DeviousMe

This was bad. The solid light weaponry shouldn't have done that - that's why it was called solid in the first place. It should have hit the guy like a freight train. After all, it had been designed to fight the very darkest of dark things, the Shades, which had in them not even a hint of light, and...

Duh!

Of course! Whatever he considered himself, the Consumed was still just human. That meant he wasn't composed of pure darkness. Still, the shell should have done a whole lot more. After all, if you suddenly expanded a solid object where a person was about to land, and he crashed into said object, there was generally at least some ill effect.

It was probably the makeup of this place. A slight adjustment to the frequency should take care of that. Next time, the light of this weaponry would be just as solid to the Consumed as it was to everything else.

Thankfully, the guy wasted time talking. Apparently, he hadn't gotten any smarter.

As the Consumed's energy-coated fists came down, they passed right through Acid, who had phased his molecular structure out of synch with normal space-time for a moment. He took a long step backwards as the Consumed struggled to reclaim his own balance, carried forward by the momentum of his own strike.

Taking advantage of his moment, Acid's long tail wrapped about his opponent's arm, pulling him along and using his already considerable momentum agsinst the Consumed, throwing him towards the wall again.

Of course, this would allow him just to become a puddle again - if Acid hadn't blasted a GP shell at the very same wall. With no air control to speak of, it turned the dark man around from one instant to the other, launching him towards Acid again with his back turned.

Although the reptilian didn't know if that GP shell had actually done any damage, he knew this next move would hurt to no end if he succeeded.

At the ready with his bladed weapon, he tried to ram the tip of it right into the Consumed's back, pulling the trigger at the same time. If this worked, the frequency-adjusted solid light shell would tear him apart from the inside out when the sphere of pure white light expanded within him like a concrete balloon in a time span of less than a millisecond...

((Alright Laz, I'm going to assume you have your reasons for that. Just tell me when you need a reaction.))

"Looks like our little operation is starting to take some defnite form." Vern commented as Moonscribe arrived, represented by his Disciple. He jumped down from the command walkway anto the actual floor again, walking towards the suddenly appeared man, "I do realize you have a base of operations, but Ace and I thought maybe a mobile one would be better suited for the job of recovering that stupid book. I still say we should've destroyed it, but i course he never listens. Anyway, we..."

[ QUOTE ]
"Vern get us to the surface.", the twins said in unison with the same tone of hatred. "Get us there now."

[/ QUOTE ]
"Oh geez, you two again?" Vern growled, shooting a glare in their direction, "Alright, you know what? You want down so bad, go ahead."

He turned to the starboard airlock. Moments later, the interior door opened, and then an override enegaged, opening the exterior door as well. A chilling night wind rushed into the bridge. The airship wasn't high enough to claim a significant pressurization right now.

"There. Go right ahead. But watch your step, that first one's a real loo-loo."

Not only that, but the dark airship had already made its way over the ocean a fair distance...

Acid had little trouble keeping up with the Consumed's puddlegliding. If he wanted to get to the reptilian, he'd have to do something unexpected again.

As the dark man dropped rom the ceiling, Acid got an idea - he may have been able to merge with the walls at any point in time, but in midair, he didn't have that option.

So Acid threw a force bolt upwards with just enough energy to bounce the Consumed back but not let him touch the ceiling. As he did so, he threw a quick glance around the area, checking up on the others.

Essex suddenly became invisible as Acid took a moment to stretch a hand toward the reploid, and if 'her' Consumed was still after her now, he would find his fists slamming into an energy barrier over her form very quickly. Indeed, it didn't take but an instant for Acid to expand his concentration and cover eeryone in a - for now invisible, at least until it impacted something - protective field.

This area of disperson wasn't quite as strong as when he focused hi full concentration into a barrier, but it could cover a large area much quicker.

And then 'his' Consumed reached the peak of his arc, coming down again. He struck nothing but air as the fluid collapsed into the space that Acid had just occupied.

Telported roughly four meters to the side, Acid armed the solid light shell he had left right where the Consumed would hit the floor, precisely at the moment just before the dark man made contact with the stone again. According to all odds, this should deal him a devastating blow.

In a hemisphere of bright, solid white, the shell detonated...

((I hate you ALL, I can no longer resist! Curse the overpowering might of the do-not-open door which I am thankful for. ))

A bright light suddenly flared into existance at the far side of the room, expanding from a point source to a slowly spinning vortex.

It then spat out, and seemed to do so quite literally, in this order and on top of one another: Mnemonyev, Vyachslav, Kerat, Allen, Vern, Acid, the Doc, and a bluish battle drone that couldn't hold on in time and rolled down the pile of people that the portal had created.

"What did we land on?" Acid mumbled, shoving the Doc off him.

