Khellendrosiic

"You don't know half of what she and people like her have done," retorted Combat Toy, his visor pulsing red as he glared at Psycho. "What I did just now is a mercy compared to the crap the Masters have been pulling for years."

His hand still dripping blood, Combat Toy started walking back the way Panzerfrau had come from.

"Now we better get back to Sybil's HQ. I expect the little witch will want to learn about what's happened. Follow me and I'll lead you to the RV I've set up with the boss."

OOC: >_> What am I supposed to do about Thule, now?

"That was kinda stupid," Ghoul remarked as Dax chucked a spine at Karl's head.

"Worry about me," Combat Toy copied as he ignored the laser bolt that still managed to splash over his right arm as he calmly reached forward and wrapped his right hand around Panzerfrau's head.

Some pressure and a discharge of energy later and the woman's head simply popped.

"May all such as you meet fates such as these," stated Combat Toy as Psycho tackled the headless body to the ground.

Ghoul started clapping slowly after Energon had finished with his rant. It wasn't everyday you got to see a hero go over the deep edge.

"Hear that, 'bub'?" said Ghoul as he looked over at Sharp. "There's yer explanation."

"Go?" rang out a loud voice from the IP checkpoint. "Now why the hell would we be going?"

Combat Toy stomped forward towards Panzerfrau, his hands glowing a bright red and thick arcs of electricity crackling up and down his body. The brute slammed both hands together as he neared the mastermind in a very threatening display.

"'We' aren't going anywhere until Tankgirl here has paid for her crimes," he growled loudly. "You probably don't know what I'm talking about, but she's as nasty as any of the other Masters and it's high time I put her down."

Looking directly over at Psycho and Twilight, Combat Toy asked one more question.

"You gonna help?"

Ghoul, who had been a bit slow in following Martin over the hill, landed behind the scrapper at about the same time the stalker decloaked. He reacted quickly, arms snapping out and grabbing the metahuman under arms and hoisting him up into the air.

"Who the hell're you?" Ghoul growled as he pulled Sharp's head close to his own.

"Just who are you talking too?" asked Block Bot in an annoyed tone of voice.

The android also scanned Baalial's area, both trying to identify if there were mutiple people there and in an attempt to read the demon's surface thoughts for any clues.

OOC: I'm not at my computer at the moment. Just kind of letting everyone know I'll edit this into an appropriate post once I get back to my dorm.

Dunno why I'm saying this. Just felt like it.

"Damn but that was a long run," remarked Toy Dispenser as he and Large Toy finally burst out of a concealed door that opened up into a normal looking alleyway.

"We were flying, sir," commented Large Toy as it landed and scanned the nearby area for hostiles.

"Whatever," said Toy dismissively as he tapped into the rebels communications link and studied the situation.

"Hm... Seems like the technogeek got shot down by a dragon," Toy said to Large Toy. "The rebels and Mayhem forces are also pulling out. Apparently they all know we got the weapon and so there's nothing left fighting over."

"That's good to know, sir," said Large Toy. "What about the other metahumans?"

"No reports of them arriving back at main HQ, though there are some interesting rumours going around about a downed Flier and-.......[censored]."

"Sir?"

"Stevie Power is dead. Small Toy just checked in. He's fighting the assassin as we speak with some help from Hokata's ninjas."

"We should go and help him then, sir."

"Damn right. Let's go."

Both androids activated their anti-grav systems and hurtled up into the air. As little more than bright streaks of color, they shot off toward Small Toy's position.

************************************************

"You guys won't be making any calls ever again," said Combat Toy in a satisfied tone of voice as he dropped the broken body of one of the IP door guards.

The robotic brute had been tracking Panzerfrau for a while now ever since he had seen her personnal flier. He had thought Hokata's dragon had killed her, but investigated the crash just in case. His diligence was rewarded when the [censored] herself walked out of the flames and started retreating toward Independance Port. It had been difficult, but he had managed to keep up with her without being noticed. He had welcomed the arrival of Twilight as two to one odds were much better in his opinion. But when the door guard had spotted Panzerfrau and Twilight had elected to raise some sort of impenetrable shadow barrier, Combat Toy had moved swiftly. He had killed both guards before they could do little more than scream in shock. If he was lucky, he had prevented that one guard from getting off a call for reinforcements. But just to make sure...

