Mr_Grey

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Cory shook his head sadly as he saw Sheldon's dismissive shake. He figured the inventor had turned zealot, but he was startlingly wrong.

"The fact that I even consider the possibility of a creature having a soul should be noted, wizard," he intoned, "Science has uncovered nothing to indicate that we have any means of transcending this existence, and the fact that I am willing to believe in such a mythical concept would set most die-hard scientists on edge."

He turned to Essex. His tone remained impassive and neutral.

"Of course you can see the soul within a newborn's eyes... Birth is an ordeal. Even if doctors treat it like clockwork, which it isn't, there are records enough of children who have not survived..."

His left hand's index and middle fingers twitched a little.

"It is not my place to determine how one is earned."

Cory pulled Sheldon aside and sent a thought into his brain. The inventor glared at the wizard from behind his glasses, but before he could say something more, Cory sent another thought. A small trickle of blood escaped from Sheldon's nose. He wasn't used to having his mind invaded.

"I'm sorry," Cory breathed, "But you had to be made to see..."

Sheldon wiped the fluid from his face and stared at it. Removing his glasses, he pointed them at himself for a moment before placing them back on his face and examining the readout.

"I need to go back to the base, now," he said calmly, "Unless this place has at least a moderate medical facility. And no, I don't mean Aquarius. I'm not setting foot in that deathtrap of a city until I'm reasonably skilled enough to do so."

He turned to Archlich and Essex and bowed his head slightly.

"I apologize. I meant no offense... Except for the zombie wizard crack, but I apologize for that, as well. The things I said, I said through my own research, with my own limited view of the world. Please accept my apology, for it is the one thing I have to mend a hurtful conversation."

Cory sighed with approval. Things may turn out better now. He turned to the other two in the conversation and clapped his hands in a friendly manner.

"Your little friend here may have a soul as well, Archlich, but I do not doubt that Ryat66 and Ryat99, as well as the myriad of their peers, have theirs as well. Each android in the series is unique in their own personal way. Such quirks are not the product of a random personality generator, but of how each individual android views the world. If such idiosyncrasies are not indicative of a soul, albeit one of silicon and gold, I do not know what is. If they truly lacked such an identifying mark, then they'd simply be, and would have no capability of protecting others or even risking their own lives for a common cause, as young Ryat66 did just a short while ago."

"I did what now?" the android rubbed the top of his head a little, "I don't remember being in any real danger..."

"You were cut off from the computer," Sheldon remarked as he worked at a quick remedy for his hemorrhage (tissue paper), "The USB cable that attached to you was burned to nothing."

"That explains the error message I got after the failed forced logoff," Ryat66 warbled thoughtfully, "Wow... They had to burn the USB cable to continue... What the heck to you put into those jacks, boss? Hooks?"

"Sometimes..."

Ryat66 shook his head.

"That made a simple situation difficult," the android sounded as if he was sighing, "Boss... You need a girlfriend. And not one you built!"

Simmons chuckled at that. Matt McGinty was chortling from the Portal Corp sign. Sheldon didn't seem to react, he just absorbed himself in his efforts at stopping the blood from flowing from his nose.

----------

--Jade Moon--

"It is beautiful," Randall rumbled back to Cher'Tak, "And I'm sorry for your loss... And don't worry about what i can and can't breathe..."

He popped his knuckles and cleared his throat.

"I've been through enough poison gas to know that whatever this stuff is..." he gestured to his rock armor, "It's protectin' me from those inhalants..."

Hm. I coulda' said worse...

"Well, this is disconcerting..."

Brother Mauthe and his entourage were looking over the twisted remains of a gigantic Freak tank. It was bent over its own tracks and riddled with dents, holes, and other signs of a bizarre conflict. At first, they thought Chaingunnz was dead, until one of their fellow refugees found the head.

The Freak formerly named Shane "the Pain Train" Davis was still alive.

"Kill... Me..." he wheezed as Mauthe examined him.

"You poor boy... You must be in so much pain."

"It... It hurts... So much... With... Without... Ex... Excelsior..."

"We should just put him out of his misery," Brother Skrap hissed, "Better to put the Freaks down when you can than have to deal with them later."

"I hear that," Brother War agreed.

The massive brute drew a powerful war blade fashioned from a car hood from the folds of his trench coat and proceeded to plod toward the hulk. Brother Mauthe, however, raised his hand and the brute halted.

