DeviousMe

((Well, if he talked it over with Cham, Spade, and Torrent, getting their permission to move their characters like this, I really don't see a problem with it. Otherwise, though...Leo, what'n blue blazes you smokin'? I want some! ))

"Aiight, I get the hint." Acid murmured dejectedly as he left his seat again. David, Gabriella, and Odette seemed to be practically making a point out of ignoring him, flaunting smiles and good nature to one another right in front of the reptilian, as if he didn't even exist.

Geez...talk about speciesists. Like they don't look weird to me.

"Hm?" Hotaka remarked as he arrived with a handful of chips, puzzled that Acid had left the table, "I thought we were going to gamble some?"

"Eh, humans." the reptilian sighed with a shrug, the towering man nodding in understanding. He knew well of what Acid spoke...

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

"Hello." Kaze Henteko greeted Harry with a curt wave as he approached the man's table, the 'average tourist's' smile most warm and casual. The seats here had a good view of the arena, and he certainly didn't want to pass up the opportunity, "Is this seat taken?"

"...and of course the Protector goes and pops his ultra-mode, but by that time I'd already clocked him with the mace pretty well." Acid went on with the story as the three headed downstairs, "So he's trying to claw me, all jittery and stuff, and I just can't help myself and go GLaDOS on the guy."

"I start coughing and hacking, and stammer to him, 'neurotoxin...so deadly...' and the I break from a choke into the most demented laugh I could manage with that super-squeezy helmet on. Well, get this: apparently Taylor thinks I really managed to poison myself or something, because he starts contemplating how with all that conditioning, we should be able to take a bath in the stuff."

"Strangely enough, that fits absolutely perfectly, and so I say, 'Oh, I can. I can put it on cereal, rub it right into my eyes. Honestly, it's not deadly at all...to me.' and turn to the PP again to go, 'You, on the other hand, are doing to find its deadliness a lot. Less. Funny.' Second later, he just falls over."

Hotaka shook his head once more, warning a smile most wide, while Henteko just snickered uncontrollably, especially enjoying the mental imagery.

"Very well, that was a good one." the towering man conceded as they entered the nightclub, "Hm, this seems quaint. Is that an arena over there?"

"Sure looks like it." Henteko remarked, still more interested in the tale the reptilian had just told than anything else, "So how do you even fit in that thing? I mean...muah? I just can't wrap my head around that. And was there really deadly neurotoxin on there?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know." Acid waved the first question off with a lightly frightened expression, "Let's just say I'm very flexible. And of course not. Just paralyzing. But it is a neurotoxin. Really effective too."

"Huh." the man nodded in consideration, "I'll have to try that sometime. By the way, what was up with that guy giving you the stink eye?"

"Eh," the reptilian shrugged, "Don't worry about it. So, I take it you'll want to slug around some?"

"Not especially." Hotaka admitted, as did Henteko with a nonverbal gesture of indifference, "Might be fun to watch, though."

"Hm..." Acid tilted his head for a moment, "I dunno. Never had much for watching stuff, especially fights. Hell, only time I'm into that's when mating season comes around, and then I'd rather be a participant than an observer."

Henteko couldn't help but chuckle again, "Okay, but one can also learn a great deal by observing."

"Very good." Hotaka remarked proudly, "Looks like you're not as unreachable as I thought after all. Well...do you just want to stay here while we head back up to the casino then?"

"Sure." the man gave a nod, and with that he was off, "I'll see you two in a few then."

Collecting one another, Acid and Hotaka ascended the steps once again, the reptilian seeking out the Blackjack table like a bloodhound. He arrived just in time to catch the tail of the fabricated conversation with David, snatching the backrest of a chair and spinning it about on one leg.

"Cracked-out's definitely the word choice I'd use there." he smiled toothily at the three, placing himself in the seat he'd turned about due to its solid backrest, "Or at least, now I would. Yalls don't mind if I join ya, hm...?"

After 'Mr. Dune' and his associates had departed the casino, they might've perceived the slight audible pop as an object that had just materialized out of teleport pushed the air it had displaced aside in a miniscule amount of time.

Acid strode back into the casino, still in the process of getting his shirt back on, and fiddling with the left sleeve, which had inverted itself.

"Hey." he greeted the mismatched duo once more, "So, what'd I miss?"

"Oh, nothing much." Hotaka's shoulders rose and fell, summing up what had happened, "That arrow lad strikes me as more unstable than a bowl of nitroglycerine. Oh, and the MIB division departed as well."

"Huh." the reptilian turned toward the exit to get a look, finally reverting the sleeve back to its normal shape and being able to drape the shirt over his back and shoulders again, "Guess I must've missed 'em. Well-"

"What is that?" Hotaka inquired in the manner that generally accompanied the raising of an eyebrow, though with the hat there, no one could be sure.

His fingers reached for the end of Acid's shirt, but the reptilian quickly whirled about, wanting to know, "What is what? I don't see anything."

"Oh really?" the towering man intensified his query, moving to circle him, "well, then you won't mind me taking a look, will-"

"Yes, I would." Acid interrupted, moving with the robed fellow that now circled him like a hungry shark, "What is this suddenly? You trying to invade my personal space?"

"Yes." Hotaka nodded to Henteko, "Now."

The towering man quickly grasped the reptilian's arms, giving his compatriot the few moments he needed to lift the shirt and take a look at Acid's back. He immediately released the fabric again, utterly startled by the large gash that ran from left shoulder to right waist.

"I thought so." Hotaka concluded as he released his grip, placing two fingers down the grumbling Acid's neck by the mentioned shoulder, "Is that...blood? Aren't you supposed to be on vacation? I would've expected better of you. What have you been doing, Robert?"

"Hey, that happened beforehand." Acid crossed his arms with a huff, eyeing the floor, "I was sparring with Vyachslav, and I got careless. That's all there is to it. Really."

Hotaka shook his head with a sigh, taking a deep breath, "You...there’s something wrong with you. Vyachslav is what...ten times your size? I know he's faster than you too. So he's larger, stronger, faster, and you know you can’t beat him. Why do you even-"

"Because if I don't practice with a superior opponent, I won't get any better." the reptilian preempted the completion of the question, "Besides, you know he holds back. Like I said, I got careless, that's all. I'm not a masochist, nor do I have any psychological problems aside from excessive paranoia, and you know that."

