Pandaemonium
Posts 78
Power Level 25
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Post by Dullahan on Oct 14, 2016 15:33:36 GMT -7
Beam after beam lanced down from the sky as Dullahan fired his depowering artillery at the area surrounding the dragon. He had seen that it had an effect, and that was enough for him.
Dullahan didn't care about honor or glory. He had resigned himself to the fact that he'd be playing a support role the moment he had decided to focus on bombarding the dragon this time. He was fighting from afar because it would be pointless to risk himself when he could be just about as useful controlling things from a distance. But that didn't mean he was holding back. His guns were firing at full speed with everything they had as he cleared a path for the supers on the front lines.
Action: Interference (Depowering) against smaller buildings
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The Keepers
Posts 90
Power Level 24
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Post by Sin Eater on Oct 14, 2016 15:44:32 GMT -7
Sin Eater rushed, heedless, into the defensive lines the thralls were forming around the presumed location of the dragon's main body. The blood from her accumulated wounds was beginning to soak through her clothes, but she didn't care. She didn't even try to defend herself from the thralls. Her injuries had weakned her movements enough that there wouldn't be much of a point.
All that mattered was getting as close as possible to the dragon. She shoved the thralls aside, lunging forward as best she could before they finally brought her to a stop. Sin Eater's carefree grin was visible for just a moment before the mob of thralls converged to tear her apart.
Action: Interference (Reversion) against remaining thralls
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The Keepers
Posts 133
Power Level 30
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Post by HaLOS on Oct 14, 2016 16:17:20 GMT -7
The situation is getting quite close; HaLOS managed to deal with the spore generators with its flamethrowers. However, the other buildings keep interfering with the other super’s effort, and the thralls just keep on coming out of the Shiro Tower. Now even the trapped civilians started to join in with the mess, making the situation slightly more troublesome to deal with the dragon head on.
If it were to handle with the situation at the moment, HaLOS need to scan the area further in order to keep track of the thralls. Since there’re more civilians pouring out of the SHiro Tower, HaLOS need to make sure they didn’t succumb under the dragon’s influence with the spores. Scanning the area for any additional spore generator location, HaLOS need to deal with them all at once in order to keep the civilians from turning into more of the dragon’s thrall.
Action: Accumulation (Information) against Aggression (Subdual)
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The Keepers
Posts 234
Power Level 31
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Post by Azoth on Oct 14, 2016 16:20:40 GMT -7
Geata didn’t give any concerning reaction to the other super, so Azoth concluded it was likely nothing important. Perhaps this was normal for him; she had been realizing recently that she knew little of his interactions with others. It was on her list of things to inquire about the next time an opportunity arose.
When he said to hold on, Azoth did not argue. Her eyes went wide and her stomach jumped into her throat as suddenly they were airborne. Sucking in a sharp breath, she suppressed a yelp of surprise. Following what Geata was doing - and where the two of them were - was difficult even for the passenger along for the ride. Perhaps she could make it moreso.
A dense but contained cloud of fog formed around the two of them, hopefully giving further cover to their exact position. She could do something more immediately useful in stopping the dragon once she again had a target to strike.
Action: Interference(Obfuscation) against the Remaining Thralls
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 37
Power Level 31
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Post by Carl on Oct 14, 2016 16:34:53 GMT -7
Carl watched the efforts of the supers from a distance. The Jay army was effective in combating the infected swarms, at least, so he decided to leave Bardtholomew alone. Instead, he turned to Midas. "Midas, hounds," he said, still debating on what would be best to focus them on.
Meanwhile, the gold under Midas' possession began to split into five large chunks. They sat on the ground momentarily, five piles of fluid gold, before they started to take shape. Within seconds, five dogs made of gold, each standing as tall as Carl, were formed. These were the golden king's hunting hounds, and Carl decided upon their prey.
"Send them after the remaining thralls; let's finish them quickly, if they're to be finished at all." And then the hunt was on.
