Scene #2310: S9: Cutting Remarks

Owner	Pose
Tomoyo Daidouji	The Brockton Bay Community Theatre is a rather shabby, yet prideful plain white building, the name above the doors in letters that were probably painted gold once, but are now just a dull metallic grey. It's approaching its centennial with faded posters of old performances lining the walls, threadbare carpet and seats that are starting to come apart at the seams. And yet, all that tatter hasn't seemed to slow the place down none. A great throng of people appeared to arrive for the latest show. But no amateur play or stand-up comedy routine is playing today. Rather, Tomoyo stands on stage before a podium, the curtains closed behind her. It's pretty clear to whomever might be in the audience that she's nervous, eyes flicking left and right, nervously sorting notes on the podium before her. She takes a long, steadying breath, and waits...
Toph Beifong	It's only a disguise, really. But even so, Toph seems to have actually taken this rather seriously. The earthbender is dressed in a neutral knee length dress in a purple hue, accented with a white bolero jacket. On her face are some large black sunglasses, and her hair is contained with a white baggy cap. Why, she's even wearing bangles and a heart pendant hangs from around her neck. Unlike Tomoyo though Toph does seem rather relaxed where she is sitting, both feet on the floor. If this Jack guy shows up, then she will want to be ready to warn the others. At least there is enough earth and metal around here for her to bend!
Frederica	This is a bit of a touchy situation for Frederica. Defiant has a problem. Not that she likes Defiant or anything, or Dragon, or the rest of this world. Well okay, the world is pretty cool. It lets her wear a damned fine costume and look sexy doing it. Dragon's not so bad either, if a bit nerdy. And Defiant... well, he's a jerk. But he's a jerk who'd risk everything to do the right thing. And there's a special place in Frederica's heart for those who would end a world. A special place burning with deep, hot flame. Not that Frederica would mention the above reasons. She's here for the darling Tomoyo, a cute and brave girl who can do no wrong in Frederica's eyes. That she gets to try to take down an evil bad guy and possibly save the world... well, that's good and all. A nice perk. For this, FireFox doesn't need to be here. Frederica will cheerfully give up her secret identity... which might be a problem as she HAS no other identity on this world. If she's found out to not actually exist here, well, it could be problematic. But it'd be a problem for another day, to be sure. For now she's remaining off to one side, far away from the podium, far away from any obvious entrances like doorways or large plate-glass windows. Don't mind her. She has no intentions of being on the front line! Just a cute little blonde girl here, looking glamorous as all hell in a red Tomoyo Special, quite obviously here because of fashion.
Defiant	It's the sound of footsteps that announce their presence. Four people, although one of them seems to be dragging their feet a bit. "Well. Well. Well," says Jack Slash, his voice carrying through the theatre as he walks down the centre aisle. "What do we have here?" The leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine, looking as many might remember him - open silk shirt, toned physique, serrated edge goatee, looking almost like that one famous actor - comes down the aisle at a leisurely pace, flanked by a number of figures. There's the little girl with blonde ringlets, Bonesaw, the medical tinker, looking remarkably normal given that Defiant cut her in half a few months ago. Hookwolf, the big man with greasy blonde hair and a metal wolf mask. The other isn't familiar - he's a person, obviously, wearing the tattered remnants of a labcoat and some other clothing. It looks like some sort of invasive fungus has taken hold of his body, all pale and sickly. He's the one dragging his feet. "That's Blasto," Defiant reports from wherever he's hidden himself. "Another tinker, plant-life. Bonesaw abducted him during our confrontation in Boston." Jack has a knife in one hand and he idly points it around, looking like he's bored. "Now, Miss Daidouji, I think we have something to discuss - those hurtful remarks you spread about me. I'll admit, they were clever, but you know what they say about pride - it comes before a fall."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Hypothetical situations are all well and good, but people never know how they'll act in a life-or-death moment until it happens. Self-professed cowards will sometimes commit acts of amazing bravery, while risk-takers can sometimes run for their lives. These past few days, Tmoyo has been fretting. Fretting on how she would act when this time comes. Staring down a crazed killer and his empowered cronies, all of whom have come here with the express purpose to take her life or worse. What would she do? How will she act? Her knuckles white from clutching the podium, she leans in to speak to the affixed microphone, and speaks. "How very true, Mister Slash. But I think it will be your fall, not mine." At that moment, the illusory crowd fizzles out of existence, leaving only the defenders who opted to mingle with them. "I'm sure you realized this was probably a trap, and you walked right in anyway. Either you are very confident, or..." At this point, she's smiling. Smiling in the face of danger, like she had hoped she would. "Or you really are as foolish as your wardrobe would suggest~"
Cory	'Draw out and battle a gang of superpowered psychopaths' is pretty appealing to Chikorri's Saiyan nature, so of course she's decided to show up! Even if she's just a LIIIIITTLE bit late to the gathering. She's dressed in casual clothes, with a blue and red color scheme. A shirt and a skirt, nothing really fancy here! Of course her tail's tucked up inside the skirt... She's in the seats near Frederica, one leg over the other and arms resting haphazardly across them. EAGERNESS practically oozes from her in waves - just look at that grin! Just don't look at the fashion, because she's apparently bad at that.