"I suppose...still though, that...you know what? I give up." Hotaka admitted, "You're going to keep doing this despite what anyone tells you anyway."

Acid merely grinned toothily.

"He does have a point." Henteko mentioned, "If I'd only kept to opponents around my level of competence, where would it have gotten me?"

"Okay, okay." the towering fellow threw his hands up, "I can see when I'm outnumbered. I admit defeat. Now shall we find something to divert us?"

"Like what?" the others smiled simultaneously, causing Hotaka's arms to drop like limp noodles.

"Don't think I can't see where this is going." he murmured, taking a look about, "Well, everyone else seems to be heading off downstairs, so let's see what's so interesting down there."

Acid and Henteko nodded at this, and the three proceeded to follow Miranda and Danny as well...

"You're kidding me, right?" Randall Grey massaged his temples with a long, drawn-out sigh, "You cannot be seriously telling me that-"

"No, I was!" Solid Shot's sudden outburst turned most everyone's attention to the gray mechanoid's argument with the colorful Toy Dispenser, which had remained somewhat quiet until now. With his response to the robotic mastermind's last statement, however, Solid had quickly gone from whisper to wallop.

"You were most certainly not." Toy replied in an aloof tenor, crossing his arms as he purposely looked away from the other sentient robot, "I said Acid was controlling Vanguard, and there you have it. Given, he wasn't doing it in the way I thought he was, but-"

Solid barked an expletive at his counterpart before turning about-face, crossing his arms as well, "You just don't wanna pay up, you cheater."

"Of course I don't." Toy admitted, unambiguously frank, "But that doesn't change that I was right, at least in the essence of things."

"Actually..." their attention reverted to the Lady Grey as she spoke once more, a miniscule smirk now visible upon her face, "You are not. Solid Shot is quite entitled to his prize."

"Hell yeah!" the gray android victoriously pumped his arm, "What'd I say? I was...wait. Why was he wrong?"

"Because until this point, We held the ultimate authority." her expression became that of cold stone yet again, "As mentioned, Mr. Zero acted solely in the role of an advisor...and at times, not even so. He provided to us little more than pieces to a puzzle, and a far cry from all of them. Levantera, Borea, Inandescent, Gaussian, Serpent Drummer, and Mr. Wilcox and Ourselves were and are those who have forged Vanguard into what we are this day."

"For you see," she waved a would-be protest off before she could be interrupted, "there stands one more detail you should know: during our time functioning in concert, we learned faith in one another, and to such an extent that Mr. Zero submitted to our authority when we came to the junction of our first disagreement; to the judgment of human beings."

"Okay..." Solid whispered to Toy through a thick soup of silence, "Didn't expect that."

"Me neither." the robotic mastermind quietly replied, then approached the Lady Grey, "So wait, if he was taking orders from you, then what was all that now just about? Why didn't you just tell him off? Why was he the one in charge?"

"We had asked him to." she replied, exhaling lengthily, "When we realized what we faced here, we came to the conclusion that we could under no circumstances underestimate our adversaries."

She looked for a moment to the swept-up remains of the Dark Watcher's automaton rusting in a corner before going on, "None of us could be absolved of being susceptible to duplication, subversion, or what countless other horrors We ourselves have seen visited upon the minds and bodies of men. We required an individual whom we could not only be certain to remain true to his essence, but stood capable of receiving our trust as well."

"There existed only one choice..." her icy eyes closed for a moment as a tear ran down her cheek, "A choice We thought wise."

"Okay, I've had about enough of this." Cory Simmons made himself known, pushing past Randall and stepping to the Lady Grey, "We can debate the past and presence or absence of morality and its merits here all day, but from what it sounds like to me, he's not acting a thing like he used to, right?"

"Yeah." Toy Dispenser nodded acutely, confirming the wizard's suspicions, "He's definitely not the guy I know anymore."

"But," he went on before Cory could speak what most thought at this point, "there's no way it's the crystals. That guy who tried to kill us, the one we were talking to - that wasn't any more than a fancy machine. The crystal gunk didn't even touch that."

"Are you so sure?" Randall mumbled suspiciously, putting a hand to his beard as he inquired of the Lady Grey, "I've got this idea that I was right about the isolation ward..."

The Lady Grey

"To state that things came in a way We had not fully expected would be a truly boundless understatement. Though the promised resources came about posthaste, the control we had steeled ourselves to weather remained conspicuously absent. After discovering the initial funding to have come from international sources, Incandescent brought forth the thought of appealing to the United Nations for support. The concept had proved not only viable, but extremely efficient in the small scale, and as the ladies and gentlemen of the Security Council know this day, the same proved decidedly true for the large."

"This applied to the rest of what Mr. Zero had pledged as well, the mentioned hero perishing the very thought of refusing us, and as the months passed, Vanguard not only returned to stand on its own feet once more, but to stand undoubtedly strong upon them. We may not have carried the membership of many a metahuman at the time, but from the information pertaining to the Rikti he gave to us, combined with what we already knew, we managed to extrapolate so very much more. Gaussian even harnessed the knowledge we now possessed to design weapons that allowed our forces of average human beings to strike against Rikti troops with an effectiveness we had previously thought only possible by super-powered beings. Our soldiers became not only a genuine threat to their Rikti counterparts, but superior in single combat - and our technological advance was far from the end."

"While solely human hands forged the aforementioned achievements, we soon learned that Mr. Zero understood to bend the rules he had spoken of. Contrary to expectations, he entrusted to us a form of portal he referred to as a 'light' gate. While not as far-reaching as the apertures employed by Portal Corporation, the resource requirements to construct and maintain this type of gate were truly miniscule. Gaussian spent many a night locked away in his laboratory, endeavoring to discover the secrets of a portal device no larger than the nail of a finger. Ultimately, he did not succeed, for as we discovered at a later date - with credit to Serpent Drummer and the Dark Watcher - the generators operated beyond our understanding of science. Like the relics of Mu, they were technology that worked in ways we could not comprehend as such. We perceived their operation as magic, and with that he could work."

"Fortunately, we had branched into the fields of the arcane arts as well, and retained no shortage of competent witches and wizards. Indeed, it was in the mask of such a one that Mr. Zero had taken as his face with Vanguard: a Sword Sorcerer by the alias of Zed. Nevertheless, he left us free hand. He visited only every now and then, blending seamlessly into our operations, and none but those of us you see here now even knew of him. He operated from the shadows, from the backdrop, solely on occasion making a suggestion or asking that we revisit one thing or the other. In fact, 'Zed' became known within Vanguard as the man of the trademark phrase, 'You should take another look at this.' for this he would state more often than not when he did make one of his sparse appearances."

