"Heroes! I mean no harm!" Yet. "Help me destroy the main Base of the insulant fools who dare attack me! We will show them DOOOOOOOM!" I really, really hate pretending to be a hero.
Mutai Kid and Billyboy glanced at one another and then at Iron Fist, but did not stop for the villian, instead they continued to follow the Redoubtable Defender's trail.
"I don't know about you Billyboy, but I've just about had it with these meglomaniacs! It was bad enough worrying about Lord Dire by himself, now this guy with all these troops, he wants us to 'trust' him? This hero wasn't born yesterday! I put more faith in good ol' RD there."
The two heroes quickened their pace away from an irrate Iron Fist, leaving him to fume and fuss about their snub. But he thought that in their shoes he probably looked a bit to formidable to trust, and besides apparently they were already headed in the right direction towards Nemesis true base of operations.
"It is that balance, the ground between EB and AV, where the PvP struggle should exist. Where a 1v1 becomes a struggle of equals, and 1vMany gives the benefit to the 1."
Freedom: Fireocity, Electro Imp, Gotya
Infinity: Meteor Storm, Mutai Kid, General Bot, Da Smasher
Iron Fist turned around at the two heroes. "I don't know how you read my minds but..." He picked them up by the scruff of their necks and they suddenly felt warm. Very warm. "...You will help me destroy Nemesis NOW!"
Suddenly, Iron Fist started glowing very brightly. All his soldiers scrambled away running like the cowards they were. They knew what was coming. Unfortunately the heroes didn't.
Iron Fist dropped the two who were insulant enough to mock him. He clutched his head in apparent aungish, opening his mouth in a silent scream. A giant thermonuclear explosion destroyed the city block while radiating the entire Steel Canyon in deadly waves. The heroes were nowhere to be seen.
*deep beneath Paragon City the abandoned sewer sections.*
Lord Dire Blasted a last rikti soldier from his path. the rest scattered at his approach. He had been single mindedly tracking the source of the Steam fusion energy and felt he was getting closer.
Delphi fed him telemetry updating him constantly. He knew Mutai Kid, Billyboy and Hellcat *looking remarkably well for a dead man.* were closing on the same location. the shield drone that shadowed Mutai Kidproviding Delphi with the information they needed.
" Where are you, you Prussian pretender. Your doom stalks you." he said to himself though nonone else was close enough to Hear.
Taking a brief moment he checked his armors sytems. they were all acting at peak proficiency despite the hours of combat.
this had been a debacle for Nemesis but the Prussian was determined to win. Well Let him be determined He faced Lord Dire. And it was the Might of Lord Dire that would carry this day.
As he advanced upon the source of the power emmisions dark figures with glowing eyes watched form the shadows but did not heed his progress. too afraid to get the attention of that which stalked the sewers heading for an unknown goal.
So you mean you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword; and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?
Dubbed first knight of pep-istan by her majesty Queen Pepcat. first catmonaut to walk onna moon.
PENGUIN!!!...(^)>
...............C(...)D
.................m.m
Mutai Kid and Billyboy found themselves standing at the ramp of the Green line train. Behind them the shockwaves from the implosion of Iron Fist could be heard and intense heat of the mini-nuclear explosion even reached their position. Billyboy was less effected than Mutai Kid, absorbing some of the radiant heat as part of the natural process of his body. MK's armored suit did it's best to sheild him, but even so he received burns to some of the less shielded portions of his body. A radiant aura began to glow around the two heroes and they turned around to see who had saved them.
Standing in front of them was a short, well actually a very short man sporting a third eye and a long flowing beard wearing a cloak and hood to cover his bald head. "So Mutai, it seems you need my help again."
"My God, where'd you come from Psi?" Psi was short for Psiearth. ((He's my Earth/Emp controller who is an immortal. He has the typical Emp powers with both flight and teleport capabilities. He has psychic powers to read and locate brainwaves, especially helpful when recovering injured heroes.))
"My dear boy I sensed some danger here in Steel Canyon early this morning, but have been away on Peregrine Island, that ferry from PI is so slow I nearly didn't catch the train in time from Talos. I arrived only moments ago and sensed you two were about to become fried capons if I didn't act. The aura around you should heal those wounds quickly, but please tell me what's going on here?" The wiley old man leaned back against the railing and eyed the two young men.
Mutai Kid filled Psiearth in on the day's events, with Billyboy filling in details from his perspective. By the time they had finished the burns on Mutai Kid had healed and he felt rejuvenated.