"No... We will help him..."

"How?" Brother Hand shouted, "And why? He's a Freak! they don't care about anything! He won't care if we helped him..."

"Yes... Yes he will," Brother Mauthe leaned closely to the freak's head, looking deep into Shane's eyes, "I'm going to help you, my brother. In more ways than you care to know. You will survive this day... If only to see your revenge, or to live to redemption, that is up to you... But I am not going to give up on you."

Chaingunnz simply replied with his weak epithet, "Kill... Me..."

----------

Ragin' James was thrown over the top rope as Dirty ice entered the ring in a fury. He was swinging his stone fists left and right, smashing his opponents, Ragin' James and Solo Stryker, like a man possessed. Outside, Project Whirlwind was trying to regain his composure.

"Come on, man!" Psycho13 shouted into his face, "Have you got any idea how much money I paid to see this?"

"You didn't pay a God damn thing!" Michael replied, "So sit back down!"

A gust of wind knocked the regenerator scrapper back into his seat and caused his popcorn to burst all over the collected audience. The other meta types pushed and shoved him, grumbled, but otherwise kept their eyes on the fight.

Gladiatorial combat had won out. Despite their misgivings, the boys just couldn't resist the draw of getting to pummel each other for fun. Welcome to Fight Club and all...

Ice was getting smashed into the corner by both of his opponents, despite the Referee's constant protests to stop, before Project Whirlwind hopped back in and struck the other two with a thunder cloud. Solo was thrown aside, shaking violently as the lightning bolts shocked and electrocuted him. Ragin' James, however, turned on the Defender class hero and charged with a (literally) flying forearm smash that sent Project Whirlwind hurtling back toward the living structure of the Derrick.

"Ooh!" Mr. Kolt smirked at him as he tumbled, "He ain't pretty no more!"

"He never was!" Psycho13 laughed.

"Prettier than the both of you," Project Whirlwind was pushing himself up already, "All i need is some drugs, some nanites, and some of those cool crystals that magically heal all damage..."

Ragin' James was about to go out after him before Matt slammed into his back with the Earth Maul. Since this was a "Powers" match, it was perfectly legal. James whirled around and caught Dirty with an uppercut. Project Whirlwind wet to do something to his distracted opponent, but Solo Stryker had apparently recovered, snuck up on the defender, and struck him with a condensed block of darkness that hit much like the hammer Ice had just wielded. Whirlwind, in his weakened state, couldn't take anymore and slumped to the ground, defeated. Dirty Ice was then easy pickings for the other two.

He wound up being powerbombed by both of them into the concrete of the derrick, something that caused the spectators to collectively cringe. Psycho13 still hopped up and cheered, though.

The count nearly up, Solo and Ragin' James hopped back into the ring and claimed victory on a technicality. There was little talk of a rematch.

"What the Hell, man?" Matt asked as they were getting patched up by Mark Shadow, "I thought you had tricks up your sleeve!"

"The storm cloud was my trick," Michael replied glumly, "It didn't work like I'd hoped."

"Well, la-dee-dah!" Matt shouted, "Here we are, in a serious fight, and you go and rain on them. Big freaking deal, you [frick]ing loser!"

"You're just [ticked] because you lost," James finally interjected.

"Guys," Draven walked into the infirmary and looked his friends over, "We got a job... Extraction in St. Martial. Get ready to move."

"Heroes?" James asked as he threw his shirt back on, the skulls on his shoulder and chest moving just enough to allow for it.

"No... Brother Mauthe."

----------

The Rikti Freaks had to be some of the weirdest Freaks in the world. So blase about the normal cybernetic enhancements, they had to go and get the attention of some really crazy flesh mechanics to get hardwired with Rikti technology. They probably had to do some evil things to get the machinery, too, so they weren't about to just give up to a group of pushover rogues.

Mauthe and his entourage, Brothers War, Skrap, Hand, Hood, Brick and Ringo, were surrounded, but they were holding their position. Gunfire shot out from the center of their circle, tearing into Rikti Freaks while War marched and hopped around them, tearing into the Freaks with his war blade.

They'd come to steal Excelsior, and by God, they were gonna get it!

The shield Mauthe had erected was failing, so he set up another. This was followed by an Acid Mortar and a Triage Beacon. The devices they'd stolen from Crey and Council stores had been well worth the risk. Mauthe took a few pot-shots at the Freaks, but he knew his job of keeping his friends alive was more important.

