Hallucinogen_NA

((Shorten my posts? HERESY! The Angel averts her eyes!))

"Ah yes," Schizophrenias sighed, watching the display. He spat on the ground, and a huge, hairy black tarantula appeared on the spot.

"Oh, Cuddles!" Schizo cackled as the spider crawled up his leg. "Awww, who's a good little wookums snookums!"

The spider clicked happily. Schizo turned to Urban Dead and Blind Messenger, frowning slightly.

"Ah yes, arguing over petty matters. . . Oh, you two have done so much for me!" A tear came to his eye, and he wiped it away, where it burned a hole in the wall. "I'll be sure to carve your names on the tombstone of the doomed cosmos."

"Enough of that!" Hal yelled, and a brilliant flash burst around Schizo, UB and Blind. Apparently where he was was now right next to them, and he hastily jumped backwards before they could retaliate.

Moonscribe traced a circle in the air with one hand as the other typed. The air seemed to cut open where his finger touched, and then it broke free and began advancing towards the villains, the laws of physics warping in the path of the Singularity he had created. . .

((Oooookay.

. . . I believe I have messed everything up! Moonscribe's Resistance is in Paragon, while Thule is in Europe. I don't really think this will work, we'll just say the mission is to rescue Rosalind and Cortianna, kthxbye.

And Khell, Animator is still supposed to organize this. Although I would gather you've been busy ))

". . . Shut up!" Hal said guiltily as he appeared near Essex out of nowhere. "I would have come if she wasn't here too!"

". . .Uh, I mean. . . Moonscribe, why are you just floating there with a clamshell in your hand? Where did it even COME from?"

"Oh, yes, that is right," Moonscribe said, and the clamshell began orbiting his head in the exact manner the egg had. "I suppose I should try to win."

He began typing again, and the egg Toy Dispenser was holding began pulling itself away, while Toy himself would find his mechanical limbs had become so very heavy it was almost impossible to move them. . .

((FAST?!? Like four people posted while I typed that! I just copy the post and check that no one else has done anything before sending. XP))

((Fair enough! I'll just be a double agent, shall I? ))

"Oh dear," Moonscribe said, floating out of the way of the beam. "How terrifying. That almost hit me. . ."

"And now I am hit," the hero said as he was, indeed, hit by Urban Dead's disc. He fell to the ground, almost looking as though he were not in a real battle, but on stage, acting. And rather poorly, too. . .

"Oh my, assistance," the hero said as Tricolore, Experiment, Jenny and El Guapo Grande arrived, and mist enshrouded them all as he struck another key. "Most timely. I could never have managed this alone."

It seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to say, though more modest than some heroes might have been. . . but still it sounded as though he was acting, and was merely reciting lines he had rehearsed already.

"Moonscribe!" Hallucinogen panted as he rushed in through the mist. Oddly enough, he could see pretty clearly. . . though the radiation he emitted constantly would let him see well enough anyway. Moonscribe nodded to him, although he was completely invisible, and it was unclear how he even knew he was there. . .

"Throwing a party without me, Hal-chan?"

"Schizo!" Hal's voice echoed from all directions, his form still invisible, as a tall thin man with purple skin, garish clothing complete with tattered cape and straitjacket, and a green blindfold covered in barbed wire simply appeared out of nowhere next to the wall. Well, he looked like a man, but anyone skilled at seeing the truth would realize that not only was he not a man, he ought not to be anything at all.

"Hal-chan!" Schizo yelled in mock delight. "Thrilling to see you, snookums!" He floated over to flank Urban Dead as the heroes closed in. . .

((Hal: Illusion/radiation/Primal Forces controller. His radiation causes hallucinations which causes several of his illusions, but the pets are real, and I won't go into why right now. He also uses rays of light to match his Phantasm's.

Schizo: Mind/thorn dominator. His blood is formed of pure chaos and spilling it makes crazy things happen. His body fluids are acidic. Having no real physical form, his body has no weak points, and does not really have vital organs.