"Heave [censored] ho!" Combat Toy said to himself as he entered the small guard post and started working at the controls inside. The giant blast doors that had been installed during the earlier wars could be closed here and that's exactly what he intended to do. Using the Mayhem codes that Toy routinely hacked from their main database would alert the goons to the intrusion, but that would do little more than invalidate the codes until the next time Toy went cybersurfing.

"Close sesame," Combat Toy said as he hit the last button.

**************************************************

OOC: Can't move Small Toy until AD does something.

Ghoul snorted in amusement and rapped his head with his knuckles.

"This grey lump ain't leadership material at all," Ghoul said as he cracked a small grin. "I got Toy or Archie to do the heavy thinkin' for me. Best thing I do is smash the crap outta [censored]."

Giving the large dent in the wall a second look, Ghoul shot Martin another glance before talking again.

"But maybe that's your specialty too."

"[censored]' heroes not lettin' me have any fun," Brutish Ghoul muttered as he followed Martin and several of the others. "I'm [censored] hungry is what's goin' on."

Scowling deeply, the brute paused when Martin hit the wall, waiting for the hero to free himself before speaking.

"Not all of us are idiots, cape," he said, hooking a thumb at Dusan, Dennis, and Dax.

Unbeknowest to the Vahzilok surrounding Ghoul, several dozen almost microscopic tendrils had been seeping out of Ghoul's clenched fist and into the cracks of the floor. There, they slithered along the ground until they reached a target. When everyone within range had at least one tiny tentacle near them, the pseudopods suddenly snapped up and wrapped around the nearest body part, generally a leg. Sucking their vital energies through the tentacles, Ghoul almost exploded with purloined energy.

"HRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Ghoul roared as he burst to his feet and thrust both fists in the air.

As the earlier tentacles had dissolved into thin air after their work was done, yet more burst from his chest, sides, and back. These new ones forwent any subtley and latched on to everything within six feet. Draining yet more energy from them, Ghoul's forearms became encased in solid blackness as the glut of power forced itself to be known.

"YOU WILL ALL DIE!" Ghoul shouted as he jumped forward, landing squarely on an unenhanced Abomination, breaking its back in the process.

The brute proceeded to go on a bloody rampage while his stolen strength lasted, carving a swath through the mindless zombies and those humans too slow to escape. He somehow managed to avoid attacking any of the other metahumans, though he got close to slamming Darkvapor, as he used dark powers similair to the Eidolons.

OOC: >_> Ghoul doesn't have Dark Armor, Diov. Second time you've made that mistake.

BIC: "Mother [CENSORED]!" bellowed Ghoul as he went down on one knee, one fist pressed against the ground to help keep him upright.

The poison trap had caught him completely by surprise as Ghoul had never heard of any Vahzilok using such a thing. However, if the Vahz had hoped that putting their attacker in a moment of extreme weakness would cool him down, they were wrong. As was Dusan, who's soul pacifying ability didn't work at all. This was somewhat odd, as Ghoul did have a soul that he could sense. This might bear further investigation.

Breathing heavily as he glared up at the Eidolons, Ghoul completely ignored the one who had talked.

"...the [censored]?" cursed Ghoul as he hit the ground with a thud, cracking his abused head on the floor.

Ignoring Bladewing for the moment, Ghoul started rubbing the back of his head in annoyance as he got to his feet. Standing at his full height, the brute stood about two feet taller than the obviously freaked out humans. His glare prompted one of them to hold both hands in the air in a gesture of surrender.

"[censored] dead-heads," Ghoul spat as he grabbed the surrendering Mortificator by the collar of his shirt. "You grave robbers're only good fer one thing..."

The darkish fumes that constantly dripped from Ghoul's hands suddenly convulsed and shot up into the human's flesh. The Mortificator's eyes rolled up into their sockets as a great gash opened up on his head and started leaking blood. The front and back of his shirt also became stained with blood as a mirror of Ghoul's wounds appeared on him. But then his wounds closed up, leaving the Vahzilok lieutenant with the unfairly gained injuries.

