you would be strong, join me. If not, seek safety underground, or flee far, beneath cover." If there are any in Vegas who would claim to possess strength, she'd waste her presence in not taking the opportunity to judge them.
Operator	Though he might be a Japanese superhero, Sougo is a superhero nonetheless, and the civilians know to respect their orders in a time of crisis. They use the warpgates to get out of the hotzone, abandoning their cars to the hordes. Meanwhile, the alien craft come under fire from hurled dice. Energy shields fizzle into existence to try and deflect them, but they break with the sound of tearing cloth magnified and run through an aqueduct. One is destroyed outright, and another descends into a wobbly flight path. The dice are hot in the casino. Indeed, everything is hot, because fires are raging and sprinkler systems can't do enough to quell them. Slots and electronic poker machines crackle their merry jingles through warping, melting speakers as the glossy exteriors of the tables burn away to reveal their cheap wooden construction. Even now, there are people in here trying to take advantage of the chaos, scooping up loose casino chips and even trying to break into cash registers. These ones flees when Hiromi growls at them. But others struggle to protect their fellow man, put out fires and clear escape routes. These ones are heartened by her words, and take up whatever arms they can. Pool cues, broken bottles, one claims a sword hung over a fireplace. The hordes of hell wander these halls too of course. Small, impish demons who scurry about, clinging on walls and ceiling akin to one of the Ozhira and fling fireballs before running away, attempting to lead the group towards larger demons. Gigantic, swollen red heads with singular eyeballs who spit up searing balls of plasma at the elites. And the risen dead, human corpses who use pack tactics to try and overwhelm. But even the residents of the afterlife can die. Sougo's drill sword sends their blood and guts flying with each slice and boring thrust. They are burned by Ozhira's acid, and can be consumed (they taste overwhelmingly like eggs that has gone bad). Hiromi's blows pulverize them into fine mists of blood and bone scraps. The jury is still out on the element chart between hellfire and nuclear fire, so Utsuho's danmaku sears them to the bone. Those demon bones will burn just as nicely, the hellcat will find (and their stalker will naturally find their path cleared thanks to the Elites). Once through the casino, the group find themselves in a plaza beneath a glassy skyscraper. The word 'BUILD' adorns the top of it in grey and red lettering. It's also very much on fire, with several windows blown out, and the distant sound of gunshots echoing down from the top floor. Here, police and soldiers have established a defensive line, but hellgates and reverse tractors keep lighting the place up and giving them too much to handle to go inside and help. And then one final explosion takes out the top ten floors. A window washing cab begins to plummet, and someone is riding it, with demons clinging to the side to attack them. But with gunshots and fierce kicks, they are dispatched one by one until the cab bounces off the side of the casino behind the Elites, slowing its falling velocity and warping it into a cage. Now, finally, does it impact the pavement. One final demon crawls away, battered and bruised, when a booted foot makes an exit in the side of the cab. Their owner strides up to the wounded demon and says, "When you get back to hell, tell 'em Duke sent ya." A golden Desert Eagle puts a bullet in the impish thing's head. The man holding it is the embodiment of the word 'macho.' A blonde crew cut, square jaw, sunglasses, a tight red top with suspenders heavy with ammo pouches and pipe bombs. His bare arms burst with muscle, and his tight jeans show that the same kind of build is below too. His belt buckle bears the symbol for ionizing radiation. He looks over, and in the same voice that was blaring on the speakers, he asks, "'sup. You the asskickers I was hoping for?"
