[ QUOTE ]
Jack was too fast. "And I have given YOU a second chance, you lunatic!"
[/ QUOTE ]
The words rang in Jacks head. He had heard words similar so many times before. Syn's earlier words rang in his head too.
[ QUOTE ]
You're actions say that you are a man with problems, yet you lash out at those who seek to help you.
[/ QUOTE ]
All the emotion that had be held back by Syn started to flood back. His betrayal of Master Wonderful, his fear for Crystals safety and his unbearable guilt and having murdered Paul. He wanted it to stop.
Jack suddenly looked like he was filled with deep sadness. He grasped Em but instead of attacking he simply pleaded with her. He seemed close to tears. "Make it stop. I can't deal with this, it hurts too much. Please make it stop."
Then his face changed looking angry again and he pushed her away.
--------------------------------
"Lets face it. They are not here. They must have gone or been take some where else."
They had been searching the lab for Penny and Erik for a while and had found no sign of them. Harris decided it was time to say what (he thought) everyone was thinking.
Erik could not seem to get the red out of his face. he quickly dressed and subconciously irradiated the clothes to hopefully kill any bacteria on them. Habit of being a biologist.
The Lost's clothes were grubby but functional for now. Once his dignity for the most part was restored he turned to penny.
[ QUOTE ]
"Erik.... what happened? I don't remember much past the core, and Dr. Vahzilok... where are we? What happened to your clothes? Where is Harris...? Cripes, look at the clock, it's been three days... what happened?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"Well... to be honest I let Doctor Vahz go. I... I was in such a rage I didn't know if I could take him in alive. I was about to blow his head off when I could almost hear Enid's voice in my head reprimanding me... Scolding me for sinking to his level. So... So I let him run. Minus his arms on his suit of course."
Erik sat and sighed. He looked up at Penny and tried to smile. "You... You were in some serious pain there Penny. I... I did whatever I could to try and revive you. Seems my body LIKED the power of the core and absorbed a hell of a lot of it. I'm sure I'm gonna feel it later once I'm calm. Anyway... you secured the core, but were very tore up. I... I used every bit of power left in me to recharge your system. Essentially I caused a body-wide mutation forcing your cells to heal, divide, repair, and avoid death at all costs... I... I'll be frank. I don;t know if there are any side-effects. But I could not let you die."
Pausing, Erik inhaled and looked about. They were close enough to the wreckage of the Lost facility that he could still smell the fires.
"As for this... I... I don't really know. I remember passing out, and then comming to naked on the floor of a Ritki/Lost lab. I was covered in a solution that contained cadamite and I "heard" a mentalist command me to irradiate the facility."
Erik rubbed his head and sighed. "I hate telepathic communication. Half the time you feel like you're talking to yourself and you can never convince others that you ARE talking to someonme else."
"I have no clue who this person was however. But I remembered the drug and saw what the Lost were doing... So I acted on instinct. I... I'm having a hell of a lot more doubts now than then...I... Oh my God Penny... " Erik stood and looked behind them. "I killed them didn't I? People could have been SAVED! Oh GOD!"
Erik fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands.
"I remember feeling the power of the raw core in my hands... and I threw it. I altered it and threw it at the first Lost I saw and it detonated..."
"Dear God in heaven what have I done?"
__________________________________________________ ___
Pauls' body paused as the beasts froze and grabbed thier heads in pain. He looked from target to target and then focused in on the figure knocking away the vampiress and the incubus.
"Target... Attacking threats... Re-assessing... Non-Hostile."
He looked at Crystal. And somerthing behind the eyes stirred. In a half whisper a dry voice eminated from Paul's throat.
"Cry... Crystal... Love..."
"Master's functions to come online in 30. Acessing target... Immobalized threats... Partial recoginition by Master... Non-Hostile."
Again Paul turned to the ghoul, the werewolf, and the lich.
"Targets aquired... Re-commencing attacks."
With that Paul open up full bore on the targets. he lead with a hail of caltrops followed by blast after blast of plasma... The werewolf could barely move but still growled in aggravation...
None seemed to want to give up.
[ QUOTE ]
Jack suddenly looked like he was filled with deep sadness. He grasped Em but instead of attacking he simply pleaded with her. He seemed close to tears. "Make it stop. I can't deal with this, it hurts too much. Please make it stop."
