MrKrazy

The young duo rolled their eyes at the Jagerkin's outward dismay at the loss of his hat. "It was a piece of cloth, get over it! You're in the middle of a battle." Yelled Nate, either not knowing or not caring about the wrath that he had just incurred.

Jake, however, was already back on the battle, grimacing as the zombies continued to reform. "Change tactics," He ordered his units, "Deploy containment fields. Battle Drones, provide cover for Protector Bots." As he said those last two words, two more disks were pulled from his pocket, each hitting the floor and clanking about before exploding in a brilliant light and revealing two mechanoids, both covering two zombies each in a bubble, shutting them off from the world. Nate, almost simultaneously, encased his other zombie, (Jake had kindly subdued one with his Bots.) in another sphere or pure energy, thereby neutralizing the threat posed to the two of them.

"Now, instead of whining about your hat, why don't you pin some of these bastards down so we can contain them?" He shouted to Horowitz, glaring daggers at him for being so dense and superficial.

The young mastermind groaned, pulling three disks out of his coat pocket and tossing them uncaringly on the ground. Each of them gave off a brilliant flash of light, teleporting in three Battle Drones... Well, slightly modified Battle Drones. The trio seemed to have been given an upgrade, each of them now toting a plasma cannon only slightly less powerful than the one equipped by Jake's Assault Bot.

"Blow 'em away, you three." He muttered, activating rocket boots and hovering safely upward.

They obliged, each taking aim at an undead and firing.

-----

Nathaniel was forced to remove the bondage of the patrol guard he had incapacitated earlier, using most of the material to encase one of his zombies in an ever dilating sphere. Within a few seconds, it would be crushed into a virtual singularity.

... Well, of course, not literally. But the zombie would, at the very least, become a very compact ball.

Of course, those few seconds would give the other two plenty of time to attack to which he only created a flat disk under his feet and floated upward, employing a similar strategy to Jake's.

Of course, the remaining two zombies, should they want to survive, would have to get clever.

"Not a lot. Just got dragged to a military dictatorship under the rule of an insane commander of the infamous Necronomicon. You?" Jake remarked sarcastically, burying his hands in his pockets. Nate only rolled his eyes at him, sensing the same energy from the door on Bladewings sword.

So, it was him. Guess I'll have to watch out for that.

At last, the duo reached their destination, entering the pyramid through what one could have described as being a security entrance at one point, despite obviously being broken currently. Nathaniel shuddered, looking around him.

"That was a rather large amount of dark energy..." He said aloud, glancing at the corners where the ceiling met the wall, as if some monster straight from the Cthulu Mythos would emerge and unravel his sanity strand by strand.

One of ours...? Maybe...

Jake, however, was already at least twenty feet ahead and through the former blast door. "You coming? Or would you rather sit here and watch the wall in case it decides to come to life?"

"Shut up, I'm coming." A newly resolute Nate virtually stomped up to Jake, cuffing him on the head lightly before marching ahead, leaving him to rub the spot where he'd been hit and chuckle.

((To clarify, this is roughly five minutes after Bladewing pulled the death thing on the door.))

((Ah. I thought we had 'ported in practically right next to the pyramid, but everyone else decided to go off on a destructive tangent. >.&gt)

The duo paid the guard little, if any, mind, Nate simply raising a hand to him in passing, and Jake glancing at him with no particular interest. The guard, dumbfounded for roughly half a second, quickly gave chase, to which Nate only sighed and held out his hand again, this time in more of an 'open palm' style punch.

The problem, of course, was that his hand was a good yard away from the man.

But soon enough, its purpose was made clear. Specks of what appeared to be pure darkness seemed to defuse from the air itself, attaching themselves to the feet and hands of the man, and connecting them both with an increasingly shortening chain. Soon enough, the guard was forced to the ground, a newly formed gag covering his mouth, essentially incapacitating him indefinately, as well as giving him the amusing appearance of having been hog-tied.

"Seems like a lot of effort just to get past him." Jake commented, craning his neck over his shoulder to look to the guard as he walked. "I mean, you could've just encased him in a bubble or something until we got past."

Nate shrugged. "This is more fun."

The two continued walking down the street to the entrance, once again paying the guard no mind.