Hellwarming Trio	"Whoa! Okuu, you see that?" "The fires?" "Nah, over there! The Rider!" "That doesn't look like any of the ones we've seen, though." "Who cares? It's cool! And there's a human following him!" ""Ah, they'll be fine. We just need to protect the weaker ones, anyway, right?" "Or grab 'em. Besides, I'm sure that big lady's taking care of 'em fiiine." "Pretty sure she's just having fun fighting." Utsuho gives Rin another smack on the back to get her mind back on task as they fight their way to the casino, loitering briefly to watch Hiromi at work before trailing behinhd Zi-O and Red Tie Ozhira. They're actually pretty careful not to get in the way of the fleeing civilians, too, between Utsuho raising her rod to avoid burning or smacking them by accident while Rin keeps her cart floating overhead both to avoid running over people and to act as cover against the oncoming fireballs and plasma projectiles. "Keep it moving, humans! You heard... Uh. Zi-O!" Utsuho calls out while gesturing towards the exit from where she had come in from, dashing forward to intercept a zombie before it can sink its teeth into someone before immolating both it and herself in a burst of flame. "Yeah, if you don't wanna die, keep it movin'!" Rin follows up while pulling ahead to guide Utsuho towards that plaza, squinting at the sight of the BUILD skyscraper briefly before joining the line of defenders and aiding them through the application of yet more wide-area flaming projectiles. The pair wince when that washing cab clatters and crashes behind them, expecting to see a bloody mess in there right until someone calling himself Duke emerges from it with a golden gun and a familiar enough voice. Utsuho goes right up to him with a confident grin and pointing a thumb at herself, leaning over briefly to fire another wave of nuclear fire past the defensive line while Rin takes a few more moments to stare at the MUSCLES. "That's right. Junior Detective Utsuho!" "... Huh? Oh! Junior Detective Rin! And we are-" "We just did that." "Oh. Uh. A-anyway! Yeah, that's us. What's the situation, bro?" The figure tailing the two (technically six or so by now) continues staying further away, occasionally moving aside or around corners moments before another demon comes rushing through only to get gunned down by the line again.
Timespace Riders	"Oh, hi!" Zi-O makes an enthusiastic nod towards Ozhira. After striking a demon with a high-impact roundhouse and following up with two advancing hip-shoulder cuts from the drill-sword, "We definitely should! Whoever's in there has a plan to fix this, and we'll be better off working together!" The path through the casino, fraught with flaming furniture and fire-spitting demons, is traversed with a brisk, determined stride. Breaking into the plaza, Zi-O keeps his guard up, and takes a brief survey of the surroundings. The destruction has spread even here--and, spotting the person on the cage, he cries, "Look out!" The rider sprints towards it as it plummets. Soon enough, however, he finds he needn't worry--with an endearingly genuine 'uwoh' of stunned admiration, Zi-O watches Duke dispatch his pursuers, emerging armed and unharmed. Is Zi-O an asskicker? "Um... well... I don't know if I'd put it that way!But helping people makes me happy." He gestures around, vaguely--the blown-out skyscraper, the crumpled cab, the general flaming state of everything. "And I can't allow this to continue." Extending an armored hand for a shake, the very un-macho rider introduces himself. "I'm Sougo Tokiwa. But when I'm armored like this, you can call me Zi-O. You said that you had a plan--I'm all ears."
Hiromi	Scurrying imps that are nimble and lucky enough to avoid her pounce are instead subject to projectiles, just as the UFOs were, if somewhat restrained indoors. 'Restraint' isn't something for which Hiromi is well-known, but she can minimize the shockwave and place only small holes through walls and ceilings when exploding agile enemies with whatever comes to hand -- and anything counts, whether it be billiard balls or abandoned glasses. Broken glass is a valid weapon, too, its shards good for multiple targets, and she shows an uncannily practiced ease in not cutting herself while manipulating half a dozen pieces at once. But for those that have difficulty avoiding her for long, it's her claws she favors, intercepting fireballs with tossed furniture and upended tables, whether they're targeting her or nearby humans, and then vaulting over them stab her fingers through eyes, or swipe her arm through masses of the risen dead. She's swift, but not careful, and some do get through, if only to the point of leaving scratches that she sees fit to ignore. Before leaving the casino grounds, Hiromi selects a few of those who had heeded the call to defend their fellows. She wipes her own bloody brow, gestures those self-armed defenders to come to her and, with that blood, carefully annoints each one. "You've chosen well. Now, survive. Long enough to grow. My blessings ensure this. Protect your pack." Kind, kin, family, fellows, community, nation. All their wounds will heal, if they live, and their strength will grow for each enemy defeated. It's the kindest she can and will do for them, though fighting through the pain remains their challenge. As it should be. Given the opportunity, Hiromi keeps a careful eye on the other elites fighting, but has time for no immediate comment before she's distracted by the sound of some massive explosion far above her. From her reflexive response, ears of that size are likely sensitive to such things. It doesn't take long to wait for the Duke to appear. "I am Hiromi," she says again, rising to her full, towering height, and this time, though it also produces that radio buzzing, hearing her in person allows one to hear the layers of meaning beneath it. To say her name in that manner is always to refer to her, specifically, and to say every possible epithet at once, The Archwolf and The Final Hunter among them. The intersection of those meanings, something that can't be precisely defined in words, is Hiromi. "You challenged." That's how she interpreted it, anyway. "I answered." She makes an expansive gesture. "Other-worlders. Hell-creatures. Necromancers. These, your enemies?" She considers. "Their leaders, strong, yes? You'll seek them." She assumes this to be true, because it is the only course sensible to her. "Your plan, explain it."
