Terror In Manhattan

The Manhattan Financial Corporation... The largest and most successful bank in New York City, which was booming with customers almost every single day. Very rarely was this behemoth ever targeted by the likes of thieving criminals, but today would be a very different day. It was quite early in the morning, a large, white van rolling up full of men, all dressed in inconspicuous suits and holding briefcases. They looked professional, harmless as they entered through the front doors, and not one of the everyday men and women suspected a thing.

One of the men stood near the corner of the rather large main lobby, pressing his fingers to his earpiece as he listened out for specific cues. After a moment, he looked towards another man standing near the door, and nodded. "Ready to commence operations, Skull..." The man said, fingers held to his own earpiece. Only a few seconds later, a command was issued to all of them. "Light it up." At that moment, they dropped their briefcases, pulling out identical handguns and firing rounds off into the air.

Screams echoed out from the bank along with the gunfire, the civilians dropping to the floor in utter terror as the men then equipped bulletproof vests, as well as gas masks which heavily resembled animal heads. "We all gonna stay still, or do I need to make target practice out of the lot of you?" The same man called out, the bank lobby now somewhat silent, other than the occasional whimper or sob from one of the civilians, or at this point, hostages. "Good morning, people of Manhattan!" A voice with a thick Cajun accent called from the door.

Everyone turned their attention over, seeing another group of men enter, donning the same animal gas masks, along with military uniforms, of sorts. The voice came from a man dressed in similar attire, other than the skull mask which rested over his face. "Quite the spook, wasn't it? I bet you guys haven't even really woke up yet!" He called out mockingly, walking calmly through what seemed like a sea of people, all lowered to the ground without a single movement. "That's just too. Damned. Bad." He said with a bit more venom.

Looking between his victims, he noticed one of the employees behind the desk that were cowering in fear reach for that troublesome little button to alert the police. The police were no doubt already on their way, but the fact that she even had the gall to disobey direct orders from his New Breed royally pissed him off. He pulled out his fully-automatic pistol, aiming it for her head. "Bad girl... Put those hands where they won't cause problems." He ordered, and with that, she raised her hands. A noise could be heard from behind a door to his right, and switching the gun to his opposite hand, he loaded almost a full magazine into the security guard's chest, who busted through the door, reaching for his weapon.

Everyone screamed at this shocking site, the body slumping to the ground, bleeding profusely. The man in the skull mask couldn't help but laugh with a slight wheeze, shaking his head as he reloaded. "See, now that's funny. Fucker didn't have a chance in Hell." He announced. "What do you want...?" The same lady behind the desk asked, not long after he mocked the death of the security guard. He just looked at her, surprised at her defiance. "Well, I can guarantee you it's not money. Not one bit. I'm not much for greed and Capitalism." He said, beginning to pace.

"Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself, kids..." He pulled off the skull mask, revealing a head of thinning, dark hair, unkempt with strands sticking out everywhere. A goatee rested on his chin and upper lip, his wicked smile full of chrome teeth and fillings. "My name is Jebediah Elliot. You may be thinking I'm a bank robber, here to take your precious green. Nah... You see, that would imply you're all just hostages, and you have a chance in Hell of surviving this little incident. That ain't exactly the plan." He explained. At this news, everyone began to panic. He turned to his boys in the military uniforms, nodding. They saluted before heading for the elevators.

Looking back around at his victims, he grew angry at their noise. "Shut up!" His voice rang out, everyone silencing themselves. "You wanna be scared? Do it in silence!" After a brief pause, he continued. "You're so, so afraid... Afraid of death, and everything far more trivial than that. Afraid of a finder binder, and having to pay so much precious green for repairs. Afraid of a nasty breakup with your sweetheart, afraid of the McDonald's down the street getting your order wrong." He shook his head, chuckling again. "All because you've got money. Not a worry at all."

"To you privileged folk, not a worry in the world, everything that nobody else would fall to pieces over, it comes easy to you people... Makes me sick." He spat, giving a rather frail man a soft kick, signaling him to look up in his direction. "Africans in war-torn countries struggle to get clean water to drink. The ecosystem up at the ice-caps is falling apart at the seams due to human ignorance... Those are real problems, folks! Not your hamburger being made wrong." He announced. With that, he began pacing again, holding up his index finger.

