Khellendrosiic

Brandishing his blade, Chertak took a step closer to Agent. From the crowd of Malta, his soldiers extracted themselves and stood behind their leader. Holding his blade in both hands parallel to the ground, Chertak looked over at Agent.

"Normally: I would fight: You myself: But the powers: That be have: Expressed displeasure: At my last showing: Thus: I must be unfair," he said.

Taking another step forward, Chertak feinted a lunge with his blade and then spun to the side, opening up a clear line of fire. The two Guardians simoltainiously fired their pistols and Eok launched a powerful mental attack.

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

The AR unit blocked Drone's punch with one arm and swung the other around a short arc, intent on dashing Drone's head against the wall. The second droid stood motionless, its target lock lost and its AI too damaged to think to simply step around the other robot.

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

Boxing Bot rocked back and almost fell over when the stone fists slammed into it. Its head twitched and one eye sparked out due to damage. Its body issued a metallic groan but went back on the offensive, leading with a quick one-two combo and following with an uppercut.

Defensive shield glowing, Chertak stepped in front of the Malta and took most of the bullets. Those few shots that did get through spent themselves on the Rikti's thick armor. Chertak motioned for his men to open fire while he kept his sword out just in case Caper decided to teleport into their midst.

****************************************8

"L-last br-br-breath: You-you have inde-eed won, Mr. Gor-oro," said the broken droid in front. "On the-e back of my-my che-est plate is a ma-ap to th-the center. Tru-us-st me-e or not-ot, your choi-oice."

With a last groan, the droid's head went limp.

OOC: Check back, I had him shot at again. So far I've shot twice.

[ QUOTE ]
"Mocking Statement: As I believe you have underestimated us," replied the droid in front. Readying its plasma rifle once more, it shot a rapid barrage of shots that came in at every angle so as to hit Goro no matter where he dodged.

"Mysterious Threat: We have more resources at our disposal then you think," said the second droid as it jumped onto the ceiling, safely above any plasma beams that may have missed. It too fired its weapon at Goro, the unguided rocket dropping onto the Stone King's position.

[/ QUOTE ]

A Guardian cast a powerful shield on the burning agent. When the man's satchel charges exploded, the explosion was contained and no one else was injured. That Guardian then fell back, his shield generator depleted for the time being. Chertak came charging up behind, his warblade already drawn and ready. Jumping over Reikoff's head, Chertak brought the heavy blade down on Agent's head. The Rikti was pissed that he had already lost a man and wanted to take down Caper but this other hero would suffice in the mutant's place.

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

The EMP grenade went off and the three AR units twitched and jerked as their muscles spasmed uncontrollably. A low pitched whining sound started emitting from one of the robots and it rapidly grew louder and louder until it shrieked for a second and then its head blew out a back panel and it slumped over onto the ground. The other two robots managed to avoid the other's fate but when they advanced on Drone, their movements were jerky and uncoordinated. The robot in the lead tried to minimize the effects of its now horrible aim by flipping on its flamethrower and just sweeping its arm back and forth. The other robot malfunctioned and decided to engage in melee combat, taking a full burst of flames in its back as it advanced on Drone.

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

The Boxing Bot stumbled back from the 3-hit combo and looked down at the three new dents in its chest.

"That is not cool, man," it said as a pair of panels popped open on each arm and its fists became charged with electricity.

"Time for a shock to your system!" it shouted as it came at Rai once more.

OOC: How will I finish this? Hey Ryan, you forgot Goro.

OOC: The Boxing Bot does not kick. The Boxing Bot only boxes. Also, Spanish is not one of my fluent languages, so if you get the idea, great. Stupid wrestling anime thing.

BIC: "There is no way you can defeat a minion of El Luchadore Majore!" shouted the Boxing Bot as it dodged one of Rai's punches and replied with an upper-cut. Rai dodged this too so the Boxing Bot started moving its feet faster, weaving in and out, always throwing a punch when least expected and flowing smoothly around any counter-attacks.

A section of the floor in front of Drone shuddered and slid away underneath. From the depths of the basement level, a lift groaned upward remarkabley quickly, as though it was hurrying. Within ten seconds the lift reached the point where Drone could make out what was on it. A trio of standard Assault Robots locked their photoreceptors onto Drone as the lift locked into position, flush with the floor.

"The Coliseum does not take kindly to cheaters," said one AR unit.

"Consider this your penance," said a second.