I landed on a floor. You all landed on me...

"Oh. Thanks, Big M."

Don't mention it. No, really, don't mention it. Now get off me.

They laughed as the pile dissolved into individuals, comments being thrown around here and there about the trick the main tideconverter had played on them.

It was a little difficult to get the telepathic brothers close enough to the table where they wouldn't break anything, but they didn't call Acid a mastermind for nothing. After some careful maneuvering and a few "oops"es, the party was more or less seated, adding their own specialties to the feast, some of which were better off not being mentioned at all.

"So then, what are we thankful for?" the Doc inquired. Being human, it was his holiday after all, more or less focibly dragging the others along.

"Friends." Kerat said, raising his glass.

Food. Vyachslav chimed in, downing a whole turkey by using his claw as an oversized toothpick, Best idea of taking in energy ever.

"Hope." Vern added, his glass floating to Kerat's.

"Light." said the battle drone with SENECA's voice.

"Darkness." Allen joined in the toast.

Loyalty. was Mnemonyev's addition.

"MAD SCIENCE!" the Doc laughed, joining in as well.

"Everything." Acid simply stated, and they toasted...

((I get the hint. Moving. ))

"I'd appreciate if you stayed away from that." Vern commented to Cobalt, focused on the consoles, "That's a Black Crystal, a ship uilt by the Wanderers. Don't touch it, don't go near it, hell I'd prefer no one even look at it. It may be broken, but it's still got enough power to take out this planet's moon in one shot if it wants."

"Transient adjustment complete." a female voice echoed through the base's speaker system, "Light gate system now operational."

"Good." Vern commented, heading off again through another door.

A few corridors later (and most likely, coversations), the group arrived in another very large room. It was a hangar, and about half of its space was occupied by another large hovering object. This time it was the Dark Airship, perhaps familiar to some of the group, perhaps not.

Tethered to floor and walls with lines of energy, its nose pointed at a wall with a large red bullseye painted on.

Below the airship, other vehicles stood in a more or less organized fashion on the hangar floor.

"Mobile op center - check." Vern smiled, turning towards the spot where an access bridge ran from one of the craft's airlocks to the catwalk they had entered the room on. Attached to the wall at roughly half the height of the large hangar, it was on even ground with the mean side of the blue-gray airship, its hull clearly visible due to its dark armor being offline.

"Alright, let's get a move on." Vern urged them on to get inside, "Moonscribe's probably waiting already."

With that, he spoke to the ceiling before entering the ship himself, "Start release sequence!"

The command was obeyed, tethers clicking and clacking as they deactivated one after another. The ship bobbed up and down a little as it was set free, then slowly began moving ahead, towards the red bullseye on the wall.

And as the ship's nose almost touched the wall, a bright white light flared over the surface, establishing what looked like a slowly turning vortex of water. The group had probably already reached the bridge by this time, which would make the gateway clearly visible.

Without further ado, the ship passed into the wall...

--------------------

The light gate spat the aircraft out high in the clouds above Peregrine, already out a little into the Atlantic ocean. As soon as the vortex of light dissociated again, the ship's armors became active, and it merged into a cloud of shadows before disappearing from sight altogether.

Its cloak of dark matter permitted to kind of electromagnetic wave to penetrate. In the EM band, it was now completely undetectable.

On the bridge, which was quite spacious and constructed in a semicircular pattern, Vern sat on the walkway attached to the 45-degree-sloping 'windshield'. The transparent alloy was justas though as the rest of the ship an could support the walkway, which ran around the entire bridge at half height, rouhgly five meters above the floor. Several staircases and ladders connected said floor with the walkway.

Though it didn't appear so, as Vern wasn't moving ashe sat there, he was most certainly flying the ship right now. The actual brain of the aircraft, the cylindrical mainframe with a dome on top, sat in th center of the bridge, staring down with an illuminated 'electronic eye' from its position roughly six meters above the floor.

It almost looked like the HAL computer from the 2001 book, but the gentle blue tone of the eye was quite different and didn't seem oppressive in the least.

"SENECA, please contact Moonscribe," Vern requested of the ship, "and tell hm we're ready to sart Phase One. I'd like him here ASAP so we can start collaborating. Oh, and get word to Dr. Phillis as well. Please ask if we should pick him up or if he'd like to come of his own accord..."

((Take it away, Ernie...I mean, Hal. ))

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easy." Acid growled, having been very rudely set on the nonexistant floor when his chair had vanished.

He may not have been an experienced telepath, but Mnemonyev and Vyachslav had taught him many things - including how to hold on.

Twisting and turning, the phantom world wanted to vanish...but he wouldn't let it yet. However, he couldn't hold on to it long (the brothers regarded him as "an amateur at best"), so he had to make this quick.

