TeChameleon

*rezzes*

*hands Omega the Warner Bros singing-frog-that-only-sings-when-no-one-else-is-looking*

*points and laughs as Omega futilely tries to convince everyone he's not crazy, then eventually gets locked away until he dies of old age*

*appears behind Bladewing*

*screams "BOO!" into a megaphone right behind him so he slams his head into the doorframe and dies*

*throws the megaphone at him for good measure*

*rezzes in mid bludgeoning*

*grabs Bladeheart's head with his hands and Justice_Omega's neck with his legs, then smashes their heads together and snaps their necks simultaneously*

*backflips off and dusts hands, then wanders off to find another bag-o'-infinite-anvils*

Pfft... you call that a check? Let a Canadian show you how it's done.

*cross-checks Bladeheart in the throat with a hockey stick that wasn't there before, then hip checks him into the acid for good measure*

*mushroom cloud*

*rez*

Oy, do you have any idea what those COST?

*rain of molten anvils from explosion smashes entire warehouse flat*

Ow.

TeChameleon enters through the skylight and lurks in the rafters with his sack o' infinite anvils (and other heavy things) (tm)

One Grand Piano, coming down!

*tip*

Energon X scrambled awkwardly to his feet, the green glow doing its healing work and returning him to the fray. He nodded his thanks to Bladewing and rolled his eyes at Darkvapor's snottiness (or at least, that's probably what he did... the yellow flames billowing from his eyes flickered strangely, at least). Then, leaving the ground once more, he let loose a casual-seeming sniper blast that shattered the hapless, half-mangled Assembler Prince that he had partially crushed earlier, abruptly ending its final attempt to shake off the stunning effects of a shot of Total Focus.

That dealt with, he returned his attention and energies to the damaged Babbage, blue-white bolts ripping at the hole the Sword Colonel had made. Then he tightened his blasts, bolts becoming bursts, bursts becoming the blasts of exotic energies that gave his class its name. Pieces shattered off, smashed aside and then distintegrated by the strange, high-powered forces the Blaster wielded. Within very short order, the hole had widened until an unwary movement by Babbage would shake the whole thing to pieces.

Energon X kept up the fire, not bothering to speak. These were heroes who had been in the game for a long time; pep talks, rallying cries and inspirational shouts would likely have little effect other than irritating them.

Bah... that's the problem with fighting these animated junkpiles. Energon X groused. They are animated junkpiles- no weak spots to exploit, really.

He sideslipped around the oncoming ball lightning in a dazzling display of aerial agility, and swooped upwards in a screaming climb. Drawing level with the tops of the War Walls, nearly half a mile up, his wings abruptly folded, and gravity began its less-than-subtle work.

Halfway down, a brief red aura surrounded him as he began to build up his energies. Three-quarters of the way down, he popped his remaining red boosts, and his fists took on the familiar bloody glow.

[ QUOTE ]
*SMASH!*

[/ QUOTE ]

The blaster crashed into the giant clockwork like a runaway meteor, totally focussed on bringing every erg of his formidable offense down on the tin behemoth's head.

Then he rolled limply to one side, barely enough strength left to pop a handful of green candies, their healing glow wreathing him in gentle energies, half a step away from a fast mediport out.

Just... have to... hold... on... for a few... seconds... he thought, pain clouding his perceptions. Better not try that again, though, at least until I have time to dig out some more greens from the pile I hucked into cross-D storage... a dry voice at the back of his mind commented.

((Whee... Defiance bombing at the damage cap! For reference, that was a shot with the heaviest attack in the game at double the damage cap... 1000% TF ftw))

((EDIT- by the way, if I step over the line, I fully expect to be called on it- in fact, I prefer it that way.))

((... okay, I wake up and I find this? An editorial snit because the throwaway monsters were being dismissed too easily (despite the fact that I, personally, did not do it?)? Diov, if there's a faster, simpler way to kill off interest in an RP than 'you're going to follow the story in my head to the letter, actual interactivity be damned', I'm not sure what it is, except maybe GM godmoding.

