Grimlock23ghost - While those would be fun, they wouldn't make sense narrative wise. I'm gonna just stick to the canon Ben 10 series' cast when it comes to new forms.
Barbaric Bob - I love this analogy.
Rogue15 - No, it makes sense... And it's kind of meant to be that way. Phoenix doesn't react for obvious reasons. Taylor Shunts her emotions away so she doesn't go all murder swarm on everyone. Amy is still putting her feelings from what happened earlier, and what's happening right now, away to not deal with them, as all mentally healthy people are won't to do. And the Dragon Sisters aren't letting their emotions get in the way of what they have to do.
That, and I myself don't really care much about the Bay, mainly my own little cast.
TheClowningPrince - Well here ya go.
[Amy's POV]
I'd only been here for a minute and I already hated it. The fucking instant I walked into the room some shithead that looked like he could star as the 'Perfect and handsome' doctor in a stereotypical doctor show singled me out. Normally that would be fine, expected really, but when the dumbass got too close, without saying anything mind you, Scylla lunged, maw open and fangs dripping narcotic as she stopped in front of his face, a threatening hiss coming from her and thrumming through my body.
The guy, and anyone else in the immediate area, just stopped and stared. For good reason too since my... Daughter, I was going to have to learn how to fully accept that soon, was kinda fuckin scary to normal people. (And why does that make me love her more?) There were a few answers there, but I wasn't going to get into them right now.
Bringing a hand to my daughter's crest I gave her a scratch, getting her to look at me. "You're getting the floor dirty." My daughter blinked, looked at the guy in front of us, the floor, then back to me, slowly closing her mouth as she did. When it was shut I gave her some scratches. "Good girl." Scylla brought herself back to me, placing her head on my shoulder, and let out a pleased hiss, I ignored how strange it was that I could tell that already despite only having her for a day and just kept scratching.
With the juvenile Endbringer-To-Be placated, I looked at the Doctor in front of me, who was staring at my kid like she was a monster, which was kinda fuckin rude. (She might be a snake monster I brought to life with my best guy friend's arm, but she's cute as shit.) I paused for a second, rolling that thought through my mind for a second, then decided to ignore it.
After that little scene was done, I got the Doctors and staff to start taking me to the worst cases they had before all this shit started, because the moment we started getting people hurt from Tinkertech Bombs those guys were going to be set aside. (Save them now before they potentially die later.)
When I got to the first case, an Asian guy that probably got jumped by some E88 goons, I slipped back into the frame of mind I always did when I worked in the hospital. Check for damage, figure out how to fix it, do it, then move on. I had it down to a science at this point, and would probably be able to do it all blindfolded. (Probably could. My Power doesn't rely on sigh.)
While I fixed up the worst cases, and mused on that thought, my phone beeped, grabbing my attention. Idly making my way towards the next case, I brought my phone out... And paused when a hologram of Medusa appeared, the purple haired woman clad in her form fitting bodysuit, which looked really good like holy shit, and with a lilac colored visor on covering her eyes. "# Reminder Panacea, you have Anubis' Builder. Just acquire a few unused machines and you can set up a Medical Fabricator or two to ensure you're free for when the injured are brought in. #"
I froze, blinked, then slowly looked down to said thing. I'd holstered it and kind of forgotten about it after walking into the hospital. (Well shit.) I'd just gotten so used to doing shit on my own that I didn't even think about it until Medusa brought it up. (Ugh.) Taking the thing with my free hand, which got a sad hiss from my daughter, probably cause I couldn't give her scratches with full hands, and also taking a second to remember how to use it, I manually activated it.
Well, I would've if someone hadn't spoken up. "# You know I can activate it for you, right? #" Another pause, and turned to look at Medusa, who seemed to have a small smirk on her lips.
I thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Turn it on for me." The Tinker hummed, and the next thing I know the fucking thing is on, a bunch of pop ups appearing as it did. The pop ups dwindled down to one though, one I knew.
The Medical Fabricators were honestly a godsend, ones I'd probably willingly give my body and soul to Phoenix and Taylor for creating... (Ignoring that thought.) Getting a few of them set up would free up so much of my time that I couldn't help but grin a bit. (Now, who do I have to bully into giving me a buncha machines?)
Turned out to be the first staff member I saw. Poor nurse wasn't ready for me to come up to her with my daughter wrapped around me, strapped with a pair of guns and an obvious piece of Tinkertech in my hand.
