You are (Not) the Heroes IC

"Good job, little pony!" Daff yells happily to Dove as birds zoom back in and begin helping Crimson.

The wave of icy flame that comes from the highborn catches him off guard. He staggers backwards, and begins shivering. The squirrel on his head burrows further into his mane, hugging Daff's hair around him.

"R-R-Rousseau and I are tired of your t-t-tricks! Stop m-moving around so much so we can all hit y-y-you!" he says, teeth chattering.

Daff digs his hooves into the ground, facing towards Low Key - or... where he might be. It's all very confusing for the stallion. He charges forwards like a crazed hoofball player, diving forwards and trying to hold the pony down. It's harder to be sneaky, after all, when you have a pony and squirrel attached to you!

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Everything seemed to work smoothly for Crimson, halfway through a stroke of impatience prompts him to throw caution to the wind and exhale a brilliant torrent of fire. Low Key smiles grimly as the golden flames crackles for a moment before exploding in Crimson's face, burning both him and the icy prison significantly. The prison starts to fracture, and suddenly thumping can be heard from within. The manic sense of urgency fades from Crimson's mind, replaced by sudden pain, and Low Key starts to laugh as the Crimson Chef realizes his mistake.

Turning to glance at Sunset, Low Key raises an eyebrow when Sunset doesn't make a move to attack. "You know, it's unhealthy to resist instinctual urges." Sunset suddenly feels a sharp throbbing pain in her temple, as though prompted by Low Key's statement, and the burning need to make an attack continues to sear itself into her mind.

Round 4 Interrupt!
Crimson takes 85 damage.
The Ice Prison is bloodied.
Sunset suffers ongoing 5.

Dove Colt steps out from behind Gaia, his brow furrowed as he considers the situation. "He's tough, and his magic is gonna make him even tougher. We need to end this fight, and soon."

A dove flutters down and nestles into his mane.

Actions:

"You're right," Gaia looks down at Dove, impressed by his tactical sense. "We don't even know if his power is at its maximum. Hey, punching bag-" She turns to the Chef, pushing healing energy through the ground at him. "-How long until we release the big guns?"

Crimson was fairly certain that he had been in more desperate situations then the one he was in... he wasn't able to think of any of them off the top of his head, but they had to be there.

It took a little while for his sight to return from the sudden explosion of fire in his face. He didn't appear to be on fire but the way that his mouth felt he was sure he had burns of some degree over the parts of his face that weren't covered by his mask. Sweet Celestia it hurt but with what could have only been considered an iron will he prevented himself from screaming and clutching his face; It would only make things worse. He was going to have to tell people that he was experimenting with the dragon steak sauce and it splashed into his face again... No matter how many times one almost burns their own face off, it really didn't get any easier.

Noticing the thumping going on inside of the icy prison, Crimson forced to say out loud with only a hint of the pain he was actually feeling "Sorry Zap. This would be much easier if I didn't have an illusionist prick messing with my head. Trust me, that hurt more then just you."

His ears perking up at the sound of being addressed as 'Punching Bag', Crimson turned to look at Dove and Gaia with an unamused expression on his heavily burned face. "How about whenever you feel like he isn't screwing with your head. That sounds like a good time to let loose... Or you could help me here. That would be nice too." His head tilted towards the ice prison that had frankly seen better days.

Status:

"I could," Gaia says, the healing wave trickling to a stop. "If I didn't have to spend all my energy healing your wounds."

She sags slightly, trying to hide the strain the repeated healing puts on her. She doesn't say it, but she thinks what most of the group are probably thinking as well - they can't keep up the fight forever. "...Fine. Stay frosty, I'll see what I can do." She quips, though her wings start drooping.

Still afraid of hiting his allies, zell decides to continue to howl ath them to help them get into ger, before returning to a more normal timberwolf-form.

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"Hmm, charms are cheating..." mutters Madame Mask to herself as she deploys a stronger-than-normal illusion of herself and makes herself invisible in the same instant. She does not move closer to the fight yet, opting to just sidestep from her decoy a few feet...

(Illusionary Decoy (1/2 Uses Remaining))

Sunset winces as yet another pain shoots through her skull, in addition to the feather darts and the lingering Coldfire chill stinging like needles down her side.

”I’m resistin’ your cheap-butt spell to piss ya off," she shoots back as she focuses her will on keeping the urge to attack under control. "Now that ya started abusin’ me for it, I know it’s workin’, so I got no reason to stop." She turns to smirk back at Low Key. "I’m resistin’ my instinctual urges ‘cuz ya ain’t bought me dinner yet.”

Status:

"Oh, but I have a suspicion you would turn me down anyways." Low Key smirks at Sunset, before looking over the group.

"You know, when that first wave hit me I thought this would have been a bigger challenge. Isn't there anyone interesting in this little team? A magician, perhaps?" He glances in the direction of Madame Mask, though it's not clear at that distance if at her or her illusion.

