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Post by Jordanna on Jun 12, 2008 20:04:29 GMT -5
Vance and his men unleashed their powers on the mutants down the corridor. Their opponents' powers were equally turned against them--but they slowly managed to push the enemy back.
Scorpion went down, and didn't get up again... but his brother Scythe didn't flinch. He set his jaw and remained focused on his orders, edging forward as he shielded Coloel Ashley's frail body with his own.
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Post by skybright on Jun 12, 2008 21:50:11 GMT -5
Tiernan's people seemed mostly concerned with the immediate threat posed by Vance and the others offering direct opposition, and at first the group making for the emergency exit met with little resistance as they moved down the corridor.
As they drew closer to the door, however, a trio of Tiernan's fighters finally took notice of them and broke off in their direction. Daws grimaced and glanced back at Nate. "Heads up -- we just got noticed."
The first of the three attackers was a brawny man with a short, bony blade growing from each arm, and he came at Daws swinging. She ducked under the wicked-looking blades, snarling and striking out with her own claws.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 12, 2008 22:29:54 GMT -5
The mutant Daws was fighting with suddenly found himself in the crushing chokehold of a dark, amorphous shape that had appeared out of nowhere.
Nate spared only the briefest sideways glance at his specter. Then he was forced to leave it to its own devices; he had problems enough of his own, as a lithe, spidery female mutant with a mouthful of sharp teeth came at him.
He hesitated for an instant. As an officer and a gentleman, hurting a woman was a taboo he still had trouble overcoming...
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Post by skybright on Jun 12, 2008 22:36:28 GMT -5
Daws had no such compunctions; as her former attacker grappled ineffectively with Nate's specter, Daws launched herself at the spidery woman's back.
She raked the claws of one hand across the other woman's shoulder, and threw the other arm around her neck, trying for a chokehold.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 12, 2008 22:47:47 GMT -5
The female mutant kicked and struggled with acrobatic agility, flailing hands that were tipped with her own vicious set of claws. Her dagger teeth snapped at Daws' arm around her neck, not quite able to reach it for a bite.
In their struggle, the women tipped toward Miriam where she stood against the wall, trying to stay close to her patient. Miriam shifted her grip on her gun, and with a grimace, she landed a hard but slightly hesitating tap against the left temple of Daws' attacker.
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Post by skybright on Jun 12, 2008 22:55:44 GMT -5
The woman reeled from the impact, giving Daws the chance to finally effectively tighten her grip. After another moment of rapidly-weakening struggle, the spidery mutant crumpled, unconscious, to the floor.
Daws straightened, panting slightly from the exertion and grimacing at her right shoulder, where the other woman's claws had left a line of four bloody (but thankfully shallow) gashes.
She shot Miriam a quick smile of gratitude, then turned her attention back to the fight -- there was still a third attacker to be considered . . .
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 13, 2008 22:17:37 GMT -5
At that moment, the third attacker in the trio was tackled by Nate's specter... but as he went down, the man spat a gob of some kind of sticky, gummy substance. Miriam was in the line of fire, but Handy somehow managed to push her out of the way--and was himself splashed with the goo. It proved not to be corrosive, but the stickiness mired him, and his entanglement only worsened as he struggled with it.
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Post by skybright on Jun 13, 2008 22:30:50 GMT -5
Daws moved to Handy's side, examining the goo with a scowl -- though she stopped herself from instinctively reaching out to examine it. "Don't fight it, Handy." She said, "That's only makin' it worse."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 13, 2008 22:51:44 GMT -5
Proteus pushed to Handy's side, glanced down at the goo, and then up at Daws.
"I'll deal with it. Get these others to that door--I'll catch up in time to get you through it."
With that, he unhesitatingly reached down and put his hands on the sticky mess. It began to crumble into a dry powder under his fingers.
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Post by skybright on Jun 13, 2008 22:55:18 GMT -5
Daws nodded and turned to Scythe, Miriam, and Nate. "You heard the man -- let's move before Tiernan's flunkies decide to pay us any more attention."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 13, 2008 23:11:35 GMT -5
The small group continued to try to work their way along the wall, more or less unnoticed by the warring mutants in the middle of the corridor. With Ashley still in his arms, Scythe moved backward, trying to sweep their path clear with his heavy tail.
Just as they reached the edge of the emergency door, Proteus slipped into view beside them. Handy was with him--still covered with clots of the sticky goo, but at least free to move.
