10:26 a.m.

Khyber had taken off at a dead sprint before the thought had fully formed, meaning he was almost to the bank vault by the time Flashbang had processed his orders. He made a series of rapid jumps across the breadth of the room, ensuring the hostages stayed blind and deaf while he grabbed Bubbles. As they jumped to the alley that was her get away point, Bubbles gave Flashbang an ‘oh shit’ look before jumping into the spot Pockets had created for her. Flashbang frowned, as he agreed with Bubbles, even if he had no idea why things were going to hell even faster. But when Petra threw one of her plans out the window and started talking about sand range…well, ‘oh shit’ might be optimistic.

He jumped to a roof above, just in time to hear Zero let off a fusillade of rounds. Looking down at the building next to the Corp building, Flashbang saw what looked to be two or three of Trickshot’s guns in pieces on the steps and Trickshot in the process of pulling yet another one out of his vest. Seeing his gaze directed towards Amp and Stormfront, Flashbang braced himself for the kickback of a long jump and popped in right next to Trickshot. Appearing, he saw Trickshot’s eyes widen briefly before Flashbang’s elbow connected with his stomach. Flashbang jumped away immediately, barely dodging two of Marionette’s contraptions. As he tried to reorient himself, he saw Vector lining him up. Staying in that line would lead to lots of pain, so Flashbang jumped away again, this time moving in a series of jumps until he was out of sight behind a dumpster.

There, pausing to make sure no one could see him, he proceeded to lose his breakfast to the kickback from the long jump and series of shorter jumps afterwards. After steadying himself for a moment, Flashbang jumped to the top of the dumpster – which was thankfully closed – to assess the street. Petra had gone silent. Hopefully, that meant she was focusing on her sand and not that Web was temporarily overloaded. His hopes were confirmed a moment later when Amp and Stormfront began their mental singing. Although, even he had to admit that ‘Thunderstruck’ was kind of a corny song to sing. Not that it wasn’t thematic. As he watched, lightning and pulses of sound began emitting from both of them, driving a suddenly visible Calypso and Garganta to their knees. Flashbang, eying the open dumpster next to him, timed his jump for a pause in the song. When it came, he popped in, grabbed Garganta, and popped her into the dumpster. Which he promptly closed and sat on. Grinning, he began humming along to ‘Thunderstruck.’ Although he was still confused as to Petra’s orders and he could sense that the others were too. One of the main points of their plan was not letting Khyber and Titan duke it out anywhere near the hostages. So why would she shift it like this?

The question was answered shortly afterwards, when the Corp of America bank building took off like a rocket. Well, all the levels above the ground floor did. The shockwave from the liftoff toppled everyone but Amp and Stormfront on the street. Amp redirected the blast directly at the building Trickshot was taking cover behind. The bricks blew inward, leaving a very exposed Trickshot with his gun sticking up over his head as he ducked for cover. He got away clean, though his gun was smashed by another shot from Zero. Flashbang, noting that Vector was extremely focused on avoiding the snares Flora had out for him, elected to pop over and snag any bits and ammunition that he might find.

Glancing up also showed him that the storm was being forcibly dissipated by the displaced air from the still rising building. He let out a soft whistle; even for gifted, that was something else entirely.

In the time he took to hop over there, the dust was forcibly cleared from the bank site by the power of the fight that was going on. There were no hostages left, though Flashbang had no idea if they were dead or the Crusaders had pulled something to rescue them. Khyber and Titan were not holding back. Beams of energy shot randomly from the area as Khyber deflected strikes from Titan’s ridiculously large hammer. Which also could shoot energy, for whatever reason. Flashbang wasn’t sure why, just that it made the already frightening Titan even scarier.

Fortunately, their own muscle was more than willing to meet the challenge. Which was lucky, because Flashbang could count on his two hands the number of people willing to take on Titan in a direct fight. Khyber didn’t look like much outside a fight. Shorter than Flashbang, who was himself only 5’6”, he had a face that would be difficult to pick out in a crowd. He had a few scars, but nothing that looked particularly scary. Khyber tended to wear jeans and flannels, the type that made people think of a slacker. All in all, not the person you would associate with the man fighting Titan. That man had glowing green eyes and his grey costume damped the glow of green coming from his skin. Wielding plasma he could reshape at will, Khyber was taking the offensive against Titan.

Which was good, because the threat would only increase the longer Titan had his power active. Already he was over 8 feet tall, wielding a hammer that had to weigh more than Flashbang in each hand. Not that it was a problem for Khyber. Yet. Petra had gauged that once Titan got beyond 14 feet tall, the growing difference in strength would make it impossible for Khyber to keep the fight contained without unleashing true hell on the surroundings. Khyber was tough and strong, but he wasn’t unstoppable. Just close to it.