"You say Lord Dire and Iron Fist are prowling around as well as Nemesis? I can't believe those two are still at it. I wouldn't trust any one of them, and it seems you got on the bad side of Iron Fist, he's not one you want to anger as you can well see."
"As for Nemesis, I'm picking up telepathic streams of consciousness coming from below the city. I dare say he's got more brewing below the surface than either Lord Dire or Iron Fist would believe. I suggest we find the Redoubtable Defender, Positron, and Valkyrie, and I'll see if I can pick up Valiant's brain activity, he may be in need of some assistance."
The trio thus set off in search of Valiant and the other heroes fighting what would be a day of battle well remembered in the history books.
"It is that balance, the ground between EB and AV, where the PvP struggle should exist. Where a 1v1 becomes a struggle of equals, and 1vMany gives the benefit to the 1."
Freedom: Fireocity, Electro Imp, Gotya
Infinity: Meteor Storm, Mutai Kid, General Bot, Da Smasher
Iron Fist slumped down to the ground, the last of his energy exploding from his body. The only bad part of his powers was what happened just then. After a few months, his energy needs to be stored in fuel capsules. The good part of that is that it gives the army a free supply of energy. Unfortunately, if he is extremely angry or becomes extremely moody but does not use his energy somehow, a mini-nuke will erupt from his body and can destroy over ten blocks if Fist is angry enough. Thankfully, that has only happened once in his life. The day he destroyed the hospital. It causes him almost unbearable pain, using all his energy at the same time.
"Need...help...get me...to...base..." But none of his troops were there. Amazingly, his gloves were unmelted, they even looked better than before. "Cursed troops...cursed America...cursed Moscow with their cursed experiments...cursed Lord Dire with his cursed plans of trying to take over cursed Paragon City..."
Thats when his plans hit him. "Wait...Paragon City. The place where heroes live." This is a new low. I couldn't ask one for help!
"But I need to survive..."
No! I cannot, will not do it.
"I must do it! I must...continue...the orrrrderrrrr..." The rest of Iron Fist's words were slurred. As he fainted a short man with a beard walked up to him with two taller ones.
(OOC: Sorry I haven't been responding much, been really sick the past few days. I'll try to respond more!)
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Vim shrieked as she looked at the devastation Iron Fist had caused. "NONONONONONONONONONO!!! Billyboy was MINE! There isn't even a trace of him left, I won't get my bounty! Damn it!"
She slammed her fist into the ground, sending large cracks through the earth for several blocks.
"That's it, whoever that is is dead!" Vim screamed as she ran forward toward the downed figure of Iron Fist.
------------------------------
"What a freaking brutal dude!" Billyboy said as he shook his head. "He just sacrificed all of his men to take us out! This day just keeps getting worse as it goes on, let's get moving!"
With that, the hero shot off into the air and in search of the Redoubtable Defender. Unfortuanatley, the energy signals around Steel Canyon were now so mingled with irradiation that he could hardly distinguish any one from another. It took several minutes of slow going, but soon they found the man floating in the air, looking as if he had been waiting for them.
On their hunt for Valiant and the other heroes the trio of Psiearth, Mutai Kid and Billyboy had come across Iron Fist. Taking pity on the near helpless figure, Psiearth generated an evervating field around the fallen villian which would restore some of Iron Fist's health and endurance, but not before the three heroes would be clear of him and out of his range. As Billyboy sprung off continuing the search for the Redoubtable Defender, Psiearth and Mutai Kid quickly followed him.
----------
Valiant had been 2 blocks away when Iron Fist blew, the shockwave knocking him out of the sky and onto the top of one of the apartment buildings. If not for his nearly invulnerable nature he would have been severely hurt, as it was his outfit was a bit singed. Regaining his footing, Valiant walked over to the edge of the building. Looking below, he spotted Silver Skull skulking around the back alley.
Hmm, looks like another assassin, I wonder who his target is?
Nearby on the street were the pair of assassins he'd been following, they seemed to be approaching a figure sprawled on the ground in the midst of the devestation.
"It is that balance, the ground between EB and AV, where the PvP struggle should exist. Where a 1v1 becomes a struggle of equals, and 1vMany gives the benefit to the 1."
Freedom: Fireocity, Electro Imp, Gotya
Infinity: Meteor Storm, Mutai Kid, General Bot, Da Smasher
((sok billy hope you feel better soon. think its gonna be slow during the holidays anyways. also still curious when Hermods gonna post here again. Ill post for Lord Dire soon.))
So you mean you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword; and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?
Dubbed first knight of pep-istan by her majesty Queen Pepcat. first catmonaut to walk onna moon.
