Heroes Uprising Part 6

"Oh shucks, a criminal is wanted by law enforcement. Ladies and gentlemen we have a rocket scientist on our hands over here." Troy takes plasma form again and sends out a massive wave of super heated fire to melt the ice tsunami. "Alright then, you ain't the first ice bitch I've fought, I'll be damned if you are the last. Lets see what you got."

-----

"Thanks." Sandra decided to reach both out to both Shield and Avengers, contacting both Marcus and Aaron respectively. Marcus, Aaron, you guys out there? Sandra here. I'm wondering what information you guys might have on the situation in Germany, and if you know of any reason for Troy Crosby to be over there starting shit up. It's not like we're busy enough already as is.

"Aaron was resting in a roof in evac' NYC, waiting for the next wave of demons that was sure to come. He feels a tinge of awkwardness at Sandra's voice in his head, as their last few encounters were not on the friendliest of terms after all"

Aaron: Oh, Fuller. It's been a while. I've no clue. I've been busy with things outside of SHIELD. Last I was involved we were trying to broker a cease fire between them and Russia. The bastards rejected outright and the war's still going...Troy needs to be careful if he's there, that ice woman is a danger

"Marcus almost presses the emergency button on his desk, but calms down as the question continues. He was not in the least bit happy to hear from the Phoenix after what she did when taking over Genosha, but he also knew there were attenuating circumstances. He gritted his teeth, and"

Marcus: You didn't hear it from me Phoenix, but sources inside say the Germans are planning some big offensive, and they're setting up a special task force of mages...I suppose magic and angels are similar enough no? Maybe's something to do with that. And while you're here, what's even happening this time? What's this invasion we're currently fighting? Least you can do to pay back me helping a wanted fugitive is give me some intel to use

----

"The fire and ice collide, creating a massive billow of steam. As Troy adjusts himself, he feels a heat signature at super speed fly towards him. The armored warrior wielding a massive two bladed, two handed axe attempts to slam it down into him. He notices the axe is vibrating and glowing slightly. As he prepares to dodge or counter, Helena appears above him in organic ice, her presence masked completely by the lack of heat, and blasts a wave of cold energy to freeze everything between her and Troy, trapping him in an ice prison that the warrior attempts to cut through"

"The demons are coming from Scott Young's dimension, a world known as Earth 1.   We have a team sent into the other dimension hell to clean up this mess, as well about half of our forces was split between Earth 1 and Nirvana, their version of the Buddhist afterlife, to protect things on that front. The rest of us are fighting of invasions in this dimension.   Until our team is done defeating the forces of Earth 1 Hell, we've just got to hold the fort and push back the demons that attack.    Anyway, thank you for your input.    

With that Sandra was gone and spoke with James again.   Well apparently the German's are planning something big and collecting a task force of mages, we'll cross that bridge in due time.  However it still don't explain why Troy of all people is there.    He outright turned his back on SXM and has laid low for quite a while.    Seems weird a man who swore off being a hero for the crime life would suddenly be trying to stop some grand plan.

-----

Troy's plasma form survives the blast of ice and he melts himself a little area inside the ice prison, he could escape any time as it seemed this Helena's ice powers wasn't as potent in strength as good ol Ice-Hands.    Troy peered though the ice at this new warrior slicing away at the prison trying to get to him.    "Great, now what?"  Wasn't enough there was mages or angels here, then this ice bitch, but now this new person as well?

Troy waited until he figured Helena was feeling confident about herself before using phoenix fire to quickly destroy the ice prison.     Before anybody knew what had happened Troy had teleported behind Helena grabbing her in a bearhug, steam billowed like crazy from Troy's intensely hot plasma body being in touch with Helenaa's intensely cold ice body.     A dome of flames not unlike the one Troy used before surrounded the two, smaller in size but still just as potent and deadly.   "I survived your cold, can you survive my heat?    Lets find out hey."    As strong as organic ice is, the heat Troy could produce now was completely off the charts, far greater then any of his SXM record ever showed.    Helena would have to escape this, and fast, or she'd be vaporized.

