Jennifer8

[ QUOTE ]
Harris felt left out not having a head set of his own and he didn't like being left in the dark. The two heroes were obviously listening to someone one.

"What’s going on?" He asked.

[/ QUOTE ]

Girl Genius covered her mike. "Someone is on the mike, he is talking to Dr. Sanstad... oh, hell... here." She removed her helmet again, showing a sheaf of blonde hair that seemed to shine even in the dim light. Without her helmet on, she seemed very young... barely in college, if that. After a moment of fiddling around, she detached the earpiece from the interior of the helmet and handed it to him, before replacing the helmet on her head. "This will enable you to listen in: I'll turn on the autotext translation in my goggles," she fiddled with the control panels in her arms, "And just read along."

A moment later she straightened - and disappeared from view. "I am going to go and scout," she told them. "You talk to our visitor, if he is not buried as deeply as we are, he might be able to get some sort of a distress call out... I mean, if he is who he says he is."

[ QUOTE ]
He looked at her and smiled gently. His bright blue eyes sparkled, a sight rarely seen because of his sunglasses.

"I love you..."

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal's face was wet and her eyes were like wet violets, but her expression was as if the sun had just come out of the clouds. Her smile was one that would make a man want to go through 100 miles of hell, just to see it again. "(sniffle) Really?"

Then she was in his arms, bawling on his shoulder, bawling because she was happy and because she was scared and because she was still reeling from the sudden discovery of mutant powers. But mostly she was in his arms and safe there, and the stormy psychic powers slowly began to still themselves under his calming influence.

He was her hero.

[ QUOTE ]
"Looks like you're stuck with me for a while Harris. And don't worry Penny. I'll relay everything to him. Oh, and here. This little gadget Omega gave me should be fully charged now. Hope it fits with your suit."

[/ QUOTE ]

Penny's eyes were round. "Where did you GET this?"

"Omega."

She took it and opened a panel on one of her enormous gloves; inside were various displays. "I think it will fit -" She slid out a similar box from a slot and all the displays suddenly went dark, " - if I can make a few adjustments, just like-" the new box suddenly slid into place, and all of the displays lit back up. She shook her head, amazed. "The next time I see that robot I will buy him an oil change - I think we're back in business!" She snapped the panel closed again.

[ QUOTE ]
"We can get out that way. If we take the second left it should lead to a ladder up to the surface"

He looked at the others, only moving his eyes not his head. They were both looking at him puzzled how he knew.

"I did a report down here three months ago about crime fighting in the sewers and possible health hazards."


[/ QUOTE ]

Penny looked interested. "Really? You got this far down without getting yourself killed? You're SURE you don't have superpowers?" She joked, then frowned at him. "I never saw that report... did I just miss it?"

[ QUOTE ]
"Um Penny? could you fix this little guy up before we head out? I don't know how much damage it can take but I'm sure I may have fried it when dealing with... Adam."

[/ QUOTE ]

She took it and looked at it. "Not as bad as you think," she said. "I... um...well..." Her cheeks were pink, "I read that paper that you wrote for the Quarterly Physics Journal, about radiation and I..." Her voice dropped until it was almost inaudible, "... have been playing with it pretty extensively." She looked heartily embarrassed and cleared her throat. "Anyway," she said in a stronger voice, "These things are shielded to glory.... you just blew all the breakers... If we do this, and this, and that...." She handed it to him. "Try it now."

When he did so, a voice suddenly filled their ears.

[ QUOTE ]
"OK, scan away!" came the first voice.

"Dr. Sanstad, Professor at Paragon University." The second voice was mechanical sounding... the voice of a computer.

"Thanks... can you scan anyone around him?" after a little while, the answer came.

"Harris, the guy who-"

"-Knows who I am... I will still keep my word to him... if he tells anyone... Oh no, my mic. is up!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Penny wasn't sure how to respond to this. "Um..." She looked at Dr. Sanstad, "It's for you." She hit the mute button on her own mike, and whispered so it could not be picked up, "Someone has found the microphone that I dropped, he has to be in the sewers or we wouldn't be picking him up."

[ QUOTE ]
Harris didn't speak for a while after his apology. He was not sure how Erik would take it.

"So........ what do we do now?" He finally asked.

[/ QUOTE ]

"We get out of here," Girl Genius replied, getting to her feet wearily, and re-checking her suit reserves, shaking her head at the power readings. "I propose that I scout as I cannot be detected. As Dr. Sanstad and I are in communication, I can warn you of which ways are safe to go. It will be slow going... very slow going... but I think in the end we can manage it."

She didn't know that one of the devices that Omega had left Erik was meant to recharge the stealth suit, which currently only had the power to run in stealth mode for a few minutes, if that, though power reserves of the suit itself were very slowly beginning to recharge.

"You should have had a communication device too," Penny said regretfully to Harris, "But in the excitement of getting down here... I dropped it. I'm very sorry."

****
IN THE SEWERS, LEVEL ONE:
****

The first thing that Experiment noticed was that the sewers were sparsely populated today. His noisy entrance should have had the denizens of the sewers climbing all over him, particularly the Vahzilok. Yet when he squelched to shore, there was no one there, and no one came running.

This was highly unusual, given the typical state of the sewers, but there was apparantly no one within hearing distance.... no one within sight.

Why, then, did he hear someone talking? It was thin, far away, but he could definitely hear a voice.

Looking around, he spotted a glimpse of something with enough heart left to sparkle a little in the dim light. Upon investigation this turned out to be a radio unit, the sort worn in the ear, with an ear piece, a tiny antenna, and a short, stubby microphone.