PENGUIN!!!...(^)>
...............C(...)D
.................m.m
OOC: First RP in these forums for me. This should be interesting.
BIC: Up in orbit around the earth a satellite whirred and focused it's camera on Paragon City. As higher detail lenses flicked on it eventually saw the scene of devastation that had overcome Steel Canyon. Nemesis forces fighting heroes and some other army in the streets, large explosions, and a noticable lack of police or military presense. The satellite retracted its camera and used its positioning thrusters to rotate back into its original place as the foreign operator left its systems.
Back down in the Rogue Isles a humanoid figure got up from the bare metal chair and pulled a wire out of its neck. It left the computer filled room that is was in and stalked down various corridors, hall lights flashing off its multi-hued metallic body. Eventually it reached the teleporter room and began flicking switches and pressing a few buttons.
"I'd always been saving this trick for a rainy day. But I think it'll be well used in this instance." remarked the figure to itself in a harsh, vox produced voice.
As the teleporter hummed to life the android turned and shouted down the hall. "You coming, Ghoul? Won't be much of a party without you!"
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Huffed the gray skinned brute as he ran into the room, hurridly strapping on his lone right arm pauldron. "I saw the vids you sent me. Is Paragon City really that messed up?"
"Apparently. Now come. This might be a chance for me to get a hand on some of that tech I've been looking for."
"But that doesn't seem like a very good reason to go." Muttered the some-what thick skulled zombie.
"You're right. I've got my reasons."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
With a dull flash the two villains appeared on a building in central Steel Canyon where the two giant burrower Jaeger's were busy defending a swarm of Nemesis soldiers that filed up from a giant hole in the ground. The multi-colored robot turned to Brutish Ghoul.
"Here's the deal. For now we're going to help those heroes fight off Nemesis. The teleporter loophole I've used to get us here will expire in about an hour. So until then use these transponders here," A small metal box was thrust into the brute's hand. "Use the transponders here to teleport a severely damaged or destroyed Nemesis bot to the base. Don't go for the big ones, go for pieces of the big ones."
"You got that, Toy." Grinned Ghoul. "I've been looking for a chance to take down some of these old style goons."
That being said, Ghoul bent his legs and leaped off the building, landing on top of one of the giant Jaegers. He proceeded to summon the negative energy he could control into his hands and started ripping his way into the Jaeger's body.
Back up top, Toy Dispenser activated his anti-grav unit and flew into the fray. He landed beside an apparently wounded villain and fired a few blasts with his laser rifle into the nearest Nemesis. As the soldiers recoiled from this sudden assault a trio of metal crates slammed down into their midst. The three Battle Drones emerged from their entry capsules with their lasers blazing, felling the small squad in short order.
"Mind if we lend a hand?" asked Toy of the reviving villain.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Valiant's eyes snapped open.
"What just... I... What?"
He was, to say the least, a little disoriented. He sat up lopsided.
"Funny... I could've sworn a I had an arm there earlier..."
He glanced around at the crater around him.
"Guess it's a good thing Positron had Steel evacuated..."
He walked over to him arm, placing it back on his shoulder. He felt it re-knit with a light whirr. An angry figure at the side of the crater caught his eye.
"Why, hello Vim..."
He smiled; finally he was going to get some action.
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((ooc: 'ello all, are you open to a newcomer?
I know all the rules of RPing, so don't fret. I've managed to do just about all genres of Rp... except CoH. And I discovered that I like action. A lot of action. Blood and guts and gore and wounds and suspense type of action..
It's all good.
So, I browsed this forum, read a good chunk of posts, and decided I wanted to join.
Do yas have any objections?))
((not at all, hop right in. just follow the rules established in the first post then enjoy. and welcome 
))
So you mean you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword; and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?
Dubbed first knight of pep-istan by her majesty Queen Pepcat. first catmonaut to walk onna moon.
PENGUIN!!!...(^)>
...............C(...)D
.................m.m
Iron Fist sat up groggily, not quite sure how he was alive. He noticed a robotic figure with brandishing a large gun approaching him. The cyborg shot at a Nemesis and said, "Mind if I lend a hand?"
Iron Fist bliked a few times and said, "Yes...of course. Carry on..." Who is that? he thought to himself. Is he one of my soldiers? I don't remember him... The totally confused Fist finally regained his senses and his militaristic mind started working. He sat up and cotrolled the heat around him into a healing sphere that healede the rest of his wounds.
"Who are you? Why are you helping me? Are you one from the Rouge Isles, hero, or something else? I know you are not from Fist of Iron." (the army of Iron Fist.)
