World Tree MUSH

    "My name is Wakako Okada. I am a Fixer from night city. I run something of an... Employment agency for mercenaries, adventurers, and cutthroats alike. IF you are receiving this message, then I have a potential job for you. If you are interested, that is... Several days ago the young heiress of an influential family in Night City went missing. Kidnapped by a gang of cyberpsychos known as Maelstrom, at their club, Totentanz. The police have been useless thus far and the longer the girl remains in Maelstrom's hands, the higher the chance of her winding up on a Scavenger's table stripped for parts and organs. Money is no object to the family, however they want the girl brought back alive and unharmed. You may deal with the gang by any means necessary. I already have two Solos assigned on this job, but more... Muscle may be required. We will discuss your payment when the girl is brought back safely, and I can guarantee it will be worth the effort."

    That message went out from Night City several days ago, the Fixer in question, reaching out trough various agencies and contacts freshly made to find offworlders willing to join the hunt.
    Night City is a city of neon lights and perpetual sleaze... Smog hangs thick in the air with the ever present smell of gunpowder rampant capitalism.
    Totentanz is a tall building on Pershing Street in the middle of Night City's Watson district, and most people... Avoid it. The booster gang that calls the entirety of the club home, Maelstrom, is known for the rampant amount of cyberpsychos in their number, and the sheer amounts of ultraviolence they are known for causing. Annnnnd there are two solos across the street from the building.
    The first is a young man with ruddy red hair, a set of goggles worn on his forehead, wearing a green vest and denim jeans.
    The second looks much younger, a young lady with greenish-pale skin, pink tattoos all over her body, a samurai jacket, and super short shorts, with her green hair done up in twintails.
    "You're carrying right?" The girl asks the guy, and he nods, holding up a pistol.
    "Yeah, this is good right?"
    "Wow what a cheap polymer one shot. Here, use this kid." The girl says, reaching into the duffel bag at her side and pulling out a heavy duty double-barrel shotgun which she passes over to him.
    "HOLY SHIT." Julio says, sounding stoked. "This is like CHRISTMAS, you're just giving this to me?"
    "You'll either earn it or get your ass killed." She points out. "I promised Wakako I'd watch your back, but I'm not gonna babysit you and hold your hand."
    "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

    Dante had to admit, when he visited Wakako, she cut a very striking impression. Good taste in sake too. Dante was about as augmented as a newborn, but he was making a name for himself cutting down the odd scavver and crackhead with absolute contemptuous ease.

    Some rumors even spread about him tearing a cyber-psycho and half before tossing the remains at a nearby MaxTac unit. In reality, Dante just dropped the disarmed (and delegged) cyborg off at the nearest cop before letting the police deal with the crazy bitch, with only their fingers to worry about.

    "Rescue ops in gang territory? Another Tuesday in Night City." Dante muttered as he tuned Nevan, the guitar thrumming with electricity in his hands as he rode the bus on the way.

    https://youtu.be/jLXTBbMRxK8 Music played in his earbuds as Dante approached the two solos, offering them a salute as he gripped NEvan in his hands. The guitar hummed softly with electric amps. "Sup 'chooms'." He greets the kid and half-pint. It was pretty sad when the tiny girl with neon hair sans pants looked like she was the more competent of the pair.

    "Name's Dante. Maelstrom, huh? Aug-junkies make my skin crawl, can't imagine cutting away my meat like that just to install a whole-ass iPad in my head. No sir..."

    A job where a girl has been abducted? Money is no object, bring her in safe and sound, and they probably won't object to any particular roughness with the kidnappers?

    You bet your ass Hyouka Kiyama is going to be there.

    "Hyouka, I feel I should inform you. We have been subject to seven failed attempts to crack your wireless comms since arriving in this city."

    As Hyouka steps off the subway train, she jerks with alarm. "Seven?! I-is someone targeting m-"

    "Calm down. I believe they are random sweeps. None of them are anywhere near sophisticated enough to crack your body. And I have security measures I could implement even if they did."

    The faux elf looks dubious, but continues right on, striding her way up towards Totentanz under her AI's local-map-assisted guidance. It's probably fairly obvious she's a tourist from the way she's gawking, but she doesn't really stop and stare until she sees a very loud duo across the street. And a tiny little girl handing over a huge gun.

    It can't be...

    "Ah, excuse me, might you two be, er... the ones for Wakako's job?" Hyouka asks, eyeing Rebecca in particular dubiously.

