The fight had gone a completely different direction at this point. Granted I'd tapped out quite a bit of my resources and broken some ribs, but two to five odds weren't that bad. The Prophet was mainly avoiding any engagement directly, trying to let his minions soak the damage as he looked for a way out. He'd hit the tree line and been pushed back by lashing roots and branches in the mist multiple times, but he was looking for any way to get through.

The H rankers were completely out. They never got loose from the tendrils and the poison had debilitated them. It would fade soon, but I was hopeful that it weakened them enough that the tendrils themselves could keep control. They'd also tried grabbing some of the G rankers, but it hadn't done much good. The blonde guy with the indestructible skin just tore free, and the dark elf girl had dispersed her smoke and was glaring around in circles looking for me, which more than anything just made me want to laugh.

Cark put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, are you ok man? You're looking a little shaky." I was fully half done with my charges for the day, but I had some fight left in me, so I just gave him a shaky nod. I was hurting bad, but it wasn't anything compared to blacking out from Impact depletion when I was working on my enchanting. He looked skeptical, but finally sighed. "Alright, but lets take a beat. It's not like they're going anywhere. We have time to regroup a bit, maybe come up with a plan."

I groaned out a chuckle. "Yeah. That works. A second to catch my breath is good. So what's the deal with the pyro chick? You seem stronger than her, is your Might really that high?" I assumed she must have had the same ability he did, but his flames just seemed...scarier. Part of that was obviously size and malleability which definitely had to be Might, but the color was different too. Blue flames were hotter than orange ones, and that kind of qualitative difference didn't seem like a stat thing.

Cark just shook his head. "Not exactly. I mean yes, it's almost definitely higher than hers, but more than that my Pyrokinesis ability requires multiple synergies to achieve. She's using a pretty basic flamecalling ability. If you have to think of it in terms of power her ability is a grease fire and mine is a blow torch. More focused, hotter, easier to control. The fact that I probably ALSO have more Might than she does helps, but it's not the main factor. In any case her power won't be able to hurt me. Pyrokinesis is control as well as generation, and her fire isn't on my level."

That was a relief, because it meant I wasn't going to get roasted when Cark stepped away for a second in the fight. I nodded over to the dark elf girl. "My suggestion is take her out first. She can conjure clouds of smoke. Obfuscates enough that even my ability doesn't see through it. Based on the purple skin I'm guessing its a racial trait rather than an ability, though I'll have to ask Celine to be sure. I think I've heard something about dark elves and smoke. Regardless you can just steamroll her and take care of the flamethrower. I'll handle the blonde guy and red teeth. Mr. Grey seems to be sticking to his boss for the moment. Speaking of which you said you had to help Clockwork, is he ok?"

He snorted. "Hell yes he is. Five G rankers hit him, along with maybe thirty H rankers. He dropped the weaklings in barely any time. I had to help with the G rankers, but only a little. His new abilities are playing really well in live combat, and he's clearly been training his ass off when no one else was around. With me playing distraction with waves of flame dismantling them was easy enough, and he tied them up and tranqued them like the others. He headed over to help Nightstrike while I came to back you up. She had another five G rankers, they seemed stronger than ours, but she had them handled so between them cleanup should be quick."

Probably the big dogs in the Heartrippers, but I wasn't too worried about it. Callie could take care of herself, she was better at this than I was by far. Besides, I knew something that definitely made me feel better. " And our...friend?" Cold Snap had gone back to lure The Prophet here, and with us kicking ass not jumping in would be pure stupidity. Sure enough, Cark just grinned nastily.

He gestured back the way he came. "Last I saw the little weasel was trying to help his buddies chill out. Took down one of them in the first breath and pinned another. One of the reasons I'm so confident they'll be here pretty soon. With all three of them no chance they won't be able to subdue the last few and make it here in a few minutes." That really helped take the pressure off of us actually. It would be much easier to stall three G rankers than beat them, plus I was the lucky one. Cark might only have two combatants but he had to deal with the crowd control specialists and their leader at once.

Ignoring the pain in my side I exhaled deeply. "Ok. Time for us to get started. If you need help call for it, and try to watch my back while I watch yours." I was missing Callie. We were so in sync in battle this whole thing would have basically planned itself. We sparred so much our styles were most complimentary. Still I started to sneak, slipping into stealth as I circled around behind red teeth, who seemed the least likely to notice me coming or just shrug the hits off when I finally got there.