Sadly, this wouldn't give him time to tell Archlich about his own manipulatons, or the way to guide things without directly interfering.

"I have seen the Imperium of Man!" Acid almost shouted as he sprang up.

Kefetasura had probably said something in the meantime as well.

"There's a timeline where it already exists - and it's not the kind of place you want to make! It's an atrocity, a blight on the galaxy, and a society where the rich again live like kings at the expense of so many exploited and suffering people in a feudal society! That's ot the way to do things! If you do things right, no one...!"

But the connection broke. Acid couldn't hold on any longer.

The car came out of its phase shift the moment it sensed being slowed even in the least. Still traveling at dangerous speeds, the wheels screeched on the ground as Acid pulled the vehicle into a 180, the 'tires' adjusting their friction coefficient as they slid.

Sliding backwards now, Acid's fingers ran over the center console once more. As the friction between the car's wheels and the ground increased again, in the end bringing it to a stop, facing the gate it had come from.

The engine roared ferociously as the vehicle lurched forward again towards the gate.

Acid wondered what orders the Soul Sworn had received. If he lost focus and reverted to his true self, the entire Edge of the World would be eviscerated.

And Acid knew Archlich was aware of this...

Acid fired again, but the Consumed dropped into a puddle, ducking under his shell. All the glowing projectile blasted apart was a portion of the stone wall.

This was nothing new - Shades fought thesame way, and at times even more insidiously. Acid leaped away as the puddle tried to pull his feet out from under him like th other Consumeds had done to the rest of the group, kicking off the uneven wall to gain a little height, and the blasted the floor apart where he had just stood.

While his may have harmed to Consumed, the dark man nevertheless came rocketing out of the explosion faster than Acid expected, slamming the reptilian alien back-first to the floor with a vengeance. A clod of blood escaped Acid's mouth as his moth opened upon impct with the stone. The force was great enough to crack it somewhat.

Coming down with a follow-up attack intended to smash Acid flat, however, he was foiled when his fists collieded with an energy barrier, flaring up pale-blue in their air for a moment before sending him back up.

Acid grunted, licking a drop of blood off his lips as he jumped back up while taking aim once more. This time, the chamber clicked in a Thermotom shell, which could achieve temperatures of a small sun and burn its way through most known materials.

He fired...

"Jackpot." Acid added, "You can't expect them to grow unless they bash their heads in on that wall every now and then."

He chuckled for a moment, "You probably know very well that I have the means to do this very same thing. There's a reason I don't. Willfully or not, you are doing the very thing you say you want to prevent. Humanity needs to evolve if it's to survive what lies in store for it. The challenges will only get bigger and bigger. If you don't allow them to overcome their faults on their own...then you really are driving them to death...and with that I mean complete and utter annihilation..."

Well, at least he hadn't copied anyonethis time around. Now that left only the question as to which was the real one.

Then again, they might all be real...or none at all.

Too much thinking. Ya know what - just shoot 'em.

As 'his' Consumed came at Acid, the reptilian's weapon already at in the hand of an outstretched right arm, barrel aimed at the Consumed's head.

A squeezed trigger, and a GP shell let loose, the large yellow explosion intended to knock the man away as well as deal him a fair amount of damage from the energy and pressure wakes...

Acid felt the attempt as it came. Instead of striking back, however, he merely confronted it. After all, this might yield a better way than stepping out of the car at the foor of the tower and asking Archlich if he was coming down or of they would have to come up.

To Acid's delight, he was right.

"Those are very simple questions to answer." he said, walking towards Archlich. There was a visible strain on him, but the cause was a mystery for now. Kefetasura probably knew. Acid was working hard at remaining singular in order to better speak with Archlich.

"Truth be told, I have little against you changing the world. Ater all, I'm working on this myself, as you probably know. I do, however, have a problem with the way you changed it."

Acid sat down in an office chair. The white expanse had turned into a conference room. The ones were gone, though Archlich suspected very much they only seemed to be.

"Do sit." Acid requested, continuing, "Basically, the heart of the mater is this: whether or not you like to believe in free will, people make choices. Its one of the fundamental rights of existing, that one can choose. You've taken that right away from...how many idividuals? Five or six billion?"

Acid paused for a moment, then looked directly into Archlichs eyes, "I can't seem to recall when this happened anymore...and though I may be scatterbrained to no end, I remember this very clearly. You wanting to help. Wanting to do good."

The curtains on the far wall slid aside, showing the ruins of the front against the war with Oranbega, "Not only did you take away their choice, but you also place them into this. You caould have made any world you like, written any desire. Yet you chose destruction, suffering, despair...why...?"