. . .What? My characters are NOT confusing! Shut up! ))

"Hmmm, interesting," Moonscribe said, looking at the clamshell in his hand. Ignoring the contest completely now, he began typing with his other hand.

"Very interesting indeed," he muttered as he scanned the shell and Morsko in turn. "This was worthwhile after all."

The projectiles were suddenly blown away, as were the zombies as they closed. Moonscribe had struck a key, and a raging hurricane had formed around him, but somehow his voice was still perfectly audible over the storm.

"Now, now, Pharaoh," he said, and he typed on thin air as the caltrops began to rise into the air all around him, his feet no longer touching the floor. "Must we really resort to violence? I dislike it."

"And honestly," he continued as every one of the caltrops hurled itself at Urban Dead, "I am not very good at it."

((Moonscribe is a gravity/storm controller. . . with a fair amount of creative licence. It's hard to tell what power he's using sometimes, I'd be happy to clarify.))

* * * * * *

A small figure only three and a half feet tall, clouded in a green haze so that his features were difficult to make out, ran towards the mall through the parking lot.

"Not AGAIN!" Hallucinogen exclaimed. "Another villain attack. . . Why does it have to be at the mall? I HATE the mall!"

Well, no one seems to be very concerned just yet, the Phantasm said as it appeared beside him. Idiots.

Hal groaned as he disappeared from view, green smoke and all. "If Moonscribe is tipping me off to something that hasn't happened yet again, I am going to throttle the pencil-necked little know-it-all!"

With friends like that. . .

"Shut up."

((And that goes for everyone else who's wondering if it isn't possible for me not to enter Hal in a thread with Essex. XP))

"Hmmm," Percy said calmly. "I do believe I am needed elsewhere. . ."

He raised his hands to type.

There was no keyboard visible in front of him, but either he was an excellent mime, or they were striking something unseen.

He finished, striking where the "Enter" key would have been on the invisible keyboard he seemed to be using, or think he was using.

And then, he was gone. No flash, no showy exit, no SFX. But if someone were capable of reading the "code" that defined the universe, they would realize that two numbers had been switched. One of them concerning Percy's current location. . .and the other his destination.

Urban Dead would see a thin man with neat black hair, glasses that shone with reflected light, and wearing a deep blue robe, walking calmly toward him as though this happened every day. Which it probably did, but it was still no excuse for being THIS calm. . .

"Now, now, Pharaoh, do you really think no one knows you are here? I probably should mention at some point that I am the hero Moonscribe, but honestly, my identity is of no importance."

"Ah, hello, Pharaoh," said Moonscribe, appearing directly in front of Morsko, some sort of invisible force field in front of him. If Morsko kept going, he would be sent flying backwards, but not before Moonscribe's contingency function caused egg #19 to disappear and reappear in his hands. . .

"I'm out of here," Hal said, and looked suddenly guilty. "And NO, it is NOT just because Essex left!" He ran off to clean up himself.

"I suppose. . ." Reginald said, as he floated in front of the portal, the gas creeping closer and chaos breaking loose, yet still calm as always, "this is my destiny. . . in a way. . ."

"Reggie. . . go through already," the Oracle sighed.

And Reginald flew through without further hesitation. . .

And bounced backwards as he was repelled by the matrices.

He floated there for a second. . .

"That was embarrassing," the Oracle said, laughing.

"Whatever," Reginald said as he caught one of Hotaka's vials, poured some of it onto his sleeve, and held it over his face as he flew after the others. . .

* * * * * *

"Lord Schizophrenias."

"What? What the heck is it now, Iisperiax? I'm trying to watch something! Down in front!"

"My Lord, the Rikti have mounted another invasion. This could mean the end of the world as we know it. . ."

"Cool."

". . .Is that all you have to say?"

"Sure is! Now get lost, the Cubs just scored despite being shot at by Rikti energy rifles! It was awesome!"

". . . But what if they fail?"

"S'true," Schizophrenias said, considering. "They MIGHT. Stupid heroes always mess everything up! Well, guess that's that. Iisperiax, prepare to contact the Rikti. Y'know, I always wanted to join up with them. They're cool."