Then his face changed looking angry again and he pushed her away.
[/ QUOTE ]
"I can't make it stop," Em's face was intent. "The only way it will stop is if you face it - all of it." She looked at him, judging his mood, and seemed to come to a decision. She stopped attacking and instead stood still, just watching him. "We're going to get through this, take out the bad guys, and stand tall at the end. And you can choose which side you want to be on. You don't have to be a puppet and you don't have to be a weapon. So go on - choose."
It was a horrible risk. Jack could kill her and she knew it. But she looked at him without batting an eyelash.
[ QUOTE ]
"Lets face it. They are not here. They must have gone or been take some where else."
They had been searching the lab for Penny and Erik for a while and had found no sign of them. Harris decided it was time to say what (he thought) everyone was thinking.
[/ QUOTE ]
Enid thinned her lips. It was clear she had come to the same conclusion, and didn't like it a bit. "Then... we should proceed to the surface," she said, and her voice was heavy. "The threat here has been neutralized... and Erik will look for me there."
[ QUOTE ]
Erik fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands.
"I remember feeling the power of the raw core in my hands... and I threw it. I altered it and threw it at the first Lost I saw and it detonated..."
"Dear God in heaven what have I done?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny hesitated, then put her hand on his shoulder, kneeling next to him. She flipped up her face-plate to look at him: her face was tired and pale, her eyes circled in black. The irises of her eyes were an eerily pale green.... there was no doubt that there would be side effects.
But her face held a sort of wisdom as she looked at him, and her voice was both solemn and comforting. "You did the best you could with the knowledge you had," she soothed. "You did what was necessary with no one to guide you. Don't try to second-guess what might have been... you will drive yourself crazy. What is done... is done."
She took a breath, and her voice sounded awkward. "Thank you... for saving my life," she couldn't quite meet his eyes when she said this. More to divert his attention than anything else, she said, "I met Enid.... earlier, I mean. She was with Amy Harris and Sarah somebody-or-other... she's quite a woman. She was actually the one who insisted we stay... make sure Vahzilok couldn't blow up half the city. I tried to find her a safe place when I went into the core..." her eyes dropped. "I wanted to escort her up to the surface... bring her back to you. But I... I failed, in that. I don't know where they are now. " She was silent for a while. "I'm sorry."
[ QUOTE ]
"Cry... Crystal... Love..."
"Master's functions to come online in 30. Acessing target... Immobalized threats... Partial recoginition by Master... Non-Hostile."
Again Paul turned to the ghoul, the werewolf, and the lich.
"Targets aquired... Re-commencing attacks."
With that Paul open up full bore on the targets. he lead with a hail of caltrops followed by blast after blast of plasma... The werewolf could barely move but still growled in aggravation...
None seemed to want to give up.
[/ QUOTE ]
As ill as she was, Crystal managed to struggle to her feet. She staggered in a not-particularly-straight line towards Paul. The look on her face was impossible to read.
But once there, she attacked again, this time in coordination with him. Hoping that a double attack would accomplish what a single one had not.
[ QUOTE ]
You don't have to be a puppet and you don't have to be a weapon. So go on - choose."
[/ QUOTE ]
"No....I can't choose...he has to choose for me......." Jack was deeply confused and panicked. His mind was starting to come back to him but it was conflicting with the thoughts Syn had imprinted into him.
"Better not to choose..........choices only lead to pain......" It sounded like he was talking to himself, trying to convince himself of something. "Had to choose to save Crystal......now I don't even know what happened to her.........."
Suddenly a look of strong anger came across his face. He balled his hand into a fist and punched towards Em. However he did not hit her. He struck the wall behind her in frustration.
He looked down the tunnel towards were Syn and Master Wonderful were fighting.
[ QUOTE ]
But once there, she attacked again, this time in coordination with him. Hoping that a double attack would accomplish what a single one had not.
[/ QUOTE ]
Katete was still busy fighting Lust and Averice. He need some way to get their attention drawn away from him without them knowing what his plan was. All he could hope is that the girl who seemed to be a psycic was picking up on some of his thoughts.
[ QUOTE ]
"You did the best you could with the knowledge you had," she soothed. "You did what was necessary with no one to guide you. Don't try to second-guess what might have been... you will drive yourself crazy. What is done... is done."
