Rising Phoenix Gaming

Codex sighed as she heard Arc's reply. "Of course we don't have something like that, it wouldn't take long at all for something like that to..." She trailed off. "Wait." The line to Perry opened. "Codex, what's the situation?" "Currently contained, but the creature, called a razgriz, is not dead. We need some sort of general stasis field to hold it indefinitely. Something that continually changes the energy signature so the creature cannot feed on it." "And the reason Dynames and his little friends haven't just killed it?" "They're heroes Perry. They don't kill when they don't have to." "It will be some time, but I'll see what I can do." Perry closed the connection. Codex scowled, Perry's tone said it all. The truth of the matter was that the Razgriz was inconvenient. They likely had no tech to keep it indefinitely. They wanted it gone, one way or another, and weren't likely to be any sort of help.

"The proper procedure after subduing the Razgriz would be to put it into suspension in a General Stasis Field. I do not have my Stasis generator but certainly your association has a substitute." Arc spoke dispassionately and almost mechanically. <Jesus ARC, we don't have anything like that on Earth and you really really need to let me out> The edge of panic was very much evident in in Tess's thought voice. She squeezed her eyes shut as the 'world she was in begane twisting in on itself like pulling taffy in a taffy machine.

At the Quickie Check... The buzz and whine of bullets zipping pass her was loud in RJ's ears, and her could here the spattering of brick chips behind her, but she didn't flinch, despite having been shot dead - for a limited time - before. Instead, RJ grinned, excitement rising, even if her heartrate didn't vary from her resting rate of 122 beats per minute. Four suspects left, three openly armed, RJ considered. Her impromptu partner seemed able to handle herself well, but RJ still couldn't leave her to take the greater danger. While RJ could keep with a car on city streets, the suited woman could fly, giving her the mobility advantage. Keeping keen ears alert for any approaching sirens - she could hear them from at least several blocks away - RJ took one step, then a second, stride lengthening at she built up speed. Passing by Odette, she murmured, "Make sure Moneybags doesn't get away, I'm going for the gunmen." Then she darted across the street in a flash of fair skin and black silk. There was such a thing as the 21-foot rule, a guideline for when it gets iffy to shoot someone coming at you with a melee weapon when. In her case, it became more of a 60-foot rule, and these assholes had the misfortune to be within that range, and even without a baton, her hands and feet were more dangerous than any knife. RJ leapt on top of a car instead of bothering to go around it, then launched her at one of the gunmen, her foot leaving a surprising deep dent in the hood of the Toyota. The woman landed in front of one of the gunmen with an oddly heavy thump. He flinched back from the eerily pretty and too symmetrical woman with uncanny electric blue eyes suddenly in front of his and went to club her with his carbine. "Wrong place, wrong time, bitch," he growled. "Funny, I was about to say the same," RJ replied in her cool cop tone and with a smirk as she flowed to the side with a frightening smoothness, then reached out and grabbed his elbow with fingers that felt like steel cables wrapped in velvet. She pivoted and pulled, his arm popping from its socket as she flipped him over her hip as easily as if he'd been a child's stuffed toy. Though the gunman had at least a half foot on her, and appeared to outweigh her by at least eighty pounds, he sailed through the air with hardly any arc, crashing into a second gunman full on, sending both rolling and tumbling across the asphalt. RJ clapped her hands with self-satisfaction then stalked towards them, maybe with a little more hip action than necessary to make sure they were disarmed. "Now, be good little boys and wait quietly for the men uniforms and cuffs."

Marc was torn on whether to leave or not. He didn't understand the words, but the tone wasn't a positive one. With Gwen tugging his arm though, and Emily telling them to go, he allowed himself to be pulled away, looking at Emily, who he hoped would call for help if she needed it. When they were out of earshot he looked to Gwen. "We're not just gonna let her try to handle those thugs alone are we?"

Gwen looked the newcomers over, but didn't have to think too hard about what she was seeing. She knew gangsters when she saw them. Nation of origin be damned. She took Mark's sleeve and said, "Yeah...uh...we've got classes coming up anyway. Take care, Emily. We'll see you later." As she pulled at Mark, hoping he'd understand her purpose here, Gwen scanned the area for a good place to get a little change in wardrobe.