Through it he could hear a woman's voice, saying:

[ QUOTE ]
"I propose that I scout as I cannot be detected. As Dr. Sanstad and I are in communication, I can warn you of which ways are safe to go. It will be slow going... very slow going... but I think in the end we can manage it."


[/ QUOTE ]

+++

OOC: OK, tag Experiment - and don't worry, excitement will be coming for you.

[ QUOTE ]
He looked up again and then set off at a dead run. Wild-Card had no clue what he'd do when he found her, but he had to know... He had to know she was O.K.

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal's trail wasn't particularly hard to follow. There was no blood in it, thankfully, but occasionally he would pass things like burst windows, or pedestrians sitting on the sidewalk with stunned looks on their faces.

This time of night, the theatre was pitch black. All of its front windows were shattered. Inside everything was quiet... but he could hear the strangest, whining, whimpering sobbing... it was indeed coming from backstage. As he got closer he could hear the voices again, but more quietly, as if they were coming from farther away. His guess had been right: Crystal was here.

[ QUOTE ]
"What the hell?" It said.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sarah got it. Immediately. She deliberately stilled her own thoughts in the hopes that they could not be overheard, and reached into her purse.

The taser, placed at the back of the neck of the Eiledon, delivered 5,000 volts directly to the base of its skull. Staggered by Crystal's passing... it fell.

Sarah didn't stop to see whether it had fallen for good. "Time to scoop the competition, gentlemen," she called back to her camera crew, and took off across the lawn, running in the opposite direction from the screaming college student. None of the men at the station took her seriously but... she had a plan.

[ QUOTE ]
"So why don't you put the nice lady down, go back to whatever toy-chest you escaped from, and tell the good Doc to go drink kerosene and piss on a brush fire."

[/ QUOTE ]

The Eiledon shrugged. Suit yourself.

A number of things happened, all at once. The hands of the Eiledon suddenly flared green. It certainly had the intention of killing the student, dropping the corpse, and going for the new, loudmouthed hero. Crystal's body was bathed in an eerie greenish haze. Her shriek was not a thing to be forgotten as all of the geiger counters, neatly lined up on the shelf beside the Eiledon, suddenly went crazy, sounding like machine guns.

The Eiledon dropped her, intending to turn from her and attack the hero. But she did not fall like a rag-doll, as he had expected her to, as she ought to have done considering the burst of radiation that had just been pumped into her body. Her hair and clothes were still smoking. Her screaming did not stop. For a moment he stared at her, puzzled.

Everything glass within a thirty-foot circle of Crystal shattered simultaneously. The windows blew out. Every test tube, pipette, and beaker burst. The bottle of wine that Wild-Card was holding exploded in his hand. The monitor of Dr. Sanstad's computer burst outwards in a shower of sparks from glass-sliced wires. "NOOOOOOOOO!" Crystal screamed.

The Eiledon was blown backwards into the wall. The abomination nearest to her simply dropped, like a puppet with its strings cut. Two others abruptly started staggering in blind circles, with their hands over their ears.

Through his mind slipped - briefly - a cacophany of noise: the voices of everyone in the building, all the terrified students, reporters approaching the building, the wierd, non-dead, unthoughts of the Abominations, and the green unworldly hum of the Eiledon's mind, as if he had been plunged into a vast, chattering crowd, all screaming at him at the top of their lungs.

Then Crystal ran, straight out the window, dropping two stories onto the grassy lawn below, littered with glass that twinkled like stars, and took off, screaming, her hands over her ears. The mental "noise" faded with her passing.

The Eiledon was staring after her, confused, its back to him, its guard down. The abominations just staggered towards him: they were not bright enough to realize what had just happened.

[ QUOTE ]
“Do what ever the hell you want with me. I don’t give a dam anymore.”

[/ QUOTE ]

Penny looked from Harris to Erik, but Erik was examining the equipment that Omega had given him. "Well," her voice was not quite steady, "I do. Give me your hand." For a moment, she and Harris stared at each other. "I mean it, Mr. Harris."

Penny took the hand when it was offered to her and pulled out her small med-kit, expertly bandaging and splinting. "I get a lot of hands," she said, after a few minutes, at the surprised look on his face. "The Mark III isn't my only suit. I have others, the Mark II, the Mark IV, and so on..." She shook her head. "Sometimes I make arrests in the Mark IV, and these stupid guys... they always try to punch me in that suit. I don't know why, stupid thing for them to do, it is this great big thing... they always end up breaking their hands. Just like you broke your hand when you punched Dr. Sanstad."

Her voice was neutral, holding no blame, but it was firm: she was too much the scientist to permit Harris the statement like, 'Dr. Sanstad broke my hand,' when the correct statement would have been, 'I broke my own hand by punching Dr. Sanstad.' She was fully aware that Erik had healing powers, but wasn't sure if he could mend broken bones, or even if he would want to use them on Harris, after he had acted so poorly and put his family in danger.

"Now then," she said, after his hand was properly bandaged, and gestured to a nearby rock. "Sit down."

"I don't - "

"SIT DOWN ." Penny's voice was not loud, but there was a note of steel in it that a wise man would not ignore.

Again, she and Harris stared at each other. After a few minutes, Harris sat down.

Penny sat down opposite him on a nearby rock, gesturing at Dr Sanstad to sit if he wanted. "I believe," she said firmly, "That we should get a few things straight before we attempt to proceed to the surface. If you disagree or feel that I am incorrect in my analysis, now is the time to say so."

