EMBRACED [Event]

In one instant, the dragon's focus turned from its helpless victims to the supers that had arrived. Packs of fleeing civilians were forgotten as every single thrall turned its full attention to killing every apparent super in the city. Unlike the last dragon to attack Emerald City, this one wouldn't neglect its own defense.

However, the city's supers were ready for an all-out battle. As the vanguard of the supers met the first wave of the thralls, the battlefield began to take shape.

Hordes of wounded or otherwise useless thralls moved into position, ready to break up the supers' coordination by walling them off from each other and spreading confusion and panic. But the power released by Carl's phantom and Dullahan's depowering artillery beams slowed the dragon's ability to transform them into solid walls. Only Sin Eater herself was trapped, and the nature of her power made that point moot.

The gaunt thralls were the first to enter the battle. Packs of dark figures swarmed across the sides of the skyscrapers, positioning themselves to harass the supers below. Although Bloodbath's weaponized blood was enough to scatter their formation and force them to step carefully, the dragon's modifications to their nervous system gave them superhuman agility and dodging ability. Even with Geata's coordination, they were able to get around behind and above the supers, instinctively avoiding Fleet's high-density air while evading Ophiuchus's snakes, Seraphim's bullets, and Tricky's attacks. They fired volley after volley of spat poison into the supers' rear guard. Several globs made contact with Sanduleak, though it was impossible to say just yet what the effects would be. Their attack was disrupted only when HaLOS flew into their midst, dispersing them with its whirling plasma blades and bisecting a few that were just a bit too slow.

But the supers didn't have time to defend themselves. The incomplete thralls swarmed in, aiming to pin the supers down so they couldn't come to each other's aid. Limen's motorcycle couldn't find a clear path through. Azoth and those alongside her were trapped between a rock and a hard place, cut off by the swarm on one side and the clouds of spores released by the bloated thralls on the other. But Azoth's ability provided a solution - as the armored thralls moved in for the kill, the pockets of clean air created by Azoth's power gave an escape route. Meanwhile, the swarm was largely blocked off by Giza's ice hazard, turning them into sitting ducks for a volley of L.O.V.E. gunfire. With Anonymous's noxious cloud thrown into the mix, the incomplete thralls were entirely routed, falling back to regroup and give the dragon a chance to tighten its control.

As the incomplete thralls fled, the precise columns of armored thralls that had been hiding among them were revealed. Many of the supers, Giza Kadabra included, were pinned down by the inexorably-advancing walls of armor, preventing them from pursuing the other thralls. Those like Pride who tried to speed through were blocked off and wounded by the armored thralls' sharp claws. Holes in their formation were made by Plague Doctor's sickness, Hivemind's swarm broke their coordination, and Phenomenon's vehicle briefly made a clear path through. But for most supers, the armored wall was too dangerous to cross.

The bloated thralls advanced, bringing with them thick clouds of spores. The dragon aimed to bring them to where the armored thralls had some supers pinned down, subjecting the trapped supers to their effects. Although Azoth's power saved those closest to her, not everyone was so lucky.

They didn't seem to be trouble by Hooded Siren's words, and the dragon had carefully designed them to be tough enough to handle hit-and-run attacks from speedsters like Zenith. Lobisomem had more luck with their outright destructive approach. They were able to take a few down before the influence of the spores settling into their flesh began to sicken them. As for Poppet's attempts at strangulation, the bloated thralls didn't seem to breathe, but it did slow the release of the spores from their lungs. However, even their efforts couldn't save everyone. Clouds of spores rose up into the air, and Aurora found herself cornered forced to pass through them, where they began seeping into her clothes and skin.

The mechanized thralls came last. They smashed through the buildings between them and the placed where the most supers were pinned down by the armored wall. Pride, still hurting from his attempt to break through, was among those run down by the mechanized thralls' charge.

However, the supers' counterattack seemed to catch the mechanized thralls by surprise. Although Aurora's power wasn't able to get any traction on their semi-biological bodies, the weight of the cats slowing them down was enough to let Blue Jay land a solid hit. High-pressure fuel began spraying through the hole the sword left in the tanker thrall, where Wrath's flames quickly set them alight. Although it had been the dragon's plan to use the tanker thrall as a bomb, it hadn't yet gotten a chance to get within the blast radius of the main cluster of supers. It struggled against the cats holding it down, threatening to break free at any moment.

Meanwhile, many of the supers focused on breaking up the blockages formed by the immobilized thralls. But although Lust, Nemesis, Rainfall, and Solomon were all able to deter the thralls that hadn't yet cemented themselves into place, the ones that had already formed walls were completely unaffected.

Sin Eater's efforts to break up the immobilized thralls also came to nothing. Although she might have felt the walls begin to give way, it lasted only a moment before her absorption of the thralls' condition also allowed the dragon into her mind. Her arms, trembling as she struggled to regain control, reached up to take a firm grip on her head. Then, with a sharp snap, she broke her own neck and fell to the ground, dead.

The supers had met the dragon's initial moves head-on and come out mostly ahead, but the dragon still had plenty of tricks in store for them.

The fight was flowing fast and vicious, and Big Martin had a front-row seat to watch it unfold, his high vantage point giving him a good view of any openings that might pop up. His cat-bombing run had been surprisingly successful, and now his agile feline warriors covered every inch of giant spore-robot they could reach. Their efforts only really worked to slow the advance of the massive thralls, but that slowing gave other supers a chance to land some pretty heavy blows, setting the largest of the beasts on fire. Big Martin whooped and pumped his fists inside the cockpit, elated that his assault had wrought some good. Just as quickly, however, his eyes narrowed with concern. His cats were just as flammable as their target, and they wouldn't be able to hold on much longer while it was aflame.