    Then she realizes Dante's there. And making remarks about cybernetic enhancements. Without saying a word, the full-conversion cyborg folds her arms, and just... stares at Dante. Staaaaaare.

    Currently without a ride, Marceline has taken the message for herself. If she's so against this whole mercenary style biz why's she keep answering the lamprey? Eh. She'll worry about that later; tonight can't be that bad, right? It's a new scene! Lots of people, trashy atmosphere. Gotta be something to love about a place like this! Maybe they'll even appreciate some tunes sometime.

    So, she perches atop the building, spying the assembly down below on the street. "Oh riiiight. Probz should meet these shady peeps."

    So, she takes a dive from the roof, red and white varsity jacket fluttering around open and showing off her grey tank top. Completing her outfit is just denim shorts and some well worn chucks.

    "Sup, peeps? We waitin long or we gonna just roll in and bust up some boingloings?" No guitar tonight.

    "Did your fixer promise a bag job this time, too, Choom??" Claire asks as she walks up to the pair, casually tossing and twirling the sword in her hand, slingshot and explosive ammo on her hip. "So I did some digging, but I figure I'd ask the locals. This here club's for gonks who don't mind getting zeroed, right? So I'm guessing the gonk we're hired to save was hoping to get a taste of the Edge and slipped the corpos meant to keep her safe so she could make her way in?" She glances to Hyouka, and tosses the woman a can of Joja cola. "Wonder if this'll be available from vending machines here any time soon. Place seems right up their alley."

    And the Tree's done it again.

    The locals that look just at the right time would see a tall, white-haired rat-woman stepping out of thin-air, wearing a hazard suit that wouldn't look too far out of place, really. She lifts a large gloved hand up and disengages her rebreather, scowling at the neon, the concrete and the various people in really weird clothing. "..." She looks vaguely 'up'. "Are you fucking with me or something?" she asks the metaphorical entity of the Tree, before pulling a small tablet device out. "Well, looks like there's a job to do here, so... guess you are, in that infuriatingly helpful way." she grouses to herself.

    She pulls the rebreather back up, and turns to head for the RV, boots clacking harshly as she walks, the reinforced footwear designed for walking across razor-sharp rocks.

    On arrival, she quirks a brow, recognizing a few faces... especially the sassy girl with the giant arms. She does introduce herself to those who are new to her. "Scavenger. Vanguard Operator."

>> SUMMARY[Scavenger] >> Grump-ratte gonna grump.

>> SUMMARY[Dante] >> Hyouka's right beside me, isn't she?

    "And I thought.... those Reunion bastards... were the craziest people... I've ever met..." Catra pants heavily, doubled over, palm pressed against a graffiti-covered brick wall. Her claws are extended, covered in a mix of blood and cyberware fluid. Around her, there's a half-dozen Tyger Claws laying in a heap in various stages of... disassembly. "...and then we end up here. Why again?" she stares at Melog as if the creature is going to actually verbally respond to her. Then she stands up straight and dusts herself off. "Gotta say though," she reaches down and picks up an arm she'd hacked off, turning it around in her hand. It's got a mantis blade extended, locked and damaged.

    "...this is some pretty cool stuff..." she tosses it aside and shrugs, picking up the spiked bat one had dropped and a handgun another had dropped. "How do you..." she fiddles with it, turning it over and over as she secures the bat at her hip. A crackling device on the ground gets her attention, the remnants of a mobile device that the gangoons' victim had left after fleeing the scene. It's the message from Wakako. "Huh. I guess. There's money, there's food, right?" she looks to Melog again. No response. It just sits there and gives a slight shrug. Catra's ears lay flat and she shakes her head. "Come on, let's figure out where this even is..." she stuffs the gun into her jacket pocket too and messes with the mobile to try and pull up a map. "Oh hey..." her head tilts and she sets off. It's not very far. 

    And that's how Catra arrives, carrying stolen weaponry, fingers already coated in the blood of Night City, and wrapped up in her jacket and shorts, she looks like she belongs here. Her fingers rap on wall by the group as she leans on it. "Sup," the Exotic says with a grin, idly twirling the bat in her hands. Then upon seeing Claire and Scavenger, she wiggles her fingers. "Oh hey! Fancy seeing you girls here. We all get sucked into something together?"