She took a breath. "First of all, Mr. Harris, you should consider yourself on probation. I realize you are under a great deal of stress, and that this must be a very frightening situation for you. I am also aware that you have not always been yourself. I have made what I feel are reasonable allowances for these factors. However, should you attack either Dr. Sanstad or myself again, you will be placed under sedation, carried to the surface, and taken to the nearest authorized medical facility. "

There was a pause as she considered what she wanted to say. "Secondly, it is my belief that we can all get out of here - yes, Mr. Harris, that does include you - if we work together. Part of that means that we take responsibility for our actions: Dr. Sanstad did not break your hand, you broke your own hand. I came down here voluntarily. Of the three of us, it is only Dr. Sanstad who might be considered a victim - he was taken down here and his family is in danger because of your actions, Mr. Harris." She paused. "But there is a difference between responsibility and blame. What has gone on before cannot be changed. We determine what comes next, our attitude and our actions. And that means," She narrowed her eyes, "That you are NOT going to give up - because I am not going to let you."

She sat back. "Finally, Mr. Harris.... we need to know what information was in that notebook. All of it. NOW."

Jen 8)

Omega turned and addressed itself to Dr. Sanstead, as Girl Genius and Harris seemed to be occupied. "You are welcome," it droned. "However, I cannot accompany you further. The hypothesis of other Rikti transmitting units has a 97.6 percent chance of being correct. I must search for the remaining units. I will also hinder the criminals present in this area to aid your escape."

It reached inside its chest unit, and handed him several things. Some were tools: the largest was a small box with four cables ending with large clips. "Good luck, heroes of Paragon City." It inclined its head, then walked down the tunnel and was gone.


OOC: We were very uncomfortable with the idea of playing someone else's character, so we are having Omega exit stage left. He could come back later, if you smooth your problems over. We hope that you do: but good luck in any case!

Jen 8)

Taking it from the top;

Railbird: I am a soldier. It does say, "superhero" on the ID card which I was given by Paragon City Law Enforcement. I recognize that this is my job description. Heroic? No, just doing what is necessary to complete my mission.

Tangerine Dream: Hero? Are you nuts? I am a college student! I have term papers to do! I don't have time for any of this super powered stuff!

Girl Genius, Girl Genius 1.0, Girl Genius 2.0, Girl Genius 3.0, Girl Genius 4.0: Hero? Certainly not. I am simply gathering data on the forces which threaten Paragon city. True heroes could then utilize this data as they do their jobs. I admit that I occasionally come into conflict with the forces I study. This hardly qualifies me as a hero.

This is a fun thread!

Jen 8)

As another tip, my experience in the game has led me to believe that role-players also tend to fill out their story section in their ID cards. If you right-click the hero and choose "INFO" and get nothing for story, it is possible that person is a role-player... but probably not. If you right click the hero and choose "INFO" and discover a story, regardless how brief, it is probable that person role-plays at least a little (or at least has an actual character concept, which is always a good start.) If you discover a lengthy, well-conceived, beautifully-written story, you can bet your bottom dollar you have discovered a role player.

(Note that a lengthy story is not required: I have met good roleplayers whose info cards said things like, "Hero X battles villians in Paragon City, searching for his kidnapped brother." Short, sweet, to the point.

Jen 8)

[ QUOTE ]
"He was out of control......... We couldn't stop him......... He was hurting people........ He thought he was better then normal people........ because he was a mutant....... then he turned on us.............. and now my wife has been in a coma for six years........because he but her there.......... I couldn't stop him......... I wish I had never had a son.................. *beep* My *beeping* hand. You broke my *beeping* hand."


[/ QUOTE ]

There were no words of comfort that Penny could find for him. "Oh, Mr. Harris... I am so sorry he did that." She just held him, and let him cry it out.

[ QUOTE ]
“So who’s first to see the doctor?” He knew he was taking a big chance, but at least now these things were focused on HIM and not his date. He hoped they could get out of there… But he also kinda hoped that Crystal saw him acting all heroic and stuff.

That would be even BETTER than the candlelight dinner…

[/ QUOTE ]

The abominations closed in, and for a moment all was swinging fists and grunts.

Then the normal sounds of battle were shattered by a piercing shriek. The Abominations backed off.

The Eiledon had grabbed a student at random - Crystal. Now it held her two feet off the floor, one arm around her throat, the other hand at her temple, already glowing green. ENOUGH! spat the Eiledon. Green light was leaking out from holes in its outfit: it was badly hurt. Want to be a hero, do you? Surrender - or we kill every student in here. Starting, its arm tightened around Crystal's throat, with this one.

[ QUOTE ]
Harris was crying so hard that when he screamed the pain he had felt for six years no sound came out.

"Mother *beepers*."

He lay down on the dirt covered floor, crying.

[/ QUOTE ]

Penny found her eyes brimming. She held up a hand to Erik to forestall him, and approached Harris. "Harris?" Her voice was gentle.

She touched his shoulder and, when he didn't protest, took him quietly into her arms, and let him sob, stroking his back rather awkwardly.

She knew pain when she saw it: and she felt that they had dug down, however briefly, to what had motivated him to hate heroes. She wondered what horrible disaster had befallen him in the past that had been so devastating. But she knew now what he needed, even if he did not want to admit: he needed a listening ear, and a gesture of sympathy and comfort. She rocked him back and forth, as if she had been his sister, and let him cry it out. It felt awkward to do, and yet at the same time felt like the right thing to do.

((OOC: ask and you shall receive.... check your inbox.))

Dark had fallen over the campus. None of the students in Sanstad's lab had even noticed, though the building had been closed and the doors locked as the night had dragged on.