Focusing now, he ordered his minions to leap off the target, returning any that could not escape on their own to their natural state as mere puffs of air. Looking at the source of the flame, he could see where it had originated- of course! The tanker! That thing was a walking bomb- which could have been potentially devastating in the wrong circumstances, but now presented an opportunity.

He grinned, steering the helicopter downwards. This was just what he'd been looking for. "All right, you big fuckers..."

The helicopter tilted forwards, descending far more quickly that was safe. Once he was certain the course was on target, Big Martin hauled himself out of his seat, summoning cats to compensate for his limp legs and push him up towards the door. Yanking on a bright red emergency lever, he shoved open a door on the side of the 'copter, and with a final, exhausted push of his arms and his cats, fell forwards into the air.

The wind rushed past his ears as he entered freefall, the vertigo almost drowning out conscious though, but he remained collected enough to flip the bird at the mechanized giant as he fell past it, and yell a quick greeting. "Welcome to Panda city!"

At that exact moment, the helicopter crashed into the fuel tank head-on, immediately triggering a cataclysm straight out of a Michael Bay movie. The ensuing explosion tore the thrall asunder, sending red-hot, flaming pieces of vehicle crashing into the swarm around it. The other mechanized thralls, large as they were, would take the brunt of the damage, huge chunks of shrapnel tearing through their malformed structures and leaving them ruined, victims of Big Martin's devastating ploy. If he survived this, he was going to brag about that moment for years.

Still, it had left him in freefall, and he might have died if not for his cats. Several had clung to him as he fell out of the 'copter, and now he summoned more around him, ordering them to grab onto each other and him. They arranged themselves around his body, forming two massive furry wing-shapes on either side of him. Their combined efforts slowed his descent, and he came down upon the swarm with grace, like a great cat angel from the sky.

He landed among the bloated thralls, and immediately unleashed a miniature feline apocalypse on them. Cats exploded outwards from his location, overwhelming the creatures with expreme prejudice, showing them none of the mercy they did their usual human targets. Any of his minions that showed signs of heavy infection would be dismissed, with fresh recruits quickly being summoned to take their place. Within seconds, the entire area around Big Martin would be dominated by cats, leaving the rival horde helpless to act against him.

Take opening: DETONATE against the Mechanized Thralls
Action: Maneuver (Field) against Bloated Thralls

Plague Doctor had surprised even himself when the armored thralls had quickly fallen to his plague. It was strange. He was used to being useless. Well, only one thing to do he thought. He found himself falling from the motorcycle and landing in the midst of a group of Bloated zombies. But worse yet? His cool hat seemed to have had fallen off in the middle of his fall. He really liked that hat... Now he'd never see it again.

Now, Plague Doctor was genuinely angry. He felt the rage boil to the surface as he was surrounded by the bloblike zombies. If they wanted a fight, they would get one. "Okay, you fat suckers!" Yelled the doctor as he threw his hands out to either side of himself. "This!" He screamed, "Is why I am called the Plague Doctor!" Tendrils of virus and plague flew from his fingers, invisible to the naked eye.

The virus flew into the blobs as the plague doctor stood motionless, a slight nosebleed beginning to form from stress. He despised killing. But these things were dead anyway, and not only that... They stole his hat. He wouldn't let it stand.

Maneuver (Field) against Bloated Thralls

Directly after the explosion caused by Big Martin crashing his helicopter into the tanker of death, it was apparent to anyone within several blocks that Phenomenon's solution to the noise of it was to have turned on his music. His chosen vehicle was not only equipped with a variety of ways to kill but also with what can only be described as a bomb sound system, the latter now loudly demonstrating its abilities with the song Wave of Mutilation by Pixies. This was deemed a good song and quite fitting by Phenomenon, and the rules clearly state driver picks the radio. Phenomenon was swaying to the rhythm while driving like a nutjob through the crowd. He was making his way through or over the flaming armored thralls to get to the incomplete ones. He wanted to gun them down before they got the opportunity to regroup. As soon as he got into range, he started to work his way into what minds they operated off of. Even if they weren't capable of sentient thought and were unable to be rescued, chances are they still had some core processor they utilized. Phenomenon didn't want to immediately drop them, though, as that would prevent him from mowing a few down and could potentially hinder his forward progress. Instead, he just got in and waited until he had gathered some semblance of control before he overloaded whatever they were using, rendering them brain dead. If he were to discover that the closest thing to a working brain they had was their link to the dragon, he wouldn't bother with that and would instead separate them from it to render them just as useless. His drive though the crowd came to a short pause as he swerved to the right, spinning 180 degrees before halting. The one instant he was still, the killswitch on their minds was activated. 

Aggression (Subdual) against Incomplete Thralls

The Shepherd smiled, they'd shredded the incomplete minions and he turned his attention to the bloated thralls who were releasing the spores. He could see the dragon's plan unfolding- run them up to the other supers. He had to find a way to stop them. What a bother...

"Suppressing fire!" He yelled and his team shifted focus, providing covering fire for any supers that needed it.

He didn't know if these things could be suppressed but he'd be damned if he wouldn't try.


Maneuver (Field) vs Bloated Thralls