"Indeed, as you have possibly concluded by now, it was the last such request that had begotten this expedition. Had we not reevaluated the footage of the battle with Nemesis beneath the Rikti ship in Paragon City time and time again, the brassen madman may well have gone about his schemes utterly unimpeded. Only due to the repeated insistence of Mr. Zero did we discover that we had missed something...a most frustrating, annoying, and relentless repeated insistence."

She had stated those last few words with a crooked smirk, her lips and demeanor the embodiment of fond memories of the once-dreadful moment that once stood able to laugh about at a later time. Now, however, her expression gradually disheartened yet again, her stoic tone going on with a slender sigh, "Of course, that all now lay in the past. It no longer mattered. Our person had willfully terminated our covenant...and now the collector came to take his dues..."

"You!" she stared in disbelief at the individual beyond the shattered one-way mirror, eyes torn wide-open and mouth agape.

"Me!" the man's snow-white lab coat billowed as he hopped through the gap, shouting back cheerfully and throwing his arms wide in a most generous manner. A frightening grin of lacking sanity curled blissfully beneath his round spectacles of opaque black.

"You!" she cried out again, still not quite believing her eyes.

"Me!" was once more a most postured reply, the man ardently sauntering across the cell to the reptilian.

"You!"

"Me!" he replied vociferously one more time, then leaned just a bit to Acid's side, perceptibly placing a hand beside his mouth, though he kept normal volume, "Does she say anything else?"

"She was a waterfall a minute ago." Acid gave a most innocent shrug, "Pretty raunchy too. You just seem to have this...effect on women."

"I am stunning, aren't I?" the Doc grinned as he slicked back his hair, then reverted to somewhat everyday demeanor, "You want I should get you down?"

"You are Brian Webb!" the Lady Grey exclaimed before Acid could reply, "You are not dead. That cannot be. Is...is it truly you?"

"Yes..." he grinned a most savage grin at her, tilting his head slowly from one side of the other like the Cheshire Cat, speaking with demented intonation while he fiddled with his fingers, "And...no. I am - or rather, was - Brian Webb. I am, however, not your Brian Webb. Please, refer to me simply as the Doc."

"Multiverse." the reptilian sighed with yet another shrug, "Poke around in it even just a little and you'll find all sorts of strange things. What're ya gonna do?"

"Then..." she swallowed hard, a frightening realization dawning upon her, "Then this means..."

"Ah-ah-ah." Acid smirked maliciously, giving his head a slight shake, "No speculation. Speculation never gets you anywhere. I suggest you gather more information before coming to anything that even remotely looks like a conclusion."

Her eyes narrowed at this, curiosity and suspicion becoming one within her pupils as she gradually became conscious of just what he'd said, "What are you implying?"

"Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?" Acid retorted philosophically as he looked to the ceiling, "I mean, you've got a bunch of people here basically just hiding out. I know you're rebuilding, but let's face it: Vanguard is in pretty sorry shape compared to what it used to be. I think we can help with that."

The Lady Grey's tone did not falter from its deathly character, "Our deal with the devil would be...?"

"Oh, good grief." the reptilian's eyes rolled as he huffed out a sigh, "Look, our plans may involve humanity, but they certainly don't do so in a bad way. In fact, we're even being hellaciously careful to follow the rules exactly and not change anything too quickly, lest we bring down some catastrophe. But back on the subject, the Rikti attacking humanity isn't good any way you twist it."

"Then why don't you do something about it?" she queried with fervor, expecting to corner him in some manner about how superior some extraterrestrial cultures believed themselves to be, and that they could not 'interfere' in the affairs of 'primitive' civilizations.

"Ah, but we are." the Doc took the word with a most ubiquitous smile, pacing about the back of her, which in turn caused the Lady Grey to instinctively take a few steps forward, "This is what we're doing about it - at least it will be, if you help us."

"We've got enough pull around your world to reallocate some resources." Acid went on to explain, "If you play your cards right, you can probably turn 'some' into 'many'. What we don't have are people. You do. In essence, you're our best chance here."

"We are unconvinced." the Lady Grey stated even so, "While you may speak your true intent, just what is it that you could provide? We highly doubt it would be achievements of your 'superior science'."

"Not important." Acid swept the argument under the rug, "You've got all the know-how you need right here. You just need to get your hands on it. What if I told you I knew someone who could manipulate impervium - turn it into anything you like: weapons, armor, and so on and so forth?"

"We would be skeptical as to the nature of the source."

"A hero. One of your very own, in Paragon City. And no. I just happen to have run into the guy. I can't remember his name right now, but I know his face, and he's in our database. You ask him to do this, there's no way he'll say no, I guarantee it. Furthermore, we know a few things about the Rikti. Not a lot, but you're smart; you can build on it. I know you can. All you'd need to do is follow my orders to the letter when the time comes."

"The time?" the Lady Grey's suspicions grew yet again as she wanted to know, "What time?"

"The second invasion." Acid broke it to her directly, "You don't think they've given up, do you? They'll be back."

"And in greater numbers." the Doc chuckled, but after the stare he earned from both of the unlike conversation partners apologized, "Sorry, bad joke."

"Anyway," Acid turned his attention back to the Lady Grey, "when the time comes, not only will you be ready for them, but if you do what I say then, things will work out. I can promise you that."

The answer came as naught but silence. He could see her mind working behind those icy eyes, considering the possibilities. He was wearing her down, but something yet restrained her.

"Alright." he took a deep breath after a few seconds, "I didn't want to have to do this, but...Lady Grey, I know of your condition."

Her eyes suddenly grew wide, the woman letting out a breathless gasp, "What do you mean?"

"You're dying." the reptilian returned stoically, "The coughing blood, the dizziness, I've seen it before. It's from..."

"My powers, yes." she now admitted, her gaze seeking the floor, "My body is rejecting the stolen years, I know. How...?"

"I can smell it on you. To me, it's like you've got a big sign around your neck."

"And what does my...condition have to do with anything?"

Acid gave a nod to the Doc, "Show her."

The man who was no longer a man produced a minute vial from beneath his white coat, a pale fluid contained within, "This is an elixir that will counteract the rejection."

