Incendiaire, Immune, Rhino, Godhand and Catalyseur
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ryan asked, pounding his fist on a table for emphasis. "We're heroes, there are villains in need of stopping, or civilians in need of rescuing! Let me at 'em, boss!" He was usually late for these meetings, in part because his armor took time to put on by himself, so the fact that he was suited up and ready to go, but stuck on the sidelines, grated on him a little.
This outburst was punctuated by the beeping of nearly every phone in the room. Catalyseur showed the message to Ferme, who had yet to open it himself and the two of them were quick to engage in a whispered discussion. Eventually, she turned to Rhino with a wide grin - one far too wide for the sombre atmosphere really.
"Well, Rhino, you're getting your wish," she answered cheerily, "Bad Karma has been spotted wandering through an area not too far from here. You, Godhand, Incendiaire and Immune are coming with me to apprehend her, an APS squad will follow behind."
She donned her mask and tophat and was already striding out the room before everyone present fully realised what had just happened.
"Wonderful," Incendiaire commented, slowly climbing to his feet and following along behind the hero. He'd always found the bubbly woman one of the harder Union heroes to work with on account of her outgoing nature.
"Yeah, it is." Ryan grinned as he put on his helmet, becoming Rhino. "Let's go save the day." His voice echoed slightly in the helmet.
Godhand made his way out silently behind the other squires, adjusting his gloves along the way.
"Tch… boring," Immune muttered to herself. She was holding a clipboard, reading what appears to be a dossier of health conditions. "Boring, boring, boring. Everyone is in top condition, and no signs of outside contusions. 100% Healthy. 100% Boring." she yawned, clasping her right hand to her mouth while crossing her left arm that was holding the clipboard across her chest.
"This will be plenty exciting," Catalyseur chimed, "Now move it, Immune."
Credit had to be given where it was due, Bad Karma was no coward. She was walking brazenly down a partially damaged road in her typical grey bodysuit and kevlar, twirling a weapon resembling a handgun.
"Rhino and Godhand should go in first since you can be invulnerable to an extent, knock her off balance and then we can hopefully trap her and bring her in. Don't be too rough, she can heal by transferring damage onto you but not if she's dead," Catalyseur said, her tone remaining confident, relaxed. It was either entirely natural or a very well-practiced persona. "Off you go."
"Right." Was Tiergan's only response to their senior hero before he began his slow stride forward, scoping out the area for anything he could use to his advantage. "Alright Rhino, you head in first, do what you do best. If she's quick to react and starts shooting you're better suited to handling bullets than I am. I'll be close behind, Just keep in mind her power and boss lady's advice. Confound, push, unbalance. Don't smash, crush, or injure, it'll only make things harder on us." He tossed to his current partner as he continued to scan.
"But smashing is what I do best!" Rhino half jokingly complained. The plan seemed simple enough, but making it "hands off" was putting a serious cramp in his style. He put himself between BK and his team, running straight for her. He'd been wanting to try a new maneuver, and this seemed like a good time. He launched himself into the air, a decent three meters, landing in front of Bad Karma on one knee and punching the ground. The impact sent out a shockwave of kinetic force, hopefully enough to knock her off balance if he'd judged it right.
Something was very strange there. Bad Karma seemed to flicker with the impact, but otherwise remained unaffected.
"Does she have a power I don't know about?" Incendiaire asked Catalyseur from where he had remained behind with her.
"No." Catalyseur said, sounding perplexed and curious more than off-put or concerned.
Incendiaire on the other hand was feeling plenty off-put. He summoned up the billowing flames and set them after Bad Karma. Much like the kinetic force, they passed right through.
Godhand skidded to a halt as soon as the fire blasted past him and focused all his attention on scanning their surroundings again.
Rhino was more annoyed that his trick hadn't worked, but Bad Karma was ignoring him. He was about to grab her when Incendiaire's flames went right through her, tipping even him off that something was amiss.
"Did the Free People have a Tinker that does holograms?" Incendiaire asked, "'Cause I'm pretty sure that she doesn't have the power to become intangible."
It was at that moment that the holographic image faded away, revealing a small spherical device, floating along. A split second later, the device detonated with a pulse of blue light.
Incendiaire turned away from the light, finding himself face to face with a woman in grey bodysuit and Kevlar vest.
"Shit."
