(no subject)

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Navigating through bleary signals and Constantine's direction, Hell really is a lovely place. Through what looked like the shallow outline of a town (minus anything that looked like people), and down and down, avoiding the locals, into desert.

Still, they haven't been turned wrong. Corrine can tell Caleb's signal is getting closer, there's maybe a few more miles between them. She's not quite sure why they're doing all this "shh!" moving, they could probably toss any stupid little thing they come across. One of them could just go ahead and retrieve him, and there wouldn't have to be all this walking.

Yeah, she's grouchy. It happens. And it looks like there's activity up ahead... there's certainly a lot of noise getting louder.

"That sounds like more of the 'not awesome'."

Comments

[blind-will.livejournal.com]

Thankfully, Travis can fly, and still keep Corrine stable while she heals. And he's noticed the lifesign he's been scanning for.
Unable to really reach the barrier without risking bringing the wounded mage-girl into contact with the demons, he does the next best thing - moving as close as he can without risking his passenger, or himself, since he's still mostly devoted to keeping her stitched up, he le does the next best thing -

A massive chunk of rock levitates without any sign of what's moving it, and slams down on the spot Caleb appears to be standing... Caleb himself gets sent, speed of light, closer to the Outsiders, but, as heavily as they're entrenched, he can't get him in past the wall of fire - someone else is going to have to handle the last bit, and getting him under protection, but he's closer, and it might distract a few folks for a bit, thinking he's just been crushed by some of the local landscape. That, and the remains of the rock help block one approach, to give whoever is going to go out for Caleb a little bit of cover.

Travis runs another diagnostic on Corrine, and does his best to keep the scarred and knotted magical energies of this place from corrupting her healing magic. He's done what he can for the Outsiders for the moment. now he has to make sure their ticket out survives.

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

Since Green Lantern energy isn't magical, Caleb has no warning as to what Travis has planned. He assumes that that the giant rock hurling towards him is being controlled by Ellie, and attempts to telekinetically repel it. Try and try and try as he might, though, he can't even slow it down - even his futile attempts to cause his already overspent body tremendous pain. Put quite simply, he doesn't have that much left in him.

He appears next to Trevor, midway down the pathway created, and midway between the cave, and the rest of the team He isn't quite as happy as one would expect him to be, though. Rather than relief at his own safety he is consumed with fear for his charges, and without a moment's hesitation he turns back in the direction he came. It's quite a distance, but Mara and James are closing it just as fast as they can.

His eyes drift to the tops of the walls. Most of it is still clear, but behind Mara he can see more and more demons are starting to get over the wall, and begin chasing her down.

And I'm not there to be the rear guard… he notes in a panic as he begins throwing mystical bolts at the demons he has a clear line of sight to, though after just a few shots his body begins to vehemently object to the use of magic. Some rear guard I would have been, he notes with self-disappointment.

"MARA! JAMES!" He won't just give up on them. He's worked too hard to keep them alive through this nightmare to even consider walking away now - even if others are here to help. So he begins back the way he came, hobbling just as fast as his internally bleeding stomach muscles will allow him to. "CORRINE! C-CORRINE!"

[blind-will.livejournal.com]

*Relax, I've got them.* comes a voice in his head. *Trying to create a distraction and diversion first, get people looking for you, or divide their attention... there's too many, they'd have swarmed you... just get behind cover, and have Trevor open a way for them.* comes through at the speed of thought.

And, indeed, the two are moved along quickly thereafter, setting them with 'teleport tags' as he protected Lois Lane, any time something registers as 'danger' to either of them, they're moved closer to the barrier, but not there yet, since Travis doesn't want to put non-combatants in the middle of a swarm until there's a way for the Outsiders to get to them.

*I'm stuck here, as is Corrine until she can move without reopening wounds - this plane is trying to keep her from healing. Make them a way through, and get under cover, and I'll get your companions past the horde.*

[jla-extras.livejournal.com]

Mara's got James around the arm and no matter what she does she's not letting go. His screaming is really starting to grate, though. Conveniently moving away from one danger after another is the only thing keeping her from screaming.

They make it to the mid-point, ducking down for cover and a moment to breath. The pyro holding the walls looks a little pre-occupied with that right now, and the tail end between the others is starting to close. "We're getting blocked in!"

[hotshot1280.livejournal.com]

Someone forgot to mention the non-players on the field Trevor thinks as he holds the wall, and then processes what she's saying. His mind races with both options and curses, and then the weight of the package he's been carrying for Caleb registers in his mind.

"Hey! Pretty woman with the dead weight! You know how to use a gun?"

[jla-extras.livejournal.com]

"Well I don't know bayo-- oh Jesus Christ kid STOP SCREAMING!" She jerks James rather hard, jolting him silent. "I don't know bayonets. Otherwise, it's pretty simple isn't it?"