Toph Beifong	It's kind of hard to not recognise that voice. And as Jack and his cronies make their way down the centre aisle towards the stage, Toph turns her head slightly, even if she doesn't need to. But that's what the people around are doing, so let's blend in for now. Except Toph can't tell when the crowd around them fades away. When Tomoyo speaks of a trap however, Toph rises to her feet and cracks her knuckles, her expression serious. Like hell if she's going to let any of them hurt Tomoyo! And there's no way in hell they are getting out of this place!
Frederica	Frederica is, of course, one of the people who remain as the audience fizzles and vanishes. She shows a winsome little smile in introduction to the would-be psychopaths, just a harmless little girl indeed. She doesn't even bother rising from her seat to take a battle pose. If at all possible, when she fights, she'd rather not do it with her muscles. "Pride?" Frederica states almost languidly. She turns her palms up, more as a point of focus than out of need. Fire begins to form in her palms, then drifts upwards to begin orbiting her shoulders. "It's a good way to call out jerks." she adds, smiling. Clearly she doesn't mean herself, or Tomoyo. She MIGHT mean some of the others in the room, but she doesn't clarify whom. "Those who don't want to burn had best surrender. We're not under orders to keep anyone alive." she states, voice matching the chill of her eyes more than the heat of her flames.
Defiant	While Hookwolf turns left and right as the crowds disappear, Jack Slash doesn't even acknowledge it. "I'd be disappointed if this wasn't a trap, Tomoyo. I'm going to end the world, after all - and who knows which one I'll take my little family to once this one is gone?" Jack's knife points to each of the Elites around, almost as if he's giving some thought to it. "Ah, Hookwolf," Jack says as his knife wanders over Toph Beifong, even with the disguise. "It's that girl who gave you so much trouble. Remember, don't trust in your power against that one." "Burning in fire has a certain purifying feel to it, doesn't it?" Jack replies. "So, let's see if you are up to the task." Jack's hand jerks, and unless Frederica is fast - very fast! - it's like the edge of his knife has invisibly slipped over and hacked at her face! And, just like that, the surviving members of the Nine attack. Hookwolf charges Toph, roaring incoherently - but he's not transferring into his metal form. Bonesaw says something to Blasto, and the fungus-corpse-man shambles in a half-loping run towards Cory! Jack, for his part, just walks towards the stage, twirling his knife around in his hand. Bonesaw walks at his side.