It didn't take long for her to bring me to the nearest storage room, the room having enough shit for me to convert into materials for the Fabricators. One explanation, courtesy of Medusa, later, and a pair of Medical Fabricators were set up on the floor I was on. (One would've probably been enough, but hey, the more there are the less shit I gotta do.) Granted, I wasn't against helping people myself, it was just... I just didn't want to do it.
I wasn't dumb enough to be confused about why. Being nearly trampled to death by ungrateful sheep minded fucking idiots was something that was going to stick with me for a bit. (As it should, cause fuck.) There was also the whole thing with me not being alone, and me needing to drill that fact into my skull so I didn't slip back into the 'Fix it' mindset and forget something again.
Just thinking of what I'd be doing at the moment without setting up more Medical Fabricators made me shudder. (Thank god for Medusa... Though Khepri would've probably told me if I took too long to do it.) I was pretty sure she was watching me even now, so there was a good chance that she could/would tell me if the opportunity came...
Which... Was nice.
I wasn't alone.
I could do this, and I WOULD do this.
I was going to save as many people as I could, then I would go home with my bestfriends and just relax. Anything/one that got in my way would have to deal with me and my daughter.
I blinked, stopping in the hall as I went over what I just thought... That... (Home, huh...) There was alot to unpack there, but now wasn't really the time to be introspective. There was shit to be done, people to be fixed, and Medical Fabricators to shit out on every floor.
"$?$" And apparently a very confused snake who was probably wondering why I just suddenly stopped to have an internal monologue.
Giving my daughter a chin scratch, which got a pleased hiss from her, I went back to making my way through the hospital, Builder in hand.
[Taylor's POV a few minutes later]
Sometimes, I Loved my Power. Why wouldn't I? I was pretty much Omniscient in a 2 mile radius. Nothing would be able to get passed me with how many bugs I could control, or hide from me with my ability to open up a feed and use their senses to spy on anyone in said radius. That wasn't even getting into my ability to gather millions, nearly a billion insects if I really pushed it. I was even getting stronger still, which was great...
But there were other times, times like now, that I Hated it. My city was burning, shattering, and being bombed right in front of me. People were turned to glass, burned to death, died in an explosion, and just all around suffering...
And I could see it.
I could see the men and women trapped under rubble.
The guy covering an older woman, probably his mom given the building they were in, from a fallen and burning wall.
A few girls around my age, crushed beneath the collapsed roof of a house, a sleepover happening at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Literal children, dead and blown apart, nothing but gore and parts remaining.
I saw it all... And I Hated it. (She can't get away with this. She won't get away with this.) The Birdcage would've been a mercy, one I refused to allow her to have. A pulse of Warmth flowed from the Bond, a breath I didn't know I was holding coming out as I felt my Other Half mentally focusing on me. The reason why wasn't a mystery to me, I was constantly Shunting my Anger towards Bakuda into the Swarm, and to him it felt like a constant cycle of Anger then nothing then Anger again. (Better then being pissed all the time though.)
Shaking that off, I took another breath, then mentally waved him off. [Let me know if you need me.] That said he ran towards where I marked survivors, navigating through the streets and towards the survivors.
With him doing that I was free to keep marking anyone (Un)lucky enough to live through the bombs, while also keeping an eye on Amy. It was probably a good thing that I could Multitask so easily, it made it simple to focus on something way better then the grim reality in front of me.
Opening another feed, thanks to my Kineceleran hybrid form I not only had 20 opened already and looking around for whatever was setting off the explosions, but they were also being watched and processed with perfect clarity. There were alot of different insects being used for this, but I was capable enough to not only watch them, but do things like checking in on Amy and my niece. At the moment they were fine, Amy had just finished setting up Medical Fabricators in the lobby, staff were ferrying water jugs around to pour into them while also taking the serums to whoever needed them...
Which were a bunch of people because my Other Half was bringing in victims by the dozens in under 30 seconds. It got to the point that the people who had been healed were helping the hospital staff ferry the victims to wherever they could/were needed. (That's not going to help for long. It's already getting close to being filled to the brim.)
And it was. There were way too many victims of the bombing, which seemed to have stopped at the moment... For some reason, a reason I wasn't exactly looking forward to finding out. [Ay, quick question.] I mentally hummed, my eyes drifting towards the blur that was my Other Half running through the city. [If I said I found one of your old teachers sorta bleeding out, would you hold it against me for leaving em be?] That... Well... I wasn't expecting to hear that.
