Mr_Grey

"Oh... Thank you..." Martin grumbled as he took the pack and pressed it against his groin, then he indicated what was happening to Auswitch, "Wasn't what I had in mind, but it's all good... I'm... I'm just gonna pass out for a little while now..."

He rolled over with a gurgling sound and seemed to lay still.

[i]"Thanks for the heads up! [Butt]hole!"

What? Did I miss something? Hang on... Oh my... How (*snrk*) unfortunate.

"I'm glad you're having a laugh."

Oh, come now, you've shrugged off worse than this...

"Getting shot feels a Helluvalot different from getting kneed in the babymaker!"

You mortals... So very droll.

"FIX THIS!"

I can't. You'll just have to deal with it.

"Have I told you how much I love these little chats of ours?"

No.

"Good."

The world went red and Martin dropped to the floor. No mesmerizing protection in the world would have saved him at that moment. Curled up into a ball, he grunted and gurgled something about burning the Archon alive.

It was fair to say, however, that he likely wasn't going to be doing anything for the next five minutes (three if he could really push himself through the horrible wrenching sensation in his gut and throat).

((Well, it's about time SOMETHING happened in your world... You sold it so well last time P.B. met Poe (well, Noitpeced was the one talking), how could Power Breaker NOT wind up going there?))

--Jade Moon: Delta Team--

"Pft," Randall didn't seem too perturbed by the Rikti's comments, "Trust me, I've seen enough of history to know that with enough pressure, anything's possible. Still, you've got a point. I don't know how it works. I haven't got the head for it. Still, we should get on to doing something... Unless, of course, you can think of somewhere we can look for a ship."

When the alert came over the channel from Acid Zero, he turned to the new guys and arched an eyebrow. The rest of his face, however, looked decidedly angry.

----------

--Jade Moon: Arrival--

((It's just Sheldon and Ryat66 at this point. Honestly, I forgot to include Cory... I used Ryat99 a little earlier just for some immersion.))

Sheldon nodded to Lady Grey and moved for the nearest Vanguard agent to get his communicator keyed up to their channels. Ryat66 immediately set to wandering, admiring the machinery and the equipment. Upon seeing an HVAS, he made a whistling sound.

"This looks a lot like Ryat Dreadnought! Damn... Too bad about him..."

Cory emerged from the portal shortly after Essex. He shook his head sadly.

"I couldn't convince Mattock to join us, he seems rather dead set on figuring out what happened..."

----------

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

"So!" Matt barked as he wandered up to the technicians surrounding the rifle, "What've you guys learned? I'm itchin' to put someone on the business end of my sword."

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Sheldon and his android approached the portal cautiously. He looked back to Ryat66, who nodded that they should continue.

"You're completely certain?" he asked.

Both Unai and Ryat66 shouted "YES!" over the sound of the rotating rings and the singularity.

"Why do I feel like I'm making a big mistake?" Wallace sighed as he turned around and stepped through the portal.

----------

--Jade Moon--

"Okay..." Randall grunted, "I think we've been sittin' on our [butts] long enough. It's time to move. If the portal's up and runnin' again, we may as well head over there and see what's what. If we can get home, so much the better. We can work from there how to get to the Rikti world again. If not, well, I'd rather not wait forever trying to find a spaceship to get back to Rikti Earth. Again, maybe they've cobbled one together out of crashed bombers and we can cram it in there somehow... Or, again, we could find an alternate route through the Shadow Shard... We've got other options available to us now, people, we better get moving."

((YAY! Funk's gone!))

Randall started walking back through the wrecked hallways, picking his way to the entrance room.

((Kay. Workin' on it.))

The rogues at the dock were surprised when a tugboat pulled up and a young man covered in explosives shouted to them.

"Ahoy!"

When they pointed their various weapons and dangerous glows at him he raised his hands up defensively.

"Yo! I'm Ringo! I was told to look for a collection of metas on the docks! Peebee! Breaker?"

There was a loud clunking sound and Power Breaker had landed on the boat's roof (possibly to be followed by Darkvapor and Brutish Ghoul). He dropped down to clap a hand on Ringo's shoulder and they quickly got aboard and got moving in short order.

----------

--Brother Mauthe's Island--

((Diov, I don't want any major trouble here... I've got an idea for an RP rattling in my head, but I gotta work out major details (like antagonists). You can bring up problems, but please, no world breaking just yet.))

"Here we are," Ringo shouted enthusiastically as they pulled up to the dock, "Brother Mauthe's Island! now, if you all could please exit quickly, I gotta head out again and pick up the boss..."

"Couldn't you have just made one trip?"

Ringo leaned in close to Power breaker to whisper.

"He's been granted a special pass to be able to go home for the night" the fire wielding swashbuckler replied, "You know..."

"Oh."

When the rogues exited the boat, they were met with a sight almost out of a Vietnam movie or a modern television show about people lost on an island. Surrounded by a thicket of lush jungle was a sprawling village of small houses constructed from local flora and detritus from around the Etoile Isles. Toward the rear, led up to by a central road, was a stone temple that was partially grown over by the jungle.

"Welcome," a young man said to the newcomers, "I'm Brother Skrap. Former Council, current Dreg. This is Brother Mauthe's Island."

To their left, the BWO dropship was landing. Approaching it was Brother Hand. He introduced himself as a former Longbow agent, and a current liaison for all of Mauthe's negotiations with "the Blue Side".

They gave the assembled metahumans a quick tour of the village. They had a number of houses for some of the families they'd acquired in their campaign, as well as a few community homes (built much in the style of Iroquois longhouses) for unmarried males and females respectively. these houses surrounded a schoolhouse that educated the young and old alike.

A few small farms lay splayed across one side of the village, the other side covered in grass. Each farm (really just large gardens) was boxed in and great pains were taken to keep sand from entering into the soil. Skrap explained that the next year they'd farm the grass and clover covered "fields" (if they were here the next year). There were even a few greenhouses dotted throughout, and Brother Hand explained they were working on building hydroponics stations.

"Such a small setup works for our community," Hand went on, "However, we often have to find our food through more... quasi-legal means."

He noticed some of the heroes rolling their eyes or outright glaring at him.

"I know... Longbow, right? I'll tell you, though, I've had to steal to eat in order to survive. Once you have to do that, your ideas of right and wrong change significantly..."