Combine the two, and it's a good way to drive off all your players. "Gee, I've always wanted to be a bit player in a railroad plot that totally ignores my actions or edits them to better fit the plot." Y'know, or not.

You honestly expect us to suddenly treat the Clockwork as a serious threat with no real warning? To translate it into game terms "Okay, they're suddenly a threat that has the Council and the Vahz retreating. That would put them... eh, level 25-ish?" Hardly a credible challenge to a team of max-clearance/threat heroes/villains, even with Babbage as backup.

Just to reiterate, "Lo, they hath killed my wandering monsters with great ease; wherefore shalt they all be punished for the arrogance of a few." is a... poor... attitude for a GM.

Long story short, "Saith the script, Lo!" = "Saith the Chameleon, Bugger this for a game of soldiers."

You may consider my participation in the edit storm denied.))

((Uhm... is anyone NOT going after Poe? I don't want to end up alone at the D >.o ))

Energon X, still glowing and sparking from the temporary supercharge he'd given himself in the Vahzilok Camp, reacted... twitchily... to Babbage's appearance.

A lance of actinic blue-white power the thickness of an average man's waist stabbed out, slamming into Babbage hard enough to actually drive the monster back a pace, quickly followed by a peppering of lighter bolts as E-X leapt skyward, spiralling upward around its torso towards the head, intending to smash it with one of his terrific piledriver strikes.

Then the Ball Lightning hit, shorting out his techno wings briefly and knocking him, twitching, out of the sky as the sudden deadweight acted as a drag chute and killed his momentum. He crashed to an awkward halt in a pile of rubble and lay there for a second, stunned. Then he sighed with tinnily audible relief as the nanodocs inherent in his suit began their slow work of repair.

He scrambled to his feet, and glowing eyes fell on a luckless Assembler Prince that was homing in on his position. A pair of smashing overhead blows actually drove it several inches into the wrecked concrete, and a final straight jab ripped it out of its own private crater to smash into a wall ten feet away, bouncing to a loose-limbed, stunned halt. It got up again, but it was obviously somewhat the worse for the wear, once-bright brass scarred and dented, and the head nearly pushed into the ribcage.

A quick flutter of the psychtech wings to ensure they were working again, and the Blaster got airborne. A wave of his hand briefly cleared Bladewing's mob of anklebiters in a torrent of blue-white energy, knocking them into a scattered sprawl, and E-X nodded to him as he turned to Babbage again, beginning another rain of vicious energy blasts. Pity... the boost effect of using all those charms and ampers has worn off already. If this thing had attacked just ten seconds earlier, I could have done a lot more damage.

((Oh- the 'nanodocs in his armour' are just a reference to the automatic health regen that happens over time for any character in CoX- don't worry, he's not a Regen Blaster ))

Energon X flashed out of the portal next to Bladewing, barely managing to pull a red-glowing punch enough to keep from removing the teleporter's head, instead smashing a large crater into one of the ruined walls. He shook his head violently, briefly filling the air around his head with streaks of yellow fire.

"Er... thanks." he mumbled. "There's a huge camp of Vahz... over..." he trailed off and waved his hand in a vague arc that covered pretty much every direction from Northwest to due East. "... that way?" He stared off into middle distance for a moment, then shrugged helplessly. "Anyways, that's where all the Vahzilok have ended up." he finished lamely.

He glanced at the soulhound for a moment, then stared at the rubble it was perched on. "I would make a depressedly cynical comment about it being inevitable that the City Rep is dead and buried once we found her, but since that thing supposedly tracks via souls, it's not too likely to find her after she's dead. So... where is she?"

The Vanguard truck pulled up around then, and he looked at the Vanguard duo oddly. According to the rumour mill, there are rumblings from within Vanguard that not everything is quite kosher with the Sword branch... and these two certainly aren't helping that perception. Unfortunately, I can't spend too much time studying them with everything else that's going on, although I'll certainly keep an eye on them...

