[font=lucida bright]AIko[/font] would have blushed if she had blood vessels. "Um, actually, it's just Unknown that needed to be behind me. Unless someone else is sensitive to EMP?"

The pulses - each about 80% of the one she had used on the helicopter, but now from a dedicated generator so she didn't need to burn out her radios, WiFi, cell phones, etc., continued, more widespread now that she was sure Unknown was out of the line of fire...

Kat doused herself again with the remaining water in the large bottle, dropped it to the floor and sprang into the air with surprising strength, coming down smack in the middle of the charging horde of creatures - where she unleashed her Big Gun attack - attempting to simultaneously free everything in a 20-foot radius around her.

With luck, she'd end up surrounded by many blocks of ice, capturing the creatures within in mid-charge, like so many "swinging statues".

Unknown was afraid. Not of the horde, but of Kat all that ice. So he went in the other direction and spotted Glenshadow being struck by electricity. "I can assist you. What is it you are trying to do." Unknown came forward and was caught in the same electrical fence however for him it was barely noticed as his body accepted the energy.

"They must have gotten the GO signal. Seems these shooting ducks got teeth." Sunstroke was in her element fighting. She was using wide attacks less focused so a bit less damage, but affects a greater number.

About that time Jutan was recovering his eyes open and he reached out to the Ice Kat was generating.

As AIko tackled Jotun, Nightstrike dove after the dropped Orb, knowing that Jotun would try to get it back if he recovered. She scooped it up and rolled back to her feet. As the horde charged into the room, Nightstrike was going to need her hands free, so she opened the butt pouch where she normally kept mines or explosives and dropped the Orb into it. Closing the butt pouch was all she had time to do before three werewolves surrounded her.

Even though it couldn't be seen, Nightstrike smiled cockily. In a blur, she jumped onto the thigh of one of the werewolves and then vaulted into a roundhouse kick that snapped the werewolf's neck. Spinning through the air, she came down next to one of the other werewolfs and sliced its arm off. Its partner attacked her from behind and rammed it's clawed hands between armor plates. Its claws speared into her and she grunted with pain. Reversing her blade, she plunged it into the werewolfs gut, then threw her body forward into a roll. The movement pulled her off the beasts claws and forced the blade to cut up through the werewolf's body. Finding her feet again, she spun and yanked the blade out of the werewolves chest, then lopped its head off. Looking at the last crouching werewolf, she stopped and watched. Its arm was growing back, but the process was obviously extremely painful. She readied her blade, then plunged it into the beasts heart. The beasts body slid off her blade and she used its fur to wipe the blood off.

Turning to face the rest of the scattering horde, she charged into their midst, sword flashing.

Sister Flare is sent flying back by the pulse into a wall, grunting from the impact but fighting to move forward as she shouts in realization.

"You're behind all of it aren't you!? You just want your brood to live, don't you?"

At that moment, cackling laughter erupted behind them. Any of them that turned would see Nightstrike with her helmet lying on the ground at her feet, her eyes solid black. Around her were a score of dead monsters. Her left hand was entwined in Emerald's hair and she had hauled him to his knees. Emerald struggled weakly, but Nightstrike was too strong.

Raising her sword high, she looked dead at the other heroes and swept the blade down. The mono-edged blade sliced through Emerald's neck like it wasn't there. His body fell to the ground, the stump of his neck spurting blood. Nightstrike held his head up for them to see... and then dropped her sword to grab at her head. "...get... g-get... get out... GET OUT OF ME!!!"

When she looked back up, her eyes had returned to their normal steel blue. But the damage had already been done. She realized she was holding something in her left hand and looked down to see Emerald's head, her fingers still entwined in his hair. A look of horror briefly passed across her face. "...no."

"Then it can be killed." With that Unknown handed Glen his communicator and walked into the electric field. At first it seemed to have no effect, then he staggered a bit. "Energy type haven't encountered before. Adapting."

"The Odin orb you fools! It grants you the commanding presence of a GOD. USE IT!" Jutan yelled out.

To the voice she replied, "We defend ourselves and our friends and families and our world. Ask for our help, and you may succeed. Force us, and you will fail."