"But certain things don't change," Brother Skrap finished, "For instance, we don't kill kids, don't steal from the innocent..."

"When we do steal, it's against people and organizations that most definitely have it coming. Not usually, not generally. Always."

They passed a large barn and Skrap indicated that they won't be going in there.

"That's where a big friend of ours sleeps," he explained, "He doesn't like new people looking at him."

They didn't even approach the temple. Anybody looking would notice that the guards stationed there (as poorly armed as they were) seemed to be keeping something from coming out. Both Skrap and Hand had no explanations.

Instead, Mauthe's lieutenants led the metahumans to a building that served as their hotel. It was a free hotel, but it had a community room, dance floor, eatery, and even a rudimentary mediporter.

"We often hold meetings here, community events, celebrations..." Brother Hand shrugged, "This place is pretty much our town hall."

"Make yourselves comfortable," Brother Skrap grunted as he left, "If you need anything, just ask. Anybody here will be glad to help you."

"I can't believe it... What I'd almost done..." the Inevitable was cursing himself as he rushed across Steel Canyon, trying desperately to plan his next move, "I could... I could put my brain back inside my old body... Then stage a conflict where I fight and destroy the Inevitable... Or maybe stay in this one and-"

"Heads up!" Ryat99 shouted as he dove and tackled the Inevitable out of the sky.

The two crashed into one of the flat rooftops, tumbled, and stopped just shy of the edge. The Inevitable pushed himself back up and glared at the android tanker doing the same.

"Who are you?"

"Ryat99," the deep voice rumbled back, "And I'm here to repossess your body."

"What?"

"You violated the terms of service," Ryat99 chuckled, "So, it's my duty to take from you that which you attempted to exploit."

The Inevitable stared at the android for a short while. The massive hulk of steel and polymers must have been insane. Still, it didn't show any signs of leaving without a fight.

"It's time to go, brother," Ryat99 finally rumbled as ice spikes started to form across his armor, "make this quick, give me the body, you keep the head."

A swarm of Oscillators suddenly arrived. The Inevitable chuckled at the large android.

"It seems I can just leave if I want."

"I've got no problem wiping out your minions. All you'd acomplish then is make me angry, and then I take you apart slow. Just surrender, and you keep the head."

"Why do I keep the head?"

"Boss's orders," Ryat99 shrugged, "I don't know if it's to remind you that there could be a better way, or of what you lost. Maybe it's just so you can get your brain back in it's normal body. Whatever, just make with the surrender, or let's throw down."

An ice blade appeared in Ryat99's right hand. He started spinning his hand at the wrist, causing the blade to rotate as well.

"And I'm plenty ready for either."

The Inevitable looked to his minions and nodded. With a wave of his right hand, the Clockwork King gestured for his Oscillators to stand aside. Closing his propellers into the three-bladed sword, he took a stance to prepare for his attack.

"Damn," Ryat99 rumbled, "Nobody ever wants to do this the easy way."

"Where's the fun in that?"

They squared off, circled each other in a counter-clockwise direction on the rooftop. They were making for the center, though falling off the roof would do little to affect either of them. With each revolution, they got a little closer.

Suddenly, the Inevitable dove for Ryat99, attempting to stab the larger android with his powerful bladed spike. The hero responded with a swift deflection with his sword and caught the Inevitable in the shoulder with a second sword that formed in his left hand. They separated, and the Inevitable took stock of its damage.

Not much, just a scratch, really, but it was more damage than what should have been. It was, after all, just a sword made of ice. There was no mystical augmentation or...

"The ice makes for the body, cushions the blow, and provides a brace for the nanotechs," Ryat99 explained, "They're the true damage dealers, making for a blade that's never dull and is sharp down to the molecule."

"Intriguing..." the Inevitable was clearly unimpressed.

"Right," Ryat99 agreed, "Too little, too flashy, and enough talk. Let's get this over with."

They dove for each other again, Ryat99 now wielding two ice blades to keep the Inevitable at bay. They would have continued in this fashion for a long while until they either ran out of power (which wasn't going to happen, the Inevitable's winders would be psychically wound back every minute and a half and Ryat99's power core was an advanced miniature atomic plant similar to a Zenith Mech Man's, only much more sophisticated), or one of them worked to tip the balance. Unfortunately for the hero, the Clockwork King's new body had a few other nasty surprises in store for Sheldon's premiere heavy android.

An arc of lightning erupted from the Inevitable's extended right hand. At first, Ryat99 had figured it was a balance stance, much like any fencer. Now he saw it was a safety precaution, to keep the King from hitting himself.

"Excellent," the King's voice chuckled from the voice emitters as Ryat99 grew some more ice armor to replace what had been melted, "And the cranial area is carefully insulated! Oh... you will suffer now, hero."

"Shut up and fight me like a robot," Ryat99 rumbled back, "Or is this the line to Reno?"

"What?"

Ryat99 took the momentary distraction to dive forward and get in real close to the King. His pistons hissing loudly, the android punched the King's chest plate hard and without mercy. The ice on his arms sublimated a little, the steam dissipating almost as rapidly as it came. Before the King could land another strike, however, Ryat99 ducked down and came back up with a double-hammerfist to the Inevitable's jawline (as the Inevitable didn't really have a jaw).

The King was sent tumbling backward. The propeller blades had been extended, apparently he had plans to chop into Ryat99 while the android tank was so close. Not wanting to lose his advantage, the tank stomped after the arch villain.

However, where the old Clockwork King's body was bulky and clunky, this one was nimble and spry. The extended blades landed flat against the surface of the rooftop, bracing the Inevitable's body like some sort of massive claw. As Ryat99 got closer, the Inevitable engaged it's rotor, and the body went spinning around to kick the approaching android. Ryat99 fell back, sprawling, as the king hopped back up.

"Good thing I don't have ears right now," the King chuckled, "Or internal organs... I'd probably be very dizzy."

"One revolution?" Ryat99 replied, "Hardly. That was a hard kick, though. Definitely not underestimating you again."

"But you are," the Inevitable reared back with his left arm and pitched it forward.