"Then... It hit me. Why stop at wiping away the Capitalist greed and first-world privilege of you little babies... When I could just wipe you away completely?" His words prompted a few to break down into tears, as police sirens could be heard in the distance. At this point, his men had gone up through the entirety of the building, securing every floor, and planting explosives along the way. Their intentions were now clear... These men weren't robbers. They were terrorists.

It all started out like any other day, normal or as normal a day someone like Robyn could have. She had quite the busy day ahead of her, she looked over at the notepad that sat on top of her counter and read over her to-do list, "Deposit check, yada yada yada yada, buy more booze, blah blah blah." Robyn let out a heavy sigh. "Well I guess this is what happens when you procrastinate now I have to get all this stuff done today. I was actually hoping I could head over to a bar and get a few drinks." She said to herself in a disappointing tone. After hearing her stomach rumble, she walked over to her kitchen, given she did live in a studio apartment; so it wasn't that far a walk. She was greeted by a very depressing sight when she opened her fridge, "Groceries, one more thing to add to that god forsaken list."

Robyn noticed that today's traffic seemed quite horrible; so even against her better judgement she decided to fly there because it was a hell of a lot faster than traveling there in a taxi. It only took about three minutes to get to the bank, her landing was a bit off today, actually very off, seeing she land high atop the branches a maple tree, "This day is gonna be tiresome." She said bothered.

She walked up to the very extravagant bank doors, the name "Manhattan Financial Corporation" sat on the side of the large building, it hung high above everyone's head, "Huh, I wonder how much that cost?". While admiring the building, Robyn noticed a white van stationed in front of the bank; but she thought nothing of it and got back to the task at hand: Her To-Do list. She hurriedly tried to make herself look as presentable as she could be. She picked branches and twigs and leaves out of her hair, she shook out all the hidden bugs in her scarf, and wiped off anything that was on her clothes and jacket. Then she entered.

Robyn walked all the way through the impressively large lobby, all while admiring it's beautiful design, past a stationed security guard, who seemed like he would happily fire it off at the first thing he presumed to be a threat. Robyn hurried over to the bank teller. She was a middle-aged brunette with greenish brown eyes, someone you wouldn't really glance twice at if you walked past her. Luckily the teller finished quick and Robyn, who rejoiced at the teller's work, turned to leave when she stopped. "Hey lady, do you mind if I used your bathroom." The teller quickly replied, "It's not really our policy to let people use our restrooms. Since it's mostly for the employees and you know we're a bank and all." Robyn again let out another heavy sigh and angrily motioned to her messed up hair, dirty face and clothes, "I don't know if you noticed or not but I am in urgent need of a bathroom. So again can I use your bathroom... please!" A little taken a back the lady says, "Fine! But make it snappy. It's all the way down the hall to the left, last door on the left."

Robyn turned on the lights and locked the door behind her. She tried to fix her entire appearance again, which she did successfully. She now had her black her in a ponytail, bug and bark free, and her clothes were now somewhat clean, she'd have to wash them later. As she was making a motion to unlock and open the bathroom door, she heard something. "Gunshots?!" She put her ear against the door and trained her ears onto the voice, she could hear a faint southern accent, "My name is Jebediah Elliot. You may be thinking I'm a bank robber, here to take your precious green. Nah... You see, that would imply you're all just hostages, and you have a chance in Hell of surviving this little incident. That ain't exactly the plan." Robyn could also hear a number of footsteps, "Are there multiple of them? Wait a second, he's gonna kill everyone in the bank." She stood in the bathroom assessing the tense situation, "I can't let him do it, I won't let him kill those people."

Regardless of the fact he was a cyborg even Cebra needed funds for various ventures and basic needs. I mean he still needed to eat and drink just not as much as the average person, he needed many of the things a human might need actually. Cebra had tried to get normal employment before but that had proved disastrous as his enemies were all to capable of tracking him down. Having to get legitimate identification was the problem there, cant hide when you're part of the grid. In Cebra's mind this all justified him using an ATM to hack into the the global market and siphon money from multiple sources.

None of the bank patrons seemed to notice what Cebra was doing and there was no one waiting in line so Cebra had time to drain funds, put them in his secret account and hide his tracks. While he was in the middle of transfering his ill gotten gains another thought came to him. He didn't see it so much as stealing from people or companies, though he never took money from the common man just the wealthy and corporations. He saw it now as sort of a hero tax, a way of being compensated for constantly saving peoples lives, property ect... I mean it's not like he could do this for free like the goody two shoes heroes, screw those guys Cebra needed to live like anyone else.