Without waiting for an answer he shot a concentrated nuclear blast at a Jaeger. He took out something from his glove and pressed it to his ear. It appeared to be a comlink. "Silver Skull do you read me? How is your mission going?"
______
To tell the truth, he was having the time of his life. He had been attacking the hero known as Valiant to impress the girl but that only seemed to anger her. He had quickly turned on his invisibility and watched from a safe distance. The girl had torn the cyberhero apart, thouroghly destroying him; to the point of ripping his arm off. She then stomped off, leaving large holes in the ground where she stepped. Of course he said none of this to his master.
"Err...Hello gover'nor. A few accidents you know. Not running so well but I'm off to it!"
"Yes well hurry up. I just got a message from Psy telling me that the scientists have dicovered an immense amount of energy far beneath the Earth. It seems to be steam. I need you to go to their base now!" Iron Fist was not happy.
"Of course Sire! Will do in a jiffy!" He bounced off to look for the hole again, having totally forgotten his task while watching the girl and the hero fight.
Panda Doll had had quite enough of Vim, of Silver Skull, and in general of everything that was interfering with her attempt to kill Mutai Kid. When Vim started attacking Valiant, Panda Doll had gone into stealth mode and disappeared, now she was moving through the crowd of fighting soldiers being careful not to get too close lest she be discovered.
Clearing the area of conflict she continued the hunt for Mutai Kid, he must die today! She spotted Silver Skull heading for the main sewer access on the east side of Steel Canyon. She'd give him a minute to get past the main accessway and they follow him in.
"It is that balance, the ground between EB and AV, where the PvP struggle should exist. Where a 1v1 becomes a struggle of equals, and 1vMany gives the benefit to the 1."
Freedom: Fireocity, Electro Imp, Gotya
Infinity: Meteor Storm, Mutai Kid, General Bot, Da Smasher
Valiant laid in a heap on the ground, his arm torn off again and dents all over his body. Vim walked off smugly, her fight apparently finished.
"Hehehe...."
Vim spun around, her heel cutting a quick line in the earth.
"You just don't get it, do you? I am the Legendary Unbreakable Valiant. UNBREAKABLE."
Vim was furious, she had torn his arm clear off and beaten him into the dirt, how could he be standing?
"This time, it's my turn." He said as a broad, mildly demented smile creped across his face. Arm sliding into its socket, dents popping back out.
"Ready?"
He flew forward at top speed arm reaching out for Vim. She ducked the blow with as much speed as she could muster, only adding force to the well placed kick slamming into her chin.
Her head was thrown up, back into the path of Valiant's outstretched hand.
She punched and kicked at Valiant, but to no avail, he drove the back of her head into the ground and dragged her forward at high speed.
"I'm finishing this, I have more important work do to."
He threw her into the air in front of him, grabbing her ankle.
"And to think, Billyboy almost let you beat him.
He smashed he against the side of a bus station, shattering the glass and sending her sprawling into the street.
"Sorry about that, but I really didn't have time to play nice."
Vim rolled over and gurgled.
She would have revenge.
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Vim blacked out for the moment it took Valiant to rush away. She moaned as she regained consciousness, her face felt like it had gone through a blender. Her body began heaving with silent, angry sobs. She was tired of this day, no hero had ever beat Vim before! She was ruthless, she was invincible, she was-
"AGH!" Vim screamed as she touched her front tooth with her hand and felt it chip.
Silver Skull was jumping from the dry parts of the sewers when he heard a slight splash. He spun around and saw...nothing. But being a Stalker he knew not to trust his eyes. He clicked a hidden button in his mask and suddenly everything was in blues and greens and...red. Red? I love infared goggles. he thought. Silver Skull had out his knife and was running back where he heard the noise when... he dissapeared. He reapeared behind the now-visible-thanks-to-infared-goggles girl and he shot a knife into her back; wondering if she'd go on a date with him after they finished playing this game.
______
Iron Fist was not having quite as fun of a time. He could not find any of his soldiers and the only ones with him were the robot and ttne zombie. Mind you, they were excellent warriors and destroyed many a Nemesis robot. That wasn't enough for Iron Fist though.
"Keep fighting like this, and I will think about letting you join my legion." Iron Fist was taking out his anger on agroup of Nemesis soldiers, a Jaeger, and 2 Fake Nemesis. He had loked hands with a Fake Nemesis and was shooting deadly thermonuclear rays into its body. He then picked up its useless body and threw it at another Fake Nemesis trying to sneak up behind him. He shot a beam out of his one good eye into the Fake Nemesis, causing its head to explode. Fist jumped onto the front of the Jaeger and sent his hand smashing through its glass casing; stopping his hand at the pilot's face. The horrorfied eyes of the pilot reflected the radioactive heat waves firing into his face at point-blank range. Fist jumped off the collapsing Jaeger and took out the remaining surrounding troops with a tremendous explosion that greatly resembled the one before.