Sister Flare lowers her head as she is too late to stop Emerald's beheading, but focuses her grief and rage as she launches herself towards the burnt man, gripping him in a chokehold, and breathing fire into his body and lungs, burning away his very aura before dropping him unceremoniously to the ground. Turning to Nightstrike, she passes her a look of understanding before suddenly shouting back in reply, fires around her blazing wildly as she booms.

"Because you and your ilk have no place on this plane! Because there will ALWAYS be defenders and guardians like us to thin your filth from our dimension, to ensure that innocents like him." She points to Emerald. "And no matter what vessel you use, we will always stop you!"

With that said, she suddenly grows brighter, her skin itself blazing amber tongues of flame as she creates a shield of flame to buffet the energy pulses, before turning to Nightstrike, grabbing hold of the orb as she calls upon her background, her many facets. She was a huntress, a witch, a woman of will and power and she will be damned if she loses another friend to these insolent demons!

With that in her mind and heart, she shouts, channeling her own power to the orb to boost it's power.

"Leave her body unharmed, and restore what you have wrought! BEGONE!!!"

Jutan just eyed AIko "Tried that sought help from the Knights Templar. They found the Odin orb, and kept it for themselves. Got aid from the King Philip he instead used the aid I gave him to destroy the Templars and take their property and wealth. I was able to get the Orb then, I could have used it to form an army no I didn't. Found the second orb about five years ago learning not to trust organizations, I hired one thief... Ron Bolton. Humans can't be trusted, just like the Templars he gained power from the Hel Orb and kept it for himself. Again with the Museum heist and the Loki Orb. Here again just the temptation of power... and it's humans true nature, everyone for themselves." He shrugs off Aiko offered hand and stood. "No reason not to expect the same from one of their toys. Maybe that's what's in charge of all this after all. A man made creation."

Unknown extended his crystal blades and charged for the device at the other side of the energy field. Trying to cut into the metal box.

Kat had no magic, nor any real use for it. As the others struggled with spells and strange forces to try and free Heartseeker, Kat kept wary watch in all directions, the blade she held riming slowly in traceries of hoarfrost. With her other hand, she shrugged her backpack off one shoulder, to fish out one of her last remaining bottles of water and take a healthy swig, then douse more of it over her head and shoulders. That done, she recapped the bottle with her hand and teeth, shoved it into a voluminous cargo-pocket, and shrugged the pack strap back up over her shoulder.

The glacial attack against multiple foes had drained her, and she was glad for the breather, however brief, but did not let up on vigilance.

Unknown was now taking damage the electrical current was becoming more than he could stand. He formed his fist into a spike ball and smashed it down onto the machine. "I don't know... how much of this... I can absorb. Tell me what to do."

Jutan was trying to think of what to do. Fight for the orb or run. From behind him came Phantasm's voice. "It dawned on me that with all the latest tech and magical artifacts in the world today. Perhaps your obsession over the Orbs caused you to ignore other options." "I waited seven hundred years... I can wait longer." With that Jutan used his bulk to shove his way through the remaining goons. "SUNSTROKE, We are leaving." The three used the distraction caused by Orb's power to plow their way through.

Kat watched Jutan gather himself and choose to leave rather than fight further for the Orb, and while she turned as he passed to keep her eyes on him, she made no move to stop him. So far as her mission was concerned, he looked the worse for wear, and her group had an Orb. She waited to see if Sunstroke accompanied him or stayed... because as far as Kat was concerned, [i]that[/i] firecaster was cra-cray.

"We must leave," [font=lucida bright]AIko[/font] said. She moved next to Heartseeker and shaped her force shield to support her and carry her, while plotting the safest route out to the surface...

"I cannot leave yet. Some of the wounded won't last long enough otherwise," Luca said as he switched from one spell to the next. Light was dripping from his fingers as though he was bleeding it. His complexion was almost sickly white as he pushed through his efforts. As he moved over to Glenshadow, he picked up Glen's hands in his own, and the light pouring out of his hands found each wound. Luca was unsure if he had the strength to do much more, and there were still others.

Warily Kat followed Aiko down the hallway, treading lightly on the balls of her feet in case of another attack, until they came to the chamber with Glenshadow, Unknown, Luca, and the remains of the mysterious machine. As Aiko and Luca tended the wounded, Kat kept watch for any new attacks.