As he stuffed all the pieces of guns he could find into various pockets, he tried to keep an eye on both fights. Vector was back on his feet temporarily before dropping back on his ass to avoid more lightning from Stormfront. Garganta still hadn’t gotten out of the dumpster and Calypso was helpless as long as the sound and lights show kept going. Trickshot was not in sight, but the hail of bullets striking a wall about thirty feet to Flashbang’s left gave a good indicator. The air in the immediate area around Khyber and Titan was beginning to haze up from all the latent energy. Flashbang popped out as a few random beams came dancing his way. As he arrived back at the dumpster, he noticed the lid was partially open. Before she could get all the way out of the dumpster, Flashbang jumped back on top and was rewarded with a frustrated yell from Garganta inside. Surveying what was now a literal field once more, he noticed the roots of Flora’s plants render Vector and Calypso immobile. Those roots led back to a particularly dense section of the field growing around Flora herself, as she put the finishing touches on her ‘suit.’ Well, Flashbang called it by various acronyms as he came up with them. He’d just come up with a new one, Bark and Root Armor. He chuckled while imagining Flora’s reaction. He could picture her getting all red and –

10:28 a.m.

Flashbang, get the package inside now!

Flashbang: Huh? Uh, okay, headed in.

Pockets, get to the secondary objective and get ready to drop your entrance as soon as Flashbang is in. Khyber, get ready for Titan to get reinforcements. Flora, Stormfront, Amp, there’ll be a Meridian response team on the way now that Black Hat’s AI are out, prep a welcome for them. Zero, is Trickshot out of guns?

Zero: Yes.

Then start scouting for the incoming response as well. Everyone, get ready for mental comms to get cut once Meridian gets here, it’s almost a guarantee they’ll bring Screamer. Transporter will signal the extract. Bubbles, how close are you to the ship?

Bubbles: At least two minutes, this isn’t an easy tunnel to travel.

Shit. Flora, after the ambush try to neutralize Screamer and his escort. You’re her long range cover Zero. Stormfront and Amp, get out of there after the ambush, Neutronis will be hunting for you. Flashbang, after you drop off the package, I want you to –

Flashbang: Already dropped, headed back out now.

Good, see if you can’t support Flora. Pockets, I need you clear of the area before Khyber is forced to let loose. Hat, you’re on standby in case any of their techies or mechs come along.

Black Hat: Got it boss.

Cutting off mental comms early, will re-establish if Screamer is taken out. Otherwise, stick with the plan. Web, kill active communication.

10:29 a.m.

“We’re silent Petra.” Web said. “Display should stay up when Screamer goes off, but it’ll be fuzzy.”

“Web?” Petra asked.

“Yes?”

“Shut up. We’ve done this before and I do not need you distracted when Meridian shows.”

“Roger that.”

The monitors Black Hat had activated were dead now, as he had withdrawn Cracker and Jacker from the Crusader building. From her view of Web’s display, she could see most of the Dozen’s team securing the downed Crusaders and staying well clear of the lightshow coming from Khyber and Titan. It looked like Flashbang had snagged Glyph on his way out. She watched as he dragged Glyph to Flora’s roots and dumped him into the writhing plants. Glyph and the rest of the Crusaders minus Titan were bound up by roots. None of them had bothered securing Amoeba, her gifts were completely non-threatening in this situation. Stormfront and Amp were breaking into the building across the street, presumably looking for a few windows to shoot from. Even with Web’s display, Petra was still having a difficult time tracking Flora as she moved through the overgrown street. In her wake, small saplings were breaking out of the earth and the grass had grown over her head while ivy began creeping up the fronts of buildings on the street. Flashbang was jumping around the street, presumably to make their true locations uncertain. Zero was shifting buildings using her grapple, taking a line that would give her full view of the street. As soon as Bubbles got on board, the ship would be able to actively engage.

Everybody went still as the air above the street began to visibly warp. Even Titan and Khyber paused to take note of the location before resuming their brawl. The air seemed to writhe and constrict to a point, before exploding outward. In the wake of that explosion, the Meridian response team began to pour out. First through was Spartan where he was met with a barrage of lightning from Stormfront and Amp. As the lightning hit, Spartan’s steel plated armor began melting onto his form and the bolts that met with flesh left visible burns. Spartan stopped and began retreating immediately back through the portal. Another shot of lightning encouraged his retreat. That was lucky, Spartan wasn’t particularly resistant to energy and the burns Petra saw looked to be serious enough to keep him out of the fight. Next through was Neutronis, who flew out in front of the portal to block further lightning strikes. Stormfront and Amp didn’t even bother, hitting Neutronis with lightning would start supercharging him. Instead, they let Flora contribute. Vines shot out from multiple buildings above Neutronis, seeking to bind him. He swooped low to dodge and a root rising from the ground caught one of his feet. It dragged him down, his form brightening. As he began to burn off the root holding his foot, more shot out to further restrict him. She knew those wouldn’t hold him forever, but it would allow Stormfront and Amp one more barrage before retreating.

