Masks 2

"She's a... An interdimensional moth-person? Is that right?" She looks to Therea, part of her wondering if that might be a bit racist. "Hey wait, no distractions -- what the fuck are you?"

Theraea waved at the entirely unfamiliar supervillain!

"Hello! That's right! I'm Theraea. I don't think we've met! I would have preferred if we never had to! I just finished putting this world back together again after the last god that tried to tear it to pieces. So... this isn't going to end well for you."

A midnight-black aura began rippling from Theraea's hands as she prepared to fight, once again. Always with the fighting!

---

Dr. Hartmann, in the meantime, remained toward the back. Now wasn't her time. Not just yet.

Orla looked stern, ready to throw down. She'd been keeping it up, the potential sensation of being crushed by the earth around them constant making it hard to take a moment to relax.

Then... wow, her first classic evil maniacal villain was doing well. Turning people into pickles was peak mad scientist stuff.

Shame she hadn't heard of this person. She still stepped a bit closer to John and whispered. "I don't remember this person from your comics."

Esen stares at this villain who she definitely doesn't recognize.

"Yea, what Finn said! Who the fuck are you?"

The Red Reaper had gotten a lot more restraint in his old age. He was barely keeping himself from unloading everything he had on the woman right then and there. He DID have his grenade launcher aimed directly at her.

"This is Radka Rykov," the Red Reaper said to everyone, nodding an acknowledgment at Orla. "She was a psychopathic pharmaceutical CEO I shot out a skyscraper window about thirty-five years ago. Looks like I wasn't thorough enough. Back then she could transfer wounds and sicknesses from herself into others and vice versa. Looks like she can do a bit more now."

Radka waved at the group. "Yeah. Hi. I'm still here. Why are you talking like I'm not here? Do all heros do this??? It's very prevalent in comics. While I would just be calling the kettle black to say that superheros have fantastic ego, I still can say you all don't have anything to back it up with."

She stretched a little and with that stretch, she started growing, and many, many eyeballs started appearing all over her body.

"As I was saying before I interrupted myself, and you all just thought for some weird reason you all could hold a conversation without me. I am Radka Rykov. You're new Gia to be worshiped and pampered. I am now the world and the world is I, I'll accept any side switching after this new revelation. Like, I wouldn't blame you at all if you would just turn because I'm so hot. Otherwise, I don't want you around or... Alive, really, If your not here to be devoted to me. I'll give you a minute to make your choice before I evict you from the world, or me as it were."

"Holy shit" Said Candy.

"...Just because it may as well be tried. Could you please not kill us all? Rather than just...settling down as a god on Mars or something and remaking life as you wish, like, a brand new start? You could do better than Earth, right, make your own new life rather than just keeping around some of the scraps of what some other deity threw together and honestly did a shitty job on, apart from how it eventually led to you of course."


Hey. Maybe flattering the egomaniacle god would work.

Turning some guy into a pickle huh? Funniest shit he'd ever heard of... Ezren seemed in pretty good humor. The little hallway murals were kind of delightful, and who didn't love a show? Nice eye tricks. Did he know her? Probably not, right? But the aesthetic seemed pretty in line with the ol' dayjob.

"Do I still get to fight the tree if I join you? Uhh, hypothetically speaking, if Mars is a no-go. Space-god sounds pretty cool to me actually I dunno..."

"Well, That sounds good, if I was a pansy. It's kind of sad to just go to a new place and just create lifeforms to worship you. That's lame and god is pathetic. Plus, you idiot, space travel is maybe a teensy bit FUCKING hard. I'm pretty sure even if I did make Mars like that you guys would stick your noses into it anyways. Another factor is I can just DO that too when I get earth settled down. My option is go for everything all the time. Thanks for the compliment though, but if you truly thought that you would be on board with me from the get go and not tell me to fuck off to Mars. Also, aren't you like.... Five???"

Radka glances over to Ezeren. "You just came all the way here to fight my tree?? They got the best of the best here don't they. I'm not one for really granting requests but its not much to grant it. If you truly wish to join me you can fight the tree. But it would have to be after these bozos are ejected from it. I am 100% a backstabber and I know when to not turn my back. So you will have to leave if that is your choice.

Ezren maybe turning on them over the chance to fight a tree made sense. She was pretty cool with that. Like, this was a literal deal with a literal devil -- she wasn't about to get mad at a fish for swimming. This seemed pretty best-case-scenario -- unless he decided the power of friendship was worth more than fighting a tree? Then it was a second-best-case scenario. She offered him a smile and a nod, as if to say, 'yeah, I get it, I mean, she is made of so many eyes.'

Two things were true at once. First: this Radka lady was right about being hot, even with the eyes, and that was bullshit. Finn could never pull off the eyeball-skin look, and she had to admit a shameful amount of respect for Radka over that.

Second: By no means could they not kill this super hot evil lady.