    So it looks like everyone's shown up.
    Poor Julio is looking greener than Rebecca and is beginning to hyperventilate at the thought of storming a booster gang's headquarters though.
    "... Are you gonna pussy out on me, Julio? Man up." Rebecca says, elbowing the youth hard, causing him to regain some morale. "Man, Wakako said you were green, but I didn't expect to get saddled with a complete rookie." She huffs.
    Nevertheless, she sets her big mechanical-looking hands on her hips as Dante approaches.
    "Just another Tuesday night in Night City." She echoes the Hunter's sentiment before leaning over. She makes a motion at Dante as though to say 'bruh, you should look behind you'.
    "Yeah, we're the two Wakako sent ahead to meet you all here." Oh she's staring at Rebecca though. "What? I got something on my face or something?"
    Then there's Claire, Marceline, and Scavenger- Rebecca knows these three.
    "Oh, shit. It's you three. Welcome to Night City I guess. Anyway nah, the girl was kidnapped prolly because the short-circ'd chromers in there thought she'd be worth a good ransom or chopped for parts, something like that." So by the time Catra arrives, the party is a regular squad of weirdos and Exotics. No one even QUESTIONS Scavenger or Catra's looks on the streets, or the fact that Catra's hands are bloody, it's just another night in Night City.
    "Alright. I guess we're all here. Let's knock." Rebecca says crossing the street and kicking open the door to the club.
    Holy crap everything stops. All the people inside turn to the door, and the only thing that doesn't stop are the loud pulsing music and the blaring lights as a squad of HIDEOUSLY modified cyborgs swagger, saunter, and stagger their way towards the invading party.
    "Heeeeeh... You little babies lost?"
    "Think they're here to start something?"
    "You bloodbags wanna get punked?"
    This is when one of the Maelstrom gangers puts his gun to Rebecca's head.
    "You better start talking now, bitch, before I drill you a fresh eyehole!"
    Rebecca doesn't even blink.
    "You better fuck off, eat shit, and die." The smart aleck solo says as--
    *DAKKA!*.
    The Maelstrom ganger is blown back in a red paste as Rebecca racks the shotgun in her hands.
    This prompts every single gang member in the room to draw their iron.
    "ZERO THESE PUNKS!" One shouts as gunfire starts going everywhere.
    Julio is already cowering behind a flipped table.
    "Oh man oh man oh man oh man I don't wanna die!" he blurts, thoughtlessly while hunkering down like a coward.

    Dante gives Hyouka an insufferable grin. "Hey."

    He claps Julio's arm with a chuckle, hard enough to likely send the teenager staggering back a few steps. "Cheer up, kid. This'll be good work experience."

    He waves at the other girls, a rat, a cat, a farmer, and some vampire lookin' chick. One whiff of Marceline and Dante knows she's a cambion too.

    They will talk later.

    "Let's do this." He wastes no time following Rebecca, drawing a double barreled shotgun from his coat.

    "Woah, DAMN you guys are fuck-ugly! They weren't kiddin' about you guys, like you all facefucked a pickup truck on the way here!" Dante says with a mocking laugh. Rebecca blowing that gone guy's chest open with a shotgun makes him laugh harder as he levels his own weapon and blasts Maelstrom with buckshot. The way he dodges and dives to evade the Maelstrom's fire speaks of absolute contemptuous ease. These guys might be packing advanced firepower, but they're terrible shots for all the good their aiming tech might afford them.

    Oh yeah, it's party time.

    "No scratch for gonks that freeze up like vidiots who just saw real violence for the first time." Claire ells Julio. What may come as a surprise to these chromed up goons is that the sword the farmer is using is more than sharp enough to cut through their hardware. She rushes forwards, in between them, forcing these goons to choose between risking shooting their own, swapping to their own melee options or ignoring her. And she knows how to use that sword, more than ready to remove heads from shoulders.

    Marceline's appearance is a little startling, but by now, Hyouka is used to people with, for lack of better words, a flair for the dramatic. No, what really boggles the cyborg is Claire. Even while she's catching the drink, she's staring.

    "DARGN, those were words, right?" "I can confirm that they are words. Would you like me to try and translate for you?"

    The elf gives a little shake of the head, already going about the task of opening her can of cola. "Ah, thanks, by the way." She finishes slugging her drink in one long pull, then introduces herself properly, largely for all the unfamiliar faces. "Hyouka Kiyama. I'm an adventurer out on the World Tree. I'm fine with the direct approach, by the way. Ah, and I have an onboard AI, DARGN." The voice from before speaks up again with a simple, "Good evening," that issues from somewhere in the neighborhood of Hyouka's collarbone.