"If this keeps up you're not going to be able to defeat me, you know." He says, inspecting a hoof idly. His horn glows, and for Gaia, all of her allies and the prison holding Zapp fades away, until only her and Low Key remain. "You're the one that kept the Locust swarms occupied and delayed my plans - you should make for an interesting opponent."

To everyone else, Gaia suddenly halts in all her movements, and Low Key turns to the others. "There's that done. Who's next?"

To Daff's credit, Low Key almost looks surprised when the unicorn is tackled by the muscular earth pony, though the brief look of surprise is quickly replaced by bemusement as he sucks in a deep breath and flexes, throwing the earth pony off him. "Don't feel bad - I'm sure you're quite strong for a regular pony."

His eyes glow, and a single blast of crackling, roiling energy hits Daff in the chest. Searing energy lances out, leaping to Dove Colt, Zellbriq and Inu as well. A wave of magic passes through Daff as well, and when he looks up, everyone is Low Key.

"I'm getting bored of this farce."


Round 4 Ends
Format - Action: Effect (Action Type)
Lightning Bolt: Daff takes *48* damage and loses 20 health. Dove Colt, Zellbriq and Inu take 26 damage. (Attack)
Free Trick: Dove suffers weakness 10. (Utility)
Minor Trick: Daff is subject to a Trick (save ends) and must make a will defense check before attacking.(Utility)
Trickster Spells:
Gaia is subject to a Trick (save ends) and cannot target anything other than Low Key, or be targeted by anything other than Low Key while Tricked.(Utility)

Low Key saves against Grappled.

Madame Mask steps away from her decoy a bit more. She then sends the other superheroes a telepathic message: "Come on darlings. Even if you can't tell who is who, you must know that Low Key is a pony with a taste for theatrics, and that such a pony would take centre stage, shifting around the centre of that circle of tiles on the floor."

(Telepathy)

Crimson felt his eye twitch a little at the voice of Madam Mask in his head. She appeared to be criticizing them for how they were performing... when she herself had abandoned the fight before it had even began. It was like hearing someone criticizing you for how you were galloping when they themselves were grossly overweight to the point that they couldn't move under their own power.

Rather then lash out at her through (That little discussion was going to be happening later on), Crimson channeled the rage that he was feeling towards something a bit more productive: numbing the pain that he was currently feeling as he raised his hoof back and launched a quick but powerful strike into the icy prison once again, causing cracks to run through it and weaken the construct as a whole. Hopefully some of the others would take advantage of the opening before the damn thing strengthened itself again. "Hit it now!"  

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Sunset holds back the urge to shudder under the cold in her bones and does her best to ignore the pain in her head as she goes back to watching out for attacks being redirected at her.

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"Great." Gaia growls, looking around carefully before focusing on the trickster. "Just you and me then, big guy? Fine - have it your way."

She roars, and leaps forward, her lion claws unsheathed and her maw open wide, revealing the rows of razor sharp teeth. With intent to maim (and possibly kill,) Gaia tackles Low Key and immediately begins attacking in a frenzy.

Mechanics stuff:

Low Key is much stronger than he looks. Daff's attempt at holding on to him once again fails. He decides he really needs a new place in his list of evil things he doesn't like, just for Low Key. Maybe right below "things that steal acorns."

ZAP!

Daff is sent flying backwards, leaving behind a thin trail of smoke and the smell of burned fur. He slams into a lamppost, which takes on a Daff-shaped impression. The pony falls to the ground, twitching.

"Rousseau? Are you there? Tell the... other ponies... I hit my head," he groans, trying to steady his hooves enough to stay under him again.  "No, Rousseau... tell the ponies, not the birdies. We- AHHH!"

Perched on his head, looking at him upside down with an expression of concern, is Low Key.

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Things are falling apart - fast. Dove Colt yelps as lightning blasts him, and he lands with singed fur and crisped feathers. "Ow! That hurts!"

"Fine, you want lightning? ZAPP, FIGHT IT!" Birds divebomb the prison from above as Dove Colt asserts his empathetic connection with as many birds as he can to free Zapp.

Actions:

Seeing how most of his team has a pretty hard time Zell decides to get them giving it their all. he returns to a more normal form and growls at them ~Come on guys just a bit more~ Inu meanwhile crumbles down out of the fight for now.

Used Stuff, status:

Under the bombardment, the icy prison finally fractures, and with an earsplitting BOOM and a crack of lightning, Zapp bursts free from her bindings, lightning rolling off of her in waves, hey eyes literally glowing with magical power.

"COWARD! THY FOUL SCHEMES SHALL STAND NO LONGER! RALLY, HEROES! STRIKE HIM DOWN!"

Low Key snarls, his own form starting to glow with an otherworldly light, and with a flash, his unicorn form is replaced by a translucent, angular form, far more horse-like in appearance, with glowing blue eyes and waving ribbons of ice behind him like ethereal wings. He retains his horn however, and looks for all the world a windigo alicorn. "It's..." He does a quick count in his head. "eight on one. Who's the coward now?"

To each combatant (except Inu, she shares a perspective with Zell,) Low Key steps forward towards them. "Let's even the odds."

