VS The Elements: mission 1

[Aerozord]

You find yourselves in an armored transport, it was hot and stifling. Temperature outside was 108* F and your mobile metal box wasn't helping. Atleast the ride was smooth as it drove over the Mojave plains. Your briefing officer was a middle aged man with graying hair buzzed short. He wore usual pure white uniform that desk jockeys tended to prefer. Each of your Comms downloaded the mission specs, though programmed to auto-delete by the time you arrived.

Most important of all, were the stats on your primary target

Name: Helen Shwarger AKA The Nymph
Gender: Female
Appearance: 5'10, shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes
Element: Water
Bio: known as an extortionist and thief. 2001 she assumed control of an American roving gang known as the Scorpions. First major terrorist act was instigating the Great Lake War of 2003 during which her gang looted the area. 2005 her group kidnapped Mississippian Barons son and was paid off with an unknown sum. She later gained more followers after her demands of the East Mexican government were not met and she freed 207 slaves in 2008.

Known Esoteric Techniques:
Water Pistol: fires high speed pulses of water comparable to small weapons fire.

Water Cannon: larger version of water pistol, from a distance it releases enough force to function like a fire hose, point blank it its like getting hit by a car

Water Prison: creates what are essentially giant water drops, once inside its hard to escape.

"As you know the Mojave Nation is able to survive thanks to three springs that provide the nation with much needed water. Two of which are inside the city walls, however the third is several miles away. Two days ago the terrorist Helen Shwarger and her group attacked and captured the facility. So far no demands have been made and it is still functioning.

The Sultan fears it is merely a matter of time before the supply is shut off, and as to not raise alarm has requested we handle things. All hostages are presumed dead, if reasonable and they live rescue them, otherwise cleanse the area, no survivors. Shwarger is your top priority, get her away from the spring otherwise she may escape through it.

You have downloaded floor plan of the facility which will not auto-delete but is advised you memorize it anyways. The main building is surrounded by two walls, outer wall makes off a half a square mile area, inside is an oasis whose fruit barring trees supplement the workers food supply. Sadly this means they can hole up there for weeks. Inner wall surrounds the main building that houses the spring. She has guards posted constantly at each main point and patrolling the grounds. Their skill level is unknown so exercise cation."

The vehicle slowed to a halt and the doors opened. "you have 24 hours, good luck"

[Astral Harmony]

Alice Wheeler was the first out. Despite the heat, she was still wearing her trenchcoat. And now that she was out of the transport, she could engage in one of her favorite pastimes...smoking.

"Water," Alice exhaled. "Not exactly my forte."

Though she couldn't complain. It was thanks to her employers that she was alive in the first place and even had a place to call home. "I'll try my best to help you guys out, but this whole water business is making me nervous."

[Menarker]

Grevan stepped out slowly afterwards, wearing only thick boots, jeans and an undershirt. The weather was unpleasant, although not terribly so. His arm were bare and he stretched them out lazily and without regards for protocol or decorum. It felt stifling inside the van.

Grevan stood near Alice, content to take in the smoke she breathed out, the toxic fumes being a welcome breath of... fresh air.

He pulled out 2 dollars and waved it in front. "Can I bum one off of you?" He smirked and chuckled indulgently. Naturally, he had a pack of his own, but he was curious to see what taste Alice's brand was.

"Water bitch, eh? I don't know if my oil and sludge will corrupt her water or be purified by it. Guessing it all evens out. Let's just bag us the mermaid, or put her in a body bag, and go home."

[Overcast]

Alex touched an open piece of metal on the armored box they'd moved here in. Not quite having the patience to wait for anyone to open the door for him since he had also been too itchy to enter the car and had ended up in the far back. He zapped his way off the outer body out of the radio antenna and hit the ground with a grin as he turned to look at Grevan,

"If she knows how to purify I might be in trouble. But if you can keep her dirty with your nasty ass I'm sure she's gonna fry."