"Helena looks back at Troy with a grin"

Helena: Bad idea flame boy~

"She points a finger behind him, touching his plasma form, right at his stomach, and fires an ultra concentrated beam of ice similar to Freeza's death beam. The effect is immediate. Troy feels intense cold and pain at that point of contact. And then she does it again, and again, and again. Even his ultra hot flames can't increase the temp enough to fight off the cold concentrated beams of ice that she uses to freeze him. And then he starts to feel himself growing colder everywhere he's touching her. It seems she might not be able to create grand effects like Filipe, but her precision is immense and short range effects are powerful. After filling Troy with "holes", she lets herself melt into the atmosphere, and appears far enough away there's enough moisture to reform. Meanwhile, the warrior, clad in the armor that seems to be withstanding the heat, jumps and her axe slashes at Troy, creating a gash in his plasma form. Troy realizes that the axe can harm mutants, as he's left with a substantial wound, the warrior prepares to attack again"
----

James:Who knows...there is someone we can ask for help. But I don't know where they are. The X-Force. Fawkes has been underground since that business with the War Galaxy.

The warrior attacks again and is about to put Troy down like injured animal when everything comes to a complete stop, frozen in time. Only Hei and Troy are left unaffected as Sandra showed up, tied of pussy footing around she had to see what Troy was up. "Well Phoenix, about ti-" Troy suddenly found his powers deactivated leaving his wounds open open to spilling blood, Troy also found himself pushed to the ground and choking with Sandra's foot pressed against his throat.

"You absolute moron! Seriously, the world is under demon invasion and you are over here starting fucking World War 3 by the looks of things. Understand Crosby, you may have been all buddy buddy with Ventro, but I will leave you here to rot and not lose a wink of sleep." Katy had been one of Sandra's best friends for years now, and she was well aware of everything Troy had put her through. Heartbreak, broken trust, physical harm, threats of death, oh Sandra had very little patience left for Troy.

Sandra read Hei's mind quickly without him even realizing it, seeing for herself the events that had brought the two here. Had a number of things good or bad played out differently, this entire mess may of never happened. Hei suddenly found himself transported instantly to his friends, Troy came in seconds later besides Hei crashing hard into the ground (or floor) while still gasping for breath. While intentions wasn't pure, Troy did ultimately save Hei's life. Hei himself was pretty lucky he was friends with Filipe.

Sandra returned to Emmet's mansion and time resumed, the warriors blade hit the ground and to everybody involved Troy and Hei had just vanished in a instant. Back at the mansion Sandra took a seat, Abby and even Collin could read she had not enjoyed whatever she just done, seeing Sandra hadn't told them anything thus far. Sandra spoke out to James "There, that's at least one crisis averted, for now anyway." She at least hoped Troy would stay out of trouble for a while.

"Hei walks over to Troy and helps him up. Huang and Mao look shocked. Troy looks around to see they're in the back of a moving van"

Hei: Huang, make for the safe house. Ask for treatment

"Troy looked pretty banged up. Hopefully there was something the safe house could do to help"

Troy robbed his throat which was soar now that he had his breath back. "Fucking bitch" he muttered, between the mages, Helena, and Sandra, this was not Troy's day with the girls. If that was the calvery then god damn. Under the circumstances and Troy's current condition, he accepted Hei's help. Snapping his fingers every now and then eventually Troy was soon able to light a flame, indicating his powers where back. "Well that could of gone better. Of all the people they could of sent to check out a disturbance, they sent her." Troy was talking about SXM and Sandra, while she was still a affiliate to the group Troy was unaware that Sandra had mainly taken up residence with a new team as of late.

Looking around the van Troy see's the other two people. "So who's your friends?" Troy figured maybe a little chit chat would distract from his injuries for a while.

Huang: Name's Huang boy. Sorry about the gunshots earlier, just business
Mao: And my name is Mao. I hope a former X-Men will be fine with a talking cat then.

"Hei sits down on the back of the van, silently, and says nothing else, preferring to remain quiet"

Huang: Hei over here says you might be interested in the job? Don't know if our patron's hiring, but at the very least we can get you fixed up. And while we're at it, you might as well help us. We need to know everything about that group of buyers you were dealing with.

"A job? Hey if you guys are paying then I'm down for about anything. I'm not working for charity though." Truth be told Troy didn't know a huge amount about the buyer, but if he can get on a payroll then he'll share what details he had.