"Nate..." Jake said, slowly regaining his composure, "Keep an eye on that guy."

"Nathaniel..." He muttered, stupefied along with Jake at the scene of pure destruction Jack unleashed, not even able to spout an insult.

Sighing, Jake turned around, shaking his head vigorously. "I hate my job."

"Anyway, should we continue?"

"Yeah..." Nate responded, shaking his head in the same manner. "Where do we start? I don't think we're really needed on the battlefield."

"True..." The resonse came. Slowly, Jake's eyes wandered to the great pyramid that seemed to be invisible to everyone else. "We could probably check that out." He mused, looking to his comrades off to the side.

"I don't see why not." Nate agreed, starting toward the entrance.

Soon enough, if there were no interruptions, the two would reach the grand entrance. But would they be able to get in?

Before Jake could advise him to speak wisely, Nathaniel piped up, proudly proclaiming his and his family's service to Arachnos for generations.

"My colleague here and I are both operatives of Arachnos, assigned to this task as two of its most capable and loyal members." He contained a certain hubris, his tone obviously carrying with it the distinct impression of arrogance. "Supposedly I'm in need of one," He hiked a thumb back at Jake, who promptly glared at him, momentarily forgetting the dangerous man who stood in front of them, "to balance out my lack of technical knowledge or something."

"And provide you with a voice of reason, apparently, you spontaneous moron..." Jake muttered, still eyeing Jack with caution.

"Anyway, who might you be, Mister Psychopath? Seems only polite to introduce yourself after asking us." He crossed his arms and faked a confidence, looking the man straight in the eye, but, despite that, the slightest quiver could still be heard in his voice.

The question, was, of course, whether or not this quiver was appropriate.

A wave of ice seemed to splash over Jake as he stared back into the eyes of Jack, his eyes filled with a genuine fear for the first time in a good while. Just what had caused that? Granted, Jake had very few magical defenses. Maybe it was some sort of enchantment on the villain?

"Might be..." He muttered, still shaken.

Nathaniel, however, had not been affected. Even had he cared enough to acknowledge the undertones in Jack's greeting, his superiority complex allowed him to think nothing of it. He would have only smirked and said, 'Right back atcha.'.

Regardless, neither of them suspected that the killer would just up and make a blind rush at the suited man. Jake nearly facepalmed while Nathaniel smirked and shook his head.

"Well, whatever." The mastermind commented. "One less nutcase to deal with."

It was then that both Nathaniel and Jake stepped through the portal, each completely and totally ready to fight. Imagine their surprise, (Well, relief, for one of them.) when they find naught but a suited man to greet them.

Nathaniel scowled and Jake smirked. "Guess our timing is spot on, huh?" The mastermind snarkily remarked, earning him a glare from his partner.

Jake chuckled. "Relax, I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to die for your country."

Nodding, Nathaniel began to stroll toward the designated briefing area, glancing back to make sure Jake was following behind him.

Of course, he wasn't.

Already laying down, Jake seemed rather comfortable, his head on a pillow and his eyes shut in a rather serene manner. His hands lay behind his head, and his legs lay sprawled, almost as if they didn't care where they laid.

"Jacob, you heard him. Let's go get briefed and start on our task."

Silence answered him.

"Jacob."

"I'm asleep, jackass. And it's Jake."

"Jacob, come on, we have to start. There's no sense sleeping when we haven't even done any work." Nate said with continuing irritation, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at the lazy roboticist.

"Nah, I'm sure the Jager thingy's got it." He commented, clearly not caring whether or not the Jager thingy really did have it or not. He half opened one eye, sparing a look at Nathaniel. After a moment of silence, he sighed.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Dammit..." He muttered, slowly getting up and scratching his head. "Fine, you lead."

The two of them walked to the designated area, one with a purpose, the other with a sense of dread.

((Devious, my Death Note fandom thanks you.))

I'm inclined to attack his economy first, actually... Jake thought, thinking over both of the proposed strategies. They say that the economy runs the government, and I'm pretty sure that if we take those down, the rest will crumble on their own. Granted, it'll take a while, but it's the most sure-fire way.

Nate, on the other hand, was reluctant to agree.