Frederica	Unfortunately, Frederica's not fast. Not fast at all. While enhanced speed is common in the psychicers in her world, she has other gifts instead. Her speed is entirely mundane. Fortunately for her, enhanced reactions ARE part of her bag of tricks. And equally so, she's been warned of Jack Slash's power. She was waiting for him to use his ranged cut, seeing it as the only immediate threat to her. It takes effort for her to boost her reaction speed, but in this case the pain is outweighed by the benefit. She starts to move almost before Jack begins to move his hand her way. The blade meant to carve into her hits, but only barely. Even in her seeming slow-motion dodge, she has the time to duck mostly out of the way, but a spray of blood goes up from her forehead before she can complete the dodge. At first she doesn't notice. When the blood trickles down into her eyebrow though, she raises a hand to it, looking at the smear in disbelief. Not for the first time she wishes for her brother Kyle's ability, or better yet for Kyle. She's not hurt, not exactly, but she IS angry. "How DARE you!" she cries out, the fire flaring up from her palms. She's quickly engulfed in flames... which should probably eliminate her as a target for any melee opponent. It might, if the Slaughterhouse 9 are inattentive, eliminate her as a perceived threat. Only not for long. The flames burst out, then seem to solidify into a huge egg-shape. Massive arms stretch out from the oblong form and a well-defined face appears, close to ceiling height. Sprinklers won't be going off though. As ferocious as the flames seem, they don't give off smoke. The egg-shaped monstrosity of fire lets out a silent roar, its blazing eyes focussing on Jack Slash. And within the elemental beast, barely visible, sits Frederica. Barely visible, if one can manage to look directly at the blazing form. Perfectly unhurt except for the smear of blood on her forehead. "Salamandra! BURN!" she cries out. "Can you cut flame, Jack Slash? Because I can burn ANYTHING!" she howls.
Tomoyo Daidouji	To her credit, Tomoyo's smile doesn't slip, even though her heart is pounding. She leans on the podium and watches as Jack and Bonesaw approach. "Oh, you're not going to end any world, Mister Slash. Because we are going to stop you. We're going to make sure that everything will absolutely be all right." She shuffles her notes and shakes her head. "I would love to give an actual presentation on fashion someday. And I'm sure I will. Do you know why?" She looks down at Jack again, tilting her head, as if expecting him to actually ask. "Because you're going to fail in killing me. One of the others will stop you from even getting close. I'm so sure of it; I'm not even going to move." She actually crosses her arms defiantly and widens her stance to punctuate the statement.
Toph Beifong	When Jack mentions her, Toph reaches up and tears off her sunglasses. "Not just any girl. I'm Toph Beifong, the greatest earthbender of all time. And the inventor of metalbending!" she states proudly and assumes a defensive stance. Indeed, against her it's clear that Hookwolf's power becomes a weakness. Has he learned yet though? Even as he charges at her, Toph has another important task to do. Her arms are thrown out, and she focuses on all the doors, vents and windows in the main theater room. There's the echo of metal screeching, and just like that, the room is sealed off. Nobody leaves this place without her permission. Or with a considerate amount of force. Immediately afterwards Toph brings her right arm forward, striking out twice in order to send a spoke up towards his torso from the concrete floor. It's lucky she's got the advantage over Hookwolf, this means she can keep an 'eye' on Tomoyo as well. Fred? Nah, like she will need any help when she's like this? The heat from Salamandra is nothing to laugh at!
Defiant	Jack Slash raises an eyebrow at Frederica but seems to understand that no attack is imminent. For now, he ignores her, and directs his attention to Tomoyo. "No, I don't think I'm going to fail. At least, not in the sense of being stopped." He spreads his arms wide, knife still in his hand. "Maybe I don't want to come any closer, maybe I only came here to /talk/ with you. Riley, Brad and Rey are just here to make sure we can talk like civilised people." He turns his knife so he's holding it by the blade and not the handle. "You've piqued my interest, you see, and if there's any reason I do what I do, it's because I find it /interesting/. Tell me, Tomoyo, let's say you weren't a fashion designer, that you were some sort of hero - what would you do with someone like me?" Elsewhere, the maelstrom begins. Hookwolf snarls out, "You're just dead, meat!" The pillar cracks Hookwolf right in the chest and the neo-nazi turned serial killer shifts himself into metal, moving /around/ the pillar for a split second, reforming after he clears it. He thrusts his arms outwards, and great metal spikes punch through the air, right towards Toph! With Blasto intent on getting to Cory, it's probably a good thing that Defiant - is his green and gold suit of powered armor - seems to appear out of nowhere and shoulder-charges the zombie-like creature into the ground. His spear descends, humming as the blade drops towards Blasto, and hacks through the man's forearms like they're not even there. For a moment, there's no movement - and then it's like parasitic vines burst from his stumps, seeking to entangle Defiant in their grip!
