Grue had to resist coughing up blood as he slammed into the wall. Things had well and truly gone down the fucking toilet tonight.
The leader of the Undersiders struggled to his feet as Lung, the Dragon of Kyushu swiped at Tattletale, the blond Thinker barely managing to dodge the dragon man's razor sharp claws thanks to Regent desperately manipulating Lung's nervous system.
Bitch was down for the count thanks to Lung targeting her early on. Her dogs, Brutus, Angelica and Judas, stood over her comatose body, but she was vulnerable, which was why Grue had attacked under the cover of his darkness, to draw the man's attention.
Thus causing the brief flying incident just now.
"Grue! He's too much for us!" Tattletale yelled.
"Tell us something we don't know, blondie!" Regent snarked as he jabbed Lung in the side with his stun gun sceptre, having no visible effect.
"I am going to kill you all." Lung said calmly, "You robbed my casino, you challenged my power and for that, you die."
"Like hell!" Grue, Brian LaBorne, snarled at the man. He couldn't die here. Aisha was counting on him to get her away from their drug addict of a mother. "I refuse to die here and I refuse to let my friends die here either!"
Before Lung could reply, a chuckle echoed around the area, making everyone still conscious look around for the source.
"Well spoken." A female voice said softly as a figure emerged from behind a building, "I couldn't agree more."
With that, she snapped her fingers at Lung, and the Dragon of Kyushu was engulfed in searing flames, his roar of agony evident to all.
"Get your teammate out of the way." The girl instructed Grue, "I can't fight him all out with her and her dogs in the way."
"Got it." Grue nodded. He didn't know who this girl was or why she wanted to fight Lung of all people, but he wasn't going to argue with her. "Tats! You know Bitch's signals, get those three out of the way so I can get to Bitch! Regent, help the newcomer."
"Fuck me, I always get the shit jobs around here." The other boy groused, "Got a name, Red?"
Now that Lung was on fire and illuminating the area, Grue could see, as he grabbed Bitch and threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, that the new Cape was indeed wearing red; a red hooded coat that extended down to her calves. Underneath it, she wore black trousers and a black shirt. White gloves and a full-face mask completed the look. The mask was white, with an odd symbol of a cross with a snake wrapped around it emblazoned upon its surface.
"Alchemist." The girl replied before clicking her fingers again, a wave of ice appearing around Lung this time and impaling his limbs. It wouldn't stop him for long, but for long enough to get Bitch out of the line of fire, Grue hoped.
"Jeez, Rach. You have got to lay of the between meal snacking." He grumbled as he made it around the corner, where Tattletale and the three dogs were waiting for him. Easing her down to the ground, he backed off to let the dogs move into a protective formation around her.
Peeking around the corner, he spotted Alchemist clicking her fingers at Lung again, engulfing him in fire again.
"What's she doing? Thermokinesis?" He muttered to Tattletale.
"Looks like it." The blond Thinker replied, "But…there's something different about it. It's like that's not all she can do."
Tattletale's supposition was proven right as Lung bellowed in fury and charged out of the flames, aiming straight towards Alchemist. The red-clad Cape simply clapped her hands together and then slammed them palm first onto the ground.
Sparks flew from the ground before an enormous fist emerged from the ground and slammed into Lung's abdomen, making the Dragon of Kyushu retch before being flung back by the force of the blow, crashing into the warehouse behind him.
"Ow!" Tattletale flinched as her Thinker went into overdrive and gave her a migraine.
"Tats?" Grue said in concern.
"THAT…was just transmutation, Grue." The blond said as she massaged her temples, "Alchemist isn't just her name; it's a damn job description of how her powers work. Alchemy, the legendary power said to be able to convert base metals into gold. Looks like it can also mould other things too."
"Any limits?" Grue asked.
"She's bound by the Law of Equivalent Exchange and the Law of Conservation of Mass, at the very least." The Thinker replied, "Additionally, she seems to need to either snap her fingers or clap in order to use her powers, similar to a few other capes needing gestures in order to use their powers. I've shut my Thinker down for now as I have a bad Thinker Headache going on right now."
"Right. I'll go and get back in the fight. Keep an eye on Bitch." Grue nodded before darting back out.