Ozhira	One of the big round demons is skewered by a barbed bone spine, then hauled into the ceiling in a spray of glowing blue blood. Moments later, the mangled carcass is dropped back down in a messy heap and the creature in the ceiling lets out a retching sound. At floor level, Ozhira's lips twist into a frown, "...This meat. Tastes rotten. We can eat. But we will not like it." The Devourer does change their tactic, though. The 'eat the monsters' trap sees far less use. More favoring bone harpoons and acid and-- at least once, a high-voltage electrical jolt. All sourced from the monstrosity slithering across the casino's high ceiling, rather than the young woman trotting along behind Zi-O. This doesn't make the more visible Ozhira less of a target, naturally. By the time the pair has crossed paths with the window-washing cab and its brawny occupant, the girl(?) is covered in various burns and scorch marks. Duke's violent entrance is met with a wide-eyed stare. That minor awe that Ozhira is probably known for at this point. Something messy and crimson splatters down in the casino entrance, then slops itself out to meet with Ozhira and Zi-O; rising up as it does so until it resolves into Black Tie Ozhira once again. She only comes to a stop when she is standing beside the original Red Tie Ozhira. "We are not sure if we are 'asskickers'." "We hunt. We bite. We stab. "If this will work. We will hunt the Bastards for you."
Operator	Duke produces a cigar from one of his many pouches and lights it up as everyone introduces themselves. Looking at Utsuho and Rin, he raises an eyebrow as he sizes them up, as if trying to decide if the cat ears, wings, or control rod arm are dealbreakers or not. But when they say that they are 'Junior Detectives,' that seems to settle it. "All right, none of that Holmes crap from now on. You're Junior Asskickers now." Zi-O gets a long look at Duke takes in his garish armor, but his gaze drifts towards that drill sword and he smirks. "As long as you're helping the right kind of people die with that thing, you're on the team buddy." A playful thump on the chest follows with just a little too much force behind it. As Hiromi draws herself up to full height, Duke is forced to look up at her. And immediately, a grin crosses his face. "Damn right I challenged babe. I'm all about being the best, gotta prove it." She asks if the enemy leaders are strong, and he flexes. "Not as strong as me, but strong enough sure. And they're a pain in the ass, so we're gonna deal with them." She's in, and he looks glad. The Ozhira twins do not get the same appraising look that the yokai and Hiromi did. Rather, Duke actually bends down to look them both in the eye. "You both sound like asskickers to me. You're in." A playful tousling of the hair follows, much gentler than the thump that Souga got. "Right, the plan. Another BUILD agent was gonna hijack one of the alien ships and pick me up. From there, we were gonna take the fight to their mothership. But since these bastards didn't like my choice of decor, we'll have to meet up elsewhere." He looks up and down the Strip, as if trying to figure out the best place to go. "We're making for the Mandalay Bay Convention Centre, got it? That building." He points to a broad, relatively low to the ground one that is mostly whole. It's across the road, so weaving through the cars, demons, and avoiding fire from the alien craft will be an issue. "We get to the roof and send the signal." He slides a new clip into that gold plated gun and breaks into a run, leaping from car to car with a manly grunt behind each jump. Those who accepted Hiromi's blessing join up with the police and soldiers to split up and start helping survivors. The moment that feet hit the road, the attacks begin. Demons built like gorillas with pink, bloody skin, horns, and wide yowling mouths starts tossing cars aside to rush the group. Skeletons clad in armor with rocket packs soar overhead and rain down missiles. A tall, gaunt figure wrethed in flame raises their arms overhead and spreads fire rapidly, causing gas tanks to ignite and explode. And the whole while, the saucers rain down sizzling, rapid fire blasts of hot plasma, concentrated laser beams that continually track and cut through cars on their way to slice flesh. Another sends down its tractor beam, trying to pluck Elites from the ground. All the while, Duke proves he's no slouch. He leaps over one of those charging demons, wrapping his arm around its neck and riding it like a mechanical bull before force-feeding it one of those pipe bombs and leaping off before the explosion replaces their head with a stomp. Another of the flame manipulating demons gets shot by a strange gun that causes them to shrink to the size of a mouse before Duke's boot pulverises them. And all the while, that golden Deagle constantly fires heavy rounds that scatter the skulls of those soaring demons to dust. Unfortunately though, he seems to lack the heavy firepower needed to bring down the alien crafts.