In the middle of this Cebra took a seat as the hacking program ran siphoning money, he watched folks come and go making crude and snide comments in his head. A woman walked in looking a bit decheveled, it could have been the beetle crawling down her back that made Cebra smirk. But besides that Cebra thought she was fine as fuck, sort of the hot mess type one might not want to aggravate. He looked around also checking out the tellers to make sure no one was suspicious of him or he'd have to skidaddle quickly. A moment later a group of gentlemen in some snazzy suits walked in. In his mind Cebra made a sarcastic scene of these guys suddenly being like movie bank robbers and pulling out guns from those suit cases.

What happened next immediately wiped the sarcasm away and turned Cebra deadly serious... They did just that. Before Cebra knew it the men had drawn weapons in the bank and had everyone on the floor at their mercy. Cebra couldn't do anything at the moment he would be found out easily, no way to hide his identity he wouldn't risk open fighting either. All Cebra could do was comply along with everyone else, this situation was bad but it was going to get worse. Another man entered the bank with more of an authoratative tone and Cajun accent, all the men involved were masked. The one in charge went on some manner of rant about capitalism which Cebra had heard a thousand times before. It was when the man made it clear he didn't want money or that everyone would die that he payed closer attention.

"Shit... what to do? Damn it I'm useless like this... Need a piece of metal"

Cebra muttered to himself.

Flick sauntered down the street like he owned the world, wearing a brand new pair of sky blue Converse shoes, an equally new Glasgow Celtic soccer shirt and a recently stolen pair of blue jeans, the mercenary. As he whistled a chaotic and happy tune, he heard the sudden POP of of gunshots from the bank across the road. As pedestrians and passers by started running away from the building, the Fly On The Wall had only one thought. The fuck?

The curious Scotsman immediately looked left and right (even renegades take safety precautions, kids!) before crossing the road at pace. With everyone so distracted, he was fairly confident no one would see him as he shrunk down to the size of a grain of rice and snuck passed the armed man at the door. Midway through his movements, he activated his stealth enhancing armour.

Climbing the wall, Flick tried to assess the situation and sate his curiosity. He spotted the shot security guard and grimaced, before rationalising it as a foolish career to go down in a world polluted by murderous meta humans. At this point, he started paying attention to their leader.

"Those are real problems, folks! Not your hamburger being made wrong... Then... It hit me. Why stop at wiping away the Capitalist greed and first-world privilege of you little babies... When I could just wipe you away completely?"

Flick, now halfway up the wall and undetected, rolled his eyes and commented quietly to an imaginary audience, "Oh. They're just nutters." He then rested atop a dusty old clock above the main entrance and peered around, considering his options.

If these lunatics are going to blow up the building, someone might as well take some of the cash... besides, they're safe, right? Some actual heroes will show up and save these people. Scarlet or Hooded Spider will sort this. Someone like that. This isn't a dick move.

The Scotsman nodded to himself, content with his conclusion - for now! He then began vaulting from light fixture to light fixture, running along them towards the vaults. Capitalism isn't all bad.

(so are we waiting for more people to post or....)

(I usually try to go in order)

(Sorry for the wait, everyone... Life's been kicking my ass.)

When the police finally arrived, there were at least eight squad cars, officers flinging the doors open and getting behind the vehicles for cover as they drew their handguns, some pulling shotguns and such from the trunks. "This is the NYPD! Come out with your hands up!" One said through a megaphone.

Jebediah heard the commotion outside, shaking his head with a sigh and rolling his eyes before placing his mask back on. "Damn... Here already? No fun." He muttered. Looking down at the man he had kicked just moments earlier, he chuckled, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him to his feet. "Alright. C'mon, boy. Let's get a breath of fresh air." He said tauntingly, walking out with him, three of his goons following behind.

As they exited the building, the cops readied themselves to arrest or even possibly engage the men, all of them pausing as he drew his firearm and placed it to the civilian's head. Another one of his goons ran out of the building with a megaphone, placing it to his lips. "What's the matter, boyscouts? You were pretty confident until I put a gun to this piece of shit's head!" He mocked. "What do you want? Put him down and we'll give you what you want!" The same officer said. Jeb looked at one of his men, chuckling softly.

