2100/Apokolips Now: Kalibak The Conqueror

Apokolips Now: Kalibak The Conqueror
Date of Scene:	23 September 2017
Location:	Metropolis
Synopsis:	Kalibak and parademons appear to wrest Metropolis from the heroes control.
Thanks to:	Apokolips Now
Cast of Characters:	Martian Manhunter, Voodoo, Super-Man, Madelyne Pryor, Andromeda, Darkstar, Thor, Wonder Girl, Raven, Aquaman

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Grace Choi (994) has posed:
    The heroes had held out.

    The cities were in peril. Damages, all over the place. Buildings torn asunder, city streets ripped apart, tens of millions of people and places without power, if not hundreds. Many civilian deaths. The small victories were not without cost.

    But the heroes had held out.

    The cities had not fallen. They had been defended. The Hall of Justice had been damaged, but was not broken. The Daily Planet had lost it's globe, but the building still stood. The Earth was scarred, but no Apocalypse had yet come. And the first real threat, beyond the army itself, had come in the form of five brutal, savage women known only as the Furies -- and after two long, and dragged out fights, they had been bested, and defeated, utterly

    Perhaps that's why, in the distance, one hears another: 'BOOM'. A sound to sink the gut, by now. A sounding horn for more incoming danger. A sound that has innundated the sky, and heralds doom.

    A huge man, bestial, emerges first out of the portal, followed by a hundred or so parademons. One of Darkseid's Generals -- Kalibak, the Conqueror, has arrived. He begins to point, snarling orders. And the parademons spread out, "Take everyone alive. Darkseid demands replacements for conversion," he growls, his fangs showing, the fur on his head bristling as he hefts the beta club in his hand.
    And even as those parademons spread out, more enter, "Keep a watch. Their defenders will be here shortly. Kill any you see."

Martian Manhunter has posed:
    J'onn is currently overseeing the reconstruction within the Hall of Justice. He continues to reinforce the building with is telekinetics, while running the machinery that performs the automated repairs, but it also allows him quick access to the City since the Justice League knows that the invasion is still on-going.

    And then, as if thinking a bad thing brings it into existence, the alarms for the dimensional portal start sounding. J'onn knows the other League members will receive similar warnings, but there are none in easy access to him at this moment. Instead, he sets the machines to continue their repairs, and flies to the coordinates he's given

    As he closes on the location of the disturbange, J'onn turns himself invisible, and takes a few moments to survey the scene. However, once he see's a number of parademons moving out from the behemoth of a man, J'onn makes himself known, dropping into their midsts and hoping to draw their attention, "You're Lord has not learned his lesson yet?" THe Martian asks, "Well then, let us see if we can send a more definitive message back with you."

Voodoo has posed:
Join SWORD. See the world. Defend it from alien aggression. That's what they said. And that is most definitely what they have tried to do, lending every bit of aid they can scrape up to the heroes who have been vital to Earth's defense thus far.

A golden glow appears not far from the target point of the Boom Tube, and resolves into a gold-accented purple-clad figure in body-hugging spandex, the mask so complete that none of the face can be seen. The sword on the back remains there for now, as the figure instead cradles a heavy blaster in her arms.

Voodoo is no soldier. But she is a trained Coda warrior, and a member of SWORD. And now, today, with the armies of Apokolips driven back, there is but one place Earth's defenders are needed: the latest Boom Tube site.

"OK, Control. Tell Brand I'm on site. Sending images of the leader of this force. We're not discussing what empathy is pulling off of him. I strongly advise you re-equip as many rescue parties as you can: they will be needed. Voodoo engaging. Out."

Her message sent, the Coda warrior and SWORD operative skins down a fire escape as rapidly as possible, rather than engage from atop a civilian structure. But as soon as she is down on the ground, her first attempt is going to be a blast from that luggable canon she's carrying towards Kalibak; it probably won't actually stop him, but she has to try, right? It's in the manual, isn't it?

Super-Man has posed:
Kenan has been in the United States, particularly the general area of New York and Metropolis, since the day after the first invasion. China had succeeded in fighting off the invasion with far less damage than one might suppose, due to having both the largest standing army in the world and the local heroes, including both the Great 10 and the Justice League of China as well as the Collective man and the largest standing army in the world. The relatively few troops that got to China were contained and destroyed. Because he has worked in the area before, Kenan was sent to help out in the hardest hit region, Metropolis.

Kenan has been foing what he can to help, and part of that is frequently using his super Hearing to scan for trouble. Hearing a familiar...and frightening...BOOM is his signal to prepare for action. He runs in the direction of the sound at just under sonic speed, arriving only a short time later in the approximate area. He soon spots the giant, and the parademons. He schools his emotions, he can not affort to think of his own fears or anger, he loses his powers if he concentrates on anything besides doing what a true hero would do. In this case, first thing is to use Super Hearing and X-ray Vision to find any civilians, and then speed to remove them to safety.

Madelyne Pryor has posed:
    Her mentor...her father... had withdrawn to summon a fresh suit of armor, following with the battle. But had directed her to do two things. Firstly, to stay and observe and watch for another incursion. Two: to acquire the item that this invaders were using to create their boomtubes.

    Technically, it was three, however: "You may indulge yourself, my dear."

    Which Madelyne felt inclined to take as a special reward, under the circumstances.

    Shortly after the boom tube opens, high above the city, a glowing magical ring filled with sigils, prepared in advance, glows to life, before the sky rips open with a rumble of thunder as a portal opens, floating over the roof of the highrise. For a moment, it looks into another world...a world of red skies, and twisted, ancient trees dripping with poisonous flowered vines. Red eyes shimmer in the darkness beyond, before they surge forward, as the goblyns come to the call of their queen, spilling out with snarls and shrieks of their own, into a loose half circle around the raggedly clad young woman before them.

    Then as one, they kneel.

    Madelyne's eyes flash with barely restrained delight as she sees the parademons taking to the sky. Her alto voice comes out in a low satisified purr, her green eyes flashing. "...go forth. Kill the parademons. Bring the device to me from their leader." Then, as an afterthought. "...don't eat any humans. Or those fighting back against the parademons.

    With a shriek of assent, the dark wave of mishapen creatures sprouts wings, then take to the air, flowing over the edge of the roof in a dark, howling wave as they surge towards the oncoming invaders.

    Behind them, the redheaded sorceress steps to the roof edge in a slow saunter, then steps off, greenish energy flowing around her as she's buoyed up by her own telekinetic power, her mind reaching out begin projecting a telepathic suggestion around her: Don't see me. I'm not here. There's nothing important to see here. She doesn't feel her goblyns will necessarily be able to complete their mission...but if nothing else, they and the other defenders should provide a useful distraction.

Andromeda has posed:
    It had not been an easy fight, the battlw with the Furies. Laurel had helped in some small way, but the others had really won the day - especially the Stratan called 'Atlee'. No, it hadn't been easy and it _hurt_. Shutting down Bernadeth had required a furious expenditure of blood, sweat, and a not inconsiderable amount of otherwise-invulnerable skin off the Daxamite's knuckles. After helping the League secure the Furies, Laurel had gone as high as she could to soak up some lovely solar rays to recharge and heal. It had not been nearly long enough.

    *BOOM* comes the sound from far below. She had been listening for one. Still, she hopes it would be much later.

    "Sprock." Laurel sighed and let herself drop, flipping her body over so she was pointed at the ground. Soon she's over the site, but she tries not to make the same mistake she did last time... she keeps her distance, a good couple of thousand feet away from the Boom Tube. If nothing else it gives her space to build up some speed for ramming.

Darkstar has posed:
After her own clash with the Female Furies in the battle at the Hall of Justice recently, Darkstar has done her best to help protect the citizens of the city. But as these powerful alien forces continue with their constant onslaught, much like all of the other heroes in Metropolis, the Russian has her hands full. Even now, as she works to safely herd and shelter refugees from previous attacks on the city does she hear the loud and ominous and now all too familiar BOOM crackling in the distance. She knows what this means and it gives her a sense of dread mixed with urgency.

Ushering a crowd of screaming civilians on towards safety, she quickly makes her way, flying over their numbers, to better get a grasp on what she will be dealing with this time around and that's when she spots the large horde of Kalibak's parademons. Without wasting any time, she shoots forward in that direction only to come face to face with one of those very monsters as they drag a civilian up into the air for who knows what nefarious reasons. Circling the creature, she fires off a beam of Darkforce to slam into the parademon's back once she finds an opening, but she is ready to go for the save if the civilian is ever dropped from the monster's grasp. "Let them go!" Is her only demand.