Someone had brewed coffee: now they were all huddled, transfixed, around the computer screens... for someone had set up a second screen with the same display. There were too many of them, now, to watch one screen.

"OK, try it again." Derrel's voice was tired.

Crystal thumbed the mike. "Dr Sanstad! Girl Genius! Can you hear us? Come on guys, answer me! Hello?"

"Anything?"

"Nothing," she put down the mike. They had lost Sanstad's feed hours ago. Girl Genius's was still there, but they only had sound, and barely that. The sound, though, was enough to alarm them, as it cut in and out. They got frightening bits and pieces of the conversation, but not enough to really tell what was going on. And nothing they had tried had gotten their signal back down to the good doctor and his companion. They kept trying, though, as they had been trying for hours, rotating positions as people grew tired.

The low hum of voices was constant. "They are not getting it because our signal is not putting out enough power." "But MBM's computer - " " - was built for processing power, not as a transmitter. We're going over the standard antenna, we don't have the power to get to them." "What can we do then?" "We could break into building 2C where the radio students study - " " - and get expelled - " "- and then do what? Do you actually know how to work any of that equipment?" "I still think we need to try and move to a location with a stronger transmitter-"

"Somehow, I don't think that will work," Crystal's voice was small and scared.

"Why not?"

"Because somehow I don't think we are going to be able to get out of the building."

As one, a roomful of heads turned. In the doorway stood an Eiledon, tall and male and watching them. For a moment, students and Eiledon looked at each other. Then they caught the stench, heard the buzzing of flies, and knew that he was not alone.

Screams rose immediately; many of the students bolted. But there was no where to go - there was no other door in this room. The Eiledon moved farther in, revealing a mortificator behind him, and several abominations. A few students - Jack, Andy, Jeremy - were foolish enough to try and struggle and were knocked out at once, before being tossed into corners. They were not killed, but simply knocked out.

Crystal was picked up by the Eiledon. "Y-y-you sh-sh-shouldn't k-k-kill us," she stammered, tears on her cheeks.

It cocked its head... and spoke. Why not? None of them had ever heard an Eiledon speak.

"L-l-live h-hostages have more b-bargaining value...?" She squeaked.

The Eiledon tossed her into most of her classmates, who had been rounded up by guarding abominations. Correct, it intoned.

"Crystal," whispered Darrel urgently, "The building is closed for the night, if they left the security guards alone, no one is even going to know they are here until morning, that is like seven hours!"

"Don't remind me," she whispered back.

The Eiledon turned to one of the reapers. Harris' information was correct, it intoned. You know what to do.

The reaper nodded, and left.

The mortificator shuffled forwards with some equipment, which the Eiledon began to attach to the gear on the table that Penny had left. After a few moments, her voice came in more clearly.

[ QUOTE ]

"First of all, it is not your lab, and it is not the Luminous's lab. This lab is here because you have a problem; you're not able to preserve the higher brain functions even of the people you want to save. In spite of all your efforts, you can preserve the form of the body, but not its function. Movement and life, but not intelligence. Only the living have intelligence - the reapers, the Mortificators... and you. You three."

There are only two of us here.

"There are two of you here.... but there are three of you in total. One Luminous ... one Murk ... And one Mire.



[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, not quite, The eiledon smirked, though - as it had taken the precaution of doing away with the microphone - it knew that it could not be heard by those transmitting. Close... but there are more than just three of us now, I assure of that. His hands worked busily as a mortificator and three reapers approached the penned students. Let's see what sort of surprise we can arrange for the good doctor...

[ QUOTE ]
(OOC : I was half way through my post when you put yours in Jen )

[/ QUOTE ]

Tee hee! Yes, I figured

+++

[ QUOTE ]
"Use this. It will revive you and assist you body in healing." Carefully it lifted one of the patches on the end of its fingure and placed it on Penny's forhead through the open face plate. Penny felt the pain fade away from her as the drugs in the patch did their work.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Thanks," she mumbled as her vision cleared. "I can't believe I did that - that was so stupid - every once in a while I think of changing my name to the Village Idiot..."

They pelted down the tunnel. Penny's steps were unsteady at first, but straightened as the healing progressed.

The robot certainly seemed to know where it was going. Thankfully, with his help they soon left the battling Vahz and Lost behind them.

They made good progress for perhaps a quarter of a mile: then they turned a corner and found that it was completely caved in, top to bottom, blocking their way.

Girl Genius sighed, looking at the rubble. It was fresh, probably brought down by the war, as there were scorch marks all over the place. "I vote," she panted, "that we take a short breather... to get our bearings." It was folly to just run around aimlessly down here; they would have to find a new way around, and that would take a moment to figure out. She was panting heavily but basically healthy. She flipped up a small panel in one of her arm gauntlets. There was no green that showed itself in the status report on the small screen underneath. "Energy reserves at 2%... suit integrity at .5%... wow, that is higher than I thought. First of all... is everybody OK?"

She turned to the robot. "Secondly," she held out her hand to it, "We never got a chance to introduce ourselves. My name is," she paused briefly, "going to be The Villiage Idiot, but I haven't registered it yet, so I am listed in the Paragon City Hero Roster as Girl Genius. Thanks... for the rescue. I didn't think we were going to make it out of there."

((OOC: I thought it was time to pause during the action and have some character conversation/interaction. Also, I have to prepare for the NEXT time I blow the characters up, MUA Ha ha ha ha!))

[ QUOTE ]
Suddenly he grabbed her by the throat and started to strangle her.