Accumulation (Summoning) against Interference (Obfuscation)
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Dead
Posts 47
Power Level 21
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Post by Gluttony on Oct 14, 2016 16:53:46 GMT -7
Gluttony took notice of the other supers' efforts. It seemed the fight was being taken to the dragon, finally, but that meant a few less than great things for those supers without immediate means of getting underground. Gluttony aimed to correct that tragedy, but first.
"Titan!" he shouted at the larger super. "We're going underground! You'll probably need to lose a few feet!" With that, Gluttony filled his considerable mouth with food, swallowing it down before swinging down at the ground, intending to leave a gap big enough for the two supers to climb down through, even at a larger size than usual.
Accumulation (Enhancement) against Accumulation (Enhancement)
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Post by Bokor on Oct 14, 2016 17:50:24 GMT -7
"This is Independent Action News, bringing you the REAL scoop since 2014! We're coming to you live today from Emerald City, where authorities have ordered an all-out evacuation, but have remained tight-lipped on what exactly everyone is evacuating from. Is it a dragon? We're about to find out!"
A news helicopter streaked over Emerald City at top speed, heading straight for the city center. Its passengers were a small team of journalists that had made a name for themselves over the last couple of years by reporting on angles that none of the big media conglomerates were willing to touch. Recognizing that the major networks downplayed all dragon-related news, they hoped to make history by giving the public realtime footage of an attack streamed from their website.
The anchor had to shout to be heard over the rotors. The battle below was too distant to be heard at all. But the camera still panned over the battlefield, showing the dragon and the supers arrayed against it. The viewer count continually ticked upward as people shared links to the stream and rehosted it themselves.
There were thousands of viewers as the camera focused on the base of the Shiro Tower. Its foundation buckled as Rainfall emerged from the nearby sewers. Giza's bombardment and the wounded Balance's power were all that were necessary to finish it off. As the tower began to crumble, the camera swept over The Good Shepherd and his team, showing in detail how they fought through the horrifying thralls, showing the speed and durability of those thralls as they fought back. Nemesis, Seraphim, Solomon, and Zenith were visible at the edge of the shot, drawing off thralls and clearing a path for the last of the fleeing civilians.
By the time the Gunstig Center came into view, the viewer count had topped one hundred thousand. Hivemind's swarm was everywhere, and right in the middle of it, Titan's strikes knocked off huge chunks of structural material. The vines were completely exposed and swarmed in Arcanum's clones.
And as the camera swept toward the Horizons Building, over a million watchers were glued to the footage. The area was ringed with supers using more long-ranged powers. Phenomenon's vehicle was visible parked in its vantage point. Beams from the sky hit in neat lines as Dullahan lent his support. The thralls had cleared a wide area around Unhallow and Plague Doctor, having learned that neither was safe to approach. The lightshow of Aurora's sparkles and Toko's arcane ammunition made for an impressive spectacle.
Moving under cover of Anonymous's smoke, the supers closer in were locked in pitched battle with the dragon's defenders. Clusters of thralls were gathered around Lust and Sin Eater, while a rolling cloud of fog signaled Fleet's presence. The scatters of airborne thralls launched by Pride's punches and Wrath's attacks began to converge as the two supers approached the dragon's position. Bloodbath was leaving a wide swath of destruction as he headed there as well. HaLOS was caught in pitched battle against the remainder of the elite thralls trying to protect the remains of the spore generators, but the swarm of Blue Jays created by Carl's power was finishing them off regardless and Poppet was plugging up the ones that escaped destruction.
Admist the fierce fighting, the ground was covered in holes. It was possible to get a glimpse of Lobisomem trying to fight through an especially dense pack of thralls. Geata could be seen nearing the dragon's position with a line of portals. Sanduleak's images covered the area. And as Gluttony shattered a large expanse of the ground, suddenly the dragon itself was visible.