Minerva back peddled away from the wind queen, her entire focus on her opponent. Alternating between dodging and attacking, the queen was pressing her hard but Minerva was not about togo down. As the two traded blows, each one looking for an opening to land a decisive blow, Minerva cast a spell five swords of wind encircled her body as a barrier and helped damped the wind queens attack.

Ok this is gonna last forever, time to take the bitch down!

Minerva was suprised at first that Ku-Chan was speaking to her mentally, but quickly adapted and waited to hear the advice he had.

Youve done well Mariah, not just anyone can summon that armor, I have a cookie ready for, but even more so I have something else.

Complex magical equations flashed across Minervas mind, it was jarring at first, but she got the jist of what Ku-Chan was saying. It wouldnt be easy but she could do it, Abandoning her sword she raised her hands and brought them through mystic passes, she winced as some of the wind queens attacks got through, but she finished the spell and called out it's name.

" Punishment of Atlas!! "

Instant the wind queens movements halted as she felt an immense weight pressed on her, as if the entire sky had become an unimaginable weight thats she couldnt escape.

" An ancient spell from the era of the gods, embodying the concept of the Titan Atlas's myth and becoming a cage of force as the victim is forced to " hold up " the sky " Ku-Chan explained " Now kick him/her in the balls! "

Minerva quickly began another spell, this one was one of her families secret spells, one that Minerva shouldnt truthfully know about, except for sneaking into her fathers study and reading about it. Magical energy pulsated in front of her till it took the form of massive, golden sword, She wove as many elemental properties into it as possible, adding purification " Blade of the golden king!! "

She sent the sword flying at the wind queen, putting all of her energy and determination into this final attack, it cleaved the wind queen, setting off a large explosion of light that shook the area.

The Wind Queen advanced on Minerva as the fight continued, her scythe colliding with her opponent's sword time and again. Some of her attacks slipped past her guard, but Minerva's new armor was strong enough to weather the blows. The Wind Queen was not unscathed herself, though her battle experience allowed her to take the sword blows in a way that would not be fatal or immediately debilitating. When Minerva put aside her sword and began casting a spell, the Wind Queen attacked with redoubled fury, knowing that she had to kill the sorceress quickly if she wanted to win. She was savagely attacking her throat, but the swords of wind that circled her warded off the fatal blows and only allowed a few minor cuts to her extremities. It was chilling to see how quickly she had gone from dominating in this battle to being dominated, and her eyes widened in terror as Minerva's spell was complete.

The Punishment of Atlas spell felt like a great weight was pressing down on her, the kind of weight that the greatest of auras could force on the opponent. Completely unable to move, she watched helplessly as Minerva cast another spell. When the Blade of the Golden King appeared, the Wind Queen knew that her end had come. Being a demon, she did not fear death, knowing that she would reincarnate in a few hundred years or so, but it still galled her that she was going to lose to this sorceress and her foul-mouthed shikigami. The golden sword flew at her, and she felt a brief moment of intense pain as it hit. Then there was an explosion of light that obliterated the Wind Queen's body and ended the battle.

Scott nodded in satisfaction at the flashy and creative way that Minerva had won the fight. By infusing her last blow with purification, she had ensured that it would take longer than usual for the Wind Queen to resurrect. When the shaking had stopped and the bright light was gone, Scott waited for Minerva to return to them.
"I knew that you would win this battle," he said as he gave her a brief hug and a peck on the lips.
After releasing Minerva, he let the rest of the party offer their congratulations before he turned his attention to the portal in the distance.
"With this victory, we are one step closer to Hell's ultimate defeat."

As the light faded out, Minerva starred at the spot where the wind queen had been, it took a moment for her to register that the demon was gone, a part of her couldnt believe it and was waiting on edge for her to appear and begin attacking again.

" Matilda she's gone! You did it!! " Ku-Chan cheered as he sped over to her and hugged her cheek. Minerva blinked rapidly, a smile beginning to form, she'd really done it. Floating down, she landed in front of the others where Scott greeted her with a hug and kiss. As Scott pulled away, Minerva clung to his an odd intensity, her body shaking. Suddenly her legs gave out, forcing Scott to hold onto her to keep her upright. Minervas breathing was increasing rapidly and tears were forming in her eyes as the enourmity of the fight weighed on her.