"Dam you Max." He shouted. "How could you?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Girl Genius was totally unprepared when Harris lunged at her. Though the suit was well protected, she was caught completely by surprise, and Harris's larger weight made the difference, knocking her flat on her rear. She struggled with him for a moment, flipping up her faceplate, so he could see her face. "Harris! Harris, it's me, I'm not Max, snap out of it!"

They tussled for a minute, but only a minute before a pair of green glowing hands caught the reporter and pulled him off.

[ QUOTE ]
"HARRIS YOU ***! Snap out of it NOW! I SWEAR I'm gonna add assult on a designated law enforcement hero to everything ELSE I'm going to sue your lousy *** for!"

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Shaking the man like a rag doll Erik shifted the weight and gripped Harris under the arms and then shot forward with a burst of flight speed.

"I got him Penny!" Erik yelled. "Lets haul ***!"

[/ QUOTE ]

"Roger that-" Penny got to her feet and lunged to follow Erik.... and then found herself going backwards. For a moment she wasn't sure why, until she was hauled into the air, upside-down by one ankle.

A Headman Blaster, initially thrown by the repulsion field, had had time to catch up with them during Harris' distraction. He aimed the Rikti weapon at Girl Genius.

A number of things happened at once.

Girl Genius and the Headman Blaster hit their triggers at approximately the same time. Her trigger activated automated defensive systems in the suit, electrifying it and causing him to drop her with a yowl, as well as the flash, blinding him.

At the same time, a freight train plowed into her body in a burst of green light. It was loaded with crystal chandeliers that shattered in symphonies of raining glass, and fireworks that shot in every direction, filling her eyes and ears with noise and confusion. The pain was unbelievable and she could hear a screaming sound. She didn't recognize the sound as her own voice. The armor might have deflected the worst of the blow... but her faceplate was up from the struggle with Harris.

The med-systems of the suit reacted instantly to the change in vital statistics. By the time she had hit the ground, it had flooded her system with life-saving drugs, allowing her to retain consciousness and some semblance of fighting trim.

The world seemed to be floating, and yet somehow she knew what she was doing. "I'm all right, here I come," she heard her own voice say, and then she was pelting down the tunnel again, after the others, while the rest of the battle picked itself up again in the wake of the deflection shield.

[ QUOTE ]
"Get out of here.....Max...........If I ever see you again I will kill you."

[/ QUOTE ]

Girl Genius was carrying Harris as they burst from the room. She could hear his mumbling. He was glowing green from Erik's radiation, they all were; whatever Erik had dosed him with seemed to be dissolving the effects of the drug very quickly.

"Harris," she hoped he could hear her, "You are going to be all right. Can you hear me? You are going to be fine, we are getting out of here, we're leaving. C'mon Harris, snap out of it, talk to me..."

She was scared for him. She had never meant for him to be harmed by the Vahzilok and already guilt was gnawing at the edges of her consciousness.

The field produced by the blue robot sent the Lost and Vahzilok flying in every direction, clearing a corridor, and he ran. Once Erik ran, she ran too, bringing up the rear, with Harris in her arms.

The robor's speed was amazing, and Erik could fly almost as fast. She hit the thrusters on the suit and was rewarded by a burst of sparks and a fizzling noise - the unit had been hit sometime, perhaps when she was following Harris and the Eiledon through the battling Lost and Vahz.

A blistering oath escaped her lips - she had worked for weeks on those thrusters, and finally tweaked them just right only a few days ago. She made a mental note to reinforce the shielding on their housing unit, and sprinted at top speed along the corridor the robot had cleared.

The entrance of the robot was a complete surprise to Penny.

[ QUOTE ]
"You are in violation of International Law and Vanguard Directive 6. You are here by ordered to surrender and submit yourselves to the law. You have 5 seconds to comply."


[/ QUOTE ]

Now that is the way to make an arrest, she thought.

The mires turned and fired. She knew that it was all over.

Her sole thought, in the moment that she saw the blast coming, was that Dr. Sanstad had a wife and a child that loved him, and were depending on him. Above all else, he must come back to them. Almost unconsciously she interposed herself between his body and the blast. He had to come home.

[ QUOTE ]
"Transferring power from Weapons Systems to Shield Generators."

[/ QUOTE ]

When she didn't feel the bolt between her shoulder blades, she turned just in time to see it dissipated, the attack of the Mire and Murk, and the robot's response, sending them flying.

[ QUOTE ]
"You are now under arrest for assault and resisting arrest as well as your previous violations. Do you wish to continue compiling additional charges ?"

[/ QUOTE ]

The Mire screamed.

But she didn't attack.

At that moment, another explosion followed the one that the robot had made - this one originating from outside. Penny ducked as a shower of bricks and plaster flew inside the room, flinging themselves harmlessly against the robot's shields.

Through the opening came an enormous form - One of the Lost. A Headman Blaster. Upon seeing them, he opened fire with the Rikti weapon he held, then moved aside. More blasters were beyond him, with swordsmen hot on their heels.

Then the first Eramite stepped into the room. This was the first chance Girl Genius had gotten to see an Eramite this close, as it held its arms out and blasted the room with a psychic scream. She was surprised to find herself unaffected. Her helmet was supposed to protect her against psychic attacks, though she suspected that the shields of the robot had had a greater impact.

Abruptly she thrust the unconscious form of Harris into Erik's arms. "Watch Harris for a minute!" she shouted. She had to shout, for now the noise was unbelievable - shots of green energy were zipping merrily around their ears - and then made a break across the room.

"I sure hope these shields are good," she muttered. From behind her, she heard another shouting voice, a voice that sounded like Erik's, saying something that sounded like, "What are you DOING?"

