DeviousMe

Jade was indeed surprised at Trisys' seeming lack of mass. It was like she weighed nothing at all. Be careful what you wish for, huh? Yeah, he was starting to get the meaning of that. Slowly, but he was.

"Place of fire blood, hm?" the metal Dragon repeated the thought as it entered his mind, his imagination trying to come up with something that fit that description. For one reason or another, the first thing he hit with that was the movie 'Aliens', in which the titular creatures had blood so acidic it burned almost anything. That was dangerous prey indeed. He couldn't imagine they tasted very good, but considering his diet...yeah, he probably would've tried one if he could've.

"Okay." he thus gave a nod to the Gre'shil, "Looks like we have somewhere to go then. You say very far. About how far?"

The same question still in mind, the glance he directed toward the approaching others expanded upon it, wondering if the people who seemed to have appeared at will could teleport, or perform something of similar nature. As they looked to be coming this way, he'd ask exactly that once they came close enough.

The thought of asking Trisys came to mind, but he didn't speak the question, the strange creature he held in his arms looking to be in need of rest - and he had a strong feeling she wouldn't keep resting if he asked.

"You sure are a handful, huh?" he let out a chuckle with a look down to her eyes, "Can I do something to make you more comfortable...?"
__________________

Paxtera found something immediately following that decision. Well, technically she found it several hours later, but that was relativity for one. What mattered was that she'd found something. And what a something it was.

From afar, it looked like someone had taken a small city full of highrises, stuck it onto a giant metal plate, grown a jungle on top of it, and then doused the whole thing in an ocean of weed killer. Snaking vines, elaborate brambles, and even the gargantuan trees that grew both alongside and partially within the metal-and-glass buildings, were all dead and had been for some time, their remains dried and withered, preserved by the Desert's harsh climate.

In addition, though the 'plate' sat on solid ground, its underside sloping into more than a century's worth of accumulation of dirt and debris around the thing, the entire assembly almost seemed to float. The cause of this in turn were the rings that did just that - massive, discontinuous perimeter segments, hundreds of meters long, dozens wide, and tens thick, orbiting the 'city' at mathematically regular radii and altitudes, all in all forming three distinct tiers of ring segment collections: the largest one about the exact edge of the 'plate', and two about two-thirds the size of the largest, each floating a constant (if not equal) distance, respectively, above and below the central segment ring.

What really stood out from a distance, however, were the place's lights. A myriad of red and white dots covered the buildings, plate, ring segments...everything. This in turn stood in stark contrast with another 'plate city' a few hundred meters from the first.

It was completely dark.

There were other differences as well, of course; the fact that it lay just a bit slanted in the ground, that its ring segments had fallen to (and often impaled themselves within) said ground, and that it looked decidedly unmaintained, but the chief difference was the collection of lights.

And the artillery.

Registering as 'human enough' to the treaded turrets that rimmed the 'plate' as well as sat on a great many other places, Paxtera would be assaulted by high-explosive canister shells as soon as she came within range, the IFF-capable proximity fuses that set off their detonators taking away the need to score direct hits to do damage...

Wow, that's pretty sick. Awesome job. Now, how about one of Tyra...I mean...Emperor Cole?

Well, the defined Vigilante does things that are in conflict the established laws of a society, which may not necessarily involve actions against what that said society views as right (not that human society has ever unanimously agreed on what was right and wrong, but I digress), so a textbook vigilante is someone who operates outside and perhaps against the laws of the society they are a part of by taking actions that may be illegal, but deemed by a majority of that society to be morally correct.

Batman, for instance, is a defined vigilante even though he does not kill (not accounting for the accidental or self-inflicted deaths of) his criminal adversaries. He is not a police officer, not part of the justice system, not part of legal law enforcement, and he operates by means and methods not sanctioned by the laws of the society of which he is a part.

"Huh?" Jade blinked in surprise at the pizza boxes suddenly laid at his feet, taking a half-step back with semi-outspread arms, wholly unsure of what to make of this for several second. Only when he turned to his right and saw Trisys on her hands and knees with labored breath did he realize what had just happened.

He'd wished for pizza.