The propellers and their rotor disengaged form their mount and whirled through the air at Ryat99 with a buzz. The android hefted his right arm up and caught the brunt of the blow, but it tore through the forearm and the shoulder. As the ice armor replenished itself, there were some visible electric sparks that caused the ice to hiss and pop.

"Ow," the hero grunted, "Why was I programmed to feel pain again?"

The propeller inexplicably found its way back to the Inevitable. As the King looked over the renewed arm, he decided to provide the explanation. He began with tapping his cranium.

"Psychic."

"Ah," Ryat99 grunted, "And here I was expected something complicated, like magnetics control... No... We've got magic on our side."

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

The Inevitable attacked again, this time sending an arc of lighting at Ryat99 while he ran. The android deflected the arc and cuffed his enemy a couple times in the head. back and forth they went like this, trading blows, deflecting each other, and otherwise getting nowhere. Suffice it to say, the straight up brawl did little more than wear each other down.

Finally, the Inevitable backed away and did the "ninja Star Propeller" trick again. Only this time, Ryat99 was ready for it. Catching it in the air, he threw it over the side. He started running at the King before he could bring the bladed weapon back, but C.K. got a different plan in his head.

Leaping over the side, the Inevitable brought the propeller back to his wrist through sheer will. Upon contact, the weapon started spinning and the Clockwork King was flying away. he didn't make it far.

There was a whirring sound from Ryat99. Suddenly, his body was covering itself in a different armor plating, one smoother and sleeker. The major advantage of this armor, however, was the sudden access the rockets built into his feet had to the open air (as opposed to being circulated through vents in his body).

His rockets exposed, Ryat99 leaped from the side of the building and charged for his target. The collision went much like their first, only they fell much farther and spent their decent wailing away on each other.

Positron pulled off his helmet and took a deep breath of fresh air. Valkyrie, by his side, shook her head with a worried expression.

"What?" the legend asked with a hint of humor.

"Sir... You really shouldn't be exposing yourself like that..."

"I spent so much time doing official business as Positron, it doesn't really matter what the face under here is anymore," he replied, "Besides, Val, every time I put the damn thing on now, I feel a little claustrophobic."

"Really?" Valkyrie arched an eyebrow to her mentor, "You'd think the opposite would be true. You know, that you'd be so used to the suit that you'd feel... well... naked without it."

"And we have yet another moment where we're both glad I'm not Synapse," Positron declared a second before Ryat99 and the Inevitable crashed in front of the two of them.

"What the-?" Valkyrie shouted as she drew her sword.

"Which one do we help," the legend asked as he pulled his helmet back on, "Why am I getting a weird feeling?"

"The blue icy one is a hero named Ryat99..." Valkyrie stated as she scanned the two.

"There's that weird feeling again."

"And the other... The other is unregistered..."

"Well, we can't be having that now," Positron muttered, "You two! Cease and desist!"

"Sorry, old timer," the Inevitable rasped through one working emitter and started to rear back its left arm, "But at least when this hits it won't level half the city..."

A panel opened in Ryat99's chest (roughly where a human has a pectoral muscle) and a pair of taser cables launched forward and wrapped around one of the blades. Yanking the launched propeller off course, he caught it in his hand and wagged a finger at the Inevitable.

"No-no, See-Kay," the android intoned, "No outsiders. This is between you and me."

"Wait," Positron put a hand on Valkyrie's shoulder, "I think we should watch how this turns out."

"Sir?"

"Are you sure you don't need help, son?" Positron called to the blue and white android.

"Nah, I'm doin' good," Ryat99 muttered as he untangled his taser lines from the propeller before tossing it back to the Inevitable, "Besides, you guys get involved, then they get involved."

The whirring sound of hundreds, if not thousands, of Clockwork caught the attention of the two legendary heroes. They looked warily to the robots, but the swarm seemed to be focused entirely on the two combatants.

"Come on, Cee-Kay," Ryat99 beckoned to the Inevitable, "Let's finish this. No more running."

Two ice blades appeared in his hands again and the android took a defensive stance. The Inevitable took an aggressive stance. Without speaking, they assaulted each other again. The Inevitable got the first swing in, after letting his arm hang back during the advance and swiping it around on the attack. Ryat99 actually ducked the attack, but didn't expect the Inevitable to swing around his torso like a top (his eyes staying locked with Ryat99 as he rose up to meet the Inevitable with a counterattack), and lopping off the android's right arm with the built up speed and force.

"Again with the pain," Ryat99 muttered as he backed away.

"We have to help him!" Valkyrie shouted, "If you won't I will!"

"No!" the android shouted at her, waving his good arm to stave off the assistance, "You stay right where you are! If you're so desperate for this fight, wait until I'm down for the count!"

"So, you know how this is going to end?" the Inevitable chuckled.

"What is the phrase you humans have?" Ryat99 turned back to his opponent, "Something about counting chickens before they hatch?"

A trickle of silvery fluid escaped from the hole in the android's shoulder where there used to be an arm. Instead of dignifying the question with a response, the Inevitable pressed his assault. Ryat99 ducked backwards twice before body blocking the bladed arm (at the forearm) and backhanding the archvillain away. there was a whirring sound and a spray of icy mist escaped from various ports on Ryat99's torso.

"Augh!"

"Yeah, that brainfreeze'll learn ya," the android grumbled, "Never attack an android before he's grown back his arm..."

Ice extended from Ryat99's shoulder and formed a new arm. That wasn't so much the surprise. What was surprising was the complexity of it, the function of it. Testing the individual ice fingers, the android turned to the Inevitable.

"Surprised? So am I. I just learned I could do that!"

The Inevitable attacked again with a roar of rage. Ryat99 parried and feinted with his swords again. The Inevitable brought his fist up, wrapped in electricity, while he brought the sword arm around. Ryat99 caught the blade with his ice arm, getting half his hand cleaved through and his forearm sheared, but his torso was unharmed. His left hand caught the wrist of the electrified hand and held it in place he stabbed his ice arm into the forearm.

The electricity fizzled and died and the King screamed.

"What have you done?" the single emitter crackled and nearly broke from the volume.

"I broke the circuitry leading to the Tesla coils," Ryat99 rumbled as he walked back over to his arm and picked it up, "Good luck using that again, but I strongly advise against it. The generator will explode if you do it."

"Wallace built this thing with a weakness?" the Inevitable hissed, "He will pay for this!"

