Mithril_Zeta

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"Knocking things silly I can do!" Sting said as he hurled a batch of spines at the clock. He followed that up by leaping over to the prince as it regained its feet. As he slid toward it, using the slick floor to his advantage, he slammed it in the chest with both hands and sent it tumbling again.

The effort did cause him to lose his footing a bit as well and he had to grab the broken wall to keep his footing.

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Newton ripped a sofa through the wormhole and slammed it into the flailing robot. Cushions, springs, and upholstery scattered as the huge robot rose. The smell of ozone overpowered the more gentle scent of shampoo.

“Oh, drat,” Newton said. He through a gravity field around Sting just as electricity erupted from the outstretched arms of the Clockwork prince.

The electric blast struck Sting’s bubble, but flowed away from him.

One strand of electrical energy leapt up from the bubble and struck the floating Newton. The green-haired mutant flew back and struck one of the support wooden beams hard, cracking it, and probably cracking a rib or two. The ceiling above them groaned in protest.

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“Ok so what now assistant boss?” He asked Newton. “Beat the snot out of it and not learn where it sent Mystic and Abrahms, run, or try to make a tin can talk to us? I’m pretty sure that except for a few psychics no one has ever gotten information from a clock before. And I’m pretty sure I can’t take another shot of that guy’s bug zapper.”

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“Knock it silly!” Newton said as he threw the clock prince to the ceiling and back to the floor. “We’ll tear it apart looking for clues in a moment, but we’ll do Mystic and Abrahms no good what so ever if we are dead!”

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“Wait a second. You mean you didn’t do that Newton? Then where the hell did he send them? I didn’t know clocks could do that!”

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“Neither did I,” Newton yelled back as he slammed the Skulls further back into the tunnels.

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He toggled his microphone. “Um, we might have a problem here. Abrahms and Mystic got ported away somewhere by a clock Prince and we don’t know where. If someone has some kind of telemetry on our communicators we might want to get it now!”

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“Newton, you still with me back there?” He called out. “You might want to get out of here – like NOW!”

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Newton looked up at the ceiling above the Skulls. “Elisa, fall back,” he called out. He motioned at the ceiling above the leather-garbed gang members, and cracks appeared in the tunnel. The Skulls looked up and then ran as fast as they could away from the cracks. With a dull rumble, the tunnel collapsed. Dust and dirt enveloped them, and Newton coughed as he stumbled back up the tunnel to the basement.

With watering eyes, Newton squinted at the large figure holding the lean form of the insect man. Reaching into his singularity at his storage shed, Newton pulled the remains of a 1972 Pontiac Catalina and threw it at the clockwork prince.

The impact was thunderous, and rusty metal car parts flew every where. Several shelving units were knocked over, and shampoo and conditioner spilled on to the ground. As it tried to regain its feet, the prince slipped on the slippery mess, and Sting slid across the ground towards Newton and Elisa.

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Sting moved into the back room and started down the stairs.
I wonder what Newton meant by 'the first step is a lulu'? Sting wondered for a moment - until he noticed there was no staircase and he was falling toward the floor. He landed with a rather unceremonious 'thud'.

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“Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Newton said as he shoved more skulls back out of the basement. “I think Elisa and I have the Skulls contained! How do you feel about clockwork?”

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"Gads I hate that." Hitting his transmit key. "Some help at the beauty shop. I am worried about spill over to the innocents upstairs."

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“Don’t worry about anyone getting up the stairs, Abrahms,” Newton said as he stepped back into the basement. With a quick motion, he through the wooden staircase past the soldier and into the Assembler Prince. The large robot flew back into his minions.

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“On my way, ETA…oh I don’t know a minute or two! Save some bad guys for me!”

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Newton keyed the com. “Only if you hurry. And when you guys get to the basement, watch that first step. It’s a lulu!”

“Not the greatest solution I’ve ever had, but it was the best I could do with such short notice.” Newton yelled at Abrahms as one of the Skulls swung a bat at his head. It connected with Newton’s helmet, but still it hurt. He lashed out with the gravity again, striking the Skull hard and driving the bat-toting goon back against the cinderblock wall. The Skull crumpled to the floor.

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"This place is under my, our protection. The 2 6 precinct is back in full Super Force. If you get my meaning." The last being said with a poke in the chest that sent the skull on his butt a second time. "NOW Wher is Marrow hiding."

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Newton continued leaning on the wall, watching Abrahms and Elisa subdue their two skulls. The third struggled to his feet, and Newton non-chalantly sent him to the ceiling again. He heard the civilians upstairs running around, and was pretty sure he heard someone calling the police – probably the Two-Six. He wondered who was at the duty station.