Still, there was a question to be answered. |Which one?| It really depended on who it was. Sure, I'd moved on from Winslow, getting the school quarantined and the Three Bitches and Blackwell arrested did wonders for my mental health, but I still held a grudge against the faculty. So depending on who he found I would let him handle their fate.
The image of 'Mr. G' went through my mind, making me tilt my head. He had a bunch of glass piercing his legs, and a kinda big one stuck in his left arm. He was also bleeding on the ground, passed out from the explosion that did that to him.
All around having a bad time...
|He dies he dies.| Not explicit permission, so I wouldn't be lying if I was asked if I let him die. I didn't exactly care enough about the man to save him, nor did I really care if he died, so whatever happened would just be what he deserved.
My Other Half mentally snickered at me, his voice a mix of Amusement and mocking snickers. [Ah, how Heroic of you Mi Reina.]
I snorted at that, idly surveying the area as I did. |It's like I was influenced by someone with sociopathic tendencies at the lowest point of my life and months after it or something.|
The mental snort was immediately followed by an Amused eye roll. [Oh no, what kind of scoundrel would do such a thing?] The deadpan response just made me snort. [Anyway, I'll be leaving the filthy muggle, return to what you were doing.]
I blinked at that, taking a moment to process what he just said, then blinked. |Did... Did you just call my old teacher a 'Filthy muggle?'| Granted, I wasn't exactly against him using it against said teacher, I was just Baffled that he used the insult in the first place.
Harry Potter was something I enjoyed from Aleph, despite the inconsistencies in characters and story arcs, so I obviously knew what the insult meant. It also helped that my Mom was an English Professor, so figuring out the slur meant 'Dumb animal' wasn't that hard. [Yes. Want me to do it again?] The fact he sounded Eager to do that just made me sigh. [I can feel the Exasperation from here.]
Rolling my eyes I was about to reply, but a flicker of something on a feed distracted me. Focusing on it I managed to catch a glimpse of... And there was another explosion... I took a breath, it was important that I didn't lose my shit and break the ledge I was on. Still, I Shunted the Wrath and bit of Despair at the deaths and brought up the image of... (What the fuck?) The thing I'd seen Baffled me, from the quick look I'd gotten it reminded me of Oni Lee, mask and everything, but with some... Additions. Said addition being something that looked like a goddamn quad barrelled rocket launcher. (And his mask... Pretty sure that was welded on...) I wasn't completely sure if it was, but I was 100% certain about the grenade launcher that was his new arm... (Wait... What's gone off?)
Checking my feeds, I saw there was definitely a glass bomb, even though my Other Half hadn't gone into that area yet we all knew what had happened. There'd only been a single white phosphorus bomb, though that could just be because it was only used once instead of there being only one of them... Which wouldn't matter if Oni Lee's Power still worked... My eyes widened when I made the connection. (Oh... Oh shit.)
My Other Half turned a mental eye to me, my Realization most likely got his attention, Curiosity coming from him in a silent question. Deciding to send him the brief image of what I'd seen I waited for his reaction... Which was a moment of Confusion, followed by Curiosity, then a steady stream of Contemplation. He was using the Kineceleran's absurdly fast processing speed to think, and I wasn't going to interrupt his train of thought.
While he did that, I focused on Amy... Who now had one of the inbuilt headphones in her ear? (Okay?) I knew our phones had a pair of headphones that could be taken out of them and used as they were, but I didn't really use them since I preferred having headphones. It wasn't because they were bad or anything, they weren't, it just something I liked more. (Does she prefer those though?) Something to ask later. (Though. maybe it's because of Scylla?)
My niece had a bud nestled in-between her feathers, her eyes closed as her head swayed from side to side as she listened to whatever was playing. While she was doing that, Amy was apparently humming along to the tune as she worked on the critical cases... Which was kind of Amusing to be honest.(Amy's going to have a theme song, and I already know both it, and the bit I'm going to use to introduce it.) [Okay... So I'm just gonna blast the fucker from the sky and call it a day.]
...
...
...
What? |Timeout, you're gonna what?| Because he couldn't honestly believe he could say that and not elaborate.