    "Ah, no, it's nothing," she adds with a dismissive wave of her hand to Rebecca. Though there are still a couple of worried glances. And maybe a glare at Dante.

    Ah, but into the club they go, and... oh boy do they ever stand out. Hyouka herself sort of pauses awkwardly, having not at all expected a whole ocean of inebriated eyes turning their way. "Oh, er... hmm." She's starting to consider how exactly they should handle it, when one of the gangers saunters right up, amidst a sea of threats varying in nature but similar in heinousness. Even before a gun is put to Rebecca's head, she's just about made up her mind. But that? Oh, that clinches it.

    "Fisto, ON!"

    Her forearms split open, revealing a softly-glowing blue void that shouldn't be there. Components begin to swing out, lock into place, connect, unfold. In the space of two seconds, a pair of absolutely massive forearm gauntlets wrap around her arms from the elbow down, replacing her forearms entirely. Almost immediately, lines of purple energy begin to trail along 'circuits' lining either massive arm, crackling with tiny arcs of electricity.

    "How dare you just walk up and point a gun at a child!" she yells. Already, the cyborg is lunging right past the zeroed meatsack Rebecca has taken care of, and swinging a fist the size of her torso at a ganger with enough force to flip a car over, and a discharge of lightning-elemental mana besides.

>> SUMMARY[Hyouka Kiyama] >> Because Hyouka had time to prepare, today's element is LIGHTNING! Also: Fisto.

    Rebecca earns a nod from the suited-up Scavenger. Her tail whips in anticipation and then...

    A lot of things happen all at once. The door is kicked open, a perimeter guard comes up and gets flatlined, and now there's bullets flying everywhere.

    The Zalak shifts her weight, reaches over her shoulder and steps off into a dead sprint all in the same motion.

ile her Buster Blade is more brute-force than elegance, it's more than enough weight to force a lot of brutes to the floor. She draws it as she comes up to a clustered up group, and overhead slams it down into them.

    The impact is enough to stop traffic a block away, and leave a cracked crater where the tip of the blade, and about an inch and a half embed in the broken ground.

    She doesn't stop though, releasing the blade and drawing a pair of smaller blades from scabbards at the small of her back, these are much sharper and she goes to work on another one, putting the ganger in the line of fire of his buddies... they might just shoot at him anyway, but there's at least going to be some chrome between the Zalak and any lead flying her way for a precious couple of seconds.

>> SUMMARY[Scavenger] >> Can you really shout Hammer Down when it's not a hammer?

    "Sup, girl? Heard a thing about some poor kid getting ganked. Peeps really gotta stop cribbing cartoon villains. But aight, I'm down for whatever!" No guitar means she can go hard as she likes!

    "I didn't get to introduce myself last time. My bad; Name's Marceline. When there's more time that's not all serious biscuits we should jam sometime!" Whatever that means.

    When it's time to roll, the teen-looking vampire inclines her head to people and smiles, showing off all those crazy teeth. "Let's wipe these fools!"

    "Yeah, gonna punk us with that weak, donked up bass?" She doesn't grow or take any dramatic forms, just lets the fingers on her right hand elongate and sharpen into knifelike claws and she dives into the fray, gouging and swiping at extended limbs while... Laughing?

    She'll even sway into the line of fire to block Maelstrom gunfire from hitting anyone who she doesn't /think/ will be able to resist mundane gunfire like this.

    "Hey, c'mon! Stop screaming and start punking, dudes! You're getting stuff everywhere like a bunch of blood bags!"

    A few friendly faces, that's good. Claire. Scavenger. Marceline. Catra nods, taking in the sights, and giving a little two-finger salute to Rebecca. "Yeah, let's get this show on the road. If this town's language is violence, I'm already pretty damn fluent in it!" she laughs, then grins over at Melog. "What? Obviously these guys we're turning into scrap are bad people. And someone's going to reward us for doing violence," she gets into a brief talking-to-herself moment, and Melog just sort of stares at her impassively. Maybe it's just Catra's own inner voice giving her a brief battle with morality as she openly embraces the oncoming carnage.