" I-I could have d-d-died in the fight, but I w-w-w-won! " it was so baffling to her, an oddity that couldnt be true yet it was. The tears were flowing freely now, the armor dissolved away, leaving her in her regularly clothes.

" Death is something that accompanies many battles " Noah said not unkindly " This was a situation where you were sorely outmatched and for that I'm sorry you were placed in it, but you suprised me and yourself it seems, you'll grow from this, but for now....it's alright to let it out "

Minerva was shocked by Noahs words, she'd honestly been intimidated and a little afraid of him, the aura he gave off as they traversed hell was unbothered and almost bored and beneath that she felt a quiet bloodlust not unlike Riku's, but his words felt like what she needed to hear " Thank you Mr.Noah, all of you, I feel so priveleged to be here, especially with you " she said to Scott, before burrowing her face in his neck and sobbing loudly.

Huang: We'll see when we get there

"The ride to the safe house is of course painful for Troy, with the back of a van not providing proper support for his banged up body. But eventually they arrive. An apartment complex with a garage. Huang drives in, and once there, Hei helps Troy out and to the elevator. It's night by now, and nobody bothers them as they ascent and enter the apartment. The inside is littered with documents and remains of pre bought food, but aside from a couch, a television, and a table, the living room is completely empty. Troy is helped to the couch silently by Hei, as Huang brings over a first aid"

Huang: Alright kid, lay down. I'll patch you up. Hei, send word to our patron. She'll wanna know how it went down

"Hei nods, and leaves the room to call one Sarah Hill. Huang was hoping she wasn't too busy to answer them"

"Believe it or not, but the Phoenix (referring to Sandra) started out much the same as you Minerva. Timid, emotional, even fearful. But now she'll stand face to face with the greatest of foes. You have all the potential in the world to grow into a hardened warrior Minerva, and look what happened when you put your fear aside and finds confidence in yourself. You persevered against overwhelming odds and you found a way."

Katy knew simply believing in yourself wasn't always enough, sometimes the deck is simply set to high. But Minerva didn't didn't need to hear the harsh realities right at this moment, it would only serve to replant doubt in her mind that she can't, and as soon as you start thinking that way your chances of victory goes from a maybe to absolute zero. Minerva needed a to ride this high she was on from her victory, and keep her confidence up.

-----

Troy lays down on the couch as Haung goes to work. "I will admit to this, if I have one regret about leaving SXM, it's that I miss all the instant recovery and healers that was there."

Scott was a bit surprised when Minerva almost collapsed on him. It was clear that the intense battle had tired her, and that the enormity of the situation was still hard for her to entirely grasp. There was little for him to say that Katy and Noah had not, so he held her as she wept.
"Always believe in yourself and the things you want to protect."
Many doubted the power of belief, but Scott would always hold true to it. Without belief in himself, he would have never become Crusader, never prevailed in over a thousand fights, and never saved his home planet from an alien invasion. He and Valor had turned belief in themselves and each other into power, and the doubts of others could never tear down what had been achieved. If Minerva could find even a fraction of that same unshakable belief in herself, he knew that she would be just fine. Holding her close, Scott closed his eyes and rested his head on hers, his armor gone so that she could feel the comfort of his actual body against hers.

Minerva pulled away from Scott and whiped her face her face with the clothe Ku-Chan handed her " Thank you everyone, your words mean a lot. I can go forward, I promise not to hold you " Her eyes were red rimmed but filled with determination.

---------------------------------------------------

Evangeline was strolling down a sidewalk, bored out of her skull. Garfield had saved two guys from a demon who really wanted to show their appreciation, so Garfield was off having a three-way and she didnt care where Bawla was at. The sun hung high overhead and didnt help with her mood. She had long since overcome her vampire weakness to the sun, but she still hated it and preferred to not have to be out during the day. But here she was, fighting for a cause she barely cared about. Well she cared about the earth not being destroyed, since she lived their, the plight of nirvana meant nothing to an undead.

She was debating if she should go find any of the other code:breakers to hangout with when she sensed a demon approaching her, making torturing it to death would improve her mood. She continued on as if she didnt sense it, while her nails lengthened into claws.