The two robots in front knelt down with one knee on the floor and lifted up one arm each, flooding the are in front of them with fire from their flamethrowers. The one in back lifted up both arms and fired both plasma cannons at the unlucky villain.

OOC: They have the lvl 6 Equip Robot powers. Hehe, I remember that you said Drone wasn't getting any action.

As Eok cheered the on-rush of the Maltans, he prepared another blind mental strike and launched it in Caper's general direction as the Zeus Alpha Striked. Chertak and the remaining two Guardians pulled up short and watched the devastation commence. Just in case Caper survived, the Guardians began dropping shields on the Maltans as well as Eok, whose shield had worn off.

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

"Mocking Statement: As I believe you have underestimated us," replied the droid in front. Readying its plasma rifle once more, it shot a rapid barrage of shots that came in at every angle so as to hit Goro no matter where he dodged.

"Mysterious Threat: We have more resources at our disposal then you think," said the second droid as it jumped onto the ceiling, safely above any plasma beams that may have missed. It too fired its weapon at Goro, the unguided rocket dropping onto the Stone King's position.

OOC: You asked for it.

BIC: All of a sudden, the walls closed in around Goro and tried to squish him between them. His strength was enough to hold the walls at bay, but he couldn't do much else. From around the corners to his front and rear, a pair of black painted humanoid droids stepped forth. The one in front held a plasma rifle and the one in back held a rocket launcher, not that Goro knew that.

"Insulting Statement: Ah, yet another so-called villain has fallen for our trap," said the robot in front.

"Unnecessary Intimidation: And now we shall blow you to pieces," said the one in back, which was Goro's first clue to its existence.

The two droids hefted their weapons, took aim, and fired.

Coolant leaking from the shattered pylons on its back, the Water Bot swung its arms around, trying to knock Agent down onto the ground so it could stomp on her. The flames having successfully overloaded the robot's heat sensors, it was effectively blind and so would have lots of trouble hitting her.

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

As Rai moved along the various hallways and corridors, he began to grow a bit bored. So far nothing had happened to him aside from the occasional trip wire or deadfall trap. Thus, Rai's attention had grown a bit lax when he rounded a corner and got backhanded in the face by a metallic fist. The combat drone moved fluidly toward the hero, its body constantly bobbing and its hands always in motion. Acting while it's target was disoriented, the Boxing Bot moved in close and, well, tried to box Rai to death.

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

"Greetings, Drone of War," said a harsh, mechanical voice from behind the villain. Drone looked around but saw nothing.

"Congratulations of making it so far, however, I must say that you shall not be coming any closer to your goal. Have a nice day."

A grenade appeared out of the air right in front of Drone and landed on the ground. With a squelch, the grenade stuck to the ground so that it could not be kicked free.

OOC: Btw, think of all these robots as cliche evil mastermind material. I mean, who else but a second-rate genius would come up with something like Boxing Bot or Water Bot?

Stop looking at me like that. >_>

OOC: Which of you is free? I'll drop in a surprise or dozen.

The Guardian's training kicked in as the first real bullets started impacting his armor. Draining half of his shield generator's power in one go, the soldier threw up a powerful shield that stopped all the incoming fire. The sound of the firing bullets was muffled as well, enabling the Guardian to hear the tink of the grenade as it hit the ground. Shoving Eok to one side, the Guardian dived atop the grenade, his own body absorbing the blast and keeping Eok alive. The Mentalist, shocked by the sudden onslaught and the sudden death of the Guardian stumbled back around the corner to safety and lashed out mentally in the direction of the gunfire.

Staggering back, the Assembler Prince made a loud whining noise and then blasted Goro with a giant gout of electricity. After its stored electrical charge had been depleted, the Clockwork would start beating on Goro with its fists.

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

The Spiderlings poured out of the teleportation chute and swarmed toward Carlos and CptCommie. A few Spiderlings opened fire with their side mounted mini mini-guns but only a few. Their main programming dictated the use of clawing and biting attacks in order to get the most entertainment value our of their victims for the crowd. As Carlos opened fire, one of the Spiderlings leapt right at his face, legs opened wide as if to hug him.

