A Brush With Death

The power of the Process Energy Skill was one that, had he not had to do dozens of times, over and over when he was trying to get his own Framework to match what he was trying to pretend to be for the Basic Training, he might have had difficulty with. However, the young man had more than enough practice at processing it to flood Evie's body with the Death Framework, restoring her to the Framework she'd had before, and possibly then some- he didn't know exactly how much he had put back into her... nor did he really remember where she'd been after all of his experimentation.

The icy cold touch of the Void on his skin was something he had unfortunately started to get used to, with how often he'd done it. Still, he shook out his hand a bit, before he looked down to her. "I need one more favor, once the fight starts. Teleport me as far as you can toward the firebird. I'm going to see if I can use my Devour Energy Skill on it."

The girl blinked at the request, but nodded, giving him a wide grin. "Sure! You got it!" she continued, before glancing back at the rest of the group. "Won't they know something's up?"

"Maybe. But this is too good of an opportunity to pass up," he spoke, and Evie nodded. "All right. Let's see if we'll be all right," he spoke, glancing to the others, swallowing slightly. He had taken command of everyone and better yet, everyone had listened to him... but there was something unexpected starting to creep up in the back of his neck.

Responsibility.

He was now responsible for everyone's lives because they were following his plan. He didn't think that there would be any sort of issue... but he could tell that Shannon was watching him with both annoyance and curiosity both. He had taken control quite quickly, and now he was the one that they were all going to answer to. "All right," he spoke as he came back forward. "I'm going to check the firebird and see if I can restore it so it can help in the fight," he said as he moved forward toward the group. "I don't know if I can, and I don't have any skill to get away, so if this doesn't work... it won't be good."

"So what, you're not sticking with the rest of us after that big speech you gave?" Andrew spoke, his eyes narrowing. "Typical. Whatever. I hope you get eaten," the man spoke, earning a few glares from Sasha and Jay, but the man didn't say anything further.

Wesley shook his head. "It's a gamble. If it can be affected by Restoration, I might be able to bring it back toward the Beast to help. If not... then yeah, I'll get eaten," Wesley spoke, hoping that wasn't at all the case.

"John, make sure that I stay safe. Don't let it get too close," Andrew spoke, pointing a finger at him. John didn't answer verbally, but nodded in response, as he and Jay began to move forward, alongside Mr. Woodhead.

"Here we go! Good luck!" Wesley called as he felt Evie set her hands on his back and then in a moment he was gone. As soon as the world started to return to his senses, he stumbled forward, a good bit past the Beast. It didn't seem to notice him. Good. If it had, this whole thing would have been over before it had started. He had considered Mason as the one to Teleport him, given that they could have moved a lot faster, but he couldn't let on what he did.

He wasn't sure why he couldn't, but something deep down told him to keep it quiet as long as possible. Maybe it was the fact that Major Ellen hadn't put it officially on the books, and instead had him written down as a Twenty-Fiver. Maybe when he had some time to actually sit and think about things again he could puzzle it out. That or talk to Major Gustave- he seemed a lot more open in chatting with him about things.

But without any Space or Time Framework available, Wesley didn't have any way to accelerate just how fast he could move, and the only thing he really could do with his Earthshaping was to adjust the path before him, making it as much of a straight shot as possible so then he needn't worry about tripping or falling over anything that might be between him and his target.

The sounds of battle were behind him, and he was tempted to look and see how things were going, but he focused his mind forward on his task. He couldn't help from here even if he wanted to.

It thankfully didn't take very long, able to use his Restoration Skill to ease the burning of his muscles and the stitch in his side as he sprinted forward at full speed. There was no reason for him to slow down, and this was the closest that he could get to some sort of speed enhancement.

As he drew closer, the air was considerably warmer around the creature, although once he was within sight, he coudl see that the firebird was very dead. Disemboweled from the serrated fangs of the Beast, its insides were now definitively on the outside, spread across the street and with the heat the creature was putting off, already starting to spoil.

Suppressing the sudden gag reflex at the assault on his olfactory senses, Wesley moved closer to the creature, extending a hand out toward it. The faint grey energy began to build up around his fingertips and with only the barest few seconds of hesitation, he placed his palm forward against it.

Immediately, warmth like a perfect summer's day began to wrap around him, and he felt almost as if he were glowing with energy as he began to Devour the Framework of the firebird. He assumed that most of it would be wreathed in a Death Framework, given its ability to use fire, but he wouldn't know that for sure until he was able to see another test. Of course, those would need to be done in private as well.

The warmth wasn't nearly as strong or as hot as the fiery heat that he had felt from trying to draw energy from Gustave, and as he held his hand outward, that warmth began to steadily fade until he realized that while he had been using the Devour Energy skill, his hearing had also tuned out all of the other noises. The only reason he recognized that was the sounds of combat beginning to fade back in around him as he pulled his hand back, his heart hammering in his chest.

He turned, looking back over his shoulder where his allies were dealing with the Beast. Thankfully, its bizarre anatomy gave it some real difficulty in being able to attack the smaller humans with its fangs, but the claws were still quite dangerous. Between John, Mason and Sasha, however, they were at least able to keep it away from dealing any serious harm.

"Okay. Let's just get back over there. I need to move..!" he spoke, and as he took a step forward, the space between him and the others began to shrink. It was similar to what Sasha had done before to Gustave's summon... but in reverse. He didn't have time to really puzzle out how he'd done it, but he imagined that the firebird had some Space Framework as well that he had managed to get, and while it wasn't nearly as useful as a teleport, he was still crossing the distance in a small portion of the time it would have taken otherwise.

As he approached, he could see John taking the forefront, which was to be expected as a Tier Two. Even if he didn't have the same combat experience as other Soldiers, he had a lot of natural talent, and that allowed him to perform well above the others in terms of raw ability. But even still, he saw Andrew move, throwing his fist outward (in what was a rather poor rendition of a punch) as he did, a red trail moved through the sky towad the Beast, before flames exploded on its side.

Could he get away with doing that? Maybe. He shifted his stance as he came closer, still sprinting as he activated yet another Skill. Between the Distance and the Restoration Skills both active, he could feel himself starting to get a little woozy. His arm snapped upward, sending out a wave of force. Rather than go for the Fireshaping, he instead went with the High Impact that he and Jay were supposed to 'share.'

As the attack hit unguarded, the Beast let out a bellow of pain, causing the creature to turn slightly to see where it had been targeted from.

"Not good," Wesley hissed as he took a step backward. He hadn't expected to piss it off that badly, and yet... it was seeking him out after just one strike, ignoring the others. Rather than flee, Wesley stood his ground. "Come on! Show me what you're made of!" he roared at the Beast, earning a garbled, strangled cry in return as it met the challenge!