[/ QUOTE ]
Erik looked up and winced when he saw the dull green glow behind Penny's eyes. He knew he was the cause of that, amoung other things. He looked at his hands and then at the wreckage behind them.
"Its... It's hard to tell myself that. There were a lot of people down there in tubes. They... they might have been saved. I know that's a foolish thought. No one taken by the Lost have even been able to be medically reverted back to human. Once the hybrid process has begun..."
Erik struggled to hs feet and sighed shaking his head. "I'm never going to know now. If anything, we took that drug out and the people making it... But... Dear God, I just hope none of our friends were near that blast."
[ QUOTE ]
Thank you... for saving my life," she couldn't quite meet his eyes when she said this. More to divert his attention than anything else, she said, "I met Enid.... earlier, I mean. She was with Amy Harris and Sarah somebody-or-other... she's quite a woman. She was actually the one who insisted we stay... make sure Vahzilok couldn't blow up half the city. I tried to find her a safe place when I went into the core..." her eyes dropped. "I wanted to escort her up to the surface... bring her back to you. But I... I failed, in that. I don't know where they are now. " She was silent for a while. "I'm sorry."
[/ QUOTE ]
Erik smiled then and rubbed his hands together. "Don't be sorry. We're not dead yet and we can make it out of here and find everyone. Trust me, Enid is quite a woman just like you described. If my boys are still down here, they will find her, and then they will come for me." He forced another smile... He could still hear the screams of the Lost as they were vaporized by the bomb he set loose.
It was a sound that was going to haunt him. But he forced the thoughts down for now... down until he had time to deal with them.
Erik paused and rubbed his neck. "Oh yeah... I didn't come alone down here to get you. Harris, Master Wonderful, Jack, Crystal, Paul, and SmallArms also came with. And uh... I brought my pets. Well they are bears really... LONG story..."
Erik looked abck at the rubble and winced again. "Assuming I didn't catch them in that... I'm SURE they will find us."
__________________________________________________ _
Many As One 2.0/Paul worked back to back with the woman trying to drive off the creatures. The lich finally had his head back on, the ghoul was pinned against a wall, but the werewolf kept on getting up.
"Gonna... Gonna rip you to SHREDS!" It howled as it dove for Paul again, and again was met with a blast full in the chest, blowing it away.
"Non-Hostile... Crystal... Memory banks recall target's name but no other data. Crystal... need suggestion of next move. Targets resist attacks and will not stop. Shall the power restraints be released?"
The hollow voice let the words hang, hoping they would be understood. The ghoul took the opportunity to lunge and grab Paul's arm. It raked the flesh with it's claws and bit into the muscles with its gangrenous teeth.
The wounds knit as fast as they were made on Paul, and the teeth were once again pushed up and out by something beneath the skin...
The Vampiress took to the air now hissing. All traces of sensuality were gone as her mouth strecthed to accomodate the vicious fangs she grew.
"WHELP!" She hissed as she dove at Kagate's head.
The incubus on the other hand, had slowly begun to melt the floor about him. It seems the love tap given to his solar plexus by Kagate had pissed off the infernal beast. He stood now, engulfed in flames, both awe inspiring and terrifying now.
"BACK AWAY SISTER."
The hands of the incubus charged with fire as he aimed both fists at the ninja.
"I SHALL ROAST HIS FLESH."
[ QUOTE ]
Erik paused and rubbed his neck. "Oh yeah... I didn't come alone down here to get you. Harris, Master Wonderful, Jack, Crystal, Paul, and SmallArms also came with. And uh... I brought my pets. Well they are bears really... LONG story..."
Erik looked abck at the rubble and winced again. "Assuming I didn't catch them in that... I'm SURE they will find us."
[/ QUOTE ]
Enid was clearly displeased as she led their small party back to Magni and Modi. The bears were glad to see their "mother" again, nuzzling her.
"Harris," Enid said, "You and Amy on Magni." Enid normally discouraged riding the bears, but now there was little option: Amy could barely stand, let alone walk. Though Harris had her arm slung around his shoulder, and though she moved her feet obligingly, he was really carrying her.
"We'll take the other." Sarah, for the first time, looked a little nervous at this, but after Enid had showed her how to get on the bear's back, she seemed to adjust quickly enough.
The bears started down the tunnel. The Vahzilok had been scattered, and they met only token resistance.