"That felt good...." Ghoul drawled, drawing out the last word as he let the human drop to the ground, where he proceeded to bleed out. "Now, what say we inaugerate our little meetin' with a severe BEATING!"

A powerful uppercut sent the second Mortificator flying where he came to a stop on an abomination, knocking the synthetic undead to the ground. Ghoul's eyes widened with glee as he followed the man, both fists aching to tear into the walking corpses on either side of him.

OOC: Hey Diov, look above you.

[ QUOTE ]
OOC: *plays his 'Screw up Plot' card*

[/ QUOTE ]

"Fine with me," replied Toy to Grey's query. "I'd suggest we also bring Thelth and his buddy as well. Some of the Vanguard, the Rikti, and Archlich when he gets back can hold the fort here."

"It would be a good idea for the Warmaster to go with Jake's group, sir," input Large Toy. "Small Toy can serve as a relay between our two groups, allowing the Warmaster the potential to lend his knowledge to either force."

Toy Dispenser nodded, pleased at the robot's initiative.

"If what Large Toy said sounds good to you, I'll go and get Cher'tak now," he said to Grey.

***********************************************

"Condition: Lk'Onik: Well?" asked Cher'tak quietly once he sensed what the Psi-Scout was doing. To initiate a mind link at this time would be a very bad idea. At the least it would force Lk'Onik to start over again and at the worst it would alert the other Rikti to their presence here on the moon.

The Psi-Scout nodded to reply.

"Apologies: Earlier outburst," Cher'tak continued with a dip of his head. "Self discipline: Formerly lacking. Current state: Relieved: Little damage: Caused."

Lk'Onik nodded again and the Warmaster nodded back.

"Good: Luck," Cher'tak said as he turned to exit the portal room.

*****************************************

"Well, this is going to be fun, eh guys?" said Solid to Thelth and his friend. "Nothing like carrying the fight to the enemy, huh? Guns a blazing, spells a flinging, damsels a screaming, and all that good stuff, right?"

Meanwhile, Archlich was surrounded by several of his trademark runes as he continued to mutter arcane phrasings under his breath. Curiously enough, any one who heard those words would forget them almost as soon as they registered the sound. It was almost as though the words were spoken and then flashed into unexistence as soon as they came into being.

OOC: *plays his 'Screw up Plot' card*

BIC: "[censored] hell..." muttered Ghoul as he clutched his head where the boulder had hit him. There was a long, black gash across his bald skull that matched the other cuts on his equally bare chest from being tossed into the building by Babbage earlier on.

Never having fought Clockwork before, the brute had underestimated the flimsy looking machine and subsequently paid the price.

"What the hell happened?" Ghoul said groggily as he shaded his eyes and looked up at where Bladewing stood in the hole.

"Heads up, mother [censored]!" came a shout from up in the air.

Figuring that there wouldn't be much action, Ghoul had taken his time while jumping to where the Soulhound had gotten to. Thus he was about at the apex of his last jump when Babbage came bursting through the wall and rushed the Vanguard truck. Seeing such a huge target made Ghoul's aggressive instincts kick in and it wasn't very hard for him to change course in midair and land directly on the giant metal brute's head.

"Nobody kicks the [censored] of the heroes around here but ME!" he shouted as he landed and dug his hands into Babbage's thick skull.

Grunting with exertion, Ghoul literally shoved tiny tendrils of dark matter into the machine's innards. As they penetrated they grew wider and split Babbage's skeleton apart, much as the roots of a tree do to pavement. This attack didn't deal much damage in and of itself, but it drastically weakened the structure of the machine and rendered it less able to withstand heavy blows. Heavy blows that, for example, could be provided by the other metahumans of the group.

There came a low whistling from above Dusan and a large shadow passed over him seconds before Ghoul slammed into the ground with a heavy thud. He had landed directly on a retreating Tesla Knight, pulverizing the thing to bits and cracked the ground under his feet as he slowly uncrouched and looked back at the hero.

"Get a move on, kid," he grunted. "Leave the small fries for when they're actually dangerous."

Snorting in contempt, Ghoul tensed up his legs and then leapt back up into the air as he continued jumping toward where the Soulhound had stopped.

"Heroes," snorted Ghoul as he watched the various winged types flutter around impatiently as the Sorceror explained about the Bloodhound.