"Somehow, I doubt that. Because the only thing I want from you people, is to stay the Hell out of my way!" Without warning, Jeb pointed his weapon at them, spraying rounds from side to sides at the vehicles as the officers ducked for cover. His men opened fire as well, prompting a huge firefight as Jeb head back inside with the hostage. Once he was inside, he pointed at one of the two men left guarding the inside.

"Contact the top floor... Tell them to be ready to set off those bombs when I give the signal." He said. The guy gave a nod, pulling out his radio to do just that as Jeb disappeared into one of the nearby doors. However, the top floor would be having problems of its own soon enough. Problems in the form of a certain blue-clad lightening bolt.

The situation on the top floor looked quite similar to the situation down in the lobby. Hostages were huddled on the floor as the terrorists patrolled the spaces in-between cubicles. One of the men patrolling's radio buzzed, and he quickly picked up. "Top floor... What's up?" He asked. "Be ready to blow the top off of this place at our signal. Skull's orders." The voice replied. He gave a nod. "Understood. We'll be on standby-" Before he could even get the words out, a figure crashed through the window, slamming him back-first into a nearby wall, which knocked him unconscious.

The hostages screamed at this, the second patrolling goon lifting his rifle to fire at the figure, who lifted a hand to give the attacker a strong jolt of electricity, sending him head-over-heels into the air. He wore a full blue costume, with neon blue lightning-bolt patterns which illuminated as electricity sparked off of his form. He looked at the hostages, fists clenched. "Everyone alive and counted for? Alright, listen closely... Take the stairs down to ground-level, and escape through one of the emergency exits. You should be able to get through unseen. Be quiet and careful. Understood?" He asked. Everyone nodded, getting up and quickly heading for the stairs.

He sighed, looking at the two unconscious New Breed henchmen. "One floor down, plenty more to go..." He said in exhaustion. Conner Ericsson, better known as Voltage should've known his business trip to the big apple would end in this. However, he was under the impression that these guys were your average bank robbers. That was, until he saw the detonator on the second guy, which he crouched to pick up and examine. "Well... This went from 0 to 100, real quick." He growled. "Gotta stop these maniacs..."

If Robyn was going to take on these guys she couldn't let her identity be exposed, right? I mean it wasn't like she was planning on killing every villain in the building; but she was sure by the end of this she would be up close and personally with a few of these guys. Robyn put her hair up into a tight bun, "Better for fighting." She took her grey scarf and tore two eye holes in it and wrapped it around the upper area of her head, basically everything nose and up. She then zipped up her jacket; so she'll have frontal protection against firearms.

"I could use this door as some sort of shield too." Robyn moved towards the thick door and grabbed the handle, she then applied a significant amount of force with her right hand against the side of the door connecting it to it's frame, breaking them off easily. Robyn then lifted the door up in front of her like a riot shield. While walking closer towards the main area she heard the leader, Jebidiah, say "Contact the top floor... Tell them to be ready to set off those bombs when I give the signal." Are you serious bombs?! "So that's what he meant when he told the hostages they weren't going to make it out, he's going to blow this place to smithereens." She said convinced. "I've got to get to the top floor!" Robyn tucked her "riot shield" under her arm, then turned and darted towards the flight of stairs further down the hallway.

Halfway up the stairs, Robyn heard the holstering of a gun, she looked up and saw one of the terrorists, a couple of meters above her, pull out his handgun and aim it right her. "Oh no you don't!" Robyn then launched into action. She quickly shielded the front of herself with the door, she then crouched and made a superhuman leap straight up the stairs right for the assailant. The door sped at the man like a bullet and it hit him like a battering ram. In fact it hit him so hard, the gun flew from his hands and landed a few feet away. Robyn moved the shield from out in front of her with her left hand and she made a move to catch the man by his throat with her right, she tightened her grip on him and choked the man until he went into an unconscious state. Robyn threw him to the ground and made her way up the rest of the steps.

Right as she walked through the top level's entrance, she had to dodge out of the way as about a dozen people ran through the door. "Who saved y-" Robyn could barely even finished the words before her question was answered. She witnessed a man in a full blue suit standing above two bodies say, "Well... This went from 0 to 100, real quick." He then growled, "Gotta stop these maniacs..." Robyn then looked around to see who the man might be talking to, it was most likely himself. "Uh, so... I'm guessing your a hero. If so good because they're about to blow this place this entire place up."