((I do hope it is okay for me to play both sides. ))

((. . .Why am I doing this? I have so many threads already! T_T))

Most people who went to the Paragon City Mall had never even heard of Lunar Hardware.

And yet there it was, in a corner out of the way on the third floor, positioned so that it almost looked as though it was being hidden rather than being advertised.

But Diana Sum had just found it nonetheless.

"Um. . . hello?" the woman with short blond hair and large glasses said as she entered the little shop. Inside, there were no posters or slogans. Computer equipment was simply laid out on the shelves with brand name and price tag. Nothing more.

"Ah, Priestess," a voice said from the desk. A thin man with black, tidy hair was standing there, dressed in a deep blue uniform and wearing glasses that covered his eyes. . .though they were not large. They simply seemed to move with him. . .

"Uh. . ." Diana said, wondering how light could be reflecting off the glasses when there was no nearby source bright enough. She could not see his eyes. "Why did you just call me Priestess?"

The man at the desk sighed. "It is an honorific, Priestess," he said, as though he had answered the question a thousand times before. Which no doubt he had.

"Uh, let's see. . ." Diana said. "I just need a new keyboard. . . system requirements. . ." She handed him a sheet of paper.

"There should be some over here," said the man. He had no name tag.

Diana had just noticed this. "Uh, if I might ask. . ."

"Percy," said Percy, before she had finished the question.

". . .Oh! Okay. . ." Diana said nervously.

She walked over to the various keyboards, appraising them each. Of course, there was only so much you could tell without testing the thing. . .

"Do you have any recommendations?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," Percy said, walking over to a keyboard with no brand name and the lowest price tag of all. "I recommend this one."

". . . Why?" Diana said, puzzled.

"Well, just because it is the least expensive does not mean. . ."

"No, no, I mean. . . how do you make money if you recommend the lowest prices in your store? And place it somewhere no one might ever find it?"

Percy chuckled to himself. "Oh, I do not concern myself with making money," he said, as Diana paid for the keyboard and left with it out the door, heading off to the parking lot. "It is really. . . of no importance."

She was gone, and Percy seated himself again and smiled, folding his hands and waiting in the dim light for another customer to arrive, if one ever would. It mattered little to him.

((. . . The Underground is another name for the Resistance, right?

And I have at least PARTIAL control over the leader of said Resistance?

. . . I have to do this. Khell obviously can veto if necessary. . .))

"Sir," said a Resistance soldier, walking into the Leader's Chamber of the headquarters Kefetasura had been taken to. The room really looked like all the others. There was a simple bed, a few neatly arranged belongings and a single blue chair, and the walls were made of stone and covered with hieroglyphs. Oddly enough, it was not at all cold, though no source of heat was visible. Such was the entire base. If someone were ever to find a way in, they would have no clues at all as to who the leader even was.

"I see you have given Kefetasura a room to stay in," the Leader said before the soldier could say anything else. "Excellent."

". . .Oh," the soldier said, slightly unnerved that the Leader had known his report before he gave it. He turned to leave. . .

"Wait."

". . .Sir?" Either the soldier did not want to use the Leader's name, or simply did not know it.

The Leader turned to him, and looked at him with eyes hidden in the darkness inside his cloak. "One of our number has been captured."

". . . If I may ask. . ." the soldier said, bewildered, ". . . how on earth do you know that?"

"Oh, I can put two and two together," was the reply.

". . . With all due respect," the soldier said, "our sources tell us nothing about this. This is far more like adding two numbers you do not know and arriving at the correct answer!"

"Then so be it," the Leader returned. "That is not so hard either, if you know how."

The soldier stared at him. The blue-cloaked man did not seem to mind.

Instead he held out a piece of paper, with words cleanly printed on it, although there were no typewriters, printers or any such thing in the base. Such things could be traced, after all. . . "He is currently being held in the Town Hall basement. It would be foolish to attempt a rescue while he is held there, of course. . . the logical thing is to rescue him when he is taken away tomorrow morning."