Hellwarming Trio	"Don't worry about it. We're totally asskickers." "... Heh." "What? I said kickers!" The two's bickering ceases rather quickly as Duke shows off his cool chops between the cigar, the lighting up, and deciding on a new title for them. They exchange looks that are equal parts curious and confused, look back at Duke, then start hooting and hollering in excitement. Clearly, they are psyched about the new title. "Yeaaah!" "Junior asskickers!" "We're moving up now!" They blast off a few more waves of fire at the oncoming demons and aliens in their excitement, but settle down soon enough once Duke goes on to explain what's going on with the current situation. Sadly, they don't know a thing about hijacking cars, never mind alien ships. "We could fly up there." "Yeah, but we can't carry EVERYONE here. Too heavy." "Wow. Can't believe you're calling them fat." "Wh...! I-I wasn't...! Let's just hurry up already!" With Rin sufficiently taunted, Utsuho flies off after Duke followed by the kasha. They stay in the air as they rain down even more flames at the oncoming gorilla demons, swerving to avoid getting hit head on by those missiles or blasting right through them with stubbornness and bodies wreathed in flames. When the saucers start adding some heavier firepower to the mix, Utsuho starts focusing her beams to try and burn right through them while Rin sends her cart after anyone caught in those tractor beams to help weigh them down instead of just letting them get carried off. What the pair don't notice, however, is that despite already forgetting about those missile-firing skeletons and the car-tossing gorillas, they're actually being covered by the third figure! Even from the shadows, the third person fires off colorful blasts of magic to draw the demons' attention away from the youkai, even launching what looks like actual bullets at them from time to time.
Hiromi	Hiromi nods her agreement with this plan, such as it is. Getting to some place to signal an ally to guide them to the leader. The enemies in the way of their path will be unfortunate(?) casualties, a natural result of so many not seeing the wisdom of sending out their strongest to get the job done in the first place. Maybe that wouldn't work with 'demons,' anyway, but she isn't sure. She's had only limited success getting humans to understand the reasoning, and so many have died in the process of proving its value. Ah, well. Having new opponents is fun on its own, even if those she leaves torn into pieces or smashed to thin layers of pulp over the surroundings won't have the opportunity to put any lessons into practice. By standing in her way, that's the natural result. She can't take it easy on them just because the lesson will be wasted. That would be to deny her own self. To challenge an impossibly stronger opponent, without consideration for one's own survival, is to be destroyed, and that's a fact of the world she won't change. Ozhira makes the request, and Hiromi is happy to oblige, laughing, "Good! The most troublesome enemy, you're eager to hunt." Rather than spending her time finding something to throw through each, or to get up there herself and leave the solid ground she prefers, Hiromi grabs onto the nearest Ozhira-body's arm, takes a step forward, and follows through into the throw like she was hurling a javelin at the center point of the largest UFO in sight.
Timespace Riders	Zi-O nods firmly. Unprepared for the thump, he stumbles slightly--but his chuckle makes it hard to imagine he disliked the gesture. Listening to the plan, he once more nods his assent. "Got it!" While he's not a master of his weapons, Zi-O brings a wide breadth to bear against the invading forces. Keeping pace with Duke, he leaps from car-to-car, meeting the hurled ones with strikes of the sword to bat them away or else drill straight through them. The drill-sword spins rapidly enough to carry him forward on his thrusts, piercing through charging demons unwise enough to stand in single file amidst the gridlocked street. His leaps cause the red part of his armor to glow, adding force to the liftoff--but more importantly, to the impact of his foot crashing against any of the bloody-skinned demons still in his way on his descent. Missiles harry him on his landing, impacts throwing him through the air to slam into the undercarriage of a burning, overturned car. With a determined shout, he rises to his feet. A laser pistol appears in his free hand, in a shade of blue matching the other side of his armor. Much like Duke's Deagle, it packs an immense punch, the emitter engulfed entirely by the wide, blinding shots the bulky think fires. Easily large enough to cover most of the torso of the jetpack skeletons, these blasts soon fill the air as Zi-O runs the rest of the gauntlet to get clear of the plasma raining down all around. Between sword-assisted lunges, armor-boosted leaps and a fair helping of brutal advancing attacks, Zi-O is determined to fight his way across the street and inside. "Where'd you learn to fight, Duke? I've never seen moves like that!"