Flick suicide dived off of the light fixture, landing upon the soft carpet behind the front desk with a graceful tap. The panicked bank teller next to him didn't notice, the man too terrified to pay much attention to anything but the scene ahead. Being tiny had its advantages.

The mercenary continued along the floor towards a conveniently dropped bag of notes, presumably released from someone's grip before they were formally deposited. The mercenary smirked as he unshrank behind the desk, taking a grip of the bag.

The bank teller noticed that! The middle aged, balding man let out a brief gasp as Flick gestures towards him, "Shh. I'm here to help," He reassured, taking a firm grip of the cash. "Just let me get this to safety, yeah?" He whispered and winked.

The thief then shrank once more, taking the bag of cash with him. He stuffed it into his backpack and leapt up onto the desk, surveying the scene. He wasn't against helping out, but this really wasn't his kind of gig...

Then he spotted Robyn, darting for the stairs with a shield. "I recognise her... she was alright," Flick grimaced and trailed after, leaping between prisoners and remaining out of sight. By the time he had caught up, Robyn was next to some guy in an electric blue outfit.

The mercenary unshrank, potentially giving either the fright of their lives, and spoke in his usually glib Glaswegian accent, "Hey. How's it going?"

Cebra observed the scene with some fascination and disbelief. In what seemed like nothing but a moment three people with special abilities appear. In the commotion Cebra slips out to a stairwell and quietly closes the door. He grabs the metal of the railing and some of it melts off then flies onto his face. The liquid metal molds into a crude mask around his face seeming to attach at the skin. Cebra then melts more of the metal and swallows it, inside his body the liquid metal fortifies his skeletal structure and muscles.

"Alright then, time to send this fucker back to the Bayou!"

Cebra angrily kicks the door open so it flies off the hinges instantly alerting the armed assailants. They all point their weapons at Cebra as Cebra stands there looking around making note of the terrorists.

"Hey! Dont move or I'll spread your brains!"

One terrorist says sneaking up beside Cebra clearly alarmed at the door flying past him. Cebra slowly turns his face hidden behind the steel mask to the assailant and chuckles. In a sudden movement nearly too fast to see Cebra grabs the head of the attacker and slams it right down into the tile floor cracking it slightly. On that cue the rest of the terrorists open fire on Cebra and Cebra goes down falling to one knee.

"He's down! Put one in his head!"

One terrorist yells out as two others move in closer to Cebra. As they get to standing over Cebra that's when they notice all the rounds have stopped dead right before hitting Cebra and that he is undamaged. Just before they two terrorists can yell back to their allies Cebra jumps up high kicking one into a statue and throws the other into his allies.

"Is that the best you've got for me? You ruin my day and you dont even give me anything fun? Tragic... Now where did that Gator jockey of a leader get off to?"

Amidst the chaos, one of the New Breed terrorists ran into the room that the Skull was in, eyes wide. He held his radio tight in one hand, looking at the Skull as he paced back and forth, his mask sitting on a nearby desk. "What is it?" He growled. "The top floor... Something's going on. We think we've been infiltrated." He told him. The Skull didn't look angry, but just gestured to his radio. "Here. Now." The thug didn't hesitate, tossing him the radio, which he caught.

Meanwhile, back at the top floor, Voltage stood and looked up at her, the detonator in his hand. "Yeah... I can see that." He told her, revealing the small device. "There's a lot of people to evacuate... I hope you're more useful than your little outfit suggests." He poked fun at her as he walked forward. At that moment, the second colorful character appeared, which he jumped at. "Man, this was an opportune time for the freaks to show up, wasn't it?" He chuckled.

At that moment, Conner turned his head, hearing the guy on the ground's radio going nuts. He pressed two fingers to the detonator in his opposite hand, frying the circuits before tossing the thing over his head. He crouched, picking up the radio and pressing the button. "Ah... You picked up. That's a good little hero." The Skull's voice came through. Voltage gritted his teeth. "The Ebony Skull. I was wondering when we'd butt heads again. How's being the biggest scum on the planet coming along?" He asked. All he received in response was a wheezing laugh.

"Oh, touche, lightning-boy. How's your newest yacht holding up? I wonder how many of your puppets slaved to earn you that?" He mocked after a short silence. Voltage clenched a fist. "What do you want, Skull?" He demanded. "Ain't it obvious? I'm here to make a point about the red, white, and blue. Teach our free country a thing or two about how fragile the dollar really is. How fragile these lives really are." The Skull explained. "So, still a homicidal maniac. That much is the same..." He murmured.