Suddenly, the energy beams stopped flying. The Freaks were down. Brother War slumped down on one knee, barely propping himself up with his blade. Brother Skrap handed him a green injector cartridge and War healed up.

"That was crazy," Brother Ringo shouted, "But man, was it fun!"

"I'm glad you held off from burning the place down, Ringo," Brother Hand intoned, "It would have been terrible if we'd lost any of the... cargo..."

Brother Mauthe frowned at Brother Hand's dark sarcasm. His lieutenant was a former Longbow trooper. He'd been caught in an ambush that decimated his patrol, and he was alter separated from his emergency medi-porter. Mauthe found him half starved next to a burned out television a few weeks later and helped rehabilitate him. Lately, his "heroic" leanings had been taking precedence, and while Mauthe hated the criminal life, it was the only option they had left to them.

For now.

Mauthe tolerated the former Longbow trooper for one very important reason. He was a calming Yin to Skrap's troublesome Yang. When Skrap, who was former Council, called for arms, Hand called for negotiations. Listening to the two bicker and argue helped Mauthe make his decisions, because they would both cover the pros and cons of any situation. When it came to tactics, though, they generally agreed wholeheartedly, plus, both deferred to Mauthe when it came to important decisions.

Such was why they were in his entourage. Such was why they were his lieutenants. Such was why he considered them friends.

Their only better was Brother War, who was largely just a powerful brute the Lost had thought to turn to one of their own. The endeavor failed and Mauthe's crew rescued the poor monster of a man from a fate worse than death as the Rikti started to turn their attention toward him.

The others, Hood, Brick, and Ringo... They were mostly new to Mauthe. The guards who'd been in Hood and Brick's places before were now dead, having long since sacrificed themselves during the conflict with the Arachnos Flyer that had raided their last camp. Ringo, however, was a veteran of Mauthe's personal guard. The man was a demolitions expert, specifically when it came to improvised weaponry, like fire bombs.

Brother Mauthe hoped he wouldn't have to lose anymore of them.

"Alright, boys, let's pack up what we came here for and roll out. There's a life depending on this stuff..."

"Hraaaaah!" some of the Rikti Freaks suddenly shouted as they got back up from where they'd been shot down.

They didn't last much longer, either. Brother War, weary of the constant fighting, hurled his war blade through the air. It wound up cutting off two heads and burying itself in a third's chest while he tore after the other two with his bare hands. The first three got off easy compared to what the massive man did to them.

"Brother War!" Mauthe shouted as the rest of the crew prepared to leave, "Cease and desist!"

"Yes..." came a voice from above.

Lights clicked on with a circuitous electric sound and there were normal Freaks everywhere. They were armed with conventional weaponry, but it was still effective conventional weaponry.

"Drop the Excelsior," the Freak leader, not a Tanker type, but the leader nonetheless, "Pappa needs his fix this month..."

"No," Brother Mauthe sighed and snapped his fingers.

The high warehouse windows crashed inward and a large force of less-skilled soldiers in Brother Mauthe's camp stormed the building. In seconds, the Freaks were splintered, first with trying to fend off the mob rush, then with getting shot down and beaten around by Mauthe and his guards.

Seeing that all of his troops were satisfactorily alright, Mauthe nodded approvingly and proceeded to vacate with a box of Excelsior. His troops did the same, Brother War carrying two at once while grumbling.

"This'll probably last that monster a week."

"No..." Mauthe corrected, "This would last something like him, and only him, nearly a month. I hope to make it so it lasts him the rest of his life."

"You plan to kill him in a month?" Brother Skrap asked.

Brothers Brick and Hood glanced at each other, unsure what to think.

"No," Mauthe replied with a depressed sigh, "I intend to cure him of his addiction."

"How? This stuff twists minds," Skrap was still incredulous, "I've seen it happen, boss. It only takes a taste..."

"His mind is already twisted, " brother Hand corrected, "But I agree with Skrap on this. This will only fed his addiction, Mauthe."

"My brothers, moderation is the key. All things in moderation."

With that, they made for the small island off the west coast of Black Mariah. Moving quickly and stealthy, they were lucky to avoid the patrols of Arachnos and other groups that would possibly have tried to take them on.

the sound of Solo Stryker's approaching dropship made his entourage a little uneasy, but Mauthe was confident. In defeat would come victory, and in time, success enough for him to take his friends into a better life.