He didn't pick up on a cig though, contaminated air did conduct better than uncontaminated, but he had just never picked up the habit.

[Astral Harmony]

Alice wordlessly checked inside her jacket and pulled out another cigarette. "Pall Mall," she said to Grevan. "I'm kind of a bitch for trends, and it's what my aunt smoked."

Once the exchange was complete, Alice held up her hand and snapped her fingers, igniting the tip of her thumbnail. "Need a light?"

Alice kept a lighter on her at all times, mostly so that she didn't betray her nature in public. "It's kinda strange that the terrorists haven't made any demands, yet." she said, looking in the general direction of the facility and starting to walk. "I think they had to have their act together in order to take over that place, but yet they don't know what to do with their spoils? They must have other plans for it aside from getting a hefty ransom."

Like maybe poison the water supply? That wasn't a happy thought. But the report on her really didn't have that "murderer" label that Alice feared. "So whadaya guys think? Should we show up at their front door and ask 'em what the hell they want, or should we try for a stealthy ol' takeover?"

[Menarker]

Grevan took the cigarette with a very satisfied expression as he popped it between his lips and leaned forward to light the toxic stick on Alice's finger-lighter. He took a huge breath inward, taking the smoke all inside and finally exhaled through his nose.

"Ah, very good. Much obliged." He then stared at the dirt floor as he reminded his allies.

"Our delightful nympho target is a water elemental. Taken control of 2 of the 3 springs around here. Seeing as she hasn't made any demands, I have two guesses of what she is up to."
His hands were lazily put in his pockets as he ground the heel of his right boot into the dirt.


"She never meant to make any demands but just wants to hoard all the water for herself, the witch. Or she intends to make the country squirm and sweat it out in complete dehydration before she monopolize the water supply at an absurdly expensive cost which she sets. The desperate farmers and townfolks will be desperate enough to pay nearly anything if pushed hard enough. Hehe, poor suckers."

The Titan of Toxin took a huge drag out of the cigarette as he continued.

"Either way, we have only 24 hours. And in either of those circumstances, there is no reason for her to negotiate when she either intends to play the waiting game or escape as soon as she seizes the goods. I say we sneak in and we all spank her uptight ass in turn. Hell, if she's pretty enough, I'll keep both my hands on them. It'll make it easier for Sparky to play a punishment game with her too, if his guess is right."

Grevan's uplifted smile became a toothy grin that was filled with perverted and dark anticipation for the entire mission, not just the target.

"Anyhow, I suppose I can corrode a hole in those walls. Acid and what not. Get in that way."

[Arcanum]

Ox was the last out of the transport, the tall man looking over Shwarger's profile a final time. Over the past year he started believing that people's personalities were influenced by their element. A lot of what he has seen since only strengthened that belief. He didn't know too much about his current team, but he was always watching, always calculating. People hear Ox's name and see how strong he is and think he's a dumb oaf. He liked it that way; people left their guards down when they thought you were stupid.

He figured Alice would be the easiest to anger, the first to jump into a fight. Irrational, eager, typical Fire. He hoped he was wrong. Grevan was, to put it nicely, disgusting. His personality seemed to mirror his element perfectly. Alex was a showoff, a flashy display for no reason. He either reveled in his element or had an innate desire to impress. Ox hoped it was the former.

Ox snapped out of his train of thought as Grevan finished his tasteless tirade.

"Anyhow, I suppose I can corrode a hole in those walls. Acid and what not. Get in that way."

"No need for guesswork," he replied. "I can get through the walls in about ten seconds give or take, depending on the size of the hole we need. They won't be a problem."

Ox paused, replaying Grevan's take on the scenario in his mind. There were a few flaws in his logic, most notably his understanding of Schwarger herself. She was manipulative, slippery, like most Waters.