Her eyes gave a longing twitch, the lady Grey stepping directly in front of the two, "How do We...?"

"I give you my word as a medical professional." the Doc answered most earnestly, all traces of insanity washed from his demeanor, "I'm not sure about your Webb, but I was that sort of doctor first. And I still am. This will not do you harm, I swear upon my oath."

"It's temporary." Acid added, feeling he should give to her the whole truth straight and up-front, "So it needs to be taken repeatedly. But it works, and it works well. Think about it: you could save billions of lives, including your own, a perhaps everlasting one, if you take this deal. Moreover, I'm not even allowed to directly interfere, so you'll have control virtually all the time. Hm...I probably should've mentioned that earlier..."

"C'mon." he urged her on as she still stared at the substance with uncertain eyes, lifting her chin with the tip of his tail so their eyes could look directly into one another, "I'll even take a pseudonym. No one will know until the time is right - and then you'll be able to help so many. Moreover, you'll be around to see it. Isn't that worth it?"

The Lady Grey stood as stone for several seconds, the mind that he could see reflected in her pupils wrestling with herself. Finally, she made her decision.

"I thought you'd see it my way." the reptilian smiled toothily as her fingers closed about the vial, her other hand taking the tail from her chin.

"We think We misjudged you." a smirk not unlike Acid's now crossed the woman's face, though of course it held greatly less teeth.

"Oh, don't be so sure of that just yet." the reptilian chuckled comradely, "C'mon then, get me down from this. Oh, and...could you not touch the underside of my tail like that?"

"Why?" now the woman donned a smile most sinister. She'd been overrun, and her pride demanded she at the very least get a small amount of payback, "Does it make you...uncomfortable?"

"Actually..."

"Men!" she huffed in exasperation, her mouth agape as she released her grip posthaste, "You are all alike! We have not misjudged you one bit...!"

The Lady Grey

"His words held greater candor than We were prepared to believe at the time. The aged bunker complex Vanguard had chosen to be our temporary headquarters during the reconstruction process teemed with frantic exchanges through the radio nearly right away, and Gaussian did not hesitate to lock down the entire facility. Nevertheless, the intruders made frighteningly quick progress. Tales of monsters that sprang from the earth itself raged throughout our personnel, and We lost contact with an ever-increasing number of sectors. Finally, We could take no more."

She let out a heavy sigh, this part of the report weighing on her with distinct heaviness, "We...We struck out at Our prisoner in rage, and to this day Our person does not entirely comprehend just what We sought to accomplish. We have lost our composure on occasion, but...not in such a manner. It stood as a shocking revelation that We were indeed still human, and that Our lower instincts held a considerable amount of sway over Our person. We even applied Our power, taking the years from his body with no regard that without any means of communication upon him, he could not order cassation of the, even had he wanted to...or at least, so We believed."

"Still, We shall fabricate no excuses." she stated into the camera lens with cold, stern eyes, "Our behavior was by no means permissible, ceasing only once the intruders had reached the cell block, sending one of our armed personnel to crash through the observation mirror. The shock of this sudden occurrence returned Us to reality, horrified at that which We had wrought. Until then, We had not even expected Our person capable of such...still, what followed thereafter We had expected to an incomparably lesser degree..."

The three watched in confusion as the brawl dissolved just as suddenly as it had begun, only to be followed by another argument, and then to be drowned in the screeches of yet another fire alarm.

"Okay, now I'm mad." Acid snarled through gnashed teeth, wishing he'd had exterior auditory sensors to hold for once, "Boys, 'scuse me a sec. I got some stranglin' to do."

With that, the reptilian bolted from the casino, Hotaka merely shrugging at his companion's questioning look. This was o course somewhat comedic in itself, what with the two holding their earlobes to at least lessen the piercing shrieks. Henteko huffed in frustration. At least the towering man had his bamboo hat to veil his eyes. He, on the other hand, didn't have anything to keep away the obnoxiously flashing white of the alarm strobe lights.

Of course, it once again didn't last long, the crew dispensing their all clear one more time. Still, something had been odd about that one. Had there been someone choking in the background...?

By now, the three so different individuals had made their way to the casino, laxly guiding their steps through the brightly lit entryway, laughing yet again about one or the other's past exploits. But when the sitting tables came into view, they quickly stopped to stare.

"Why is there...?" Hotaka began curiously, putting a hand to his Fu Manchu in confusion at the spectacle that unfolded there.

"I have no idea." Acid retorted, wanting to know, "I'd rather like clarified why there's..."

"Both unimportant." Henteko concluded in mock arrogance, "It only matters why there's. Okay, so maybe not. But what is going on over there? Should we ask?"

"Dunno." the reptilian shrugged, now even recognizing 'Mister Dune' at this point, "Might be best to just wait and see. I guess if things get bad, we can always throw his bulk in."

"Hey." Hotaka huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, stating with a grin, "That's all muscle, I'll have you know..."

Okay then, I'll bite. For your consideration:


He stared the stare that would not end, and his eyes cast dreadful longing to the eyeless sockets of the human skull within in his claws, even through the opaque visor of his helmet. He'd not moved the thing in years, having no desire to lay eyes upon the face that once was real. Its metal may no have covered the artificial skin of his lower jaw, ending just before the horns of the draconian's head, but even with that synthetic hide stretching its tiny scales down his neck in the originals' hue, at least the helmet veiled the face of the machine.

For this he had become, so very long ago, the wingless dragon's body now entirely of metal and machine, only cold, blank armor where warm, feeling flesh had once brought such sensation. He felt as the burnt-out husks of once grand towers, their rusted skeletons moaning harshly skyward in woeful silence at the vistas of their former facades, now no more than mounds of rubble like that he perched on. Starving flames still flickered weakly here and there, feebly feeding on what sparse fuel they found, including the bleached bones of the humans not much smaller than he.

With a heavy heart, he gave the skull over to the flames, to let the cycle of life begin anew...at least for those whom it did not deny. Perhaps one day, he would rejoin it - but first, the machines would need to breathe their last. They'd claimed so very many; and not solely humans.

And as he watched the skull char within the flames, the impossible came to pass once more. A tear ran from beneath his helmet...


Aiight, hope I didn't get too carried away there. I tried to leave the details ambiguous. If it's still too much, just yell at me.

"That was less amusing than I thought it would be." Acid concluded with a shrug as Danny and Miranda departed the luau, turning to the others, "I swear, if that alarm goes off one more time, I'm biting someone's head off. Oh well. How 'bout we find something more entertaining to do then?"