---------------------------------------------------

Riku staggered through a portal, grinning broadly " Think I might need a wheelchair for awhile, that banged me so goo-

" Thats not what I called you here for " Jericho interupted Riku before he could continue " I've been busy trying to stem the portals with Amber Parker, stopping them is proving difficult, so I instead tampered with them, applying death magic, it should cull the numbers that come through. Hows the front lines been? "

Riku sat back on a chair he conjured and shrugged " The earths still here so I'd say things are going swell, we've been through four waves of enemies so far.....I just realized that whatshisface didnt actually say how many we have to deal with, neat " dragging one of his nails across his palm, Riku let his blood drip out onto the ground chanted a spell of precognition, not particularly strong one but he didnt put many levels into future sight. His blood writhed on the ground till it form what appeared to be a four. the blood flowed back into his palm and the wound sealed.

Jericho nodded " I've seen glimpses of the enemies though my focus has been divided, what are they like? "

Riku shrugged ' Humanoid elementals, fire, ice, earth, and wind so far and each had their own unique weapons and fighting styles, strong I guess but not enough to give any of compatant people problems. I should also mention, since I can tell where this is leading. I tried  to control one, but it blew itself up to avoid that more annoying my succubus sex powers didnt work, which was fucking lame. Dunno if necromancy would do anything, sinc they seem to be in reincarnation cycle, but I doubt that would stop you"

Jericho considered all of that and shrugged, he'd been interested in collecting specimens, he was always on the look out for new things to add to his undead ranks, this invading force was looking like quite the buffet. Riku recoiled away from him slightly, Jericho's aura of death was pretty mild, but on the rare occasions he felt genuine excitement about something, he became unbearable to be around.

Suddenly a cloud of bats surrounded them, parting to reveal a young young with silver hair and wearing a ruffled dark, purple dress " My lord Jericho, it has been far too long "

Riku gasped ' Egad! A wild Loli has appeared!! "

The girl laughed " The wildest I assure you, my name is Eliza Bloodtear, one of lord Jericho's Vampire generals, specifically the strongest, best, most beautiful, and the overall leader " she held out a that Riku shook.

" Leader? I assume Eva was the leader, where the hell have you been this whole time? "

Eliza turned to Jericho and gestured, and long object wrapped in an enchanted clothe appeared in front of Jericho. His eyes widened " You actually managed to find it "

" But of course my lord, I wouldnt dishonor you by failing at the task you gave me , it took some effort, but for a being of my power, it was a foregone conclusion "

Riku stared at the object, despite the enchated cloth covering and it's identity and power, he could still feel that it was a high grade, legendary magical item.

The demon appeared and lunched at Evangeline only to be intercepted mid attack by a massive mass that sent the demon crashing though a wall. Looking though the hole in the wall Evangeline could see one of the SXM members, the metal man himself. He had the demon pinned down and was punching it in the face until he crushed it's skull. Evangeline quickly hid her vampire features as the man stood to face here. "Have you ever heard the saying "out of sight, out of mind", it's not safe to be out right now miss. You should return home immediately." Luke stepped out from the rubble he caused to see if the girl was alright.

He didn't know where this lady was coming from or going to, but she didn't look like somebody who was out looking for a fight.

Eva raised an eyebrow as a metal man came out of nowhere and " rescued " her returning her nails to normal, she regarded him carefully " Yes, im familiar with the saying, never put much stock into it as I like standing out " she looked him up and down and certainly liked what she saw, wondering if the metal coated every part of his body. She folded her arms across her chest, subtly pushing up her ample breast and putting the girls on full display " Still, thank you so much, may I ask the name of knight of shining armor?

Luke seemed to be all business as he disregarded the lady's attempts to arose him, giving off the indication that whatever she wanted, she'd have to work for it. Luke sternly replied to Eva's question. "I suppose it's only fair you know. They call me Metal Man, of the SXM. Don't worry, I'm well aware how uncreative of a name that is. If you wish, you can just call me Luke. Now I have a question for you, I'm assure that you know what is going on right now, yet you don't seem to be afraid. So who are you, and what organization do you work for?"