"You're wrong by the way," he said calmly to Grevan. "Schwarger isn't in this for the long haul. She causes turmoil, reaps her rewards in the chaos, then slips away through the cracks she made on the way in. Poisoning or crippling the water supply seems the most likely, but she might have something else planned. Regardless, it doesn't matter what she plans to do. We can figure that out once she's captured. A precision strike would work best. We sneak in, keep a low profile until we locate her, and take her out before she has a chance to escape. That's my suggestion."

[Menarker]

Grevan's expression was shocked for a split second and then become somewhat disdainful as Ox contradicted him in such a blatant fashion. Straight forward and blunt without a single ounce of tact. But then he chuckled semi-mirthfully.

"You heard the mission data too. She looted and accepted ransoms from political targets. It seems odd that you'd tell me that I'm wrong given the tiny amount of information we were given unless you know something else no one else told us or are making assumptions that we weren't given. Besides, I was merely guessing, with my main point being we don't have the leisure to negotiate."

Grevan then took a huge drag, almost practically sucking on the cigarette itself before he let it drop to the ground, not even bothering to smoosh it out as the dying wisp wafted pleasantly in the air in a sort of helix trail.

"But! You're absolutely right that her motives doesn't mean shit. We aren't here to get friendly with her, so I really couldn't care about her history or anything else aside from what info can enable me to drag Miss Wet T-Shirt out of her fortress."

The Prince of Poison wiped his hands in his moist hair as he looked toward the enclosure.

"Can you open a hole in the wall without smashing it? I was thinking we make a tiny hole in the wall so I can gas inside it, clear the area a bit before we enter."

[Overcast]

"Don't call me sparky asshole."

Alex said with a bit of a sneer in his direction, he was not fond of nicknames and reacted with shocking offense when someone tried to tie one to him. He stared up, not a cloud in the sky, no descending upon his enemies like Zeus's almighty fury so it seemed he was stuck sneaking with these slags,

"Well if we are going to sneak in we better get on this, waste of time sitting here when we already got a plan. We can think about variables when we get there. Not like we know much more than, blah blah two walls, food trees, guards and a liquid bitch."

And he started walking. A bad habit, but he was already on the path of least resistance and he was going to keep on it till he he hit ground.

[Astral Harmony]

"The main problem will be that we can't just go all apeshit in there," Alice groaned, knowing that she was going to have to hold back on the epic explosions she loved so much. "It's not some enemy base we're taking down. It's a important life-giving facility and I'm certain the Sultan would like it returned to him as a life-giving facility and not a smoldering ruin."

Being careful with one's attacks was also not Alice's forte. Water or no, she was at a huge disadvantage here. Explosions weren't just for fun. Timed and placed correctly, they caused enemy casualties to skyrocket and were extremely disorienting, and then there was the fear factor. When your best shit was getting blown up and swallowed in flames, most enemies voided their bowels and offered no resistance to further attack.

And explosions were only a byproduct of Alice's true talent. Few things were more horrifying than being burned alive. Alice was sure that her mother could attest to that. Fire may create heat to warm your hands and bath water and light by which to guide you, but every other utility of it was bent towards destruction. Fire was a glutton that devoured everything. Fire could turn an air conditioned room into the mouth of hell itself. Fire choked away all the air and filled it with noxious smoke.

And just like the red devourer itself, Alice also hungered. It was almost like the element was a conscious entity whose emotions surged as Alice's did. Alice was almost fanatically passionate about justice and punishing evil. For her mother who died horribly bringing Alice into the world, for her aunt and uncle who raised her despite all the trouble she caused, and for White Shield who gave her a new home and a purpose she could believe in, Alice intended to burn away every last injustice from this world with a white-hot inferno.

Cigarette finished, Alice negligently dropped it to the ground and stomped it out despite there being nothing to set fire to, and tried to bend her will to the task. She would need to take care with her passions this time. Wielding the red devourer carelessly would end up destroying something very precious to the people of these lands.

[Arcanum]

Ox fell in step behind Alex, he figured any details they could discuss before they got within range of the facility and started picking off patrols.