"More entertaining than the sushi bar?" Hotaka tilted his head quizzically, "Are you feeling well?"

"Not now." the reptilian smiled in response, knowing full well what the towering fellow implied, "I just gave one of their chefs a nervous breakdown less than an hour ago, so I'm still good. But wait about another hour. Knowing me, I'll be hungry again by then."

"Well, there is a casino down that way somewhere." Henteko suggested, thumbing at the exit Danny had made use of, "That's never boring."

"Sounds like a plan." Acid gave a nod as he stood, waiting for the others before the three departed, "Gotta warn ya, though - I'm deadly at Blackjack."

"Liar." Hotaka snickered, earning a sharp glance from the reptilian, "What? You know it's true. Your luck stinks."

"Okay, so it is." Acid rolled his eyes, "But can't I at least try and mess with him...?"

A resounding crack snapped through the air, followed immediately by an even more resounding, "Ow!" neither of which did anything to assuage the clouds of rolling thunder that grumbled their gathered fury within the four walls of the small confinement cell. Figuratively speaking, of course.

"Would you stop hitting me with that?!" Acid roared at the top of his lungs, instinct trying once more to forcefully stamp a boot upon the floor, only to fail yet again at the heavy shackles that held his ankles near the wall. Like the ones about his wrists, their chains were too short to allow for much movement, though they'd strung his arms up above his head - and of course the fact that they'd taken his boots.

After he'd pulled the kodachi from one some time back, he couldn't exactly say he blamed them. Still, he wasn't digitigrade; he may have had clawed toes, but the arch of his foot upon the blank slab of concrete that was the floor was uncomfortably cold - and if his feet were cold, he was cold.

"Oh, how rude of me." an infuriated Lady Grey snarled with unbridled vehemence as her fingers tightened about the baton in her hand, "Would you prefer I hit you with something else?"

"Well..." Acid's pupils wandered sheepishly from side to side, the reptilian only now realizing he'd walked right into that one giving his head a slight shake, "No...not really. No."

"Good!" she cracked the baton over his head once more for good measure, the reptilian growling again in response, snapping at the aggravatingly close little devil of a stick. This was getting really old really fast, Acid bellowing out another, "Stop that already!"

"I will as soon as you tell me the truth!" the Lady Grey hissed through clenched teeth, having lost her patience some time ago now, "You lured us right into a trap! If you're not with the Rikti, then why by the furies of hell did-?!"

"Well what did you expect?!" the reptilian snarled back, "You've had me chained up here three days now, and-!"

"Because you could not keep your claws to yourself!" she brought revanche for her own interruption, "We have lost count of your escape attempts, and each time you cut, claw, or in some other way maim one of my men! I do not even want to speak of the physician whose arm you nearly bit off!"

"It was his own damned fault." Acid declared stoically, averting his eyes from her in theatrical displeasure, "He shouldn't have tried to shove it down my throat."

"He is a doctor!"

"Your point being? Food goes into my mouth - not doctors, not arms, not anything else. Simple as that. Furthermore, I don't like doctors. Quacks, all of 'em." he turned to her again, smiling in most sinister manner, "Besides, I just flayed his flesh off a little. I didn't even tough the bone. And I had to suffer through this horrid aftertaste in my mouth for hours. But how about we get back on track? As I said, you've had me chained up here three days now, and I'm getting sick and tired of it. You would too, and you know it. I was running out of ideas. Heck, I thought that maybe if my robots took a few hostages, yalls'd be willing to trade. Of course, I didn't know you'd bring a bunch of supers along."

"Then again..." the reptilian's visage became a most toothy grin, "Now we do."

"Oh?" the Lady Grey sneered, righting her hair with a huff, "And who are 'we'? Your alien friends that We should be so fearful of?"

As if ordained by divine command, a tremor suddenly surged through the floor. The Lady Grey's head whipped about, a piercing stare of narrowed eyes directed at the large, one-way mirror that sat by the cell's reinforced door. Another tremor followed the first, and within seconds a rhythm that resembled titanic footfalls had developed. Then she heard the characteristic chatter of gunfire.

"Actually..." Acid remarked by the wayside, his tone most casual, "No. It's the human one you should be afraid of. He's a doctor..."

The Lady Grey

"At the time, we were quite unsure of what to make of him. By all accounts, an aperture of the same nature as the portals of the original Rikti invasion had disgorged his craft, which in turn seemed to have succumbed to the solid state of the structure it had attempted to pass through. However, according to the single eyewitness we discovered, the gateway had not carried a tone of red, nor had it been flat. Instead, our source described it as 'a hole in the world'; as if a sphere of blackest void had stamped out anything and everything that had existed before its appearance. This alone of course dissuaded none of us from the notion that this was a novel Rikti scheme. Things were simply still too...well-remembered."

"This of course led to the internment of Mr. Zero at our hands after to his awakening, and subsequent study of his being. This did not go well. 'Citing difficulties' would be a desperate understatement. He severely injured multiple personnel, and seemed to have an especially great aversion toward the medical sort. We believe to this day that Our decision to suspend biological studies at this point stood correct beyond measure, and the immediate aftermath seemed to confirm this. Though we still had no proof of his denials concerning Rikti association, at the very least he appeared more cooperative."

"His accounts consisted of much of what is these days public record concerning his person, and that the dark gateway he had arrived through had been nothing more than part of a routine excursion to another universe termed to us as World 15. At this point, We should like to take as an aside that the terms alternate universe and dimension are used synonymously in this report. World 15 existed as an...extremely negative counterpart to our own, and the creature Mr. Zero had felled he introduced to us as a Shade: the dominant inhabitant of Earth in said dimension. He had been studying this being and others of its kind, and the collision with a building of our Earth had been no more than an unfortunate accident. The Shade, following its stated violent and aggressive nature, pursued and assaulted what it assumed prey - us - and therefore necessitated termination."

"Many more questions became asked and answered the second day passed, but at one point or another, even We lost oversight and returned to the matter of his internment by us. He insisted he be released, and informed us that several individuals he regarded as close friends eagerly awaited his return, not to mention that the presentation of his findings on World 15 was of grave importance. Furthermore, said individuals knew of his incarceration and were beginning to lose their patience. At the time, we believed these to be but idle threats, though in retrospect We grant consideration that he had employed no threatening tones whatsoever. Live and learn, We suppose. Regardless, dawn had broken on the third day when Mr. Zero submitted to Us that he recalled where evidence of his non-affiliation with the Rikti might be found, and that We should set out on retrieval."

