Once the crowd's cheers, jeers, and screams died down, the only sound left was the whoosh of the high-speed winds at Lilith's altitude.
Red Global's expectant, icy gaze somehow broke through the silence. Lilith had mear moments to answer.
"Well?" The Red Villain mused.
Lilith went with her gut. "We aren't Sentinels anymore, Red Global. Chancel-"
"I know very well what Chancellor Verendia did to your little security force. My question is whether you come as independent citizens or agents of the Republic."
"Independent." Lilith shuddered at renouncing the Republic's protection so openly, but there was no way to finesse this answer. Hopefully Dr. Atomic would figure out that safe house soon.
"Good. I like that answer." With a flick of her wrist, Red Global signaled her side of the audience. They broke out in an approving cheer. "But instead of letting you interfere with my beloved Sons of Retribution, I offer an equal exchange."
Lilith squinted in confusion, and Red Global laughed. "I'm proposing a battle, hon. You're most a strike force trained by the Shield themselves, are you not? A suitable challenge should be allowed from our side. Fair?"
Begrudgingly, Lilith accepted, but she would make this a show. Falco might pull off the rescue if she could keep Red Global entertained. Every second counted. Lilith raised her voice and walked to the edge of the stage to address the audience. "Then we accept, as long as the battle is on our terms."
Both sides of the seating went wild with euphoria - except Red Global, who just stood there, hand on her chin, thinking. The Villain softly cleared her throat, and the crowd went silent as a church mouse.
"Come to think of it." Red Global did a pointed once over of Lilith's group. "The member you're missing was... a Speedster, right?"
A flurry of whispers broke out among the viewers.
"Your Falco's name wouldn't happen to be Johann, would it?" Red Global slapped her belly, peeling with laughter at Lilith's expression. She wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. "This day just keeps getting better and better. Ok newbies, change of plans. I pick the fighters - and the rules. Oh. And I'm fighting."
Lilith's heart stopped beating in shock.
Red Global's hologram twitched, flickered, and vanished. The image resumed shortly after - the Villain now stood tapping her foot. "Well? Are you coming to meet my challenge?" She raised a finger to the sky and a beam of light shot upward. It shone through the skylight of the news building. She'd moved from the upper atmosphere into that building in an instant.
"I'd put your toys away sweetie. They won't do you much good down here." Red Global cooed as she blew a kiss goodbye.
The joint-stream cut off, and half the audience went with it. The remaining viewers were a mixed bag of grimaces and halfhearted smiles.
They knew Lilith and her team were in deep. Now that Red Global suspected Falco, there was no way to back out. Lilith glanced at her friends while the streaming drones stopped the holograms and packed themselves away.
Rosenquartz's stony visage looked eager, and his smile widened as they locked eyes, but Gabriel looked off. Even tucked away under the armor, Lilith could almost feel his nervous energy.
Nevertheless, the captain spoke clearly. "Are you ready?" Gabriel extended his hand her way, intending to carry them all down in case he needed to put up a shield.
Lilith's eerie gut feeling ripped into her confidence again.
She tried some banter to ease her nerves. "Not all of us were trained to leap into danger since birth Wrench Head." She smiled as she took his hand and he nestled her close, giving her a practiced delicate squeeze with the power suit.
A firm embrace was her safeguard from the uncertainty of the day that might be there last. The coldness of the armor felt as tender as his arms the last time they'd touched. She could tell he was looking down at her, and met his gaze with a half-lidded, broken smile. The impossible apocalypse she'd left him over... had come to pass.
Had she wasted the time they had together being petty?
Gabriel's visor went translucent, and she saw a trail of tears marring his delicate face. He looked calm, with a warm smile that scrunched his nose up. The big sap.
"Thank you for everything Lilith." He gazed deep into her pupils. "Wish I'd known what to say to fix us before today, but I'll see what I can do about that tomorrow, if you'd give me another chance - and for the record, I was made six years ago, so you've been training to do that longer than I have." He winked, and lifted Rosenquartz with his other arm until the giant man stood on one of Gabriel's boots.
A second beam of red light cut through the sunshine - someone was getting impatient. There was no time to talk or make amends. Lilith bit her lip.
"For Falco!" The captain boomed.
His team echoed his cry, and Gabriel accelerated and they fell to the news building.
Moving with gravity was rough, Lilith always felt like she was in freefall. She wasn't surprised Quartz had issues flying with Gabe, but they broke through the skylight faster than Lilith thought possible.
The stop was just as rough, frankly, she was surprised Gabriel's Class 3 body could handle so many G's. Lilith felt her headache worsen at the abrupt landing and noticed they hadn't even cracked the floor. Gabriel was getting better. The instant they landed, Rosenquartz took off sprinting to the door but slowed in confusion.
The broadcasting room was tense, but not chaotic or violent.
Red Global stood lazily behind Fatima, everyone else was frozen in shock. At the door, what looked like a Class 3 Super was holding the thick door shut as bodies thudded up against it. The limber reporter looked to have the situation well in hand, though her hair was a mess and her face was red.
Drones filled the air above them with Red Global's lights and cameras. "Welcome, welcome! Everybody give a warm round of applause to our contestants today: a ragtag bunch formerly associated with the Republic! Now, if I could have some space here, would the viewers in the building please stop this ruckus at the door? Miss Janna Rio over here has earned a rest, and trust me, you do not want to walk in here."