"...at Gate 4. An intruder, presumed armed and dangerous. Yes, I know that is impossible, but the computers do not lie. Very good, sir. Yes, sir. They should have about forty seconds to arrive before the intruder gets suspicious. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

Acid scowled at what he was hearing. There went that idea.

"I'm sorry." SENECA apologized, audibly feeling she'd failed, speaking through the car's console as well.

"It's alright." Acid replied, "I can't expect you to hack everything perfectly. You ready?"

"I'm in position."

"Good. Kef, in a few moments I might say something very crazy. I'm asking you please refrain from exploding with laughter or something like that."

Acid's fingers ran over the center console again. The red paint job disappeared in a crackling discharge of pale-blue static, restorin the night-black sheen to the car, though it looked to have become semi-transparent - things could be seen through it, but it wasn't entirely invisible. The engine roared up like a tubine, and then the vehicle lurched forward.

Just the, the gate opened, and th attack commenced. the forty seconds had passed.

And just as timed had passed through, the fire slpped from one side of the car to the other, seeminly unaffected by the thing it was supposed to hit.

If the cannon-toting bots really stood on both sides of the car in direct LOS to one another, they had probably frid each other by now.

The figures standing in the way were probably quite susrpised as the car kept coming right for them, looking as if it would run them over. Whether they actually managed, or even tried, to get out of the way or not, however, was irrelevant - the vehicle passed harmlessly through them at maniacal speed, covering the distance from gate to an entrance to Archlich's tower in mere seconds.

Could the Overmagus see what transpired below from the windows of his throne room...?

((Thankye. And no way, this is juicy stuff. In fact, I'm wishing Essex and Phillis had come along now more than ever. The stories they'd tell......well, maybe we'll have another opportunity later in the thread. ))

[ QUOTE ]
"Ohhh!" She muttered as she ran out and went up to him for a closer look. "Talking lizard thing! What are you? Are you related to Naga? Or even same species? Who is this landlord? Why'd you build this down by the mantle? And who are the rest of you wierdos?" She asked without taking a break in between each question.

[/ QUOTE ]
"Holy geez you talk fast." was Vern's first remark, even as he bade the others to get a move on, stepping through the opening that had formerly been sealed by the security ring.

It led the way into a canyonlike room occupied almost completely by a bridgelike construct suspended over a sea of white. The walls and ceiling were almost conveyed the impression that this entire place was a gigantic automobile engine, pipes and what-not running all over the place.

The 'floor' of the room was entirely composed of the strange, seemingly semi-liquid white material. It was almost blinding, had to be more than fifty meters below the bridge, and exerted an odd kind of pressure. The kind of feeling that made a human's hair stand up on he back of their neck.

"Alright, in this order..." Vern continued after commanding yet another security ring to open, "I'm Vern, and I'm from Krayt. I don't think I know any Naga, but I've got a memory like a noodle strainer, so I might and just not remember. And I built the base this far down because that's about the best spot for its purpose. My 'landlord' is the land itself, and this far down it's indeed very cooperative."

He continued talking even as the group travled deeper into the 'base', which seemed clunky and somewhat haphazard. Suspended walkways were the norm in disproportinate corridors, the floors of which were always much too far below the ceiling and covered with the white, crystal-like material. Indeed, maybe there was no floor at all. It was certainly hard to tell - though the stuff seemed crystalline, it behaved like a fluid, ebbing and flowing almost like water in extreme slow motion.

The corridors connected rooms that were clearly research labs of sorts, many of them containing steep ledges that led into more of the white-filled pits. Said labs were filled with that a certified expert would call 'random junk', from a one-eyed pyramid floating about and looking at things really really creepily to a collection of spheres constantly bouncing into one another and the walls without their kinetic energy losing any magnitude at all.

After a few such labs, they came to a slightly larger one, and it seemed this was to be their destination for now. It was divided into two sections, the floor of the other much lower than the one they had entered on.

A walled-in pit filled to the rim with bubling green goo sat in a corner, labeled consicuously with 'DO NOT DRINK', and a very large, deep-black object floated above the floor of the lower section, taking up almost all of that partition's space.

The thing looked crystalline, but seemed to be made of metal as well. 300-meters in length, the thing almost looked like an overdimensional Sukhoi-47, but with no canards attached to the fuselage. The forward-swept 'wings' sat all the way in the rear, sloping down at an angle instead of sitting horizontal. The 'tails' swept forward as well, and sloped to each side by the same margin as their wing-like counterparts.

The nose of the strange craft sat pointed at a huge bullseye painted on the wall it faced, and a few control consoles lined the division in floor height, whcich had to be at least a hundred meters. That meant it was a long way down to the other section, even though the right 'wing' of the black crystallic craft hovered almost close enough to the edge to touch.