Thor has posed:
After a warning from a fellow Asgardian (or, more properly, a 'Hey, don't blame this one on us' from the agent of one of his many rivals in that realm!) Thor sought out knowledge of the looming threat in his own characteristic fashion. Mortals sift through evidence, piece together clues. The Prince of Asgard seeks knowledge beyond man's grasp, seeks the wholeness of the divine viewpoint on creation. The details of this may have involved trippy journies through space and some time with his father's giant disembodied eye (space is cool, yo). But the result was his first glimpse of the true danger faced by the denizens of Midgard, visions of the history of Apokolips, past and future, and of its own self-proclaimed God.

Thor's return from this quest came, in timely fashion, just as the world fell under the full brunt of the invasion. He had joined with his friend Avengers as they struggled to cast one prong of the invasion back from New York. They had succeeded there, but only in what he knew was the smallest portion of what would be required. More would come. And, with an ability to travel across the vast reaches of the universe no less than that of his own people, there was no way to stem the invasion, no way to prevent it.

It could only be ended, as all things must be, in battle. The New God would come, and his Generals, and only when they had fallen, would the world be safe once more. One of them would fall today.

And so it is with no less theatrical drama that the God of Thunder arrives over Metropolis, soaring to meet the greater threat as his teamates continue to put down the roving parademons that cover their own city. His presence is heralded by darkening skies lit by crackling fingers of lightning, and moments later, by the roar of thunder. Hanging upon Mjolnir, the hammer itself seeks out the rift in space the Boom-Tube represents, and soon, Thor hangs in the air none too distant from J'onn, facing their newly-appeared opponent without any sign of fear.

"Know this, herald of Apokolips, that I am Thor, son of Odin, God of Thunder! Midgard falls within my protection, and I will suffer not the abuses of any man or God upon this realm." Even stating this, he looks across at the bestial figure and his hordes of soldiers. "But let us tarry not with empty threats. Thou hast come with thine own duty, and I know thou shall not be turned from it. It shall be settled only in battle. Make thyself ready."

Wonder Girl has posed:
Cassie Sandsmark has only seen the edges of the invasion. While the Justice League battled the first of the arrivals, she was wrapped up in the chaos of it all. She'd been in class, a city away, when the tubes started opening everywhere, and spent that panicked day helping people caught up in the chaos. There'd been scuffles everywhere, and she was drawn into a few, before returning to Titans Tower to confer with their team. Of course, they take their own direction (secretly or not) somewhat from the League and its not common for the Titans to be given secondary assignments, protecting this or that. But sometimes... well, screw it, right?

She had heard about the second wave of attacks, the arrival of some new big bad in the heart of Metropolis. And even if it wasn't strictly theirs to defend... she knows an awful lot of people who live and work there, some of her closest family included. So with a bit of a scramble through the tower, running out of her room as she pulled her costume top down over her head and otherwise hastily made ready, she was soon on the roof and moments later rocketing across Long Island sound toward their neighboring city, bracers on, lasso at her hip.

There's no big hero monologue as she flies into view of the scene, just a sort of wide-eyed awe at what she spots there, a moment of doubt as she hangs in the air, followed by a more determined furrowing of her brow. She also sees Thor and J'onn taking center stage in the air, and probably feels just a *little* better about their odds in the whole thing. "Hey Goldilocks, I got your back!"

Raven has posed:
Raven had not been present for the previous marauding bands of Darkseid's forces- but she -had- heard of it. She takes no real direction from anyone, save for... Well, the psychic shriek that comes from a war being declared upon a nearby city. Misery and suffering on such a wide scale so nearby is impossible for Rachel to truly ignore. Frankly, it literally begs for her action.

Raven isn't aware that anyone else is going- rather, she knows that many might go, but that they'll go their own way. The gothamites will likely go with their family, and she probably hasn't seen any of the metropolis natives since this all began.

In the air, the shape of a raven takes form alongside the fliers, though somewhat in the rear- not quite as forefront as Thor or J'onn. Instead, the mass that forms into the sorceress known as Raven is in some sort of support position, not the frontline. To look at her is to see a mask- harder to read visibly than she ever is, her emotions almost completely masked by the most intense control. She is silent. Like Cassie, she doesn't monologue- but unlike the others, she doesn't even speak at all.

She can read Kalibak, at least enough, hopefully, to understand: He is not going to back down. She cannot eat his anger or hatred, and she knows he feels no fear of anyone on their side. In essence, Raven waits- for the inevitable joining of combat.

Grace Choi (994) has posed:
    As Martian Manhunter drops into a number of the parademons, several of the creatures move to grab arms, and legs, and haul him into the heavens. Another one of them takes aim, shooting a high-powered energy weapon into the Martian's chest area with deadly accuracy.

    Unfortunately for the heroes - this was, until now, a more stabilized area of Metropolis, and there are plenty of 'rescue centers' within the immediate area. Containment will be vital, and 'safety' is many leagues away, depending on what your definition of 'safety' is. Kenan will have his work cut out of him, finding several pockets in locked down buildings nearby, including one rescue and care service.

    The skies fill with more creatures, the goblyns sent by whatever created that magical sigil in the air. And Kalibak's voice grates, "My Father will destroy all of you. We are only the heralds." Then. The beastial man smiles, his fangs twsting upon his huge mouth. And then the canon comes that Priss fires off, and Kalibak snarls, the huge club in his hand crashing hard against the artillery shell and sending it -back- to Priss with a savage snarl. And then he does not give the SWORD representative another thought.

    Laurel's distance, for now, keeps her out of sight of both parademon, and Kalibak until a time of her determination even as the parademons en masse begin to fight the goblyns that have been summoned and yet more parademons begin to pour forth out of the open Boom Tube portal. And they continue to pour out, a massive black force against the sky so thick are they, Thor's hammer is thrown into the rift -- and the Asgardian God's magic, along with the power of the Hammer itself creates a massive explosion that pulses a huge shockwave, lashing out at buildings and crashing windows, buckling support beams, throwing parademons, heroes, and goblyns alike to the ground or high in the air, or against the side of buildings. Those parademons who had ahold of the few civilians do not seem inclined to heed Darkstar's request and demands, others moving down to snatch the falling civilians to cart them away after their brethern had been knocked down by the shockwave of the portal collapsing.

    For Thor's efforts, he's rewarded with that Omega Club being pointed at him, and a energy blast coming from it, slamming into the Asgardian's chest, wracking him with inconceivable pain and agony. "You will fight. And you will fall, Asgardian."

Voodoo has posed:
Honestly, Voodoo had really hoped the posturing bestial jackass would be too busy with the posturing part to spot the canon shell before it arrived.

No such luck.

Voodoo really barely gets a chance to growl annoyance and leap to the side, so as not to take the shell at point blank range, before the world explodes around her, tossing her arse over teakettle into the shattered rubble that is falling from one of the buildings that is collapsing from that explosion.

The SWORD agent Coda operative will be a few moments digging her fast-healing self out of that mess. Then she has to figure out what to do next.

Sorry, the WildC.A.T.s never really focused on massive invasion fighting. It's outside her experience. Clearly.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
    J'onn got exactly what he wanted, and now he had to do something about it. As the parademons pile on, his shape grows to just short of ten feet tall, and his body becomes incredibly dense to further enhance his tremendous strength.

    A second of warning is given as his extra Martian senses tell him of the powering energy attack aimed at his chest. He takes the pile of parademons, and uses them as a shield as he knew he couldn't afford to let the blast phase through him. The blast disintegrates the foes he pulled infront of him, and crashes into his crossed forearms. The power of the beam pushes him back several feet, and he grits through the pain.

    In response, he darts forward so fast that he seems to disappear for a moment, his fist looking to crash into the energy weapon wielding parademon, and take this weapon out of the fight. He sends a mental message to Thor <Once I've cleared this one, I will look to move behind him, and see if we can secure that weapon.>

Super-Man has posed:
Kenan is slammed into the wall of the building by the shockwave, fortunately he had heen in speed mode and was able to react fast enough to sebd his energy into his stomach. He was invulnerable when he hit the wall, and thus created a hole through the wall rather than being flattened by hitting it (or stunned at least...he has some resistance to impact and friction while in speed mode). He quickly moved his energy to his hands, holdin pu the building which the explosion is threatening to collapse, "Evacuate this building, there are monsters fighting right outside and they are looking for humans to kidnap." Well, some of them are not, but why get technical?