"What do you mean attack from within?" He inquired, moving his arms over his chest and crossing them. "As in, just port in right on top of his head?"

"Because if that's the case, that seems the most obvious choice. If we could just rush in and take out the head, it would be the fastest and surest way to destroy his empire."

"Think, idiot." Jake commented, turning his attention to his partner. "We don't even know if it's one guy, let alone what his defenses are like. Besides, someone with his power is bound to have plans for if he kicks it." He spoke matter of factly and with no arrogance. (Barring his use of the term 'idiot'.)

Nate glared back at him, refusing to admit his oversight. "We have more than enough man-power here to compensate for any defenses he may have, and if he does have plans, well, we'll just make sure they're not put into motion."

"You can't underestimate the enemy, Nate."

"Nathaniel."

"Does it matter?"

"Very much so!"

The argument essentially devolved into the two of them discussing the merits of a nickname, occasionally delving back into the topic at hand. After roughly fifteen seconds of this, the two of them remembered where they were, Nathaniel muttering an apology and Jake simply coughing into his hand.

"Um, regardless," Jake continued, "I believe we should attack his economy. No revenue means no support, and no support means no power. It may take a while longer than a blitz, but I guarantee that it'll be more effective." After which he gazed downward, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth. Both of them were quire embarassed to have shown their childishness in public in such a way, which probably goes without saying.

Nate wasted no time in pulling himself out from under the Jager's arm, muttering something under his breath as he hastily walked to the meeting point. Jake could only spare a chuckle, politely moving out from underneath the monster's arm as well, however, giving a friendly wave and apologizing for his partner as he walked away.

"He's bitter, what can I say?" Smirking and shrugging, he continued on his way, stowing his hands in his pockets and observing Nate as he continued his speedy departure.

The cocky youth that had called out Jager just moments before ported in to Ouroborus in a brilliant flash of light, a scowl still darkening his face. He almost stomped to the motley crew of supers now gathering, stopping a good ten feet before coming into talking distance with them, crossing his arms and gazing at the 'inferior' group of metas before him, hero and villain alike.

Moments later, Jake joined him on his right side, gazing bemused at his partner's obvious contempt. "Aw, c'mon, lighten up, Nate."

"It's Nathaniel, you cretin. Just because you shorten your given name doesn't mean I have to." He shot his gaze in Jake's direction, his eyes like daggers.

Jake only chuckled. "Whatever. I'm just saying that you need to lighten up."

Nathaniel only sighed, shaking his head and forcing his gaze to the ground. "Jacob..."

"Jake."

"Jacob," He continued, glaring at Jake once again. "I respect your skill, but you take work much too lightly. It will cost you your life one day."

The white haired youth almost seemed to not be listening, his hands in his pockets and his gaze dead set on the pool of water in the center of the area. In fact, if it weren't for his immediate reply, he probably would have been yelled at. "And I say you take it too seriously, in addition to treating everyone you meet like crap."

Again, Nathaniel sighed, shaking his head as if to imply that no one other than him got it. "Well, as you say, whatever."

The two continued to analyze the group in silence, each thinking their own thoughts.

"Don't you dare compare the Necronomicon to those two-bit magicians." A young boy said with a clearly irked voice, quite literally spitting the last word. "It's power is great and beyond measure, and you have the gall to reduce it to the level of some pyrokinetic thugs?"

The boy had jet black hair and a, currently, unpleasant face, although generally he was quite handsome. His eyes glared like daggers at the green foreigner who insulted one of the greatest magical artifacts in existance, eyes that seemed to pierce his soul. (Should the brute actually have one.)

His clothes seemed a perfect cross between formality and comfort, his style somewhat similar to that of a familiar serial killer.

A boy just behind him rolled his eyes, brushing his white hair out of them out of habit. Putting a hand on the former boy's shoulder, he signaled him a very quiet 'Shut up' before the conflict escalated.

"Listen, idiot, we're both here on Arachnos's agenda. Let's not irk our ally's, 'kay?"

The smartly dressed youth glared at Jake and sharply turned away, calling him inferior to even the ignorant green oaf, however, stopping his verbal onslaught.

Jake gave Recluse a nod of apology and turned back to the briefing at hand, subconsciously scrutinizing the other supers, despite defending them only moments before.