Then, without warning, the tunnel shook. Rocks rained down from the ceiling. Both bears were fortunately steady but it was all their riders could do to stay on top of them. Somewhere there had been a massive explosion.
Modi suddenly growled and turned - he had caught wind of Daddy's scent. Magni turned also, and Enid, understanding what this must mean, didn't waste time arguing. "Go!" She told the bears. "Go!"
Suddenly they were streaking down the tunnel at full speed, bouncing not only at the motion of the animals, but also at the occasional aftershock...
[ QUOTE ]
Katete was still busy fighting Lust and Averice. He need some way to get their attention drawn away from him without them knowing what his plan was. All he could hope is that the girl who seemed to be a psycic was picking up on some of his thoughts.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"Non-Hostile... Crystal... Memory banks recall target's name but no other data. Crystal... need suggestion of next move. Targets resist attacks and will not stop. Shall the power restraints be released?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"No." Crystal's voice revealed what she herself wanted to hide: she was sick. Very sick indeed. But the word was clearly a command, a command she expected to be obeyed.
She thrust her hands at the Vampiress and the Incubus: they pause for a moment, a blank look passing over their faces, stunned.
As they were mesmerized, and the others had their attention turned to Paul, she turned her attention to the ceiling, to the thought she had caught from the newcomer's mind.
She held her hands up to the ceiling, and gritted her teeth.
For a while, nothing happened. Then cracks began forming in it, becoming larger, the concrete roof swelling outwards as if pushed from the other side by some invisible fist. Both Crystal's nose and her ears were bleeding. She didn't notice.
The concrete crumbled. Through it came a round, flat base... the base of a pedestal that had been sitting on the floor above. The pedestal floated gently down with impossible ease, considering what it must have weighed. On top of it, perfectly balanced, was a small, decorated shape - a ceramic jar. The jar that she had seen in Kagete's mind.
Then, all at once, there was an enormous explosion, somewhere far below them. The ground simply dropped away from their feet, causing everyone to fall down from the impact. The lights went out.
Crystal went flying, along with everyone else, to land on her chin. The pedestal gave a single, violent jerk to the side, then dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. The jar that had been on top of it arced through the air, as gracefully and sweetly as a baseball from the hand of a loving pitcher....
[ QUOTE ]
"Had to choose to save Crystal......now I don't even know what happened to her.........."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Then find out! " Em didn't so much as flinch from the blow. "Choices are inevitable, even choosing to let someone else choose is, itself, a choice!" She was shouting now. "Who's going to be behind the wheel of your life, Jack? You or someone else? Do you want to save your friends or don't you?" She took him by the shoulders and shook him hard. "Snap out of it!" Then she belted him across the jaw, hard - but not to hurt him. "WAKE UP!" It was a strike to be used on a hysterical person, to make them focus, pay attention.
Then, without warning - a rumble vibrated through the floor at their feet, followed by a massive shockwave, knocking them all down.
The lights went out, leaving them in total darkness.
"Ow....that bloody hurt you stupid bint," Jack said rubbing his cheek. The strike seemed to have brought him back to his old self but his head was still a bit foggy.
[ QUOTE ]
Then, without warning - a rumble vibrated through the floor at their feet, followed by a massive shockwave, knocking them all down.
The lights went out, leaving them in total darkness.
[/ QUOTE ]
Jack was knocked to the ground. Quickly he got onto his knees. He couldn't see........he had gone blind. He suddenly realized that he had not gone blind, all the lights had simply gone out.
"What the hell just happened?" Jack shouted out as he crawled in the darkness with his hand stretched out in front of him trying to find the others.
Then his hands touched something....a foot. He just hoped who ever it was a friendly.
((Tag))
Tick-Tok was making his rounds in the area and then the power went out.
"Wierd" Tick-Tok said to noone. He activated his infared mode and walked deeper into the tunnel.
When he reached a certain spot he fell over and felt someone grabbing his foot.
The foot felt cold and metallic. Jacks mind raced as he tried to remember if any of the others had been wearing metallic boots but there was something odd. The boots were far too small. He let is hand move to ankle and felt tubes.....hydraulics......wires.......
"[censored]! Its a bloody clockwork!" He shouted and fell back as he moved to get away.