"I'll just have to make a few adjustments." Vern told the others as the consoles began seemingly manipulating themselves, "Then we can get back to the surface and meet up with Dj...Moonscribe again..."

"First, I suppose you could say I'm renting it." Vern answered Cobalt, "Second, we're presently at the boundary of Terra's crust and mantle. And third, no idea. But if you got in here, then you were supposed to. Sadly, I'm not entirely sure of the reason. My 'landlord' isn't too takative..."

[ QUOTE ]
"I hate it when he does that..." she murmured, skimming a little closer to Alpha.

[/ QUOTE ]
"You're not the only one." Acid growled, slowly crawling back up, starting on all fours, "But I do appreciate it."

After he managed to get back up on his legs, he arched backwards for a moment, stretching his back, "Ah, much better now."

He took a glance at his watch. Nineteen seconds this time. He was getting better. Slowly, but surely anyway.

"And I'll have you know I'm not a lizard." he stated, turning to Darkstorm, "Alright, let's get a move on then. Blightie's probably already on his second bag of popcorn."

With that, he started following Small Toy down the stone corridor at a leisurly pace...

((Hey Khell, when you said 'palace gates' do you mean the gate at the very edge of the government complex or what? Actually, it'd be helpful if you could give us a general layout of the EotW.))

Vern smiled. It looked like the planet knew exactly what it was doing...almost as if it had awaited its chance.

Then he heard the pounding. This was strange. There wasn't supposed to be anyone down here.

"Ring one rotate to open position." he commanded. A loud clack sounded through the air, and the 'door' at the edge of the dome seemed to be moving down in a arcing fashion.

Indeed, it wasn't a door at all, but a very large solid ring, only a small part of which was visible in the opening. One part of the ring contained a hole that matched this gateway precisely. One the hole and opening had meshed, one could say that the door had opened...

[ QUOTE ]
The zombies seemed relentless. A never-ending hoard that wouldn't stop.

Until a snap rang through the room, that is.

All of the undead collapsed, melting away into dust.

[/ QUOTE ]
"That's it?" Acid commented, disappointed, "Dang, and I was just getting into the mood again."

[ QUOTE ]
In the balcony above, Blightlord stood, leaning against a pillar.

[/ QUOTE ]
"Blightie!" Acid grinned widely, resting his bladed weapon's upper edge on his right shoulder, "Now I remember you. What you been up to?"

Instead of answering, Blightlord just kept talking. Monologuing, actually. Wow, Acid really thought he'd gotten past that by now. Guess not.

[ QUOTE ]
Blightlord stopped in front of Essex, and bent down to eye level with her. "You can't save them all, child." He stood, holding his arms out. "This is it. The Final Vengeance. None of you will leave this place alive, so enjoy your last precious hours. Oh, and Acid, I wouldn't try anything like the last time. That toxin you were all splattered with has rendered any means of teleportation useless. Let the games begin."

[/ QUOTE ]
Now this was odd. Acid didn't have any means of locating Blightlord in order to teleport him. It's not like this was his base, after all. Still, this was very annoying. Acid might be a good sprinter and could jump well, but without teleportation he was pretty much left in the dust. He certainy couldn't fly.

This also explained why his body hadn't reacted to the toxin. It was a dynamic poison. Very clever - which meant as soon as he tried to teleport, it would go active. Good thing he ad just been warned about that. Would have been nasty in a fight.

[ QUOTE ]
"Oh god damn it," Toy said as he put slapped his face with one hand, making a harsh metallic ringing sound. "If I had a dollar for every bozo who said that I wouldn't leave this place alive, I'd have-"

"$13.50," Toy Bot interuppted.

"Right right," Toy said. "I'm sure some of the capes here could outrank me in that, but still......ugh."

[/ QUOTE ]
Acid laughed loudly, "Hah hah hah, I'd be rich! As in filthy stinkin' rich. Heh, funny coincidence, that was the same line I heard earlier today. Man, I really have to sign myself up for overtime. Kinda ironic since everyone who says that to me is tecnically completely correct. Yet they always expect me to accomodate them and stay down. Go figure."

[ QUOTE ]
Darkstorm walked over to where the projection of Blightlord stood. "I think we all pissed off the wrong guy," He turned to face the group, "seriously, we did." He walked around looking at the surroundings. "We need a plan, anyone have any ideas?" He asked.

[/ QUOTE ]
"Eh, Blightie's bark is worse than his bite." Acid commented, "Literally. Don't let him get to ya. As for plan...well, we'll probably run into a million plus two traps before we manage to get to him any way you twist it. That and we kinda only have this one hallway to go right now. So unless someone has a better idea, that's about it."