"Weakness? Brother, have you got any idea what it just cost me to do that to you?"

He waved his arm at the Inevitable.

"However... There is a major flaw, and I'm rather amazed you haven't caught on to it yet. Notice that crackle in your voice? How about maybe you can only hear it on one side? Can you hear at all? That was quite a fall we shared, after all..."

"What are you getting at?" the Clockwork King sounded almost worried.

"I'm saying your the inferior model," Ryat99 pressed the sliced end of his arm back to his stump, "See?"

The silvery fluid flowed back up Ryat99's arm and started fusing the limb back onto the torso. As the ice armor started working its way back around the arm, the fingers flexed back into a fist.

"That's... That's..." the Inevitable was at a loss for words.

"That's what happens when you have nanotechnology style robots as your blood," Ryat99 chuckled, "Each one designed to make sure the host body survives. Doesn't work too well for biologicals yet... At least, nothing that's been extensively published. But for machines, whose compositions are relatively simple and have a zero chance for mutation, they work like a charm. Just follow the schematic and go. And that's how I'm superior..."

Ryat99 produced two more swords of ice.

"I can fix myself... Where you... Well... All the King's horses and all the King's men..."

He rushed forward. The Inevitable stabbed his sword into Ryat99's torso, puncturing through to the back and out. Ryat99's blades caught and cleaved through the Inevitable's neck. The arch villain slumped as the head twirled through the air. The ice blade in the android's left hand turned to vapor and Ryat99 sidestepped to catch the head.

"... Can't put Humpty Dumpty together again."

"That's not funny," the head muttered, "And I can still control the body from here!"

The sword started to twist, but Ryat99 put a stop to that real quick by jamming his sword into the neck hole, smashing gears and causing other terrible grinding noises.

"No! What are you doing?" the Clockwork King shouted.

"I really wish I didn't have to do that," Ryat99 muttered, "It's like that logic puzzle... Which way will the arrow at the top be pointing when the one at the bottom points down. Well, it doesn't work if there's a cluster of gears somewhere in the line, they lock up. This... This is locking it up, and the body's just too complex for it to work... Even with you forcing it, Cee-Kay."

There was a moment's pause.

"So what happens now?' the King finally asked, all the fight taken out of him.

"Now, I toss your head to the Oscillators," Ryat99 replied as he put words to action.

One of the Oscillators caught the head like a football.

"And I take the body back to its builder... Maybe if you learn how to control yourself... Maybe if you prove you're worthy of it... He'll have it waiting for you. Just bring back the head for the query. Oh! One more thing..."

He pointed at his chest.

"Next time, aim for here. It probably won't work, it's got a lot heavier plating in there, but at least you'll have a better chance at actually stopping me. You just busted a couple pistons and coolant emitters."

----------

"And that's when the Clockwork left and your android carried off the chassis," Positron placed the folder down on the table and looked pointedly at Sheldon, "Much to Valkyrie's and my dismay."

Sheldon waited patiently. He knew better than to say anything at this point, it would only smack of attitude.

"Mr. Wallace... I'm sorry, but... Your behavior is best categorized as..."

"It's most definitely not villainous," Sheldon intoned, "I do what I do for a purpose... A purpose I like to think is altruistic."

"People were put at risk, Sheldon, including a friend of mine. A guy that should never be at risk!"

He steepled his fingers over the table and glared at Sheldon. the inventor gazed back impassively into the reflection in the visor.

"I'm sorry Sheldon, but you're suspended pending an investigation."

"I expected nothing less," Sheldon replied calmly, "I understand, and accept."

The next few weeks went almost like clockwork again. The Brutal Warriors were practically a business again, ferrying heroes and rogues not just to the two regions where much of their work was uncontrolled, but also to other regions of the globe where they might have to engage in "quasi-legal" operations.

Every so often, they even got to ferry Blue Steel. After just such an operation, Solo brought the dropship back to the derrick and made straight for the rec room. It was just about finished at this point, and the rest of the crew was busy building a new pool table and media center.

"Cripes, I need a break!" Daren shouted as he plopped down onto the couch, "Psych! You said you wanted to give flying a go, right?"

Levi didn't even look from where he was working on arranging cords and wires for the media center as he replied, "Sounds awesome, man. When do we begin training?"

"Tomorrow," his friend sighed, "After some of the crazy maneuvers I had to pull off today, I need a break. Oh yeah... Justin!"

The BWO Committee liaison walked into the room shortly afterward, trailed by Mr. Kolt. The large commando whispered something into his boss's ear and left the room before Steel approached Daren.

"You bellowed?" he asked irritatedly.

"Two packs of swarmers and an anti-armor missile gotta be replaced," Solo grunted, "And since your up, could you get me a beer?"

"No. I'm not your butler. And were the two packs of swarmers really necessary? Is it true you took down an Arachnos Flier today? Couldn't you have just hit them with the anti-armor?"

"Yeah, I thought I could scare 'em off... And I didn't take it down, just broke it enough to make the pilot want to go somewhere else."

"Well..." Steel was cut off by the sound of something approaching the derrick.

Something big. Something serious.

As the group wandered outside, Draven Erickson took the time to chide the Referee.

"So, how long until radar and sonar are up, huh? Think maybe you cna get that going this week? last thing we need is another Longbow or Arachnos vehicle dropping by for a casual chat."

"Hey!" Dale shouted at Jared, "I don't see you making any repairs, [censored]! You think you can do it faster, by all means, get right at it. I'll go help the guys fix up the rest of the base..."

"Guys!" James shouted them both down, "Now's not the time, okay?"

Outside, hovering above the deck, was the Sky Raider sky ship, the Thunder Nimbus. Below it, on the deck, was a small squad of Raiders. Their weapons were still slung and sheathed, and they seemed to be debating on who to send to knock on their door. Seeing the group, the conversation changed to who was going to talk to them.

"Alright," Draven sighed, "Rage and Dale will come with me to talk to these guys. The rest of you... Be prepared for anything."

Martin pressed the knuckles of his right hand against against the chest plate of Auswitch. It wasn't direct contact, but then, that was never all that necessary.

A blue glow erupted from the Archon's chest and fed into Martin's hand. He then pushed the inept man back down and put his left hand to Auswitch's throat.