"Greetings, Solo," Mauthe said as he hopped into the cockpit with the pilot, "My my, is this thing roomy..."

"Yeah, I normally like to have it to myself..." the stalker class rogue replied bitterly, "Where, to, man?"

"A new home, I'm afraid. I will direct you. It's actually a rather well secluded island. I think it will probably be our new home from now on..."

Martin rubbed his legs and the dark patches eroded away, revealing healed flesh underneath. That was actually somewhat new...

"Well," he grunted as he tested his legs out, "I'm thinking we have a mission to accomplish. I think we ought to head for the prison cells. There's a good bet the Rep's in there."

He glanced from team member to team member.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't somebody say something about bombs? And three Reps?"

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

"No one is born with a soul, zombie wizard," Sheldon replied coldly, and pointedly ignored Cory's shocked stare, "Not me, not you, not her... One is earned. My androids have yet to earn theirs, most of them, anyway."

----------

--Jade Moon--

"This is bad," Randall grunted as he looked upon the alternate Earth, "I never thought I'd get to see something like this... And when I actually do, I almost wish I hadn't."

He turned to Lady Grey and Lk'Onik.

"We've just been wasting our time up here, smashing things that were never meant to stand in our way. We need to be down there, putting a stop to that mess, and we need to get down there pronto!"

"We're working the kinks out of our 'teamwork'," Martin grunted from the floor, "There's a lot of kinks."

"Somebody lied to you, Naylor..." Breaker grunted, "Unless... Hey, Dark, can Husk Corporation teleport people through time?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Nevermind. I already know."

So he sat down on a nearby rock and started to think.

"Either Poe is messing with me somehow, which means he already knows I'm about to assault him, or he sent us back in time... in the future... Which means he inadvertently knows I'm about to assault him."

Alcohol filtration commencing. Current saturation: 18%

"Ugh... Well, while my body works the beer out of my blood... Uh... You!" he pointed at Brutish Ghoul, "I think we worked together a couple of times. I'm Power Breaker! Arachnos's favorite punching bag!"

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Ryat66 glanced up as Sheldon cleared his throat. Noticing the tiny pink android approaching him, he cocked his head to one side and pushed off the ground. Righting himself with a slight hop, he dusted off and extended a hand to the female-based android.

"Hiya! I'm Ryat Sixty-six! I'm a construction and assault android, well... I was originally a construction droid... A quick attack from the Clockwork changed that, though!"

He started laughing. Sheldon was rolling his eyes behind his shades.

"It wasn't funny," he groaned.

"We all seemed to be doing okay... Well, except for Ryat Eighty-four... but you shouldn't be meeting him anytime soon. Oh, hey! Ryat Prime sends his regards, boss! Says he found another one of those brute types Eighty-four's been building and shot it to slag. He just e-mailed me!"

"Good for him," Sheldon grimaced, "Ryat66, and his brothers... and sisters... is one of my androids, Essex. He's not even a year old, but he's been kicking the tar out of bad guys across the city."

"Good times," Ryat66 chirped as he turned to the pink android, "Good times. So... When do I get a face?"

"Don't."

"Darn."

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Cory looked askance at Archlich.

"Despite my prior loss of cool, I don't actually believe that you warrant destruction... Everybody's capable of redemption. I just lack certain emotional controls, and the pressure had built up. Not everybody can be Roland Grey..."

"I'd give up half the gizmos in my lab to be Zen like that," Sheldon sighed exasperatedly, "How that fat [dastard] has gone through life without losing his cool is beyond me."

Cory turned to Essex, took her hands and smiled.

"Why, hello there, little one. No, I won't be seeking your associate's demise. It's not really in the cards for me. But look at you! How does someone so young fight the Freakshow?"

"She's an android," Sheldon explained dismissively, "Oddly enough, much like one of my Ryats... Just a different schematic."

Simmons looked shocked at his friend. Tsking at the inventor disappointedly, he patted Essex appreciatively.

"Don't disparage the girl, Sheldon. If your androids, that lack actual faces mind you, can stand up to the likes of the Freakshow and the Rikti, then certainly this sophisticated little gem is more than capable of handling herself."

"I was merely stating that there is nothing special about her appearance in ratio to her capability," Sheldon remarked, his tone perfectly neutral, "Her skin, plastic and rubber. Her voice, synthesized. Her capabilities as an android were programmed from the start..."