"Going for the dumb terminal before the Lost get to it!"

"What?"

"This is a dumb terminal!" She shouted back and began tugging at it. "At least I think it is... if I am right, there are more like it down here, and it will be transmitting to some sort of a central location!"

"Are you NUTS?" Six feet away was a Blaster. It turned and saw her fiddling with the Rikti device, and fired immediately.

"Power diversion from secondary to primary shielding generators in ten seconds," she heard the voice of the robot, just before the green bolt splashed off of it.

"Ten seconds, got it, thank you!" Penny shouted back. Other blasters turned, and three more bolts sparkled against the shield, which was now starting to flicker dangerously. "Almost got it - come on - "

One of the swordsman took a swing at the bubble just as another blaster took another shot. "Got it!" She shouted, falling to the ground with a piece of the Rikti device in her hand, as the shield around her faded. She rolled and activated her flash, catching the swordsman by surprise at the end of his swing, light streaming from his eyes.

She saw immediately what had happened: the blue robot had swapped from small, individual shields to a larger, group shield. It had informed her of the swap because she was outside of the circumference of the larger shield - and therefore unprotected. Not for long though, as she ducked under the swordsman's arm, and sprinted for Erik and Harris. "It's time to go!" She shouted at them, as the Lost swarmed over the spot she had been in a moment ago.

"Hey - er - You - with the shields!" She called over the radio. The new, armored being had not identified itself, after all. However, he was clearly the greatest threat in the room, and the Lost were converging on him. So far the lost didn't seem to be doing much damage to the newcomer, but already he had three Blasters, four swordsman, and two Eramites who seemed to be concentrating entirely on him. So far, he was holding his ground... but more Lost were coming, and now mixing in them were still-battling Vahzilok.

She looked around and realized that the Mire was gone - escaped in the confusion - and returned her attention to the newcomer. "I don't know if you had a chance to look around when you came in," she shouted to him, "But there is a battle going on outside, I counted fifty blasters and thirty Eramites! I think discretion is the better part of valor here!"

+++
Edit:
Wrote this, then re-read bio on character. Realized I had messed up (DOH) and re-edited bits to try and make it true to the known power set.

Girl Genius had watched all of this from her invisible vantage point. The Luminous took Erik into the other room: the Murk left as well, following the Luminous, leaving the mortificator alone with Harris. It was time to make a move.

"Doctor Sanstad - Erik," she murmered, low, so he could hear her. "I have a plan. I am going to get you out of here, you and Harris. Look, when you get out of here, I want you to find my partner Overhaul and tell him..." She paused for a moment. Tell him what? "Tell him..." Tell him I fell in love with him, and he was so in love with his work that he never even noticed me? "Tell him... his design... the suit... it performed flawlessly. He will understand. Tell him that for me, OK?"

He would appreciate that. Without waiting for a response, figuring he would not be able to make one, she made her move.

The mortificator saw the folded cloth at the last minute. His crossbow was within reach, but Penny lunged and dropped the folded cloth under his surgical mask, making herself visible for the first time. The flash missed him completely - he was far too experienced to fall for a trick like that.

He grabbed for his crossbow and she dove for cover. She was lucky with the first bolt; he was at an awkward angle and it stuck in her shoulder, which was relatively padded.

He didn't get a second shot. A look of dull surprise came over his face, and without warning, he keeled over.

Penny got up, pulling the long arrow from her shoulder with a grunt of pain - that portion of her suit was armored, but it had still penetrated flesh... not badly, though. "That is what I thought," she said to no one in particular, "his sense of smell is so overwhelmed by what he works with every day that he never even detected the cloroform."

She crossed to Harris, undoing the straps so he could roll off the table. As she did it, she slipped her patch - the one which would transport her to the Paragon City hospital if her vital signs grew too low - into his pocket. He was weeping; she had heard all of what he said and she felt heartbroken for him. At least she had a better understanding of why he was so bitter. "Harris! Can you hear me? Snap out of it, we only have a few minutes."

She crossed the room to the Rikti device, removing tools from her belt pouches. "Harris!" She called to him again. "Get up, get over here, we're out of time-" she didn't have time to look at him, as her fingers flew. "Where is it - where is it - "

There were footsteps in the doorway where Erik had been taken - the Murk Eiledon who had taken Harris down here had heard what was going on and become suspicious. Well, well, well, what have we here? It intoned. It seems we have a problem.

Girl Genius made an abrupt yank with her arm as the lights went out. The sound of power in the lab suddenly dropped off to nothing, and they were left in darkness.

The Murk raised its arm to fire. Girl Genius turned around, extending her own hand. In her fingers was a tiny, round, crystalline disk. They stared at each other for a minute. Slowly, the Murk lowered his arm. "Yes," she agreed, "You certainly do."

You are aware we will not permit you to leave alive, intoned the Murk.

"Of course," Girl Genius replied. "My chances of getting out of here started maybe 8 or 9 percent. I am fully aware that my chances of survival are now nil. However, Mr. Harris and Dr. Sanstad are leaving. Along with Harris's notebook, please-and-thank-you-very-much."

Or you will smash the crystal.

"You have an excellent grasp of the situation. These are soooo delicate, aren't they?" She tapped the Rikti box with her free hand. "In fact, you busted the first one, when you broke into this originally. To replace it, you started raiding the Lost until you found another one, and they didn't appreciate it, and that is what started the war... isn't it? That is also why it was so easy to get to, you had to jury-rig this thing to get it working again."

The murk somehow managed to look surprised even through his mask. You have a greater grasp of the situation than I had anticipated. You will be marked for additional study.