"Oh no..." slipped out of him in a nervous, worried tone as he bent down to try and gently scoop her up in his arms, "I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to..."

Whether he succeeded or not though, he nevertheless turned back to look at the Gre'shil. What else could he be indeed? He wanted to say Drokar-Akonos, but first he somewhat doubted the reptilians even knew what a Mountain Dragon was, and second...were they not right? If they revered the constructs of Machine as gods, then by logical extension he was one. It sure would've been a lot simpler to...no, no, no, no, no! He wasn't having this argument with himself again, and either way these people deserved to know the truth!

"I'm just me." he told them thusly, "I don't know if that means I'm machine or Dragon, but either way I'm not a god. And neither are those...thunder-and-lightning things. They're machines. Just machines. They can't even really think. They just do what their builders told them to. So no, they're not gods."

"Okay then..." he then glanced down at the pizza boxes, entertaining the thought that the Gre'shil might be able to use those as trophies to prove their worth before dismissing it as silly. Still, he couldn't help but chuckle. Not at the thought, however. He chuckled at the fact that he'd gone to it so easily, that he understood where they came from so naturally. Maybe he was still a Dragon after all.

"We'll have to find something for you." Jade looked back up toward the reptilians with a nod. Find what, though? He knew from memory that just about all of Hetran had been devastated by the war. Even if Rauk hadn't seen any fighting for a while, he highly doubted any animals would've come back to it. Heck, not even plants seemed to be growing in this patch of...hey, wait!

"Is there anywhere else around here where you guys could hunt something you'd consider worthy prey?" he wanted to know, "Other than, er, soft skin round ears and pointy ears? And it can't talk. No more killing things that talk."

The answer to this was likely very simple for the Gre'shil: a yes. Although the Desert was almost completely barren of life, up in the north, past and off to the side of an area that Lazardarus' people may well have known as the Twin Cities, lay the open caldera of a supervolcano, complete with the cragged land that surrounded the thing. Though not very hospitable on account of its volcanic nature, if any Gre'shil had gone there at one point or another, the reptilians probably knew of the large, armored beasts that inhabited the area. True, they weren't many, but at a size that stood somewhere between rhinoceros and elephant, they didn't need to be to feed a decent-sized group...

Well I'll be, heh. It has been a while. Welcome back. I guess it's true what they say about this game always dragging people back in the end.

Jade's face lost every last measure of its resolve in a sudden, very large blink. The cannon hidden in his left arm, by now primed and targeted, practically shut down from one instant to the other. Say what?! Oh no...oh nononono...he already had a one...oh snap...

"No, please, I'm not a god." was all he could think of to say at this point, reaching down to the Gre'shil and beneath its shoulders to get him back up, "Don't bow to me. I'm just...I just..."

He didn't know what he 'just'. Everything had gone crazy, and he felt like he would be next. Now what? Even if he managed to talk these people into not worshiping him, what would he do...? He couldn't take them back into the city...they'd just...and then...but they looked hungry. He couldn't just...

He wished he had some pizza...

((Can't say I have, sorry.))

"Teenagers, got it." Jade remarked tonelessly, though with a slight sigh. He remembered his first encounter with a group of Outcasts, having been so dismayed to encounter that reflection of himself all those years ago, "Always the most dangerous. I guess we'd better stop them before they get zapped by the police drones - or shot by the SWAT guys."

What the metal Dragon didn't know, however, was that the response to his message to Positron was already underway. The gate from Boomtown to Steel Canyon had been closed and locked, and though Portal Corporation's drones were still on duty, they wouldn't be sending random creatures they encountered to the Zig.

But again, Jade didn't know this, so he started his engines and took off with a howl, propelling himself over and in front of the Gre'shil before killing the propulsion and coming back down like a ton of bricks, slamming loudly into the pavement heels-first due to having turned about during his fall.

"Don't even try it." he told them, entering a combative stance while his system analyzed the most time-efficient ways of knocking them out if need be, constantly updating and displaying the routes to take on his HUD, "If you're looking for food, we have plenty. You can have some. But if you keep attacking people, I'm going to throw you right back where you came from..."