"Next time, I take some of your life instead of just make you a little tired," he grumbled, "If I have to, I will bring you to within an inch of your life to take the fight outta you!"

"He looks like he's more lost in the sauce than we are," Martin grumbled, "That's pretty bad, Archon."

He strode over to the prone, agonized Council leader and leaned over him. Looking over Auswitch, he took note of the uniform.

"You know, these scuffs all look recent... Like he'd just got them in the ducts he just crawled through... No new polish, no buffing... Like his uniform was brand new before today."

((Ope! My bad... GRHGH...
Nope, I was wrong again. Nothing to see here.))

Post deleted by Mr_Grey

((Non-Cohesive Post Deleted.))

"Is everybody alright?" Martin asked as he returned to the physical world, his voice barely audible above a whisper, "Klaus, Dusan? Energon? Can somebody tell me what just happened?"

Post deleted by Mr_Grey

"There was a camp... And an old temple... Both have been devastated and abandoned."

Mauthe was explaining to Solo some of the particulars of his island while the cargo was unloaded by the Brothers, Ragin' James and King Slater.

"From what records we've been through and deciphered, Arachnos took the island from the Circle, tried to do some research, got assaulted by weird fish people, then bomb blasted the site and most of the local waters..."

"What do you intend to do with it?" Solo looked around uneasily, thoughts of the Coralax in his mind.

"I'm going to lead an expedition into the deeper levels of the temple one of these days, but for now, we've got armed guards making sure nothing comes out... Or if it does escape, we'll know. Our camp is over there, near the beach but out of sight, allowing for a quick escape to the next island, but I'd rather not go there. I think there's a Circle camp there..."

"You'll probably have to deal with it sometime," Daren sighed, "They might be planning their own assault."

"I know."

Brother Mauthe took a report from one of his men and looked it over. Nodding he turned to Solo Stryker.

"I'm afraid that at the moment I have very little to pay you with, but we do have some beds for you to sleep in. They're fairly comfortable, you know."

"Thanks, but I'll take payment in installments on that one," Daren sighed, "Sometimes... Sometimes you know that you gotta do something because it's important."

"I see..."

"So, you have a discount on the price... Just..."

"Yes?"

"What the Hell's with all the Excelsior? What do you guys need it for?"

Mauthe nodded and started to walk away. Solo started following as they went deeper into the forest. When he saw the destination, he suddenly wished he hadn't asked. He grabbed a hold of Mauthe and pulled the Dregs leader away.

"Do you realize who-no-what that is?" he shouted.

"Yes," Brother Mauthe replied calmly, "A brother in need of help... A troubled young man abandoned by his fellows... Even savaged by them."

He turned to the dropship pilot and looked calmly into his eyes. The eye piece that had replaced his left eye made a whirring sound.

"I intend to rehabilitate him."

"How!?" Solo shouted again, "I've seen the Freakshow, man! There's no rehabilitation for them!"

"There is," Mauthe replied calmly, "It just takes time. Even in Paragon, there are Freaks that help operate jewelry and pawn shops. It takes patience that most aren't willing to practice."

Solo sighed and turned away exasperatedly. Ragin' James and King Slater showed up a moment later with Brother War and a box of the Excelsior. A couple more Dregs walked up behind them, some with toolboxes and first aid kits.

"I hope this is enough," Brother Mauthe sighed, "Alright, gentlemen, you can get to work on fixing him up. We won't stand in your way."

"What will we be doing?" James asked as he surveyed the work about to be done, "Do you know we've fought this guy once?"

"No," Mauthe replied, "I mean, I knew about that bank robbery, but not that you met Shane in this form..."

"What are you doing?" they heard the Freak feverishly shout, "Get away! GET AWAY!"

"Oh dear," Mauthe turned and shook his head, "War, please restrain our friend and I'll call in the rest of the crew..."

"If you don't mind," Solo cracked his knuckles, "I'd like to help take a crack at this."

"Yeah, me too," King Slater and Ragin' James added enthusiastically.

"I'll need all the help I can get," Brother War grunted as Mauthe talked into his radio and waved them all along, "I appreciate it."

It was strange, Solo figured as they worked to restrain the delirious cyborg, all of these people that the world called villains, and they came together so readily to help even a monster. Sure, it was help that involved a lot of violence and even pain, but if this panned out, the good of the results would go well beyond the cost of violence... Violence that was much lower than expected, even.

During the course of the fight, Slater did very little. Somehow, Chaingunnz had gotten his non-gun arm to swing about again, possibly utilizing what was left of his repair systems to activate a last line of defense. It was crude and haphazard, but still dangerous.

Screaming, the Freak Tank swung his massive arm about like a club, trying to smash the people trying to help him because they looked like warped humanoid monsters. The fist came down at one of the impromptu mechanics only to connect with the skull on Ragin' James's chest. The skull didn't break and a burst of lightning erupted, wrapped around the fist and shorted out a couple circuits. It didn't stop the arm, however, so James wrapped his arms around the fist and tried to slow down its movement. Until the arm stopped flailing, the doctors and mechanics backed away to Brother Mauthe.

The Mastermind was watching calmly, his posture indicating little of his mood on the situation.

Solo and Brother War were trying to do enough damage to the shoulder joint to lock up the arm, but nothing was working. Finally, King Slater, who'd been circling the fight since it started, made his way to a point on the cyborg's back and popped open the hatch he found there.

"NO!" Chaingunnz shouted, trying to roll back to crush the tanker, "NOOOOO!"

Slater yanked the wires inside the compartment, causing the arm to stop. The freak continued to scream, but the fight was over.

"Brother Skrap, Brother Hood... Please administer the Excelsior."

The two thugs nodded once and set to work. As soon as the drug was into the tank, the screaming stopped. The medics and mechanics set back to work.

Chaingunnz, however, looked less than appreciative.

"I told you to kill me!" he shouted at Brother Mauthe.

"I know."

"THEN DO IT!"

"No."

The Freak screamed, rolling his head around violently like a child in the throes of a tantrum. Finally, his eyes focused on the Dreg leader. The anger was gone from his eyes... It had been replaced with hurt.

"You don't understand..." Shane's voice cracked a little, "I can't live with the pain..."