"Much like your androids?" Cory asked as he pointed to Ryat66.

The diminutive android was on all fours, calling into the ground, asking if there was anybody there. Sheldon slapped his face lightly and started rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Ergh... That is not a good example of Sixty-six's behavior..."

((Nope, not quite to Mauthe's island yet. The crew's en route until Breaker and the other rogues head over after dealing with Naylor.

...

I hope...))

"You be spittin' lies," Power Breaker grunted at Naylor, "I happen to know I was drinkin' in my apartment two nights ago, moments before an Arachnos Sweeper Team decided to get their legs broke."

He chuckled at that.

"As for me, I already told you why I want to go there. I'm tearing that freak, Poe, a new [butt]!"

((I thought we had Horowitz get into the Dropship... Not that his single-minded determination surprises me (yes, I read GG, too), but still... Comfort to all, and how is he keeping up with something moving roughly the speed of a Black Helicopter? I just never picture Jaegermonsters as super speeders...))

Justin Steel again chuckled. Kipland Durj shot him a dark glare that was augmented with the Referee's.

"Makes sense," the scrapper finally said to Energon X, "Lord knows, I'm a believer in 'kicking butt in the right direction.'"

((Khell, Darkvaper's character has been following Breaker. He's basically been on autopilot for the past couple pages. Of cours,e we're only jsut now picking up again...

I bet you all thought I was gonna let this one die!

EDIT: May as well post a Power Breaker reaction here...))

Power Breaker's eyes bugged out at all the stuff Darkvapor did and said.

"Ah, well, man, I didn't know you could do all that. Naylor's really the only guy I ever met who dealt with alternate dimensions... But this stuff... This stuff is awesome sauce! If you could do all this, why are you a Rogue Islands regular?"

((Last post, then SLEEP!))

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Cory sighed, glad that the conversation finally had turned to less aggravating topics.

"Ah, yes," his voice suddenly back to its pleasant tone, "That was actually quite simple. We were advised to stay 'off the grid' to use the modern vernacular. What magic we utilized was subtle, often easily explained using conventional contrivances. Through such maneuvering, we were able to avoid the notice of the infernal forces that would have sought us out."

His head cocked from one side to another.

"Also, to avoid corruption from within, for everybody makes choices to alter and determine their destiny, careful study is made of all children within the family. Anybody with a talent for spellweaving is trained slowly and surely at first, the training immediately halted at the first sign of dark thoughts or selfish desires clouding the student's judgment."

He sighed again and shook his head sadly.

"It never goes smoothly. A child can be well into his teen years before anyone notices the darkness there, and by then he already knows enough to craft some useful attacks. The last one to have to make such a duel was my grandmother with her own sister, and they were both in their mid-forties, their fight weakened much of the Kingdale, New York region's dimensional stability."

Sheldon glared at the wizard again.

"You do realize you just gave away information to the enemy, right?"

"I gave away nothing that he wouldn't have already looked into himself. If he wants to fight there, he can deal with the Warden."

Sheldon rolled his eyes.

"Kip's been gone from home for a long time, Cory."

"Kip stopped being Warden long before the Rikti invaded."

Sheldon looked to the wizard, actually looking perplexed. However, his face softened and he decided his question wasn't worth knowing the answer to.

((Special Note: Martin Sanders is a Dark/Dark Scrapper))

"Yeah? But what about brews?"

Power Breaker suddenly noticed a slur in his speech.

"Huh... I'm a little drunk... Darkvapor! If you could handle this negotiation for me... I... I can't think straight all of a sudden."

Was the Self thinking straight before?

"You know, that's a good question... This whole escapade did just kinda spin out of control... Oh well... No sense cryin' over it."

"Look man... I got a personal endeavor... You want Naylor to help ya out, that's cool. I got no reason to stand in yer way. I gotta throw the group together, anyway, so I expect this to take some time..."

He leaned near Naylor and started whispering.

"Dude... I can get you a top-notch tech and magic blend computer system... it should make reading this portal here a cakewalk! think about it! I know people who know people that can get this thing done!"

He looked back to Brutish Ghoul and shrugged.

"What?"

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

"I never saw much difference between the two, magic and science," Wallace's voice issued from where he stood next to Kemen as he retrieved his property, "I saw you both glowing over there and decided to eavesdrop a little. Thank you Cortland, for the momentary mental link."

He walked up to Archlich and pointed at the airspace the runes had briefly occupied.