Andromeda has posed:
    Laurel has a plan. It's probably a poor plan, but she may as well give it a shot.

    A moment to recover from the explosion from mighty Mjolnir's elimination of a portal, she blurs out, taking the long way around behind Kalibak. WHat she intends to do is this: zip up to the general and attempt to pin his arms above his head in a sort-of full nelson while wrapping her legs as far around the Beast's middle. Assuming she can hold him a moment or two with her Daxamite strength, she will shout "Hit him, quick!" and then give him a blast of freezing breath to the back of his head for good measure. With any luck Kalibak will have trouble breathing or seeing for a moment or two. It may give Thor and the others time to take the initiative.

Aquaman has posed:
Wherever he might have been in the city, Aquaman is on his way now, having been contacted by the very same alarm, and the nature of the threat demanding his presence.

It is with a powerful leap that he arrives, hurtling through the sky before impacting with a concrete cracking thud as he rises up, trident being brought to the ready, "I am here, J'onn!" He shouts, his armor still damaged from the fighting previous, though looking in rather good health, considering.

Thor has posed:
The brief moment that hammer and God are separated does provide a moment of weakness that Kalibak well exploits: without it, Thor has neither the speed in the air to evade it (it may only be his own winds that hold him up) nor the weapon on hand to defend himself. And the blast itself is stronger than he expects, throwing the Asgardian further back, causing a roar of combined pain and indignity. It is a rare enough thing, in his many battles, to suffer a blow that he will remember after the subsequent night spent in drink and revel over his subsequent victory. This may be one of them!

Yet as the God of Thunder is blasted away, tumbling backward through the air, gritting his teeth in the overwhelming pain of it, he is hardly deterred from his task. A hand is outstretched...

"Fall... to this?"

In that moment, Mjolnir sails back from its task, seeking out the hand of its true wielder with utmost speed and fidelity. And with his weapon restored to its place in his grip, Thor's brings it slowly, painfully to bear against the incoming torrent of energy, calling upon the hammer's powerful abilities of absorbtion to stem the flow directed upon him.

"I... say... thee... nay!"

Darkstar has posed:
It's not as if Darkstar expected the monsters to listen to her, but it is frustrating that each time she is able to free one of the victims, another parademon simply swoops in to gather them up all over again. That doesn't mean she stops blasting at the creatures, of course, but after her next round of Darkforce makes contact with one of those... things, she is quick to use that same energy to conjure up a giant hand to make a grab at the falling victim before any of the other parademons can steal them away again.

She knows full well that this will be a long and tedious process to try and rescue everyone and that she won't be able to do so alone. There is some comfort in knowing that there are other heroes abound, but for now, she has to move fast and find a safe place to transport the caught civilian. The Darkforce hand will act as transport and protection for the, most likely still in shock, innocent, if the parademons dare to try and attack it.

Madelyne Pryor has posed:
    The swarm of demons slams into the swarm of parademons in the sky, snarling and grappling and biting as they rip at each other, which at least might hold off the numbers enough that the more heroic on the field can focus on saving those trapped within the invasion point's radius.

    Madelyne, for her part, is glad that she lingered behind her forces, especially when that massive shockwave from Thor blasts everyone into the air away from it. "Hmmm...demon and gods and heroes, oh my...." she murmurs, floating down to a building overlooking near where Kalibak is. Her eyes glow softly as she starts to focus, reaching out with her telepathy to try and worm her way into the Apokolips warrior's mind. Seeking information...but if he gets a bit distracted in the process, well....she's not -against- helping those fighting him, or throwing back the attack. It's more of a secondary goal at the moment, as long as she can stay hidden and accomplish her first task.

Raven has posed:
Raven has a particular set of skills, and those skills make her a nightmare for various people. Probably not Kalibak. However, what she can do is begin diminishing the impact of Kalibak's actions- she shouldn't engage the hairy rage-beast directly... But the pain, the suffering, and the wounds, well... Fact of it is, that's an area of expertise.

She holds her hands out to her sides, and begins chanting- low, under her breath, the echoing, eldritch invocation calling her soul-self to some manner of physical incarnation. It surges forward, seeking out the God of Thunder, and wrapping him up in its wisping, incorporeal form, seeking to rip and tug and pull not the man himself, but the pain, the agony, and the anguish. It seeps from him like a sieve, giving him all the more stamina to endure the onslaught from Kalibak.

Wonder Girl has posed:
"You got any useful intel on this creep, Raven?"

Cassie calls out to her teamate first, though really it's just a brief check to see if there's anything useful. She wasn't kidding when she said she'd back Thor up, and even the sight of him being blasted away doesn't deter her. If she's not going to hold up to her own words, what good is she to anyone, right?

So with that same determined grit, as the Thunder God is blasted away, she does the... reckless, the stupid thing. IE, pretty much the standard Cassie thing. She engages the big dude. Or at least she tries to get him off her Thunder-buddy.

Soaring forward, Wonder Girl tightens pulls her lasso from her belt, drawing out several of the loops and winding them between her fists to give herself plenty of grip on the weapon. Then, swooping down toward their mutual foe, she veers off and tosses the lasso, trying for one of the creature's arms, to pull him off aim or otherwise ease things up on Mr. Thunder.

Grace Choi (994) has posed:
    The safezone site the Kenan visits is filled with huddling masses, hearing the sounds of combat outside that they'd thought they'd be safe from at long last. Women shriek, men cower, children cry. Moving them -- or relocating, is going to be hard. Even with the more calm members of the police and EMTs that are holed up and try to react to help the Chinese Superman begin to get the people out, asking, "Where can we relocate -to-?"

    Outside, as one parademon slaughters many of it's brethern with it's energy gun when the shot fails to hit point-blank on J'onn, and then is crushed, it causes only more attention to be drawn upon the Martian Manhunter as several more of the creatures turn to attack the Martian. It would seem J'onn is not going to get left alone in this battle, at all.

    As Laurel moves into Kalibak there is one thing that the Daxmite does not take into account: That being that Kalibak has not only the Omega Club -- but Psi-Beams as well. And it's Laurel's turn to be lit up with an unexpected, terrible amount of pain as the nine foot tall beastial warrior of Apokolips twists, to break Laurel's hold. But, it does buy the heroes a moment, a second or two with the massive General being occupied. But, the man - if one can call him thus, is not done, yet. Laurel is met with the slam of that Omega Club into her chest, as Kalibak swats her not into a building, but like one would a projectil - a baseball, into the floating form of Raven.

    For Madelyne's part? Kalibak's mind is -- unlike anything she's touched before. It is pure savagery. Beyond the worst of the worst of human pyschopaths. A man who lives to conquer, to subjugate, to destroy, cause pain, grief, agony, to rip limbs asunder, to tear flesh with fangs. These emotions, these thoughts, rip and tear through Kalibak's mind with the power of imagery to the mind as floodlights are to the eyes.

    Laurel, however, is spared from follow-up attacks by Wonder Girl even as Thor was from Laurel's actions. The lasso slips around one hand, and for a moment, that hand is yanked fowards. Kalibak snarls, and pulls -back-, hard, and at the same time the massive man moves suddenly far faster than one would expect from his bulky form, towards Wonder Girl and slamming that Omega club directly into her, and then he yanks back on the lasso again, using Wonder Girl like a 'yo-yo', to slam the club into her again, and a third time.

    In the meantime, Darkstar is definitely going to have her work cut out for her. But if she weren't doing what she was, along with Kenan, certainly more losses would be had.

Super-Man has posed:
Kenan grunts, "I don't know, but this building is coming down once I stop holding it, or sooner if there is another blast. Outside first, then I will help you find another place to go." Unfortunately he can not easily search for a safe spot while holding up the building, he has to concentrate on what he is doing and splitting his concentration to look is likely to cost him too much strength. He CAN do it, he is not really limited to one power at a time, but he loses so much from each power by splitting his concentration that it is not worth it.

Voodoo has posed:
Ow. Mother-frimping ow. Voodoo crawls out of the rubble as her body struggles to put itself back together - hey, at least her body can do that; a normal human would be dead - as she looks around her, trying to find that canon. Once she finds it, she reloads and braces herself, this time taking aim at the influx of parademons as she adjusts the setting on the shell, then fires the massive weapon hoping the explosion's power, the energy coronoa, the shrapnel will tear up a good chunk of those dangerous things, and perhaps create a gap in their flow the others can exploit in this battle.