"I'm gonna make this short and sweet, kiddo. You can't save everyone. I'm gonna pick at this shithole like a Jenga Tower. Floor by floor, body by body. And I'm gonna like it. Whether you take me down or not doesn't make a damned difference. Knowing that you'll be letting them down tickles me just as well." He spat hatefully into the radio. At that moment, the two New Breed goons on the ground began to tick, Voltage quickly crouching before the same guy and pulling back his vest. Back-up bombs, strapped to their chests. His eyes widened. "Welcome to my domain, bitch."

Voltage quickly stood, gesturing for his two newfound comrades to book it. "Move!!!" At that moment, he propelled himself through one of the windows with a powerful electric pulse, just in time as the two bombs went off, taking out a significant portion of the top of the northern side of the building. He could almost hear every other civilian inside scream at the loud, tremor-inducing blast, smoke billowing into the sky in mere minutes.

Robyn was shocked at this hero's reply, she was here to help and he's demeaning her outfit. "First of all, you blue caped asshole..." But before she could finish, a familiar face, or more like suit, appeared right next to her. "Oh shit, hey Flick." Robyn said startled, Robyn turned back to the blue man when she started to hear him to talk. "It just doesn't stop with these insults does it? You know what..." Robyn was cut off yet again; but this time it was a radio that started going haywire.

Robyn watched the man pick up the radio and start having a back and forth conversation with whoever. Robyn closely listened to the two men talking, as she was doing this she then recalled the voice coming from the radio, it was Jebidiah. "Well he obviously knows we're own the top floor now... I guess his villain name is 'The Ebony Skull', kinda lame." She whispered to Flick. As the two men furthered with their conversation, Robyn heard a few things that stuck out. She started noting things in her head, "Those two obviously have prior history, evil vs good relationship?" Robyn paced back and forth with her "shield" at her side, "What's is it with him and this whole capitalism spiel." Robyn said out loud to the others this time.

"Floor by floor, body by body!" Robyn repeat right after Jebidiah finished saying it. Tick Tick Tick, "What?" Apparently she wasn't the only one who heard the noise, seeing as "Lightning Boy" ran towards the unconscious henchmen. Robyn looked towards the source of the sound right as her "Blue Annoyance" uncovered the two suicide vests. When Robyn heard him yell, "Move!!!", her instincts kicked. Robyn darted in front of Flick intent on shielding him from the blast. Robyn assumed that she was more durable than him; so she could at least try to protect him. She threw the detached door in front of herself and braced for impact.

There was a gigantic, earth shaking explosion and Robyn was damn near at the center of it. When it triggered Robyn's vision was obscured by black and grey smoke. The impact of the blast was so powerful that it reduced her shield to metal shards, the blast sent Robyn hurtling backwards through the top-level doorway and into the stairwell, she then proceeded to fall five flights of stairs. The only thought going through her mind was the hope that Flick managed to get out of the way.

Everything ached, literally, from pain ran across entire body from head to toe. She sat her head up and examined her situation, it was shit. She laid in a crater made from the her impact against the stairs, "F... Fl... Flick? Arr... Are you under me..." Robyn let out in a hoarse voice. She looked over her body, there were a numerous amounts of metal shards, all of varying sizes around herself; some the size of kitchen knives and others the size of toothpicks, and all of them were implanted right on her chest. To anyone else it would be a horrific site; but Robyn knew better, thankfully her jacket was reinforced. Robyn sat up in her crater, "Th... that's it!" Robyn said in a fed up tone. "The Ebony Skull has an appointment with my fist!" Robyn started pulling the shards out of her leather jacket.

Flick blinked behind his mask as Robyn threw herself in the way. Guilt washed over him, as the renegade had been just about to jump out of the window himself. The sensation of shame and ensuing crisis of conscience distracted him just long enough for the world to be thrown into chaos with the explosion.

Robyn had indeed given him cover, with only some smaller metal shards scraping against his armour, but unfortunately for Flick the woman was thrown into him by the blast. He shrunk to his natural size of 1.5 inches upon impact with her shoulder, activating his jets and trying to compose himself in the air.

