DeviousMe

Nope, Paragon University is open to all servers, not just Virtue.

Haha, that's awesome.

Okay that's just fun.

Yep.

((While the thread title intrigues me because of my dragon mania...there's very little meat on this for an RP. Is this just for people 'in' on Union server stuff?))

You forgot to invert the sentences.

It's a non-factor.

Just take your time. Rushing things generally creates more disappointment than waiting for good work.

((You were attacked by 42? Oh my.))

"I'll take that as a no then." Acid remarked with a suppressed sigh. Heroes. Lot of good they were when you actually needed help with something other than semi-controlled demolition. On the other hand, he couldn't fault them there. In that area, they had skill aplenty.

"Okay, looks like I'm improvising." the reptilian secured his right hand against one of Kauruk's artificial dermal plates, then stiffened the fingers of his other one to form a very ad-hoc cutting edge with his claws, "Hold still."

"Easy for you to say." the Summoner tensed up, almost cringing together as the claws made contact, slicing through the thin layer of exoplast that separated the metal plate from the surrounding organic ones. The General hadn't replaced them all, of course; just the ones necessary to support his implants, "Do you have any idea how weird this feels?"

"Actually, yeah." the Khelari retorted, causing his friend to raise an eyebrow in befuddlement, "Oh yeah, people've tried to slice me up a lot. Of course, for me, it hurts. I don't have any artificial skin that doesn't have nerves in it, remember?"

The Cerosian didn't say anything to that. He just gulped, the thought stirred by that not at all pleasant. It didn't really put him any more at ease either, but thankfully Acid worked fast, removing the armor plate and going to work inside. To a human, the scene must've looked absolutely horrific - Kauruk made sure to keep looking straight ahead to not catch a glimpse of it either - for despite the reptilian taking great care around the organic systems that Cerosian engineering had so intricately melded with the General's cybernetics, it was pretty much impossible to not get at least his own hands bloody in the process. Moreover, imagination was quite a powerful force.

And not just in humans.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I can't take this anymore." the Summoner burst out after more than a minute of working to hold it together. He began to babble, going on for nearly half a minute, "This just feels too weird. I can't-"

"Kauruk..."

"No, seriously, it feels like there's this big gap in me and I-"

"Kauruk..."

"And it's cold and strange and-"

"General!" Acid finally shouted, quieting the Cerosian down and getting him to look at the reptilian - who stood beside and not underneath him.

"I was done over thirty seconds ago." he added casually now that he had the Summoner's attention, then motioned up the beach, "Give it a try. Thousand-Sun World. Trust me, you can do it."

The Cerosian licked his lips anxiously, still not so sure. But when he closed his eyes and concentrated, he did feel something...different. Like his connection to the universe's essence took a lot less effort, felt a great deal more...natural. He could feel the threads better, 'see' them further, even all the way out into the stellar void between galaxies.

And there it was.

Millions of light years away, sitting alone in the cold, dark region outside the Milky Way sat a little rocky planet that by all rights should've been a black world. But it wasn't. One thousand tiny, artificial suns surrounded the world like a glowing halo, ensuring never a night on the home of the bioplasmatic robots that lived there.

And this Kauruk had a connection. He opened an Oblivion Gate.

"Very nice, very nice." the Khelari slowly clapped his hands at the appearance of the large orange vortex, then raised a hand to the group of heroes around, "Okay then, we'll be back. Hopefully."

He didn't explain what he meant by that, stepping into the Oblivion Gate along with the Cerosian. A few seconds later, it dissipated again, and gone they were...

((Well, I guess Imma bow out seeing as how this thing's dead then. Too bad, I enjoyed it. Later all.))

((Don't tell me this died already. ))

"Sounds like an interesting relationship." Acid remarked with a toothy smirk as he walked about the Cerosian, pushing here and there to get him standing as straight as possible on his four legs, much like a tailor might before fitting a suit, "And don't worry about that. With the Plasma's help, we'll know soon enough. By the way, anybody got a knife I can borrow?"

Kauruk gulped. He was liking this idea less and less with every second...

Hehehe. Very, very nice. Keep 'em coming.

None from me either. The character I posted is technically nude anyway, so not much of an issue there.

The Khelari glanced at Ellie with narrowed, disappointed-looking eyes as he stood. With a very dispassionate tone, he remarked, "You know, sometimes you people just amaze me."

He didn't explain what he meant by that, instead turning out to sea and giving a shout and a wave to the General still on the whale. He got his attention almost immediately, and it didn't take but a few seconds for him to fly over and land beside them.

"We need help." Acid told the Summoner, "I'm going to need your warp implant."

Kauruk's eyes went wide with shock, the Cerosian taken more than aback, "You want to do what?"

"Relax." the reptilian retorted casually, holding up a hand, "My skin's a germ's worst nightmare. Besides, you've got that deal with the deal, so I don't think you can even get infections."

"Say wha-no! I mean..." Kauruk spent a few moments finding words, "What're you even trying to do?"