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo blinks. This, she was not expecting. It's so much easier to expect a mass murderer to be crazed, not reasonable. "What would I do? Well... lock you up, I suppose, for your entire natural life. You wouldn't be allowed near anything that could be turned into a knife." She gives a little shrug. "You have me at a disadvantage, I'm afraid. Criminal justice isn't something I've looked at in any serious capacity~" When he holds the knife by the blade, she blinks, and decides to mirror the gesture somehow. Fishing around in her pockets, she takes out a utility knife, the segmented sort used in arts and crafts. She drops it on the floor of the stage. "There, I can be reasonable too~"
Cory	Running straight at Cory is probably a bad idea. Why, exactly? Because she makes a show of being utterly helpless and freaked out by Blasto! Wailing and waving an arm as if to ward him off! But just as he's nearly upon her... "Just kidding!" UP she goes, vaulting into the air and hovering there. If that's not startling enough, the next thing she does is come swooping DOWN with a single kick for the Plant-man's upper back, right between the shoulders. The intent is less about damage and more about just SLAMMING him face-first into the seating she'd just vacated.
Toph Beifong	Dead meat? As if! Toph arches an eyebrow as Hookwolf shifts into metal again, even if he should know better. "Really? Are you deaf or something, Scrap brain?" she questions. Then when he sends metal spikes at her, she lets out a sigh, doing a sweeping motion with her hand as she reaches out, and then the metal spikes shift and move to wrap themselves around Hookwolf. "I thought you learned your lesson last time, I'm simply better than you!" Of course she has to tease him. Especially when he seems to think that she is less than him simply for being a young asian girl.
Frederica	Frederica's role in this fight is not to protect Tomoyo. Oh sure she wants to be certain Tomoyo's protected, but she trusts her team. Most of it anyways. The role of defense belongs to others. And while Jack Slash is definitely the primary target here, they stand the best chance of taking him down cleanly by stripping away his support and then concentrating firepower on him... rather than injuring him and giving him a chance to run away while his allies are still capable of intervening to protect him. As angry as she might be, Frederica's also coolly capable of overriding that fury. So long as Jack's talking rather than fighting, she'll do her damage elsewhere. Salamandra stretches out one of those monstrously long arms, tearing through ceiling tiles and setting small fires before slapping down at Bonesaw. Bonesaw was cut in half before... so perhaps the solution is to destroy her in a more thorough manner. Fire, after all, is purifying. So it can definitely help to get rid of an undying monster... right?
Defiant	"Most people would say they'd rather kill me," Jack replies, his blue eyes alighting with something that might be mirth. "If we can both be reasonable, then I dare say that I've changed my mind. In a way, I want to see this, the fashion designer turned noble vigilante, this tapestry that you might weave with the right motivation. How old are you? How many customers might you see in a week?" His focus doesn't waver off Tomoyo, even as Frederica slaps Bonesaw aside with a mighty palm of flame. Bonesaw tumbles into a seat, rubbing at her head as she stands. "Now, that wasn't very nice," she says, in singsong, and snaps her fingers and then points at Frederica. Her blonde ringlets burn, filling the air with the acrid stench of burning hair. She doesn't seem to care. Cory /slams/ Blasto right into the seating and his arm-vines slap around, spraying some sort of liquid around the place. Probably poison, probably not something you want to touch you. Blasto rights himself and gives off an inchoate rattle in the back of his throat, and fires a volley of thorns from his mouth in Cory's direction. Oh, and little mechanical spiders tear themselves out of his back, too, prompted at Bonesaw's signal. They swarm towards the towering inferno that is Frederica, little metal limbs clacking their way across the floor. Hookwolf simply falls to pieces for a moment, the second he thinks he's being bound, and crosses the floor like a howling tornado of metal blades. He reforms just a few steps from Toph, but his arms aren't quite complete thanks to Toph's work - still, he does his best to lay her out with a backhand blow!
Frederica	Presumably, one doesn't send out little robots to face a flaming monstrosity if one thinks they'll burn uselessly before penetrating the fire to the fleshling within. Not that Frederica cares. Salamandra's here to ward her from Jack Slash's blade. It'll have little trouble turning back the little devices of the underling as well. It's not, after all, purely fire. As Bonesaw has reason to know by now, it's startlingly solid too. Whatever damage Blasto's spiders might do, they're doing to the gelled-napalm 'skin' of a fire elemental. Little pincers and even knives aren't going to do enough damage to Salamandra to open up a path to the tender girl within, and they WILL burn and melt. Eventually. She'll just ignore whatever pain those spiderlings might cause in the meantime... hopefully. "I gave you a chance to surrender. That was me being nice." insists Frederica, her voice ringing out from within the flame. "If you deserved more niceness you wouldn't be trying to end the world." she insists. Salamandra stumps forward on comparatively tiny legs, reaching out with both arms, trying to grapple Bonesaw. Even an immortal would probably not want to get squeezed between Salamandra's fiery hands, not if they have no way of breaking free, and especially not if they'd burn.
