"GRAAAAHH!!"
Screams a Goliath as it tumbles over backwards from an overwhelming concussive wave, and crushes dozens of the corrupted, its massive bulk shaking the earth. Father David takes a knee, catching his breath as Selene steps forward to cover him.
The priest's hands tremble at the exertion, the Goliath proving to be an incredibly hardy monster. "You alright?" asks Selene, cutting through swaths of monsters with her magical bolts. "Just...need...a second." replies David, sweat stinging his eyes as he greedily gulps down air.
On instinct, the elf-like woman dodges as a monster materialises out of thin air, cutting down at where she used to be. She conjures a magical spear, viciously stabbing upwards and ripping through the monster's bulbous head.
Father David widens his eyes and unleashes a concussive blast towards the floor, destabilising the surrounding corrupted. "Be careful! There are invisible monsters! Stay behind Alex as he releases flames! Everyone else, get ready." David shouts, eyes peeled for any signs of the unseen creatures.
Roaring out in effort, Alex unleashes a stream of fire that spreads outwards in a conical shape. Dozens of invisible forms catch fire like kindling, their screams of agony giving the group a grim sense of satisfaction.
Jacob laughs and unleashes a weaker gust of wind that doesn't blow out the flames, but instead feeds its intensity. The monsters collapse to the ground as the flames consume them completely, unable to resist one of nature's most devastating weapons. Jen gives her brother a thumbs up, then blurs forwards as she stabs every downed creature multiple times before moving to another.
Dominic shouts and barrels through monster after monster, earth spikes shooting out of his rocky armour every time he makes impact. He shoots upwards as an earthquake pillar launches him and grins maliciously as spikes emerge from the ground, impaling every monster around him.
Kevin, who has begun trapping and crushing a few of the corrupted, gasps as the Goliath slams its fists on the ground in anger as it works to stand up. The strike sends a shockwave underneath the concrete, the wave undulating and fracturing the earth, forcing everything to stagger. Jen trips from a protruding section of the street, tumbling violently for a distance as wounds and gashes form on her body.
The speedster groans in pain, a copious amount of blood starting to stain her clothing, as she laboriously rises. "Jen!! Get out of there!!" Jacob's words pierce through the air, shaking Jen out of her daze as she finally notices where she had stumbled to.
She looks up and sees the Goliath, its snarling face mere feet away from her face, as it pushes off from the ground and prepares to slam its fists down. Jacob propels himself towards Jen, feeling something fundamentally improve with his ability.
The wind user thrusts out with both hands and unleashes dozens of wind blades that bite deeply into the Goliath's flesh. The hulking monstrosity raises its hands in a defence that does nothing to stop the blades from cutting massive wounds onto its body.
Alex laughs out as he sees Jacob's strengthened powers, noting that the ground is now steeped in corrupted corpses and that dark purple mist is steadily improving everyone's abilities. He throws fireball after fireball, making sure to herd the corrupted and allow the group some space.
Jen smiles and breathes out in relief, her shoulders slumping as the tension is drained away. The Goliath roars out in pain, but can do nothing as more wounds are ripped open. Jacob gives Jen a cocky smirk, his wind blades spreading to the rest of the corrupted.
"Guess I'll be protecting-grk." Jen's eyes widen as a tipped tendril punctures through Jacob's head in slow motion with a wet SQUELCH. Jacob stumbles back as the wind blades abruptly stop, his eyes darting around as he tries to reach for his sister.
With a sickening pull, Jacob is dragged upwards and onto a building as a monster with an extremely long neck and large mouth chomps viciously onto his head. "NOOOOOO!!" Both Jen and Alex scream as they helplessly watch Jacob's body twitching and disappearing into the corrupted's long neck.
Leo appears and grabs Jen by the scruff of her shirt and drags her towards the perimeter that Alex has set up. "NO!! JACOB!!" she shouts, sorrow and agony mixing into a guttural scream.
Father David gets up and shoots a blast towards the creature, which it dodges with an unnatural grace. Selene takes the opportunity to shoot a magical bolt into its head mid-dodge. It crumples onto the ground with half of Jacob's body inside its gaping maw.
The Goliath releases rapid breaths, almost as if laughing at the speedster's pain. It runs towards the group, no longer impeded by anything.
Kevin gathers his courage and uses all of the power he has at his disposal to wrap the Goliath with one giant root, successfully stopping it as Alex releases an almost blue flame at the giant monster.
Tears moisten his eyes as he ragefully glares at the thrashing behemoth, his flames seeming to intensify every second. The Goliath's skin starts bubbling as it melts, its pained howling drowned out by the roar of flames.