No beating around the bush, this lady's calmness and confidence given the current ongoing situation suggested she was no mere citizen, so Luke wasted no time getting straight to the point.

Eva smiled, the name was laughable but it wouldnt be very polite to comment on it " Luke, I like that name, your quite astute, then again its fairly obvious. My name is Evangeline and I'm a code:breaker, the team led by Emmet Alexander Jones, Just patrolling the area and looking for something to catch my attention till the next wave of demons come " idly she wondered if his blood had a metallic tinge to it.

"So a Code:Breaker, that explains a lot then. We know a little of you people from our own SXM members now turned Code:Breakers, however you are not a name I recognize. Given the company you keep however, I assume you must be quite capable?" The Code:Breakers was still somewhat of a unknown quantity, the most well known was obviously Emmet who's spent the most time around SXM. Riku was a notable name though not quite as well known, Roberta was a notable name and because Sandra can't seem to hardly keep her mouth shut about personal affairs, Tanesha was another name those in SXM was quite familiar with. Evangeline was not a name that tended to pop up though.

Eva laughed " Yeah as much as I would like to be noticed, I dont often get too, my mas-the guy thats in charge of me always has me out doing this task or that and in my free time im just wandering around the mansion, hanging out with the other code:breakers, going out is a rarity though, not much to do, like eating or stuff like that " she sighed wistfully before turning back to Luke " Didnt mean to drone on like that, I'm sure a prestiged SXM has better things to do then hang around little ole me "

While she cut herself short Luke was pretty sure Evangeline was about to say master, which was a questionable term to use. But maybe now wasn't the time to dwell to much on that, the girl described a inclusive life style, but not really anything to hint that she was being wronged in any way. "Well Evangeline that depends, what are your combat capabilities? There seems to be no end in sight to this demon invasion, so if you can hold your own and not slow us down, then it's a all hands on deck situation. We'll happily take the help from and Code:Breaker Emmet can spare."

Eva shrugged " Just your garden variety vampire, I can do some stuff you see in movies and a lot of stuff you wouldnt see in movies. Super strong strong, fast, shape shifting, animal familiars, etc etc, but....when I was alive I was a mutant and I brought that power over with me in this unlife, I can manipulate blood, I know that sounds like something a vampire should already be able to do but it's different with me "

She wondered why she was being so chatty with him, on the one hand she wasnt telling him anything of note that could be called a secret and on the other hand, there was something about him that made her wanna open up to him and not just her legs " So no need to worry, I on the other hand am questioning if you'll slow ME down " she smirked in a slightly challenging way.

"So not just demons, but vampires as well? Emmet sure does keep some interesting company. Alright then, sounds like you should be more then capable for the job. Evangeline consider yourself a honorary SXM member, and lets send these demons back from where they came." In the near by distance screams and alarms can be heard as demons have infiltrated their way into building. "Go for the heads, that seem to be their weak points. Now go, people need our help." It seemed like it was a great deal of fortune that Luke had come by this Code:Breaker, these demons while seemingly having thinned out somewhat, where still large in numbers. Luke couldn't be everywhere by himself and no doubt at least some measure of life was being lost due to that. Luke set off towards the east to a batch of screams.

-----

Not having to contend with any generals in a while Kiya's team was given the OK to split up and help with the clean efforts. Metallic was using his liquid metal form to shape weapons, usually something shape like swords or knife for combat before switching to a blunt force weapon like a mallet or sledge hammer for the kill shot.

Jim had found himself in a park like area in the middle of the city he was in. He had grown his sand form to a massive size, towering even many buildings as demons swarmed him from all around. He stomped and swatted them away, killing most he hit.

Kiya was seen among a bunch of bodies that in the process of turning to dust and disappearing. Seems she was swarmed as well but have already taken care of the issue. Kiya's body showed no signs of damage, but her ripped and shredded clothing suggested that maybe Kiya wasn't expected to be swarmed by a dozen or so demons. Still Kiya was extremely durable, most of these demons was lucky if they broke the skin seeing Kiya could likely withstand shots from generals, and any damage she did take healed almost instantly. Kiya ripped off her tattered jacket and tossed it aside. Kiya had looked like she'd been maimed by a lion or something. "Well so much for this outfit." she said with a sigh.