At the Quad... Emily smiled at Marc, he was kind of cute, "No problem, I know how easy going he is and that gives students who are unprepared a false sense of security. But then I don't think either of you are unprepared, are you?" Just then a stream of chinese growled out of the shadows by the corner leading to the canteen. "那么志浩现在和白人挂在一起了？" Emily stiffened and glanced at the shadows as four asian youths in their late teens or early twenties stepped out of the shadows. All four were dressed in fashionable suits with button down shirts with no ties. The youngest three wore black with white shirts while the eldest, the one who spoke, wore a light grey suit with a pink shirt. All four wore several rings and each wore a chain necklace of gold. Emily turns her head toward Marc and Gwen, "You guys better go." She turned back to the fancy boys "约翰尼，你知道大学是禁区，你为什么来这里？" Translation Note

The impromptu cage rattled, but the Razgriz lacked the strength to do much more than that now, and Dynames nodded. "We did find some survivors north of here, Big Time was able to get them out safely before we came over here to help deal with the Razgriz." He looked at the cage, and sighed. "Codex, contact Perry, see if they've got something that might be able to be tuned to either send this thing back, or contain it indefinitely." He knew the government had researched different dimensions, but also that that research was still largely in its infancy. "I'd rather send it home than imprision it just to watch it starve. Arc said this thing feeds on energy, and we can't possibly give it enough to allow it to go on a rampage again." Once he'd spoken to his partner, he looked to the other gathered heroes. "Thank you all for helping, we kept this from making it to the city proper, where it would have done much more harm." He looked at Aspen. "As one of this City's primary defenders I like to think I keep abreast of any new superhumans in town. Yet I've never met, or heard of you. Would you mind at least telling me your name?"

Marc nodded. "Headhunted by the Professor, that's pretty cool. He must have been very impressed with you." Marc had had several classes with Professor Titus over in the Engineering Department, he was in line to be the next department head as things stood. He had a good relationship with Professor Titus, earning top marks in each of his classes. "Thanks again for the heads up on Professor Bimm."

At the Quickie Check… The gun that RJ threw slammed into the shotgun man with a lout smack! He dropped like a sack of potatoes and the gunmen at that side of the street all paused then shifted their fire at RJ. Bullets flew pock marking the bricks behind RJ and shattering windows in cars but none came close to the attractive hero. Odette finished off her opponents and the two women faced the thugs across the street. In the quad… Emily shakes her head, “No I was at university in Shanghai for the last few years, but I met Professor Bimm at a seminar last year and when he found out I was transferring back to the states he asked if I want to be a TA for him.” She shrugs, “The money doesn’t hurt,: she says with a grin.

"Yeah," Alecto agreed. "I'm good with...computers and stuff, but I can't hack my way into another universe. And that thing is way too dangerous to leave any chance of it getting away. Look what it DID to this place..." She looks around the construction yard. No bodies, she thought, trying to calm herself down. No bodies, even in...part. If they'd been here, surely there'd be remains. "Did anyone check to see if there were survivors here yet? I was in the middle of looking when this guy showed up."

“No, I just wanted to know since you are both in the class I am teaching assistant in. Don’t let Assistant Professor Bimm’s demeanor fool you, he is a very exacting instructor and does not cut anyone any slack. Plus, you are both abnormally tall, you look like a couple.” That got a good laugh out of Gwen, and she listened to the advice about Bimm with a nod. "So you must have had him as a professor before you TA'ed then, right? Any juicy stories about Bimm, or the class or anything like that?"

"That's wonderful and good," Big Time offered with a mixture of sarcasm and curiosity, "Sounds like you're the expert, so how would you propose we do that?" The megamorph model kept a steady grip on her potential projectile, eyes not breaking from the improptu cage. She really did want to know, actually. It might give her an insight into Arc's nature and why he, it, resonated so much with her otherwise silent passenger. San Francisco had shipped a handful of it's defeated threats away via interested government agency but anything on this... Ragiz's scale tended to be towed away in pieces. Nobody wanted a kaiju infestation, least of all the woman most in a position to have to grapple said kaiju.

Arc yelled "Wait!" It quickly analyzed the area and not stopping while he explained. he grabbed a large container with his power, tore it open then wrapped it around the Razgriz. Once the Creature was inside the container Arc activated a forcefield outside the container. "The Razgriz is a dangerous beast, but it is nothing more than a beast. This destruction was not from malice but from its accidental entry to this world. Its attack are simply its nature and drive to survive. We should try to either return it to its own universe or if not able to do that, find someplace to hold it in captivity."

Another barrage of attacks hammered the Razgriz, it was wholly unused to the continued physical assault, and it had already used more energy than it had gained. It needed to feed, even as it blasted its way free of the debris, losing enough energy cohesion that its energy aura shifted to an even darker crimson. Even though Alecto was closest, The Razgriz launched itself at Dynames, the energy of his sword drawing it in like a magnet. It reached out for him, and instinctively he backed away. As Dynames made to strike it with his sword, the razgriz seemed to almost accept it. The bright energy blade seemed to shimmer and shift, becoming a massive blade of metal. It was far too late for the interdimensional entity to dodge, and the slash tore a massive gash in its chestpiece, even as it sent crashing back to earth. Arc recognized that this was nearly the end of the Razgriz, as it no longer had the energy to keep both its arms.