Breathing deeply, Iron Fist looked around for more to vent his battle frenzy on. He ran out of the fires around him and found... He gasped. "5th Column?"
((OOC- I am still feeling mad at the Devs for taking out the 5th Column so I brought them in. After all, they are coming back. At least that's what the Devs said. I quote: soon (tm) ))
((OOC Sorry I haven't been able to post in awhile...Finals and holiday stuff. But I'll try to post oas often as possible.))
Hellcat stood in the air, waiting, as Billyboy caught up with him. He nodded, acknowledging the young hero, as he swept his cape behind him and shot straight down. He slammed his feet down on the manhole cover, the force of his impact rending the iron cleanly in two. He landed a foot above the rancid waist of the citizens on Steel Canyon. He hovered there, motioning upwards for Billyboy to wait.
Hellcat had always hated sewers. It seemed like he'd been running through them since his first day in Paragon. He concentrated, sending out waves of cleansing radiation around him. Soon, the section of the sewer he stood in was clean, the water sparkling, the walls no longer caked in grime. He motioned for Billyboy to join him, absorbing the radiation even as the hero descended. "Wow," exclaimed Billyboy, "This place looks more like a Circle of Thorns base than a sewer!"
Hellcat grinned as he and Billyboy started down the corridor. "The Triani, my alien benefactors, have shown me the way to the source of Nemesis' Steam Fusion engines. He has positioned several in key areas under Steel Canyon. While we can detect them, we still don't know what he intends to do with them." The two heroes crossed through a corridor and into a new section. Several Nemesis troops stood around, the sewage still permeating this area heavily. A jaeger mech was mired in the sludge, unable to move or fire. Hellcat and Billyboy tore through the foot soldiers quickly. Billyboy left the area as Hellcat once more decontaminated the new section. As soon as the jaeger was set loose, Billyboy rushed back in and ripped out the mech's main controls. The two set off again, descending into a subsewer.
This part of the sewer hadn't been used in years. It had been cleared of debris and sewage, some kind soul obviously liking it clean as much as Hellcat. The two heroes descended silently to the ground, their boots making no impact as they studied the area. No dust anywhere. "This tunnel is being used for something," said Hellcat, his firey green aura lighting up the darkness.
No sooner had the words issued forth than lights began to turn on all around the two. They were in a massive chamber, Nemesis troops on all sides. They stood, not on the floor, but on a massive engine, steam pumping through it. More could be seen around the chamber, miles (it seemed) away from each other. Pipes and pistons ran from the engines towards the surface. "They are trying to power something in Steel Canyon, Billyboy. We must stop them," said Hellcat, "But we must not detroy the engines. We don't know what they do and it could have dire repercussions on the surface. Take out the goons and then we'll deal with the engines."
Hellcat's hand shot forward, imbuing Billyboy with increased density, making him even more resistant to injury. Another burst of power and he found himself superfast. Hellcat streaked into the air, his hand waving furiously as he pulled speed and power from the Nemesis goons. He glowed brighter, becoming like a miniature green sun as the energy poured from the goons into him. He shot forward, landing amidst them as green waves of radiation swept from his body. Soldiers fell like dominoes as Hellcat and Billyboy swept through them.
Soon, the Nemesis soldiers began to flee, their spirit broken it seemed. That's when the new figures began to immerge. 5th Column soldiers, clad in their red and black uniforms, stepped out of hiding, pointing automatic weapons at the pair. In a flash, the superfast Billyboy shot forward, snatching the guns from the confused soldiers' hands. He flung them into the air, wher a combination of his laser vision and Hellcat's radiation vision destroyed them. The soldiers fled, passing the Nemesis troops in their flight down the corridors. "Now," said Hellcat, "It's time to see just what these engines are for." The two heroes quickly ascended, flying towards the control room.
"Fifth Column!?" Billyboy said aloud as they zoomed through the sewers. "Haven't seen them since my early days in this city! Back when the Council was just taking control! Maybe they've been with Nemesis this whole time, planning for this one last Brass Monday!"
Hellcat pondered this for a moment, it was possible, the Fifth Column had seemed to dissapear a bit too cleanly from the map. No gang war was that perfect.