"A historic first... live footage of a dragon... against the city's supers...!" The audio was becoming indistinct as some sort of interference affected the feed. Cats surrounded the dragon's flower-like form, beinning to tear it apart, but they weren't fast enough to stop the increasing glow enveloping their target.
Millions of viewers stared at the last image captured by the camera: a single spear shooting out of the ground in front of the dragon, piercing through the swarm of cats and impaling their controller through the heart. The image of Big Martin being pushed back by the force of the fatal attack was visible for just a moment before a white light erupted across the battlefield. After that, there was no signal.
---
The brilliant white light was accompanied by a roaring pressure wave. The closer supers were slammed away from the dragon's position at high speed. Even those several blocks away would find themselves thrown off their feet. All aircraft in the area were knocked from the sky. The news helicopter's crew was killed instantly. It was as though reality itself had hit a sudden snag.
As the city's supers regained their senses, the air for blocks around was filled with chokingly-dense spores. They blotted out the sun, making it difficult to see. The Horizons Building was a tall, writhing shadow. Vines were growing and extending throughout it by the second, new blooms as big or bigger than the dragon's original body were unfurling themselves and spewing constant streams of spores. The building groaned as the dragon's rapid growth pushed it to its limits. Vines continued to grow, reaching out and clawing at the sky.
Those further away would be able to discern the main flow of the spores, rising in a dark column. As the spores reached the upper atmosphere, they mushroomed out, flowing on the high-altitude airstreams toward the neighboring cities.
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Post by PANOPTICON Ver. 3.023 on Oct 14, 2016 18:00:05 GMT -7
INFECTED status effect spreads from DRAGONSLAYER Blue Jay to Poppet INFECTED status effect spreads from Limen to Gluttony INFECTED status effect spreads from DRAGONSLAYER Unhallow to Lobisomem Interference (Obfuscation) by DRAGONSLAYER Arcanum against Gunstig Center hits a WEAKNESS, resulting in SUCCESS, +15% combat advantage Interference (Obfuscation) by remaining thralls against DRAGONSLAYER Lobisomem results in PARTIAL success due to suppression by the target's lesser immunity, +12% combat advantage, unable to apply EMBATTLED status effect Interference (Obfuscation) by DRAGONSLAYER Geata against remaining thralls results in SUCCESS, +10% combat advantage Interference (Obfuscation) by Shiro Tower against DRAGONSLAYER HaLOS results in SUCCESS, OVERWHELMING the target's lesser immunity, +35% combat advantage, applying the EMBATTLED status effect which negates all its non-Recuperation traits Interference (Reversion) by smaller buildings against DRAGONSLAYER Big Martin results in SUCCESS, +20% combat advantage, applying the DISRUPTED status effect, reducing his powers and immunities to level 0 for the purpose of suppression and action order Interference (Depowering) by Dullahan against smaller buildings results in SUCCESS, +5% combat advantage Interference (Depowering) by DRAGONSLAYER Envy against smaller buildings results in SUCCESS, +10% combat advantage Interference (Reversion) by Seraphim against remaining thralls results in SUCCESS, +5% combat advantage Interference (Depowering) by spore generators against Carl results in FAILURE due to suppression by the immunity granted by the equal-or-greater Accumulation (Summoning) DRAGONSLAYER Blue Jay and Carl used with TEAMWORK, unable to apply INFECTED status effect The supers have reached 3,000% combat advantage. The dragon's power has suddenly begun increasing exponentially. The supers have only a few brief moments to regroup. Characters with the Speedy Assistance trait may use it now. Characters with the Unpredictable and Inventive traits may change their powerset. Those with enough Notoriety may buy new powers and traits. The next phase of the battle will begin in 24 hours. Purchases and trait uses may be performed until the resolution of the first round (24 hours after that). Current conditions: Seraphim is EMBATTLED, negating all her non-Recuperation traits Sanduleak is DISRUPTED, reducing his powers and immunities to level 0 for the purpose of suppression and action order Blue Jay is INFECTED, reducing his gained combat advantage by 15% and powers' levels by 3, increasing and spreading the INFECTED status to another random super at the start of each turn Limen is INFECTED, reducing her gained combat advantage by 10% and powers' levels by 2, increasing and spreading the INFECTED status to another random super at the start of each turn Balance is DISRUPTED, reducing her