Ozhira	When their respective hairs are mussed, both Ozhiras (Ozhiri?) dip their heads with eyes closed, letting out slightly different tones of the same surprised noise at Duke's forwardness. As he spells out the plan to relocate and send up a signal, though, Duke is rewarded with the image of Black Tie Ozhira leaning against Red Tie Ozhira until the two just sort of...snap into one another, like bubbles merging into a single, larger one. "We understand," the singular girl states, lifting her gaze past Duke to the UFO-laden skies with that slightly-agape mouth that shows all of those shark-like teeth, "Airships..." After a moment's thought, the monster turns her head, "Hiromi. If we may rewuest. Would you throw us to them?" The wolf's response is jubilent. She reaches; finds purchase on the girl's arm, and has no trouble whatsoever lifting the smaller Devourer. Mass shifts and soft flesh hardens, reshaping quickly into a dense, barbed harpoon of bone and chitinous protrusions by the time Hiromi's released; hurling the Beast into the skies. Something cracks loudly over the din of gunfire, and the javelin splits. The center-most spear continues on its aimed path; while the others scatter towards other UFOs.
Hiromi	Leaving the UFO menace to others, Hiromi turns her attention the charging gorilla demons. They swipe aside cars to get at her, and she takes them head on, claw to clawed grasp, leaning in to the charge with her feet set, cracking concrete when she slides backwards. Then, with a twist of her hips, she launches the first into the air, following up its lack of footing with her own foot to its side, impacting as a shattering shot to send it bouncing off someone else's (previously intact) car and out of sight. The second she leans in under, grabs around the waist, shifts her grip to its legs, and swing into a third. The third she leaps over, grabs for a row of traffic lights to tear off as a weapon of longer reach, and-- --gets caught in a tractor beam. Having already broken the pole of lights, and having nowhere to touch to get her feet back on the ground, and no actual flight capability, there's no way for her to dodge the barrage of both plasma and rockets. There's only the small window, which she seizes in the center of the massed explosions, to hit the one traffic pole against another, turn and hook it, then use her left hand as the fulcrum to tear the steel support halfway out of the concrete in the process of levering herself back to the ground. One earthquaking stomp breaks the street, but fails to produce enough natural earth for her to call on, here surrounded by the city. Quickly moving to the next step despite her disappointment, Hiromi launches herself forward, weaving between cars at a rapid clip, twisted traffic pole still held in both hands. Her wounds are, naturally, already healing, if only enough not to bother her. She aims, brings her street weapon down on the next demon to be so unfortunate as to be directly before her path, spears it, plans the broken end of steel into the ground, and accelerates her pole-vault by pushing off it at the last moment, only-practically flying the last space before reaching the top of the convention center. Almost, rather. She impacts several feet short, then pulls herself up and over.