[hotshot1280.livejournal.com]

"Famous last words," Hotshot tells her with a grim smile, but his hand is already stealing toward the top of his pack. A second later he hands her Caleb's emergency gun, as well as the extra clips.

"Just watch where you point it. My friend Caleb... modified it."

[jla-extras.livejournal.com]

Mara gives him and then the gun a very long look. She's been hunting plenty of times and this is so different. And there's other people around, she saw them while coming down from the hill. She takes it and hands it to Caleb.

"You don't look like you can do anything else but at least cover us. I've got James and you've got me." She grimaces at all the blood. "We're covered here for now, what can I do?"

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

The sight of the weapon elicits a smile, and he accepts the weapon eagerly.

To Hotshot. “Shorten the wall until it’s just around us, and to the team. You’ll have less to concentrate on that way.”

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine is very tired of being here now. There's still a stiffness and a soreness, and a jabbing pain off somewhere she can't specifically identify but she'll worry about it later. He's calling her. "No more waiting. Let's rustle 'em up, Travis."

She moves back to the opposing swarm, laying holy energy fire to cut into their lines and advance, her sword out for anything that comes too close. She waits until enough are before her that she can lock eyes quickly with a number of them in the seconds it takes her to incant. Her voice is loud but steady, entrancing, almost drowsy... willing them against their brethren... turning their rage on those next to them...

[blind-will.livejournal.com]

Travis lands, assessing their defenses, and then the hordes arrayed against them, scanning each thing, and probing for weaknesses in either side, shoring up those in one side, and continuing to scan the other, not apparently doing a lot of good at the moment, but seeking where he might find something decisive.

[johns-demons.livejournal.com]

Ellie points to the ranks of flying demons.

"Carry rocks and drop them from above." The demons are small and the rocks are the size of baseballs as they leap into the sky and wheel towards the Outsiders.

Then she turns to the faster demons, built somewhat like large hounds and predator cats.

"Around the back, hem them in."

[sand-hawkins.livejournal.com]

He's in about five worlds of hurt right now. He looks around - Hank is out and bleeding right now. He can't see much of anyone else.

But he sees the rocks falling. Rocks, he can handle.

He shifts his energies into seismic control, then looks at the flying demons and, before they can release the rocks, sends the rocks straight upward at nearly the speed of sound - hopefully slamming the flying creatures into the ceiling above.

Once the first wave hits, he refocuses on the next. Rest of the team has to handle the rest.

[blind-will.livejournal.com]

Travis continues to focus on defense first, continuing to probe their enemies, looking for signs of weaknesses to exploit. Given what's being thrown at them, in a different situation, he could probably astalemate this for a long time.

But they have nowhere to go, they have wounded who aren't going to get any better here - and he can't stop protecting the group to help with the healing process, and while he could defeat almost anything out there on the field, he can't leave the Outsiders to get to the bigger guns, and there's no end of the smaller guns.

So he continues to counter one attack, then another, hoping someone else can come up with a way to take the offensive.

[johns-demons.livejournal.com]

The little flying demons are faster than they look and they can turn on a wingtip. Most of the missiles Sand throws back up miss their targets, although the shrill cries mean not all of them missed. The ones that didn't get to drop their rocks catapult up before letting go and swinging down for different missiles.

Small demons are carried now and dropped from above instead of rocks.

Ellie has decided that the Green Lantern is one of the bigger problems to deal with. The elemental will be next.

Travis is adaptable and has a lot of energy to deal with. But no matter what practice he's had playing with magic he's never taken on a full on demonic blast. She touches her 2nd in command on the shoulder and he sends volley after volley of dark and corrupting energy into the group.

Meanwhile the demons are surrounding them, and they stretch out from horizon to horizon.

[jla-extras.livejournal.com]

Ellie’s quick predators take off, charging like a pack of cheetahs all the way around the Outsiders, and forming up in a semicircle behind them. They patiently await the order to attack, knowing that in the mean time, the Outsiders are completely surrounded. Other parts of the army begin to reposition behind them, adding depths of demonic infantry behind the thin line of cavalry.

Meanwhile, Corrine continues sewing chaos through the infernal ranks, turning hundreds of demons at a time against one another while she passes safely through. She’s almost to Caleb and Trevor when a demonic shaman approaches, and begins her own incantations. Corrine finds herself standing in the middle of a pack of battle-hardened monsters, all with a sudden personal investment in hers death.

A group of shamans stationed close to Ellie begin their own enchantments, and a dark glow comes over Trevor’s wall, eating away at a section between Trevor and Caleb, and the rest of the Outsiders.