"Ego? Hah! That's where you're wrong. I've had my ego ripped to shreds. Oh, a couple years back, aye, before I was a superhero -- back then I had somethin' resembling a wee little frail ego. Told myself that I was a solid detective with a godlike sense of style. But now? Now I've got little n' nothin'. My little sister is a baby and she's a better mage than I'll ever be;  my mentor fucked off without warning to go get a hunk of space ass -- not to say I wouldn't or anything, but still. My dad's the magical equivalent of a shit-tornado that wheels into town and makes a foul-smelling mess of things before grinnin' over it like a cat offering you some sort of terrible gift. Only thing I've ever been a part of that didn't go to shit was Orla, and that's because she was a true hero from the start. I'm bottom of the barrel, and I know it -- the sort of hero who shows up to crack a few jokes and fill a few pages, maybe kill a mook or two in the action scene. Real Devana-tier shit. But!"

She grips her sword, though she doesn't raise it -- no reason to start a fight when she doesn't have to. "That doesn't mean I'll back down to any hot flesh-bending eldritch-babe-monster-god who crosses my way. Bit players still have their parts. If I can make the real heroes shine a bit brighter, I'm happy with that. I helped kill one apocalyptic-level megalomaniacal bampot; I can help kill another. So count me as a big old nasty bleedin'-nose-red X of a no."

...Though if you could give me a couple hair tips before we go 'n kill each other, that would be dandy."

Raven, meanwhile, said nothing. Keeping an eye on their surroundings, particularly the darker parts of the chamber and what was above and below them, allowing the others their banter with what was, apparently, the Red Reaper of all peoples' arch nemesis.

Didn't see that one coming.

Speaking of not seeing it coming, that was what he was seeking to prevent. Readying ice spells the freeze the shit out of the horrific plant monstrosities around them that, doubtless, this Radka person was preparing to skewer them with while drawing their attention, he drew his family sword in preparation for what was, in all due likelihood, probably going to be the roughest fight in decades.

"You know all these years not indulging in the corporate streamlined merchandising of ourselves and here I am, standing here being lectured by a mad woman made of eyes comparing real life to comic books. Not how I'd chose to die, but to each their own I suppose."

Esen flips Radka off, then for good measure flips the Red Reaper off.

"Seriously? You shot someone who could transfer her wounds out the window and didn't think to check you'd finished the job? Fuck that! And fuck you! I just got my city free from the Omnicorp, kinda, I am not letting some mad supervillain with delusions of being better than everyone else fuckin 'evict' me from my own planet! Get your own planet if you wanna be god, this one's taken and we're not gonna fucking give it up!"

Radka just stares at Finn, and like, all her eyes blink a couple of times. “Oooo kaaaay, wasn't expecting the life story there darling. I don’t know what to say at that as your antagonist and god.Um, your style is still pretty okay? If it makes you feel better, being one of the first to die to me in this form will put your name out there.”

She turned toward The Raven and also just gave him a once over. Then turns back to Finn. “How can you feel like you lost your style when this bozo is here.” She gestured to The Raven again.

When Esen speaks up Radka bursts out laughing and also flips off Red Reaper. She wipes a tear from her only eyes that have tear ducts. “It’s wild to me that most of you are just telling me to move., like THATS your best argument here,  I expected calls to morality or humanity… but I guess to be fair you can probably all tell how it would pan out. I already told you I can get all planets why settle for one. Also, if you haven’t realized, my plants have already reclaimed the wastelands. I’m bringing the world into a new Era of absolute health. I’m just that benevolent you know. People still get benefits from my eternal take over.” She says, most of it tongue in cheek.

Orla pondered a little further.

"How about... No... It's a little tricky to avoid an argument based on morality or humanity, but like, it'd feel sort of pissing in the wind to try that when so many people are already dead, I never really liked it when the villain caved at that point afterwards. Finn's emotional approach clearly didn't land at all which is a little demoralising and horrifying to see just shrugged off in person but, clears some things. Also, no, I'm like... not five, just a whole lot of things that made me look younger and then bigger and it's a whole thing and anyway off topic."

"Which leaves, some kind of intellectual argument, but... I mean, you're already in a pretty good position here. It's kindof a pain that you want gratification and worship despite also not valuing people really so... It's hard to work with that. I guess we could-" And Orla just fucking threw a rock like a beanball at Radka's head mid sentence.

All of Radkas eyes watch the rock as it flys toward her and she just smirks before she let it obliterate her head. Gore and viscera and bone fly everywhere. It is then a hand is seen that comes from her back. It looks like it caught the rock. She raises her left hand up and her head reforms back into its previous state.

She clears her throat and hucks out some blood. “You could’ve at least make a joke about it girlie, the words words words thing kinda just fell flat to me. Honestly. If I was wearing my sunglasses, they would’ve been obliterated. And that would be unforgivable.” The back arm held up the rock above her head. “Am I to take this as our chat being done?”

Just as Finn is about to think her god-to-be for the compliment, her good bud Orla fuckin' decapitates her. Holy shit. Goddamn. Nice.

She grips her sword and sets it on fire. Fire seems a solid choice for a flesh-god-monster. She offers up a grin. "I'm game to go? Long as there's no objections, seems like a good time to start the whole final boss bullshit, aye."

Raven looked on with alarm as he saw Radka decapitated only to reform her head and seemingly morph an extra hand to capture the tossed stone.