Jade almost gave a sigh as the creatures attacked and several were immediately dropped. So much for that idea.

"Hey, c'mon guys," he requested of the others in a displeased tone, "Don't kill them if we don't have to."

If the two Gre'shil that had been going for him initially still were, meaning Kethara's beams hadn't deterred them, the metal Dragon would simply stand there until they were just at arm's length. In the snap of an instant, he'd then act on the results of his system's trajectory analysis and the arc trails of their jumps said system had already overlaid onto his crimson HUD, letting an open, gripping hand shoot for the incoming assailant(s), attempting to grip him or them by the throat(s).

If he succeeded, he'd then hold him or them them roughly half a meter off the ground Darth-Vader-style until what struggled in his iron grip calmed down. He didn't even much consider helping Ildela, having learned in his time in Paragon City that people like her could easily take care of themselves in these situations...

Jade gave a shrug to Kethara's question, honestly having no idea. That the focus of his mind was presently elsewhere - on Trisys, to be exact - didn't really help. The uneasy vibes coming off her were practically palpable. He'd have to do something about that. Maybe take her to...

Ooooooooooh. o.o

"Hey, hold-!" Jade gave a shout to Paxtera, stretching a hand and taking a step in her direction, but she was already gone, "...on."

He lowered his arm again, looking fairly nonplussed, and turned to Ildela and Kethara with the characteristic look of 'is she always like that?' in his eyes. He opted not to say it out loud, though.

"Well." he said instead and ran a hand through the back of his hair, feeling a little awkward, not to mention a lack of direction. Lazardarus had remained silent in response to his question, and he didn't want to push the man into answering if he didn't want to, and Trisys was still in her defensive hunch.

What a situation.

"Uhm...you guys want to get some...pizza?" was about the first thing that came to mind in his mental search for icebreakers, speaking to the whole group, but giving the focus to Trisys in an effort to let her understand this was a choice, not a command, "I know a place over on Bronze Way that's pretty good. Well, I don't know that it's good, but, um, people say it is. That is, I've been there, but I...oh good grief...nevermind. It's good. I think."

Of course, as these things tended to go, that was the moment his sensors picked up the approach of the Gre'shil. Not having any idea just what those things his HUD labeled 'contact' with an attached number actually were however (though the echoes did convey their approximate size), the metal Dragon's response was but turning his head in their direction with a, "Huh. I guess there's more people coming. Want to go say hello?"

Meanwhile, Paxtera's search didn't turn up much. Sure, she found some wrecked machines scattered about here and there - specifically of the hunter-killer aircraft variety, though the shut-down Harvester half-embedded in a building by the side of a road wasn't to be missed - but if she wanted to find working examples, she'd have to journey deep into the Desert. For the moment at least, there weren't any that prowled Rauk...

"Nice song." Jade remarked with a smiling nod as he stood again, brushing some of the dust and grit from his pants that had collected on there by now, "Prefer rock myself, but nice. And yeah, what she said. Paragon as a whole should be okay...once they know what's going on, anyway. I'll forward this to Dr. Keyes. Hes a lot smarter than me, so he'll know how to set things up to keep trouble down."

Databurst sent. Databurst received.

The metal Dragon shook his head vigorously a moment, as if to chase something from it, "Erg...that still always feels weird. Anyway, um...I guess we should be looking for a way back home then, but I don't have any idea where to start. So uh, Lazardarus? You guys need any help with this stuff you were talking about...?"

((Pst - Jade said he gave permission for Trisys to speak and 'do things' with them. It wasn't a command. Though I guess if you want, she can keep interpreting it as one, that's cool.))

I just know that place out there was Rauk...

...place out there was Rauk...

...was Rauk...

Lazardarus' words reverberated in the metal Dragon's head like the thrum of a bell slammed with a maul. The final barrier, the last flimsy wall of denial he'd shored up in an attempt to disbelieve it came crashing down. As did he. However, his fashion was a bit gentler - a stagger back that turned into a pair of steps due to the automation that kept his balance, followed by contact with and his back sliding down a wall until he ended up a sorry-looking, energy-less heap, uncaring in which way his legs and tail had contorted as he looked toward the ceiling with expressionless eyes.