"I have a better grasp than you think," responded Girl Genius. "I know why this lab is here."

Again, he looked surprised. You do, do you? By all means... enlighten me.

"First of all, it is not your lab, and it is not the Luminous's lab. This lab is here because you have a problem; you're not able to preserve the higher brain functions even of the people you want to save. In spite of all your efforts, you can preserve the form of the body, but not its function. Movement and life, but not intelligence. Only the living have intelligence - the reapers, the Mortificators... and you. You three."

There are only two of us here. In spite of itself, the Murk Eidelon sounded very surprised.

"There are two of you here.... but there are three of you in total. One Luminous," she gestured to the doorframe, "One Murk," she nodded at him -

And one Mire. came the voice from the doorframe, not the one where Erik had been taken, but the one across the room. Very good, Girl Genius. Very good indeed. I'm quite surprised. It was a woman who lounged in the door: though she was dressed as an Eiledon, her form was graceful and had a wierd sort of beauty.

"Oh, there you are," Girl Genius replied brightly. "I was wondering."

I see you have my crystal, Mire scowled at Murk, who had the sense to look properly ashamed of himself. I presume you want to trade for it... passage to the overworld, or some such? For yourself and your companions? She seemed to consider it. Of course, you are aware of the fatal flaw in your plan.

"Actually, I would rather talk about the fatal flaw in YOUR plan."

My plan is flawless, there was a definite note of wounded pride in the statement. She turned to look at the lab, gesturing with one arm. My calculations-

"-Are wrong," interrupted Girl Genius.

The Mire whirled on her. IMPOSSIBLE! She roared in terrifying fury.

"INEVITABLE!" Shot back Girl Genius. "This lab is wrong, your theory is wrong, the calculations are wrong, you will NEVER see another set of intelligent Eiledons! Ever! Your calculations are wrong!"

You don't know that!

"Yes I do! The entire structure topples because it is all based upon a premise which is FALSE!"

There was dead silence in the lab. The Murk was looking from one to the other like a man watching a tennis match.

"And you know that," Girl Genius's voice was calm, "And you've painted yourself in a corner, and now you can't get out."


I am not the only one who has painted herself into a corner, intoned the Mire coldly. As she spoke, the lights suddenly came back up, and the hum of power resumed.

Girl Genius looked sad. "Ah, yes... that would be the Luminous, activating the back-up systems which I haven't been able to locate."

Rendering your crystal hostage worthless, both the Mire and the Murk raised their hands. Shall we dance?

"Why not? You don't mind if I lead, do you?"

The Mark III suit, which Girl Genius was wearing, sadly did not have the arsenal of weaponry needed to survive down here. She was painfully aware of that fact. However, she did have a few weapons stashed in her belt pouches.

The grenade she tossed simply wasn't large or powerful enough to harm either the Murk or the Mire; furthermore, they were far more agile than she was, and simply ducked as it flew over their heads. You missed me, smirked the Mire.

"I wasn't aiming for you," said Girl Genius.

The Mire turned her head.

The explosion produced by the grenade was sufficient to knock over the shelf under which it had rolled. It toppled with a thunderous CRASH directly into the shelf next to it. Hundreds of jars, containing chemicals of every shape and description, smashed into the floor and into each other along with the shelves themselves.

Girl Genius made a break for it as the Murk and Mire whirled, grabbing for Harris, dragging him behind the dubious safety of the operating table and covering his body with her own.

The chemical explosion smashed every jar that had manage to escape the falling of the initial shelf. Glass went everywhere as both the Murk and the Mire were knocked off their feet. "MARINES!" She shouted into her 'comm, hoping the Erik could hear her. "THE BUS IS LEAVING!!!" She grabbed for a dry cloth to put on Harris face to try and protect him from any fumes - already there were clouds of a wierd blackish, greenish smoke billowing from the strangely colored flames in her wake - and sprinted for the door where Erik had been taken.

[ QUOTE ]
"Dear God..." Erik whispered. He had never gone down that deep willingly into the sewers. The only other time was with a horde of other adventurers, and that was to bust up a clockwork infestation.

"Penny, you be careful. Thanks for the tip about this guy being a Lumi... I should be able to track him then. Penny... I'm sorry I got you into this. I had no clue it was going to be this intense. Don't you dare worry about not being here for me. I wish there was some way I could be there to help you!"


[/ QUOTE ]

"It's OK," she tried to keep her voice light-hearted. "Overhaul said he wanted to stress-test the new bearings anyway. And listen... don't be sorry. It isn't your fault. And don't worry about me... in this suit, I am as safe as if I was in a church," she smirked, thankful that she sounded much more confident than she felt.

[ QUOTE ]

"What the... Oh dear God..."

"God has not answered you before Doctor Sanstad... Why should he start now?"

The blast come in from his right and knocked Erik off the platform and into the mire below. Normally he would quip about how pissed his wife would be about his clothes, but the circumstances this time were different.


[/ QUOTE ]

Girl Genius heard the shot and was alarmed. "Erik? Erik? What was that? Are you all right? Talk to me!" She was scared for him and her voice reflected it.

[ QUOTE ]
"It seems we have much to talk about my dear Doctor. Or can I call you Erik? You have a choice here... come quietly, or come in peices. But I can assure you only one of those paths will assure the safety of your darling wife Enid and your little girl Cassie..."

"You son of a..."

"Tut tut now Erik... Calling me names is hardly coming quietly is it?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Girl Genius found herself holding her breath as she listened to the conversation.

She was following the Eidelon as it turned the corner and started wading through the battle.