He chuckled under his breath when the hobo-hero almost got his face bitten off. But then everyone started talking about moving and Ghoul realized something important the Vanguard had neglected to mention.

"And how tha hell is that thing supposed to know where the chick is?" Ghoul asked loudly, not budging from his spot on the wall. "It sniffed her other pair ah pants or somethin'? Cause I doubt she's the only human around here."

"What? Teaming up with Vanguard? Prepostorous!" said Solid Shot, affecting a snobby British accent. "Why in my day, we heroes walked right into dragons' lairs with nary a teenaged sidekick by our side!"

Solid spun around in a circle as he walked past Lady Grey and Randall and flashed them a peace sign as he switched his voice back to normal.

"But seriously now, the more Impervium I can put in between Rikti plasma blasts and my all-too-fragile titanium plating, the better," Solid said as he stopped walking just a hair short of bumping into Danica. "And on that note, I'd like to volunteer for the patrol."

"Didn't you just say you wanted more people in front of you?" rumbled Combat Toy as it half turned to look down at Solid.

The blaster shrugged in response.

"What can I say? Getting to shoot things trumps not getting shot."

As soon as Solid stopped talking, Archlich loudly cleared his throat and glared at the assembled people.

"Since apparently no one has any messages to send, I am going to begin my ritual," the mage said, clearly irritated that no one had seemed to pay any attention to him.

Solid watched Archlich stalk over to sit cross legged a few feet in the air next to the locked hatch that lead to the depressurized area.

"Quite a crowd you hang out with, Candy Machine," he offhandidly remarked to Toy Dispenser.

The mastermind ignored the not-at-all-subtle dig and looked over at the two Greys.

"I already have one of my drones scouting out the area. Right now it's at a fork after losing the trail of something it has been tracking," he said. "If one of those computers still works, I can upload what images Small Toy was able to capture of the creature and what I suspect it tampered with, namely several Rikti corpses."

"Eater of: Dead?" Cher'tak said to himself. "Known information: Suggests: Absence: Life: Jade Moon."

"That doesn't sound good, then," muttered Solid.

**************************************************

Following standard procedure, Small Toy started heading down the left corridor.

*******************************************

Taking a moment from what was sure to be an interesting conversation, Cher'tak moved over to check on C'Kelkah. Tapping a panel on his helmet synched his HUD with hers, allowing him to determine how she was doing. The synching technology was designed specifically for allowing medics quick identification of a soldier's wounds and was made possible by the semi-organic nature of all Rikti technology.

Judging from the level of chemicals in her bloodstream, C'Kelkah would wake up any minute now, probably feeling like someone had hit her with a hover tank. He figured he could leave her his weapon for now until she could find a replacement. If anything, this would just give him an excuse to use his battle gauntlets more.

Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? Cher'tak thought to himself.

The answer came to him almost immidiately.

"Location: Lkk'Onik?" Cher'tak said as he looked around for the Psi-Scout.

"Those little tin cans don' look like much," said a large, bare chested, grey skinned man who had stepped out of the DPO teleporter a second or two before Energon X had flown in. Dead, milky white eyes surveyed the group of heroes and ragged lips tilted up in a crooked grin, revealing several stained teeth.

"Turn em inta pure electricity and make em about ten feet taller and then we can talk," the obvious villain added as he sidled over to a clear patch of wall and leaned against it. The large pauldron on his right shoulder blocked most of the other heroes from his view but left his sight of the teleporter and inspiration bins clear.

If anyone chanced to wander near, they would probably hear him muttering something about a damned toy not being available and someone called Archie always ordering him around.

"Damn!" blurted a high pitched voice from several meters to Thule's left and above.

A web grenade followed the words soon afterward, aimed to entangle Thule's legs while the barely visible form lifted up one arm that looked suspiciously like a gun.

*********************************************

"Didn't think the new paint job would hold up for long," Toy muttered as he leaned up against the pillar that his target was resting on. "Kind of odd that she knew my old name, though. Didn't think that bimbo was just into research."

"We were probably caught on a security camera back in Apex's base, sir," answered Large Toy as it started fusing together the wounds everyone had sustained. "That would make the most sense."