Mauthe looked to the others. Skrap and Hood shrugged. The Excelsior basin access had been clearly marked, and they'd emptied the box's supply. The rest of the group was equally at a loss.

"I don't understand," Mauthe intoned as he approached the Freak's head.

"Everybody thinks we don't feel... Don't care..." Shane looked somewhat exhausted, "They were my brothers... All of them... I joined after my older brother did, even... He died in a fight with the Council, I lived on. Life's a drunken, drug-addled haze for the Freaks, but it's not the Excelsior that does it. We live with the monstrosity of what we are because we're surrounded by other monsters, and we keep ourselves in an adrenaline and drug induced frenzy..."

Mauthe waved for the others to keep silent. He'd seen that Solo had something to say, and whether it was snide or not, now wasn't the time.

"It's all worn off now," Shane sighed, "and I'm alone. My family would never take me back... My brother's gone... And the Freakshow... They kicked me out."

"You need a family, I see," Mauthe sighed and grinned to the teen, "We're willing to accept you."

Chaingunnz looked up to him, disbelieving. However, Mauthe's eye, bereft of deception, was somehow able to make him understand.

"We'll repair you," the mastermind intoned, "We'll accept you. Don't worry, with us, you'll always have a family."

Chaingunnz nodded twice, then slumped his head. His neck was starting to cramp from the strain of looking up. Solo turned to his own brother and James.

"Dude, anybody else, and that would sound seriously cheesy... How the Hell does Mauthe do that?"

Keep up the great work, man.

--En Route to Brother Mauthe's Island--

"It's a quick insertion point some friends help set up," Solo Stryker replied to Briggs, "It's just outside Arachnos jurisdiction... Supposedly monster infested waters, but they don't seem to want to play with Mauthe's crew... They've got a heavy hitter of some kind that keeps the crazies out..."

He checked some of the readouts on his dashboard. Nodding, he leaned back into his seat to prepare for the descent.

"I... I gotta drop low real quick. There's a couple Arachnos Fliers headed our way..."

There was a slight lurching sensation as he brought the vehicle into a rapid (yet level) descent. A translucent monitor set into the steering wheel indicated two blips that weren't yet in missile or rocket range.

"Boys," he called into the intercom, "Get ready in those guns... We might have some company..."

They were fortunate. The Fliers themselves were headed to resupply Arachnos cells in the U.S. (likely Paragon City). They weren't terribly inclined to engage with the BWO Dropship, so they passed overhead.

"Whew," Solo breathed, "Well... That was a close one... Well, I'm gonna kick this baby into overdrive now, folks..."

There was a whine as the fusion engine started to rev up harder. The BWO members each started buckling safety harnesses around themselves that would keep them safely in their chairs. Mr. Steel and the Referee indicated to the passengers where to find theirs and how to buckle them in (like commercial airplane seatbelts).

"You've got about five minutes to get strapped in," Solo warned Briggs, "Otherwise... Well, there's not much risk of you getting dropped, but the ride gets a little bumpy."

----------

--Nerva Archipelago--

Power Breaker nodded to Darkvapor.

"Well, if you say you can take us to the Dimension of Mists and Husk Corporation, then I'm willing to take you up on that offer. Still... Naylor, keep the donuts. I'll see about getting you guys some more snacks... And, in case we show up again, keep the coordinates to the Mists handy..."

He started heading for the door.

"You want in on this, Ghoul, better come with us. We gotta go someplace to meet the rest of the crew, and we can't just take a ferry or a black helicopter..."

Martin smashed in the cell door he was standing next to. Anything he had to say was moot at the moment. He did not want to be blown to bits by the eruption that Energon had warned them about.

Diving into the room, he saw his shadow rise up to meet him. Again, that was new... Wait... No it wasn't...

Running inside, he faded into a world where everything turned gray. In this place, he could still affect the normal world and be affected by it, but he had a better chance of avoiding getting hit. Mostly, it was because it was so hard to see him, but when it came to explosions, it simply involved going deeper into the twilight, nearly making the rest of the world dark.

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Wallace's brow furrowed.

"Then perhaps we should get Nester," he intoned, "If they need medical attention, I can think of..."

Simmons cleared his throat and jabbed the inventor with his elbow. When Sheldon turned to him in irritation (this just hadn't been his night), the wizard was indicating the tiny female android.

"Oh..."

"Well," Ryat66 raised his hand, "If there's anything I can do, I would love to be able to help!"

"I'm..." Matt grunted, "I'm a little drunk right now... It might be best if I stayed here."

Sheldon nodded, then turned to Unai Kemen.

"If you would allow it, I would like to assist. I'd like to see what it is that risked the life of my little friend, here."

"I will go as well," Simmons raised his hand, "I would not like to think that I had not done all that I could to help this grand city."

----------

--Jade Moon--

Randall didn't know what to think about the newcomers, Ghost and Hammerhead. Something set him on edge about them, but he didn't have any hard evidence, so he dismissed the feeling as just some mild xenophobia.

He didn't have much else to offer at the moment, though. His concerns had already been raised, he was waiting to hear some suggestions before making any decisions or barking orders.

"Mr. Wallace..." Positron said as he walked into the dark interrogation room.

Sheldon sat quietly. Agent Wild had secured his ankles to the chair and one of his wrists. The other was on a chain that allowed for writing in case the inventor had to sign anything.

Like a confession or a notice of dismissal.

Despite all of this, despite all of the hot water he was in, Sheldon remained calm. He had to. His future depended on it.

"I told you before that we needed to talk," the legendary hero intoned as he took the seat across the table, "Of course, what with the attack and the reconstruction effort, our discussion had to be put on the wayside... I hope you don't mind my forgoing an introduction... I trust you already know who I am."

"I know what I need to know," Wallace said calmly.

"Our conversation is being recorded... Anything you say will be on record and could be used in a trial... Would you like a lawyer?"

"I should get one..."

Positron started to press buttons on his wrist communicator.

"...But I won't," Sheldon finished, causing the legend to stop mid-way to the last button press, "I would rather we discuss this, sir, without the influence of an individual whose job it is to simply twist and bend another's words or just simply drag his or her client away from the situation. That's not conflict resolution... And it drags out the issue, maybe takes it public. I don't need a media spin thrown on me. I just want this over with here."