". . . We're rescuing him? Is that. . . worth it?" the soldier muttered.

"Worth it?" the Leader said coldly. "If we are not willing to rescue one of our own simply because it is not worth it, I would wonder what exactly it is that we are fighting for."

"Now," the Leader continued, in a more pleasant tone, "take no more than four. Strike from the shadows. Focus on getting the hostage to the retrieval point, there will be guards, many of them. Furthermore, Kommandant Thule may be with them. He is a ruthless man. Be very careful, and do not let him see your face, or know anything at all about you. He will find you. . ."

The soldier really had no idea what to say now, but the Leader did not seem to care. "Speak with Animator and tell him what I have told you. He will be fully capable of concocting a strategy. . . Thank you, Pharaoh."

The soldier scurried off, having spent more time in the Leader's presence than he really wanted to.

((Don't ask how he knows. He's Moonscribe, dangit! And no, none of your characters know that!

. . . Also, no one other than him knows where his base is or who he is. NO ONE. So Boris can't have given Thule anything regarding THAT headquarters. . .

And Animator is Khell's character, so please, let's slow it down. ))

"Ah yes, that is an excellent idea, Helper," Moonscribe said as Stellarmare's egg exploded. "I do wonder if it will work. . ."

Once again completely untouched by any yolk or shell, he sat in midair, apparently waiting for something. . .

"Really?" Moonscribe said from behind her, floating serenely with his hands folded. "That is really a pity. . . And do be careful with that light of yours. You nearly blinded me."

"I am sure it was a complete accident," he continued, and the egg in Stellarmare's hands began to shake slightly, and then seemed to be pulling itself out of her hands. "Unfortunately, it seems to have made me inadvertantly alter a few minor laws of physics regarding that egg. I do apologize. Perhaps I will be able to fix the code in an hour or so."

((And 5. Hal exploded his. ))

"Oh, I'm fine," Hal said, chuckling himself. "Oh, this is all so stupid, haha."

He sat down in a cloud of green smoke. "Honestly, I'm not sure I'm going to bother. I could care less about some prize we might get for humiliating ourselves."

"Ah, hello, Priestess," Moonscribe said, walking calmly up to Stellarmare. "Would you mind terribly if I took that egg of yours?"

He seemed to be making no attempts to actually get it. . .

((I have no idea where Hal and Schizo are. :P))

Sheesh, the Phantasm said as it finally vanished, hit by a bolt of darkness. Don't ask much, do you?

"Whoopsie!" Schizo's right head laughed, as he shot out of the golem's path. Sickening purple light flowed from his hand in a wave at the golem as it descended.

It was formed of Schizo's essence, his true self, the body he inhabited merely a convenience. It would saturate anything it hit with pieces of his own twisted psyche. . . and they would take control of anything without the force of will to shut them out.

Without waiting to see whether the golem would go out of control, Schizo turned to the man with the sword approaching them.

[ QUOTE ]
"Someone's in need of detention," the man cackled as he began walking toward the fight.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Bah! It's a free country and I can do whatever I want! Now give me back my comic book!" Schizo's left head cackled back, as Hal waited in Schizo's arms, ready to attack as soon as someone came close. . .

"Oh dear!" Moonscribe said, in a most unconvincing tone of shock. "How terrible, my egg has burst. I am so very surprised." Somehow, none of the pieces of egg came anywhere near his person, and he was still spotless.

"Essex!" Hal yelled, rushing over to her, completely forgetting he was holding an egg of his own. "Are you all right?"

SPLAT.

"Yuck!" Hal exclaimed as his egg, number 5, exploded from the turbulence. "Uh, I guess now we're in the same boat. . ."

((So. . . you want me to make a post that could easily step on your toes, and I can't talk to you about it because you're "extremely inaccessible?" Okay! SUPER ROBY ATTACK AT RANDOM!!!))

The group carrying Kefetasura was moving into some sort of building now.

It was an abandoned structure. No one had lived there for years and years. The Overmagus's troops had searched it, of course. There was nothing there. No magical traces, no stray tech. . .