Instincts she hadn't possessed before that night at the library freed her from the tyranny of gravity sang at her as the thugs opened fire on her. Deadly trajectories were low notes in the background music of violence and Cassie was a conductor of the tune. She danced in midair through the barrage, a ghostly white figure borne on glowing wings. She came out of her dodge closer to one of her targets. Well, former target as the striking newcomer laid into him and used their weapons as improptu projectiles. She considered the woman from behind red-glowing lens before nodding, voice distorted behind the air filters of her mask, "Shouldn't be a problem." An entirely performative tap of one booted toe on the ground had her arcing at the next closest armed thug, shoulder checking him with far more force than someone her size should be able to manage. Feeling the air puff out of his lungs as he made his own much-less-controlled flight, Odette used the counter momentum to come up and down again on a second target in a gravity-assisted axe kick.

With a practiced eye, RJ noted hostiles and friendlies, her incredible eyesight letting her pick out details from across the intersection and at night, even if there were streetlights. Skintones, eye colour, tattoos. One gunman had yellowed teeth, another a grill. She tried to pick up their scents, but there was too much cordite in the air and all she could really get was the gunmen were all men. She gave herself a tight, wry grin at the sight of the costumed woman. She'd been a cop for too long to be sanguine at the sight of a vigilante, but had to remind herself she was here to be the same thing. She wanted to stop the thieves from getting away with their loot, but instinct drove her in protecting a civilian and backing up a partner under attack rather than going after a suspect. And at least until she knew otherwise, she'd count the woman in the costume as a partner. Unfortunately, RJ didn't wear a costume, and she didn't even really have anything on hand to disguise herself, not a balaclava or ski mask like she typically wore on 'suspect' nights out, or even a kerchief for an improvised face mask. Oh well, there's the old standby I've developed and use the weapons of mass distraction. She slipped off her leather jacket, tugged down the neckline of her dress and rolled up the hem, turning her tasteful, if tight, little black dress into an indecent little black dress. As the two gunmen turned and fired at Odette, she saw a woman sway and swirl into view behind the gunmen from around the corner with a hollered and exuberant, "Whoo!" To Odette, the astonishingly woman with rich brown hair with a hint of red to it, cut to chin-length, looked about her own age, maybe a bit shorter, but more athletic and curvaceous, taut figure well displayed in a little black dress about ready to burst. The Instagram Fitness Goddess or whoever she was looked to have been enjoying a night on the town and stumbled into trouble. She was even missing her shoes. "Oh! Wow! Is this, like, a gang fight?" the woman chirped with oblivious concern as she continued to approach the two gunmen on this side of the intersection with too much sway to her steps. If the woman was trying to sound like a drunken ditz, she wasn't doing a great job in Odette's estimation. Her tone was too clipped, and despite appearances, her movements were too graceful, not like a dancer, but like an athlete, or a predator, too sure and economical. "Two guys on one girl? No fair! And she doesn't even have a gun. You shouldn't either!" Before the first gunman could even turn around, RJ reached out and grabbed his gun by the barrel and ripped it from his hands as easily as taking candy from a sleeping baby, breaking his trigger finger and the shoulder-strap. She twisted and threw it across the intersection at the figure with the shotgun standing by the other man with the pair of bulging duffel bags. The firearm whistled through the air, moving faster than a Major League fastball. RJ continued her spun flowed toward the other gunman firing at the winged woman, her other hand flicked, and the rod in her hand extended into a composite baton with a sharp snap. With a pause, RJ brought it down on the gunman's extended arm between wrist and elbow with a smooth and deceptive strong motion. Something cracked. Before turning to look back at her first two victims, she glance up at the flying woman and nodded towards the other gang across the street. "Still up for taking down the rest?" There was nothing drunken or airheaded in RJ's electric blue, almost neon blue, eyes, and her voice was cool and collected. "At an estimation, at this time of night and in this district, we have about four minutes before the police show up, if these assholes tripped the alarms."

Marc shrugged. "Nope, not a couple. We've just had classes together and become friends who enjoy working together." listening to her talk about Hanami, he nodded. "What did you say to them to make them leave so quickly?" While it was true, he was over a foot taller than Emily, there were others at the school taller even than him. He'd heard about Bimm from a senior he was in the "unofficial" gaming club with. He was a hardass teacher, but He did actually teach his classes. It was something that Marc had noticed more and more, some of the teachers here really phoned it in for some classes.

