Template:Featured Articles/15-2024

Moment of Awesome - Artie Maddicks/Facade: During the battle of District X, Artie uses less conventional means to try and stop Death. It was a little like the parting of the Red Sea. As soon as Hope had spoken, the road ahead of Artie rose up, as if someone had pinched the surface and pulled upwards. Cars, trash cans, newspaper boxes, all sorts of debris all rolled down either side of the black peak in a clatter. Then the road sank down again, flat, unencumbered, a straight line between the Range Rover and the spot Hope had indicated. I live my life a quarter mile at a time, rang in Artie's ears as he hit the clutch and accelerator, revving the engine. Three, two, one... go. He put it into gear and took off, getting as much juice out of second as he could before shifting into third and hitting 45 miles an hour. The rev of an engine itself wasn't particularly notable, but it did seem odd it appeared to be getting closer. Automatically, Death turned in the direction of the sound. This would only work if he could keep Death in one place. Artie couldn't cloak the whole road but could create a bubble of illusion 30 feet wide and tall across it. Within it, the world fractured, splintered and recombined, whirling around Death. The Horseman's perceptions spun in a disorienting kaleidoscope of shapes and colors. The sudden clash between the visual input and what his body knew to be true struck him with a wave of motion sickness severe enough to make him stagger. Unfortunately, the direction he stumbled was away from the building and into the street. The problem with an illusion like this was that once it was up, nothing inside the field was visible outside. Artie had a ten count before he'd be there. "Hope! Location!" Quickly turning her head, Hope blinked once at the car quickly speeding at them, Artie's aura full of determination blazing from behind the wheel. "Two'clock for if you turn now!" She hurriedly projected, a little piece of her scouting training under the Archduke surging to the fore. Artie adjusted his trajectory slightly and drove straight into the illusion he couldn't drop without losing the element of surprise. His car hit something and he jerked forward and back in the seat, airbag inflating and sending searing pain across his face as his nose broke. As it turned out, the ability to absorb and neutralize the vast majority of mutant powers was less effective against a direct hit from an SUV. Death landed in the windshield of an entirely different car, which came as a shock since he had never seen the first. From his point of view, the brief period he'd spent airborne had only been an extension of the labyrinthine riot his eyes were reporting. It was, therefore, something of a surprise when the visual distortions vanished to reveal a steaming and hugely dented range rover directly in front of him. The Horseman stared at the car in disbelief. "What sort of absolutely mental . . ."