"As for me," he sheated his weapon again and leaned against the wall, "I'll be taking a time-out of about 22 seconds right now. Don't pay me any mind - Ess, here's lookin' at ya - I'll be fine."

With that, he attempted to teleport. Blightlord's toxin kicked in and instantly went into effect.

Acid fell over like a sack of potatoes...

((Alright, let me see...

Kefetasura, Acid:

[ QUOTE ]
"I've got everything sorted out." SENECA reported through the car's interor speaker system, "The rig's as good as it's gonna get. You should be able to make it inside without any difficulties unless they try to scan your souls or something."

"Good." Acid nodded, "And the real Blood Roller?"

"Taken care of." SENECA giggled, "We won't have any problems with conflicting reports."

"Nice to know." Acid chuckled as he drove up to one of themany heavily secured entrance gates of Archlich's complex.

He really hoped they'd be let in. After all, he really just wanted to talk with the lich, and he didn't feel like causing a mess today...

[/ QUOTE ]
Phillis, Essex, Hallucinogen, Schizophrenias, Vern, Tam, Experiment, Damien, Darean: Peregrine University

Rosalind, Cortianna, Bear: random street of New Mu?

Thuel: somewhere.

Yeah...I've lost track of Xey, Lyden, Ink Dyne, and Dragonistic. No idea what's going on with them.))

---------------------

((Aww, I was so hoping Essex would go all angsty again if her 'real' self appeared for a minute and the human Essex started talking with her. Guess not. ))

---------------------

"Sorry to hear that." Vern murmured, looking about the room to make sure the floor was clear now, "Alright, everyone get clear."

After everyone had gone to where they wished, Vern began. Because of the shift, he'd have to dig a little, but that was alright.

The floor suddenly split apart as a fissure erupted in the concrete, the crack propagating with frightening speed all about the room. It slowly formed a main circle, smaller cracks running all throughout the floor now.

Then the circle turned a little, heaved up, and collapsed downwards into what appeared to be a large sinkhole. The matter had compressed so much it almost seemed to have vanished.

At the bottom, about five meters down, sat a perfectly smooth, deep-blue surface. Vern made sure to hold everyone up so no one would fall in there just yet. If they had, they would quickly find the surface's existance was supposedly impossible - it was frictionless.

And with a nod from Vern, a point of white light appeared in the center of the surface, extending into a line running across the hole. Moments later, the light vanished again, and the surface split apart like a door, retracting into the walls with amazing quickness and barely a sound.

Beneath sat another such surface, which also split apart just instants after the first, but without the light this time. Under this one, another. And another. And another. One by one, what seemed to be thousands of these strange doors with absolutely no space between them came open, forming a circluar shaft of sorts.

The shaft extended deeper than the eye could see, converging in the abyss. But it wasn't dark - indeed, each of the 'doors' that had opened seemed to emit some light, keeping the entire thing visible.

A few seconds after the first plate had come apart, it closed again, the line of white light flaring up for a moment, then forming into a circle that precisely meshed with the dimensions of the shaft.

Vern hopped down onto the surface, finding secure grip. It was no longer frictionless, at least not on the top. He then guided the others down, whether by his doing or theirs, it didn't really matter.

Once all who wished to come were on the platform, it suddenly let go, rushing down into the depths. Its passengers felt no acceleration, even though it had to be moving much faster than if it was actually falling. The layers between the 'doors' rushed by so quickly they were almost impossible to tell apart now.

The shaft ran deep into the planet, all the way down to just above Terra's Mohorovicic discontinuity, but time seemed of no importance right now. The platform stopped again less than a minute after it had started its descent, shuddering for a moment with the impulse of impact.

It had come to rest in a large dome, looking more like 'normal' technology. This applied to both the dome walls and the platform, though no one could be sure exactly when the thing had made the transition. The only thing that was sure is that it merged seamlessly with the green-gray plated floor.

On one side of the dome was what was obviously a large door, energy coursing through the two halves of the semicircular gate. Opposite this, 'behind' the platform sat a small domed structure with several vertical antannae sticking out of its surface. Its purpose was unclear.

Above, a lamellas gate carrying the same gray-green plating pattern closed off the shaft from this end. The gates of the blue material clacked shut again one after another, forming seamless, solid barriers all the way to the top. Finally, the matter Vern had compressed expanded again, and the concrete floor returned to its origial shape.

Vern decided not to say anything just yet, instead seeing how the descent, the crossing of the threshold, had affected everyone - if it even had affected anyone in the first place - and of course if anyone else had jumped on at the last second...

[ QUOTE ]
"...Do we...really have to?" she pleaded with the scientist. "...The...me...the other me...is telling me to go...that I'll be more helpful that way. That I'll be better and less of a nuisance. And...I'll know people...and be able to help better."