Why? Why?!

He didn't know. He didn't know why he was back. But he knew he was back. He couldn't deny it anymore. But why? Hadn't he spent enough time alone? Hadn't those long, long years of all that crushing loneliness meant anything? No...he didn't want to be alone again. It hurt. It hurt too much. All the pain, all the suffering, all alone again without anyone around to...to...

No.

The realization brought his eyes back into focus, and the sensors slowly passed their pupils through the room. Gradually, bit by bit, the expression of shock and despair upon his face became a smile. A weak, dumb-looking smile that someone who felt very foolish might wear, but still a smile.

And then Jade began to laugh.

It started as a mere chuckle, but soon reached normal volume, though its manner had a hint of the psychotic to it, like the metal Dragon had just gone crazy. Who knew - perhaps he had. He didn't. And he didn't really care.

Because he wasn't alone.

There were people right here, right in front of him. There was all of Paragon City (well, maybe not all of, but still) right behind him. What was he afraid of? What was he afraid of?! It was stupid. He couldn't believe how dumb he'd been. All this time, all this fear...for nothing. His home was here. His heart was here. He didn't need to be afraid anymore.

"I don't know." he answered Kethara with a disturbed-looking smile and a single cluck of laughter, "I don't know. But...I think I will be. Yeah. I think I will be..."

((Aw dang. So did I. I was even fixin' to leave flowers on his grave. Well, I guess sometimes this happens. Happy trails, Pious. We'll miss ya.))

Dang. The community will be poorer without you, that's for sure. Still wish you well, though. Hope you get the urge to come back.

Unreal indeed. Even for him. It wasn't the first time, and it probably wouldn't be the last, but sitting here on the sill of that tall window, the magnificent stained glass of the age-old mural stretching to the heights behind him, he still couldn't help but feel it all boundlessly bizarre.

Not that he planned to share that with anyone, a silent witness to the assembly unseen to the naked eye. Hidden upon that sill, cloaked behind a number of obfuscations he hoped at the edge of his mind would keep him concealed, he watched...and waited, the tip of his long tail swaying gently against the wall below his perch. He wasn't sure just what he waited for, but he knew he'd know when the time came. That was the way it worked. That was the way it always worked with him.

He wasn't really sure which was stranger. That a hero had died or that a villain had come to his burial. Oh, he wasn't of high profile or great fame, like so many a relative unknown amongst the greater population of Paragon's saviors, and even within the ranks of those who sought to tear it down. No, Acid Zero wasn't known as a major player. Indeed, he had his doubts that he was known here at all. Still, no sense in taking chances. Getting dog-piled by a church full of heroes wasn't exactly something he desired. So he hid. And watched. And waited. And reflected.

He hadn't really known Pious. Heck, one might say he hadn't known him at all. They'd only met once after all, and that was for less than five minutes. Still, it had been a memorable time. A spat of banter, a rise of the human's hackles, and then Acid had tossed a giant robot at him. Well, more accurately it had been a Cerosian environmental engineer, but the Khelari hadn't told Pious that. He still smiled at the look on the Reverend's face. Good times. Good times.

And now it was over. That made him sad. It was strange. He'd barely known the guy. Yet somehow, some way, he felt like he'd known him all his life. Acid wondered what that meant. Usually, he found the answers in a fight. Now, though...now he doubted he ever would.

So he watched. And he waited. Waited for something to tell him it was time...

Jade momentarily regarded Paxtera with a 'no duh' look, the nature of his thoughts much the same. He wanted details of why this particular place was so horrid, not be presented with the obvious and sweeping generalities. Fortunately, the elf provided those before he said something stupid.

Or rather, unfortunately.

Rauk...

The velvet-brown tone of his synthoskin's tiny scales became just a bit paler, and his eyes stared at and through Lazardarus' own, into unseen space. Had he still had hearts, both would've skipped a few beats right now. Even without, however, the effects were duly physical.

System failure.

He gave a blink, only now noticing his breathing came labored, nervous.