Positron clapped the lid back on his wrist pad and rested his elbows on the table.

"Alright then," he intoned, "What's your story?"

-------

"What the hell are you doing?" the Clockwork King nearly shouted over Sheldon's shoulder.

Hovering in front of the inventor was what looked roughly like a human torso. It was still in pieces, and small bits were being added every moment as Sheldon twitched his fingers and rotated the machine to better see where he was fitting parts in.

"It's like that puzzle game," Sheldon replied, "Fitting the parts in without exceeding the line... I'm packing a great many parts into this new body for you... But I can't go outside certain physical parameters... I believe you wanted an athletic build, correct?"

The Clockwork King stared for a moment, admiring the new form for a moment. Finally, he noticed the extended left arm.

"What is with that protrusion?"

"Propellers, much like your oscillators... Only heavily altered for structural integrity and versatility."

The King stared silently at Sheldon.

"Well, you're the one who said he wanted to fly..."

----

When the machine was finished, the King was definitely pleased. It stood six feet tall and was the same dark brown as its fellow Clockwork. Winder keys across the body twisted and turned, gears within clicking and grinding. Electricity sparked and and crackled across the body, focusing mostly around the machine's right hand. From the left wrist, where there should have been a hand was a set of three blades extending from a rotor on hinges, but extended not with gravity, but with hydraulic pistons.

It still lacked a face, though. The Clockwork King stared at it in consternation. Two green eyes, vacant of life, stared back.

"How does it work?" the brain in a jar asked gruffly.

"Simple," Sheldon replied, "You just have to get inside."

The Clcokwork King looked to him. The body posture indicated he was incredulous.

"Yes, it's complicated, but there's very little difference between this machine and your robhots, save for the fact that all of the pieces actually fit..."

The King leaned closer, obviously irritated with the hero.

"Watch your words, boy."

"There is a massive catch," Sheldon continued, unconcerned because he was in the middle of the explanation, "When you're utilizing this body, you have a choice... You cna either utilize both this and your current body, or you can utilize one and your Clockwork army. Not all three."

"Why not, boy? I have under my command massive machinations, whom in turn build their own machinations..."

"Regardless, they're still roughly the same design as your smaller ones, and just as complicated. now, i need you to understand something... These things move largely because of this..."

He pointed at the brain in the jar.

"And I don't mean your intelligence. It doesn't take much brain power, mind you, hence the reason you control so very many. However, this body... Your own body... They're far too complicated to run them both and the entirety of your army across the city. Maybe you'll lose your giants, maybe a large portion of the smaller ones... But do you really want to risk that?"

The king immediately considered the possibility of losing his guards around the girl he-

"No," he answered, "That would be unacceptable... Except in the most dire circumstances... I understand, boy. I understand... Sheldon."

Wallace opened a hatch in the back of its head.

"There is space in here for that," he said as he pointed at the King's brain, "I suggest you give it a go with that inside, first..."

----------

"And he accepted?" Positron asked in disbelief, "he accepted to have his brain put inside that head?"

"Of course," Sheldon replied calmly, "He wanted to learn how to pilot it as fast as possible, and he practically dove inside."

"And he let you go immediately after?"

"Our business was concluded as far as he was concerned. I did an exemplary job and he figured leaving me with my hands and my life was payment enough."

"He threatened to cut off your hands?"

"Indeed."

"Well... What happened then?"

Sheldon sighed, "I knew it was going to get bad, but I didn't have what it took to take down the Inevitable."

"The... inevitable?" Positron was definitely confused.

"My name for the construct," Wallace didn't even wave for his dismissal of the term, "I got it from a non-player character concept in a roleplaying game."

"Interesting..."

----------

"Sheldon."

Kip was sitting at the central table of the Grey's Army base, looking more glum than usual. He was shuffling a deck of cards, trying to get a bridge to work. It never did.

"I don't get how Cedric and Roland do that," he sighed.

"How goes your life?" Sheldon asked as he sat at his computer and started typing a command to his two premiere androids.

"Heh... My 'girlfriend' dumped me... Didn't you read the tabloids?"

"You had a girlfriend? I lost touch for the past week or so..."

"Where have you been, man?"

"I... I've been in a hole, actually..."

Kip considered what he said, but went back to his cards. his work for the day done, Sheldon sat back in his chair and started to contemplate his defense.

----

Blue Steel flew through the wall and crashed to the floor. He didn't know what this new villain was or what it had to do with him, but it seemed ticked. Standing back up, he assumed a natural defensive pose and prepared to fight back.

"Look, son, I don't know who sent you or where you came from, but if you stand down now, I can guarantee you a fair trial..."

The sound of whirling blades answered him. The Inevitable smashed a larger hole into the wall and held the spinning weapons in front of itself like a shield.

"You don't recognize me, Steel?" the machine asked through refined voice emitters, "Not after what you did to me, I guess... Nobody would recognize me after what you did..."

It started walking forward, intent on simply chopping the hero to pieces and being done with his vengeance. Unfortunately for the arch-villain, his plan relied on sure footing, and Blue Steel was tough enough that he could stand falling a few floors. Raising his hands over his head, Steel hammered the boards and smashed through, causing the floor to drop out from underneath him and the machine that was much heavier than it looked due to the density of its chassis.

They fell through many floors, eventually winding up in the basement of the Steel's apartment building. He hadn't broken anything (he never broke anything), but he wasn't a rookie, and knew he hadn't done much damage, if any, to his strange assailant.

"Until tonight, I never did anything to you," Steel grunted as he pushed himself back up through the debris that had settled on him, "You're confused, son... We can work this out..."

"Smashed under debris..." the voice muttered, "Just how you left me last time... before the machines that make the city safe."

"What?"

"Maybe if they were here," the Inevitable pushed the debris away and stood, "When you went on your rampage, slaughtering an innocent boy who was only trying to help... I would still have my body... My face... My..."

The Inevitable looked at itself. It caused the rotor blades to stop suddenly and extended them into a three-edged sword.

"My heart."

Blue Steel's pulse quickened.

"Clockwork King," he breathed.

"Yes..." the machine nearly hissed as it approached menacingly, "Once you're dead, I can move on with my life... Well, you won't die, but you'll be so badly damaged, you'll be gone for a long, long time... Then a simple matter of sending one of my Gears to pull your plug... But that'll be a mercy after what I do to you tonight."