Finn was going to unleash fire which to be fair, was Raven's first guess as well. But now he wasn't convinced it'd be enough. If she could do that in an instant, and she was connected to all this rampant mutagenic plantlife...

There really wouldn't be enough fire in the world to burn it all quick enough before she killed them all and reformed elsewhere. She was manipulating the raw physical elements of life itself to her advantage, he had seen it before, he had done it before. And now they needed to find some way to stop it. He knew of one such way.

"Demon, Nick, guys..." Raven began. "Sorry about this," he raised his hand spouted something in magetongue, and shot a bolt of necromantic magic at Radka. "I can slow her healing but I cannot stop it, go!"

“Alright then. Hope you all have enjoyed your lives.” Then she laughs. “Wait. No I don’t. I don’t fucking care at all.”

With that. A skeleton arm pops out of the ground behind Candy and grips her leg, after a second it begins growing flesh. Candy goes to stomp on it but another arm comes out of it and grabs the other leg. The arm glows green and then suddenly Candy gasps for air and grips at her throat. It seems that she can no longer breathe.

The Red Reaper immediately began opening fire on Radka with his shotgun, firing custom incendiary explosive rounds. This probably blew her body apart, but it's not like Radka really cared. At the same time, the Demon noticed the Raven's focus on misdirection, and began focusing on creating an illusory scene around Radka, trying to mask where everybody was. Nick focused on using telekinesis to create false pressure and footprints around the place, hoping it might overwhelm Radka's senses.

Banshee pulled a knife out and stabbed herself in the gut, then began tearing roots out of the ground. Darkmagic began firing into the roots, filling them with necrosis from her enchanted ammunition. Salamandra began lighting things on fire with her flame breath, and Tony Margera began skating around the place. He looked to be hoping to find some kind of weakpoint.

Over the comms, they received broken communications from Emily.

"ON...kzzzt...WAY...STKZZZTY...ALKRRAKIVE..."

Emily, as things began popping off, stopped considering how one might excise a malignant, sentient tumor from an entire planet. That could come later. More immediate was the problem of Candy being suffocated by Ground Arms. Emily launched herself in that direction, raising a hand and projecting a radiant light into her for whatever the "inexplicable healing magic" version of a tracheostomy was. She kept an eye on the situation as a whole, just waiting for the next time someone got horribly injured. There was going to be a lot of that today.

---

Theraea, meanwhile, hid herself behind the Demon's illusions, mind racing as to what she could actually do here. There was only so much a few force fields could do to protect against an entity of this scale, and launching projectiles at it would be laughably ineffective. However, maybe she could figure something out to slow her down - enough to let the others do their thing.

She hurriedly ripped her backpack-mounted reality anchor off - she could survive fine in this environment in the short term - and whipped out a complex multitool. She set to work, tearing open panels, pulling out glowing wires and conduits, and wiring things together with the amplifier she wore for her Abyssal powers. It was unconventional - the anchor was never designed to have its yield boosted enough to nullify the powers of some manner of cosmic Flesh Entity - but if this worked it might be exactly the edge they all needed.

If it didn't work, well, Theraea probably wouldn't be needing new equipment anyway.

Orla was in a similar boat. The petty, winging it, near spiteful approach hadn't really worked, as expected, but it had been her big play really.

Felt bad that apparently Candy was getting the hate for it. Also, gross. Was that what it looked like when she healed too? Regeneration was gross.

"You're still not as bad as the blob monster in Cairo." She said, preping to mostly just cut away at any tendrils that grabbed anyone and play defense, whilst those with magic or otherwise played offence.

Ezren zoned right the hell out, considering whether or not the tree fight would be worth not fighting the eye lady. Like, maybe this sounded like his usual gig, but he was on vacation right now, and the tree was a lot more... novel than Radka, in terms of stuff to beat up. She was also pretty funny, and that went a long way in securing some sympathies. And anyway-

Oh actually Orla pointed out something pretty sweet, and Radka suddenly became WAY better enrichment for a restless demon. Fine, fine, ONE gig pro bono.

One by one the roots flew from Banshee's assault, and he caught two of them, slamming them together to make himself a giant pair of flaming hedge shears. He got to work fast, going to prune any arms coming out of the ground as he got to them. Cadence's first, but he was pretty sure that wasn't going to be a one-off thing.

Esen fights defensively at first, trying to get the high ground on Radka and her planty tendrils. She looks for openings to slice at the villain, and tries her best to attack quickly. More wounds means it takes longer to heal than one big wound, right? Hopefully.

Right. No more time for drooling over hot god-monster-devil-billionaire-eldritch-flesh-frankensteins. It was time for action; time to go all out! It was time to hit big bastards with a big sword and look cool doing it!

She wove together fire and wind magic, compact and contained -- then released the bindings in a sudden unraveling of energies, sending her flying straight into a slash across the tree's tendrils! Once her blade is free of the treeflesh, she casts a second explosion to hurl herself down towards the Really Hot Freak God!

Raven spots the skeletal arms gripping Candy and holding her in place and quickly turns towards her targeting the partially fleshed out limbs and casting necromancy to grip and command the limbs to let go and break up and disrupt their generation.