The girl glanced down. "...I guess I mustn't be selfish."

[/ QUOTE ]
"Essex, nothing at all may happen." Vern reminded her as several of the shelves scattered about the room lifted themselves off the floor, their screws seeming to twist out all on their own. They stacked neatly in the corners of the large room, "I really have no idea."

Or everything might happen. Damn, the thought of two Essexs suddenly forming is really creepy for some reason.

"Anyone who isn't coming down," Vern finished moving the shelves, "would do well to clear out right about now. This is gonna get loud..."

With the others busy making their decisions, Vern opted it was time to bring Hallucinogen into this. The fiktive transmitter on board the AGS-III came online agin, locking onto both the hero below and his destination.

In literally zero time, the machine pulled him from normal space and time, through the supersaturated medium of hyperspace, and placed him into the ridiculously largestorage closet with Vern and anyone else who'd entered so far.

"No shouting please." Vern requested of him as soon as the hero apeared, "I'd prefer not to attract undue attention just yet..."

"Yeah, I'll be alright." Acid huffed as the goo ran off him. Thankfully, his resilient hide had a way of not letting stuff stick to it, which was quite convenient if you didn't want be become a rock right after getting out of a magma pool...and Acid liked magma pools a lot.

His clothing worked in much the same way. The open wounds were a concern, though Essex had managed to close the worst ones wih her nanite wave. The plasma burns were another story, but all in all, he wasn't feeling quite so bad anymore, especially since he hadn't collapsed into a twitching mess already.

Then the zombies came. Wow, how original.

Acid quickly threw up a force bubble of his own, reinforcing Toy's and keeping the melee-oriented undead at bay while the group's ranged combatants let loose at the shambling corpses.

With everyone being quite sucessful with their respective strategies, Acid decided he'd rather conserve ammo for now and focus on shielding the others from the incoming projectile vomit with on-point energy barriers.

But of course, his mood dipped again as Alpha and Bear appeared. The Maltan he wasn't so worried about, members of their organization could usually control themselves in a pinch. Wyvern...not so much. And from the markigs the guy was a Raptor Agent - the only ones cleared to view the threat profile Wyvern had compiled of "Subject: Acid Zero"...

"Hey Ess." Acid smiled for the first time since his arrival, patting the relatively short reploid on the head, "Likewise - and don't let these numbskulls bother ya. The only one you belong to is you."

Toy and Burning's urging derailed him again, though, getting a long sigh out of him.

"Work? What?" he lamented, spreading hisarms and clenching his fists, "But I just came from there! Not that I don't enjoy my job, but today was just one of those days."

Continuing, he started counting his fingers, "I've been shot, stabbed, crushed, punched, flung about, and generally been made a mess of today. I just wanted to take a shower now, maybe play some games with friends. Instead, I end up here. Where that hell is here anyway, and what in blazes is going on?"

He motioned to Hal and Schizo with his thumb, "If I'm gonna be talked into going anywhere, especially with tweedledum and tweedledee over here, I'll need a good reason."

Why did he have the feeling they were going to talk him into it anyway?

[ QUOTE ]
Burning opened the door, and stepped back in surprise as a wad of goo splattered over them all, no matter what they attempted to avoid it.

[/ QUOTE ]
"What the...?" Acid growled as he stood there in a drippy manner, "This is not helping your argument here..."

[ QUOTE ]
"Welcome to the party," he said grimly. "If Blightlord's really the one who organized this, we should probably start trying to find him. C'mon."

[/ QUOTE ]
Acid's eyes opened again. His hand stopped. So then this wasn't another scheme to 'bring you to justice' after all?

"Blightlord..." he mumbled, scratching his head, "Blightlord...was that the guy with the skeleton horse and the...no, I'm thinking of Lord Pestilence...Blightlord...alright, I got nothing."

Acid winced as the arguments started. He rolled his eyes, staring at the stone ceiling for a moment with a 'why me?' expression.

"Yeah, sure." he grumbled, leaning against the wall, "Hi..."

Heh, my thoughts exactly. I just joined because Burning wouldn't leave me alone.

But as soon as I hammer out the final kinks, I'm hoping to throw up an RP everyone can join regardless of who they;ve met or not.

Seeing how th 2nd Rikti War took a nosedive, I'm spending more time developing this one...

[ QUOTE ]
"...I know this world isn't the way it should be. And I want it to go back. And that's fine. But until then..."

She raised her eyes to Vern's.

"...Please don't take this away from me."

[/ QUOTE ]
Vern sighed as he opened the door. It really led only to a really large supply closet, full with racks and shelves holding cleaning implements of all sorts. The room itself, however, was quite large.