XLR8'S humming filled my mind, and I watched as a blur shot towards the now exploding section of the city. [If he was turned into Cyborg then the obvious answer would be Lodestar, no?] Mentally nodding at him to go on, I waited for him to do so. [But the problem is that, and I'm assuming here considering where everything that blew up is, is that he still has his LOS teleport. Lodestar would be able to hold him in place, and probably stop the bombs mid air should they be launched, but he would still be able to BAMF away and let the clone blow up.] I was following, despite the ridiculous reference he sprinkled in there, and seeing the logic so far. [So if that happens I'll kind of be fucked since Not-Magneto isn't exactly the most mobile of my forms.]
Okay, I had to point something out here. |Can't Lodestar fly though?|
I got the impression of a 'So-so' gesture. [Not as fast as I'd need to be to escape sudden explosions from a teleporting suicide bomber.]
|Point.| And it was a good/reasonable one.
[Thanks love.] Que the reflexive smile that earned. Anyway, I mentally motioned for him to go on, and he did. [So, my options here are limited because while I can use someone like Big Chill, I run the risk of finding out if Intangibility says 'Nuh uh' to time bullshit.] I froze at that, remembering that Bakuda was meant to have Gray Boy esque bombs. [Granted, I dunno if she actually has said time bullshit at the moment, but that's not something I'm willing to test.] That got a nod from me. He didn't have Clockwork, so if something that crosses into the realm of time hits him...
Yeah, no, I wasn't thinking about it.
Nope.
Never.
Into the 'I'll just put this here and never think about it ever again' box and leave it be. Comfort surged through the Bond, the phantom feeling of his arms draped around my shoulders following it. [So, my solution is to go either Jetray or Astrodactyl, and blast the fucker from the sky. The former's eye beams should be enough to fry the Oni, while the latter will turn him into a smear in a crater if I fire off a fuck off laser.]
I enjoyed the fact we were ignoring the prior issue, and was all for doing that. |And if you go Ultimate?|
He hummed at that, and I could easily just picture him scratching his chin. [Depends on the Ult. Maybe I can take him over with Thoth or Necronomicon, but unless I've got him down for the count I'm not going to risk trying.] Another logical point, XLR8 was good for those. [... I feel like I was insulted, but since you're my loving girlfriend that I love with all of my withered and venomous heart that couldn't possibly have happened.]
I snorted. |I love you too.| Neither confirm nor deny, one of the best ways to deal with my Other Half. Our Love flowed across the Bond for a bit, putting down other lesser or negative emotions, then settled down. |Anyway, you were saying?|
[Yes, so, nuking Robocop's more homicidal cousin from orbit seems like the better idea to me at the moment. Granted, I need some way to get the shit out of the city, maybe into the bay itself, because if I blast him with my lasers he's going to blow, and all the esoteric effects he's got on him will probably turn wherever he dies into Wonderland.]
That was an issue. That was a big issue. |Think you can grab him as Savitar?|
Contemplation pulsed from him for a moment, the thought going through his mind as he raced through the city and brought everyone that needed healing to the hospital. [Maybe. It depends on how fast his reaction speed is.] I blinked at that. Savitar could break the sound barrier on a whim, not even mentioning how he could boost himself with the kinetic energy stored in his feathers to go at light speeds. Yet he was worried about a ro... Ah, I got it now. [Mhm. I have no idea if he could just automatically detonate if I touch him, speed be damned, and again, I'd rather not test that if I can help it.]
Yeah, I was putting that in the box too. |What about Osiris? Oni Lee's Power is line of sight based. Kick up a sandstorm and you could probably disrupt his visibility long enough to take him down.|
My Other Half was silent at that, the thought being dissected and considered. [I... That could work, a desert's worth of sand won't fuck up your city too much, and we can just take it for ourselves later so I can make some glass later if we need it. The issue there though would be setting up the storm during the fight. Also the fact I'll have an upper body that I can't unravel away puts a target on me that I don't exactly like.]
I had to admit, he had a point. Yes, he could turn Brockton into a desert given the opportunity, but he'd be making himself vulnerable by doing so. |Ugh. All those aliens and it's a cyborg suicide bombing ninja that ends up being the issue.| Idly, a part of me ran that sentence through my head and really looked at where I was now to be able to unironically mean all of it.
Though before it could get too introspective, a scoff rang out in my mind. [It's not that it's an issue, cause he's not. The issue here is that whatever I go for has the option of leaving me open for retaliation. I don't mind going through some pain if it's needed, but this isn't something we can afford to fuck up. It has to go perfectly or else.] He didn't need to elaborate on that, I got it. [Still, Astraeus would probably turn the fucker into atoms if I used him, so he's on the table.]