From the perspective of each combatant, it seems as though Low Key has stepped towards them, eyes glowing menacingly. They also see their allies, confronting an unseen foe. Madame Mask's Low Key, however, seems uninterested in combat.

Then, as one (again excluding Madame Mask's Low Key) the Low Keys attack, blasting the heroes with cones of cold.

Round 5 Ends
Format - Action: Effect (Action Type)
Cone of Cold
Dove's Low Key - Dove takes 14 damage and suffers weakness 5
Zell's Low Key - Zell takes 22 damage and suffers weakness 5
Crimson's Low Key - Crimson takes 15 damage and suffers weakness 5
Daff's Low Key - Daff takes 12 damage and suffers weakness 5
Gaia's Low Key - Gaia takes 12 damage and suffers weakness 5
Sunset's Low Key - Sunset takes 9 damage and suffers weakness 5
(Sunset also suffers 10 ongoing damage for not attacking, this turn and last turn (forgot to mention it last turn, so take an additional 5 damage))

Madame's Low Key - Waves amiably.

Daff stops panicking only after the illusion of Low Keys everywhere fade. He scoops Rousseau up and hugs the squirrel tightly.

"You're you again! Alright, Rousseau," he says, plopping the squirrel back on his head. "It's time to stop him once and for all for playing such evil tricks!"

At Zapp's rally, Daff charges forwards, running right through the cone of cold to tackle Low Key yet again.

"Get him, Rousseau!"

The squirrel scampers off of Daff's head and onto Low Key's where he gives the highborn a good angry kick in the ear.

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Sunset was so focused on incoming damage that she failed to see her Low Key until it’s already too late, having only just enough time to shield her face with her hat. As the onslaught of cold washes over her, she feels her body start to buckle under her as the pain in her head grows more intense.

No point in keepin’ this up anymore.

On that thought, her shotgun slides out of its holster, swings around to point at Sunset’s own backside, and fires. The pain from the attack is lost in the pain from previous attacks before the cold from Low Key’s attack sets in to numb it out altogether.

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Gaia growls, the worst of the frost prevented by the fire within her - which promptly spills out of her mouth as she roars, unleashing hellfire onto Low Key.

Mechanics:

"Whoa!" Dove gasps at the sudden turn of events, scrambling back away from Low Key to a safe distance. "Stay away, you jerk! Or my birds are gonna get you!"

Stuff:

For a moment, Crimson felt a sense of accomplishment. Zapp was no longer trapped inside of an icy prison to freeze and suffocate; having undergone the process of icy asphyxia himself a little while ago he could safely say that he never wanted to undergo such a thing again, or wish it on anyone else. Despite the pain that was going through his face because of the burns, he couldn't help but smile just a little. It was short lived.

Turning his attention towards Low Key now that he didn't have anything distracting him, Crimson was unfortunate enough to suffer through a blast of icy magic that took the form of a cone. Crimson didn't remember what happened next; The moment the weaponized ice magic touched the burns on his face the masked chef discovered a brand new level of personal hell, the only mercy it offering him was that the pain was so overwhelming that it caused him to briefly lose consciousness and ride out the worst of it. It didn't stop him from falling to the ground, clutching his face and screaming in pure agony as he learned first hoof why one should never treat a burn with ice, but at least his mind had wandered off for a moment so it didn't have to suffer along with its meatbag of a body.

Soon through, the pain subsided... somewhat. The burn pain was still there but parts of his face felt kind of numb with an uncomfortable prickling sensation that probably wasn't a good thing in the slightest. Despite the pain and the lingering knowledge that even with proper magical healing there was going to be some rather disfiguring scars left on his face after all this was said and done, Crimson forced himself back on his hooves. It was clear that the battle had taken its toll on him; The combination of different attacks that had wrecked havoc on his body combined with the sheer amount of harm that had been done to him repeatedly (He couldn't help but feel that without the healing that the rest of the team had been sending his way, he would most likely be very dead right now) it was clear Crimson barely standing as it was. Pain, cold and wariness was causing his body to shake in a rather unsteady fashion, clearly pushed beyond its limits.    

Despite this clear weakening of his body, there was something to be said about Crimson's gaze that betrayed a force of will that was going to keep getting back up no matter now broken the body it possessed got. He actually managed to chuckle a little. "It's funny... If you had brought a friend that you could trust to watch your back with you odds are this fight would have long been over... For all I know if you had done that the first time you went against Zapp you might have actually won. You don't seem the type to have friends through... not real ones anyway. Don't know why and frankly I'm not going to waste both our times with a friendship speech because I seriously doubt that you would actually give a flying fig about what I have to say on the subject. But there is something I've learned by being a crime fighter that is worth reflecting on. When you don't have friends then all you have are enemies."

The movement that followed was fast. Exactly when the gumball was launched into the air was hard to pin point, but the speed at which Crimson had turned around in order to buck it, launching it at Low Key was insane! If Crimson was going down, he intended to go down fighting.

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