Operator	The Junior Asskickers find that the flying skeletons are easy to crush under the full impact of Utsuho's burning tackles. That armor can only be so defensive when the wearer must also fly. Her nuclear flames also scare the saucers, forcing them to divert cause or face the dangers of overheated shields. One of them she manages to sear the edge of clean off, and break whatever gravity manipulating technology they use. It immediately crashes into one one of the many towering casinos that make up Vegas and explode! Meanwhile, the stalker pulls aggro from the two with long-ranged shots, luring the demons over, only for them to be met with gunfire from the nearby soldiers. "Get away from them!" one calls to the hooded figure, waving them over. Ozhira merges into one (getting a startled look from Duke, but he covers it with a cough), and is fastball special'd into the sky. The UFO's don't have time to adjust their firing patterns to intercept the flesh javelin, especially when it abruptly splits. In a spot of irony, now the invaders get to experience what it's like to have their vehicles treated like tinned food. The shields are designed to intercept energy blasts and kinetic weapons, not organic matter, so Ozhira goes right through them and pierces the hulls. The invaders within attempt to fight against the angry flesh, but these are crewmen, not soldiers. They taste much better than the demons did, rich with strange amino acids and fats. Meanwhile, back on the ground, the Kamen Rider and chief asskicker often find themselves back to back, firing their guns in opposite directions to cover each other. The musclehead doesn't have much in the way of melee options himself, but his kicks pack a lot of force, so he tends to use that to redirect them onto Zi-O's blade. "Not bad tincan. But I still think my belt is cooler." He does a crotch chop to emphasize the hazard symbol. Hiromi acts as bullfighter in this crush, sending the charging monsters flying over and over until a tractor actually manages to snag her. Cleverly, she uses traffic lights to wrench herself free (and actually pull the offending craft down more as she resists), and pole vaults to land straight on the roof just as everyone else makes it through and barges through the doors. But something is already inside. It's like a giant brain hooked up to a robotic spider. A ghoulish, skull-like robotic face has been appended to the front of it just so it can snarl at the Elites. It has a scorpion-like tail, but rather than a stinger, it terminates in some kind of futuristic weapon that it fires in a narrow green beam up at the roof, aiming to bring it (and Hiromi) down on the heads of Duke and co. "I've had enough of you demon bastards in my city!" Duke shouts, dodging the falling debris and lobbing a cluster of pipe bombs so they roll under the cybernetic monstrosity. The resulting explosions kick up enough dust and smoke to obscure and blind it. "Kill it quick, before it brings the whole place down!"
Ozhira	Each instance of the Ozhira-javelin shotgun spray that manages to bury itself into UFO hull goes soft, writhing and disappearing into their respective vessels interiors. In one ship, a tentacle lashes out of a control panel, hardening into a spike as it drives directly at the pilot's face. On another, the spear was unable to penetrate. The Beast slithers up the hull instead, streaching over the command canopy and assaulting it with far too many teeth in an effort to break through. In another, a smaller instance of the Beast erupts out of a ventilation cover. A small crimson mass of flesh and teeth and tentacles, it lashes out, ripping furniture from mountings and flailing about amidst defensive gunfire. In a fourth, a thin tendril shoots out from between wall plates, jabbing into an alien crewman through his suit. It invades his nervous system and turns him him towards the reactor room. One alien hand is forced, pulling the grenade from his belt. Raising it into his field of view so the helpless inhabitant of his own flesh can see when the Devourer disengages the safety catch and activates the explosive. In yet another ship, the Beast has managed to consume several crew aliens in the firefight, swelling in size until it blocks several corridors, advancing on their positions, reaching for them through vents or around corners, filling the vessel with the haunting gnashing of horrible teeth. All in all Ozhira might not bring down the UFO armada... But they are certainly doing their best to create as much chaos and confusion as inhumanly possible.
Hellwarming Trio	"... You all saw that! That was them crashing into it, not us!" "But didn't we blast it enough to make it-" "Shut up can't hear you just keep shootin'!" Utsuho doesn't need to be told twice, at least. She's having the time of her life, sending death and destruction into the air as she continues launching her flaming blasts at the saucers, reveling in the opportunity to indulge in her more destructive tendencies in a way that's technically human-friendly. Rin's still freaking out over the destruction, of course, making sure to stay in plain view of the soldiers and police so nobody could even think she's somehow related to all that. Never mind the fact that they're probably more focused on actually shooting things as well rather than whatever she's doing. The stalker, briefly waylaid by drawing more aggro than expected, turns to the soldiers with an acknowledging nod. They glance over to the pair of youkai heading through the doors, then slumps slightly before moving to join the soldier that waved them over. That'll give the soldiers some extra firepower to work with and, with any luck, provide the Elites heading inside a little more mental security at having someone still staying to aid the defenders! Utsuho and Rin, naturally, have no idea that that's even going on behind them. They're fully focused on the task in front of them: Asskicking and staring at the giant brain-in-the-spider with wide-eyes and confused minds. They gawk at how strange it looks, then yelp as they're forced to scatter when it starts sweeping that beam upwards. "You missed! Come on, you can aim better than that!" Utsuho taunts, shortly before getting flattened by a giant piece of debris. "Okuu! Tch... Yeah, I'm on it, Duke bro! Let's see how many bullets it can take!" Rin shouts with a distinctly angry undertone, flying up and towards the spider-scorpion-brain-tank to try and get a clearer shot at the giant brain. She swerves around the falling debris with blue flames trailing behind her with each mid-air footstep, flying right over the whole thing steadily and circling around it with that trail of flames growing ever larger by the moment. She keeps this going for quite some time, waiting for the opportune moment* to finally let them all converge upon the brain beast in a massive explosion*! This will coincide with Hiromi and/or Zi-O's own big flashy maneuvers. **She has completely forgotten about avoiding unnecessary collateral damage.