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

Thinking that the hot spot on the floor was the correct target, the Water Bot switched to its ice beams. A trio of canisters filled with luminous blue liquid popped out of its back and plumes of freezing water shot out of the rear of each elbow as the bot cleared whatever water was left in its arms. Several little strips of metal folded out onto the openings of its barrels and blue light started glowing from within. With the sound of shattering glass, a pair of ice beams shot out at the ground and coated it with a thick layer of ice. Watching the heat signature diappear, the robot thought it had destroyed its target.

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

Slipping the mask hugging gas mask on with another nod to Reikoff, Chertak led the way down the hallway. The wounded Guardian and the one that had been left at the interection lagged behind as the rear guard, in case the hero tried to escape using teleportation. As the combined force ran down the hallway, Chertak turned to Reikoff.

"Do you: Have a device: That can: Prevent teleportation?" asked the Rikti. "I fear that: We shall: Not be able: To catch: This hero: Without one."

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

Eok and the last Guardian ran through another of the hero's traps. The Guardian flinched as it had through the last ones and almost dove to the ground in panic. Eok smacked it one the head and pulled it along. He had already informed the lesser soldier that the traps were harmless but he refused to believe the Mentalist. Shoving the Guardian around another corner, Eok took a moment to try to locate the human's brainwaves. When he heard the Guardian yelp in fear, the Mentalist forgot all about locating the human and instead drew his pistol and stepped out around the corner.

"You die: Here: Human," Eok said as he fired his pistol from his hip. The Guardian had taken slightly better aim and was holding his pistol in both hands as he fired.

Gears clanking in what might have been frustration. The Prince grabbed at Goro's hammer and worked to hold it in place while a larger Sprocket unfolded itself from the Prince's back and a Prototype Oscillator took flight. Getting to its feet, the Sprocket lunged at Goro's unprotected flank while the Oscillator buzzed overhead and shot lightning at Goro.

OOC: It's ok now, Coldfire and I talked and we reached an understanding. You can go ahead and do whatever.

Coughing at the noxious smell of the gas, Chertak motioned for his men to continue chasing the super. As the Mentalist and pair of unwounded Guardians staggered through the smoke after Caper, Chertak turned toward Reikoff and his Malta. Chertak thanked the mercenaries with a shallow bow which turned into a kneel to help his wounded man into a sitting position.

"My thanks: Commander Reikoff," Chertak said as he slapped a quick seal armor bond onto the wound. The Guardian hissed in pain but then stood up, favoring his wounded side slightly.

"Now: I am: Sure that you: Wish to: Aquire: That super: So let us: Go," Grabbing his discarded rifle, Chertak shouldered it and stalked off after his other men, the Guardian following.

Ahead, Eok and the two Guardians had found the discarded drill bit and were looking down the corridor in both directions.

"Where: Do you think: It went?" asked a Guardian nervously.

Eok slapped him on the back of the head to shut him up and concentrated. After a moment, the Mentalist opened his eyes and pointed down the right hallway.

"It has: Escaped to the: Right: You remain here," Eok said, pointing at the nervous one. "Remain here and: Inform our: Warmaster: Which way: We have gone."

Pulling out his pistol, Eok hurried after the wounded but still very dangerous super. After a resigned shrug, the Guardian followed.

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

As CptCommie and his team blazed away at the swarming Spiderlings, the attack began coming heavily from one direction. Without even realizing it, the mercenaries were being herded to a specific point. At that point, a trap door opened underneath their feet and sent them plummeting down a tunnel. At the bottom of the tunnel was a pit lined with rusty looking spikes. But moments before they came to an untimely end, there was a flash of light and they all came tumbling out of a panel in the wall that had swung aside right in front of Carlos and his men. A casacde of Spiderlings followed them.

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

As Goro caved in the skull of yet another ineffective combat drone, the brute sighed and wondered where the real challenges were. And as if in answer of his thoughts there was a flash of light strong enough to dazzle his vision and then standing before him was a Clockwork Assembler Prince. The Clockwork seemed almost as surprised to see Goro as Goro was to see it but it quickly recovered and a pair of Cogs dropped out of its torso manufactory. Sparking and grinding, the pair of minion Clockwork threw bolts of electricity at Goro while the Prince took several lumbering steps back and wound up the factory again.

OOC: There some action for ya, Carlos. And is there anybody that I missed?

OOC: I am currently having a talk with Kaiser about his post. Please do not reply if you are effected by it at this time. Thank you. And Ryan, no more lopping off of limbs unless its a robot.

EDIT: Ok, we're all good. Continue about your normal business of killing each other.