"I can reduce the wall to dust with a touch," Ox said in response to Grevan's question. "A small hole will take a brief touch, one large enough for us to fit through will take a couple seconds. But we need to get through the oasis first before mass poisoning becomes an option. I would rather you not cripple a food supply on accident. Gassing the inner facility might work though, but depending on the flammability of your gas Alice will be even more limited."

As they walked Ox looked at the palm of his hand as he changed it into metal. It was a silvery gray, and was polished enough to reflect the harsh sun easily. He frowned for a moment then his hand dulled to a much darker shade of gray. He took note of the feeling before returning his hand to normal. Fire or lightning could be mistaken for a mirage, or missed entirely. Light reflected off polished metal usually meant someone was trying to get your attention, which they definitely did not want yet.

"Alex, if we see any patrols try to fry their comms first. The longer our element of surprise lasts the better."

[Overcast]

"Sure thing Ox, hell I might even be able to start scrambling their comms right now if you can make me a nice antenna. A few alternating currents and I'm filling the waves with white noise."

It was an old trick he had learned from his mom's journals. She had been a very accomplished technician before she got hit. Honestly it was why she had gotten hit, she was too confident in her abilities. She hadn't gone in with a partner that last time out and by the time she finally got away from the current she had already deteriorated into a barely living vegetable.

That was Alex though, he could not hold his usage back. And opportunity that he had to complete the circuit called to him, and he desired more than anything to let his current run free down the nearest open path. But until the circuit was closed he was forced to stay still. Stay silent. But he kept his charge, an invisible monster just waiting to be provoked.

He cared little of right or wrong, he just wanted to be free.

[Aerozord]

You near the building, the outer wall is designed like a pentagon with sniper towers at each corner. The towers are 30ft high and the wall itself is around 10, made of reinforced concrete. Immediately surrounding this perimeter is open desert with no apparent cover. If you could see that far you'd notice guards patrolling atop the wall.

There is one gate of massive steel doors.

ooc: Discussion thread (http://nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?p=1116563#post1116563)

[Astral Harmony]

"The place is built like a fort," Alice observed. "And here we are with no wooden horses. Probably just as well. I'd end up setting it on fire somehow, I'm sure."

[Arcanum]

As soon as the building was in sight Ox knew his earlier planning was a complete waste of time. There was no way they would be able to get in without being seen, at least not in their human forms. But fire and lightning stood out just as much as a human in open desert terrain, if not more. Actually, that gave him an idea.

"We are going to need a change of plans," Ox said to nobody in particular. He wasn't one to rush in and take charge, but he did put a lot of faith in his "suggestions." "If Grevan and I change into a gas and dust cloud respectively we should be able to reach the walls without being seen."

Ox noticed a look of disbelief, or even anger, flash across Alice's face. She probably thought he was telling them they would have to sit this out. He couldn't help but smile.

"However, we are going to need some assurance that we aren't spotted. And it would also help if the guards were preoccupied while Grevan and I make our way through the building and cut off Shwarger from escaping. What do you say Alice, Alex? Think you can cause some chaos until we're inside? We'll ping you over the comms once we locate Shwarger, or you can contact us if you take care of everything before that happens. Think of it like a race."

Ox's small smile broke into a grin as he finished speaking. One of the perks of being able to figure people out just by watching them was how easy it could be to find the right words to motivate them.

[Astral Harmony]

Alice looked at the towers. "You...want me to light a fire under their asses?"

She didn't sound sure of the plans, but already her body was surrendering its corporeal form to its elemental equilvalent. "With them being so well defended, I think you're right that we're going to need a decoy to allow the others to slip inside. Right, then."

Now a thorough representative of her element, the curvaceous humanoid blaze that was Alice Wheeler stepped forward. "If you need a distraction, you've got one. Tell me when to fire," Alice said. "Pun intended."

[Overcast]

IT'S A RACE!

The word race had never had a good effect on Alex, neither had opening up a second more favorable option. While Alice was entirely keen to be given the signal, Alex was well on his way to being a distraction. On the odd point it seemed he hadn't shifted into his elemental form, but on the plus side he was now running full sprint at the front gates while screaming his lungs out. You couldn't get more distracting than that.