In the Quade... Emily shakes her head and moves closer to Gwen and Marc so she doesn’t have to talk loud, "Asians, even those born here in America, have to live in two worlds, the West and the East. Those girls, except for Hinomi, are natural born citizens but their families are Chinese from Fujian province. Taiwan is off the coast of Fujian. Hinomi is here on a scholarship. She doesn't have any family here and she does not have a lot of money or things." Emily shrugs, "Those other girls are spoiled bullies who just echo what their elders tell them and do not think for themselves. They will not bother her again." “No, I just wanted to know since you are both in the class I am teaching assistant in. Don’t let Assistant Professor Bimm’s demeanor fool you, he is a very exacting instructor and does not cut anyone any slack. Plus, you are both abnormally tall, you look like a couple.” At the Quickie-Check... Rj skidded to a stop at the corner and peered around just in time to see the costumed person land behind two of the masked gunmen and lay them out in a series of elegant moves. The other two shooters on this side saw the action as well and turned their guns on the winged assailant blasting away at them with a hail of lead! The three gunmen on the other corner paused their fire and were joined by two more men from out of the Quickie-Check, one carrying two large canvas bags, the other a combat shotgun.

Marc nodded. "We can do that, if you want." He had no idea what she had in mind, but he did feel slightly bad about how she'd looked at them, and they'd not intervened. When she turned to question Emily again, Marc's eyes widened at what she asked, and then narrowed. "You keep joking about that someone's gonna take you serious Gwen." he said light-heartedly. They weren't romantically involved, just friends who shared a few classes. They worked well enough together that they generally chose each other over any other choices for group projects.

"Her name is Hanami, she is new here. The others are all from Nationalist families, she is Taiwanese." Gwen grimaced slightly. "Politics rears its ugly head. You'd think, you're studying overseas, what a great chance to leave all the baggage of your homeland behind and see the world through new eyes. But...not everyone sees it that way. We should do something nice for her, Marc." She gave Marc a grin, then added to Emily, "Was that question your way of seeing if one, or both, of us are available?" in a good-natured, teasing tone.

And another colossal chunk of debris found it's way spinning at the electrcialium horror, courtesy of Big Time's throwing arm, a very track-and-field-esque discuss throw sending it at her stunned target. She didn't know what the monster changing color meant or how close that meant the thing was to ending, but she did know a thing a two about making herself a target if it was amping up to some sort of ultimate burst. "Here, Kitty Kitty," the megamorph model taunted, "Why settle for a little morsel when there's a whole snack right here?" She punctuated her statement with a cocky little toss and catch of a third projectile, really hoping her second shot had connected in the confusion of the battle.

Arc spun from the impact but steadied himself by the time the Razgriz recovered from getting slapped to the ground. Taking inspiration from Big Time's thrown debris Arc's Potentiality Nacelles spun into invisibilty and intangible forces reached out and scopped up all the debris it could reach and smashed it with awesome force at the radiating menace!

The Razgriz unleashed a roar, cutting loose a large energy blast at Arc, the largest source of energy it could sense closeby, after seeing through the phasing defense it was using. (Arc takes 1 damage) It was then hit twice in rapid succession by powerful physical attacks, one from a large piece of debris battering down its shield and actually harming it. Not to be outdone, Aspen's kick also connected, sending the Razgriz back and downward, into the remnants of one of the buildings, dealing yet more damage. The creature stirred from where it had been knocked to the ground and roared again. It began to change colors, shifting more towards red energy leaking from it. Arc knew this meant it was both injured and enraged, meaning its attacks would be more savage, and it would be seeking out more energy, from any source. Dynames covered the distance himself, and in his hand a claymore made of light came into being. He smiled under his mask, knowing he hadn't gotten a dud this time around.

Cassandra scowled under her mask, taking in the deadly skirmish below her. Back when she was younger, back when she was so insanely under the pressure of making it out of this city to her first and second choice schools, she had been able to file this under 'someone else's problem'. Even after that before she got her powers, she had filed it under 'too big a problem for her'. Well, now she had powers *and* was here for two more years to finish her degree, so it was her problem if she wanted to look her reflection in the eye before bed. Three shooters vs four shooters. And no means of distinguishing who was less likely to turn on her once she dealt with the other side. Nothing for it then. The deadly dancer dropped from her hiding place on softly-glowing wings of light towards a pair sheltering behind a blue car. Coming down enpointe, she relied on her flight to push against quite-literally thin air into a spinning kick into her first target. Not pausing to see if the man she hit stayed down, her scarlet eye lens followed the spin into a graceful one-two-three shift to bring her into range to power one fist into a punch intended to bounce the other man against his automobile barricade.

Even when augmenting herself, Alecto wasn't what she'd usually call a 'bruiser.' However, she was constantly gathering information from all directions around her, seeing into wavelengths of light that were invisible to human eyes. She spotted someone in the process of hurling some kind of projectile, and decided...yeah, that was something she could use. The fans in her wings roared in protest as she throttled up, angling the vanes on the wings to carry her on an arc over and around the crackling energy being...then propel her around in a tight spin; aiming a powerful kick at the creature's back timed to coincide with the incoming bomb from Big Time!