He lost sense of direction and in the darkness he didn't know where the clockwork or the others had gone. Slowly and carefully he got to his feet but remained crouched a little as he spread his hands out in front of him. Slowly he walked around trying to find the others. He tried to not make any sound so he would not give himself away to the clockwork or Syn if he was still close.
Then his hand touched something else.
((Tag Jennifer8 or Master Wonderful))
((OOC: I already know from the Whitemoore RP that Tick-Tock is a re-programmed clocked work but Jack does not know he is a good guy.))
Experiment had fallen down with the shock. After Jack talked about 'helping Syn', he thought he could handle himself, but with the shockwave, he fell down, landing in the water, slamming his head on the wall.
Though it didnt knock him out, it knocked him to his senses, and back to normal. "What...the....hell?" he said, and went to look at PDA, but had seen he had lost it. "Damn!" he shouted, then he remembered, he had gadgets all over this suit. "Lets see.. NVG...NVG... Got it!" then his Night Vision Goggles came on, and he could see Jack... Macbeths assistant... and a clockwork?
The clockwork looked different somehow... then, when he saw all the gadgets on it, he remembered. It was Tick-Tok from the Whitemoore appartment building. "Hey Tick-Tok! How are ya?"
Tick-tok stood up, he was quite befuddled by the voice he heard.
"Oh! hello Experiment, I was doing my rounds and something grabbed my foot!" Tick-Tok looked around and saw someone in the area.
"Well I guess I know what it was now...." Tick-Tok said.
((OOC: Jack did not and does not scream like a girl and he is not running around in circles. This is a more serous then comical RP. Sorry, Im just a little protective of the story (and my character) since Jennifer8, Palaquinn, Master Wonderful and myself have been running it for so long. Thats just the way I feel about it.))
((sorry I'll edit my post))
((OOC: I just re-read my post and I guess I was a little harsh. Sorry.))
((no it's okay, you have your own opinions and I respect that))
[ QUOTE ]
Modi suddenly growled and turned - he had caught wind of Daddy's scent. Magni turned also, and Enid, understanding what this must mean, didn't waste time arguing. "Go!" She told the bears. "Go!"
Suddenly they were streaking down the tunnel at full speed, bouncing not only at the motion of the animals, but also at the occasional aftershock...
[/ QUOTE ]
Amy was sitting in front of Steven Harris on the large bear so he could help hold her up. When the bear stared to run at fall speed he had grab hold tighter to make shore Amy and himself did not fall off (which he almost did).
"We are we going." He shouted, trying to keep the sound of panic out of his voice.
OOC: Sorry about the long delay in my responses.... work has been nuts lately and my father was in town to meet the future in-laws. Thankfully all should now be settling down to normal.
++++
[ QUOTE ]
"We are we going." He shouted, trying to keep the sound of panic out of his voice.
[/ QUOTE ]
Enid shouted back to him, "Modi has picked up Erik's scent! We are going to try and find him!" Even from here he could see that she was worried about her husband.
[ QUOTE ]
Then his hand touched something else.
[/ QUOTE ]
"Hey, that is my foot - wait a minute - " There was a pause, a rather muffled sound of breaking glass, and then a greenish light in the darkness - Em had brought chemical glow-sticks. She looked around but was not at an angle to see Tick-Tock right away. Instead she looked at Jack. "Are you all right now?" Her face was semi-suspicious, but hopeful.
((OOC: Behold a ninja's amazing ability to no sell ANY sexual advances.))
[ QUOTE ]
Her dark hair seemed to swirl about her pale flesh as she smiled a rictus filled with teeth. Her eyes became red and yet still held some terrible beauty. She reached for the ninja, to wrap him up, to embrace him, to make him hers now and forever.
[/ QUOTE ]
Kagete stood there, apparently transfixed. There was no doubt in his mind that the vampiress was quite beautiful. However, he'd been trained to ward off any advances of spirits who used both their natural beauty and mystical powers to bewitch a man's mind. Averice clearly had the former, but the demon hunter knew full well she lacked the ability to use the latter.
The vampiress didn't get a chance to come into arm's reach as knife hit her just missing her heart. The incubus was soon repelled as well as a felt a kick to his stomach followed by another to his groin. And that's when Kagete felt it. He knew where the "Ma Hou" was. The problem was that he'd have to find a way to get to the ceiling while fighting off the two sex fiends.