Tomoyo Daidouji	"A hero?" Tomoyo giggles softly, and shakes her head sadly. "Heroism requires selflessness and a noble spirit. I don't have either of those. I'm only in the Union because my friend is. And the reason why I'm here? To stop you, yes. But think about it. The tailor who insulted Jack Slash and lived. You can't buy publicity like that~" She taps her chin as she muses on his questions. "I'm fifteen, but my business statistics are none of your business, sorry~" She quickly looks away from him to examine the fight, as the stray fires caused by Salamandra cause the old sprinklers to activate, the pipes groaning in protest as water rushes out to soak the theatre! "Oh dear, I think they'll be keeping my deposit for sure now..." Tomoyo mutters as her long black hair begins to plaster to her head.
Cory	When GUNK starts flying Cory executes a prompt retreat with her nose and mouth jammed into an elbow. Which keeps her safe from the poisonous muck but NOT the thorns that follow later when she's distracted. "Y-YOWWWWWWWW!!" They pierce her clothing easily, digging into skin and drawing plenty of blood. "Awww yuck.. I had to get the guy who shouldn't be approached. No fun! KAIOKEN TIMES FIVE!" A gust of wind howls through the theater briefly as Cory's aura explodes outwards into view and shifts into a crimson flame-like appearance. Although covered in blood, the pain's not exactly flowing her down. It'll take way more pain to accomplish THAT. The young Saiyan's tail unwraps from its hiding place, twitching idly in the mild winds of a raging Ki aura. Loose things that haven't been bolted down slowly rise into the air around her as she brings both hands together and... "HYAAAAH!!" ... Fires a bolt of blue ki down at Blasto!
Toph Beifong	With no hesitation Toph has already lifted her foot, and she slams her heel down to shift the floor underneath Hookwolf. Behind him a thick concrete wall rises, and the floor shifts with the intent to knock Hookwolf straight into it! The metal spiders despite their size could mean some serious trouble, so Toph turns towards them, spreading her arms. "Not today!" she calls.
Defiant	Bonesaw writhes in Frederica's grip, not even seeming to notice as she catches and burns. "Wh- Ow, bit my tongue. Why don't you come closer? Too scared to finish off a little girl without your fire monster?" There's a snapping noise inside her mouth and even as Bonesaw burns, the girl /spits/ at Frederica. Whatever it is, it's damn cold by the signs of severe frostbite that blossom around Bonesaw's mouth, but she just keeps spitting that stuff right at Frederica - and with all that water falling from the sprinklers... Blasto /hisses/ at Cory's display of power as Defiant stomps in from the left, spear up and ready. Cory's energy blast punches right through the plant-tinker and Defiant steps in, swinging for the hills! Blasto's head goes flying across the theatre. The torso twitches but doesn't fall, it lunges blindly at Cory, the vines from his forearms down reaching out! "Heroism and a selfless spirit?" Jack asks. He idly points at Defiant. "They say Armsmaster over there didn't have either and people still call him a hero. If insulting me would give you such publicity, then imagine being tailor who stopped Jack Slash - for good - and lived." "I'll give you time," Jack says to Tomoyo. "To get powers, to train, to get your friend, to get as many friends as you want. Then I'll announce my presence. See, every apocalypse needs a climactic showdown between good and evil. You hunt me down, you kill my Nine-" A pause as he considers the battlefield, "-or what's left of them at this rate, you look me in the eyes, and then you try to kill me. Hmm. But there has to be a consequence, one that fits if you chicken out..." Hookwolf goes flying, slamming into the concrete wall. He spits something up behind his mask and growls, obviously displeased. As Toph takes a moment to disperse Bonesaw's spiders, Hookwolf charges her in a blind rage, claws sprouting from his hands!