"No matter," said Toy Bot as it stepped forward and grabbed the object. "Let us rendeavous with the others at the appointed location. With our target aquired, we have no more reason to stay here."

"You go on back, Toy Bot," said Toy as he rolled his head in a very human-like gesture. "Large Toy and I will assist the remnants of the rebels in King's Row. Goodness knows they'll need whatever help they can get. Small Toy sent me a burst transmission a minute ago. Panzerfrau has arrived to oversee the battle personally."

"Very well," conceded Toy Bot grudgingly. "I shall continue on on my own. I shall be waiting for you two."

The neon green android ran out of the room before igniting the jet boosters in its back and shooting down the hallway and out of the small underground complex they were in. Tilting his head toward the door, Toy Dispenser and Large Toy followed after.

********************************************

Block Bot froze, his head slowly tracking around to stare right at the guard.

"You're keeping it HERE?" he asked incredulously, his voice rising to an accusing shout. "What the hell was that with THINKING? We're right in the middle of Blightlord's territory! He could have found this place out at any moment, ruined all our plans, foiled EVERYTHING!"

The air around Block Bot's head shimmered a bit as the android strove to regain control of its rampant emotions. If one could read body language, he would notice that Block Bot was grinding his figurative teeth in rage at the moment.

OOC: lol, posted.

Several lenses cracked as Small Toy rudely smacked headfirst into the door. The drone's inherent nanite package, though low strength, was more than sufficient to repair the minor damage. What the nanites couldn't repair, however, was the bruise to Small Toy's ego. Contrary to popular belief, Small Toy actually did have a personality under its cool, compatent exterior and that personality was currently pissed off.

Getting back to its feet, Small Toy looked around at the door and the area around it. A brief analysis showed that the door was built too well to penetrate with Small Toy's particle gun and the action would have drawn unwated attention anyway. There was, however, a keypad situated next to the door and it was blinking red, which Small Toy took to mean that it was locked. Walking over to the keypad, which was at face height to the small drone, Small Toy gave it a good look over and sent a query back to Toy Dispenser.

**********************************************

"All my bots are alive and counted for," Toy Dispenser said as Grey shouted out for a roll call. "As am I, if you hadn't noticed."

"Still here!" Solid called out to Grey as he stood still to let Large Toy work him over with its nanite beam. "I'll be good to go once I grab my gun and work out some dents."

"I am Archlich," said the armored skeleton to Grey, making himself known by walking toward the tanker. "I shall be returning through the portal shortly in order to let the others know what has come about. If you have any messages to be passed on, let me know now before I begin my spell."

The lich also glanced over at Lady Grey as he said this, knowing that she would most likely have something to say to the real Dark Watcher back on Earth.

Toy was about to tell Archlich to relay information about the Nemesis Warhorse when he stopped. It would be best to see what Grey would say. It wasn't as if Toy was actively looking for Grey to screw up, it's just that his chances of survival were best if their leader was competant. Or so he kept telling himself. Thankfully, any further introspection was forestalled by the arrival of Cher'tak and Sah'Teece.

************************************************

"Many thanks: Sah'Teece, Penny Arcade drones," said Cher'tak as he kicked a chunk of automaton through the gaping hole in the wall that the Warhorse had blown earlier. "Current objective: Inform Randall Grey: Situation."

"That would be best," said Sah'Teece as he re-slung his bladerifle over his shoulder. After he brought his hand back down, he saw that it was shaking strongly. Cher'tak saw this as well and put a comforting hand, knuckle spikes retracted, on the diplomat-turned-solider's shoulder.

"Sah'Teece: Under pressure: Admirable bravery. Finer soldiers: Could accomplish: Little better."

Sah'Teece suddenly sighed heavily and slumped forward a bit, the tension he hadn't noticed before running out of him all at once. He had the strongest urge to sit down and fall alseep right now, despite the urgency of the situation.

"I never did sign up for this kind of thing, you know?" said one Rikti to the other. "I knew fighting wouldn't be easy when I volunteered for this mission... But this...?"

"Come: Report in. Introspection: After mission. No time: Until then," replied the Warmaster as he gently pulled Sah'Teece with him back toward the portal room.