The real Bad Karma reached out and touched him, and suddenly he was blasted off of his feet and sent sprawling across the road several feet. She reached for Catalyseur next, but the heroine was already backing away, taser wand in hand.
Rhino spun around, seeing Incendiaire get blasted back. He charged back the way he came, intent on keeping Karma away from Immune and Catalyseur. "Back off, BK!"
"Aw, you got this, Rhiny? Thanks hun, I've got… other matters to attend to," Immune stated with somewhat of a secretive grin as she backed away. She then looked around the area, to her injured comrades. "Injuries, fractures… and… could it be? Broken limbs all around?! Ah, things are finally getting exciting! Hehehe… heheheahahahaha!"
"Less laughing and more fixing my broken bones would be nice," Incendiaire groaned from where he was laying in the dirt.
Immune kneeled down next to where Incendaire laid. She had goosebumps, taking in delight the severity of his injury. "Alright Airey, you big baby, just let momma Immune take care of it," She said, as she touched his forehead and held it as a soft light enveloped him. "Next time, will you have something worse? Burns? Dislocated torso? You can do it, I believe in you!"
"I'm more a provider of burns than a recipient," Incndiaire replied, his flames flaring back to life and rapidly beginning to shift in shape.
As incendiaire spoke, Rhino had closed in on Bad Karma. The villainess narrowly sidestepped the incoming attack, a maneuver born of practice and skill more than abilities. As the Squire shot past her, she brushed her had over his back, blasting him back with the same effect that had previously been used on Incendiaire.
The lapse in attention cost Bad Karma though, as she wheeled back around to Catalyseur jamming her taser wand into her ribs. The villainess cried out from the sudden pain as the charge ran through her, stumbling back but managing not to fall.
Just like he promised, Godhand wasn't far behind Rhino and just as Catalyseur sent Bad Karma staggering he slid in on his heels from the opposite side and swept at her feet.
Bad Karma let the Squire sweep her, dropping to the ground onto her back with a grunt. She then quickly rolled to the side, grabbing Godhand's ankle. A charge matching the one she had endured ran from her hand into the hero's leg as she instantly recovered from her earlier tasing.
The Squire was forced back a few steps as he fought to keep control of his muscles through the violent shock. Thankfully, his costume was augmented with non-conductive materials, and this was far from the first time he'd felt the current of Catalyseur's tazer. Godhand recovered his balance quickly and stepped forward with his fingers angled to a point, rapidly thrusting towards any pressure points he could spot in the villain, anything that might slow her down.
Bad Karma rolled sidewards as Godhand reached for her, pulling herself into a crouch. His fingers grasped air, hers didn't. She tapped his leg, smashing his legs with her third dose of the pummeling effect she had earlier displayed. The Squire was blasted off of his feet and slammed into the ground several feet away.
Landing with a pained grunt, he assessed his legs. His left foot was twisted at an ugly angle, but his right leg only hurt like hell, maybe hiding some massive bruises and a tiny fracture or two, that was enough of a reason to behind struggling to stand.
The villain climbed to her feet and made to walk towards the downed Godhand, only for a beast of pure flame to rush forward and block her path, forcing her back towards where she'd knocked Rhino.
Unseen by the others in the heat of the moment, Rhino had gotten back to his feet. As Bad Karma backed up toward him, he got in close behind her, charging up and stomping a foot onto the ground. A shockwave radiated out from the impact, but only for a meter and all the energy was directed upward. Rather than knock the villainess down, Rhino would push her into the air. He immediately stepped forward, getting his arms around her stomach and locking his grip. "I have you now!"
Bad Karma laughed, although it was a struggle in Rhino's tight grip.
"Did you seriously just touch me?" She twisted, just barely managing to press her fingertips to the hero's leg, releasing a charge of tasering electricity.
Under his helmet, Rhino's face twisted as the electricity coursed through his body, his muscles tensing up from the stimulation. He rode the wave, pulling Bad Karma against him as he tightened his grip further. "Yeah…" he gasped, "And I'm not letting go that easy!"
"Oh really?" Bad Karma replied, far too confident for the predicament she was in. "You know the best thing about having my boss? He can build all sorts of bombs and then use them on me. Then I just transfer the injury to someone and I get to walk around with the power to induce the same effect I suffered in anyone I touch. Like you."