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo doesn't react when Jack calls Defiant 'Armsmaster.' She has n idea if that's public knowledge or not! Best not to confirm anything, in case it gives Jack ammunition. Although, his next statement... "W-Wait, you want me to be there?" Her smile finally cracks as she stares down at Jack, now looking even more nervous than she did before they showed up! "I'm not agreeing to any of this!" she yells, clearly starting to panic. This isn't what she signed up for!
Toph Beifong	Seriosly... Toph sighs at Hookwolf's displeasure, and she aims at where he will be as he charges towards her. Underneath the ferocious villain the floor shifts suddenly, and without warning a thick earthen pillar rises, aiming to crash Hookwolf into the ceiling above them. "Anything would be an improvement from what you're doing now," she warns them. But now she waits for the others, still paying close attention to ow they are doing. And Tomoyo in particular is somebody Toph follows closely, feeling protective of the other girl in such a dangerous situation.
Frederica	To Frederica, Defiant's a good guy but ... well, he's not really a hero. Captain America's a hero. Her family are heroes, possibly excepting herself. Toph's a hero. Tomoyo ... well, she's a fashion designer to heroes. That's close enough. Within her flames, Frederica winces as Salamandra's burning hands lock on to Bonesaw. This is really not likely to end well, except of course in that it gets rid of a foul evil. Frederica's no hero... she's a destroyer. Her only saving grace is the purpose to which she puts her destructive energies, and for that she won't flinch from her task. Not for some call of heroism or cowardice or whatever other term might be hurtled into her face. Not even for a twisted little girl who... well, who's a lot like Frederica might have been. The feeling of burning Bonesaw, well, it almost drowns out Frederica's other pain. The water of the sprinklers is nothing much. If sprinklers could extinguish a fire the size of Salamandra, there'd be no need for fire departments. The pain is a constant however, as bits of Salamandra are beaten down and replenished. The frozen spittle is another matter. It turns sprinkler drops into spears of ice, and those tear into Salamandra's fiery flesh. The ice itself might not reach Frederica's skin before melting, but the tiny daggers disrupt the monstrous form. The feedback blazes through Frederica's psyche, making the girl cry out, but she holds Salamandra's form together and bears down, trying to put an end to the fight permanently. Once Bonesaw's down she might have something left to throw at Jack Slash, but likely nothing complicated. The feedback's causing psychic trauma which, while entirely in Frederica's head, isn't at all imaginary. Her BRAIN is in her head after all. Too much power flowing in the wrong direction could cook her.
Defiant	Jack goes on, "Well, that goes without saying." It's his turn to smile now. "But you'll have to agree because, if you don't, or if you fail, I won't just kill you. No, that goes without saying, too. I'll kill nine-hundred and ninety nine people - in your name. I'll even break my usual rules to get a body count that high, so it's something /special/. And you can be number one thousand. Perfect. I was going to bring a camera but I don't think that's necessary and it makes it so impersonal when we're playing to a camera, no?" He places a hand, the one holding the knife, over his heart. "No tricks if you agree to the duel. I promise." Hookwolf vanishes into the ceiling, propelled by the sheer force of the earthen pillar. Some lights crash down onto the floor and onto the stage, but Hookwolf doesn't reappear. Maybe he's dead, maybe he's unconscious - but he seems to be out of the fight. Bonesaw burns, and yet she still lives. It seems there's some sort of thin mesh implanted through her body, keeping her together even as flesh /sloughs off/ her body from the intense heat. There's not much of her left except charred meat and whatever machinery she implanted into herself, but she's gone limp and she's not spitting at Frederica anymore.
Cory	WHOMPF! Ohh goes Blasto's head. "EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!" Prompting Cory to AVOID the wandering, vine-lashing body. She takes a few good strikes to the limbs while weaving away, but for the most part? Having Defiant come in and start LOPPING HEADS OFF has FREAKED HER OUT. No wonder she takes refuge up near the ceiling, making a disgusted face...