"Truth be told, We should have known it was but a farce. But We knew not what We do today, and our force ran headlong into his trap..."

"You are kidding me." Acid rubbed his eyes in annoyance as the fire alarm squawked its piercing shrieks through the ship yet again, "Either this crew's way too drill-happy, or we've got a fireworm on the loose."

"Firebug." Henteko raised a finger, drawing a confused glance from the reptilian. He quickly clarified himself, "That's the expression you meant to use, right?"

"Sure." came the answer with a slight smirk, Acid opting to save the existence of fireworms for a more opportune moment to string the guy up, "I guess we'll wait a few seconds, see if they cancel it again."

Most of the lounge's other patrons seemed to hold the same opinion; unsure whether the situation was the same as before. Still, there wasn't any fire here and now, so the conclusion that clarification could be awaited was fairly logical...

The three had quickly found a table, the wicker chairs' construction allowing Acid to comfortably fit his tail through the mostly-missing backrest. He gave a nod of satisfaction at this, already having expected he'd need to turn the seat around as usual.

"Just as a matter of curiosity," Hotaka took the word once their drinks had arrived, the waitress backing away as quickly as she could as a result of the reptilian's attempted smile, which had once again come out a bit too toothy for the human, "aren't you worried about heroes on board? I mean, trying to arrest you and such?"

"Nah." Acid waved off, leaning back while he snatched his glass from the table, "I'm not that famous. First they'd have to get suspicious and run me through an ID or something. Even then, the worst thing I publically am is a bank robber - and since everyone who's tried to stop me from that so far's gotten a bloody nose...yeah, I'm not worried. Not really."

"I see." the towering man replied, nodding sagely while he slowly stirred his tea, "I take it your other aliases get the bulk of the reputation?"

"Kind of. Null's just doing what Arachnos do anyway, and Zed...eh, I've given up on Zed. He's not technically 'dead', but I don't think I have a use for him anymore. Besides, that armor was a really tight fit."

"Ride up all the time?" Henteko snickered, taking another sip of his own glass.

"That too." Acid smirked casually, heading the man off before he could reply, "Hey man, you don't wanna start with me. I'll drag your mind so deep into the gutter you'll need three tons of bleach to get it back."

"He will." Hotaka innocently nursed his cup, tilting his head toward the room's other side, where Miranda had just caused Danny's gastronomic spill, "And it looks like he's not the only one."

"Looks like she found someone else to pick on." Henteko remarked, "Wonder what's making her so angry to bewitch people all the time..."

"Probably got the blues." Acid chuckled, "Sorry, couldn't help it. Oh and speaking of: I haven't even asked what you guys are doing here."

"Guarding a box." Hotaka answered matter-of-factly, "No, we don't know what's in it. Just hired to make sure no one messes with it. Not that it even looks worth stealing, that is. We're mostly back-up, just to have a contingency."

"Cool." Acid nodded, taking another sip, "Can I see it?"

Hotaka and Henteko looked at one another for a few seconds, then ended the silent exchange with collective shrugs, the taller man explaining, "I guess there isn't anything saying you can't, so I don't see why not. You want to go now?"

"Not just yet." the reptilian grinned in a most sinister manner as Danny returned, keeping his eye on the lad, "He came back. I wanna see this..."

Early 2006

Another click sounded through the dark of night.

"Put! The weapon! Down!"

The situation had grown tense. At least for one side. In the smoking ruins of a now-roofless building knelt at least a dozen armed personnel in night-black uniforms and combat gear. Cutting-edge assault rifles stabbed their muzzles through and around fragments of former concrete walls, the men and women at their triggers not willing to take any chances.

Across a formerly serene and normal street lay another squat structure, its half-collapsed frame home to the nose and cockpit of what had once been a sleek and shining two-man star craft that had decidedly not been forged by human hand. The mangled remains of its somewhat open canopy lay strewn all about (as well as within the mangled remains of much of the body, of course), and it stood painfully obvious that this ship had seen better days. From the looks of it, so had its pilot.

An individual of reptilian decent, he stood roughly two meters tall and clad in his ensemble of preference: an assembly of cargo pants, a jacket that could've been a biker's, and heavy combat boots, all in the same matching hue of jet-black. Cuts and gouges dotted the outfit, and the white T-shirt he wore beneath the coat more than clearly displayed long streaks of crimson fluid along its slashes. In short, he painted the veritable picture of what to avoid when faced with an angry Arachnos Crab Spider operative. Then again, if it had been only that...

His name was Acid Zero, but of course none of the soldiers besieging the guy knew that at the time. Or cared, for that matter. All they had eyes and ears for was the rifle-like weapon in his right hand, a triangular blade running down its length. Just as black as his clothes, the thing seemed almost a cross of pistol, rifle, and sword, the reptilian's clawed fingers curled tightly around a grip at the very rear of the weapon. Its sharp tip rested upon dusty asphalt, but he still held the thing firm, and with the Rikti War fresh in their minds, these soldiers currently considered any armed non-human with the greatest of suspicion.

"For the last time!" the troop's Sergeant bellowed at the top of his lungs, never taking her eye from the scope of her own rifle, "Weapon! Down!"

"You know...I'd really like to..." the reptilian answered laxly, almost in a haze. Judging from the multitude of cuts and slashes he sported, not to mention the puddle of blood pooling at his feet, he wasn't entirely there right now, "But my fingers are going 'squiggly letter, ain't doing it'...you can just take it from me. I won't shoot you...I promise..."

Seconds of dreadful silence ticked by much too slowly. Finally, the Sergeant flicked a pair of fingers to her left, then the right, several heavily armed soldiers leaving their cover with care, proceeding in a crouch to encircle the reptilian. The Sergeant, however, still did not stand.

"We believe he is sufficiently covered, dear." she felt a gentle hand upon her shoulder, and slowly turned to the amicable face of the Lady Grey, standing proudly in the face of that which the Sergeant felt to be another Rikti plot, "Let us see if we cannot learn more."

The Sergeant nodded to her mentor, gathering her gear, and then the two proceeded into the open as well. The strange being still hadn't moved, his eyes half-closed. There wasn't any logical way he could put up a fight, even if this was something the Rikti had cooked up...right?