Worst thing? Doing this while feeling not just her own pain, but also the terror and pain of all of the civilians in the area. Being an empath in a fight sucks more often than it is an advantage.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
    J'onn's arms quickly begin healing from the powerful blast of energy he absorbed. The charred green skin flaking off to be replaced by new healthy vibrant green. As Aquaman lands, he sends a message <Parademons everywhere, and extremely powerful energy weapons. Watch for any parademons with them...>

    J'onn adds out-loud to everyone, magnifying his voice to be heard above the commotion "The Parademons are trying to capture humans to take back alive!"

    That said, J'onn changes his tactic as someone else went to flank Kalibak, instead he charges ahead, two more arms growing from his torso that end in club heads similar to their foes, just as a multitude of demons pile onto his enlarged form.

    He carries his pile of friends into the battle, his two hands shooting out just as quick as Kalibak's, but not fast enough to stop the first or second blows. There is a loud *THWACK* as the unearthly strengths meet, and J'onns arms buckle under the blow of the club causing them to bend at odd angles. "Not today..." J'onn growls through a bloody grimace and the pain, then attempts to punch two powerful blows with his own mace-arms into Kalibak's torso.

Madelyne Pryor has posed:
    Madelyne is no stranger to horror, or savagery....growing up mostly on Limbo did nothing to shield her from that, and her mental powers ensured she could not help but feel the monstrousness of many of the residents of that broken plane. Even then, the concentrated battle madness from Kalibak is enough to cause her to gasp, going to a knee from the sheer intensity of the emotions. She can't fight that...there's nothing to hold onto, or to imprison, or to alter.

    Her teeth bare as she almost snarls, her green glowing eyes focusing on Kalibak as she shifts tactics.Instead of trying to dominate, she moves to deception and misdirection, focusing on Kalibak's senses rather than the core of what he is.

    Instead of one Wonder Girl...there's suddenly three. Instead of one Laurel, there's two, one on either side. Instead of Thor being where he seems to be, he's displaced to the left about ten feet, as she starts trying to weave the psychic illusion around the monstrous general.

    Though in Wonder Girl's case...she doooooes make it slightly easier to tell which of them might be her. She's petty. Sue her.

Darkstar has posed:
The Russian hero knows that the best thing to do is prevent any more civilians from being taken, but then she would feel guilty about those that were already snatched and who would face an unknown fate. Darkstar switches up her tactics often and rather than striking at a single parademon at a time, she begins lashing out at several of them if they are near one another, before hurriedly moving in to collect the falling in a large protective sphere. Of course, there are some who are recaptured before she can get to them due to the amount of parademons that litter the once beautiful Metropolis sky.

Depositing them to safety is always another thing, but somewhere in the distance, she's found a decent spot, for the time being. She can only hope that the parademons are too distracted to even give chase after her. However, on her return back, she hears some commotion coming from within one of the builds -- the one Kenan and the frightened civilians are in, making her change course to try and offer her assistance. Seeing the state of the structure, she knows it won't last long and to offer support, she initially uses her own Darkforce to help hope the thing together so that it doesn't topple over them. Here she calls out in her Russian accent, "I can teleport a small number of them at a time to a safer distance than this, though I cannot guarantee how safe it would be. When I return, I may not be able to see at first, but I will do my best to move as many people out of here as I can, as slowly as it may be."

Thor has posed:
With the final burnt of the beam absorbed by Mjolnir and Kalibak suddenly beset on many sides, the God of Thunder takes the lull as his own moment to strike out, to bring the battle to the enemy. First up? A taste of his own medicine. Still glowing with some residual energy from the blast, the strange Omega energy crackling over the hammer's Uru surface, Thor directs it toward the giant even as he grapples with Laurel and Cassie.

"Now, fiendish brute of Apokolips, let me return thine favor, for mine is the power to return such a blast upon you ten-fold!"

Whether that's an actual measurement or just an Asgardian turn of phrase is probably a little vague. But regardless, as Thor aims the hammer toward Kalibak, he releases a similarly massive blast of energy from Mjolnir's head, aimed just as squarely at the brute's chest as he did first toward Thor. Then, seeing how those attackers who've given him a moment reprieve are faring themselves, he charges forward to join the fray.

"Unhand the maiden and face me, brute!"

Andromeda has posed:
    "Auuugh!" Laurel cries in anguish as Kalibak's Psi-Beams tear through her. It's more than enough to disable her so she can't react to the blow from the Omega Club. She goes flying into Raven, but Laurel recovers just before the impact... not enough to stop herself yet but enough to change course just a little so she doesn't completely obliterate the other girl with the impact. Still, Raven might get tangled up in Laurel's long blue cape.

Aquaman has posed:
"Understood, J'onn!" Aquaman calls out, surveying the flying beasts that are swarming the area, "I'll assist with the small ones, it appears our allies have the large one occupied, for the moment!"

The King of Atlantis then procedes to raise the Trident of Poseidon towards the heavens, calling forth a stormclouds, and chanelling the divine endowment to begin summong forth bolts of lightning from the heavens at the flying Parademons, doing his best to make the skies inhospitable for the flying shock troopers.

Wonder Girl has posed:
See? Reckless, stupid, bad idea. This was pretty much bound to happen. It's really about par for the course for a girl whose introduction to the hero-game was literally getting punched in the face by a clone of Doomsday! She's never been good about 'being careful' or 'not biting off more than she can chew.'

Cassie gets her mark, securing the lasso around one of Kalibak's wrists, and yanks it tight. "Alright, now you're gonna feel the power of Z-"

THUD.

She's just about to channel lightning down the lasso when she's suddenly and violently pulled forward, right into Kalibak's waiting club. She takes the hit full force, sailing backward hard enough to smash through a building (which isn't new), except she doesn't, because she gets tugged right back into him for rounds two and three.

"Ok that hur-" WHAM.

"I'm gonna-" POW.

By #3, she's had enough, flying out to the maximum length of her lasso again, but then falling heavily to the dirt. For a few moments, she just lays there, bloody and dazed.

Raven has posed:
Raven is going to make as much use of this particular skill as she can. Sadly, it means that she does not assist J'onn, instead working to keep everyone in the fight, for as long as possible. She had gleaned that Cassie was going to do something like this- though that the girl would aggressively battered around via her own tool was not quite how she saw it going.

"Right." she notes, slipping out of the skies and flying low along the ground towards the blonde who was as yet bloodied. Raven knelt down next to her and occupied herself with immediate medical attention, the shadows that make up her soul self coccooning the woman in red momentarily as Raven does as much as she can in an emergency. Wounds knit, but only somewhat. Blood flow stems, and Cassie is going to be in a lot of pain- but she will be back in the fight... Hopefully. At the very least, she'll have one less concussion.

Everyone else will be alright, right?

Grace Choi (994) has posed:
    The evac team begins to radio, even as they start to file people out. Vehicles? Out of the question right now - so it will be single file, and the police refugees along with the EMTs use the limited resources of their walkie-talkies to try and converge on a point, while Kenan holds up the building. There is misery. Confusion. Abject terror. But, Kenan is keeping them safe. For now.

    J'onn's arms collide with Kalibak and send the big man back, twenty feet as his feet dig in, curling and crackling pavement and earth as they dig in to keep himself grounded at the exceptional force that J'onn manifests to oppose him. He is /used/ to fighting multiple opponents. Darkseid ... is not the kindest master, or father, for that matter. But what is beared to him is something beyond his capacity to understand. Until he sees that wash of green eyes flaring from Madelyne who -was- behind him, but no longer is thanks to the way J'onn hit him. He slams his Omega Club into the ground, causing it to split towards her, and then fires a shot of the psi-beams into the Goblyn Queen, and points, calling, "Remove the witch!" And several parademons move to ensnare Madelyne to 'escort' her off the battlefield. Then, Thor's lightning blasts into Kalibak, coarsing over the brute's hide and flesh, causing him to shriek in agony. But -- curiously? He seems to be -enjoying- the pain? As if it were -motivating- him. Inspiring him. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, and he slams the club again into the ground, to get his bearings, shaking his head, momentarily, even as lighting spires down all around them, called forth by the King of Atlantis onto his army, and several parademons light up, and fall, blackened. Another of the armed and weaponized creatures fires on the newly arrived King, seeing the devestation and destruction he is causing.