It was easier now, with the tight grip Rhino had on her, to press her fingers against Rhino. There was no pain now, no electricity. But an effect radiated from her hand into him, an intense feeling of defeat, self-loathing, futility. A wave of pure, unadulterated negativity that the strength of one's body would provide no resistance against.
Rhino immediately felt the fight drain out of him. "One touch…" he muttered as he just let go, unceremoniously dropping Bad Karma to the ground. "That's all it takes to beat me." He didn't have the will to keep going, he was too depressed to stand, but even falling over felt too good a fate for him. So he just stood there, shoulders slumped and head held low, uncaring of the fight. "What's the point of it all, then?"
"Honestly?" Bad Karma responded, shrugging, "I'm in it for the money and the fun. I don't really care much about Befreir's ideology and I don't think he really does either. I like messing with you."
Incendiaire watched as this took place, his constructs rapidly growing in intensity and shifting into more tangible, bestial shapes, helped by a boost from Immune's power. So he was ready for what came next.
Catalyseur rushed forward, swinging her wand like a bat. Bad Karma noticed the attack, scrambling to avoid it and separating herself from Rhino in the process. Instead of pressing forward, she stepped away from the villainess, turning and throwing her taser wand into a pile of rubble like a javelin.
It dug into the pile, sending rubble flying. One piece careened over the top of the assembled capes, striking a second pile on the opposite side of the street. It knocked a similar little stone, which caused a larger one to shift place. A moment later, a localised landslide of debris was tumbling in Bad Karma's direction.
Bad Karma was forced to continue her backwards movement, creating space between herself and the heroes. Incendiaire took this as his chance, sending his three flaming beasts to encircle Bad Karma. If she wanted to attack them or make a break for it, she'd have to pass through a wall of searing flames.
"Hey psycho girl," Incendiaire said, looking at Immune, "Maybe fix Godhand and Rhino up before she tries something else?"
"I can heal GH," Immune replied with a shrug. "But she did something to Rhiny's mind, and that's a bit out of my control…"
"Sucks to be you, Rhino," Incendiaire said to the whimpering Brute.
"Quit flappin' then and get to it." Tiergan insisted, dragging his twisted foot to the equally twisted healer. His scowl had deepened, not from pain or annoyance but from the frustration of running through scenarios for dealing with Bad Karma in his head. "So, it really seems like there's no efficient way to deal with Karma directly without either crippling her beyond reason or getting ourselves beat up. At this point indirect forms of subduction are all I can see working. A few things come to mind, thanks to Incendaire and Boss for their recent displays, actually. If we could bury her in rubble like the Boss' little landslide, or expose her closely enough to Incendaire's flames for long enough, we could choke her out, make her faint or at least immobilize her with inorganic matter."
"We can just hold her here until the APS can come and trap her in containment foam probably," Incendiaire offered.
"Can we really afford that chance? The headquarters of our superiors were decimated along with most of the members, that's why we're here in the first place. It doesn't feel like we're in a position of superiority in any way right now, what if she gets backup before we do?" Godhand responded.
"...Man, you call this an injury?" Immune started with a bored, uninterested sigh, touching Godhand's foot, enveloping it in a soothing light. "At least give me a broken foot next time, geez."
"I try not to get hurt." Godhand growled. "Especially with you around."
"Why bother with all that?" Rhino dejectedly chimed in. "Nothing we do to her sticks. Even I can't keep her in place, and hitting things is all I'm good for." He let himself fall back, hitting the ground with a dull thud. "Might as well just lay here, let the rubble bury us alive…"
"Rhiny." Immune said, in a more firm tone. "Mommy Immune will give you a lollipop later. Chill."
Rhino sighed, too sad to argue. "Yes, Mommy…"
As it was, attention was largely on Immune at that moment. It was the perfect time for Bad Karma to make her move. She covered her head in her arms and ran forwards, directly through the flames. She gritted her teeth, refusing to scream as she sprinted for the heroes.
Catalyseur noticed the sudden movement, yelling a warning. Incendiaire set the flaming beasts after the villainess from behind. It was too late though.
Bad Karma pressed a hand to both Godhand and Rhino, healing in an instant as the flesh of the young heroes began to burn as though engulfed in flame. She then dove to the side, forcing Incendiaire to halt the approach of his beasts lest he accidentally immolate his team mates. She rolled to the side and made a break for it, leaving the smouldering heroes behind her as she ran.