Unknown stumbled looking around for things to make... what was a stretcher? Oh well they needed something to move the wounded... and he was included in that list. There were burn marks where his cells couldn't handle it anymore and burnt out, as well as a large growth mass on his back about the size of a football and seeming to still swell. "What a Stretcher?"

"And the book," Kat added to Nightstrike's question. "The other Orb, and a book. We still searchin' for those, since we're already here?"

Unknown looked at the substance. One hand it was liquid something he avoided, the other hand he trusts his allies. He reached over and dipped his pinky into the liquid light seeing no ill effect he began absorbing it. The effects was interesting you could see the liquid light flowing through his body like a plane in a storm cloud. Where some went to the wounded areas and healed him the majority went to that mass on his back. It didn't remove it the mass actually grew some more.

Unknown seemed more at ease and extended a blade and sliced into the metal bars of the cages. "We can use these for the Stretcher, now need fabric... ugh.." That when it happened that mass on his back seemed to open and fell to the ground. Unlike Unknown this mass was now glowing like the liquid light, but moving taking up a shape of a baby. "This isn't good, biomass got to large. Second awareness has spawned. Would be best to terminate it."

Luca just blinked trying to think how to react. "I...I think it's too late to abort it. Secondly, I believe I am partly responsible for...what is that?"

"That what we are afraid of. Thought we are one of a kind, I began as a mass of life about the complexity of a Jellyfish. I drifted to close to the planet and got caught in it's gravity, the magnetic field was killing my basic cells. Taking a host was a means of survival. That new life would be fully adapted to this planet so wouldn't need to seek to hide from the magnetic field. " The baby was now sitting up and looking around. "What it nature is I do not know."

Sister Flare nods as she reveals that she can barely form a corporeal fireball, her blades flickering out in embers.

"I don't have nay strength left to even teleport myself out...we have to risk it."

Luca looked around and confirmed what he had decided. 'Junior' was still learning awareness but already it was sitting up. "I'll go with you. I've done all I can to heal the wounded, and 'Junior' is growing much faster than a human child. I assume that's the unknown nature of...Unknown..junior...."

"And contact my parents, Luca, they have experience in that area."

"I'll come as well," Kat offered to Glenshadow and Luca. "I'm being paid to do a job, and until we at least look for this book and the other Orb, it's not finished yet."

[Font=lucida bright]AIko[/font] went ahead of Glenshadow and Heartseeker, making sure the path was clear.

"Except that you have some names, this matches a report we got from the Book Wyrm," [Font=lucida bright]AIko[/font] said. "She likes to avoid naming her sources or their friends."

"Normally, I'd make the same consideration. But I have seen Rotten fight. Anybody who wants to go after him is in for a world of hurt." Nightstrike replied.

"Whoa, don't look at [i]me[/i]!" Kat replied hastily as Unknown's gaze swept the group. "Not a maternal bone in my body, seriously. I'll help search for the Orb, and for this book, which is called... what, exactly? And is there any description of the book?"

Luca's expression was almost one of disappointment. He considered for a moment the task of raising such an entity, even assisting with it, "I will help where I can. This is new territory for me; I've not had new life spawn from the healing constructs I create."

He looked at Emerald's remains, now a sullen look betrayed his thoughts. A jump, sure, but the implication would connect the randomness, "There was a chance I could have restored him, but too much time had passed when I discovered he was dead. I'm so sorry."

Not wishing to give too much away, Nightstrike did not reveal that Ron Bolton and Rotten Luck were one and the same. "Very well, that sounds like a plan. But let us locate the Orb first."

"Let me see if I can leverage it," Kat suggested. She placed a hand on the door, and concentrated, forming a ridge of ice along the opening, and the concentrating on building the ice outward, to try and slowly wedge it open.

Kat had done what she could, and the effort had been tiring. She let the ice break up and melt, to open the way as best she could, and then downed another bottle of water to replenish.

Kat, young and slender, slid off her backpack and attempted to slide sideways through the opening, pulling the backpack through as well, if possible.

Unknown came up behind Glenshadow "I shall go help them. I can easily fit where others can't." She slid through the door avoiding the water from the melting ice as best she could. Soon she was where Aiko and Kat were. "Should I dispatch the drones? In this location the chance of their long term survival is low. It be mercy to make it fast and painless."