    Kalibak recovers. Quickly. And he roars, fangs bared, as he aims his Psi-Beams towards J'onn, and another Omega-Blast at Thor, even as he straight up charges J'onn to not only slam the club into him, but also to cross with his bare fist too. Kalibak is -damn- fast. And he's fighting not just to win. Oh, he's fighting to win. Defintely fighting to win. But he's fighting to win to brutalize, and agonize. To show the full extent of the Son's power. The Son, afterall, is just a shadow of the Father.

Super-Man has posed:
Kenan states to the darkness wielder, "Can you form a gate instead of personally carrying them, it would be faster. If not, I will hold as long as needed...I will not let the innocent die like my mother did!" That is, he knows, why he hhas these powers, to stand up for the lives of the innocent.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
    The space that J'onn is given is a welcome relief as his arms immediately start bending back into shape. He takes a few of the parademons, and throw them on the ground between him and Kalibak. As the Psi-Beams come rushing towards him, J'onn quickly erects a psionic shield that deflects the beams straight up into the sky, but the level of concentration needed allows Kalibak to close the distance between them.

    The monstrous warrior collides with the giant Martian, and a thunderous impact can be heard as well as felt. "OOF!" is grunted from J'onn as he absorbs the charge, and his head is rocked sideways as he takes a mammoth punch to the jaw. Luckly he kept track of the club, morphing his two left side arms together into a thick shield, and deflects the majority of that incoming blow.

    For all the punishment he's accepting though, he know wraps elongated arms around Kalibak, and shouts "Now, take him while I've got him..."

Thor has posed:
It should be noted that the weather is already much to Arthur Curry's favor, storms following Thor's very arrival on the scene. The King of Atlantis may be well used to calling the weather to his aid, but it will feel very different this day. There is tremendous power in the air, not opposing him, but rather, freely granted, like a flood-gate opened. Go nuts, Fishie.

Thor himself bothers not with directing the lightning, for he has now been called directly to the battle, and there attends with great haste, speeding foward in great Mjolnir's wake. The second blast directed toward the hurtling Asgardian has not the impact of the first, for Thor now sees this trick coming, knows his foe's power, and most of all, is ready with his weapon. Spinning rapidly, it shields him from the blast, the effort not made this time to absorb and redirect, but simply to power through the blast as the God of Thunder hurtles toward his target.

The attack on J'onn may hold Kalibak's attention, but soon, he has cause to consider a new threat as the Asgardian warrior joins the fray. It is precisely when he turns to focus that one-two attack upon the Martian hero that Thor halts Mjolnir's propeller-like spinning, bringing it into a two-handed grip, and swings downward, even as the prior momentum continues to carry him forward like a bolt from the heavens.

Oh yeah, one of *those* strikes the hammer as it lands. Sorry Arthur, you don't get *all* the lighnting.

"Heed me, child of Darkseid! Thou may be born of a God, but here thou facest another, and thou shall fall!"

Andromeda has posed:
    This has to be ended somehow. Perhaps disarming the beast would help? Laurel zips back to the battle, noticing the traling golden lasso hanging loose from Kalibak's arm. So, she swoops in to snatch at that. She moves to try to wrap a loop around the being's middle and then cinch tight, intending to pull his arm back so he can't swing it. She tries to blast his hand with her heat vision, hoping that Kalibak will drop the Omega Club... or at least loosen his grip so someone else can snatch it from him.

Voodoo has posed:
Voodoo has done what she can to stem the flood of parademons. It's not going to be enough to stop them, not by any stretch. But it seems to be enough that the sheer volume of them blackening the skies overhead is significantly reduced - if only for now.

Now the purple-clad heroine struggles up to her feet and looks around, assessing. It's unlikely she can do much to someone who takes hammer blows from Thor and just keeps on going. She could fight parademons, and maybe she should. Her decision is driven by something very simple: her nature. Inside that costume beats the heart of an empath.

Easing other's suffering is her bread and butter.

Voodoo jogs as quickly over the war-ravaged landscape towards the refugees as she can, as she digs out a spare communicator, her previous one nothing but scrap bits somewhere in the rubble of that building. Good thing she plans for these things.

"Control, I have a large number of refugees. I need you to clear the room and seal the doors in the transfer pad. Then ready pad A and pad B for rapid transport. Pad A focuses on my location when I call for it. Pad B, focus on one of the open refugee centers that still has power, water, and medical supplies. Ping when you're ready." A pause. "Listen, Gary. You call Brand, you tell her what I asked for. Then make sure the guy who gets your job next in line knows what to do."

Apparently Voodoo trusts her boss implicitly to have her back and back her play. So the purple-clad heroine, that costume much the worse for wear but still miraculously managing to cover a few vital bits, including most of her face, skids down a rubble pile in front of the refugee line. "Get ready for a quick trip, folks!"

And as soon as SWORD is ready, that golden light will flare ... and twenty refugees disappear. Count to twenty, and then twenty more will disappear. "This way to safety."

Yeah. Until the parademons spot this. Then Voodoo is going to have something else to deal with.

Darkstar has posed:
Being surrounded by the panicked innocents, Darkstar tries to reassure them that they will be safe soon, all the while, keeping her Darkforce energy up to add support to the building's structure, "Move swiftly and orderly and we will see you free."

For a quick moment, she is about to summon the entrance to the Darkforce dimension with thoughts of ferrying some of the frightened to someplace of relative safety, but Kenan's request gives her a thoughtful look. "A gate?" She inquires, "I'm afraid that I must escort them, personally, less they be lost in the Darkforce." And who knows what monsters reside within the darkness! "I can only take 3 of them at a time, but the way is quick. Instantaneous. Then I shall return just as quickly." There is a pause, before she adds, "The darkness blinds me to light on my arrival at the destination, but as long as I keep this location and the other focused, I should have no issue moving to and fro easily enough." Without time to spare, she does exactly what she said she would, and opens up a portal and ushers the first three to touch her upon their entrance. "I will be back in no time, but I will be of no use to help you defend this place further until I am able to recover my full sight." And with that said, she and those brave enough to go with her, disappear instantly.

After having scoped out the city to deposit the rescued victims from her previous endeavors, Darkstar believes she has found a safe spot, for now. Where those she had dropped off now gather in the basement of a building several many miles from the main attack point. Already, her eyes are having a difficult time adjusting to the light even after almost just a mere second in the darkforce universe. "I shall return with others, but keep to the basement and remain quiet." And with that, she returns to Kenan's side once more, to gather a few others. Hopefully, there is no panic and chaos as to who gets teleported out of here and she is sure that there are many who will refuse to go with her. Still blinded by her first journey, she is forced to squint her eyes to know avail, "See, it doesn't take long. But I cannot fend for myself in this state."

Madelyne Pryor has posed:
    The blast from the club thunders towards the building Madelyne is crouching on, forcing her to take to the air as it smashes into it, the building groaning as it starts to topple towards where the the fight his happening below, a cloud of dust whipping out like a shockwave as it crumples into ruin. Madelyne is quickly forces to raise her shields, the psi-beams slamming into her as she's forces to withdraw her attention from Kalibak to deflect his attack.

    As the blasts strike the glowing green shields that curls up around her, she's sent spinning backwards, the massive force meeting the powerful shield, and the two canceling themselves out in a psionic explosion of energy that knocks Madelyne flying, long enough for a pair of parademons to grab hold of her to start escorting her back to a portal.

    About halfway there, Madelyne's body shudders, before greenish fire gutters up around her, her illusions breaking as she's forced to withdraw her power from it. With a flash, a pair of curling horns become visible at her temples, curving back over her head, while a long tail curls out from underneath the back of her brief loincloth. Her fingernails lengthen into claws as she arches, then grins toothily at the parademons holding her, her eyes blazing green as she grins wildly at them.

    Then rips them apart with her telekinesis, grabbing hold of their heads and wrenching them clear off their bodies in a shower of blood that spatters over her, as she laughs, almost gleefully, cushioning her power with a greenish beam of psionic energy. Her tattered cloak swirls around her as the Goblyn Queen turns those emerald eyes on Kalibak, her emotions shifting from a wild glee to pure rage, as her power flares around her, as cars around her start to float upwards, then go spinning towards Kalibak, one after the other, followed up with a huge semi tanker.