The Inevitable swung the blade at Blue Steel, who caught the arm and tried to hold him off. Unfortunately, the machine was true to its namesake, inching slowly closer.

"Give it up, cape," the Inevitable nearly laughed, "I am the superior model!"

The King got a notion into his head to simply extend the rotor blades and start chopping up the hero, but before he could act on it, a heavy blast slammed into his right shoulder from above. Looking up, he saw Ryat66 crouching on a ledge, his hand aimed down. A glow was fading from his three fingertips.

"Stop, Cee-Kay," the android shouted, "Killing him won't make her love you. In fact... She'll hate you for it."

"She'll never know..." the Inevitable sounded worried.

"She will..."

The android tapped the antenna on the side of his head.

"All of us Ryats... We're a tight-knit family."

"NO!" the Inevitable swung violently, throwing Blue Steel aside.

As the hero struggled to stand, the machine raised its left arm and extended the rotating blades. With a leap, it took to the sky, flying past Ryat66 and smashing right through the roof.

"Are you alright sir?" the android shouted down to the hero.

"No!" Blue Steel shouted back, "We need to stop him!"

"Already on it, sir..." Ryat66 saluted, "In the meantime... Might I suggest a good contractor?"

----------

"And that is what led to Ryat99 fighting the Inevitable over Steel Canyon?" Positron asked calmly.

"Yes," Sheldon answered, "But before I get into that part, may I get a glass of water? My throat is getting scratchy."

"Fan out," Martin growled, "Look for traps, look into each cell and determine what's in them. I don't like the looks of this anymore than you guys."

He immediately turned to one of the farthest doors from the indicated one and took a breath. He hated being led by the nose.

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

"One hundred members, strong, and one Black Sheep," Ryat99 rumbled to Essex, "Ryat Eighty-four is out there somewhere, building his dumb [censored] a small... Oh, you've already been told about that."

He tapped the antenna on the side of his head.

"Constant updates. Don't worry, I've got the totality of the conversation you had prior to this moment in my head, little one. Essex... Interesting name."

He turned to Sheldon.

"You know, for a guy that tries his damnedest to be stoic, you sure do dig a verbal hole for yourself when you're frustrated," the big android rumbled a deep chuckle, "Soul... An interesting topic to focus on for a machine. I never really saw the need for one, myself. I already can transcend my 'mortal coil' as it were, and come back to it. Still..."

He looked to Essex, kinking his head left and right as he gazed into her eyes.

"Huh. Nifty. Definitely a certain glimmer I see there that isn't in the average automaton. Can't say I've got the same, since I don't have a face..."

Wallace sighed.

"When do I get a face, boss?"

"You don't," the inventor said flatly.

"You realize we're going to plague you with this question from here on out, right?"

Sheldon's face scrunched into a grimace of rage.

"I'm counting on it!" he shouted.

His rage sounded oddly sarcastic, however. Cory started chuckling into his hand.

"Well, I gotta go report," Ryat99 declared, "then, I'm headed back to base for repairs. Later, all. You have a good one, Ess."

He started walking away. The android didn't go far away, just to Tina Macintyre, like he said. As he delivered his report, the professor frowned and started jotting notes into her notepad as she nodded sadly.

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

"In my own defense, like to think I have a soul," Ryat66 warbled, then he rubbed his lower torso (the area where most humans have a belly), "It kinda makes me feel fuzzy inside..."

"Well that's not a good sign..." a deep voice said from behind Ryat66.

When the android turned to see where it had come from, a massive android that was similar in appearance to Ryat66 stood there, Ryat99. He was muddy and spots of his plating were scorched, but he seemed otherwise fine.

"Feeling fuzzy, little brother," the big android sounded almost morose, "Sounds like something you should get checked out."

The big robot turned to the rest of the group. He seemed to take special interest in Sheldon and Matt, finally settling on his inventor.

"Howdy, boss. I thought you said we weren't supposed to be helping Matt tonight."

"Too late," Sheldon waved to Ryat66.

"I should have figured. You and Fifty-two have been little pains in the butt about those sorts of things."

"I only had to hook up into a computer..." Ryat66 said sheepishly.

"Well... In any case, I gotta report to Ms. Macintyre. The whole operation was a bust, and we lost a couple brothers. Sixty-Four and Thirty-two. They're in the base as we speak, getting put back together by Ten and Twenty-four. We need to up our ethereal defenses, boss. Turned out it was another blasted world, and the ghosts dropped by to tell us we weren't wanted. Not in so many words, mind you, but in necromantic energy blasts. No idea what hero or heroine they were yelling about... It didn't matter. We can't set an outpost on a world of ghosts yet. Not without more mystical support."

"So..." Ryat66 tapped his larger brother on the hip, "What are you doing here?"

"I saw the group," Ryat99 shrugged, "People I recognized, and what looked to be an altercation. What is this? The line to Reno? What's everybody so uptight about?"

"Boss did a good job of insulting some of the people here..."

"Oh. Yeah, he does that sometimes."

"I'm," Sheldon waved his hand in the air with his palm hovering near his face, "I'm right here, guys."

"I know," Ryat99 replied, "Never said you weren't, boss."

----------

--Jade Moon--

"We'll do what we gotta do," Randall grunted, "So, I guess the Vanguard troops are already dealing with the portal. Right? We should get to the ship bay and see if we can fire one up. If that doesn't work, the portals are right here and there's gotta be something we can do, now that we've handled most of the problems, and this facility is designed for research and such like that. There's gotta be something here we can use to fix them."

--Jade Moon--

"As much as that helps us," Randall grunted to Ineffable, "I'm certain we'll still need the support of the Vanguard troops. We're going into unfriendly territory, broken as it may be, and there ain't a one of them down there that would call us friend right now."

He gestured to the Rikti in their group.

"Them? Maybe someone down there."

Randall pulled his flask from his pocket and took a swig. It was a somewhat long swig. When he was finished, he looked at it, shook it a little, then corked the container and replaced it in his pocket. Stretching, something he did rarely, but found a need for it every so often, he turned his attention to Lk'Onik and Cher'tak.

"Well... You guys are the experts. Tell us where to go, and we'll help make sure all barricades are out of the way."