"Get help." was the curt, very factual answer, "I'm going to need you to open a gate to the Thousand-Sun World."

The General's purple scales became just a tad pinkish at this, the equivalence of a human going pale. He spoke breathlessly as he shook his head in disbelief, "...I...Ace, I...I can't do that. Three hundred thousand light years? That...way too far."

"No, you can." the Khelari remained steadfast, yet relaxed, indicating the equation in the sand. The Summoner stared at it for several long seconds.

"I don't get it." he finally said, prompting a smirk from the reptilian.

"I know." he said self-evidently, "That's why I need your implant. It gets it. I need to tell it what to get."

"You can't do that from out there?"

"Nope."

Kauruk shifted nervously, looking back and forth between the Khelari and the equation, an uneasy lick of his lips accompanying the response, "There's really no other way? I mean...of course I'm not scared. It's just...I'm really ticklish, and...have you ever even performed surgery?"

"No." Acid shrugged unceremoniously, "But I watch House a lot..."

Acid looked up a moment as Kip mentioned Grey's Army. How interesting. He didn't look like much, but then...one just never knew, did one? At least judging by what he'd heard from a certain first-hand source, there was no way he could judge the book by its cover on this one.

"I don't see why not." he shrugged in response to Amy's suggestion as he completed the calculation's first draft, "If someone can help, give 'em a holler."

"And what about this someone you know?" he asked of Tiger White, replacing a few elements of the equation paragraph, "I kind of invited a Summoner over, and he really is pretty good at his job. If you can describe where this person is, I'm sure he can get her here. It'd definitely be a lot simpler than this. Plus I'm pretty sure he'd like it more because I wouldn't have to root around in his implant..."

"Go for it." Acid gave a shrug at Riche as he knelt down and licked the small claw of his index finger, "Can't hurt, right?"

Then he began to draw in the sand. Well, not draw exactly, but the equation would end up fairly long and in several paragraphs, not to mention not utilize any symbol of human mathematics...

Dang, I don't have any pure fantasy characters. I do play some dragons, but they all got other stuff mashed into them as well, which probably disqualifies them here.

Oh, very nice. That also goes for the works in your other new display threads, by the way.

"Voy!" Acid gave a shout, hoping to interrupt the argument. With palms turned upward and spread fingers holding air, he interjected, "Would yalls chill already? Seriously. In case you haven't noticed, the guy's imitating an anime character. A very violent one. Do yalls really expect to convince him? You'd probably need a shrink for that. Actually, you'd probably need a whole bunch."

"Okay, so." he thumbed out to sea before anyone could respond, truly feeling that basic logic should support his assertion, "How about focusing on the matter at hand? No one here can repair brain damage, okay. Does anyone know somebody who can...?"

((Hey yalls, just wanted to note that Kauruk's on the whale's back out to sea a little bit while Acid's still on the beach with the others. There seems to have been a slight location mixup there. ))

Kauruk's eyes narrowed in thoughtful displeasure. Usually, he would've been able to understand the song of a whale. That wasn't a good sign. Giving his wings a beat, he jumped from the water and climbed atop the whale, sniffing about as he walked.

"Call Ace."

His TC implant immediately complied, and back on the beach, the phone in the Khelari's pocket rang. With a remark of regard, he pulled the rather cumbersome-looking (relatively to the tiny things most Terrans used as their cellphones these days, at least) device and answered. Oddly enough, not a sound came over his lips as he held the phone to them and spoke. Well, at least not to those nearby.

Until Acid pushed a button, that was, then told them, "Say guys, I don't mean to interrupt any important arguments here, but I think it'd be a good idea if those of yalls with healing abilities went out to that there whale and, you know, healed it. Dont'cha think...?"

Acid didn't participate in the argument, merely leaning on one of the nearby tall rocks. He didn't really see a pressing need to end it right away, so he figured it best to just let the heroes work it out on their own. Besides, he found it fairly amusing, not to mention Exhibit A through Z to convince Kauruk why even a known villain really wasn't in any danger in Paragon City unless he, she, or it did something overtly evil in front of everybody.

Good is dumb.

Though the General hadn't been quite sure how to take that at first, considering himself 'good' as well, after the Khelari had briefly explained in whisper who Lord Helmet and Mel Brooks were, he'd eventually taken the situation for what it was. Thus the Cerosian had headed into the water and swam out to sea, where the whale still lingered.

Once there, he 'spoke' to it, inquiring the basics: where it had come from, why it had attacked the people here instead of those it had said attacked its pod, if it had run into anything unusual lately, etc; you know, the basics...

"He can." Acid 'volunteered' the Summoner by giving him a poke with the tip of his tail, adding with a toothy smirk, "Ain't that right?"

Kauruk's eyes narrowed at his compagnon in dissatisfaction, and he gave a soft snort. However, he did turn to Amy and nodded, inquiring, "What would you like I ask...?"