Ah well, it'll be interesting, anyway.

One thing I'm doing on a new natural character of mine is RPing superspeed as a motorcycle. Obviously you can switch that out with any vehicle of your choice, motorcycle just seemed more his style.

"... Oh, right..."

Jake almost comedically stopped before slamming into the wall, inspecting for all of one second before swiveling around and shooting past the phantasm yet again, this time making sure to fly into a corridor he assumed not to be a dead end.

-----

Gunner only smirked, touching one of his TMPs to his forehead in a mock salute, only to be rudely interrupted by his peripheal vision, which stated something along the lines of 'Large gray suited object flying toward you'. He turned to the man, grinning and unleashing a hellstorm of incindiary rounds on the illusion, fully expecting them to tear him apart, if not outright send him to a mediporter then and there.

((Wait, I thought we were in a corridor beyond the room.

And also, Sovs, I blame allergies clogging my nose and mind. >.&lt)

Only Gunner's fighter reflexes saved him from an icy demise, the man rolling to the side and suddenly unloading incindiary rounds on Famine, his TMPs never having to have been reloaded. Now crouching down, he materialized a small barrier, enough to keep him safe from most fire coming from Famine's direction.

At last, after noting that his plasma blasts had no effect on the phantom, Jake snapped. He activated his boots and was blasting by the anomally in a matter of seconds, his 'bots following in quick succession. He didn't care where he ended up, nor whether or not he could find his way back. Jake only wanted to get as far away as possible from the creature screwing with his psyche.

Dammit! A still rational voice still sounded in his head. As soon as I get back to HQ, I'm requesting mental defense training.

((Yeah, but he did this between the temporary halt in fire and and Famine's change in weapons... Unless Famine is ridiculously fast like that.))

Jake was, despite his talk and skill, inexperienced. He did not have standard Arachnos military training, and had thus far only gotten by on guesswork and luck, with sprinkles of skill thrown in. Ergo, the 'runaway' strategy that may have been ideal in this situation was escaped by his prideful mind.

As a result of that, Jake, not receiving an answer from the spectre, immediately ordered his 'bots to open fire, advised or not.

((Ah, sorry. Read that as Famine firing through the portal. Editing.))

Gunner created yet more impervium shielding to cover his exposed top, not hesitating to pop out and kick the now quarter-sphere shaped barrier at Famine, hoping that the distraction of that combined with the temporary hinderence of switching weapons would be enough to make him subceptible to Gunner's own TMP fire, two of them gracing the palms of his hands. If Famine still somehow found a way to fire off a rocket at him, he would just create yet another barrier, perhaps one that was more fortified than the last.

Jake stopped mid-step, a chill suddenly running up his spine. What had just happened? It seemed as if this being, which really didn't look too terribly frightening in the first place, had just become some freakish combination of Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Mr. Hyde, topped off with a background of a misty full moon, lightening strikes, and dead trees. He shivered, quite noticibly, at that, and took a step back, his hands instinctively going in front of him in a hesitant, quivering motion.

Wait! A voice of reason called out to him, a flashback of his fight with the dark mechanoid resonating through his head. It's the same technique!

Despite his still quivering form, he smirked, his knowig mind somewhat overriding the void's manuever.

"Right, n- nice try." His voice still shook, but it still managed to have a cocky ring. "I've b- been up against you- your t- t- type before."

On a silent hand motion, each of his 'bots began charging their plasma blasters, each one of them training their light sensors on the empty space.

"N- Now answer in th- the next three seconds, or y- you d- d- d- die."

Jake swiveled his head like an office chair, giving a command for his 'bots to be ready for combat. Seeing that the humanoid was a cold black void, he made the obvious conclusion that he wasn' simply a lost tourist or crew member, and, given his earlier battle, he put two and two together.

Of course, whether or not it made five or four was yet to be seen.

"Who're you, and why're you down here?" He stated as calmly as one could hope to be in a situation such as this, a mask of curiosity on his face and his hands in his pockets.

((I'm waiting on Sovs and Bwerp, myself. Also, Cham, Gunner's tossing grenades willy nilly. Logic dictates that Famine wouldn't be the only one to get hit. *winkwinknudgenudge*))