Energon on the Rocks

[Brawl]

Elsa was a bit delayed entering the fray. For one thing, she was forced to be here incognito, which meant she was wearing a dress and heels. For a second thing, some idiot who had a few too many and likes blondes taller than he is followed her into the bathroom she ducked into to change. Said idiot now has his head in a toilet and a kitten heel in his left eye.

The bathroom door shatters outward, kicked by a stockinged foot that would be elegant if the leg it was attached to wasn't a freaking tree trunk. Brawl looks forward to the day when he can be a giant killer tank robot again and not worry about what his legs look like. (He tried drawing tank treads on the sides of his legs in marker, but they washed off in the shower.)

"You started without me!" she roars, the elation of combat in her voice, the air around her hands rippling, eyes searching for targets.

[Vortex/Valerie Wei-Li-Zhao]

“You know, my contract read ‘helicopter pilot’ not ‘back-up goon’,” Valerie comments idly to a horrified woman huddling behind the drinks table. She’s had enough drinks to have a bit of a buzz and was currently eying the rest of said drinks somewhat mournfully. She wasn’t going to get a chance to drink much more of that. So much wasted alcohol!

Honestly, all this stupid posh party covert mission stuff was getting a bit too much. Boss was bickering with the red-headed meta about Decepticons and Autobots and civilians and getting shot at. Everyone was screaming and/or dying around her- well, that part was sort of okay, but still! She was a heli pilot and a destructive hurricane on two legs in a small room with people she’s not supposed to kill indiscriminately. This was as far removed from ‘her scene’ as possible!

Professional goon Valerie? Well, pretty much no. She watches as Elsa kicks down the bathroom door and enthusiastically enters the fray. See, now that there is a woman who just lived for her work.

Taking a final sip from her drink, Valerie flips the table over and sends it, sharp broken glass and all, after Cavalier through the new exit.

[Onslaught/Octavian Comstock]

It was the perfect shot. But the quick gating means it misses entirely. Something that makes Octavian's good eye narrow and his lips to purl back into a snarl. One of these days, he's going to get his hands on that cripple bastard and make him endure the most painful, slow torture that he can muster.

If Octavian did not get quite thoroughly soaked, he would have happily replied to Rodney. Delayed responses are so not done, as well. Thankfully, Carolyn gives him the opportunity for more chances to love the sound of his own voice. When she speaks up he turns around, narrowly missing that bullet, and diving behind a bit of cover. "Oh, darling miss Blonde, I would never forget about you! I was just saving you for dessert, but since you seem so desperate for my attention, I suppose that I will make you my main course!"

With a grunt, Octavian dives from behind the counter he was hiding behind, and behind a piano. But he doesn't stay there long. Quickly he grabs and, with superhuman strength, lifts it and holds it in front of him. Then, with a battle roar he starts charging towards Carolyn, and if he can get close enough, he will try to swing the instrument and batter her with it.

[Carolyn Blake]

Her kit drops into her hand, and as it does, Carolyn slings it over one shoulder. The pack contains more ammo, more weapons, and some smaller pieces of body armor. The dress had no place for her to conceal such things, after all. Really, one shouldn't contemplate to hard upon where she was keeping the one gun she did wear. She's about to dodge for cover and find a good shooting spot when Elsa appears on the scene.

"Elsa? What-?"

The distraction lasts just long enough that engaging the charging Slaughter is unavoidable. She doesn't flinch. Just because Carolyn's specialty is shooting, and just because she was designed for speed and grace, doesn't mean she can't fight.

As Slaughter manhandles the piano into position for a swing, Carolyn darts inside his extended arms and sends her right fist toward the man's jaw. There's now a knife in her left hand, and she tries to follow that punch by driving that knife into Slaughter's abdomen.

[Springer/Stella Ringer]

Stella follows the bag through the portal. She's still in a helicopter flightsuit, her helmet still on (and thusly her hair gelled down and pulled back into a loose bun). Her experimental air cannon is already held in her hands, rifle style, and she lands on her feet, dropping into a crouch.

There's joy in her eyes, behind her helmet's visor. Stella cracks, "Huh, if I knew high class parties were like this... I'd still make fun of 'em, anyway."

She unleashes a blast of cavitation at some blue-wearing gumby enemy.

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodney is in the process of turning around when a table comes flying his way. He twists and catches it, though the momentum carries him back towards the exit a few feet. He takes a moment to look around - there are entirely too many powered people and villain-thugs here, and not a single one of them seems to give a damn about the civilians still in the area. For the moment, the decision of whether to continue the battle or protect the bystanders isn't really a decision at all.

Function: Protector.

He sets the table on its side to make a more effective barrier and then, raising his voice, says calmly and firmly, "Ladies and gentlemen, please move quickly and calmly to this exit." While he doesn't have a Voice of Command like his housemate does, what he does have is the voice of someone who is used to commanding, which, while not exactly a superpower, is still something people tend to respond to. Many begin doing so (largely because at this point, there are only two exits, anyway), while the Cavalier himself flies towards the nearest injured human to help them. This will likely continue until one of the villains makes Rodney decide that the fastest way to get these people safe is to take that particular villain out.

[Vortex/Valerie Wei-Li-Zhao]

OOC: Skipping Brawl and Scenemod due to time out.

---

Valerie was going to follow up on the table and ruin Rodney’s day a bit more but then Stella appeared through the portal with a fancy gun. She watches one of the goons go flying when the newcomer opens fire.