"Cover me..." Proteus wedged himself between Scythe and the door, and once again used his powers to begin disintegrating the heavy blast door. After a moment an alarm began to sound, and Proteus grimaced but kept going.
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Post by skybright on Jun 13, 2008 23:17:01 GMT -5
Daws glanced briefly over her shoulder at Proteus' progress on the door, then turned her attention back to the fight in the corridor. The noise of the alarm seemed to have caught the attention of several of Tiernan's people, a few of whom were attempting to disengage from the main fight and head towards the exit.
Daws scowled and pulled her gun out from her underarm holster -- if the fight was about to escalate, she wanted to be properly prepared . . .
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 14, 2008 21:56:29 GMT -5
A short, shouted order from Vance caused his men to close in around Proteus and the others by the door, defending them against the attackers. A few seconds later, Proteus pulled back from the door, which now bore a hole large enough for them to slip through one at a time.
Nate hastily shone a flashlight into the darkness beyond, then turned to Scythe. "Looks clear. Get the Colonel through."
Scythe squeezed his large frame through the hole, carrying Ashley with him. Nate made Miriam go next, then turned to Daws and gestured. "Go!"
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Post by skybright on Jun 14, 2008 22:05:55 GMT -5
Daws started to protest, glancing at the ongoing fight -- but then she nodded and ducked through the narrow opening in the blast door.
The space on the other side was musty and nearly pitch-black, and even Daws' acute eyesight was slow to adjust. She moved away from the door, making room for the next person to climb through.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 14, 2008 22:31:25 GMT -5
Sid, sporting a bloody nose, was the next man through; he'd been reluctant to abandon the fight himself, but he was pushed through by one of Vance's men. Other mutants trickled through one by one, with Nate and Proteus among the last.
Finally Vance came through himself--and quickly turned to pitch a boomer that brought down a pile of concrete in front of the hole in the door. The sounds of the alarms back in the corridor became muffled... but after a moment, some banging and scraping proved that the enemy was trying to penetrate the tunnel into which they had escaped.
"They know we've got Ashley," Vance said in the dark.
Nate was shining his flashlight around, taking a head count. He paled as he turned to his father. "Scorpion and Volt?"
Vance grimly inclined his head toward Miriam. She leaned against the tunnel wall with her arms wrapped around herself, ashen and trembling.
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Post by skybright on Jun 14, 2008 22:36:21 GMT -5
Daws pressed her lips together solemnly and glanced at Vance. "We have to keep moving. They're gonna be through that wall before long."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 14, 2008 22:53:36 GMT -5
"No place to move," Proteus said quietly. He appeared out of the darkness, dusting off his hands, and shook his head.
"I've looked. The tunnel is caved in about fifty yards out. It might not have been that way before Tiernan's people started with the fireworks... I'm not sure. But it seems like half the mountain's fallen into the tunnel now."
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Post by skybright on Jun 14, 2008 23:04:01 GMT -5
The shapeshifter's announcement was met with a grave, pregnant silence from the others. Daws' gaze flicked briefly from Proteus to Miriam, then to the wall of rock Vance had brought down. The sounds of scraping and shifting from the other side were continuing steadily -- though whether they were actually growing closer or whether that was just a trick of her imagination was hard to say.
Daws sighed quietly and nodded, checking the clip in her gun. She glanced at Vance. "Then I guess we fight it out."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 14, 2008 23:18:05 GMT -5
Vance drew a heavy breath. "A lot of my people are just about spent... I don't even have much left myself. And some of 'em even lost their guns in the fight."
He turned a warily hopeful gaze to the shapeshifter. "Proteus, is there any way--?"
"For me to get through the cave-in?" Proteus shook his head. "All I can do is change the structure of things I touch, and that won't do any good now--not with a pile of dirt and rock as deep as that."
His eyes darkened suddenly, and he glanced back toward the door Vance had blocked. "But maybe there's something else I can do."
"What's the idea?" Vance asked tersely.
Proteus shrugged. "Surrender."
"What?"
"Listen. I can fake Ashley--and you can tell those goons out there you'll give him up, in exchange for safe passage for the rest of you. Maybe it's an outside chance they'll keep the bargain, but..."
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Post by skybright on Jun 14, 2008 23:27:13 GMT -5
Daws shook her head incredulously. "'An outside chance' is the understatement of the year, Proteus. A sense of fair play isn't exactly tops on Tiernan's list of hiring criteria."
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