Tomoyo Daidouji	And now, the enormity of what she has gotten herself into crashes down on Tomoyo. All that training is no longer just to try and keep up with Sakura. Now, her life, and the lives of nine hundred and ninety-nine people rests on it. She leans on the podium, the weight of the pressure making her knees buckle. She stares down at her notes again. Twice in one day, she feels her resolve and her courage being tested. But now, she won't just be bait. She'll be a combatant, a front-line one. No matter what she does, she is quite likely to die. What will she do? Realistically, what /can/ she do? She pounds her fist on the podium and stands up, glaring down at Jack, her face resolute. "I'll be there, don't you worry. But I won't kill you. You'll be locked up, and everyone you ever wronged will line up to spit on you. That's a promise." There's no music in her words this time, just a cold edge, almost as sharp as Jack's knife. Although, deep down, she is still terrified, and quietly hoping that someone gets an opening, that someone will beat him right now, so she won't have to.
Frederica	Exhausted, and quietly weeping for Bonesaw behind a veil of flame, there's little that Frederica could do if she wished for sophistication or elegance. As much as she has sorrow for what she had to do though, she has more fury for what that asshole is trying to do to Tomoyo. Anger has always burned hot in the pyrokinetic, and it burns away her sorrow now. "You'll kill NO ONE!" Frederica cries out, letting that emotion wash through her. With her outcry, the flames of Salamandra rush outwards, forming into a lance of flame aimed at the slasher. And the wall behind him. And anything else in the intervening space out to a few dozen feet before the torrent would slam into the ground and have nowhere else to go.
Defiant	Defiant swings his spear around in a wide arc, and brings it down on Blasto's neck, bisecting him from the stump of his neck through to his groin, right down his spine. That seems to be enough to bring the poor tortured man-thing down for good. Defiant turns and raises an armored forearm to shield his eyes behind his helmet as Frederica lets loose an inferno. Jack doesn't even get a chance to respond beyond a vaguely shocked and confused expression as the lance of flame slams into his exposed chest, punches him into the wall and soon enough through it before the torrent comes to an end in an alleyway outside. With all the smoke and debris and fire and general chaos of Frederica bringing an absolute fire game, it's hard to see what happens. All that's known is, when the smoke clears, Jack is gone, and there's a neat half-sphere taken out of the pavement. It's like the teleporter he used in Boston - but this time, half the device lies smoking and sparking on the ground.
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo yelps a little as Frederica brings her power to bare on Jack. She ducks down, hiding behind the podium and only peeks out when the sounds of things breaking dies down. A lot of devastation, but no sign of Jack's body. "He got away..." she murmurs as she gets back to her feet. The water from the sprinklers continues to pour down as she climbs off the stage and looks around at everyone. "Uhm... good try everyone! We managed to deal with most of his allies, at least..." She makes sure not to look at Blasto's bisected form, nor the gap in the roof where Hookwolf vanished through. "But it looks like Jack escaped. And uh... if I don't show up at this final battle he has planned, he'll kill a lot of people, and then me." It's hard to tell with all the water, but she might be crying a little. "So uh... if you don't need me, I should probably go home. Should up my training by a whole lot, and no time like the present..."
Defiant	There's even a long, awkward pause from Defiant then. "I see," he intones from behind his helmet, collapsing his spear into three pieces and settling it on his back.
Frederica	For someone who spent the entire fight at range, Frederica doesn't look all that good now that her protective flames are spent. Her face is a bloody mess thanks to that early wound, though the blood is out of proportion to the damage as all head injuries tend to be. No, it's the psychic backlash that's done the damage to the pyro girl. Her eyes are red too now, not from flame but from being bloodshot. There's a trickle of blood from her nose as well. She's not so much tired as she is beat down... but she still rises, focussing on the damage she's done. Pulling the loose flame together, dumping it where the sprinklers will have no trouble extinguishing it. There's a lot less flame strewn about than one might expect from the size of her earlier torrent, but then most of that power was directed into kinetic force over inferno heat. By the time she's done, Frederica's exhausted as well as beat. "Whatever he's got that takes him out of here... we need to find a way to stop that." she grumbles. "Unless you can take his head off before he gets away, next time." she adds to Defiant. "Whatever his plans are, we can't let him take this out on Tomoyo. We need to get him first." she vows.
Defiant	"We have a piece of whatever technology he is using to teleport himself away," Defiant replies. "We might be able to reverse-engineer it and track him down, stop him before this 'final battle' he wants."