"I would keep those under wraps if I were you. Last thing you want is your temporary allowance into this restricted facility revoked. There's more than enough drones here to make your teleport to the Zig a very unpleasant occurrence. And you..."

He turned to Cory.

"You're usually better in control of yourself. Put those horns away. You're not actually scaring anyone. And YOU!"

He rounded on Matt angrily.

"You ever risk the life of one of my androids like that again, you ever disobey my direct orders like that again, and I will make sure you spend a few days in the pocket dimension where I keep Roland's arrows!"

"Sounds like good practice," Matt replied with a chuckle.

"What's wrong with you?" Cory asked suddenly, "Normally, you're so defensive..."

"I drank half a bottle of rum on my way here," Matt started swaggering away, "It's finally starting to hit me. Come on! Let's go see what was on that gun."

As he left, the wizard and the inventor glared at his back.

"Anything you can do to me, Archlich," Cory intoned as his horns shrank back into his head, "It can never amount to the migraine I suffer trying to train that guy."

Power Breaker smirked at the tickets.

"Pft, come on, man! People bring him Johnny tickets every DAY! Who ever considers how hungry the poor guy gets, huh?"

He hugged the technician with one arm.

"See, you do this for me, and I'll ensure you get hooked up with more snacks all the time. I will personally deliver a fresh box of Crunchy Creams every Wednesday at noon."

He glared at Brutish Ghoul, but there was still a surprising amount of mirth in his eyes.

Alcohol allowance increased to 25%

Apparently, the nanites had decided to defuse the situation before it happened.

"Besides... There's no reason he can't do both, right, Grant? Come on, be a pal!"

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Cory smiled pleasantly to the Archlich. He'd actually heard of the "rogue", but had never expected to actually meet him. Some part of his mind cataloged this as a missed opportunity to eradicate a twisted abomination from the face of the planet, but most of the rest of his mind was focused on the task at hand. Plus, there was the fact that no longbow, Freedom Corps or Vanguard troops were firing on the rogue or otherwise trying to detain him (despite the numerous "Shoot on Sight" orders, but EVERYBODY seemed to get one of those once in a while; even heroes).

"Ah... Yes, my honorific... Indeed, I am a warlock. An 'oathbreaker,'" he sighed at that, "Most people seem to only believe that the only oaths that one takes are the ones that are just and good... One hardly ever considers the pact taken with a demon to be an oath. In my family history, long before the 'Diaspora' that brought my ancestors to the 'New World', my ancestors made a pact with creatures most would call demons in modern times. Over the generations, my bloodline became polarized, those with kind and just souls, and those whose souls became dark and twisted."

His eyes suddenly blazed fire and he stared deeply into the Archlich's own. His tone had darkened considerably as well.

"Suffice it to say, there was a great battle. The vile ones were eradicated and the curse wiped from our blood. When the 'demons' came to claim back their powers, however, their enemies, both celestial and terrestrial, sided with my family and we earned the right to maintain our bloodline and our skills. However, there is still a taint of the devils in our genetic makeup... Something that usually only reveals itself under stress..."

A pair of horns sprouted from his forehead.

"It's rather painful... And I dislike doing it twice in one night. However, you have irked me with your remarks to my adept friend. He treats the artifacts he deals with as he would any high-quality vehicle part. Who are you to determine how magic works in this modern world?"

Matt walked up and waved to the two magic users, especially Cory.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Calm down, man! If he hates my ride, he hates my ride, that's cool."

He grinned at the Archlich.

"I just take it to mean he's jealous."

"I wonder if he ever is," Kip replied gruffly, "I've been listening to that dip-[dung] for only twenty actual minutes, and he always seems to have some wise-[butt] thing to say! Reminds me of some of the people I met in life who really needed swift kicks in the-"

Psycho13 clamped a hand over his friend's mouth. When Kip went to do something about it by swinging a fist up, Psycho caught his wrist and bunched it up behind him in a hammerlock. The ragged looking scrapper then turned to Wirespike.

"He... He's not too keen on pattern recognition," he explained sheepishly, "And he's not terribly apologetic. Plus, he's quick to anger... Not at all a good mix at the moment, huh?"

Kip grunted and the visible eye glared at his friend. Tendrils of energy flashed brightly from it for a moment, but little else happened.

"Calm down, Kip," Psycho13 whispered as he released his friend, "Last thing we need right now is you getting into a fight with the both of them."