As Abrahms threatened Scotty the Skull, Newton realized that he was missing other sounds. The sound of the digging Clockwork had stopped. “They heard us,” he whispered, and then a little louder. “They heard us.”

Green painted cinderblocks exploded into the room, and Newton jumped into the secret passage the Skulls had just dug back out in order to dodge the concrete pieces. As he peeked back in, a large Clockwork Prince strode through the hole. Behind him were a considerable numbers of cogs and sprockets. As the big metal creation moved forward, it raised its hands, and created two more smaller robots which leapt at humans and felinoid still in the basement.

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"it just doesn't sound right, some how. Ya that is loud they are close. If it goes south, can you put a sheild to protect the shop? "

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“I don’t know if I can shield anything that big,” Newton said, glancing above them.

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"find cover "

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Newton quickly threw gravity shields around both Abrahms and Elisa. He went to the opposite wall from where Abrahms was crouching.

As he leaned back against the cool cinderblocks, a section of the wall folded in next to him, and three leather jacketed men walked in. They were covered in dirt, and each carried either a shovel or a pick axe. “The next time some costume destroys one of our tunnels, I think Marrowbane can dig it out himself,” the first of the three Skulls said.

“Don’t say that so loud,” the second one said, looking back down the tunnel. “He’d suck the marrow out of your femur if he heard you say something like that.”

“Let’s see if Trisha has our protection money set…hey, who’s that?” the third asked, pointing at Abrahms and the cat-lady.

Newton waved and the three skulls stumbled as they reached for their guns. “Things are about to get very interesting,” Newton said as he slammed the first of the Skulls into the ceiling and them slamming him back to the ground.

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"Hmmm, well can they tell where he went? I can shut him up fast enough I think." He walked to the building edge and looked over again. "Any idea why two groups would be digging to that shop. Or is it coincidence that those two would be digging in that general area, Elisa could you just scope the area, see if there are any other observers.” Abrahms walks over, and drops to one knee beside Newton. “Can you port us into that basement with out anyone knowing? I’d like to know what they are after.”

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Newton frowned as he thought it over. “Well, I can try. I really prefer line of sight, probably to do more with comfort than anything else. It’s also a lot easier. Just a sec.” He peered off the roof and down at the salon. “It’ll easier than I thought,” he said, turning back to the other two. “I can actually see down into one of the basement windows. Let me port us all down there, and we’ll be in good shape.” Newton mentally threw another singularity down to the window. He then forced himself through it.

The basement was cement block, painted a boys bathroom green and a gray floor. Shelving units contained shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, hair coloring materials, and perm sets. “If it’s a front, it’s a good one,” Newton whispered into the com device as he looked around. “There’s no access to the sewer, and I can hear the sound of the clockwork just on the other side of this cinderblock wall,” he added. “Ready to yank you through when you’re ready.”

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"Great, any idea of numbers? Can you tell if the humans are with the Clocks? and can you grab one of those said humans to question?" The last was said with a, not so nice smile. Followed by the loud crack of fist hitting palm.

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“It sounds like the clocks and the humans are in different tunnels, but it also sounds like they are getting close to each other’s tunnels, as well as the basement of the salon.”

Newton opened his eyes. “I can probably yank one of the humans through a wormhole, but he’ll give us away, I think.” Newton frowned a little. “My singularity doesn’t let me see what’s going on, but I can hear – it acts kind of like an eardrum, you know, sound waves hitting it. I can also use it as an extra set of hands to feel them out, but, as Elisa will tell you, you can definitely feel when I’m trying to grab a hold of you.” He glanced at Elisa, blushing slightly. “After I yank you through once, I know the feel of the person, and I don’t have to search so hard.”

Newton glanced back at Abrahms. “I can yank one out, but he will be able to cry out.”

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"Newton can you detect anything weird over there."

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“Let me send my little singularity over that direction,” Newton said, sitting down and shutting his eyes. A moment later, he heard the sounds of scissors, electric razors, hair dryers, and chatting women. “Nothing yet,” he said, his eyes still shut. “Although Martha just said that Myrtle’s hair looks wonderful. A beautiful shade of blue, now.” He opened his eyes, glanced at his comrades, and winked. “Let me see if I can go a little deeper.”

With another thought, Newton’s helpful little singularity delved deeper into the store, into the basement. “I can’t hear anything. The basement itself seems pretty empty. Let’s listen right next to the floor…wait, there it is… Interesting.” He opened his eyes. “It sounded like a combination sounds – digging, swearing, complaining - you know, normal sounds of men at work – but underneath that, I heard the whir of Clockwork.” He looked up at his two comrades again. “It seems to me that beauty shop has a couple of problems, not just one.”