Timespace Riders	"Haha! It's one of the better belts I've seen," says Zi-O amiably to Duke, right before a jumping back kick to ward off a particularly stubborn demon. Inside the building, he is again fighting back to back with Duke, making a dive to avoid the falling rubble and rolling into a crouch to blast the monster. It's blinded--and Duke's the expert here. "I've got just the thing!" Zi-O mashes the stop on the Timespace Driver and spins the belt around. Another slightly dizzying sensation of space being futzed with. FINISH TIME! The partially-destroyed room is soon just a little more crowded, as tangible mathematic formulae appear in white, slowly drifting past Zi-O. They're a little suspect--saying things like Part I don't know divided by something and Lucky number X Lucky number. What's very much not suspect is the rapidly formed tangible parabola line that races towards the cybernetic scorpion-monster. It splits in two, forming a temporary, tightly binding grip. VORTEC TIME BREAK! Sliding down the curve of the parabola, Zi-O's speed increases exponentially, until his entire form is a red-and-blue blur, and the sheer friction of his foot against the air has it sporting a bright corona of flame. He impacts the monster with a deafening explosion, just as Rin likely anticipated.
Hiromi	Hiromi stands on the roof and looks up into the air, unaware that most everyone is below her, and wondering what 'the signal' was and how else she might find the alien (or demon) leader to fight them in (single?) combat. She ponders these things, watching the sky, stroking her chin as the nearest UFOs suffer their various catastrophic failures. Maybe if she jumped to the highest flying saucer she could see, and then looked for a higher one...? The beam shooting through the floor catches her by surprise, her eyes widening as the whole thing falls. She leaps off about halfway down, catching some enormous light fixture far enough from the beam to have not been destroyed, and hangs upside-down by her legs to reorient on the situation. First, she spots Zi-O and Duke and the youkai (on whose origin she still wonders) and a huge cloud of smoke, and then intuits the meaning of Duke's attention and golden deagle being pointed at the latter. "Has it worth?" Hidden behind her query is the concern that she'd steal an opportunity for, if nothing else, the not-yet-kindest demon king to test his own strength. But then, it had attacked her (potentially by accident), and her aid had been requested. Perhaps this large ritual chamber in which they've found themselves has some value beyond being a meeting place, and is worth saving. She'll accept the idea, for now. By the time the smoke clears enough to get a clear idea of what she's facing, Hiromi's already long seconds into motion, dropping first to the floor, and then running over the top of empty rows of arranged chairs, scattered both beneath her feet and in her wake, aiming herself for the same place as Duke's pipe bombs, though not for quite the same reason. Rather than using that space to anchor herself for an upward blow, she only tries to avoid its sight for the moment needed to grasp two of its legs, crush them together, then leap forward, feet-first while spinning, letting her rotation carry through to the whole monstrosity, and bring its upper side to the ground in time for every other attack to strike it at the same time as she hits the floor.
