[6/7] Something Awesome [1.3 - Redwatch] [Slot Open - Accepting Entries]

bigro (Nate Selman) may not be able to keep up (basically probably not). Expect a slot opening soonish.

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"Backup? Yeah, let me show you." The SWAT officer quickly directs you to a room with an emergency exit, and promptly disables the alarm on it and kicks the door open.

Outside, a series of SWAT teams are lined up. It's obvious they all came prepared for a threat - every soldier in the lineup is armed to the teeth and covered in specialty combat vests.

"Soon as we saw those magical freaks, we sent our best men to the front row. We'd have deployed magical troops of our own, too bad we aren't exactly stocked on them..."

Before you can even ask about magical troops, a bomb goes off elsewhere. The pillar of smoke and flame shoots up from within the SWAT crowd, sending bodies and equipment flying. A few more explosions go off inside the thicket of officers.

"...On second thought, perhaps we don't have as much of a backup as we expected..." Turning to his earpiece, he quickly screams into it in a fit of frustration and anger. "Colonel, just what the hell are we facing? They've blown up at least half our men!"

Melinda flinches sharply and slams her hands over her ears. "What the shit?!" she shouts. Those guys didn't all die, not that easily, right?

These guys really are tough. Maybe she really should be more careful where she steps...

...Nah, this is no time to be scared, she needs to get angry! What do those jerks think they're doing, blowing up all those SWAT guys like that?!

Despite telling herself that, all she can really do is stare at the sudden carnage and wait for an answer from the colonel.

"Son of a-"

Lawrence catches himself before he curses in front of the children.

"Is there somewhere we should be heading now?"

The officer's higher-up is heard responding. "Hell if I know! Find whoever's leading them and kill the bastard! We'll worry about the underlings with C4 later!"

Looking off to the side, you see John escaping into a nearby forest. Perhaps it's time to give chase.

"There he is!"

Lawrence points at John and runs after him.

"LET'S GET 'IM!" Melinda charges after the vile villain in her usual spontaneous manner, not even realizing that her volume probably tipped the guy off a little too much. She seems to have completely forgotten about the explosions.

Arthur stands motionless, still in a bit of shock from the explosion, he's had more than enough of explosions for one day to turn any sane man into a babbling mess. Fortunately, Arthur is not a sane man.

It is only when Melinda shouts it snaps him out of his state, the King yelling a response out of reflex. "Ye gods!"

He processes the information and spins around, catching a brief glimpse of John through his helmet, that bomb was probably his doing. Without any delay he sprints forward and draws his sword, if the cut-throat thinks he can escape into the forest he would have another thing coming, that is Arthur's territory and no-one knows it better than him. He looks forward to crossing swords with the murderer.

The three of you lead the charge. John doesn't notice - he has long since vanished into the underbrush, now fleeing from the school grounds and site of action.

Melinda, a little headstrong, runs ahead of the crowd. As she's running, explosions continue to go off around the party and in the thicket of both enemy combatants and local authorities.

"Get down!" Melinda is tackled by a mysterious figure - a man concealed by a black hoodie - and is thrown to the ground as an explosive whirls past her. Arthur and Lawrence stop in their sprinting, avoiding a potential hail of explosives.

The man quickly jumps to his feet and punches a charging Awesome Squad soldier in the face. He speaks in a aged, low, and gravely voice with a noticeable hint of irritation. "Thank me later. Get out of this hellzone first."

He sprints after John.

"Wait!" Melinda shouts, getting up on one knee, the explosions reminding her of the grenade rounds she'd received earlier. "I've got something I can throw at 'im!" Without thinking any further, and ignoring the mysterious warrior's order, she continues charging, already grabbing for one of the grenades.

The hooded guy runs ahead and trips Melinda.

He then proceeds to drag her into the underbrush where John fled.

"H-Hey! Leggo!" Melinda kicks and struggles wildly, putting in every effort to rip herself from the hooded man's grip. Who does this guy think he is?!

"What the - you get back there too! Ms. Greenfield!"

Lawrence runs after them.