powers and immunities to level 0 for the purpose of suppression and action order Unhallow is INFECTED, reducing their gained combat advantage by 10% and powers' levels by 2, increasing and spreading the INFECTED status to another random super at the start of each turn Poppet is INFECTED, reducing her gained combat advantage by 5% and powers' levels by 1, increasing and spreading the INFECTED status to another random super at the start of each turn Gluttony is INFECTED, reducing his gained combat advantage by 5% and powers' levels by 1, increasing and spreading the INFECTED status to another random super at the start of each turn. This status has now been removed by his Recuperation trait Lobisomem is INFECTED, reducing their gained combat advantage by 5% and powers' levels by 1, increasing and spreading the INFECTED status to another random super at the start of each turn HaLOS is EMBATTLED, negating all its non-Recuperation traits Current Bokor combat advantage: 2,184% Big Martin has been killed. |
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Unaligned
And I'm hungry like the wolf
Posts 180
Power Level 26
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Post by Lobisomem on Oct 14, 2016 18:30:44 GMT -7
Lobisomem rushed forward, pausing occasionally to snap down the brief annoying thralls. They were leaving a noticeable trail of blood, superficial wounds starting to add up until it started to get dangerously painful.
They froze as the scent came together, catching sight of an almost beautiful flower thing. A bunch of cats swarmed the thing, and they made to join the hunt, ready to just end it all. Then the dragon exploded.
Lobisomem was slammed into the face with a shocking scent of blood and a rotting smell they'd learn was death later on. It felt like some titanic hand just flicked them across the buildings, finally ending in a bone-crushing impact into a skyscraper.
They swallowed a gout of blood bubbling from their throat, frothing with their drool and making them gag at the sensation of their thick blood. Immediately, they shut their mouth as spores fluttered around, thick enough to make their ears itch and their eyes water.
Lobisomem lowered as far as they could, shuffling forward on their belly. So what if it had gotten a new trick? They didn't plan to rest until they had devoured this thing themselves...they could bet it was delicious!
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Rein Initiative
Posts 54
Power Level 30
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Post by Seraphim on Oct 14, 2016 18:39:48 GMT -7
This already wasn't going well, and a new voice entered her range that suggested things were going to get much worse. There was a news organization (or at least people that believed themselves to be such), which meant they didn't realize they were not to approach any dragons under any circumstances, or more likely, just didn't care. Their moment of fame was going to get them, and likely many more people, killed unless she could do something about it. For awhile, they were too high and out of her shooting range. It was becoming increasingly clear to Seraphim that with their altitude she wouldn't be able to shoot them down before they could get shots of the battlefield. She stayed up long enough for the civilians to get to the closest thing to safety as they had, and then immediately started shooting downwards towards them. All of her shots would miss, but the hope was they'd either run faster or collapse onto the ground. Something had to be done if they were to survive what was going to come.
"There's an independent news helicopter approaching. I will not be able to shoot them down before they get footage of the battlefield. Prepare for catastrophe."
Once she communicated the message to her team (by this point she was too far away from any portals to warn anyone else), she flattened herself against the building and rolled towards the center to avoid being blown off. This wasn't the first time she'd seen something like this, idiots always wanted to stick their nose where it didn't belong. The pulse washed over her, nearly pushing her off the side of the building. She didn't wait to see what the dragon would be doing after that, it was time to regroup and get back to where everyone else was.
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Rein Initiative
Posts 41
Power Level 15
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Post by The Good Shepherd on Oct 14, 2016 18:48:06 GMT -7
A news chopper cut across the sky and all the Good Shepherd could think of was “Hi mom...”. It’s funny what comes up when your life is flashing before your eyes. He cursed under his breath- he thought no media was going to be allowed here. Oh well- at least his team had masks on. No one was compromised- they’d be dead but at least their cover would be in tact.