Unfortunately the following barrage met Centurion coming through. At least that would jolt her a bit and blind her for a second. Petra had been hoping they might send Screamer or Winky through next. Centurion dropped to the ground, ignoring the roots wrapping around her. As she moved, Centurion simply ripped them out of the ground as she walked over towards Neutronis. No more lightning barrages came from the buildings, indicating Stormfront and Amp had followed orders. Centurion cut Neutronis free and he shot towards the building the lightning had originated from. Centurion looked around, obviously looking for Flora to cut the roots off at the source.

Good luck with that, Petra thought. Finding Flora in her field would require burning it down and Neutronis was prioritizing hunting for Stormfront and Amp. Centurion started making her way towards Khyber and Titan, her helmet and armor began to glow. Petra watched as she barreled towards the fight, picking up speed until she was impossible to track with the naked eye. If it weren’t for Web’s projection using Flashbang’s, Zero’s, and Khyber’s enhanced senses, Petra would’ve been as blind as anyone else. Centurion lunged as if to grapple Khyber. He had sensed her coming, sliding underneath and blasting her straight up into the air with a blast of green light.

Unfortunately, Titan took advantage of the pause and landed a solid hit with his hammer. Khyber went flying backwards, landing near the edge of the street/field. He popped right back up, deflecting a thrown hammer with a light shield. Titan, now approaching 9-10 ft in height, paused to recall his thrown hammer. Khyber took the opportunity to blast him repeatedly, forcing Titan to cover his face. Titan may have been invincible and pretty much immune to all forms of energy, but he was vulnerable to the effects of kinetic forces. Khyber’s blasts didn’t do any actual damage but they could knock him over and blind him if he wasn’t careful.

Petra was slightly confused why he wasn’t following up by getting back into close range until she saw him looking over his shoulder, at Flora’s field on fire near the portal. Stepping through was one of Exact’s suits that was covered in fire from head to toe. As it stepped out, a wave of fire rolled out from the suit, incinerating everything within a 15 ft radius. Petra hoped Flora took that as her cue to get to the extract point. Flashbang popped over next to Khyber, yelling something. Nodding, Khyber doubled down on blasting away at Titan, who was slowly stepping forward, deflecting blasts with one hand while shading his eyes with the other.

Centurion had landed, briefly starting towards Khyber before getting bowled over again. It was bad luck for her, Petra thought. Trying to step into a fight between two of the biggest blasters/brawlers out there was a tough ask and Centurion was great brawler but didn’t have any ranged abilities to speak of. As she rolled away, she did manage to throw her shield. Khyber wasn’t stupid enough to try and catch it, ducking instead. The shield sheared through a bunch of trees, exposing Flora as she had been moving towards her exit. Exact’s suit noticed and signaled behind before extending its’ hands towards Flora, shooting out twin streams of fire.

10:36 a.m.

“Flora’s pinned down there, how close are we to extraction?”

“We’re still waiting on Bubbles,” Web noted. Petra pulled at her chin as she looked over, noting the strain showing on Web’s face. Keeping a projection going that tracked a fight of this magnitude would have repercussions for him later.

She glanced over to Black Hat. “Any chance you can disrupt her suit?” As she asked, Petra watched two more suits step through the portal, both also on fire. “Scratch that, suits?”

“No chance boss. She knows I’m in the area somewhere, the networks are closed off to anything not direct suit to suit. Why she’s shouting at her teammates instead of comms. Speaking of which, Cracker, Jacker, can you find any access points on the other side? We can always use the info, right boss?” Black Hat was back to scanning his monitors, looking for something in his displays.

“Yeah, get what you can.”

“On it. Jacker, you’re doing the digging. Cracker, watch out for Unity’s security programs. They won’t be high level, but there will be a shit load of them. Don’t give me any lip about the roles, security is more important. Jacker, pay attention to that. If Cracker calls it, you both get out of there. I am not losing either of you to Unity or Exact’s countermeasures. Bingo Jacker, that’s our access point, go get ‘em!”

Petra looked back at the loud clatter of Bubbles falling through the entry tunnel. “You need any time to recover Bubbles?” She walked over to help Bubbles up.

“Give me a minute, that was a long run.” Bubbles panted.

“Petra…” Web groaned. Petra spun around, witnessing the aftereffects of a massive explosion on Web’s display. Web slumped to the ground, the display flickering in and out. Petra hurried over to him, tilting his head up. Blood was leaking out of his nose. Web gave a grin before passing out, the display winking out as he did.