Billyboy, seeing he had gained a bit of his fellow hero's interest, continued his explanation of the day's events. "And maybe they've been combining robot tech to make one giant Mekmesis robot, just to unleash on Steel Canyon, to show how utterly ruthless the Nemesis Army really is! Yeah, I've seen alternate dimensions where he's done weird stuff like that, blowing up cities and [censored] to scare everyone! Maybe he thinks if he takes down Paragon everyone will be too afraid to stand up to him!" He nodded to himself and punched his fist into his open palm with a smile. "Looks like I'll have to do a bit of gear smashin'!"
"As well thought out as that is, I don't think we can jump to conclusions." Hellcat said quickly, not wanting the boy to get off his guard.
"Oh man, you totally killed my buzz." Billyboy muttered sadly. "Ah well, we'll see it a minute, eh? I'm just hoping it's something big and breakable, like all the good stuff these evil genius's make!"
"We can only hope." Hellcat smiled as they both landed silently and pressed themselves flat against the wall, slowly inching toward the sound of whirring and groaning machinery at the end of the hallway.
Hellcat and Billyboy inched towards the control room, their senses sharpened for sounds of Nemesis or Fifth Column. As they approached the welded steel door, it suddenly started to glow bright red. Seconds later, it exploded outward, showering them with sparks and shrapnel.
Fake Nemesi poured forth, wielding brass weaponry and loaded for bear. Hellcat and Billyboy stood their ground as more and more of the Nemesis dopplegangers spewed forth. Billyboy ran forward, energy pouring from his hands and eyes as he collided with the front lines, brass energy spears rebounding off of his invulnerable body. Hellcat swept forward, his hands and eyes spewing forth radiation, their combined attacks tearing down many of the Fakes.
With a final, rather explosive series of punches from Billyboy, the exhausted duo finally stumbled into the control room only to see a countdown light flashing its last few seconds. 00:02...Before either of the tired heroes could reach it, a pair of 5th column Vampyri shot from the shadows, slamming into the heroes from behind. Hellcat reached for the deactivation button, his fingers only grazing it as he was brought to the ground by the scientific abomination. "Ignition time, heroes!" boomed the voice of Nemesis from the shadows.
The Vampyri locked the heroes in combat, gruesome claws and fangs raking them mercilessly. The engines were pumping furiously, the entire cavern starting to shake.
__________________________________________________ _
High above the pair, the denizons of Steel Canyon looked up in horror as the fruits of many months of Nemesis labor came to fruitition. The memorials of Steel Canyon suddenly began to move. In Blyde Square, Positron and Valkyrie looked on in horror as the gigantic statue of Blyde began moving, its now headless form belching steam as its mighty arms and legs took on animation, stomping down the street. A pair of Longbow agents swooped up on their jetpacks to intercept, but were brushed aside with a mighty wave of the statue's hand. The pair sailed through the air, slamming into a building, dead. More Longbow attempted to stop the gargantuan automaton, but were sililarly stopped.
Across the Canyon, the other statues, mostly smaller memorials, took on life. Statues slammed into Longbow troops, scattering them like ten-pins. Jubilant Nemesis troops, on the verge of defeat, surged back into the fray, their unliving allies turning the tide of battle. Blyde, in a fit of Nemesis' macabre humor, reached down and picked up his head from where it lay, remnants of Nemesis soldiers still clinging to it. From his bunker miles away, the Prussian Prince commanded the statue of the fallen hero to destroy a section of the tram line, wrapping the track around the statue's lost noggin. The automaton swung the oversized ball-and-chain around in the air, smashing buildings and crushing squads of Longbow.
The Vampyri locked the heroes in combat, gruesome claws and fangs raking them mercilessly. The engines were pumping furiously, the entire cavern starting to shake.
A loud silibant hisssing came form one of them as its fangs neared Hellcats exposed jugular.
"I well feast well tonight hero." his fangs moved closer and closer.only to stop agonizingly close to hsi pulsing jugular vein. as a powerful armored gauntlet grapsed the vampyres neck in a crushing grip.
"You well go hungry this day fiend. these heroes are under the protection of Lord Dire." He broght the hissing figures goggles eye to armored eye with his own. the vampyre struggled with the armored grasp for an instant a struggle which proved futile. fear leaked into the vampyres eyes as it realized its plight.
" your death well be filled with pain Lord Dire." the leach managed to choke out before Lord Dires armored grip crushed the life from it.
"perhaps, but not in your lifetime." the second vampyre having seen the fate of its comrade hesitated. and this hesitiation proved its undoing as Billyboy gaining the needed respite hammered the vampyre with a barrage of energy powered punches. disorienting the scientifically created creature. Lord Dire then finished the battle with a blast of energy that smashed the creatures bones. and blew it through the window of the control room a hundred feet to the floor below.