"How would you know it'd be both of them?" Kip hissed back incredulously.

"Skull structure."

Kip's eyebrow arched at that, but he let it go. Grumbling he walked off in a different direction.

"Forgive him," Psycho implored Wirespike, "He takes everything so seriously..."

--En Route to Rogue Isles--

The Referee winced at Kheldragon.

"That... That doesn't sound too appetizing."

"Nor sanitary," Justin Steel mused from his plush chair, "Hardly the most heroic of acts, either."

Dale shook his head at his associate.

"Some things, Justin... You just don't say."

----------

--Technician Naylor's "Office"--

Power Breaker dropped a wad of bills in front of the technician.

"Today, you hold off on your daily doldrums of looking for alternate futures where L.R. rules over a blasted cityscape, the sole leader of a lifeless world. Today, you look for a place called the Dimension of Mists... I'm looking into a group of bit-players in the global scenario who think they're involved in galactic, nay, universal affairs, and I mean to visit upon one of them, an exceptionally stupid [dung]head named Poe, serious harm... I also have a box of donuts with your name on it if you can get me, and a crew I'm going to be bringing here, to the very fortress of the Husk Corporation. I got a few choice words I'd like to share with their boss."

Grinning, he pulled the box of donuts out of a sack where he kept most of his various bits of salvage and junk. The box wasn't quite full, but it was fresh, and there was a good mix of the cream and jelly-filled kinds along with the ever-tasty sugar-glazed ones.

"Hmm? HMM?" he shook the box lightly at Naylor.

"Gah!" Psycho13 shouted as Twilight hopped out of his shadow, "Stop doing that!"

Kip glared at Jake. His eye patch seemed to throb and pulse.

"The reason why we can't just nuke them is because the utilization of nuclear weapons (and similarly powerful or designed weapons) has far-reaching consequences. That, and we likely don't have a nuke, near-nuke, or nuke-like weapon in our possession. We're the underdogs here!"

He turned to the Resistance regulars.

"We don't actually have a nuke, do we?"

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Matt grinned back at Archlich.

"I built it. Didn't take much... Just time and materials. Back home I used to work on bikes all the time. Even did a stint of it in Sacramento, California... Then the War hit, I took care of my dad afterward for a while, then hopped on a plane here to see how my best bud was doing... Then I kinda got caught up in heroin' and helped a mechanic named Lou. He's been helping me piece this thing together ever since. It started out as a motorcycle with a minigun! From there, I kinda pieced things into it as I found them. Don't worry about the headlight... it only hurts when the machine's on.... Man, I can't wait to test it out in Dark Astoria!"

----

Cory shrugged as he walked with the four newcomers.

"It's not that I hate the Malta Group, it's that I'm disappointed in them," he explained, "So much potential wasted because of the diseased minds of a few. And they don't seem to have much to do with any of this, it's just that my friend and I ran into them in the middle of a surveillance operation while investigating another matter... And the two events were related, their spying and the issue I was contending with."

He noticed Archlich admiring Matt's motorcycle.

"Oh... A dark sider," his tone was still neutral to almost friendly, "I see you admiring my elder friend's conveyance. Is it not an incredible device? To think, that such a gruff young man has the skills of an artificer."

"A whah?" Matt grunted, "Cory... I already told you about that mystical mumbo-jumbo. Don't do it. I understand you're saying ol' Thundermaker is a fine machine and all, but what the Hell is an... Artificer?"

"You'll understand someday, I hope," Cortland chuckled back.

----

Ryat66's head cocked quizzically as he stared at the dirt. Sheldon started to say something else to him, but he waved him off and pointed.

"Did you see that?" the android asked while turning back to Sheldon.

"Unfortunately, no," the inventor replied coldly, "I have a bad feeling that whatever that was, it's out of our hands now. That's slightly disconcerting, considering that it may have been what caused all of this mess out here."

He watched the spinning rings and the portal singularity floating in their center. After taking note that the machine seemed to be running in smooth order, he turned and approached the security chief.

"Mr. Kemen, if I could have my shades back, please?"

----------

--Jade Moon--

"Hey, hey!" Randall caught a hold of Lk'Onik by the shoulders gently, "Calm down, calm down... Deep breath... All the madness of the past few hours is done with... Now... Okay? Relax, calm your nerves, now tell us what you have to say."