As Robyn flew through the door and down the flights of stairs Flick stared after her wide eyed. Powering up his jets, the miniature mercenary followed as speedily as he could, intent to return the favour. He zoomed through the shattered doorframe, twisted around the stairway railing and blasted towards Robyn at full pace, a hand outstretched.

She couldn't see him, but if he could just get ahold of her, he could unshrink and use his jets to---

Robyn landed with a sickening crunch, leaving a crater in the ground below. "No!" Flick cried out as he hovered above the woman. Shards of metal protruded from her at all angles and she lay unmoving. She's dead...

Then, suddenly, she was up and shouting about the Ebony Skull. Flick floated in front of Robyn's face as she started pulling shards from her jacket, staring in disbelief at her confident survival.

"How in the name of... - ye cannae fight them, we have to leg it! These guys aren't messing around, Alias!"

Cebra continued beating the ever loving hell out of anyone holding a gun and wearing a mask. Cebra collected a number of bullet rounds into a large ball then melted and shaped them into a poll hammer. He took out a few more terrorists knocking them silly before clearing the entrance. The rest of the terrorist and some hostages held up in an office, Cebra could only make out a fraction of what that Cajun man was spouting. Cebra took this chance to lead the hostages nea him outside. He lead a few out to nervous police officers that pointed their weapons at him, Cebra merely scoffed then went back inside for more. He got inside when suddenly the building shook violently making Cebra fall down.

Cebra get back up quickly and looks to the Hostages.

"Get under the desks!"

In a panic they scramble under various desks and counters avoiding the falling debris. One elderly man trip making his way to a table as a statue teeters near him. Cebra rolls his eyes in frustration and sprints over to the man. He jumps in quickly picking the man up with one hand and holding the statue with the other.

"Get movin sir!"

Cebra uses his powers to pick up the old mans cane and hand it to him. The old man makes his way to safety and Cebra pushes the statue away to crash down some stairs. Cebra heads towards the office where the Cajun accent boss was at when suddenly a sharp thundering pain strikes his head and he falls over dazed.

Voltage hovered next to the demolished top floor, sparks shooting from his hands and feet as he panted, knowing that he dodged a bullet with that explosion. His heart raced, as well. "Damn... I hope those two are alright..." He murmured, trying to look into the broken windows, smoke pouring out and obscuring his vision. When he heard their voices inside, he let out a sigh of relief. He knew it wouldn't be long before the rest of the bombs were set off, and he needed to act fast.

Flying towards Flick and Robyn, he coughed as some of the smoke filled his lungs. "So... I know you literally just took a bomb blast to the face, but if we're gonna save lives, we need to do it now. That maniac has his hands on the detonator for every one of these floors. And they have hostages in each one." He told them. "Clearly, we're all very different people... But for right now, we need to be a team. Then we can forget we all ever met. Deal? Deal." He said, not giving them a chance to respond. He looked at Robyn. "Floor by floor, right? Catch you on the flipside!"

With that, he did a backflip out of the window, straightening his body out before shooting through the next floor like a bullet, spearing one of the men who seemed to be waiting for the heroes in the gut. As soon as he was downed, the others turned, shredding through cubicles and furniture with gunfire as they tried taking him out. He had gotten behind a post to evade the bullets, poking his head and an arm out just long enough to give them a strong, electric jolt. They sprang into the air before crumpling over, both convulsing from the electric shock. Still, there were more, and they were closing in on him fast.

Back on the bottom floor, near the back room, Jebediah had placed the radio he had used to contact his arch enemy down on a table, just when two more New Breed rushed in, panting as they blocked the door with a chair. Turning to their boss, one of them spoke up. "It's a massacre out there! This... Metal man... Some kinda robot; he's ripping through us like paper!" He said, voice shaky. The Skull scoffed, pulling out his submachine gun, cocking it. "Sounds like a new challenge. I like it." He said. At that moment, all of them heard a thump from outside, Jeb nodding to the door. "Don't be pussies... Check it out." He ordered.

The two men slowly walked to the door, guns at the ready as they removed the chair and opened it up. They looked at each other as they noticed Cebra's stunned body laying right at the door, one of them turning back to the Skull. "Looks to be down for the count, sir!" He called back in. The Skull was at the table with the radio, shuffling through some duffel bags of equipment. "Good! Bring him in and let's have a little chit-chat." With that, the two reached down to grab an arm each, hoping to drag the cyborg into the room for whatever Jeb was thinking of doing next.