    She's reasonably sure the heroes can get out of the way. But just in case, they hear a purring voice in their minds briefly. <'Ware heroes...incoming.>

Wonder Girl has posed:
The last time Raven did this for her, Cassie had a bit of warning, a comfortable bed, and the luxury of being calm and relaxed. Granted, she'd also had a sword put clean through her chest. But overall, it was a far more relaxed set of circumstances.

This time, she's laying on cracked pavement amidst the ruins of a blasted city. From her vantage point, she can see others laying as she is. But they're just bystanders. Bodies. They won't get back up from any of this. Just that makes her despair and seethe with anger all at once, while the pain of broken ribs, ruptured blood vessels, makes every part of her hurt. Lifting her head, Cassie can dimly see them fighting near by, as she lays there on the ground.

She feels Raven's hand. Raven feels a whole lot more, a flood of rage pouring through the pain. A voice in the back of Cassie's head, not quite taunting, but goading, telling her to get up, telling her not to hold back. 'This isn't your usual childish hero games. This is war, for the very survival of our world. There are no rules, no limits.'

Slowly, at first weakly, then more confidently, she starts to rise, glancing briefly to her friend. But there's no kind smile, this time. Just a nod of thanks, of acknowledgment to her comrade.

Then, on her feet, she grips the lasso again. Hanging limply, Kalibak may not have given it any thought, with so much more going on. He will learn better.

With a throat-scoring scream of rage, Cassie lashes out, and a second God of Thunder joins the battle. Zeus' power, courtesy of his son Ares, pours from the heavens into the daughter, the half-sister, flows unrestrained through the lasso and to Kalibak.

Aquaman has posed:
Arthur Curry continues to orchestrate the lightning strikes on the Parademons around the area, the Trident of Poseidon crackling with divine energy as the powerful Atlantean channels the fury of the storm.

"Begone invaders, this land is not welcoming to the likes of you, and we shall not suffer your presence any longer!" he calls out. Appearently, lightning is the theme of the moment.

Raven has posed:
Raven does not like what she feels. However, the last time she had to do this, it was just as impromptu as it is now. The rage overwhelms her, and for a moment, she retreats. Into herself, specifically, resting on her knees for a moment after Cassie stands back up. She's breathing, but it's soft. She's quiet, and for that spare moment, she is almost like a statue. However, this is what all of her training has been for. When she hears the noise of Cassie returning to the fight, it is almost as if through cotton balls, in her ears. She sharply intakes breath, and takes flight once more, making her way towards the parademons fleeing the battle.

Muttering more words under her breath, she hopes the advantage that J'onn and the others were able to gain on Kalibak is enough that she won't be needed for a time- as there are people to be saved. She starts tugging and plucking telekinetically, pulling and ripping- it's not the most pleasant way to be removed from the grip of a parademon, but it is what she has- it is also not wholesale. She can save many, but not all, as she has to at least partially fight the strength of their talons in order to pry the gripping limbs open.

So far, she's gone relatively unnoticed, so that's nice- but she is not very offensive... At least, not versus the forces of Apokolips.

Grace Choi (994) has posed:
    Just as others had not expected Kalibak's psi-beams, Kalibak had not expected J'onn's telepathic shield -- it's an error on his part. And, it costs him, as the Martian shapeshifter is able to elongate his arms and literally create a superstrength prison, for the time being, to hold Kalibak. Of course, this means unless the damage is directed at specific portions of Kalibak's body? J'onn is taking that in equal portions as Kalibak strains, and mightily so, against J'onn's arm-prison, as well as -- well, up front and personal? YOu can't really block one of those psi-blasts. The Martian Manhunter takes one of those to the face.
    That is when Thor's attack comes, slamming hard into Kalibak's skull double-fisted, and plowing the New God groundwards. Oh, it hurts. And the parademons, seeing their General in plight, move en masse, those that are not busy with Goblyn's or carrying off the Goblyn Queen, to grab hold of Thor's ankles, his arms, his head, and they all pull in a different direction, an impromptu draw-and-quarter, Apokoliptian style.
    Thor's hit, however, coupled with J'onn's psi-blast, and Kalibak's wrestling so that Laurel's heat-vision upon the General's hand works. The grip tightens, and then Kalibak is, indeed, forced to drop it. Briefly. The anger powers him on and he twists, fast, muscles bending, flexing, until he breaks free of J'onn's imprisonment after another psi-blast to J'onn's face, follwed up by a vicious headbutt. Kalibak, certainly, has the bigger head here. And, the harder head.

    Kalibak stumbles, and sneers at the heroes, "You are too afraid that not one of you can defeat me? You know you would die. Suffer. You know that Kalibak would Conquer you."
    Then, his words are cut short as the lightning of the lasso engulfs him, ... him, and Laurel both who, like any other Kryptonian is susecptible to magic ... and sends him down to one knee. He grits his fangs through the pain. And then, slowly. Forcing himself through that agony. He puts one hand one the lasso. Then the next. And then he doesn't pull in. No. Skin smoking from the punishment he's taken from Thor's lightning and from Wonder Girl's lasso, he backsteps and he begins to spin, hurtling Wonder-Girl to the side, and smashing her into Thor, in an effort to take both of them out at the same time.
    ...And then the cars come flying in from nowhere. Kalibak is able to dodge the first, leaping over it nimbly with one hand upon the vehicle as he sees it coming. But then another hits him even as he's dodging. He's not quite -that- nimble. And then the semi truck piles into him, sending him flying, and into the earth, wedged between semi and earth for the moment. There is a few moments before the semi is lifted up, Kalibak beneath it, and this he throws at Laurel, blood dripping off his forehead as he hurls the wreckage off himself. Damn club-stealer.

Grace Choi (994) has posed:
    Kenan, meanwhile, continues to hold up the building for support even as Priss makes plans, and good ones at that, for the civilians evacuations. And much in thanks to her telepathic prowess, people are starting to calm enough to actually follow orders, to move, quickly, effiicently, without fear -- without selfish disregard for self preservation and pushing people over to save themselves. It's almost like they were back in elementary school, practicing a fire-drill, now. Darkstar's efforts, and guidance to a safe place, of course for others is also a boon, and the parademons pickings are getting slim. Especially with Raven snatching those few who are getting carried off from the hungry parademons who aren't already otherwise occupied.

Super-Man has posed:
Kenan is pretty sure the building is finally empty, tham eans it is time to go on the offense. He steps outside the building (well, jumps actually) and when he hits the ground he switches his power to his eyes. He starts focusing his teat vision on Parademons...specifically on where their wings join their bodies so they will fall from the skies before they can grab anyone. This will probably make him a target...

Andromeda has posed:
    Kryptonite doesn't weaken Daxamites and thanks to a an anti-lead serum she doesn't have a problem with that substance. WHAT does give both Kryptonians and Daxamites trouble is magic. They have no special protection from that.

    Sadly, Cassie's lightning she summons from her father is magical. Kalibak, at least is hardy enough to only go down to one knee. Laurel, on the other hand, reacts as if she was a normal human hit by a giant bolt of electricity.

    Laurel screams in pain and then it's cut short as she collapses, unconscious. She'll be lucky to still be alive at the end of this.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
    The Psi-Blasts pile up on the Martian Manhunter, blood leaking form his mouth, and ears with the continued punishment he's been taking. One of his red eyes are swollen shut, but the Martian refuses to back down even after a vicious headbutt causes a loud *CRACK* and smears J'onns nose across his face.

    Slowly standing to his feet, his left arm hanging loosely, even as his body works to heal the damage he's absorbed. Then comes in the onslaught of vehicles from all directions. J'onn doesn't move at all, but the vehicles pass through his phased form as they strike Kalibak. Each second buying him time to get back into the fight. Then, as Kalibak throws the tanker, J'onn uses his own Telekinesis to redirect the vehicle up and away from Laurel.

    He then flies into Kalibak from behind at super-sonic speed while at the same time sending as much as he can muster in a mental attack at the warrior since Kalibak seems to be able to absorb all this physical punishment.

Darkstar has posed:
Darkstar wouldn't have been able to work her teleportation magic while also fighting against the parademons, so with the 'safety' of this structure which Kenan Kong keeps from crumbling onto everyone, she has more freedom to pull off the risky venture of teleportating, seeing as she has someone keeping an eye out on her when she returns to the madness. When she knows that the last few civilians are now with her to be guided to freedom, she is forced to hunker down with them for a moment in their safe haven. It will take a little time before she fully regains her sight and is once more able to return to helping the other heroes rescue the kidnapped.