--Portal Corp Courtyard: Security Gate--

Cory didn't notice the significance of the machine's mannerism (or was ignoring it). He turned to Ghost with a warm smile before replying.

"My friend only informed me that the Portal Corporation people needed help with an issue... I was contacted to assist and my associate and I have been spending the past hour or so dealing with a group of Malta Group agents... Detestable organization... So unwilling to deal and bargain. So quick to die for a cause that they probably don't even remember amongst their ridiculous conspiracy theories."

He sighed before continuing.

"I don't believe they're involved in the current mess, however. The target I was looking for... It just twisted my stomach in knots..."

The Longbow officer glared at the wizard and Cory stopped.

"Everything I said points no fingers except at a group that's officially nonexistent according to the U.S. government and the United Nations Security Council. Even then, I said it's likely not them... Which could just as easily mean that it is..."

He sighed at the circular logic of it all. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he handed his card to the officer.

"Look, here's my identification, I believe you already met my friend who hopped the fence on his motorcycle."

((Hokay... I'm just going to assume that we have all the players we need on the hero side...))

"On your left, you'll see more ocean," Solo Stryker's voice issued through the intercom, "And on the right, even more-"

The Referee clicked off the intercom in disgust.

"He... He does that sometimes," he muttered, "So... Anybody got a good reason for signing up on this crazy trip?"

----------

"NAYLOR!" Power Breaker shouted as he stomped into the temple where the technician was stationed, "Have I got a job for you!"

Martin snatched Klaus from behind and yanked him away from the blast radius of the rockets. Despite his freezing their thrusters, the weapons were still armed, so when they hit, they were likely to explode.

"Down, you fool!" he shouted as he wrenched the mad scientist away, "Ugh... My leg...."

He really was hurt, but it was a dull pain, not the fiery kind from the last time he'd been shot. glancing at it, his leg was once again filled with that dark shadow from before. How odd...

--Jade Moon--

"Associates?" Randall grunted, "Allen's... Oh! Yeah, that weird shadow-wolf guy Nester told me about. Says he saved his bacon a couple times. Yeah, Breaker never told me much about that time."

When Lady Grey arrived, he waved to her and stepped aside as she instructed. It was her time to set the playing field now.

-----------

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Ryat66 crouched down as his electrical field shorted out and he was scanning the dirt.

"It went down there, somewhere," he chirped, "Hey! If you guys can hear me, we're having trouble getting the portal to work right! If you can fix that, it'd be great!"

"Ryat!" Sheldon shouted, his normally professional demeanor finally cracking from the stress, "What the Hell do you think you're doing?"

"I just," he looked back up to Sheldon, "I just thought... Maybe..."

"Never tell the enemy you're in trouble!" Sheldon barked, "Especially when, for all you know, they're the ones that have caused this mess!"

"I'm sorry," the android sat down on the ground and slumped its shoulders again, "I keep messing things up tonight..."

Sheldon sighed and patted his creation's head.

"You're doing the best you can with limited information. It's not your fault you're optimistic."

-----

The sound of an angry monster tearing its way across asphalt got progressively louder as Matt pulled up to the Portal Corporation courtyard. He didn't even flash his identification to the Longbow troops, he just hopped the fence and slid the demon machine into the grass to park it in front of the Portal Corp sign. Rotating the kickstand in place, he barked a laugh, hopped off the machine and started strolling to the special portal machine.

Out of the sky came Cory Simmons, who arced toward the gate after dropping the rifle to Matt. The scrapper caught it in one hand, the ethereal conversation they'd been having to coordinate the stunt mostly unknown to outsiders.

Seeing the Archlich, Matt gave him a quick salute.

"Here," Matt said as he tossed the rifle to one of the techs, "There's some kind of computer in this with information on something that might be messing with all of this. I got it offa some Malta Goons I had to kick the crap out of. It's got some kinda microphone in it... They were spying on somebody I drove past while on my way here that first time. It just felt odd, so I had a friend look in on it, then he got into a fight... It was just a huge cluster[frig]."

He gestured to the rifle in the confused tech's hands.

"Got results, though.

-----

Cory, grinning, floated down to the gate and proffered his identification.

"Gentlemen, it seems I will be conducting business here, tonight. Ah, is it not distressing, how sometimes the most life-threatening and important situations arise just as you're trying to spend a quiet evening with the one you love?"

He turned to the peculiar individuals and quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh, hello. Are you here to assist as well?"