The fact was he didn't want them to know exactly the kind of hell they were getting into until it was entirely too late for them to properly respond. If they even had the capacity to properly respond. They would rue the day they chose steel as the material in their gate.

[Aerozord]

Their attention was first drawn to Alex. They level the rifles and the sniper took a shot. It went right through his head as if nothing. Concern started stepping in and it only grew as they noticed the distant fire that was once Alice's physical form. Alarms sounded and guards lined the walls showering them with bullets. The distance was so great only a few rounds hit, nothing to be concerned with, but as you'd draw closer the frequency would grow and eventually even a metamorph would begin to tire.

However the annoyance of the shells was quickly eclipsed as two knew guards leveled their sights on the two. However it wasn't rifles they were firing, but missile launchers, and judging by the way they curved, heat seekers. Not the best thing for elements that toss out more heat then a forge.

[Astral Harmony]

Alice began her attack quickly. It focused mostly on lobbing fireballs like some kind of catapult at the towers. It took her about a half-minute to get the required amount of distance, but she was quick to make additional hits when she found her sweet spot.

And then came the missiles. "ohshitohshitohshit-" Alice was saying, hoping that her next idea would work. She condensed a lot more heat into this next fireball, then sent it off toward the facility with all of her might. And to end her plan, she reverted to her human form and began running forward to catch up with Alex.

That roaring fireball she launched was far hotter than she was in her current form. She didn't even have a lit cigarette on her. Missiles weren't all bad. The fire from the explosion was occasionally even comforting, but she wasn't immune to the force.

The timing here was really sensitive. She needed the fireball to redirect the missiles somewhere, but giving up her elemental form to make sure that it did left her open to the snipers, who Alice was hoping were now too busy being on fire to worry about scoring headshots.

[Overcast]

After the sniper shot hit that was about when Alex lost it. His head came back and soon his whole body started sparking until he was a loosely human form of jolting terror. He let out a scream that sounded like a bad data connection before his form blasted to the gate, a peal of thunder ringing out in his path, and a great deal of heat following him.

Probably more heat than that fireball, but he'd have to worry about that later. He jumped out of the gate and grabbed the two guards in their junk sending them reeling into the ground. He would have enjoyed killing them, but he wanted somebody to be alive to tell people about how amazing he was after it was all over after all.

He finally noticed the missiles and grabbed the gate again letting out some serious static to mess up their targeting and hopefully get them on the right path, the path that opened the door so both him AND Alice could get through and win this race!

[Menarker]

Grevan twisted smile figuratively when he was warned to avoid poisoning the food supply and then literally as his face melted away without a word to adopt the form of a dense and small goo that aggressively ate at the ground he touched by his will. The sentient liquid sludge then proceeded to squirm through like an earthworm, constantly creating and skimming the new tunnel at an alarming pace (for a mass of goo). Only ever so carefully did he create a needle small appendage as a periscope to peek from underground to see appropriate location.

Finally, upon reaching the concrete wall, Grevan dissolve a path inside the wall, sticking adhesively within the makeshift tunnel as he ascended, poking out his needle like periscope whenever he desired a vantage point until he reached the floor of the top of the wall where the guards were patrolling mere moments before the distraction of his team-mates and the chaos of explosion and gunfire. Several of them have presumably gathered in clumps to fire at the source of the distractions.

Then an urge hit Grevan hard! In spite of being a liquid elemental form, the poison prince needed to take a piss! He feverishly rotted several tiny little holes connected to his main traveling tunnel along the floor, and then expelled a torrential river of sludge laced with extract from the Golden Poison Dart frog, Grevan tinkling the poison in a messy water sprinkler style delivery to the guards just above him on top of the floor, swiftly causing paralysis and swift death with mere contact. After a good half a minute, Grevan slinked away to another part of the wall...