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Elisa stood outside of the 2-6, "Newton, Can you teleport me? Otherwise, this is going to be one long run.."

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“Sure thing,” Newton said as he tapped the com unit. He shut his eyes, reached out towards Elisa. He sensed her shape, grabbed a hold, and yanked her through the singularity. “Glad to have you here, Elisa,” Newton grinned. “I like have fire power around me when possibly going into danger.” He glanced up as Abrahms came down out of the sky. “I also like having a big guy in armor to hide behind.”

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"Ok Apple not a worry. My GPS has the location. Ill meet you there. Oh and he is right, minimise the collaterall damage there will more then likely be civillians around." He looks at a hand held GPS with a map overlay. "Newton, I'll meet you on this rooftop" he says pointing at the little screen. "It will give Elisa a good feild of fire and we can look first. with out being to visible." Waiting a moment for acknowledgments, then with a nod bounds away to the south.

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Newton watched Abrahms leap away, and then sent one of his singularities up and out a ways. “See you there, Elisa,” the green-haired man said as he threw himself through the wormhole. A moment of pressure, and he was floating above Kings Row. Getting his bearings, he aimed the singularity in the direction of the rooftop that Abrahms had pointed at.

A few jumps, he was there. He hovered above the rooftop, and looked around.

The beauty parlor was across the street. A couple run down shops were to its left, and a large parking lot was to its right. Paper and other trash fluttered across the cracked black top.

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Newton you’re senior, you want to be in charge. I'll take point. Kit, you’re high cover, you’re a crack shot."

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“Me want to be in charge?” Newton said as he joined Abrahms outside. “Banish the thought. I enjoy needling authority figures way too much to want to be in charge.” He frowned a little. “I’m actually pretty good at smoothing things over so people can work together, but tactically, I’m an amateur, and I know it.”

He glanced at Abrahms. “Did you get the feeling that we’re going to be going into the basement of the salon. Sounds from underneath, and maybe the salon itself is an innocent by-stander.” He eyed the cat-woman explosives expert who was coming out with Max. “Which means don’t blow it up, right?”

“I’m game.” Newton primped his hair long green hair a little. “I really need a visit to a beauty parlor.” He grinned widely. “You need a haircut, too, Abrahms. I think a perm would look darling on you.” The thought of the retired soldier sitting under a hair dryer reading a Better Homes and Garden sent Newton into a fit of laughter.

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Abrahms stopps on the stairs. Turning slowly, "what kind of a disturbance, is it Boss?" He steps back of the stairs, "if you need me. But I was thinking of talking to you about a gaurd on duty to watch the 2 6."

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“Which is kind of what I’ve been doing,” Newton said, throwing out the wrapper of his sub sandwich. He wiped his hands on a napkin and threw that out to. “I’m not sitting behind the desk just because the chair is comfortable.” He bounced slightly in the chair. “Now, that is a reason, but not the reason.”

Newton looked up at the armored figure coming out of his room. “Heya, Cool. Thought I heard you tinkering around in there.” Newton sat behind the desk with a veritable buffet before him. “I’m waiting for word from Mystic. He and Ion have been locked up in his office in conference. Abrahms is patrolling, Elisa is shopping, Sting is resting, I’m not sure where Kegan and Brian went, and I’m monitoring phones and eating.” He looked questioningly at the big man. “Do you eat?”

Pounding on the door. Newton groaned and sat up. Someone yelled at him through the door. ‘Time to get up.’ Newton didn’t recognize the voice. He really didn’t care, either.

He stumbled out of bed, grabbed a towel and his shower caddy and wandered to the showers.

A few minutes later, he wandered downstairs, holding a Mountain Dew in one hand and a donut in the other. He walked over to Mystic Inferno’s office. Ion was in with him, so Newton sat heavily in a chair in the lobby and waited for Mystic to be free.

Abrams was cleaning the armor he had worn in the fight, and workmen scurried about upgrading and improving everything. Newton wondered if Kegen or Elisa were still going to be around. He hoped so; they sure did add to the beauty factor and public trust of the Two-Six.

Newton sat heavily at the top step. He glanced up at Mystic Inferno. “Nice job, boss. We survived hell, literally and figuratively. At least I didn’t have to dress in drag and dance the hula. That was a relief.