“Roger Seraphim, this is the Good Shepherd. Media coverage ban violated. We’ll work on damage control post-mission.” Shep reported to the Initiative over their channel in jingoistic tones. Post mission? There was going to be a post mission? News to him.
The thralls encircled them and the three L.O.V.E agents went back to back against the thorny wall of the Shiro building.
“Any bright ideas?” Asked Delaware and Brooklyn shook his head.
“Sir?”
“Just one.” He said grimly and pulled their flare gun and shot a magnesium flare at the thralls before turning and diving into the thorn ridden outer barrier around the Shiro building.
“COME ON!” He yelled and his team raced in behind him. For a moment the thralls shielded their eyes and recoiled like it might have hurt but then realized what it was and moved in. The smaller humans wiggled their way through the thorns and vines, cutting with their knives until they came out the other side.
Once they finally saw fresh air again, cut, bleeding, and gasping for breath, they stood atop a far less vine covered street. They headed into where the com lines were telling Shepherd the dragon was. He was going to try to report his location to the rest of the Initiative.
“L.O.V.E checking in. Inbound on the dragon’s positi-”
The Shepherd couldn't catch a break. He just couldn’t. No sooner had they emerged, SOMEHOW not dead and being chased by elite thralls, some kind of shock wave hit. It knocked the wind out of him and his agents and when he got up his ears were ringing like a bomb had just gone off. Dust had fallen loose and they were staggering about disoriented. This gave the thralls a chance to untangle themselves. The sky went dark and the Good Shepherd looked about for the cause. He could see the dragon’s form atop the Horizons Building.
“Son of a...” He said but didn’t have time. He grabbed Brooklyn, who was still reeling, by the forearm and pulled him along the main street. Delaware was limping but keeping up despite it.
“Quick! In here!” The Good Shepherd yelled and entered a mostly destroyed building along the mainstreet.
“Sir! We’ll be trapped!” Delaware gasped, sliding in behind the counter with him.'
Under the leader of the three smiled, “Yeah- and that’s bad news for them.”
Delaware looked around and understood what he meant almost imediatly.
“Position check Rein. This is Shepherd, Delaware, and Brooklyn. We are currently in sight of the target, 2 blocks away, in Martin’s Firearm and Fish. What is everyone’s position?”
They were in a deserted firearm shop. A lovely, well-stocked, firearms shop.
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Pandaemonium
Posts 33
Power Level 15
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Post by Wrath on Oct 14, 2016 19:01:40 GMT -7
A sudden noise drew Wrath's attention. Her head snapped up to see a news helicopter. What the hell are news civilians doing here? Do they have a death wish or something? Nevermind that, the tide of battle was turning. Shiro Tower buckled as Ms. Butterfly's stalker and the gutted Pandaemonium finished it off. About bloody time! She turned to focus on the remaining buildings. Now was time to finish it while it was weak. That's why the dragon's next move surprised her so much.
The little red head watched in awe as spores were shot into the sky. It was like a nuke had exploded in the city. Then a single shot was fired into the swarm of cats but she was unable to see if it hit her mark. White light filled the air, blinding all. She could feel her tiny body lift off the ground and then be thrown backwards. She could feel herself crash into some one. Looking up she saw familiar blond hair. |
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Pandaemonium
Posts 22
Power Level 20
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Post by Pride on Oct 14, 2016 19:20:40 GMT -7
Pride had seen the news helicopter fly by and briefly worried about his hair before smiling, like he ever didn't look perfect. His brief moment of joy though was halted by the dragon's appearance, that filthy thing which had attempted to ruin his business and beautiful city. HOW DARE IT! He took a crater creating stomp towards but was immediately sent skidding back the shockwave, the force should've sent someone like him flying but he stood. He could barely hold his ground until he saw the fiery red head fly and suddenly new power overloaded his body as he flew into the air and caught her in his chest, causing him to crash into a building with very few minor injuries.