Nod...- An alarm blared from my HUD, and the instant I processed it I shot forwards. Bringing up the nearest feed I grit my teeth, diving towards the ground as I scowled. Putting my Sentinel in my inventory, and calling my Swarm as I did, I sent a message to my Other Half. |He's here.| Surprised Alarm pulsed through our Bond, my Other Half momentarily stopping long enough for me to feel where he was. I didn't think about it for long though, the moment my feet hit the ground hundreds of thousands of insects swarmed around the area, creating massive walls as they crawled onto each other or flew around the street while I got into stance. (As long as he doesn't see me I'll be fine.) Shooting forward, I ran faster then a super car, keeping an eye on the feeds while I ran around the area.
My perception of time slowed down as I pushed my Hybrid form, Iris came with some powerful passive abilities, ones I made heavy use of whenever I needed them, like now. I had no idea if Oni Lee was after me, Amy, or the hospital in general, but it'd be easy to find out. So, I ran, a trail of gold and black being left in my wake as I went around the block, thinking of plans on how to handle the situation. Leaving the immediate area, I ordered my Swarm to start revolving around the hospital. It would take a bit, and wouldn't last forever, but when it was done Oni Lee wouldn't be able to teleport onto the hospital through the storm of bugs... Well, hopefully not.
Idly, I noticed my Other Half shooting towards my location, a blur appearing in my peripheral vision before settling by my side. He didn't say anything, but that was fine. His presence by my side was enough for me.
We were together, and nothing could or would stop us. And it wasn't just us either, my HUD expanded, showing Melody. "# There are currently 4 clones... 5, clones, set up at specific checkpoints around you two. Stheno is currently tracking Oni Lee, who seems to be retreating, but we'll be keeping an eye on him. For now you two better be careful. #" Well that was a little Worrying.
"Ah... Knew I forgot something." Despite the situation, I snorted. My Other Half mentally shrugged at me though, physically running alongside me as I kept gathering my Swarm. "Anyway, if it looks like he's going for Amy and Scylla then I'm going Savitar and dropping them outside of the city."
"Understandable." And it was. Amy was not only our friend, but the Mother of my Niece. If anyone so much as laid a finger on either of them then I'd turn them into a parasite breeding factory.
"# Well 'Luckily' for you, they aren't moving on the hospital... For some reason. #" We both frowned at that, it didn't make sense to us either. Well, there was an idea about why, but I couldn't just jump to that conclusion without proper evidence. "# Khepri, do you have all of the clones in your sight? #" A quick check to the feeds confirmed that yes, I did. Nodding at Medusa, I kept an eye on said clones, watching as they set themselves up at certain checkpoints. "# Good. I'll be taking over whatever surveillance methods have survived, keeping an eye on whatever I can. #" Medusa made her visor clear, staring into my, and probably like my boyfriend's eyes as she did. "# Both of you better make it out in good health. There will be consequences should you not. #"
XLR8 and I snorted at that, twin pulses of Amusement coming from us at the 'Threat.' ""We promise.""
Our Aunt/Mother figure, the fact we both saw her in a similar light was going to be a conversation at some point, nodded at us, then blinked out as the call closed. (Oh well.) Turning an eye to my Other Half, I hummed. "You want to plan?" He was in the superior form for this after all.
The low growl of his humming met my ears, and even as we were running at some 100MPH around the hospital grounds, he had enough time to think. Even with our thoughts Muted I could still tell how deeply he was thinking. [Where's the nearest one?] Checking my feeds... I found one, it was stationed on top of a roof overlooking the area, and sent the image of where it was to him. Getting a mental nod for that he went back to thinking. [And the others?] More images from my feeds was the immediate response, one which earned a small hum. [Could you get a fuckton of flies and shit to blind them?] Mentally checking how many bugs I had at my command, and cutting off the ones orbiting the hospital, as well as all the land bound ones, I nodded. I had millions of insects at my command, so using a few hundred to obscure their sights was child's play. [Okay, we can work with that. You want to shoot em or give em the body check from God?]
Running both options through my mind, I decided on the safer one. |I'll need your Longbow.| There was no way in hell I was going to use a Pulse weapon against Tinkertech grenades. That just sounded like an all around bad idea.