“So, what next? The land of the dead was nice for a warm-up, How about next we try taking out the dirty so-and-so who hired them to send us to that place.” Newton reached into his sweatshirt and pulled out a Starburst roll. He popped one in his mouth and sighed. “And let’s see if we can keep everyone here. I’m finding that Sarge and the ladies really grew on me fast.”

He stood up, turned to Mystic, and saluted. “Permission to go and collapse in my bedroom.” Without waiting for permission, Newton wandered toward his room and shut the door.

((occ: Newton will be eating and sleeping quietly in his room until I get back on-line on Thursday. Have a good several days))

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"Newton, now is good for me!"

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Mystic’s voice crackled across the radio. Newton stretched out his singularity, and found Mystic’s flaming form.

The contact was tenuous, and Mystic slipped through his first grab.

“We’re leaving this reality,” Newton called out into the radio. “If you’re not in the building, get your butts in here NOW!”

He reached out again, and Mystic’s signature eluded him again.

“C’mon, c’mon,” Newton growled. He turned off all other gravity affects and focused in on the flaming mage one last time. Newton stood stock still on the stairs as the battle raged around him. Finally, with a sharp grabbing motion, he yanked the Mystic Inferno through the portal. “Gotchya!” he grinned as the robed man floated near him.

“Yeep!” Newton squeaked as a set of zombies came out of the downstairs bathroom. He looked around self-consciously to make sure that no one heard him. He concentrated a moment and the first one stopped in the doorway, and the second one was too clumsy to sneak by.

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“R-r-retreating sounds like a good idea,” he said with a snicker. “I'll help the turret hold off zombies if you want to find a shady spot.”

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Newton used his gravity to yank a drinking fountain from of the wall and smashed into some of the zombies chasing Coolant into the Two-Six. “I think I hear a nice shady spot calling my name from upstairs.” The green-haired man floated up, taking time to spread a gravity field over the entrance area again.

He glanced at the soldier, the detective, and the insect-man as they made it back inside the Two Six. “You guys look like crap,” Newton said as he sent his singularity through the building, trying to find something non-essential he could throw at the zombies.

((occ our missing posts are now being reposted at this location: The Two Six Missing Posts ))

(Dan43)Neither Newt nor Sting saw Ion emerge from the basement nor did the realize that he had heard the exchange concerning the comm unit and belt.

"You don't have to do anything with either of them Sting. I was just trying to help out. If you don't want my help then all you have to do is say the word and I will pack up and be gone. You can keep all the stuff being installed today."

With that Ion turned and headed back to the basement with his head low and a decided slump to his armored shoulders.

(Mithril Zeta)Newton rolled his eyes. “Oh, for crying out loud.” He called after the younger man. “Ion, we’re not asking you to leave. We’re just joking around. Given time, you’ll come to understand my sense of humor. Sting and I have a pattern going. He raves, and I rant. It gets us past the uncomfortable. You’ll hear us both do this all the time. Rant and rave, though not necessarily in that order.

I mean, look at me. I’m a fat, green-haired mutant with a quick wit. I don’t take myself too seriously, and I poke fun at everyone else, too.

You’ve been here less than 24 hours, and you’re going to give up already? Give us – and yourself – a chance.”

(Dan43) Ion stopped and stood motionless for several seconds and then turned slowly back to the other two men. "I think I understand. You did not mean harm, you were simply employing a form of social interaction?" Ion moved back towards the desk, at the same time his shoulders rose and he looked squarely at Sting and Newt. "Forgive me for my thin skin and overreaction. I have vast knowledge about many subjects but much of my knowledge is entirely theoretical, human interaction and social mores being on of the subjects that I know only in theory. For all practical purposes my social skills are at child’s level."
Reaching out he took the comm unit from Sting. "I will modify this so that you can utilize it Sting. Maybe a circular unit that you could clip around one of your antenna. The belt is a meta mesh material that is somewhat pliable. It should be wearable by anybody currently on the team. It is a portable anti-gravity device. While it provides very little propulsion so horizontal movement is fairly slow, it has enough vertical capability to clear the tallest structures in Paragon. I thought it might come in handy."

(Mad Gremlin) Sting actually felt a little bad, so he softened up a little.
“Well you know I do have ears, they just don’t stick out like ‘normal’ people. If you could fix something up that would stick to my chitin it might work.” Then Sting added; “And don’t listen to Newton, I’m pretty much just a bitter, unpleasant, bug who doesn’t like much of anyone or anything. Get used to it.”

(Mithril Zeta) “I wouldn’t listen to me, either,” Newton agreed good-naturedly. “And he is a bitter, unpleasant bug who doesn’t like much of anyone. He doesn’t even like me that much, and I’m utterly charming.”