See, now why doesn’t Octavian give them fancy guns like that? That is totally unfair!

Glancing up at the chandelier, Val idly calculates how much she cared about the goons getting injured versus her ability to control the trajectory of the shards with her powers. She decides she doesn’t give quite that much of a damn and sucks the chandelier off of the ceiling, sending the shards flying in Stella’s general direction.

[Brawl]

Octavian never gave Valerie a wind cannon because Valerie has magic wind powers.

"It's Devastator when I'm workin'!" the brawny woman shouts at Carolyn. No fair revealing peoples' secret identities! Elsa is not wearing a mask or anything, but whatever.

Brawl quickly sizes up the situation. At least three enemies, one of whom is glowing and has the Matrix in his chest, which means he's out of her league. One is locked in mortal combat with Onslaught, so that's taken care of unless the boss specifically asks for help. The third is getting attacked by Vortex, which sounds like a good time.

She roars and charges Stella, aiming a sonically endowed punch at the shower of expensive chandelier bits as they come toward her. The section she's running through shatters into smaller slivers of glass and glass dust, and it is a shame that none of the humanformers here is from Bayverse because that would look awesome in slow-motion.

It turns out punching glass into slivers when it's already going really fast is bad for you, but Elsa doesn't much notice through the adrenaline as she barrels toward the enemy pilot.

[SceneMod]

Arlen gates himself back to the valet stand, hoping to find Addison there!

But Addison has foolishly run off to go be heroic.

But Arlen isn't.

He slips away as best he can on an injured ankle.

---

OOC: Out of thread unless Carolyn calls Arlen back.

[Onslaught/Octavian Comstock]

The piano plays it's final symphony as it shatters on the marble floor. Lord Octavian Comstock, refined and cultured gentleman, regrets to hear such a heartbreaking melody of destruction. Slaughter, on the other hand, laments that there is no sound of shattering bones to go along with it.

Both sides of him really hate that Carolyn actually managed to land a punch. One that actually hurts! He's send staggering, and before he can recover he can feel the blade puncture his hardened skin and sink into the flesh below. Flesh that feels as hard as stone. For a split second, he looks down in surprise. Then he tries to grab the hand still holding that blade and apply enough force to break it. "Not many have managed to do that, miss Blonde! I was not aware that you held such power!"

[Carolyn Blake]

The advantage to being locked in combat with your Sworn Enemy is that you, as the Hero of the show, are not required to pay attention to the superimposed stock-footage battle happening around you. Only when something happens on the sidelines that is worthy of its own scene cut must one pay attention, and even that is optional.

Which is why Carolyn hasn't noticed Arlen slipping away (though she supports this move) nor answers any shouts directed her way for the next few seconds.

Her hand is grabbed, primarily because she revels in actually hurting Slaughter a little too long. For a few seconds, that elation shows in her eyes, long enough perhaps, for Slaughter to catch it. It's a slip she isn't even aware she's making.

Slaughter will eventually even manage to break her wrist, but he will find the doing harder than expected- almost as hard as breaking one of his own bones, if he is familiar with the strength required for such. When the small bones in her hand and wrist finally shatter, the only reward the supervillain will receive is the barest flicker of pain across her face.

In the seconds preceding the breaking, however, she will throw herself backward, using his grip on her wrist and the grip she attempts to take on his shirt to toss him head over heels, attempting to plant her foot hard in his mid-section (bonus for her if she slams it into that fresh wound) to give her more throwing power and leverage. Slaughter isn't the only one who can toss heavy objects around with impunity.

[Springer/Stella Ringer]

When shards go flying at her and Elsa comes charging at her, Stella leaps, flips upside-down in mid-air, and hits the ceiling feet-first, allowing the shards and Elsa to pass beneath her. Stella kicks off the ceiling and tries to crash into Valerie feet first to tackle the other woman down. There is an almost lunatic grin on her face.

She ought to call in Control to ask about Valerie and Elsa and the Crimson Cavalier, but that would involve being responsible, so she doesn't.

Instead, Stella calls out, "Hey, Red! Don't think we're gonna go easy on you when this is all done!"

[Rodimus Prime]

"Oh, yeah, sure," Cavalier answers. "Can't have people around who concentrate on getting folks to safety or anything!" Of course, by this point, those bystanders who're still living have more or less cleared out. He glances around. Two on one against Springer that green haired nutcase? Hardly fair! He twists in flight and fires at the brawny woman, adding cheerfully, "Good thing I don't care for 'easy,' anyway!"

[Vortex/Valerie Wei-Li-Zhao]

“Whups!” Val jumps out of the way of the boots. Wouldn’t want to end up under those! At least not under these circumstances.

“Diggin’ that suit, baby!” she hollers, summoning a vortex between them with the intention of slamming Stella into (and maybe through) the opposite wall, along with a few other pieces of furniture. “You come here often?”

[Brawl]

Elsa skids to a halt, pieces of chandelier tinkling to the floor around her. The noise makes her feel like a pretty princess, which elates her briefly, and then pisses him off immensely. "Whassamatter, afraid to stand and fight?!" she taunts the bouncing woman in green.

She soon has other problems, though, as the Cavalier throws a fireball at her. She rolls out of the way, taking cover behind some sort of statuary. Then she picks up said sculpture and tosses it at the flying flamethrower. "Always did want to take down a Prime! Shame it had to be the new little pissant one!"

Yes, she went there.