"....aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, hehehe, damn. That's the last time I leave for a mission without taking my bathroom break."

[Arcanum]

Ox waited until Alex had fully captured the guards' attention before making his move. While Grevan decided to make his way underground, Ox figured such precautions wouldn't be necessary for him. In the blink of an eye his body changed into a dull gray metal, which promptly collapsed into a puddle on the ground. Ox then started to roll forward, much like a tank tread. As he went his body picked up dust and dirt, helping to camouflage him even more.

He reached the wall without incident, regained a humanoid shape, and started to circle around to the back. He didn't know where Grevan had disappeared to, but he wasn't too eager to find out. Frankly the man revolted Ox, and he didn't quite trust him either. Still, now was not the time to be worrying about his team mates, who could easily handle themselves against a couple of armed guards. Ox was finally out of sight of the main gate, and it was time to go to work.

Ox placed both hands on the wall, which promptly began eroding into dust. He swept his hands back and forth across the wall, carving away the cement with a simple touch, dust cascading down and blowing away on the dry desert wind. It took a little under a minute to carve a hole three feet in diameter clean through the wall. Ox checked to make sure the coast was clear on the other side, climbed through, and filled in the hole with metal, doing his best to match the shade of the cement. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than a guard noticing a large hole in the wall.

Ox then crafted himself as best he could an imitation assault rifle. It was mostly just a slab of metal shaped like a gun. He then shifted back to his human form and made his way to the inner wall, fake rifle in hand. He hoped that from a distance he would look just like any other guard. If he could get to the spring without raising any suspicion he could seal it off and prevent Shwarger from escaping, and maybe even find Shwarger herself and capture her. Well, Metal does capture Water according to Wu Xing.

[Aerozord]

The guards quickly retreated to the inner compound, randomly spraying bullets behind them that did little more then slow down the elemental metamorphs. The guards passed by Ox with nothing but a gesture to retreat with them. Grevan could hear the radio of the guards he just killed frantically trying to get reinforcement explaining why so few seemed to be guarding the walls on that side.

Alice and Alex seemed to completely overwhelming them, but that reached a halt as a shot flew by Alex. In an instant he knew it wasn't normal. It was a projectile of pure water, heading straight towards Alice.

The shot was fired by a woman with long blue hair down to her waist wearing standard desert combat gear save the unusual lack of a gun or water canteen. She was standing just outside the inner facility on a 10yard wide ring of sand around the building. The source of the shot was an outstretched finger, her thumb up forming the gesture of a gun, bent down as if a trigger was pulled. Tip of her index finger was pure liquid that slowly dripped onto the ground.

[Astral Harmony]

Alice immediately shifted back into her metamorphic form and loosed a torrent of flames between her and the Nymph. The flamethrower was by no means going to reach Alice's tormentor. Her idea was to sort of flash-evaporate the water bullet coming directly at her. She was sort of isolated from where she stood, too close to fall back and too far to just escape into the facility, though not for long.

"It's her!" Alice shouted over the roar of her own flamethrower. "The Nymph! If we can get her, maybe the others will surrender!"

Alice prayed that it would be that easy. She was already feeling burned out...so to speak. She would barely be able to maintain the flamethrower long enough to reach the relative safety of the facility. At least in the facility, there were things to put between her and her watery nemesis. Out here in the parched, flat desert, Alice was easy pickings, but hopefully the dry and desolate locale would lessen the Nymph's powers somewhat.

Maybe that was it. If they could temporarily shut off the water somehow...

[Menarker]

Grevan oozed out of the stone from a hole in the wall from a side where he felt the nymph wasn't paying attention to, opposite from the distraction. The poison that he now leaked from his body was now d-tubocurarine, the specific name for the most commonly known type of curare poison darts used for hunting animals. If it entered the bloodstream, it would cause extreme relaxations of the respiratory muscles and thus cause death by asphyxiation. Grevan smiled broadly. This poison he could splash it near the spring because it was harmless when consumed or taken orally. Only when it entered the bloodstream, especially by an open wound or an easily penetrated membrane like he expected the water elemental to have, would it enact its swift course of delivery. So the spring would still be good for drinking... but he wouldn't advise anyone with a bruise or worse to swim in it.