Operator	"Worthy of a boot to its ass," Duke growls in response to Hiromi as she comes crashing down to join the brawl. This strange spider brain is designed with the same ethos as a tank is. Intended to be a heavily armored target that you only engage with something of equal firepower, at range. As such, it is not prepared in the least for her to barrel in and do some insane wrestling move to slam it onto its grey matter. Even Duke lets out a whistle of appreciation. It lays there, legs kicking the air as it struggles to roll over. Unfortunately, this leaves it wide open for Rin to built up her blue flames into a searing blast that overheat its components, leaving it well and truly stuck. It also sets fire to the place, unfortunately. Is it bullying at this point? Maybe, but Kamen Rider Zi-O is already accelerating too fast to stop. The Rider Kick impacts with the skull face with full force, sending the demon flying hard against the far wall of the convention centre whereupon it splatters into gore, the cybernetic legs sparking and twitching. "Damn, you got 'em good. Let's get topside." Mercifully the flames spare the stairs long enough for everyone to race to the roof. Duke produces a flare gun and shoots it skyward. Suddenly, a saucer that had been hanging back, high above the clouds, descends. It's tractor beam hits the roof, catching everyone and slowly pulling them aboard. Once inside, whoever is piloting it flies around the saucers that Ozhira is currently devouring the passengers of, allowing the living mass to make the leap over and rejoin them before the vessel ascends into the heavens. If the stalker doesn't hustle, they're gonna be left behind!
Operator	NEXT TIME ON AGENTS OF BUILD "Name's Tommy. Hijacking UFOs is kind of my thing." "When demons die, they just go back to hell. When aliens die, they... go to alien hell I guess? Either way, you cut off the head that doesn't grow back first." "They've augmented their mothership with hellportals. We take that thing, we cut off the alien frontline and get a one-way ticket into hell itself." "Oh don't you worry. We got good men on the inside."
Hellwarming Trio	With the big brain beast taken down, Rin finally has an opportunity to check on Utsuho. She still looks panicked for all of a second right up until Utsuho bursts out of the debris with a massive flare of energy, still crackling while looking around rapidly. "Alright, jerkoff! Now I'm- "It's dead, Okuu." "... Oh." "Yeah, it was really tough, too, but I totally pulled it off. They helped, too." With Rin feeding Utsuho plenty of lines that definitely happened, the pair make their way towards the stairs despite being able to fly. Rin in particular gestures at Zi-O and Hiromi multiple times as she regales Utsuho with tales of the things-that-definitely-happened, and the raven lets out various 'oohs' and 'aahs' as though she actually believes it all (because she does). The stalker, noticing them heading into that commandeered saucer, joins up from the rear as well! Somehow, the youkai haven't noticed them this entire time.
Timespace Riders	"Good work, everyone!" Zi-O rushes up to the roof with everyone, the red portion of his armor glowing and conferring an impressive boost to his speed. Atop the roof, Zi-O's weapons fade away. Removing the futuristic pocketwatches from his belt, and placing them into his pocket, Sougo takes a breath as the flare goes up. "A ridewatch...?" It appears in his hand, with a black frame and a red face. A golden radioactive hazard symbol is imposed over the face. NUKEM! Before he can marvel at it, Sougo is sucked into the tractor beam of the hijacked UFO with a buffoonish noise of surprise.
Hiromi	Fortunately, Hiromi doesn't even properly understand the concept of bullying, much as one is usually unaware of their own breathing. She can ultimately agree with Duke that it was worth doing, even if no boots were directly involved. While Rin spins tales, Hiromi joins the trek back up to where she'd just been without apparent hurry, not being too interested in waiting up there without, again, knowing what the signal for their ride was to be. This finally affords her the opportunity to realize that there's one more following them. Accosting this stranger, who has no clear relation to the youkai she's aware of, will be saved for a little later. Instead, she asks Zi-O. "Symbols. Words. Floating through air. Meaning?" She'd seen his attack. Aboard the UFO -- to which Hiromi floated with her arms crossed and a complicated expression on her face -- she asks Tommy. "Aliens. Demons. Which commands the other?" Though his sources of intel can be saved for explanation during the flight, too.
Ozhira	As the saucer circles in an obvious signal, the Ozhira-mass who is assaulting a saucer from the outside suddenly abandons its attack. Twisting, the flesh-blob hurls out a lancet on the end of a tendril, spearing the ship and using this to haul itself up to a more friendly vessel to be on board. When the monstrous Devourer enters the ship, it quickly resolves back into the seemingly ordinary black-haired, red-eyed girl from before. Ozhira however just...leaves the other parts of itself on the other saucers. They can rejoin later, and in the meantime, be Multiple Goddamn Nightmares for the invasion force. "Mother Ship," the girl states, turning to glance back and down, "So those. Were baby ships. We understand."