She stopped for a moment, her eyes wide. There were hordes of Vahzilok here and bunches of Lost - whatever they were fighting over, they wanted it badly.

But if she lost the Eiledon now she would never find it again, and so she swallowed hard and plunged after it.

The noise was unbelievable. She found herself ducking under arms and around legs. Luckily her helmet muffled most of the din, but she was still straining her ears for any sound from Erik's end of the communication link. She was worried, too, that he would hear the noise from her end of the 'comm and be distracted at a critical moment... but it couldn't be helped.

A Headman Blaster lowered his Rikti rifle an inch in front of her head, firing it several times in succession. Behind her a half-dozen gunners were unloading at anything that moved, seemingly heedless of ammunition, and to her side another of the Lost emptied a shotgun in a thunderous burst. At her back were the noises of the vahzilok, the almost-musical sounds of crossbows and that wierd, screaming noise that the Eiledon blasts made. It almost threatened to overwhelm the sound-dampening capabilities in the helmet.

Several times she was bumped or knocked over but in such a tumultous battle, no one ever really looked to see what they had hit. After a couple of falls and some very close calls, she cleared the worst of the battle. The Eiledon was around the corner, and she sprinted to catch up.

She just managed to nip in the door the moment before it closed. A horrified gasp came from her when she saw the lab and, unthinkingly, she clapped both hands over her mouth - or rather, over the helmet - to silence the noise, and moved quickly, in case she had been spotted.

It was on the eighth level of the sewers that the sound of gunfire could be heard. The Eiledon carrying Harris continued on its way, seemingly unconcerned. But he could see down the various side tunnels.

The underworld, it seemed, was at war.

On the one side, Vahzilok stumbled pointlessly, flailing their fists, vomiting at whatever got too close. Reapers and mortificators were shooting their crossbows, bolts flying through the air. The ground was littered with the corpses of the Vahzilok, at least the ones that the mortificators had not yet resurrected. Eiledons, such as the one carrying Harris, blackened the hallways with dark powers, or brightened it with the evil glowing green of poisonous radiation.

On the other side, the Lost were dealing out their own forms of damage. Scroungy homeless men blasted carelessly with shotguns, pistols, or automatic weapons. Above them towered the tanks of the Lost: the Headmen and Eramites. The Headmen were armed with Rikti weapons, and in spite of the ferociousness of the Vahzilok, the green bolts seemed to be cutting through, or at least holding their own. The Lost that fell were left behind. It was a battle unthought of on the streets above.

The Eiledon carrying him danced delicately through these warring factions, intent on its purpose, taking side passages and obscure routes. Finally it reached a door, turned the handle, and walked through.

It was undoubtedly a lab. Tables were set up here and there; several already contained bodies in varying states of deconstruction and reconstruction. Every table was fitted with sets of bloodied-but-secure straps. Jars lined the walls, most of them with painfully-identifiable body parts stored inside, waiting to be used. Trays held various sorts of scalpels and needles, and on the walls were larger tools: saws, picks, and bottles of acid.

On the far wall, attached to the waist thick, high-voltage power lines, was a sort of squarish box. Even in the modern lab, it looked so futuristic that it seemed out of place. It was covered with patterns and designs and hummed faintly.

The front part of it had a door which seemed to have been broken open by sheer brute force, as it was hanging at an odd angle from one hinge. From this door sprouted numerous cables, thick as a man's wrist, which ran all over the lab, powering various types of equipment, some of which looked very advanced on their own.

The Eiledon put Harris on one of the empty tables and secured the straps over his chest.

"Fresh parts," the voice was appreciative and over the table the masked face of a Mortificator appeared. It was grotesque with its surgical mask, but wearing the ribs and skull from one of its previous victims.

"From above," intoned the Eiledon.

The mortificator turned Harris' head this way and that, looking him over. "Standard vivisection," it said.



He is to be interrogated, said the Eiledon. We could use his knowledge of heroes.

The mortificator shrugged. "I will turn on the tape recorder," he said, and started setting out bloodied instruments - scalpels, needles and thread, ice picks, saws, a bottle of acid, and several hypodermic needles - on the tray at Harris's bedside.

Robert manuvered the camera down the ladder, always keeping an eye on the tracking monitor, which he had taped carefully to his wrist.

The data the device was receiving was a wonder, and in spite of himself he had to admire the genius which had gone into it. It did not show the camera feed, but it did show the position of anything near him that moved - a feature which enabled him to plan alternate routes past anything dangerous, using military training he hadn't thought of for fifteen years or more.

If there had been Vahzilok in this section of tunnels, he might have had more trouble.... but there weren't. These were the Lost, shuffling around aimlessly, half of them spaced out in their own little world. He taped the footage in the appropriate places as he worked his way down. This would be pure gold when he got back to the station. He just might get a big, fat promotion, and Harris just might get a big, fat pink slip. It was a delicious fantasy.

But he didn't let it distract him. He was getting into Vahzilok now, which required more care to skirt around: thankfully they were in scattered groups, and moved slowly, so that the detector enabled him to simply take tunnels that were empty. It was slow going, but he was making good time.

And he was getting great footage. He had gotten in, he would get out. Even the smell would be worth it.

Anything for the scoop.

[ QUOTE ]
He nudged her head slightly with his foot.
"Hey, you brain damaged or anything in there. Cause I already got blood all over my jacket and I don't need brain drool all over it too."

[/ QUOTE ]

"Uhhhh..." Girl Genius rolled over. "I'm OK... the clocks..." She sat up gingerly, "What - oh!" Her eyes went wide. She had just seen where they were.