“We don’t have the time, Bubbles, get us covered. Transporter go, now!” Petra lurched as the ship jumped out of hover mode. She pulled Web away from the display station, getting from help from Bubbles to strap Web into a bucket seat. “Hat, Web’s down, get the cameras up and running.”

She finished strapping Web into his seat and moved over to help Bubbles. In the background, she heard Hat’s rapid keystrokes and the whir of the monitors coming back online. The noise of the engines began to ramp up, drowning out the other ambient noise. As Bubbles was finishing buckling, she shouted something. Petra couldn’t understand and Bubbles tried to shout louder. Petra crossed back across the bay and grabbed two headsets. She tossed them to Bubbles, gesturing to her and Web. Turning back to look at the monitors, Petra grabbed another headset for herself, strapping it on. Straightening it on her head, Petra heard Bubbles voice “ –ted me to tell you that her tunnels in the area around the brawl aren’t accessible. The energy blasts shredded them. She retreated back to Zero’s pick-up point.”

“Got it. Transporter, adjust for three person extract. Cycle weapons over to rubber rounds. Hat, pull your A.I. out, put them in charge of target tracking and under turrets. Bubbles, strongest shield, combat filter. Listen for the sand drop. Let’s kick some ass people.”

10:34 a.m.

God dammit! Flashbang jumped back away from the street as Neutronis came flying out of the portal. Taking the time to reposition, he got to the edge of the field, closer to the fight he wanted no part of. As he arrived, he saw Khyber tumbling towards the edge of the overgrown street. Glancing back towards the portal, Flashbang watched the wave of fire roll out from Exact’s suit. Flashbang knew that suit would burn the field down in no time. Judging by the heat, anything not fire resistant wouldn’t stand a chance either. He could probably handle the heat, but the only other person with any kind of heat resistance was rather occupied. Flashbang pondered as he looked back and forth between Khyber’s fight and Exact’s suit burning up the field. Maybe…

Flashbang jumped near Khyber.

“Khyber, if I jump the suit into the middle of this, can you take it down?” Flashbang shouted, trying to be heard over the shrieking noise Khyber’s barrage was making. Khyber nodded – I hope to God that was a nod for me – and renewed his assault on Titan. Flashbang popped away fast, getting the hell out of the way of any counterstrokes Titan might throw back. Jumping his way back towards the opposite side of the street, Flashbang was working his way into the tall grass near the portal when he saw the other two suits step out of the portal, adding their streams of fire to the inferno. He saw one of Exact’s suits turn his way and popped away in a series of jumps before the fire could follow. Flashbang wasn’t sure just how much heat resistance he had, but he could already feel the heat as one of the suits tried to torch him. This is going to fucking hurt. He could see that Flora was rapidly getting pinned in by the fire. Meridian didn’t normally kill, but the Dozen and Meridian didn’t exactly see eye to eye.

Old, bad blood there. Ugly bad blood.

Moving erratically to keep from getting caught in the flames, Flashbang jumped his way closer to the rearmost suit, the one focused on him. As he finally came into range, the suit let off a wave of flames. Gasping from the pain, he jumped to grabbing the suit directly. Groaning from the effort, he jumped back across the street, about 15 ft in the air.

Letting go of the suit, he jumped into the alley across the way. Stumbling against the wall, Flashbang started convulsively dry heaving for a few seconds, nothing coming up. Flashbang looked up to see the other suits charging towards Khyber. He had gotten lucky and grabbed the actual Exact apparently. Which meant he didn’t have to go through that ordeal again. Steadying himself from the pain of his burns, he jumped towards Flora. As he arrived, Flashbang saw Flora on the ground, her suit partially on fire. “Shit!” Flashbang grabbed Flora and jumped back to the alley to beat the flames out. As they got back into the alley, he heard screaming. Stumbling from the disorientation of too many jumps and reeling from the heat, he tried beating out the flames. Flashbang was confused for a moment until he looked back down at Flora. He was getting rid of the flames, but as they went away, he could see the burns in the gaps of her costume and armor. They were red and weeping. Flora went silent for a moment, looking up at him. Seeing the pain in her eyes, Flashbang braced himself for another long jump. Picking up Flora, he put a shoulder under her arm and moved towards the far exit of the alley. Once he got to the entrance, he popped about two blocks away at the entrance to his emergency exit. Moving into the entrance, he laid down Flora and stepped back out. The entrance to the tunnel was hard to see, but Flashbang managed to grab onto each side. Once he closed it, he knew Pockets would sense it and come looking. Alright, just me and Khyber left. Thank God, this shit show is almost over. As he unclenched his hands, he had to pause for a moment to fight back tears. His hands were burned all over.

Taking his time with multiple small jumps, Flashbang moved back into the alley. He hadn’t made it quite back to the alleyway entrance when he saw a bright flash of greenish-red light. He felt himself moving suddenly and then stopping abruptly. Well this can’t be good. Everything’s going black…