((Oh... uhm, wasn't saying *I* was attacking Karl's group- I figured he was plot vital. I was actually intending for E-X to have found the Vahz 'camp' by following a stray Mortificator, although at the moment, he's more interested in getting the hell out of Dodge than he is in fighting all 700-some Vahzilok running around there. Granted, he's made something of a dent, but that's not gonna last- even the big inspirations only last a minute or so ))

((EDIT- Also, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal for me to find the Vahz camp, even if it is somewhat North of where we were headed- a slotted-out flier can cover pretty much the entire zone in what, 3 minutes, if that?))

((EDIT AGAIN- Okay, apparently I wasn't supposed to find the Vahz yet; is there anyone that can teleport me outta there? That way the camp gets re-lost (E-X has my direction sense, if he got teleported out, the only thing he'd know about the camp's location is which part of the zone it was in, if that...) and I don't have to kill 3 big posts and leave people wondering what the heck Energon X' been doing all this time))

((YET ANOTHER EDIT- oh, just to clarify... I will kill my posts if it's vital, I just don't want to ))

((Erm... I was actually intending for Energon to have found the main Vahzilok 'camp'... which wouldn't be moving towards the soulhound. Maybe you guys found the party that Karl the Mortificator was leading?))

Energon X was in peak form, a bluelit god of death carving a swathe through the Vahzilok. Beams of hard radiance smashed down zombies, Mortificators, Abominations, Reapers, and the occasional Eidolon alike. "A little help?" he grated over the comm channel. "I've got about forty seconds before the boosts wear off and I get swarmed under by Vahz at my location."

A sweep of his arm, and a tidal wave of blue energy cleared a brief cone in front of him, earning the blaster a moment's respite. Already, the Vahzilok minions were having to climb over heaps of their own to get at him, although part of his mind noted that a few of them were getting back up after a short ministration by a Mortificator.

He lunged skywards, bringing the battered frankengun he carried into play, a heavy rocket leaping out and shattering a large cluster of the techno-undead before leaping back into the fray, fists ablaze with a crimson glow.

"Even a distraction to give me enough time to pull out would be good." he snapped. "Thirty seconds."

((... y'know, I haven't putzed around enough in the D in-game long enough to be sure how some stuff works, so forgive me if I get some details wrong))

Energon X took the apple from Inky, nodded in thanks, and watched her wander off. He raised an eyebrow at Kheldragon. "The way my life's been going lately, a more likely result is you'd drain me about halfway and then explode. Trust me, it's nasty when that happens." He didn't provide any details as to how he knew that.

The blaster tilted his head and looked at Kheldragon. "I'm curious about something... hang on a sec." He held up the hand that still contained the apple, holding it flat on his outstretched palm, and concentrated. Brilliant purple energy extended from his hand, coalescing around the apple, then intensifying until it was painful to look at, briefly obliterating the shifting shadows of the dancefloor strobes. Then it faded a little, and a vaguely apple-shaped cloud of greenish-purple energy was hovering above his hand, wreathed in the same purple energy that glowed in his eyes.

"I have no idea if this will actually work, but... well, flavoured energy snacks, neh?", the sound of his synthetic voice managing to suggest a small grin as he held it out towards Kheldragon.

As he did, he turned to Fraenir. "I believe that at least some of the arenas here allow for the various superpowered patrons of the D to bash on one another in a 'safe' environment- one where we won't sustain any permanent injury. It's actually kind of fun, and I would be more than willing to cross swords... or energy blasts, whatever... with you, should you so desire."

((Wow... I crash out on my first day off in a week for 12 hours and things move on without me... eesh))

Energon X remained stealthed, ranging far and wide across the Soulhound's tracks- while his HUD hadn't been able to provide any particularly useful information on the creature, it did have a solid lock on it. The occasional luckless Oscillator that passed too close got swatted out of the sky with such force that it cratered out, and he was long gone before any of its friends could try and find him.

He watched the Vanguard truck curiously for a while as it ground over obstacles, blithely blasting Clockwork to bits. Something's not right here. One of their 'copters could pass through the area far more easily. Unless there's something in the magic that requires them to stay grounded for it to work, there's another piece of the puzzle here.