"This is it, I guess," a voice said.

The door closed behind them.

Nothing happened for a few seconds. . . and then abruptly they were no longer there.

No gadgets, no magical traces, nothing was left behind in the deserted house. If someone cared to examine the endless lines of code that defined the universe, though, they might find that two numbers had been switched. Two numbers among a vast collection of constants, variables and functions that were as close to infinite as anything could be.

"Ah yes," a voice spoke nearby. They seemed to be underground somewhere, and the room was dark and cool, with strange markings on the walls. "I see you have found something. . . Or someone, I suppose I should say. . ."

The voice was calm and polite. . . coming from a thin figure covered entirely by a deep blue cloak. He would not seem particularily powerful if Kefetasura tried to sense his abilities. No, he was just an ordinary man, who happened to be passing. . . really of no importance.

((This better be okay. XP))

"Ah, how surprising," Moonscribe said. "I do wonder whose egg will explode next. . ."

He simply stood there, his egg orbiting his head, smiling serenely. . .

"Dangit, this sucks," Hal sighed, his Phantasm appearing and trying to place itself between him and everyone else.

"Wait. . ." Hal said, puzzled. "Linn knows about something that can track magical beings by their possessions? . . . Why didn't he mention that earlier?"

((I let off an EMP, too. Hal is /rad. ))

"Paws off!" the Schizo-blob yelled, shooting into the air out of the golem's grasp. There was a flash of nauseating light, and Schizo had reformed, except that this time he had two heads.

"Whoops," the manifestation of madness cackled with his first head. "Ah well, you know what they say is better than one!"

Morons, the Phantasm said, enduring more bullet fire and flying towards the retreating craft, sending more waves of light at them as they tried to deploy more troops. It was beginning to flicker slightly, though.

"Agh! S, Schizo, can't you just fight normally?" Hal yelled, dodging cannon fire by leaping into the air, though it was grazing his shoulders and legs. A brilliant flash of light burst below his feet as he did so, likely scrambling the troopers' sensors for a while. Releasing the EM pulse had drained him, though, and he began to feel dizzy. . .

"Oooh, Hal-chan! I'll save you!" Schizo's second head simpered, grabbing Hal as he gained altitude. "Give us a kiss, loveums!"

"SHUT UP!" Hal yelled, now looking fully alert, and filling them both with radiation to keep up their strength.

"I am ready, of course," Moonscribe said calmly, his egg continuing to orbit his head.

Hal sighed in exasperation, his hands shaking slightly as he held his. "I guess I'm ready, but do we have to?"

"Woohoo! Awesome!" Schizo yelled in glee. "We're all gonna die! YEEHAAAAAAWWWW!"

"Dangit, STOP that!" Hal groaned, dashing out of the way. "Just get AWAY!" he yelled at the Steel Army troopers.

The air rippled as a massive electromagnetic pulse tore through the area, centered on Hallucinogen. It would instantly shut down almost any machine, and an average one would never work again.

"Hi, buddy!" Schizo yelled as the first golem's fists descended. They connected with a sickening SPLAT.

"See, now I'm dead!" Schizo's voice came from the resulting pile of rainbow-colored mush, swirling in dizzying, chaotic patterns. The mush shot onto the golem and crept up its body.

"No seriously, you got me!" Schizo's voice cackled as reality began going berserk around the glob of madness that was Schizo. The air turned into water, the ground turned into mud, and nearby rocks sprouted legs and began line-dancing. Something, at least, was likely to happen to the golem.

Meanwhile, the bullets seemed to just go through the Phantasm as it continued blasting away at the helicopters. . .

Hal and Schizo did not really need to scan further.

"Ohhhhhh no you don't," said the Phantasm as it appeared in the path of the helicopters. Waves of light flew at the craft as they picked up speed.

Hal and Schizo, meanwhile, had disappeared. Or at any rate, anyone with a mind of any sort would think so, unless they expected this trick. Everyone within about a mile would hallucinate into thinking the two had vanished completely, regardless of what their equipment showed them . . . if they COULD hallucinate, that is. . .