Sah'Teece nodded silently and both Rikti started to head back. They ignored Penny's robots, figuring that the machines would either follow or not depending on their master's orders. Which reminded Cher'tak of something...

"Rhetorical query: Penny Arcade status," Cher'tak said to himself as the two Rikti passed Jake just after Ineffable had disappeared, giving the human a respectful nod as they went. "Remember: Alert superiors."

"I'll do that," Sah'Teece said as the Rikti entered the portal room and Toy Dispenser started moving toward Cher'tak.

********************************************

"Thanks," Solid grunted to Large Toy as the proc bot finished fixing up his arm. "Not the job a full body shop could do, but it'll work in a fight at least."

"Best I can do, sir," Large Toy stated. "I'm sure your own repair systems will keep anything from breaking down until we're out of this mess. The Rikti tech you have installed has done a good job of integrating into your systems. It should make things easier."

Solid Shot stared silently at Large Toy for a second before he spoke and when he did the light in his targeting eye had shrunk to a pinprick.

"You know about the Rikti tech in my arms?" Solid asked quietly.

"I only noticed it while I was repairing the damage, sir," Large Toy answered as it busied itself cleaning up bits of garbage that had collected in its joints during the fight. "I didn't know about the other arm, but generally human designers lean toward symmetry."

"I'd prefer if you didn't tell anyone else about this."

"Very well, sir. But I should warn you that Toy Dispenser already knows. He sees everything I do, even if he may not access the data actively unless he has a reason."

"Oh great," Solid muttered as he abruptly walked off, heading toward his OmniTech rifle leaning against the wall where it had been thrown during the Dark Watcher's attack.

************************************************

"Just the Rikti I was looking for," Toy said as he stood in front of Cher'tak, blocking the Rikti from advancing further. Sah'Teece looked at the two for a second before Cher'tak nodded at him and he left to report to Grey, letting the tank know about the former Nemesis assault and the possibility that Penny Arcade was still stranded out on the moon.

"Query: Your needs: Information, speculation?" asked Cher'tak as he looked around, searching for C'Kelkah. The scientist still had his bladerifle and he would prefer to recover it from her soon.

"Information, actually," replied Toy as he lifted up one hand and flipped open a panel on his forearm, revealing a small LCD screen and matching keypad. The screen was currently showing a photo of the keypad that Small Toy had come across.

"I was wondering if you might know how to open one of these."

"This information: Known. Query: Purpose, use: Keycode?"

"If you've noticed, I've been short one drone for the last couple of fights. He's been scouting ahead of us and came across a mysterious figure, some sort of reptile, I think, that he and I believe killed some of the guards of this station. He's been tracking the creature up until it slipped through a blast door and locked it behind him."

"Very: Well," Cher'tak said as he nodded and tapped the small screen in sequence. "Indicated sequence: Will obtain: Desired results. Warmaster: Override code: For emergencies."

"And this should certainly qualify as one," replied Toy with a chuckle.

************************************************

Satisfied, Small Toy tapped in the code that Toy Dispenser and transmitted to it and then faded back, prepared to avoid any incoming fire. If there was none, the drone would scan for any traps before continuing the chase.

"Your world's about to end this time!" Toy shot back as he started charging the maniacal villain.

A few psychic disks clipped him, cutting gouges in his armor, while another just narrowly missed decapitating him as he swiftly ducked just enough for the disk to trim the tips of his ear-like sat comm devices. The mastermind-turned-blaster started glowing brightly as he dumped power into his offensive systems, his hands glowing the brightest of all as a shimmering white light enveloped them.

"Make this one count, sir!" Large Toy cheered on as it further amplified Toy Dispenser's might with an infusion of hyperactive nanites. A couple of [censored] hit the robot, but they didn't deal enough damage to really worry Large Toy at the moment.

"It shall," Toy Bot said to itself in reply to Large Toy. Focusing on Harlequin, the corruptor class android caused some of her kinetic force to spill out into the air around her, enhancing Toy's combat ability even further.

"This is going to hurt you a lot more than it'll hurt me," Toy grinned as he neared Harlequin and aimed a destructive energy transfer at her.

********************************************

"What the heck is up with this?" Block Bot asked as he reached down and picked up the zombie's head. "Too poor to afford some real help?"