Chertak's eyes widened when the hero evaded the plasma blasts with a teleport. Shooting a glance at Eok, the Mentalist, the other Rikti shrugged and then grimaced. The Mentalist dropped to one kneee and held his hand to his temple just as Caper teleported in their midst. One Guardian went down immidiately, hands clutching at a bloody wound blown into his side. The other two Guardians were mostly protected by their shields and suffered only minor wounds. Chertak's thick armor and force shield also deflected much of the pistol's power but the Warmaster winced a bullet grazed his cheek.

The pair of Guardians hurridly backed up, knowing that their commander would need as much space as he could get. And indeed Chertak did, for he dropped his rifle and pulled out his Rikti warblade, the massive weapon almost as tall as he was. At the same time, Eok sent a blast of mental energy at the hero, attempting to immobilize him with illusionary pain, allowing Chertak enough time to strike.

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

Behind CptCommie's advance, a harsh clicking noise could be heard and the bright, sourceless lighting around the mercenary started dimming until it seemed to be twilight. Then the clicking noise came from all around and a swarm of Spiderlings descended upon the villain.

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

Around a corner in front of Agent, a huge robot stepped out and faced her. The machine raised a pair of arms that looked suspiciously like a pair of fire hoses and took aim at the extra-dimensional elf. A loud whir could be heard in the sudden silence as the robot's single eye zoomed in on its target.

"Fire based powers detected," the robot said in a high pitched voice at odds with its massive body. "Extinguishing."

Twin giant jets of water gushed out of the hose arms and straight at the hero.

OOC: Ack! Bad Soviet! I'm supposed to start things! *Hits Soviet with newspaper* Sigh...Now I'm going to have to re-plan things. Consider yourselves all up in the maze now if you haven't gotten there already.

BIC: Stepping lightly, Chertak and his men slowly advanced through the maze. Shimmering shields covered all five Rikti thanks to the force field tech that the Guardians specialized in. Already those shields had been tested by several trip mines, a spike trap, and a large group of the small robots called Spiderlings. Hefting his repulsor rifle in the air, Chertak signaled for his men to stop moving. After they froze, Chertak clearly heard heavy footfalls coming his way. Seeing as how the path he was on intersected like the bottom of a T to the corridor that the other person was on, Chertak had the Guardians step forward and ready their pistols. The instant the fighter barreled past, Chertak's men would open fire and make him wish that he had never come to the Coliseum.

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

The trio of droids raced down one hallway and skidded around another turn in their haste. They kept running until another turn came up, at which point they slowed down instead of risking a collision with the wall. The lead droid turned to move down the next corridor and died with its arm half-raised to fire. The other two droids died just as quickly and Reikoff's Malta stepped through the smoking remains.

Ahead of them, the assassin droid catalouged its opponants and carefully drew an EMP grenade from its harness. If the machine was not careful it could destroy itself with this weapon. Cocking its arm back to throw, the assassin chucked the grenade at the pair of Hercules Titans and then ducked back around a corner, planting its back against a wall and eagerly anticipating the coming explosion.

OOC: HK-47 FTW!!!

Chertak nodded curtly as he and his men walked past the group of Malta to board their own lift.

"Alright people!" shouted the commander as he pushed himself off from the door and took a few steps forward. "Listen up! Things are going to be a bit different this time around."

Looking around at the gathered fighters, the commander detatched a device from his waist and held it out in front of him. Holding it in his palm so that it faced upward, he pressed a switch and a holographic projection of a maze appeared in the air.

"This is your next venue of combat. People around here call it the Cryptic Maze. If you're wondering why they call it that, you're an idiot," the commander snorted and flicked the projector off. "Down these doors behind me is the main sub-level of the Coliseum, leading right underneath the main arena. The goal of this fight will be to reach the center as fast as you can. There are, however, certain rules and safeguards in place. Number one: No smashing through the walls. Two: No teleporting more than ten feet away from your current position. Which means no zipping through the intervening walls and straight to the center. There will be tricks, there will be traps, there will be various droids wandering around inside there. The longer you aren't in a fight, the more likely your chance to run across a patrolling squad of bots. You got all that?"

The commander paused for a moment and then answered himself.

"Don't bother telling me, I don't care. Alright, follow me down."

One of the guards typed in a code into a keypad next to the door and the large doors slowly ground open. Stepping between them as soon as there was room for him, the commander quickly strode down the ramp and into the brightly lit cavern beneath the main arena floor.