When nothing further presented itself from the Sword's activities, he moved West, catching the last fragments of the rest of the team's battle with a few Clockwork. He shrugged and kept moving- they could handle themselves quite easily, it seemed. Something's bugging me, though. The Council will undoubtedly know about this- it's not as if they can't watch the news, after all. And they're too well equipped and trained for Clockwork to take down, even these somewhat powered-up versions. And yet they're nowhere to be seen.

He banked North and dropped to the ground, accelerating far beyond what he could manage in the air, especially with the faux-wings stuck to his back. Blithely ignoring the few scatterings of Clockwork as he blurred invisibly past, he scoured a few square blocks before spotting a scurrying shadow that was too large to be a Clock.

He followed it, more cautiously now, layering on several forms of stealth to better remain unseen, and rounded a corner.

"Holy [censored]!" ripped out of the team's comm channel.

A split second of silence... then an explosion rocked Boomtown to its shaky foundations and turned the sky blue-white. The sound followed a second later, a bass rumble that shook the ground and rattled cascades of debris loose from the derecript buildings.

He was wreathed in a violent, conflicting multicoloured glow... red, yellow, blue, purple, orange... as he snapped open a dozen vials of enhancers. Science and magic wreathing him in an unearthly aura of charms and radiation, he released desperate, roaring cascades of blue-white incandescence. Energon X had found the Vahzilok. All of them.

((*grin*... well, in fairness, Energon X is feeling a bit... overstimulated... thanks to the massive spike in his powers when they ran wild in response to Poe's energy field. And Inky's thirteen. I'm not sure what the rest of this lot's excuse is ))

((Inky has hair? For some reason I thought it was just leaves, so the drink-bath wouldn't have ruined them...))

Energon X jerked back at Kheldragon's rebuke, the radiant purple glow of his eyes flickering as he blinked. "Bully..?" he half-whispered. He looked from Inky to Kheldragon, and back again, completely ignoring Inky's new spikiness. Then his shoulders slumped.

He bowed to Inky, looking more than a little defeated. "I'm... sorry." he managed. "When you responded in kind to my teasing... well, when you responded by zapping me, anyways... I assumed you were playing along. I meant no harm."

He raised his head slightly, and a brief flash of pride made him add. "But my dislike of DDR has nothing to do with wanting you to feel stupid, or, in fact, anything to do with you at all, since I've never seen you before tonight." He looked at Kheldragon. "And somtimes I almost wish you'd drain me completely. I've embraced the game, but I miss being normal at times, too. The most likely result would be tragedy for both of us, though." he finished, shaking his head.

He straightened up, and looked down at Inky. "How 'bout a truce, shorty? I took things too far, maybe, but you've given just as good as you've gotten. At least I haven't actually drawn blood."

Inky's fist cracked across the front of Energon X' voder mask. Since the blaster was doing his usual hovering- really, he rarely bothered to touch the ground- he actually did a full backflip, the can of Sprite he'd fetched for Inky flying out of his hand. He shot up and backwards, grabbing the tin before it could crack some unfortunate dancer's skull.

"Oh, great, it's all shaken up, now." He blinked. "Oooookay, then." He floated up to the ceiling, hiding amidst the rafters, and took off the voder, dropping the Sprite into his dimensional pocket for the moment. He fiddled for a bit, then slid it back on and soared to the floor.

"Do you usually make a practice of punching people who disagree with you in the face?" he asked bluntly, embarassed by having to take his faceplate off in a public place, even amidst the rafters. He turned his back on her and flew (more slowly, this time) over to the bar, grabbing another Sprite. Returning to the small group, he handed it to her, then turned his back.

He glanced at her once again. "Grow up a little. Unchecked temper tantrums... especially over nothing... superpowers or not, are not a strong survival trait in this game."

Energon X gave Inky a flat look (or at least as much of one as can be managed with most of your face obscured and your eyes made up of a harsh actinic glow). "Dance Dance Revolution? If that bloody plague's made its way even here I may have to blow this place up on purpose, this time. About the only thing worse would be a Starbuck's."