It took a few seconds, but after a couple of shouts and a small explosion from the hallway, the shoving at the door stopped abruptly. The surprisingly strong reporter stayed at the door and waved Rosenquartz back to the group.
An ominous look and a deep breath from Red Global kept the team on their toes. "I will fight first, then my teammates will take a turn. We fight until one of us remains or an entire team surrenders."
Despite the terms, the Heroes relaxed a fraction, they had a moment to pick who would go first, so they convened in a huddle.
"I think I should go first," Rosenquartz said, surprising Lilith and Gabriel.
"What?" The pink giant asked. "I can take a few hits. You figure out how to stop her. Who knows? Maybe I'll manage to hit her with her own lasers and win."
He was wildly overestimating his strength. A Class 5, Rosenquartz was close to the most indestructible thing on the planet, but even that wouldn't hold up long against Red Global - who was too strong to even be Classed.
Despite this, Gabriel nodded and whispered, "If things get too heated I'll jump in. Don't hesitate to surrender if need be."
Rosenquartz nodded and left the huddle, stomping across the floor and emphasizing his bulk.
Gabriel brushed Lilith's arm. "If things go south, get the civilians out."
"But I can-"
Gabriel shook his head. "Best way to find Falco. Once you rendezvous, come back to help. We'll need you by then, just hurry."
Lilith nodded and Gabriel stood back to full height to watch the combatants squaring off.
Red Global eyed Rosenquartz with a mischievous smirk. "Most Rockies can't heal very well. Ever broken anything?" She teased.
Ouch. Right in Quartz's trigger zone, but he took the jab like a champ. He growled back, "Not once."
Lilith had never heard the gentle creature make such an aggressive noise. She took the chance to make note of how many people she'd need to get out of harm's way. 16 Civilians including Falco's grandmother. It would be a challenge but she could manage.
If only Falco were here, she thought at the exact moment she saw him hiding his face in the shadows under his heavy hood. He wasn't doing much other than making himself scarce in a corner.
Careful not to stare too long, she put together a mental map of who she'd move first. Most civilians wore armbands marking their Class, which made it easy to tell who could withstand what.
The reporter was the only Class 3 in the room, there were a few Class 2's and even more Class 1's. Janna could jump from this height to the ground and survive, as could most of the Class 2's, if Lilith blasted a hole in the wall.
Rescuing the Class 1's would be trickier. Getting them out through a building full of hostile supers wasn't the right move. She'd have to round them up and break through each of the thirty floors one at a time, maybe two.
A laugh from Red Global brought Lilith's attention back to the ensuing battle.
"Ok ok, big man. I admit you have a better poker face goin' on here. Now for my final announcement before... uh... you!" Red global pointed to a thin, trembling man in glasses. "You're gonna count us down from 5 on my mark. Anyway, final announcement, whoever wins gets to keep this young lady right here as a prize."
Red Global lowered her arms to grasp Fatima's shoulders, and the pressure in Lilith's gut exploded - whatever it was she'd sensed coming was here.
What happened next was too fast to see.
In Red Global's place stood Falco, arm outstreched with a disbelieving look of shock. Red Global landed in a heap after cracking her head on the wall. She wasn't moving.
Strike Force Gamma stared at Falco, whose face had hardened into pure determination. "Trust me!" He yelled. "This was the only way!" He picked up Fatima and sprinted out of the room at near-normal speeds.
Lilith flung a whirling mass of hex at the nearest wall, eroding a warm bay window into the concrete. Whatever just happened, it counted as shit hitting the fan. "Everyone who can survive the jump, OUT! Everyone else, with me!"
The lower-tiered Class 2's and Class 1's flocked around her as Red Global twitched. No, no, no. Lilith was blanking in panic. The hex energy that wouldn't melt people, what did it feel like again? Think girl, think.
Lilith gave up on grabbing hold of her unruly powers and punched a hole in the floor in anger. No dice - it was at least five feet thick and reinforced for heavier Supers.
"Stand back at least 10 feet!" She ordered the crowd of a dozen or so people around her as she unhooked her mace and charged it with hex energy. She brought it down on the hole made by her fist.
The floor shattered to dust, and a few of the nearby Supers had to leap away from the hex. One wasn't fast enough, and her leg withered away. Lilith shot around with her flight boots and started flinging people down to the next floor.
When she got to the screaming woman, she cast her quickest restoration mantra and gently floated the wounded Super down. Her leg was already coming back, but she'd need help getting out.
"You! Carry her until her leg's finished regrowing. Everybody same drill here just a little farther back. We're doing this one floor at a time. Feel free to jump out a window when you can take the landing."
A piercing hum filled the air and instinctually, Lilith floated back up to see what was going on. She regretted peaking.
Gabriel's suit was moving into full power as tendrils of writhing antimatter shot from the back of his power armor. He stood next to Rosenquartz, who stooped low like a mountain waiting to wrestle. They stared down death itself as the red-leathered Villain regained shaky footing.
Red Global's neck snapped itself back from the twisted angle it had broken in. "Ow." Her eyes sang bloodlust.
Oh Falco, what have you done?