Crates and large containers were stacked against the walls and about a dozen or so people moved around performing their jobs. About a dozen or so small open lifts and a couple of larger ones led up onto the arena floor and as the fighters entered a small group of generic looking combat drones were standing around on one of the lifts, waiting to be sent up. At the foot of the ramp, the guard commander turned around and spread his arms wide.

"Ok people, pick your lift. There are large signs with red numbers on them to indicate whether a lift is avaliable to be used for this fight or not. When you've chosen your conveyence, take down the sign and wait. When the lift reaches the top, the match starts. Also, it is generally frowned upon to sabatouge another person or team's lift. Have fun kids!"

Arrayed about the edges of the room were about ten numbered lifts. After the commander had finished talking, the lift with the drones jerked suddenly and then smoothly ascended.

"Five minutes. Five minutes until the next fight begins," announced the announcer. "All fighters, please gather at the main arena gate. You will then be lead down to the sublevels for your entrance."

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

At the large gate that lead down into the Coliseum's many basements, Reikoff's group of Malta sat about, waiting for the rest of the fighters to arrive. With them, but standing off to the side, was Chertak, the Mentalist, and a trio of Guardians. The lower ranked Rikti seemed nervous to be around representatives of the secretive and powerful Malta Group, but Chertak's calm kept them from doing anything rash.

Lazily leaning against the doors was the power suited guard commander. With him were a couple of his squad mates, a Cryo Tank and a Tesla Tank. Also nearby was the Archmage, Andraxus. The mage would not be participating in this fight but he wanted to get a good look at whomever had scared the wits out of one of his brethern. And considering the things most Oranbegans had seen, it must be something spectacular.

OOC: I'll probably keep things slow until Soviet gets back. I've found that he makes a good bad guy.

OOC: I don't feel like making another reg post, so Ryan, you can write yours yourself. It can be as simple as walking in, doing it, and getting your card. If your powers are the same as they are in SV 101, you get an A-3.

As Ryan started walking off, the registrar waved at Ryan to get his attention.

"Excuse me, Mr. Shadow?" he said. "You want to complete your registration first. Just go down that door and you will given instructions inside.

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

"You are: Incorrect on one: Account Mr...: What is: Your name?" Chertak began.

"You may call me Reikoff," answered Reikoff.

"Very well: My species is not: As a: Whole: Honorable: Which is why: I am here: With only a: Small detatchment of: Soldiers: But regardless: I am tempted to: Take your: Offer," Chertak paused for a moment to sip from his drink. "When the battle: Is announced: I shall inform: You of my desision: Agreed?"

OOC: Halo, you got an A-2. I'm going to give your mage protaganist an A-2 as well if you don't mind. Also, now is a good time to think of some way to make him get in the next fight.

Chertak set down his drink and gave the TacOps Commander and his soldiers a long look over. Next to him, the Mentalist from the last battle gave the humans a dirty look, as did the pair of Conscripts sitting across from their leader.

"I know of: The Malta Group," Chertak said. "Please: Sit."

Chertak barked something at the Conscripts in his native language and the lower ranking Rikti cringed and then got up. Muttering to themselves, the pair exited the bar. As Reikoff sat, Chertak nodded toward him.

"The Rikti: Know well of: Your kind: We do not: Approve of your: Ways but they are: Undeniably effective: What deal: Might you propose?"

The bartender nodded at Goro.

"I'd say that impressed me, but it doesn't. You rank up there with the guy that said he owned a country. I still haven't checked up on that though."

Shrugging, the bartender returned to cleaning glasses.

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

"Very good, Rai," the man over the intercom said. "The next fight will begin in about nine or so minutes so be ready soon. Pick up your ID card at the door and have a nice day."

The card was sitting in a little slot next to the door and had his picture, name, and several other identifying characteristics on it, including a bar code to scan in case his body was unrecognizable. There was also a Threat Classification: A-3.

"Greetings Rai," said a voice as Rai stepped into the examinatio room. "Please take a seat at the desk in front of you and fill out all required forms. After you are done, please give us a brief demonstration of some or all of your powers against the targeting dummies located to your right. Let it be noted that for whatever power you don't use or whatever question you answer inaccurately will result in your being given an inappropiate classification."

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

"All fighters, all fighters. Be warned. The last fight of the night begins in ten minutes. You shall be notified again in five minutes. That is all."