The Kineceleran gave me a nod, one I returned. With that done, time sped back up, the surroundings with panicking civilians becoming crystal clear as my feet slammed onto the ground. With the plan set I pushed my Iris form to hit near my max speed, imprints of my feet appearing in the ground as I sped up. By my side my Other Half easily kept up with me, my max speed had nothing on his own casual stride, even when we turned to the nearest intact building, scaling the wall and leaping into the air, he was still by my side.
As soon as we were airborne he tapped the dial, both of us returning to our base forms as he immediately brought out the Longbow. Quickly tossing the gun to me, I caught it and stored it away, I could bring it back out when I was set up and ready to shoot Oni Lee and his clones. Turning in the air, we repositioned ourselves to face the city/ground beneath us. Out of the corner of my eye I watched as my Other Half popped the dial, immediately pressing down on it as soon as the image of "XLR8!" Appeared.
With him came the return of my Iris form, my tail curling like a chameleon's as we dove towards the ground. Eventually gravity fully asserted itself and we dropped towards the building. (Shield Mode.) My Shields activated at full power, which was perfect for the moment I landed on the roof, and my Other Half ran back down the side of the building, his side of our Bond pulsing with Giddy Excitement. Surprisingly I didn't go through the roof, a testament to whoever built the building, but that was whatever.
Quickly repositioning myself, a simple affair when I could move as fast as I could in this form, I shot off the roof and ran towards another, more suitable perch. While I did that my Other Half raced through the streets, dodging people as he sped towards one of the Oni Lee clones. He could've gotten to it in the blink of on eye, but chose to slow down. [Ready?]
Settling onto one of the relatively taller buildings, I brought out the Longbow, digging my tail into the roof to ground myself as I used a few bugs and the processing speed of a half Kineceleran to line up a shot. (Limited to a clip, but that'll be fine.) There were only a handful of clones, and I wasn't alone. |Ready.| That thought, a minor boom went off as my Other Half shot through the street and ran towards the second closest clone.
The first clone was mine to deal with, and I know how to do that. (Gather and blind.) Responding to my command were hundreds of flies, the insects shooting towards the clones, they were all in my radius so I could get them all at once or whenever I wanted. As soon as my flies swarmed my target I prepared to fire... Only to blink when the clone didn't react to the bugs clouding its vision. (... I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.) That thought I locked onto the clone, took in a breath to steady myself, then squeezed the trigger.
The recoil was practically non existent, the bullet tearing through the air without an issue. Said bullet easily found its target, piercing straight through the clone's head as said clone collapsed into dust.
While that happened I processed Anubis dealing with the clone he went after, because seeing an alien velociraptor run at mach speed and spear his claws through the clone's heart was not something I saw everyday.
Though, the death of the clones seemed to be some sort of signal for the others since they raised their launchers up, all pointing towards the general direction of my Other Half. |They're aiming for you, move.| A pulse of Confirmation was immediately followed by a blue blur sprinting out of the alleyway. It was good that he did since the clones shot a grenade each, the bombs rocketing through the air like an actual RPG.
The bombs took a bit to get to their target, which made sense given the distance between them all and where they were, only two of the clones were on a roof/balcony, while the last was in another alleyway. When they eventually did get there an absolutely massive explosion erupted from the area. Even from where I was at, which was practically a whole other block away, the effects explosion nearly reached me. 'Nearly' because I could not only see it coming, but I was also fast enough to avoid it by re-curling my tail, putting the Longbow in my inventory, and shooting off the roof and jumping as far as I could, firing off a tether at a building for good measure.
Through my feeds I watched as the street Anubis had been in, as well as the area surrounding it, was engulfed in flames. The white phosphorus bombs, because of course all the clones used the same explosive, were already spreading throughout the area, and they'd only just blown up. (That's...) I wasn't going to think about casualties right now, that would just piss me off, and I couldn't afford that right now.
[Think you can handle the clones while I put this out?] That question was enough to ground me, and helped me focus on the now. The switch between my Iris and Pele forms was pretty much the last thing I needed to be fully aware.
Running the question through my mind I checked where the other three clones were, thought of the odds, and taking in the fact that they still hadn't reacted to my bugs crawling over their sights, then mentally nodded. |I can.| And I could. I could snipe the clones, but there was a big issue there. |But what happens when they fire another round of grenades?|
I could feel the mental frown coming from him at that. [Ideally we figure out how to take them all out at the same time and avoid that.] Swinging upwards towards the roof, I ran multiple trains of thought on how we could do just that. An obvious answer was for him to get the other one on the street while I shot the other two by pulling a miracle out of my ass and trickshotting them. Obviously though that wouldn't work considering where they were stationed, so we needed a better plan. [Worst case scenario is that I just deal with the damage and we just still go through with taking them out 2 at a time.] And there was no way in hell I was going to let that happen, because the casualties would be horrible.