Wrong!

Without warning and from one instant to another, a crack of thunder split the air, and a flash of bright-white light bathed the street in ethereal candescence. Fingers rushed to triggers, and most certainly would've pulled, but the very next moment a hellish howl of pain bellowed through the air, wracking their ears with an unreal, multi-toned cacophony of squeals and shrieks that couldn't have been of this world.

Less than two seconds later it was all over, and the gathered troops looked wide-eyed to the inky puddle of still-churning goo that slowly slurped down a half-standing concrete wall, still in the reptilian's figurative crosshairs.

"How did...?" a soldier beside him looked from the distinctly outstretched arm to the leg the bladed weapon had sat by not moments ago, and back over again several times, "How did you move...I couldn't even see..."

"Adrenaline rush." the reptilian remarked dispassionately, swaying slightly, "Or at least...the equivalent thereof. Now if you'll excuse me...I think I've earned the right to pass out now..."

Unheeding of any would-be protestors, the reptilian's legs gave way, the being slumping backward and to the ground. Still, his claws did not release the bladed rifle's hilt, almost as if some instinct still compelled his fingers to keep their grasp. But at least for now, that was that, and as part of the troop carried the strange fellow off, the remainder gathered about the slimy fluid that had meanwhile released the wall completely.

"Did...did you see it too?" one of them inquired of the Sergeant, but didn't dare lose sight of the stuff. The nightmarish vision of what he thought he'd seen in that moment of bright-white luminance still haunted his every thought.

"I'm not sure." she answered breathlessly, the same sensation having struck the very fiber of her being, "But to be honest...I really hope I didn't. What in God's name was that?"

The Lady Grey was the only one to keep her silence, stepping sternly to the puddle's edge, examining the slick of vapid black as it slowly deteriorated into nothing. Giving a nod that held ominous significance, she returned to the soldiers, telling them solemnly as she bade them follow, "We are not certain We would like to know..."

((It's sure startling to look like it, Krazy. ))

"Nice to see I'm not the only non-human to be walking around in public." Acid snatched his drink from the bar again after Miranda had passed, emptying the conical vessel with a quick swig, "It does make me feel a little more at ease."

"I thought you had a number of alter egos, didn't you?" Hotaka wanted to know, "Or are all of them 'believed deceased' again already?"

"Nah." the reptilian's shoulders twitched in a shrug, "Just don't have any disguises around. Basically, I'm here because the Doc tied me up, threw me onto a helo, then kicked me out here and told me if I didn't relax he wouldn't let me into his lab for a month. Since I like that though, I figured what the heck? Can't be so bad, right? I'm not cold, so...yeah."

"Wait." the towering Oriental’s head tilted to and for as he tried to wrap his mind around what he'd just been told, "The Doc, right? But he's not..."

"His brothers jumped me too." Acid smiled innocently, having already guessed what Hotaka was getting at, "Together, I don't have a chance against 'em."

"Ah, yes." came a chuckled answer, "The ones who steal underwear, correct?"

"Yep." the reptilian nodded in a sagely manner, "Along with trees, hull plates, airlocks, cannons, and tanks. Oh man, Na'Nac. Kleptos, the whole lot. If it wasn't nailed down, they'd grab it, and if it was they'd steal the nails too. Took half the ship apart before we figured out what was going on. I told you about the tree growing out of the concrete, right?"

"Stop!" Henteko suddenly cried nervously, thrusting his palms ahead of him to reinforce the demand, "Please, I'm already lost as can be. Sensei, who is this guy? Why is he a lizard? And what's-"

"Take a breath." Hotaka just replied calmly, giving an approving nod as his companion did as told, "There we go. Better now? Good. Acid here is from Khelaris, a planet the location of which I do not know. He looks like he does because he does. It really is that simple. And since I think I know where you were heading with that last one, Na'Nac is the planet of the cosmic thieves. It was...in the Swarm, right?"

"Yep." Acid affirmed curtly, explaining to Henteko, "And no, it has nothing to do with Zerg. It's basically a mobile dwarf galaxy. Pretty cool, but...hella hard to actually fly. Yeah, I get around. Last week, I was in Andromeda."

"Okay, so you're like the Kheldians." the shorter man nodded, working things out, "Except of course not an energy being."

"I like to think so, yeah." Acid shrugged again, "Supposedly, I'm not a real Khelari. Apparently, I don't have a soul or some such. Don't worry about it. I don't."

"Fair enough." Henteko smiled, and with his concerns assuaged, bounded right over into his already prepared buckets of curiosity, "So you have a ship? What's your planet like? What do you eat? Do you eat? And what was the thing with the running around naked? You said you weren't cold, so are-"

"Down, boy." Acid snickered, looking to the two of them, "One thing at a time. It's not like we're in a hurry. Speaking of, wanna head over to that luau?"

With a nod from both, the three set course for the ship's interior, the reptilian going on with the conversation in the process, "Alright, where do I start then? Basically, there are huge differences between my culture and yours. See, we live in trees, and what few cities there were were pretty much just for the robot industry. I say were because sadly, Khelaris doesn't exist anymore. Bunch'a jerks blew it up. Shame, really."

Acid's eyes started to wander as he waxed fond memories, continuing with a sigh, "I tell you, it was just great: lava flows all over, clouds like on Venus, and every evening when the terminator came over the horizon, it'd cool to between one and two hundred degrees, and then the acid would condense out and fall as rain - and trust me, nothing gets dirt and grime off ya better than boiling sulfuric acid. It was...it was paradise, there's no other way to describe it. Hey, you okay? You look...strange."

"Oh!" Henteko hastily shut his gaping maw again, visibly embarrassed at having stared so intensely. The fact that Hotaka had to prop himself up against a wall to keep from falling over in laughter didn't really alleviate the situation, "I'm...oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to."

"No worries." the reptilian smiled, giving the man a pat on the back, "I do realize what I describe as totally awesome sounds like the embodiment of hell to you. Yes, I am actually not that dense, and therefore smarter than I look. Shocking, I know. You think we're gonna need to carry him? Or get him some oxygen?"

The last remarks he underscored with a claw pointed at the still-laughing Hotaka, who apparently found his student's bewilderment terribly amusing, "No, just give him a minute. He'll keep looping it for a little while, then stop when he realizes I'm not red in the face anymore. Meanwhile, tell me more."