    Or Carnage with a capital C, if it's Rebecca's shotgun. "Oh," Catra's ears go flat as the gunfight starts and the over-chromed gangoons start the melee. She drops down and jams her back against the table with Julion, ears laying flat. "MAN... I'm not bulletproof!" she grunts, then stares at the panicking coward. "Oh come on, give me that!" she hisses and yanks the shotgun out of his hands. Her head pops up over the table and she pulls the trigger. "What?" she squints as she aims it, finding that the gun isn't firing immediately. But it hums. It charges. And then BOOM! It goes off, sending a wave of charged flechettes at an oncoming Maelstromer that turns his torso into metal-filled salsa.

    The resulting recoil sends Catra on her back, dazed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment--and thankfully still behind the table. "Oh. Oh wow..." she laughs, staring at the shotgun now as she rolls over and paws at Julio's shoulder. "This thing is AWESOME! Help me reload it!"

>> SUMMARY[Marceline] >> Taunting, tanking and taking limbs~

>> SUMMARY[Catra] >> Borrowing a shotgun and enjoying it way too much

    And then it's a FIREFIGHT.
    The Maelstrom gangers are SUPER ugly as Dante put it, most having replaced large portions of their own faces with black metal and chrome. The gangsters turn their weapons, fully automatic assault rifles and machineguns and shotguns and handguns on the party, spraying lead everywhere, Dante's shotgun ripping apart several of the short-circ'd cyberpsychos in a red mist.
    Claire rushes in, the Galaxy Sword more than sharp enough to hack into dermal armor and sever limbs. The gangsters turn on her in their midst, several opening their arms to reveal elongated blades and swords hidden inside as they try to cut her down and eliminate the threat in their midst.
    "... Who are you calling a CHILD?" Rebecca snaps when Hyouka leaps into action and taser-punches a man hard enough to put him through a nearby wall... And...
    Rebecca has to pause.
    Looking down at her own mechanical hands and then up at Hyouka and her GIANT ARMS.
    Back down. Back up. Then down.
    "Holy crap where'd you get augs like THOSE?"
    It's a question worth revisiting later, because Scavenger craters the floor, reducing a man to paste before she draws her smaller blades and gets to work.
    The Maelstrom open fire on anything that looks less chromed than their cars and their domes-- which means a barrage of fire is launched Marcy's way while she cuts more guys down and Catra-
    "What the hell?!" Julio snaps as Catra snatches his Satara. ... And puts it to better use than the kid. Julio kind of whines. He liked that gun. But he's already fumbling for another pair of shells to reload it with when the offworld Exotic paws at him for a reload.
    he firefight is fast, violent, and messy, and Rebecca is... She's revelling in it.
    "HAHAHAHAHAHA! COME ON, COME ON, COME ON~~~. MAKE THIS FUN FOR ME!" She shrieks, with a gun in each hand, firing on full auto until they run dry with a dull click each.
    "Whoops! Looks like my bullets ran dry!"
    "Bitch ran out of juice! Body her!" A ganster shouts, before Rebecca grins wide.
    "TIME FOR THE BIGGER GUNS!" Declared as she unslings a heavy shotgun and assault rifle-- mulching a squad of guys on her own.
    And then... Things go quiet. The first floor is clear of guys, so Rebecca casually starts reloading.
    When the wall explodes.
    A massively muscled, hulked out, gangster with a sledgehammer comes lumbering through the hole he just made.
    "Tiny birds... Aren't you scared...? Did you never learn to fly...? TIME FOR ME TO TEACH YOU!"
    Julio looks ready to piss himself as the hulked out gangster starts swinging for everyone and everyone.
    "What the hell... Is that even human?" Julio squawks.

    Scavenger finishes off her target, the ganger falling to pieces from where she's sliced him up. She flicks her smaller blades free of blood and augment-fluid, before sheathing them. She has just enough time to pry her Buster Blade out of the floor, when the Boss appears with a giant hammer. "Rats don't fly, we duck, and dive and nibble at your ankles until your foot falls off." she says, clicking her reabreather into place once more and hunkering down as that hammer comes her way. She interposes her Blade with the hammer, sounding a resonant CLANG of metal against metal... and the hammer stops dead against the flat of the offworld sword. "HIT HIM NOW!" she bellows.

    "Spent some time familiarizing myself with the local lingo." Claire explains herself to Hyouka, "What I saw of the place looked far too much like what my home will be if JojaCorp gets even a smidge more power than it already has." She takes a few cuts and bruises while up on the front, but doesn't seem bothered. Not even when the boss comes out, "The one who should be scared is you." She informs him, rushing forwards to attack the hammer in between where he holds it and the head, trusting others to do their part if the weapon is disabled.