So we needed another idea, something that would work with the tools we had. Something... Simple... Releasing my tether and landing on the roof, I ran the earlier conversation through my mind. When I realized that no, the one he was Worried about earlier wasn't a factor, I decided to share my thoughts. |So, since the clones can't teleport, why don't you just go for Lodestar?| There should've been no issue with that.
He was silent for a moment, the thought going through his mind as he processed it, then a pulse of Annoyance came from him. [Son of a bitch.] I snorted at that. [Are 2, or all 3 of em, close to each other?] Another look at my feeds confirmed that at least 2 of them were. Sending the images of which ones were close to each other, I got myself ready by bringing myself back to my base form and brought out the Longbow. I could handle the last one, I felt the switch between Heatblast and Terraspin go on in the background but simply tuned it out, I just needed to wait for the right moment.
[Phoenix's POV]
With the smoke gone, I was free to go deal with the clones. Khepri had a point, the only reason I had dismissed Lodestar earlier was because the main body could teleport. Since the clones couldn't do that I had a no sell option against them. (Still bullshit that I didn't come up with the idea first. More time as my big brains seems to be in my future.) I wasn't exactly salty about it, just bitching to bitch.
Anyway I tapped the dial, a flash going off as I went from Terraspin to "Lodestar." Being the Biot-Savartian, as well as some of my other Asexual aliens was an odd experience. It wasn't that my emotions were muted, not all of them anyway, just that they were lessened to a degree. It made sense to me though, it was quite difficult if not impossible to feel any kind of Lust when the form didn't have the proper hormones or genitalia to engage in sex. The only exception was Big Chill, and only because of its reproduction cycle.
(Those thoughts are irrelevant.) Shooing them away I focused on my body, which was a conduit not too dissimilar to a tuning fork, but which worked with magnetism instead of sound, and propelled myself upwards. It wasn't flight, I knew what flying felt like, this was more like swimming, just with less resistance.
Navigating through the air was simple, I'd practiced with all of my forms and had a good grasp of everything they could do. I pointedly ignored Gravattack's bullshit and how long it took me to get atleast some form of control over the black holes, and kept rising. When I was high enough to see my targets, the one in the alley and other on a still intact balcony, which was crazy considering how many explosions this city has already taken. (They're still aiming towards where I'd been, as well as showing no reaction to the insects crawling all over them... So do they not have any form of autonomy?) It was a somewhat Interesting thought, I knew Bakuda was a crazy bitch with a superiority complex and a chip on her shoulder the size of Mt. Everest, but I didn't think she'd be able to turn Oni Lee into a cyborg. Especially one that could still use his Power.
Though looking at the clones in front of me I could obviously tell they weren't as effective as I was Worried about. They were crude and defective. They'd be easy to deal with. [Ready.]
My Other Half relayed Confirmation, which was all I needed. Raising a claw I aimed at the general direction of the two clones. Fun fact of being a Biot-Savartian is that they perceive the world differently. Now, one would think that was obvious given that A) they were aliens, and B) they were inhuman and robotic looking creatures. The thing was their perception was similar to how Cannonbolt's echolocation worked. I could 'See' all forms of metal, know what they were and how they could be effected by my magnetism, and do with them what I willed.
So when I reached towards the clones, sensing the bombs in their arms and skulls, I easily raised them up into the air, firing them upwards as if they were shot out from a railgun. With the sudden removal of the clones, I registered the familiar sound of my Longbow being fired in the distance, I was able to grasp some of the warped metal from cars and buildings, firing them after the clones like heat seeking missiles. Considering I controlled their targets, it was no Surprise that they hit their marks, turning them into dust.
With them gone I turned back to the city, overlooking the destruction. The city was a mess, a section of it having been turned to glass, another looking like an actual war zone from the cluster bombs, the areas hit by the white phosphorus looking charred beyond belief, while a strange thunderstorm revolved around The Rig. Thankfully the hospital was fine, still being protected by an unholy amount of insects.
Still, we were going to have our hands full with S&R, and I was not looking forward to it.