In a moment, the hooded man quickly pulls Melinda through the brush, barely dodging another thrown projectile. Lawrence, the SWAT officer, and Arthur all complete their move to the brush.

"Sorry for saving your hide, you reckless girl," he mutters. His voice is reminiscent of a low growl. "And you would've thought the Awesome Squad had died when their leader died..."

"Whatever, thanks for helping me, but we can't waste any more time! We have to get that guy!" She holds up a grenade round and the forceps she'd gotten. "I can help! Why won't anyone let me help?! Is it 'cause I'm young?!"

"So you want to charge headfirst into a fight against a magical terrorist, who is a minor general of a network of terrorists with a seemingly infinite supply of money and magical firepower?"

The hooded man snarls again. "Think before you act, you nearly died in that minefield-" He is cut off by another loud bang nearby.

"What?!" Arthur shouts, stepping forward. "Listen here, traveler, lead the way then! Let me aid you, I'm garbed in armor and this is my business as well!"

He keeps his hand by the sword at his side, leaning forward ready to chase after the John. The filth is getting away!

Oren follows Arthur, deciding that the best place to take cover from explosions is probably the big moving fridge.
But these explosions come fast and hard and ain't showing any signs of running out. He taps the King of the Britons on one pauldron.
"Uh, Art, maybe we should turn back."

"...Doesn't seem like there are any explosions up ahead. Let's go."

The hooded man walks off into the forest.

After recovering from the nearby explosion, Melinda opens her mouth to fire off a retort, but reluctantly shuts it again. She doesn't really have anything to say to that. In an attempt to salvage her dignity, she merely growls, "Don't underestimate me," and follows the hooded man, walking up next to Arthur. How's she supposed to prove herself if no one will give her a chance?

"I uh - okay?"

Lawrence is confused by this whole state of affairs but decides that there's strength in numbers and follows along. Also, the prospect of escaping the, you know, massive amount of things blowing up around him was appealing too.

1.3

Redwatch

Melinda and Lawrence follow the mysterious hooded man into the forest. He turns and speaks to them once the explosions have died down. Arthur and Oren are seen trailing behind as well.

"I'm certain you both have questions," he mutters. "I've been seeking answers on my own. These 'awesome squad' bastards killed my friends. I've yet to prove it, but I feel they're the ones behind it. I don't know who their leader is or how they got magical allies, but I've love to take that kind of raw power and rip their leader limb from limb..."

The hooded man grows more agitated, staring Melinda down and increasingly getting more and more uncomfortable as he looks at her - only to soon snap out of his silent frenzy. "...ahem. Sorry. Anyway, considering you guys could face the Awesome Squad head on, something tells me with some help you could kill their lowest ranking general."

He shifts around, looking at the forest furtively for a second. "I don't know if you guys know his real name or if he even was here, but that bastard goes by the codename of General Skidplate. Bastard's damn near impossible to fight alone, he just paralyzes and blows people up."

The hooded man looks ahead. "Anything else you need to ask, go ahead. I'm certain he's in some clearing ahead, escaping from the firezone as the SWAT teams try to suppress the bombing. If I can't handle him alone, you guys can help."

Melinda follows behind with her hands stuck in her pockets, still grumpy from the way this guy had been treating her. "I got a question for you," she grumbles. "Are you afraid to fight with a girl? Is that it?"

"I'd expect you to be a little more grateful considering I saved you life not three minutes ago, but I've dealt with unreasonably bullheaded people before." His voice lowers to a growl once more. "And I'm not afraid of a high school student. If I were younger, I could kill someone in mere seconds... it'd take me a few minutes now."

"I'm not gonna be grateful until you give a damn about me," Melinda shoots right back, "instead of saving me just so you can treat me like dirt! For a hero, you sure are a real jerk."

"Enough."

Lawrence steps between Melinda and the stranger.

"Now, killing is kind of... well extreme. If we were going to take this guy down, shouldn't we bring him to the proper authorities? Besides, won't this just make the, um, 'Awesome Squad' come after us even more?"