Oh man...okay, calm down. He said world. Not city. Rauk's just a name. It can be a common name...right? Right? Oh please let Rauk be able to be a common name. Machines are everywhere too. Doesn't mean...anything. Right? Oh please don't let it mean anything. Pleasepleasepleaseplease...

"Um...question." the metal Dragon licked his lips thrice, a severe phantom dryness in his mouth, "You said Rauk. That...that's a planet, right? That's not...the name of this city. Right...?"

Jade calmed visibly as the elf spoke, almost uttering a sigh of relief. He thanked the stars that he hadn't ended up where he'd thought he was. Anywhere else, anywhere at all, even this supposed hellhole had to be better than...than being back there, in that horrid place.

"Patches?" he nevertheless questioned skeptically as he detached his helmet again, as usual causing several bangs of his synthetic hair to fall across his eyes. These he in turn removed in the usual fashion as well, giving the long black mane a shake before stowing the silver-gray head cover away again, "This place is called Patches?"

The first nasal grunt of a chuckle escaped his nostrils in tandem with a smirk playing about the tips of his long lips, the involuntary utterance causing him to feel a tad awkward, "Sorry. I guess I don't have any room to say that's a weird name with one like mine. So, uh...why is it so bad...?"

"Um, yeah." Jade gave an uncertain nod as he set the elf back on his feet, on one hand thankful that the man addressed him as one would any normal person, on the other hand nervous due to not knowing why. Usually, people who saw him while his face was hidden under that helmet of his didn't even think he was self-aware, "I can understand that other thing you're speaking too, though. But...I'm not really sure how. I know I didn't this morning."

From his tone, it was easy to discern that he expected an explanation to come from Lazardarus, but it was entirely possible that the man didn't have a clue either. In truth, it was this place. The Builders hadn't much liked the idea of bringing people here just to smack into a zillion language barriers, so they'd just eliminated it altogether. On Patches, anyone could understand anyone else, no matter how obscure the language they spoke. Whether the nature of this effect was technological, magical, or something entirely unreal was unknown, but its presence was quite concrete...

It was tough to process the information the data chip (now in a storage compartment of his body) was giving him and finding a safe place at the same time, but thankfully he had help in the form of the three women. With their aid, both were accomplished quickly, and Jade hurried over to the doorway while he thought of what to say.

He'd have to be fast and accurate, so he chose his words carefully as they ran (his metal wings may have looked impressive, but their purpose was stability more than anything else; to actually fly, he needed engine power, and he didn't dare run that with the cloud rushing in), the sensation of dread and being lost without a master that came from Trisys making him rapidly reconsider that idea.

"Please stay with them." he curtly told the little woman, looking sincerely into her eyes, both hands on her shoulders, "I'll be back. You, um, have permission to speak and, uh...do things with them."

Okay, so he'd only chosen half his words carefully, but there was too much junk going on for any clear path of thought to hold for long. Either way, it was all the time he had. He let go of her. There was still that third contact out in the storm, and who knew what could happen if he, she, it, whatever stayed outside during this. Jade hoped he'd at least managed to cover the basics.

He turned and folded up his wings, the metal surfaces collapsing into one another and stowing themselves away beneath his back, then stepped out into the wind just as the cloud swept through the street. There he heard a voice from down the way, even over the loud prattle of dust and small debris against the metal of his head and arms. Moreover, he understood it! That was certainly a surprise. He didn't recall knowing that language.

Later. Worry about it later. Right now you've a job to do.

Keeping that in mind, Jade made his way down the street at a good pace, his balance system taking care of holding him upright. Without it, even something has heavy as the half-ton metal Dragon likely would've been blown over out in the open. Another yell sounded from ahead, and he sped up his steps, navigating by radar alone as the dust grew too dense to see past a meter or so. Thankfully, it was a very accurate and sensitive system, which prevented Jade from literally smacking into Lazardarus upon doing so figuratively.

Seeing the form of the elven man peel from the dust not half a meter before him, the metal Dragon reached out to pick him up like a bale of hay, not daring to speak since it would only get him a mouthful of dirt. If he succeeded, he'd carry him back to the others as quickly as possible, if necessary using his jacket as a shield to cover the man against the fly dust...