Grevan silently swung his arm as it like a whip before the poisonous blobby length broke off from his limb as a mass of paste scattered in a spray of poison droplets directed toward the water elemental and the area she stood.

Heh, never fought an elemental before. I wonder if she still has a bloodstream to poison in her elemental form.

[Overcast]

Alex saw the shot drift by before it dissolved into a mass of steam. Ducking out of the trajectory of the flamer he turned his head and saw the woman standing there her finger held up like a pistol post shot, and he grinned. Alice was right, that had to be her. He stood back up and shifted out of his elemental form staring her down. He did his best to ignore the poison bolts from his royal nastiness, and hoped she would too.

He wanted her all to himself.

He put his hand at his side like his own pistol and gave her a challenging nod. He couldn't actually shoot lightening at her when he was human, but giving her that idea wasn't entirely out of the question. After all it looked like Alice was burned out, so if they were going to win this race he had to make sure she thought he was the next best thing.

It was all up to him. In his mind anyway.

[Aerozord]

The wall of flame lost alot of its intensity by the time it got close. Turning her arm to water she sent out a small wave that swatted it away like nothing. Likewise when the poison rained down she was confused as to what it was as it laid on her human form. "Not water" she mused before top of her head turned to liquid and resulting cascade washed it all off.

She grinned looking at Grevan, then over at Alex. "I'm not sure was I was just hit with, but it seems your surprise attack was a bust. Congrats on surrounding me though. Honestly I did assume they would have trusted my defeat to only two metamorphs, but three? They really aren't taking any chances."

She seemed relaxed, calm even. And still unaware of their fourth. In an instant she crossed her arms and shot a bullet at both Alex and Gevan. Then before she could see the result her watery fist was thrown at Alice, making sure her guard stayed up to the lightning element. As it traveled it grew in size, becoming as large as a truck by the time it reached her.

[Overcast]

"Bust or not you're still dead."

Alex claimed as his form went elemental once again, by the time the bullet got to where he was he was already blasting towards her. His shot fired, but he wasn't satisfied giving her one bullet. His whole elemental form cracked through the air right at her. She had decided he was just a secondary opponent, she had put him second to Alice, equal to Grevan. She was not paying enough attention to him.

And that would not stand.

[Aerozord]

She didn't turn to Alex, she felt no need to, there was a reason she didn't feel need to focus on him and it was time he learned why. The sand she was standing on shifted in an instant, forming spikes directly in the lightnings path.

[Arcanum]

Ox started to follow the other soldiers but paused when he noticed Shwarger engage the others. He stood there for a brief moment, conflicted if he should follow through with his original plan or help engage her. It was a very brief moment of thought. They could take her out here and now, especially since she was unaware of him behind her.

But first Ox turned to the nearby doorway where a soldier was gesturing for him to get inside. Ox closed the door in his face and sealed it shut with a generous amount of metal. He then ran towards Schwarger, his body changing into his element as he went, his hands and forearms extending into large paddles with sharp edges. He doubted cutting her would do much, but a blunt strike with a wide surface would scatter her form, forcing her to regenerate much more. Ox was only fifteen paces away and she was still unaware of his presence. His and Alex's one-two punch would cause some serious damage.

Then the sand shifted, and Ox's mind shifted gears. New threat. Sand metamorph? Alex, spikes, grounded. Oh shit. He only had time to think of a single course of action.

"Alex!!" Ox yelled as he leaped into the air before he even knew he was committing himself to such a foolish idea, but once airborne it was too late for anything else. He reached skyward with his left arm as it shifted into a spike, his right arm drawn back and ready to strike Shwarger on the descent of his jump. He hoped Alex would be able to change his path before grounding himself. Still, this was going to hurt like hell.