He glanced at the big draconian. "Unless the machine's been specially reinforced, I'm not sure you could do it, mate- it's a sort of videogame that has you jumping up and down like an idiot to mediocre music to stomp on coloured pads as they light up. Frankly not much of a challenge when one has enhanced reflexes and superhuman speed." he added as an aside, winking to Inky.

In mid-wink, he vanished in a streak of purple light, reappearing a split-second later at the far end of the club. Returning a heartbeat later with a chilled can and a rather punky-smelling bag he called "Yo, fangs! Catch!" tossing the bag of plant food to Jawz. "Here ya go, shortstuff... see what I mean?"

((... good grief. You'd have to be twitching like a rhythmic epileptic fit to get that The Fire and the Flames thing o.O))

((er... Element_Master, where is your puddle? Also, a couple of us have left already... aren't Blasters and Scrappers impatient? ))

E-X blinked. "Er... sorry about that. The paper is to protect the 'sweet part'- chocolate has a low melting point. You don't actually need to eat the paper." He glanced at Inky, then dug around in his cape.

He tossed a packet of hard rations at her. "Here. They don't serve food at the D, no matter how silly that may sound..." he paused for a split second, glancing at DJ Zero. One got the distinct impression that if he still had a tongue, he'd be sticking it out at the nigh-omnipotent clubowner. "I keep this stuff for when I get sucked into another dimension or whatever... tastes like crap, but you definitely won't be hungry anymore."

Energon X rose off the floor and spun briefly, half-airdancing again, half just not really able to stand still. "Oy, shrimpy, Fraenir... either of you two feel like hitting the arenas for a workout? Even with Kheldragon drawing off some of my energy, I am still feeling crazy-jittery after the giant overcharge I suffered from being in the same room as that deranged jerk Fraenir was trying to stomp flat when I got in his way."

((Oh... the tech-senses are in his monocular targetting sight normally- in a HUD under the front of his hood in this outfit- basically, it gives the Target Window information that we have in-game to him.

The non-tech senses are basically just sensing energy levels/direction; E-X is somewhat sensitive to that simply because of his powers. The sensor suite in his current armour doesn't have an interface that he can access to save on space and weight- it's mostly just recording gear.

Short answer? Tech = he's seeing the thing's level/health/endurance and a probable name match. Non-tech = checking to see what, if anything, its energies (assuming it has any) translate to on a non-magical level.))

Energon X straightened up in midair and flew upwards a little, techwings working. "Ready? I've been wanting to leave for the last ten minutes. Point me in the right general direction, and I'll take point... and for the record, I sodding well hate this need-to-know BS. It's nearly gotten me killed a few too many times."

He circled upwards and faded from view, casually stealthing so as to be invisible to all but the most specialized of senses. "I'll be communicating by commlink from here on in, at least until I decloak." he added over the group's private channel.

((Long story short, what the heck are we going to be doing/trying to do to a guy that took down Statesman and a TF at the same time? Is there any actual plan being put forwards by Vanguard?))

Energon X gave the lizard a skeptical once over. "You know, if it wasn't for the wings... and the fact that you didn't get turned to slurry by eye contact with it... I'd almost think this was a Basilisk." he commented offhandedly. He studied it a little more closely, allowing his more esoteric senses, both techonlogical and non, along with years of experience-borne instinct, more play.

Then he looked at the Vanguard Sword members. "SOUL Police?" he questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Eh, whatever. So, we have our tracker... what exactly are we going to be doing to the bugger with the MacGuffin once we get to him? Any funky weaponry or secret allies? I'm fairly certain brute force won't work, and I don't really feel like falling into that stupid 'hahaha, your unleashed powers have provided the very energy I needed to power my doomsday device' bit, thanks to bad intel, again." He shook his head, blazing eyes describing a series of brief arcs, then settled back nonchalantly in midair, looking rather odd as he adopted a relaxed pose with the techwings flapping.