Standing at the controls Lord Dire looked them over making some quick mental notes. in the background Billyboy helped the injured but still willing Hellcat to his feet.
"Well I'd half expected you'd have crawled back to your hole by now Lord Dire."
Billy quipped in that irritatingly chipper attitude that he kept about him that seemed less to say that he was in the middle of a small war and more that he was hanging with his friends at a local eatery.
"Your welcome for saving your misbegotten lives hero." Lord Dire spoke with only the mildest hint of annoyance. "This day is far from over. Nemesis has put a rather daring and audascious plan into motion. here and I well not allow it to come to fruition."
As Hellcat and Billyboy moved up beside him. hellcat asked." the steam generators are a part of it?"
"Yes." Lord Dires reply was grimmer then he had intended. his armored fingers moving quickly he brought up the view screens which showed with horrifying clarity the giant statue of Blyde swinging its head by a length of railway track liek some grotesque Morningstar smashing buildings and soldiers alike. similar attacks were occuring everywhere else in Steel canyon.
"The Statues are powered by the generators and have been alterd through use of nanotechnology created by the Fifth Column. I have had some inkling that my enemies were not trully destroyed yet have not been able to act upon them yet." he continued to work the controls bringing up a map of the sewer systems.
"these 5 locations are of import to us." he stated indicating the blinking dots upon the map. "they are the locations of the individual generators, and this." he indicated the central most dot. " This is the location of the central command structure. that controlls all the rest. according to the files here it is heavilly guarded with both fifth column and nemesis soldiers and equipment."
"Why dont we just shut down the generators now that we know what their for." Billyboy asked cracking his knuckles in an impatient fashion. definately rearing and ready to go.
"I consdiered it but the prussian has been most clever." Lord Dire intoned with some disgust in his voice. "they are wired with several false relays. any of which could cause a disastrous explosion of massive destructive potential."
Hellcat saw something else then. "the support junctures." he said quietly.
"Very good hero." Lord Dire stated.
"The whatsits?" Billyboy asked. He was smart but not an expert in structural engineering or geology.
HEllcat explained quickly though. "its like this Billy. see the locations of the generators?" he indicated the dots. Billy nodded. " they sit on the 4 of the 8 major support structures that keep the sewers from collapsing in on themselves. but moreso. Paragon City is sitting on a massive series of Caverns if anyone of these support structures goes the caverns could collapse."
Billy's eyes widened. " the Hollows. he breathed.
" Only on a scale that would eventually cause the entriety of Paragon City to slip into the sea." Lord Dire stated evenly " this we must nto allow." he clenched his armored fist in anger.
" Come heroes we must plan our assault the controll room must fall it is the only place where we can safely disarm the generators."
So you mean you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword; and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?
Dubbed first knight of pep-istan by her majesty Queen Pepcat. first catmonaut to walk onna moon.
PENGUIN!!!...(^)>
...............C(...)D
.................m.m
Silver Skull had just finished his code breaking. He had found all that Lord Dire had found and more. Hmmmm... 5th Column and Nemesis? Together? This will go down in the bally history books! Fist of Iron, Nemesis, 5th Column, and who knows who else! At the exact same time! "Well I better call in... Hello? My liege, this is Silver Skull...
______
"Hmmmm... very good Skull. Proceed to come up. I require assistance." By 'assistance' he meant that if Silver Skull didn't come up immediately he would be flayed, roasted, and fed to the Devouring Earth by Iron Fist himself. All the time still being alive.
"These walking statues are a disturbance. They must be destroyed. Attack the largest one!" All his troops immidiately sent dozens of rounds of ammunition into the oposing giant.
((OOC- sorry for such a short post, I'm on a time limit here))
The massive groanings and creakings were what finally pulled Knight from the battered hunk of meat and flesh. There was no way of knowing what it had been; but its remains were spread in a metre-wide radius. Knight's war mace almost clattered to the ground as the nearby statue turned it's burnished steel head to look upon her.
"Knight! Run! Jump! Move!"
"C'mon Knight, don't just stand there like a filthy cadaver, get a move on!"
The exasperated Physic Defiance and HiddenIncognito both grabbed one of the battle-lass's arms and dragged her out of harms way - as much as they could. Harm had a fairly large range, and the statue was bearing down on them with growing confidence and speed. The giant contraption's shadow blocked out all light, the steel beast lifted a huge foot there was no movement for a short movement, but it seemed to be taking careful aim.