    Dante swaps from his shotgun to Nevan, the guitar letting out a sensual moan as it begins to speak and thrum with power. ~Oh baby, let's give these boys a show.~ The guitar speaks into Dante's ear. Oh yeah, still got that Celtic witch inside of it.

    "You read my mind, baby." Dante grins, as he begins to blast out a classic for the city.

    Lost another day
    to pointless drudgery
    the slow chipping away
    of my autonomy
    a rodent in a race
    unsung and underpaid
    my colleagues
    seem to me
    like slaves in sheep-array

    Electricity arcs and sparks as it begins to fry Maelstrom ganger after ganger. Hopefully Becca and Hyouka aren't caught by the electromagnetic fuckery going on, because it's going to turn these cyborg goons into metallic toast.

    Dante croons into an invisible microphone as he blasts sick riffs, the big cyber-psycho the targe of Dante's wrath as he skips to the lyrics!

    SUIT UP! PUNCH IN, PUNCH OUT! NON STOP! SUIT UP! PUNCH IN, PUNCH OUT! GET FUCKED!

    He flips the deranged cyborg the bird as he rushes the goon, his guitar turning into a scythe as he wades through maelstrom, cutting the legs out from one as he bifurcates another, then he slides and aims to cut the big fellow's feet off with his scythe-guitar, electricity following him.


    All to the Ballad of Buck Ravers. https://youtu.be/XiHw7MrTx30

    In another life, Dante could've been one hell of a Bard.

    More than one bullet finds its target on Hyouka - but it's in a situation like this that her artificial body shines all the more. Most of the beings she fights are strong enough that even she can't just weather their blows, but the fact remains, her skin might as well be body armor. More than one bullet finds its target... and immediately glances off. And she's not afraid to swing those massive fists at full strength, and each time a fist connects, there's a jolt of elemental lightning. She does, briefly, stop to blink once or twice at Rebecca, though. "A-ah, er. Apologies. It's an easy mistake to make."

    She ducks a halfhearted punch, and retaliates with bone-crushing force, before adding, "B-but in my defense, even if you aren't a kid, you kind of look like one. And if they're awful enough to point a gun at someone who looks like a kid without hesitating, I'm still going to kick their asses!"

    There's a few more punches, before she adds, "Oh, and my entire body's a custom job, I'll explain more la... that's... a lot of firepower."

    But there's no time to be shocked by Rebecca's arsenal! That's a huge, sledgehammer-wielding slab of chrome and drugs. Hyouka drops back a step or two, lifting up both fists, and frowns. "You need to get those eye implants of yours checked, friend. I'm not a bird."

    There's a soft hum as the mana flowing into the FISTEAU units ramps up; the lines along each begin to glow more brightly, crackling ominously with lightning mana. "I'm a dragon!" The cyborg in the shape of an elf slides in, swinging her first massive punch not for the huge wall of angry metal beef, but for the sledgehammer that Scavenger's stopped dead. A full-strength blow, and when it hits, she discharges a huge burst of mana, filling the club with a thunderclap that briefly drowns out the music.

    She's aiming to shatter the hammer, outright.

    When she drops down low and then swings a brutal uppercut with her other fist, it's almost an afterthought... but most afterthoughts don't carry enough force to knock a grown man flying.

    Marceline isn't really focusing on any one Maelstrom goon. A swipe here, a slash there. Missing fingers, ears or cybereyes- She's not really trying to stick to aggressing anyone in particular more than she's trying to stir up the hornet's nest and take some of the shots for the somewhat more mortal of her companions!

    Though she does hiss and snarl and bare fangs from each sting of a bullet or bit of shrapnel and she does try, somewhat, to stay out of everyone else's line of fire too! Try, though it's total chaos and there's a nonzero chance of friendly fire the way she's going about things.

    She shoots a look at Dante and laughs, "Haha, dude's singing! Awesome. Hey! What's your tune?"

    Then some big donking hulk cyborg busts in and she stops. "Whoah, lookit the bird watcher. Hm." She leans to one side, eyeing the space beyond the hulk. "I'm gonna try to find the kid!"

    Then she books it, trying to fly at speed past the monstrous cyberpsycho dude and the melee brewing around him.

    She may not be the whiz with tech or intel but she's got the bestial senses on tap to maybe sniff out the person we're here to save! Maybe.