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

After steady obscurity, view of everyone else is finally gone. The monsters in front of her scale at least twice as high but she knows it's just a few lines behind them between her and the group. She'd need a battering ram to--

First rule of D&D is always take the mage out first. You can bludgeon everything else. She focuses on the source of the monsters' manifestation, shielding around the opposing mage to create lightning in a bubble enough to give her a distraction. Next she turns on the monsters, reaching down into that fire and letting it rise and tint her skin white. An incantation creates a glowing aura of protection around her as white smoke begins to rise from her skin. She charges forward.

[blind-will.livejournal.com]

*Damnit!* comes the general curse as the first blast hits, causing Travis' shields to buckle, and forcing him to stagger back, smoking a little. He hates trying to take things head on, but he can't just 'tag' everyone.

He shifts tactics, taking advantage of the flying demons, grabbing one at a time and using each as a shield against the volleys of demonic energy. Its working for the moment, but really only defending him, and having the biggest guns focused his way keeps him from being able to help Corrine, or to do a lot to shore up Trevor's walls or any of the other defenses.

*Someone's going to need to take this to them, or buy me some time.*

Sadly, it doesn't appear like anyone else is in a lot better shape to do that.

[hotshot1280.livejournal.com]

There is no shoring up Hotshot's defenses at this point, though, and Hotshot knows it better than anyone. With that in mind the walls collapse in toward the Outsiders immediately around him and the civilians, but only to the point where they form a dome around them.

"Okay, this is officially a two-minute warning on our defenses going completely fucked, so if there's a plan, now would be a good time to let me in on it."

[tefe-holland.livejournal.com]

She's been doing her best but the anchor is gone from her mind.

"I...I can't I'm sorry." The longer this has gone on the less human she has looked, if she doesn't pull back now she might lose herself.

[hotshot1280.livejournal.com]

Hotshot feels that two-minute warning slip at least a minute as the Outsiders' biggest gun goes down, and reaches down deeper than he's ever gone before.

"Seat backs and tray tables upright and locked, people," Trevor mutters through clenched teeth. "We're preparing for lift-off."

Newton's first law of physics states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. No one, even Trevor himself, knows where the energy comes from that he manipulates as fire, but he knows very well where the energy to manipulate that energy comes from. It comes from his will, and as he watches Caleb's attempts to stand upright and Tefe's struggle to stay human, he forces all of his will into the edges of the dome protecting them. Inch by inch and foot by foot he forces the circle of fire through the ground, completing the sphere as the demon's swarm over them. Finally the edges touch, trapping several feet of dirt to protect his teammates from the flames, and Hotshot grins in accomplishment.

"By the way, if you need to hold onto something, I'd recommend against choosing the walls."

With that as the only warning, Trevor fires the protective sphere straight up, hoping to throw at least a few of the demons off in the process.

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

Caleb just stands there as the group is lifted into the air, and begins floating towards the main body of the Outsiders. If he were at the top of his game, the sight of Ellie’s army would be rather intimidating, but he’s far from the top of his game.

A familiar feeling draws his attention to Corrine and Travis, alone in a mob of demons. “St-Stop!” Caleb calls to Hotshot. “Lantern and Merlynne are still down there!”

[blind-will.livejournal.com]

Travis senses the group lifting off, hoping they've got Caleb, and are headed out. The situation isn't good for the two stranded folks, but they have a way out, and if he wasn't dividing his attention so much, he'd be making headway.
Trying to protect people and still maintain any kind of offense, especially when he usually thinks more in terms of support is an issue though.

When he hears the exclamation, he frowns, expending the energy to try and make contact. *If you can get out of here, do it. We'll manage.*
He'd just take them to the group, but there's too much in the way, which seems pretty well coordinated by the demon bitch.

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

He doesn’t have the energy to reply telepathically, so he just hopes that Travis is still listening. “I don’t leave team-mates behind.” It doesn’t sound negotiable.

He returns his attention to Trevor. “Stay here!”

Corrine is as much a half-breed as Caleb is, though her inhuman piece is the essence of magic lending itself to her form. Magic is always what Caleb has been good at, being able to commune with it and feel it’s nature. He can even give it commands, which is how his powers work. He can’t give Corrine a command, though. She’s a sentient entity with a will of her own, not mindless magic. It doesn’t work like that. But he does believe he can communicate with her magical aspect, and give it a message: one he hopes will be taken directly to her conscious thoughts: We’re above you. Get Lantern, and phase into Hotshot’s bubble. Time is a factor.

His heart skips a beat while he examines her for any sighn that she ehard him.

[jla-extras.livejournal.com]

Below Trevor the shamans redirect their efforts towards Trevor’s new construct, attempting to weaken the energy on the bottom of the sphere, hoping to drop the floor out from under them. At the same time, waves of flying demons descend on the sphere, ramming it time and time again, keeping up as much pressure as they can muster.

On the ground, Corrine is making her way almost effortlessly past the demons, who are utterly terrified of her divine aura. The shaman she is charging, however, seems less impressed, opting to reply with a weave of unholy power before she can get to her.