Physic had no choice; with a tensioning motion she teleported away. The two remaining heroes blinked for a moment, surprised that she would be so cowardly as to leave them to be crushed by the hulking nightmare. It was explained, however, as Hidden felt Knight get pulled away into thin air. He followed soon after, the rumbling STOMP! of the statue's feet now a good distance away.
Knight hadn't moved from the spot where she had been teleported. The leather-clad femme shivered anxiously, and gruffly complained. "You stealing my body is annoyance. Why do that Phys?"
Physic had only the time to shake her head, grab Knight's arm again, and motion urgently to Hidden.
The trio sprinted down the street, Hidden in stealth mode, Physic prepared at any time to teleport away, and Knight dragging her gigantic mace behind her.
"What just happened, Hidden? This is like some B-class horror movie."
The stealthy hero shook his head, and then realising they couldn't see him added a short "No idea."
All around, the longbow were engaged in tough battles with the nemesis, or else laying in awkwardly-placed heaps. Hidden paused several times to perform a mutation on them soon he was exhausted from the constant task of resurrecting the fallen heroes.
"Need to rest, Phys." He pleaded, so rest they did.
Physic Defiance crouched against some rubble, tuned into her earpiece, and vainly tried to get a hold of.. well, anyone. She went through all her contacts, friends, even the ones she didn't particularly like
But the signal was dead and gone. The only ones she reached weren't picking up. She sighed and watched Knight wade into the onslaught of Nemesis troops, screaming the unintelligible battle cry of "AAAIIIERRRAUGGGHSSRET!"
"Hey, Phys?" the voice by her ear startled the slender hero form her private worries. She had forgotten that Hidden was in stealth mode; but now that she knew he was there, but shadowy form was plain to see.
"Humm?"
"There's... There's troops I don't recognise attacking that huge statue over there. D'you reckon we should lend a hand?"
Physic peered around the corner, squinting at the not-so-distant battle. "Why not. They seem to know what they're doing."
Disengaging Knight from her battle, the trio picked their way to the ongoing battle, launching as ferocious an attack on the metal beast as they could. There were no more words exchanged between them.
Iron Fist's onslought on the giant was temporarily taking a break when he spotted the trio of heros sprinting towards them. He ran over, simutaneously ripping a Jaeger in half.
"Hello heroes. I am Iron Fist. You may have heard of me. You may have not. Either way My companions and I need your assistance in destroying this mechanic monstrosity. I woulod like you to aim for its legs. I need it distracted so I can get to its head." Iron Fist ran off, letting the trio do their work on the robot. He clicked the hidden button in his shirt and Psy appeared. He was gasping for breth and said, "Yes... my liege?... What... do you need of me?"
"Teleport me to the robot's head." Iron Fist commanded. "Yes of course. Anything else?" Iron Fist thought it over when he said, "Teleport Silver Skull here and tell him to attack any and all Nemesis troops." Psy bowed and concentrated deeply. Suddenly, Iron Fist dissapeared. He reappeared in the place where the statue's head should be.
Fist ignited himself and concentrated all his energy on simutaneously blasting into the concrete structure, and pounding on it with his deadly fists. The confusion made by Fist's troops and the heroes caused the robot to send its mace at the only place its small AI could think of: the place where Iron Fist was.
Right before the giant flail hit Iron Fist jumped from the cement automoton and dissapeared in midair, courtesy of Psy. The results were immediate: the robot's gigantic weapon collided with its own body, totally destroying it. Iron Fist's troops cheered. Fist did not cheer. He instead thought: Its not over yet. He rounded up his troops and continued to leave a trail of fames where he and his army stepped. They were going to the next statue.
Silver Skull was hardly making any noise at all while he slowly stalked his prey. Hmmm...who are those cute girlies? He had spotted Panda Doll and Vic. Maybe if I take out that hero one of 'em will go on a date with me? He took out his knives and smiled beneath his mask gleefully. This'll be jolly fun! Silver Skull bounced away, forgetting his job for a moment.
"Stand your ground!" Muttering Russian curses Iron Fist was leading his troops at the head of the army. It seems that Nemesis has gotten even more powerful. His confidence will be his downfall.
Fist noticed 2 heroes running in their direction. Some of his soldiers pointed their guns at the costumed crusaders. "No! Don't attack them! Keep destroying Nemesis! Beta and Alpha! Stay here andkeep Nemesis busy! Gamma, come with me!" Iron Fist headed in the direction of the 2 heroes and destroyed a jaeger that had strayed to close.
"Heroes! I mean no harm!" Yet. "Help me destroy the main Base of the insulant fools who dare attack me! We will show them DOOOOOOOM! I really, really hate pretending to be a hero.