Madelyne Pryor has posed:
    The battle, at least, moves away from Madelyne momentarily, giving her a moment to pull her power back in, as her horns and tail vanish again, the corrupted features Limbo has given her vanishing to leave her looking like a normal (if scantily clad) teen again. As a pair of parademons dive at her, they suddenly glow green then accelerated, smashing and splattering into the ground as they abruply reach terminal velocity under the telekinetic yank.

    The sorceress pauses, watching the tremendous battle, then deciding that she is quite close enough, thank you. There's no reason she should expose herself directly, after all.

    She does, however, hold out a hand, then attempt to telekinetically pick up the club and pull it to her hand, rather than leave it where Kalibak might grab it again. And it might be a good consolation present for Doctor Doom if she can't get hold of the boom tube tech.

Thor has posed:
"Stay down, cur, or get thee hence, defeat is nigh," boasts Thor as his blow, at least momentarily, sends the giant to the ground. "Mine next strike shall not be so kind as th- what?! What is this?! Unhand me, wretches!"

Suddenly mobbed by a swarm of the parademons from every direction, the Asgardian's boastful speech is somewhat interrupted. Individually, it goes without saying that they are little threat to him, and indeed, the first several he flings away like flies. But the whole mob restricts him merely by its abundance, his great might not merely straining against their multitude of grips, but in this case, further restrained by the simple amount of space they fill, where behind each is another, leaving him nowhere to push them, nowhere to go. For a few moments, he writhes and wrenches about in their grip, and then, having quite enough, declares:

"Begone!"

Again, the weather itself answers his call, here not the thunder (perhaps, with Arthur and Cassie doing so much, he leaves its powers to them?) but the breath of the storm. A torrent forms around them, churning, swirling, and layer by layer, rank by rank, scours away the mob of soldiers, pulling them from him and throwing them to the far corners of the battleground.

"I warned thee," he declares, the winds lifting him upward, hammer raised. "For thine impudence, thou shall suffer my next blow, greater than the last!" Why the first blow wasn't the greater one? God stuff. Don't question it!

RHe can see J'onn coming from behind, so Thor readies for that impact to carry Kalibak forward, and then aims to strike where he will be with all the force he can muster. Whether he sees Cassie swung around toward him as a weapon, who can say? Perhaps he is distracted, or perhaps he gives his fellow child of Thunder a bit more faith!

Wonder Girl has posed:
In her rage, sadly, Cassie isn't quite as discriminating as she might otherwise be. The fact that her lightning hits bystanders of its own? Ares would surely call that acceptable, call it 'collateral damage.' The girl positively courses with residual energy, her skin alight with arcing, dancing sparks, and the lasso itself remaining at a lower charge even after the first blast, humming, buzzing with electricity. If she had a mortal in that loop...

This time, she sees Kalibak grip her lasso, but this time, she's ready, and looks him dead in the eyes as he does it. It's a challenge, almost, a dare. Her hands tighten, knuckles white, waiting, ready for what she knows he'll do.

He jerks it.

She jerks back.

And at first, Cassie doesn't budge, her stance shifting to dig in against the ground, causing the concrete to splinter as he tries to move her.

But it can't hold forever. The concrete gives out before her arms do, and Kalibak whips her into the air. But even there, she fights him. It's obvious she's stronger than before, not just more ready, that rage fueling her. She tugs, flying in the opposite direction as he twirls her along. She fights back with everything she has, or tries. Yet pure rage isn't going to win the day.

Fortunately, she seems to realize it, before Ares fully has his hooks in her. Hurtling toward Thor even as he readies to strike, she does the only thing she *can* do: She lets go.

All the momentum built up is suddenly released, and the girl goes careening off like a missile, controlling her flight only enough to make sure it's *away* and not into her ally.

A few moments later, she hits a nearby building, and goes right through the wall.

Raven has posed:
Raven succeeds in freeing many of the prisoners in the clutches of those nasty Parademons. Her attention shifts, then, to the proper fight, against Kalibak. She continues to fly, staying above the battle, especially as the beast has been subdued by the thrown automotives. She crosses her hands in front of her, uttering more incantations as she does. Eventually, she pauses, and flings her hands forward.

The incantations are specifically for her to call shadow to her, which she sends out in these black bolts of pure energy, concussive magical force seeking out the massive beast of Apokolips. She has several tricks up her sleeve, and this is one- if Kalibak is less resistant to magic, it'll be a nice whallop, and while she can't do this infinitely, she hasn't been quite in the thick of it like the others.

As well, she doesn't necessarily mind Kalibak's taunting. She'll gang up on him like all the others.

Grace Choi (994) has posed:
    Parademon after parademon goes down at Kenan's heat-vision, their wings sliced off and they each, land flightless, onto the earth, and he is indeed made a target as one of the armed demons fires their gun directly at the superhero's body, intent on incinerating him.

    Kalibak is hit, suddenly, with supersonic speed from the Martian, even as he's robbed of seeing the truck satisfactorilly, potentially, kill Laurel, and his mind? Well. J'onn can see what's in his mind as well as Madelyne did. Kalibak is not immune to telepathic attack, nor exactly resistant to it. But it's not the first time he's experienced it before. It slows him down, but, it doesn't disable him. The 'wuff' of breath escapes him as J'onn's flight smashes into him, but then even as he's carried with J'onn, and through a building, Kalibak manages to pound once, twice, onto J'onn's back, trying to get free, but it's clear by his slower reactions and by the blood on his features the heroes are wearing him down. They are working together, and that is severely hampering Kalibak's ability to take any of them out of the picture.
    Thor's efforts, in the meantime, win him his freedom and rebuke in all goodfaith and Godhood their attempt to overhwelm, and destroy the Asgardian God who would defile their New God. But there are many parademons, two of whom grab the club from Maddie's attempt to pull it to herself, and buzz speedily back to Kalibak with it. Or, at least, try to. Stealing Apokoliptian technology -- especially the weapon of their General will not be as easy as that.
    And then Wonder Girl is letting go of the lasso, self-sacrificing to careen into a building, through a building, to let the end of the lasso free, which allows Thor to slam the Mighty Mjolnir into Kalibak's skull, which causes the oversized beastial New God to head backwards, slip out of J'onn's grip and go tumbling, crashing, slamming, end-over-end into the ground. The massive monstrosity is slow to get up. But, he is getting up. The gash on his face is even more opened, now, but there is rage in his own eyes.
    But before he can mount any new assualt, black bolts of shadow and magic are slamming into him, sending him to take a step backwards at each hit. He raises his own forearms to block them, snarling, spitting as he does so, shaking his head to clear it again and presently unable to mount any further counterattack.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
    Now that he has had a moment to gather his thoughts, J'onn feels the vast psionic power in the area, but knows it's something he will need to look into later. At this point, he simply registers the unique signature, and focuses on his incoming attack on Kalibak.

    The blows from the monstrosity are certainly piling up on the Martian, he keeps a knee for a second after Thor sends the General flying away from him. Two deep breaths, and as Kalibak stands so does J'onn, "You see, New God, we are not easily cowed or defeated. The peoples of Earth will not allow you to conquer Our World."

    J'onn slowly lifts himself a few feet off the ground, blood still leaking from various places on his face and head, "Let's finish this." Flying directly at Kalibak, but phasing himself while remaining visible... his attack a decoy so the others can deliver a decisive blow.

Madelyne Pryor has posed:
    Madelyne's brow furrows slightly, her glowing green eyes narrowing as the parademons snatch the club out of the air before it can travel all the way to her. There's irritation in her expression, and no little anger. How -dare- footsoldiers intervene! She focuses at that, then gives the club a powerful yank away from the parademons...she'll be damned if she'll let it get back to Kalibak. This time she puts many tons of force beyond the pull, instead of the more minor tug to pick up just the weight of it. Though of course, if needed, she'll just rip off the parademon's arms in the process, if they refuse to let go.

    She does, however, send out a mental signal as some of the surviving goblyns fly down to surround her and defend her, as a glowing greenish shield flows up around her.

    She then flicks her eyes to Kalibak. If he retreats....she'll only have a moment to try and grab whatever control he uses to try and escape. And she both doesn't want him to escape, and wants to ensure that whatever it is becomes her prize.