"Hello dear, are you alright? You do realize the king would have to unleash his full wrath if that thing had even dreamed of laying a scratch on that face of yours, correct?"
For a moment his arrogance was toned to confidence, this was their first meeting of a dragon and there was still that small seed of fear and doubt in him that no human could crush normally, he would be slightly careful and EXTREMELY protective of the sins, especially his favorite flame.
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 37
Power Level 31
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Post by Carl on Oct 14, 2016 20:36:41 GMT -7
Carl turned to watch the approaching news helicopter, his attention from the battle dropped momentarily. He wondered who would be stupid enough to do something like that, let alone the reasons, before turning back to the fight just in time to watch all hell break loose.
The first - and only - thing he saw was the beam of light piercing through the swarm of cats. There was no doubting that the dragon hit the bullseye; at that range the super known as Big Martin was dead. Before Carl had a moment to react, the dragon decided to strike, making itself and it's newfound power known. Everything felt the effects of the attack, and even Carl was thrown back. It seemed that everything was going wrong, all at once, the young super mused as he went flying backwards. And it was likely only going to get worse.
When Carl climbed to his feet, there was something solid that had landed next to him. Something red. Something distinctly fleshy. The super sighed wearily as he looked down at a chunk of the remains of one who he had expected to call an enemy. It wasn't fair, clearly; death never was. However, Carl had the ability to at least make things seem more fair. Maybe the legendary catomancer had died to the dragon, but there was little stopping the dragon from dying by Big Martin's legion of paws.
Carl always had a few empty jars on hand, just in case he had the misfortune of running into these situations. Gingerly, with as much ceremony as he could, the super placed the muscle mass into the jar. Slicing his finger on the blade fixed to the inside of the lid, Carl squeezed a small trickle of blood onto the grisly remains. Under his breath, he muttered something to himself, and then a figure slowly started to form itself out of a material that wasn't quite mist.
Within moments, Big Martin was standing before Carl, details hazy, awaiting orders. "My deepest condolences," the young super said sadly, although he didn't know whether he was truly understood or not. Turning away from the newly deceased, he looked instead at Midas.
"Midas," he said, voice shaky but unfailing. "Hunting pups. Gather the remaining pieces of Big Martin's remains. We can't allow for his body to be desecrated even further than we already are." The golden hounds would each split into ten smaller, puppy sized constructs, running around the battlefield and obtaining every bit of the fallen super that they could, rushing to get to there pieces before a single other super could even think about pilfering the remains for themselves.
Carl then turned back to his newest ally. "Big Martin, I didn't know you in life, but I swear on mine; we will be avenging you." He glanced at the towering plant structure. "This won't be an easy task, but I believe that was your specialty. Together, you and I will show this dragon the true meaning of a cataclysm."
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Oct 14, 2016 21:58:33 GMT -7
While Titan was focused on demolishing the Gunstig Center, he heard a faint fluttering noise above all the chaos of the battle. Momentarily taking his mind off his current activity, he took a glance and caught sight of the news helicopter heading towards the carnage. Guess the risk of death (or worse) was worth getting a good view of the battle. Seemed like this was the first news station that finally grew a pair and decided to send a team to broadcast the event first-hand. No doubt thousands of people had eyes on this fight, watching the supers try the hardest to stop this monster. Perhaps they'd appreciate their efforts. Well, there wouldn't be many people around to appreciate it if they didn't stop the dragon.
Just when he thought they were making progress, the shockwave hit. Even at this size, Titan was pushed back, slamming into a building just behind him. His head pounding and his eyes burning, Titan's vision slowly improved just in time for him to see the torrent of spores spreading themselves about. Titan quickly shrank down to avoid coming in contact with those strange spores before he went off to find someone who might recognize. He hoped his friends were okay. He hoped he wasn't too late.
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