I had to use Leaf on the Wind again because it had worn off during the break, and activated Minor Gymnastics as I did, using my ability to handspring in conjunction with the long air time to get behind red teeth and start throwing hits. I aimed for the ribs and back, the green glowing spiderwebs covering the body, but oddly they weren't just green. Slight hints of red began to flicker through the injuries and red teeth turned on a dime and started throwing punches.

I dodged most of them, my suit tanking any glancing blows, and I kept laying into her with the tonfas, except I was beginning to notice something troubling. The more I hit red teeth the stronger she got. Her punches came faster and hurt more with every blow. Which I had a sinking feeling meant I was dealing with someone who converted damage to temporary power. Given the stacking nature of my poison fire damage that was...unfortunate. I dodged out of the way of her blows, leaping to the side, and realized I'd timed that perfectly because blondie with the metal skin had smashed into where I'd been standing.

I activated my overlay, seeing the attacks that might come and the counters I might end up running into when I made my own and waited. Red teeth and blondie were grouped together now, watching each others backs and sticking close so I couldn't sneak up on them in the mist. I had one defensive fighter I couldn't hurt and one offensive that kept getting stronger. I needed a way to deal with both of them. I forced myself to calm down and think.

I knew I didn't have any heavy blows that would take out metal man. He seemed much less affected than the others by the poison fire, which I assumed was either a function of his ability or some kind of Vitality threshold since Vitality would be one of his main stats with a power like that. Either way, I needed to hit harder. I let my breathing slow, let my head clear, and thought over every possible scenario. I couldn't see a way to pull off this fight other than maybe using Afterburner, which would be suicide in a massive battle like this.

Then it came to me. The overlay gave me the answer. It was an ability I'd relied on often when I was starting out but had been using less and less, and one that I really should try to take advantage of more often. I focused on stealth, moving in towards the two sleepers, and when I got close enough I dove in between them, lashing out with two quick taps. As I expected they came after me from both sides, and I used the overlay to dodge out of the way, letting red teeth land some blows on metal blondie.

There was a loud crash as her massive fists slammed into his immobile flesh and the stacking damage over time of the poison fire had clearly given her enough strength because his flesh cracked under the assault. They withdrew immediately, the puppet master understanding what was happening through his ability to sense the inputs of the two sleepers, but it gave me the opening I needed. I triggered Mercy Kill and Flurry of Blows and then I was on the metal man. I slammed my tonfas into the cracks red teeth had left in him, smashing them wider and driving poison fire deep into his flesh.

It had definitely been a factor of his ability that let him shrug off my other blows because the acidic flame inside his body caused him to slow and stumble. He put his arms up, trying to go full defense but I was already gone anyway. Red teeth was back on the offensive and I doubted I'd be able to trick her into another friendly fire hit, regardless of how hard it was to see in the mist. I got ready to try my second plan, trying to alter my use of double trouble to overlay the illusion on metal man to get her to throw some more punches, but I was cut off by a number of spears of shadow spiking up from the ground to intercept her, forcing red teeth to leap back to avoid being pincushioned.

Callie stepped into view from behind a tree a few feet away. "Sorry I'm late. Got wrapped up with a bunch of lackies. Brought backup with me though." She gestured over to where I could see Cold Snap and Benny emerging from the trees. She turned to red teeth with a vicious grin. "So how about we have a discussion about you beating up my boyfriend." My eyes widened behind my mask and my face went red. Callie looked at me sideways, waiting for me to contradict her, then smiled smugly. "Ok, good. I was getting sick of waiting for you to ask."

I burst out laughing at that my fatigue and pain melting away as I heard the best news I'd gotten since I found out I had powers. A groan cut us off as Benny interrupted. "I love teasing you two about being insufferable as much as the next guy, but there's a time and a place for these things, and in the middle of a pitched battle isn't either. Can you save your defining the relationship talk for when we aren't fighting an army of brainwashed murder cultists and their sociopathic leader?"

Callie rolled her eyes and we all closed in on the last two Ascendants besides the boss and his one remaining guard. "Oh get off your high horse Clockwork. You're just annoyed because your elven honey bunny is inside and you can't show off for her. We'll be careful in the endgame just in case, but by and large this battle is pretty much over." Which was, of course, when a blazing wave of light washed over the entire battlefield, shining forth from the huge pair of radiant white angel wings sticking out of The Prophet's back. We all turned to glare at my new girlfriend, who shrugged defensively. "What? That was totally not my fault."