Lung, in the meantime, had dug himself out of the warehouse and into another barrage of fire and ice from Alchemist, who was now alternating which hand she used for each attack. Lung was getting seriously pissed, because his mask had come off, replaced by a purely draconic visage. Flames not of Alchemist's creation surged along his arms and he now stood taller than the nearby warehouses.
"You have to put him down, now!" Grue shouted at Alchemist, "Before he gets too powerful!"
"You and the renaissance faire reject fall back and I'll do that!" the red Cape shouted back.
"Regent! Get your skinny butt out of there!" Grue ordered.
"Gladly!" the lanky Cape answered, "And my butt isn't skinny!"
As Regent got out of her range, Alchemist raised both hands and clicked them both at the same time. A massive tornado of fire engulfed Lung, his shriek of pain drowned out by the sound of flames.
"Are you insane?! You'll kill him!" Grue shouted.
"Any ordinary Parahuman perhaps, but not Lung." Alchemist spat back angrily, "Look!"
As she spoke, the tornado of flames died down, revealing Lung, knocked out on the ground and transforming back into his human form.
"What did you do?" the helmet wearing teen asked in awe.
"While the flames did hurt him, their main purpose was to surround him and consume all of the oxygen in that small area." Alchemist replied, "The air became so thin so quickly that he lost consciousness. Pardon me."
Clapping her hands together, she slammed them back down onto the ground. Bands of solid steel wrapped around Lung until he looked like an oversized cigar, with only his head visible. Alchemist repeated the process several times before deeming it sufficient and walking up to him, replacing his mask on his face.
"Not even the Dragon of Kyushu will have an easy time getting out of that straightjacket." She said in dark satisfaction, "You guys OK?"
"Bruises, burns and a few fractured ribs." Grue replied with a wince.
"A few minor burns." Regent reported, "And my shirt is ruined, in case anyone cares."
Tattletale bopped him on the head as she answered, "No one does. And I'm just exhausted. Eeesh. We seriously need to recruit more members if this kind of thing's going to happen whenever we knock over a casino."
"No, just his casino." Alchemist replied, "Seriously, anyone could have told you that the Ruby Dreams was Lung's. Why'd you rob it?"
"We had our reasons." Grue grunted, "Anyway, thanks for the assist. Don't think we could have lasted much longer."
"With the spirit that you showed against Lung, I think that you might be underestimating yourselves, but whatever." Alchemist shrugged, "Gotta say, didn't expect my first Cape fight to be against Lung of all people."
"Few people survive such a fight, so it's something to be proud of." Tattletale said cheerfully, before she looked down the street, "Shite. Armsmaster's coming. We have to skedaddle."
"I'll buy some time." Alchemist said and clapped. The next second a wall erupted from the ground , leaving Lung on Armsmaster's side and the Undersiders and Alchemist on the other side.
"This would be so much easier if Bitch was awake." Regent grumbled as he hefted the girl over his shoulder, "Jeez, lay off the burgers, dammit!"
"Quit your groaning, Regent." Grue sighed, "Alchemist, we have to go. Want to tag along? Armsmaster'll knock down that wall in a heartbeat."
"Eh, why not?" the red clad Cape shrugged, "I could use a bit of rest."
So yes, not a very long one this time. I'm sure you all grasp that this a FMA power fic, so that's that. Please remember to PM me if you want to borrow the ideas I'm posting here.
Thinker: 10 (Able to memorise all chemical and alchemical reactions once learned and has an intuitive grasp of biology. Is able to recognise any and all chemical reactions just by sight and can determine the identity of a substance by a casual examination.)
Shaker: 8 (Possesses the ability to transfigure and transmute her surroundings as she sees fit, within limits. She is bound by the Law of Conservation of Mass, meaning she cannot create something from nothing, and the Law of Equivalent Exchange, meaning she has to offer something of equal values to that being created. She cannot transmute anything into gold, or anything into humans. Nor can she turn organic matter into inorganic matter or vice-versa. The forms of the things she creates are only limited by her imagination. Requires a clap before any transmutation.)
Blaster: 5 (Is able to use Thermokinesis to attack her enemies. This usually manifests as fire and ice. Requires a finger click before any transmutation. A double finger click squares the power of any transmutation performed after it.)
Striker: 5 (Is able to instantly grasp the structure of anything she touches, although her ability to understand what she sees is limited by her knowledge of chemistry, alchemy and biology. Is also able to repair non-organic objects, albeit slowly.)