"It's not my choice to make." he finally answered her, "It's yours...in a way. Ya see...dammit, how do I explain this to you...? Your planet listens. It always listens, whether you're paying attention or not. And it has the final say in this. Like I said, nothing at all may happen...or everything could."

With that, he walked into the supply closet, waiting to see who would follow...

((Basically a small plot device for your charcter to 'connect' with his/her normal self. Have nothing happen, see a vision, etc, it's all up to you.

And no, the closet door isn't the 'threshold' Vern mentioned, so nothing's going to happen just yet.))

A sound of thunder.

A cloud of fire.

And there went another really expensive machine!

"I freaking hate Mondays!" Acid roared, rolling across the the floor and blasting the armorsuited figure back with a GP shell, splitting yet another worktable in the fiery inferno the lab floor had become.

He grinned viciously for a moment, and then a plasma beam came from the wreckage, smashing into his shield and sending him against the transparent exterior wall. Thick sheets of water cascaded down the outside from the raging thunderstorm, and a bolt of lightning flashed yet again.

Well, at least he still reacted fast. That was good, he supposed, looking at his tingling hand. The blast had come mighty close before he'd thrown up the barrier.

"Can't say the same..." the sliver-armored figure stepped from the flames, aiming its arm cannon at him.

"Because today's the day..." a second one joined the sentence, this one in a matallic blue suit. They finished together, "We take you down!"

Acid snorted. These bounty hunters were getting really numerous these days. Had the price on his head increased again?

I really should watch the news more.

"Terribly sorry to disappoint you, ladies..." he grined toothily, standing back up, and saw his reflection in a randomly fallen mirrored piece of metal.

Damn, he'd really taken a beating today. His jacket was in tatters - again...how did that always go first? It had pockets. He needed pockets! - and the rest of him was worse for wear as well, including several charred spots in his hide and quite a few bloody cuts.

Ace, we're clear. Get out of there!

Don't have to tell me twice. Meet you at the rendevouz point.

Got it. Mnemonyev out.

The hunters were suddenly bowled over by a wave of force, and then Acid launched a GP shell into the ceiling above them, burying the two in an avalanche of metal and dust. He quickly turned around and blasted another shell into the transparent exerior wall, shattering the material into a million pieces. Wind and rain howled into the building, and thunder cracked again as a lightning bolt streaked across the dark sky.

With a terrifying grin, Acid took a moment to look upon the lights of the city below, sretching out in all directions. The 'law enforcement' had gathered a veritable army below. Skimming the crowd, he locked his sights onto the Glider ascending the wall to the hole he'd made.

"Well, that's all the time I've for you two." Acid laughed, stepping onto the nose of the Glider, the vehicle dipping a bit as it compensated for the increased weight, "And at the risk of sounding cliché, this is the day you will always remember as the day you almost caught Acid Zero."

The Glider's cockpit opened.

"You're not going anywhere!!!"

Acid was blinded by the sudden ascension of a ship at least five times the size of his Glider, the spacecraft training its spotlights directly on him.

"No fair." Acid whined, already crouching to leap back.

A second later, the craft blew the Glider out from under him with a ferocious impulse volley, just barely missing its prey as Acid leaped back into the building and ran for it.

The ship continued firing, taking aim with dual EMGs, the transparent wall shattering piece by piece as its sensors followed Acid through the building.

"You are extremely hateful people!" Acid yelled into the lab as he crossed into it again, the fire still following him, tearing apart whatever got in its way - including the building supports. Still, Acid managed to hastily grab a few things off some tables.

"I don't care!" one of the hunters returned, freeing herself from the rubble, commanding the ship to stop by keying in a few orders on her arm cannon. Acid stopped as well, leaping behind cover again, and rapidly assembled th pieces he had gathered.

"We're taking you down here and now!"

"Actually," Acid countered, sending her to the floor again with a force bolt, "all that's coming down is the building."

He laughed almost psychotically as he aimed the pistol-like device he'd constrcued int the air and squeezed the trigger. A swirling vortex of otherwordly energies appeared in the air, tearing space and time asunder and shaking the entire structure. The portal was primitive, and used a lot of energy, but it would do.

"Later." was Acid's only farewell as he threw away the now useless device, its energy spent, and leaped into the gateway.

It was keyed to Terra, specifically Portal Corporation Section Alpha...

--------------------

Needless to say, Acid was quite surprised when he didn't arrive there, but here instead.

His eyes narrowed as he looked about in silence. Returning his weapon to its holster, he brouht up a hologram from his watch and pressed a few nonmaterial buttons. Whatever result the device spit out seemed to satisfy him, as he closed his eyes and shut down the projection again.

"I hate Mondays..."