Super-Man has posed:
Kenan has reason to be glad his Containment Suit is built to withstand huge amounts of energy...it saves him from immediately being blasted through or burned to a crisp...he is struck backwards by the force of the impact and probably has a few broken bones and heavy burns...but he forces his energy into his stomach so he is invulnerable, it will keep him from being hurt worse for now. He needs to get out of the fight a few moments...if he can switch to speed he might be able to heal himself super fast...but first he needs to be free from attacks long enough for it to work. He needs to keep his calm, if he gives in to fear, he wil be powerless...which ironicly will make him more afraid if he lets it.

Thor has posed:
"We have done battle, thine legions and our host of champions, and thou art defeated," Thor declares, following after Kalibak even as his powerful strike sends him tumbling backward. There is a resonance of finality to the Asgardian's tone, one that echoes of the broad, timeless perspective of such beings. This, unlike his prior words, is not a boast, but a clear and final statement of fated outcome. Indeed, even as he gives chase to the stumbling child of Apokolips under further assault from Raven's blasts, there is less sense of haste to his motions, but more an inevitable ceaselessness.

As he moves before Kalibak, rising in the air with his cape billowing behind him, to look him on, face to face, God to... well, whatever, there is a momentary sort of acknowledgment, but then, a stern sense of judgment in the words that follow. "I know not much of thine people, but I have seen their 'God.' Though he be but a cruel imposter, we are both our fathers sons, and we must both serve their whims. I hold thee not guilty for his crimes. Yet today, thou hast failed. Remember it, and endeavor to better thineself 'ere next we do battle."

There is a pause.

"Yet for now, there be no greater punishment we can lay upon thee than he wouldst deliver. I say again, get thee hence, and go to him in failure."

As he has moved forward, Mjolnir has once again begun to glow with energy in his hand, although this time not the borrowed strength of the Omega blast, nor his own lightning. It is a purer sort of cosmic radiance, and rather than strike him with it, Thor merely directs his hammer toward the mighty being's chest, the energy pulsing outward to engulf the staggering creature.

"Begone, back to thine own realm, and to thy father's embrace."

Darkstar has posed:
Knowing full well that there is very little time for rest due to people's lives being in danger, Darkstar immediately sets off towards the battle once she recovers her sight and the disorientation is mostly faded. Even from the safety of her chosen safe haven for the civilians, she can clearly see the scores of parademons that continue to threaten the lives of the innocent and the heroic alike. Nevermind, the even bigger fight going off somewhere in the center of all of this!

The Russian Super Soldier actually heads in that direction. Not to attack Kalibak directly, but to swoop in and rescue any civilians caught in the fight. When Wonder Girl crashes right into the side of a building, Darkstar is there in the nick of time to create a protective shield over those who may be caught beneath the falling rubble, before transporting them in her magic sphere, away from the danger zone. In her various rescue missions, weaving her way through the entirety of the battlefield, she does notice that the young man whom she was with earlier seems to be in some kind of trouble. Moving in quickly to join him, she calls out, "I will cover you!" She isn't sure what he's planning, but hopefully, it gives him some time to gain his bearings. And with that, she conjures up a large shield to block any further incoming attacks on Kenan Kong until she knows that he is will be fine on his own. Each powerful strike against this shield, however, does add stress to her, but she keeps it up for as long as need be.

Raven has posed:
Raven isn't a talker. Sadly, her attention is all on Kalibak, and she has no reason to hold off on her assault now. He hasn't yielded, but he has stopped fighting- which means that giving him even a moment's worth of pause in their onslaught is, she feels, a mistake. Maybe that's the demon in her. Maybe it's just a good tactical decision.

She's getting winded, but her teammate is in the rubble- and for now, there's nothing that she can do about that- all of her energy is going to flinging bolts of energy at Kalibak. Violent, consistent, bolts. She's almost like Star, right now, flinging these out, and she's going to continue until there is a reprisal, or Kalibak is gone in one of various fashions. She doesn't really care which, at this point.

Shadow bolts were working. Might as well stick to it.

Grace Choi (994) has posed:
    Kalibak seems to realize he needs his club back, flexing his hand. That damndable Kryptonian! (Well, Daxamite, but he doesn't know the difference) And, his eyes trek Madelyne as she has it hurtling towards her. His own Psi-Beams seek her out, to punish her for her insubordination as he snarls, "Fetch it!" To the remaining parademons; two of whom turn on Madelyne almost immediately to focus their own energy blasts and weapons on her (and the goblyns defending her), while others regroup to take the club back. Many goblyn's, and some parademons are incinerated in the weaponfire.

    The New God's attention turns back just in time to see J'onn coming at him, and in his battle-frenzy, the New God buys the ploy, and hefts a huge well-timed swing at J'onn that might've broken the Martian's jaw and sent him rocketing upwards ... except J'onn is phased. And Kalibak, indeed, is left open for a follow-up attack in that moment, vulnerable. And that's when Thor gives his speech, and when the hammer slams him into his chest, hard and sends him flying backwards, crashing again. While it might not have the full effect Thor was hoping for, it does emphasize and cinch the meaning of the Asgardian's words.
    Again, Kalibak gets up. Again, it is more slow, than before.
    His breath is one of a wracked, wheezing as he says, "You do not know Father. Lord Dakseid dwarfs, by himself, your forces here." He is loathe to admit it. He knows the punishment that awaits him. But, he also knows the futility of the fight now. He cannot, will not win. It is time to retreat. Time to regroup. And the shadow-bolts returning only emphasize the point. The beast snatches his club as the remaining parademons are able to bring it back to him with Madelyne being sufficiently distracted.
    Kalibak points the Boom Tube with smooth effort and the sound reverberates around the area about them. "You should have bent your knee today. Now, your suffering will be twice as great." And then, he alone steps through the Boom Tube, club, and all. The portal closes behind him and leaves the parademons to their own devices. To fight, or die, as the heroes decide.

    Thanks to Darkstar, Rachel, and Kenan, not a single civilian has been lost. And the main General, thanks to all, has been fought to the point of defeat. Perhaps the war is coming to an end. But his words may leave further concern in the minds of those here, if he, and others are right about just how brutal Darkseid is.

Super-Man has posed:
Kenan, given some breathing room by Darkstar, focuses his power into his feet, speeding himself...and concentrates that speed on healing. His bones knit and the burns on his skin heal...enough so that he can move without undue pain at least. He then switches his energy to his hands and starts slinging pieces of wall at the remaining parademons. A few tons of brick and mortar should do wonders for them...

Martian Manhunter has posed:
    Once the General is gone, J'onn immediately begins scanning the area for any of the injured or trapped during the fight, and the first ping that comes back is Cassie. Reducing his size to his normal form, J'onn flies to the buidling and rubble where her form was detected. He first encases her in a telekinetic bubble, and then begins removing what's around her while keeping the building stable.

    A mental message goes out to those around, <I've located one of the heroes here... I am working on getting her out, but she may need some help once she's free.> Once he has her clear of the debris, he brings her down to the rest of the group, still wrapped in the telekinetic shielding, and looking the rest he asks "Is anyone capable of assisting her, or should we take her to the medical facilities of the Watchtower?"

Voodoo has posed:
With Kalibak gone, battle against the remaining parademons will honestly be more tedium than threat, to be sure. But Voodoo keeps up the evacuation until everyone is safe. Then she thanks the crew aboard the SWORD space station, tells them to shut down and cycle the teleporters, and then drags herself off to see what she can do to help those who remain. She's not the strongest, but she is stronger than she looks, and pretty tireless. Bons? Her empathy and telepathy can be useful for locating those hidden beneath the rubble.

What a day. Pay raise, anyone?

Madelyne Pryor has posed:
    "Tch." Madelyne's eyes narrow as she raises a hand, her shield concentrating this time as the psi bolts slam into her. Even then, they send her flying backwards before she can catch herself, the shield shattering as she's again overwhelmed by the directed bolts. Her goblins rip apart any remaining parademons who come at her as the Goblyn Queen herself lands, then lets out a snarl as Kalibak escapes, with both club and the device used to open the portal.

    "...useless..." she mutters. "Begone, return to where you came..." And as the goblyns begins vanishing into the shadows, the redhead simply sidesteps into the astral plane, teleporting away.

    At least the battle against the invasion succeeded...even if she failed. Her father will not be be pleased.