"Well, okay. Uh, you asked about being cold - this planet's cold for me, so I usually wear a jacket and stuff. But here, near the equator, it's just nice enough so I can walk around barefoot. See? I get cold feet easily, in both senses, but if my feet aren't cold, then I'm not cold either. Just how it works."

"I see." the man nodded with understanding as the three finally walked on, "So the tail is...?"

"Radiator. Also arm, basically. Very useful." Acid explained as they entered the tiki lounge, where the luau had apparently come into full swing already. A few of the present patrons eyed the vicious-looking reptilian with nervous expressions, slowly meandering to the room's other side, but most of the guests were too caught up with their own doing to notice, "Hm, guess we're here. This looks neat..."

Sure looks like it.

((Nah, you're fine. It was just the seeing part that threw me off. ))

With the fire alarm cancelled by reasoning of accident, the gentlemen who sought the steward continued to do just that. It took a little while, but eventually they found the desired individual just where they'd expected: the grand hall (or 18, at least), setting up for the masquerade ball.

After delivering their concerns in the form of 'believing someone had been killed', they departed once again, this time for the upper deck. Truth be told, the two didn't care too much if the ship's personnel would truly investigate. Technically, they were obligated to do so, demanded by merchant fleet codes, but so long as no one else died, the two wouldn't be paying much heed right there. After all, they wanted to at least try to get a little relaxation out of this - and considering neither of them knew exactly how, this was more than enough of a job at present.

They passed John Ballard on the way, near the open door from below deck that led to the astern pools, their attention immediately drawn by magic from the far end. However, they decided it best to ignore the cerulean spellcaster for now. Judging by her expression and the pleading activities director, that wasn't something they wanted to get involved in. Better to just let things blow over and remain unnoticed. The man from the Paragon Times (who was likely still in earshot) they hadn't even taken note of.

Of course, that didn't mean they would get away unnoticed.

"Hotaka?!" a male tone's shout turned their attention to the tiki-styled bar that sat ahead of the pool, forming a wide pathway T from below deck that invited guests to stop by the lounge before they continued into the pool area. In a masterful stroke of psychology, the bar's back wall faced the pool as well, blocking the rearward area's view from directly at the bar and vice versa, which in turn prompted would-be patrons to pick up something there, then move on to allow other guests to follow in quick succession.

Of course, right now there weren't any patrons, and even the bartender seemed rather uneasy around a certain individual (sans robot, of course) who'd called out to the two new arrivals.

"Acid?" the aged oriental inquired of the deep-green, scaleless reptilian, having never quite expected to find him garbed in light gray board shorts and a shirt of midnight blue.

"Well, I'll be!" the Khelari grinned toothily, sliding from his spot and leaving his glass at the bar as he approached the two, "Ryuu Hotaka, in the flesh! I'd already thought you'd stay locked away in those mountains for the next hundred years."

Before the towering man could even respond, the reptilian had wrapped his arms about him, lifting the fellow clean off the ground, which elicited more than a snicker from his companion, as Acid stood only around two meters tall.

Of course, he got what as coming to him, the reptilian letting off Hotaka and wrapping his clawed fingers about the shorter man's shoulders, with the exclamation, "Louie! It's been ages! Why, I haven't seen you since...well, I've never seen you!"

'Louie's' grin quickly turned into a wide-eyed expression of utter confusion, but the reptilian didn't seem to mind, laughing it up with his towering compatriot.

"Seriously, though." he gave the man a nod, extending a hand to shake, "Acid Zero. You a new student of his?"

"Um..." he looked unsurely at the claws there, and then to Hotaka, who only nodded with a gentle smile. With a shrug, he answered the gesture, adding, "Not exactly new, but yes. Kaze Henteko...nice to meet an...individual like yourself."

"Don't worry about it." Acid smirked, "Haven't been to Paragon yet, huh? Yeah, not many people here have, so I tend to make them nervous. Oh well. Hey, at least I'm being polite about it and not running around naked..."

((Hm, I guess so. I never did say how far below the top deck the spot in question was, and there's bound to be at least one pool near the stern as well. M'kay, just wanted to make sure ya knew. ))

((Pst, Leo - the people your character is talking about are on the lower decks all the way astern. You know, the veranda-like places. Like these here.))

Sweet.

The aged man's compatriot seemed to nearly jump out of his skin as the fire alarm suddenly squealed its unpleasant blare throughout the ship.

"I hate that sound." scowled the robed individual, looking to the other, "Well...do we want to get involved in this? We could just meander over to a lifeboat and wait with the other passengers until this gets cleared up."

"I would be less effort." the shorter man considered, leaning from one side to the other, "And the crate is technically fireproof. What are the chances of a fire getting out of control here?"

"How should I know? You're the mathematic genius here, not I."

"True." he smiled broadly to his towering companion, then eyed the pressure rating on a nearby fire hose, "Okay, pretty low. Make that no way, unless someone decides to set off napalm or something."

The conversation proceeded in this general direction. With the logical reasoning that a cruise liner this large would be well-fortified against on-board fires, not to mention that the sophisticated systems it carried would both detect the location of the burn, as well as begin an automatic response before fire crews even got there, the conclusion was that this could last a few minutes at best.

Yes, they'd just head up on deck again and join the rest of the passengers as they'd congregate about the lifeboats according to standard maritime safety procedures. Then they'd wander the crowds, seeking out the steward, or the Captain, one of whom would be somewhere to be found, giving orders or calming down the passengers...

((Whoa, that's a lot to respond to. ))

"Personally, I think none of this very funny." the aged oriental switched to English as well, glancing at his younger companion, "But then, I'm told I have no sense of humor. Please excuse us."

The two set their steps along the rail, charting a rough course ahead, and in doing so of course passed the businessman in the process.

"Hm, and who might you be planning to kill?" the robed man inquired dispassionately, stopping for only a moment or two and not even giving the guy time to answer, "No, I don't truly care. But please don't. It's just shameful."

With that, the two continued on headwards, figuring they'd find the steward either near the grand ballroom or another of tonight's lavish events. On the way, they of course continued to converse.

"You know, it really does pain me." the towering robed man sighed to his compatriot, "People today have become so desensitized. I still remember when entire towns could be in uproar over the death of a fellow human, and now...well, you heard the girl."

"Meh." the shorter man's shoulders gave a shrug, "I blame video games and internet forums. But yeah, it is kind of a shame..."