    "C'mon c'mon!" Catra makes grabby hands for the shells, fiddling with the gun to crack it open and eject the spent cartridges. She snatches them from Julio when he pulls them out and slams them back in. The soft hum of the capacitors refilling sends a thrill up and down her spine. "Ooooh yeah, I *like* this..." she's vaguely aware of the silence as the big, primary gunfight is over. Then her ears flatten again when the big guy busts through the wall like a fruit punch mascot. "Oh hell yes..." she grins widely. Catra's not exactly used to guns, even if she's capable of piloting a tank, but she's taking to this *real* quick. 

    "Melog! Baker's Dozen!" she shouts. Not that she has to. She can communicate with it telepathically. But it just sounds cool to say it. Adora was always shouting stuff when she transformed. Why can't she do cool stuff and be shouty too? Then as everyone starts to engage the big boss, she hauls herself over the table, shotgun in hand, and... suddenly there's thirteen of her. Thirteen Catras rushing at the cbyerboss. Only one is real, of course, but Melog's not exactly doing much more than just mirroring the feline woman's form as she sprints. Which. Leads to a few of them clearly clipping through furniture or bodies. Whatever. 

    SMASH! SWIPE! SNIKT! She hits full speed and drops to her knees, sliding between the psycho's legs a half second after Dante's slice and springing up while she charges the gun. Both barrels are emptied into the goon's spine and the recoil puts her into a spin. She lets the gun slip from her hands and pulls out the spiked bat, using that momentum to *SMASH* the poor big sod's head while he get a fist from the front!

    That's... That's one big cyberpsycho.
    Rebecca actually opts to hang back for this one and see what all these offworlders can do.
    Buster blade meets the hammer, and so does the Galaxy Sword; Scavenger and Claire hold the weapon at bay as Hyouka and Dante come into play.
    Giant fist smashes the head of the hammer just as Nevan hacks out the gang boss' legs from beneath him, his weapon sundered completely, he begins to fall- only to eat the mother of all uppercuts and a baseball bat to the back of the skull at the same time after having his spine severed by the the Satara.
    There's uh. There's not much left of his head after that, and Rebecca has finished reloading right about now, where she was off to the side, watching casually.
    "Hold up a sec... Did you say your whole body?" She asks of Hyouka. The massive arms are one thing but...
    "H-how are you not short-circ'd?" She's genuinely incredulous. But Julio?
    Now Julio looks so stoked now that the cyberpsycho has been taken care of.
    "Oh man, that was SO NOVA." He says. "You were all like 'shoo shoo shoo, boom~'." He says making whooshes and sound effects similar to the Cool Stuff everyone did.
    Rebecca just ignores him.
    "Oh yeah. Our target should be in the back." She says. The back. Where Marcy headed.
    Now see the thing is... Marcy flew.
    Julio does NOT fly as he salutes.
    "Back room, got it!"
    Off he goes.
    "-Julio give it a sec you gonk, watch out for--" Rebecca chides warningly. Just as Julio's boot cuts across a laser sensor.
    The mine planted on the floor explodes with enough force to shake the building and Becca winces painfully as poor Julio is reduced to a red smear on the opposite wall.
    The green-haired solo simply heaves an aggrieved sigh at her comrade's death. It's as though she totally called it.
    She had totally called it.
    So on to Marcy.
    Marcy will find a pretty heavy door in her way, but like. It's nothing that can get in the way of a demon vampire chick.
    On the other side is not just the heiress the party came to rescue, hunkering down and scared, but multiple kidnapped civilians that the booster gang was likely going to send to chop shops to meet a grisly end.
    "Alright, let's get 'em out of here and collect our pay. It's been a longass night and I'm going to have to explain to Wakako why Julio just ate it like a chump." Rebecca says, rubbing at the back of her neck.

    "If Wakako doesn't know why someone that green ate it like a chump, Wakako is just as green." Claire has her opinion, preparing the most important part of the op, opening up her backpack to take out several boxes containing recently made meals and drinks using fresh ingredients from her own farm, handing them out to the victims one by one.

    Dante flashes the horns as the cyber-psycho falls apart like a jenga tower. He grins at Julio, "You know it, kid." He nods as Marcy moves ahead, and when Julio does the same Dante casaully tries to stop Julio by gripping his shoulder.

    Nope. The kid slips Dante's grasp and he rushes after him, "Wait, stop Julio wait-" KABOOM.