KRACKOOM!! Everyone's attention is suddenly drawn upwards as what sounds like a lightning strike shakes the Empire State.
~2 minutes ago~
"I'M NOT BALD!!"
Walter shouts as he supercharges the 86th floor. An ominous red glow starts spreading outwards from where his hands meet the floor, his eyes bloodshot in his rage. Henrick immediately dashes towards the psychopath, an electric enhanced fist reared back in preparation for a haymaker.
"Gotcha!!" Walter laughs as he lunges forward and reaches out towards Henrick's face. His hands are mere centimeters from the soldier, his manic grin seeming to widen beyond human norm.
Henrick's glowing eyes calmly track Walter's fingers. A second before it makes contact, the soldier slides and kicks him in the leg, breaking it and forcing him to kneel. Before Walter can recover, Henrick kicks him in the face.
The psychopath falls backwards, his hands gripping the floor of the observation deck. Henrick raise his hand, electricity sparking off his fingers as he watches the balding man with detached amusement. "Nothing personal, but you're a danger to everyone in this building."
Walter chuckles at those words, clapping mirthlessly as he balances himself. "A danger to everyone? Is that how you justified killing people? No, no. I see it. You're like me." he says, standing up on one foot and placing a hand on the fence. The metal starts glowing red, but simply melts instead of exploding.
The soldier raises a brow, not quite understanding his ability. Noticing his confusion, Walter leans against the hole he just made. "I have the ability to make things spontaneously explode. That works by increasing the vibrational frequency of the atoms. If I don't vibrate it as much, I simply heat things up." he says, looking down at his mangled leg.
Henrick crosses his arms, unsure of why he's being given an explanation. "I have always wondered. What would happen if the source of my abilities, me, were to explode." Walter says, an almost reverent look appearing on his face.
"God, the explosion would be beautiful to see, would probably be enough to tear this building in half." A chill runs through the soldier's spine as he lunges forward to try and grab the psychopath, but the pyromaniac leaps off. Henrick immediately follows, jumping through the hole and plunging downwards.
"Shit!! Not again!!" Henrick shouts as he dives even faster at a now crimson glowing Walter. "Oh man. You're going to have a front row seat to the most beautiful-mmph!!" Walter starts, but is cut off when Henrick grips his face to balance himself. He places his feet on Walter's chest, but scowls as Walter grabs his hand and legs.
"You're not getting rid of me!! It'll be fun, I promise!! Hahahaha!!" Henrick curses under his breath as they rapidly descend, Walter's body now expanding as volatile energy starts building. Henrick shocks Walter, enough for him to let go, but not enough to send him away from the building.
The soldier considers his options then starts supercharging a bolt of electricity, pouring power into it as quickly as possible. With a roar, he hurls the bolt at Walter, but makes it detonate before it can reach the pyromaniac.
KRACKOOOOM!!
The resulting electrical explosion sends Walter flying away from the Empire State Building, his body convulsing and delaying the explosion. "N-O!!!" he shouts, but helplessly falls towards the Goliath below.
Henrick gets flung towards the concrete structure, slamming brutally into its walls. The soldier grunts in pain but digs his fingers in, slowing down his descent as his digits are torn and bloodied.
He looks at the ground and widens his eyes when he sees the others in a brutal fight. "DOMINIC!!" The shout reaches the earth manipulator at the ground below, who is keeping the monsters at bay with Earthen walls. Alex looks up and widens his eyes as he recognises Walter's glowing form. "Dominic! Cover us all! Now!!"
Dominic waves his hands as a dome of earth covers the entire group, everyone gets down and braces themselves for what comes next. The Goliath notices the falling Walter and opens its mouth wide to gulp him down, burping in satisfaction as he swallows, but sensing something very wrong in the next second.
With a violent explosion, the giant is completely obliterated from the inside as a shockwave tears through Dominic's earth dome. The group are flung off as the dying screeches of the corrupted echo around them. Henrick feels the blast push him up slightly, its power rattling the building severely as he makes his way to a window and into the elevator.
Down below, Father David stands up with soot and bruises on his face, but is otherwise largely unharmed. "Selene? Alex? Anyone?" asks the priest as he tries to see through the dust floating in the air.
Selene shakily stands as Henrick finally makes his way down to the ground. Her blond hair now dark with soot and dirt, a grimace on her face as she notes a gash on her thigh. "Jen!!!" A shout draws her attention as she sees Alex kneeling next to the speedster.
Henrick approaches and frowns, clenching his fist at the rebar sticking out of her chest. He opens his mouth, but is unsure if what to say. Finally, he says something.
"She doesn't have a lot of time."
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END