Jade didn't even note the slightest twinge of the warmth - which was a good thing. That was the loss he'd taken hardest of all, and reminders thereof brought only pain. This one going unnoticed was a blessing in disguise.

What he did note was the sudden clutter of new windows plastered all over his HUD. The metal Dragon's eyes grew wide, and he gave a start backwards, leaning precariously as if he would stumble.

Balance system online.

Until he took a step back and his tail swayed a tad to the right. Sometimes having a computer in your head wasn't such a bad thing.

"Whoa." he uttered curtly, just standing there a moment with both hands held out before him, fingers spread and eyes wandering nervously before giving a pronounced blink. What the heck had just happened? Okay, calm down. It was just new system data. From a rock. That had turned into software. Right. Nothing to freak out over. He hoped.

Either way, it seemed he'd have to relegate that one to 'figure it out later', for now the strange woman...no, not the strange woman. Prosopopoeiasys. Prosopopoeiasys now knelt before him in the dirt. No. That was unacceptable. Metal and machine or flesh and blood, he was still a Drokar, and like his fellow Dragons a being of power and pride. He would kneel in submission before nothing and no one, and it was his firm belief that no one else should either.

"Oh no...please don't." he spoke softly, ashamedly as he reached down to urge her up as gently as he could, "I...I didn't...I don't want to put my will over yours. Er, I mean..."

Of course, before he could gather his fragmented thoughts together enough to say what he meant, more things happened. First more people arrived. Two right there on the...road? Yeah, he guessed it had been a road at some point...and the third a mere contact echo on his radar until he came into viewing range...running toward them? Ooo-kay? Now he was really confused.

And naturally, it didn't end there.

WARNING!
WARNING!
WARNING!

His head jerked westward, or more specifically in the direction of the gargantuan rolling dust cloud speeding toward them. His HUD instantly focused in from perimeter to core.

Wind speed:
32
93
159
212
326_

Oh snap!

"Later." he stated decisively, pulling Trisys up faster while he looked for suitable shelter for those about him, believing them easy prey for the storm, "We have to get you guys inside somewhere. Right now. Move. In about eighteen seconds, you won't be able to see a thing."

Come to think of it, neither would he. His eyeballs may have been synthetic, but they could still get clogged with dust. He reached into his jacket and opened the compartment in his torso, taking from it the half-finished helmet he'd been building. It didn't cover the entire skull, and it was just blank metal, but the lens covers in the eye holes would keep the dust out, so it would have to do for now. With a click and a hiss, he fastened the thing to his head, leaving only his horns, hair, and lower jaw exposed, which would likely result in Lazardarus taking him for some kind of terrible golem. He didn't know that, though. All he was concerned with right now was getting people to safety by waving them into one of the more stable-looking structures...

((Of course not, Reb. Just don't bring in like 20. ))

OOC:

Just a note: the Desert is not a desert because it's hot and sandy. It's a desert because it's a devastated, dusty, lifeless landscape. About like this. As for the ion storm, that goes on almost constantly in the Desert (it only breaks for short periods of time), so anyone who's been there for an extended time would see it as normal by now.
__________________

BIC:

Confusion.

That one single word summed it all up. First someone next to him speaking calmly, casually, then the being that he'd thought trying to trick him warp and crumple to the dusty ground. He didn't know how to react. Half a second ago, he was ready to tear the supposed impostor limb from limb with every last drop of the pain she'd brought to him distilled into boundless, unrelenting hate...

...and now it was just gone.

For several seconds, he lost sight of the world around him. Even the booming thunder of the dark clouds above, their haze giving the desert an eerie, bluish tint didn't even register. All that existed was her, were her eyes. Those fearful, longing eyes.

Why? What was going on here?

The claws retracted. The rest of him, however, moved not a millimeter, and the 'pebble' thus remained right by the heavy boot of his left foot. Only then did he turn his head to the stranger beside him, his eyes filled with questions...

Sexpot character? Where? Me want!

Oh. Not a...uhhh...look over there, it's something shiny! >_>

Seriously though, this oughta be interesting. Thanks for including me.