    Dante gets hit head-on by a splatter of what used to be Julio, blood covering his white hair and staining it. He's lucky he wore read, but the stench...it's unbearable.

    "...fuckin' hell." He mutters, wiping his face off. Once they reach the HVT and the other civvies, Dante pulls the door open without much effort. "Alright. All of you guys on your feet. If you can't move, one of us'll get you outta here." The smile does NOT compliment how he looks, covered in blood that's not evne his.

    But he does gently handle one of the civilians when he notices the poor guy's heels were clipped, carrying him out over his back. He'll stick around, make sure the civvies are taken to a shelter, and also get a shower if he can find one.

    Hyouka falls back several steps after her tremendous smash of a punch combines with multiple other attacks to... well, rather conclusively end the poor bastard. She grimaces, still not fond of that kind of carnage - but then Rebecca speaks in her direction. There's a slightly baffled look on her face. "Er, yes? I mean, it's still really rare on my world, but-" Oh that poor young dumbass. The magical cyborg's attention is diverted by Julio's valiant charge. And then her expression turns horrified at the end result.

    "Oh, that's... u-ugh... that poor kid..."

    She's a little shaky as she changes direction to head for the back room and check in on the girl. And... several other people, as it turns out. Well, that's a pretty good thing, right? Hyouka will definitely be reverting her arms to normal, and doing her best to help usher the civvies out and to safety.

    Marceline hears the explosion and the sudden stop of a life force behind her makes her face twist into a grimace that nobody can see. She snarls, lashing out with an arm as she's faced with a solid steel door.

    That arm becomes intertwined coils of black tentacles tipped with a nasty clawed hand that digs into the metal with a squeal and she simply snatches it from it's frame with a heave and a grunt.

    Beyond the door, civilians, getting a full-on view of her monstrous visage, flattened nose and mouth full of bared fangs.

    As gently as she can with her distorted voice, she calls out, "You all good?" Pause. "Er, here, I'll just-" She winds her arm back into something more human and stuffs her hands into the pockets of her jacket while stealing a single rueful gaze at the remains of the kid.

    "Man, jeez. That sucks! Sorry, if I'd have known about the thing I woulda said somethin but-" She turns away, staring up and away from all the enticing red. It's everywhere and it's super gnawing at her urges.

    "A-anyone got something red? Like a pen or a uh... Whatever?" She keeps her back turned to the group and just holds up a hand.

    Scavenger takes a moment to recover. The impact of the hammer, the residual shock travelling through the hammer-head and blade from Hyouka's strike, and just general fatigue from using her Arts. A small band around her left bicep flickers from green to red, and she very quickly jams her Buster Blade into the ground to lean on. "There's only two kinds of people who make it as mercenaries. He was neither." she says, looking pretty damn tired at the moment.

    When Marceline asks for something red, the Zalak pulls a protein bar from her pouch. It's got a solid red wrapper, and she tosses it to that outstretched hand.

    Catra has to take a moment. Her head is spinning. The thrill of combat is making adrenaline course through her and it needs to be purged. The feel of the gun going off in her hands makes her arms shake. It's a good feeling. But she needs a second. Spinning around like that with a sudden stop? A bit rough. What ends up waking her is the explosion and the... remnants of Julio getting everywhere. "Awww man..." she groans. "He reminded me of Kyle! Timid and clumsy with a good heart!" 

    The woman grouses as she hauls herself to her feet, shaky, then hangs the bat from her belt and rests the shotgun up over her shoulder. "Kids like that don't belong in this kind of mess. Or the army. ...kind of like Kyle. Bet he woulda made a good mechanic though..." her ears lay flat and she meanders over towards Marceline and Scavenger. "...fancy... seeing all of you here. This whole 'other worlds' business is crazy. Did... we at least get who we were looking for in the end? Y'know, made sure they weren't turned into.."

    She pauses and stares down at one of the fallen Maelstromers, seeing the way he's so chromed up that he looks like he took a toaster to the face and it stuck there. "...whatever these guys are? Euch. I'm all for having a cool sword-arm or something but... c'mon. Look at this face..." she pats her own cheek. "You can't mess with perfection."

    With only a very slightly shaky hand, Marceline accepts that energy bar. She regards the wrapper for a just a second, then bites it. She sucks at the plastic for a few seconds, then turns around, letting out a sigh. "Hfuh, Glob, thanks dude." Though she does weirdly try to hand the now markedly less red ration back.