(Mad Gremlin)Sting pulled a small piece of paper out of his belt. “Boss, here is the serial number of a motorcycle that was probably stolen. It is now in a dumpster about a block from the Bad Harley bar. The front wheel is trashed but it is otherwise in ok shape. Just through we might want to report it.”

(Mithril Zeta) “Anything interesting we should know about the bar?” Newton asked, nabbing another donut.

(Dan43) "I’ll-need-a-scanner-at-each-entrance-and-but-just-for-the-retinal-I-can-
build-the-EKG-into-the-field-itself-and......It's an Anti-Gravity device boss.....of-course-Sting-wont-be-able-to-use-the-or-could-you-build-a-compound-eye-retinal-scanner…" Ion responded to Mystics question as if they were in the same room. There was no need to key a mike or do anything except mention the name of the person you wished to speak to and begin talking. The AI that controlled the earbugs alone had brought Ion a medium size fortune from a company who wanted to use it to run it's customer service call center. The station lights dimmed just for an instant under the load of Ions computer booting up.

(Mithril Zeta) “D’oh,” Newton said stopping just inside the door. He wandered back to Mystic and Ion, and waited for the young man to finish babbling. Newton lost him right after he said that Newton was a genius.

“I wonder if we need to put in a secondary generator, between the forcefield, and the two big casket thingees, and the computers…” Newton wondered. “Not to mention the refrigerator, the big screen tv, the microwave…”

(mad gremlin)Sting had been watching the workmen stand around and saw that Officer Brian had trouble getting inside as well. Eventually he, and the workmen were let in and Sting figured he should probably let them know he was still around. The last thing he needed was Mystic calling him in as AWOL and having the police on his butt.

Sting’s radio came to life, showing Mystic was calling. “Morning boss. So do I get to come in now or you gonna put up another force field?” Sting chuckled. “I’m just across the street so I will be there in a sec. I have a little information about the Bad Harley and our friend Mr. Rome. Not much but its something.”

Sting made a point of landing, spines deployed, in the middle of the workmen to scare them. He then walked in through the front door. “I’m baaaack!”

(Mithril Zeta) “Now where have you been, young man,” Newton said in his best concerned parent voice. “You were out all night, and your evil step-mother and I were sooo worried.” He broke into a grin.

(Mad Gremlin)Even Sting, who was again looking to ‘straighten someone out’ (i.e. be a jerk) about the force field issue couldn’t help but grin at Newton.

“So I take it genius boy was the one who put up the force field? Or did we get invaded and I missed it? Good thing you had doughnuts and soda to sustain you, eh Newton?”

(Mithril Zeta)“Absolutely. I would have perished without them. Care for a donut. I’m feeling generous and thought I’d share.”

(Mad Gremlin)Sting saw a box on the table with his name on it. He opened it up and pulled the earpiece out. “Now what the f—k am I supposed to do with this? Clip it on an antennae?” Then he pulled the mesh belt out, unsure of what it was supposed to be or do. “Where is the party hat and noisemaker?”

(Mithril Zeta)“I think it doubles as both,” Newton said brightly. “If you whip it around your head really fast, wind goes through the mesh and makes a whistling sound. It can be a hat, a broach, a pterodactyl…” He quickly demonstrated the multiple uses of the mesh belt. “It probably even makes julian fries.” The green-haired mutant stopped. “Hmmm. Fries.”

(Mad Gremlin)((Quote: It can be a hat, a broach, a pterodactyl((Ok, you owe me a new keyboard after I spit my beer on it when I read that! Beautiful use of that classic quote!!! Literal ROFL!!!))

Due to the problems in formating, several hundred posts were deleted. I received them in text files, and I'm fixing it so we can read what we wrote. enjoy the sense of deja vu.

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"Newton get me out of here now!"

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Newton clenched his fist, and yanked Elisa back through into the Two-Six. The shadowly figure emerged from the singularity. “Welcome back, Elisa,” the green-haired mutant said with a grin. “Can we have a big boom soon?”

He shifted his attention to the entrance. Some of the rotting figures were coming to the door. Newton focused a gravity field over the front steps. The figures stopped and strained to come further in.

((occ: I, Mithril Zeta, am an administrator for a summer school/camp, and we are coming to the end of the program. I’ll be posting with increasing irregularity, and Monday-Wednesday of next week I’ll be completely out of computer contact, so I’m getting ready to ‘park’ Newton for a few days. Starting Monday, feel free to use him to shield, tp, or drink a Mountain Dew at your convenience.))